WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to God. I welcome

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all those who have come today for the baptism,

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who are in the church, some are outside the church.

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Nevertheless, God's grace is not held back by

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walls. God, he said, does not dwell in houses

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built by the hand of man. We have asked God to

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come. And we have come to this place, and we

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presented ourselves to Christ today in order

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to be strengthened, to be nourished spiritually,

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to gain insight and understanding and discernment

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for our life, to gain forgiveness, to receive

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his mercy. And we pray over and over again, Lord,

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have mercy. Lord, have mercy. And we come for

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his love. because he is the light, as he himself

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says. Let me say a few words about this feast,

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a feast day which is one of hope, and we see

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in the fresco the apostles. It doesn't show the

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rest of the people there, but a feast of unity

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and reconciliation and of understanding and of

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good news for those who need it. Before I do,

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I want to just make a comment. I think it's true

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for all times, maybe more now than ever. We all

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need a spiritual father, a guide. Maybe a spiritual

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mother. You have Mother Melania. You have Mother

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Markela near Fresno. You have Mother Susanna.

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We all need that mystical connection with someone

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that can guide us. Through the very turbulent

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times of our life. Otherwise we're kind of floating

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out there. And we get depleted. We run out of

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gas very fast. And we don't know how to fill

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up again. So find a spiritual guide. I'm not

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talking about me. Because I don't know anything.

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But find someone who does. And they will help

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you. For this feast. I'm going to let you study

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for yourself. Why we emulate. the practice in

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the Jewish temple of old, which was destroyed,

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as you know, in 70 AD by the Romans. All that's

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left there is part of the wailing bowl now. On

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the Feast of Pentecost, remember, pente means

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50, so 50 days after Passover, 50 days after

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Pentecost, after Pascha, the temple was decorated,

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just more so, but like this. I've been told...

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and it may be right or wrong, but this is what

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I've been told and seen, that when Moses received

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the commandments, the law on Sinai, the desert

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itself flowered and fruit sprang forth when that

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law was given. So I want to thank those who decorated.

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Bless those, bless, O Lord, those who love the

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beauty of thy house. We believe. We confess as

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Orthodox Christians and hopefully we experience

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in some degree the coming of the Holy Spirit

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to us. In a relationship with the Holy Spirit,

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at least as Psalm 50 says, create in me, to create

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is new life. That's why all this greenery. Create

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in me a new and clean heart, O God, and renew

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a right spirit within me. New creation. That's

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what we saw at baptism. And so our life, our

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new life, our human life, is itself supposed

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to be God's harvest. The fruits of the Spirit

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are what? Love, mercy, long -suffering, peace,

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kindness, and so forth. Galatians will tell you

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all about that. That's God's harvest. We are

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God's harvest today. Is this our experience?

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Or is this something we read about? It's extremely

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significant that on the day of Pentecost, the

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Holy Spirit should take the form of fiery tongues,

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because the tongue is the organ of speech. And

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what was given in that fiery gift on Pentecost

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to the disciples and the apostles and those people

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gathered there was the gift to speak in the language

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of those around them. Not for passing on information.

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Not for arguing people into the faith, but to

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give something from God. That's what our Savior

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did. And all he did, all he did is so that we

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can become living temples too, to have that spirit

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within us. And Saint Peter spoke, if you continue

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to read Acts 2, he spoke with such boldness and

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eloquence and conviction. We heard the gospel.

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Jesus is speaking and they're saying, he's from

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Galilee. He's a peasant. Uneducated. What? He's

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a rube. He's a peasant. He's a know -nothing.

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Is there a prophet from Galilee? They didn't

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even give him a chance. And they said the same

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thing about the apostles. These men are speaking

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and they're speaking in different languages.

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Aren't they from Galilee? What could they possibly

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know? They're just hillbillies. The truth can

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come from anywhere. Be prepared for that. Do

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you recall when Peter spoke, how the people responded?

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They were said, they said, cut to the heart.

