Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:34):
Glory to God.
Good to be gathered into hishouse this night.
Um, where to begin?
Um, welcome to uh the newlisteners in Africa.
Um really, really glad to I wasreally glad to hear about you
this morning.
And so hallelujah and amen.
(00:54):
Uh we're glad you're with us.
And um glad that um the podcastand um the video messages just
continue to grow and expand andand to reach new people.
And um that's that's a gloriousthing.
I believe it's 83 total nationsnow.
And so welcome to all of you aswell.
(01:16):
And uh this will uh be a littlebit of a different if you've
been following the podcast.
Um I used to do this all thetime.
And um look forward to gettingback to that one day.
Um I used to have like part one,part two, and part three.
Uh tonight ended up being a partone.
And so uh glory to God.
(01:37):
Um uh if you're listening aboutuh to the Philemon message
before this message, go back andswitch them, amen.
Um but uh we'll be in Johnchapter 17 tonight, um, because
we've got to really lay somegroundwork, um, especially for
the churches, uh, not only thethe folks sitting right in front
of me, um, but all of you aroundthe world uh who are listening
(02:01):
as well.
Uh because the Lord really,really has something for you.
And if you walk in this, youwill see the number of people
you reach with the gospelexplode.
Uh I'm absolutely convinced youwill.
Um why do I say that?
Because the Lord says ithimself, amen.
(02:21):
And so John chapter 17.
Um, we're gonna eventually be inverse 20, but to set the stage,
this is a really, really, reallyclose, personal, intimate moment
between the Father and Jesus.
(02:41):
And it starts out, uh, Jesus islifting his eyes to heaven.
And he starts, he says, Father,the hour is come.
Glorify thy son, that thy sonalso may glorify him thee, as
thou hast given him power overall flesh, that he should give
(03:03):
eternal life to as many as thouhast given him.
Jesus is going to the cross.
He would be hanging on the crossnot long after he finishes his
prayer.
That precious holy hour hadfinally come for him.
(03:31):
Um he even counts it later on inthe prayer.
He said, I I've finished thework that you've given me to do.
He's he's looking forward to thecross, and we're gonna see in
the message tonight, he'slooking beyond the cross at the
same time.
And the church is in view herebetween the Father and Jesus,
(03:56):
and between Jesus and theFather.
The Holy Ghost, hallelujah, he'swaiting in the wings.
But it's not going to stopthere.
Not long after this, the crosswould happen, not long after
that, the resurrection wouldhappen, not long after that,
(04:17):
Pentecost would happen, and thisthing called the church would be
born into the world.
What would the church have?
The church would have eternallife.
The church would be a group ofpeople set apart for the Lord,
(04:38):
set apart in the Lord.
The church would know the Lord.
He says that's what eternal lifeis.
That you know God, that you knowJesus, that you know the Holy
Spirit.
That is eternal life.
The church would be in theworld, but not of it.
(05:01):
The church would have a fullnessof joy.
This is all just in John 17, afullness of joy.
So this is beginning tocharacterize who we are.
We know the Father, we knowJesus, we know the Spirit, we
are kept from the evil that isin the world.
(05:25):
We are in the world, but yet weare not of the world, and we are
characterized by joy.
We're characterized by afullness of joy.
Why do I say all of thesethings?
Why does it seem strange to youif it does tonight?
Why is this not your dailyexperience with the Lord?
(05:48):
Well, that's where the Lord isbeginning to call you up this
very night.
Jesus is praying specificallyfor you.
This happens generations upongenerations upon generations ago
in a in a far-off land fromAmerica.
(06:11):
And yet, we come down to verse20.
And this is where we encourage,this is where we can shout, this
is where we rejoice, this iswhere we glory.
Neither pray I for these alone.
This was not just for thedisciples who Jesus had at the
(06:32):
time.
One of them was the devil, he'sout doing his work while this is
going on.
But the other eleven would carrythrough and sort of become
foundations of the church.
Neither pray I for these alone,but for them also.
(06:53):
This is you.
This is you, spirit-filled,bloodwashed, born-again
Christian.
This is you.
For them also which shallbelieve on me through their
word.
Bless God, you can trace yourheritage in the Lord back to one
(07:16):
of these eleven guys.
You can trace the heritage.
Uh bless God, I'd love to beable to do that.
I'd love to be able to go to theguy who preached the gospel.
You know, I know that.
Um, who he heard from.
Well, who did he hear from?
Who did he hear from?
Who did he from?
(07:37):
Who witnessed to them?
Who preached, you know, who'swho was preaching that meeting?
Who was praying for them?
Who went up to the altar forthem?
Who met them on the street?
Who met them in the workplace?
On and on and on and on and onand back.
Have you ever done that?
Have you ever tried to traceyour heritage back to this?
(08:01):
And have you ever been comfortedand encouraged and amazed that
Jesus was personally praying foryou?
Personally praying for you.
And what did he pray?
No, church, receive this backtonight.
(08:22):
If you're not walking in thisalready, receive it back.
That they all may be one.
That they all may be one.
Then he goes on.
Gives us an example.
What's he talking about?
As thou father art in me, and Iin thee, that they also.
(08:54):
So so we're going, Jesus and theFather.
We'll start there.
Jesus said things like, I and myfather are