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They said, what shall we do? What did Peter's

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boldness, what did it consist of? So we understand,

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maybe. Why people receive that message, those

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fiery words. What was it that he said was so

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much conviction and assurance to give hope and

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understanding, to give new life? It wasn't so

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much the fact of the teaching, but that what

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he said was itself a word of grace. Think of

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how we speak. From where do the words and feelings

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arise in us? with St. Peter and the apostles

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on that day, and the saints and the martyrs and

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the confessors, the men and women, our forebears

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in the faith, those who we know and those who

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we have known and we loved and admired in our

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church. Their words were projections of Jesus

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Christ, the Word himself, an extension of the

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action of the Word of God in the Holy Spirit,

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is what Elder Emilio Noce says. This is why their

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message, their word, that was the word of God,

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had so much power. Because it was God himself,

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God the word, the one who loves mankind, speaking

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in and through them. For this reason, the apostles

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were conscious of being witnesses to the word,

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as they were told to be. They sensed that they

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themselves were the mouth of the word of God

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and of his grace. And this grace, this power,

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which was the word himself, is the energy of

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God, the energy of the Holy Spirit, says Elder

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Emilianos. And signs and wonders followed, of

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course. And the people saw it. They felt it.

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They heard these signs and wonders. It was an

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authentic experience of God. And there were in

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Jerusalem that day. Parthians, Medes, Elamites,

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Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Pontius,

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Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Romans,

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Jews and non -Jews, Cretans and Arabs. And they

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were all touched. They were gathered together,

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all peoples from all nations, all colors. They

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were gathered together in the unity of the Holy

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Spirit. And they heard the word because it came

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from God himself through those men. They were

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purified and they spoke with God's own words.

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But we Christians now, more often than not, defile

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our mouths and defile the ears of others. And

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people look upon us and listen. And they're confused

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about... the connection we say we have with Christ

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and the Father and the Spirit. Because our words

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are like noisy gongs and clanging cymbals and

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gnashing of teeth. And we know where there's

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the gnashing of teeth, Christ is not there. Elder

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Emiliano says, our deadness must be leavened,

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made alive. with the divine life of the Spirit.

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I'm taking a moment to say this because this

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is how a Christian is to speak. And the speaking

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was the first gift of Pentecost. But there are

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two gifts. And much less attention is given to

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the second gift of Pentecost. Mostly we remember

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the first gift, the gift of tongues. Others may

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hear the teaching, the gospel in their language.

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But the second gift is maybe now more crucial

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than ever. The first gift is meaningless without

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the second gift. I speak of the gift of hearing.

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We listen, said Father George Bennington in a

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sermon on this day, but we don't hear. Let us

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do everything we can to allow the word, the wisdom,

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of God to speak to us. When we pray, slow down.

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Let the words settle in your heart. Maybe God

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is trying to tell us something at that moment,

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but we are in a monologue and we don't slow down

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enough to actually hear him. When we hear the

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gospel, let's not read it as some kind of religious

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literature. It sounds pious. Let us be surprised

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and convicted. God's speaking to us. Let us hear

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it. When we read the prophets, when we read the

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Psalms, when we speak to our spiritual father,

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when we come before, especially, before the icon

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of Christ on the cross, dead, most eloquent,

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that's when we can hear from God everything he

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has to say. There it is. Absolute love. May we

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allow the word by the power of the Spirit to

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burn in our hearts, to purge our conscience,

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to transfigure our life, our words, to nourish

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our faith, to weave us into the body of Christ.

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Let me leave you with the reading from last night,

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which has been on my mind all night. The short

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selection from the prophet Ezekiel. Chapter 30.

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Six, is it? A word of hope, a word of challenge,

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and a word of comfort from God. The Lord said

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to the prophet Ezekiel, and the prophet Ezekiel

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said, thus speaks the Lord, I will take you from

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among the nations. I will gather you out of all

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countries and bring you into your own land. Then

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I will sprinkle clean water on you. and you shall

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be clean. We rejoice today seeing that. I will

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cleanse you from all your filthiness, from your

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idols. I will give you a new heart and put a

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new spirit within you. I will take the heart

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of stone out of your flesh, give you a heart

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of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and

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cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will

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keep my judgments and do them. Then you shall

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dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers.

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That's the church. You shall be my people and

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I shall be your God. These words come true today

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and came true in Pentecost. May they be true

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for us and our neighbor and the stranger. The

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icon of the hospitality of Abraham is set out

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against the icon of Pentecost. You see Abraham

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and Sarah. with the three angels. This is philoxenia.

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You've heard of Philadelphia, love of the brother.

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This is love of the stranger. That's today.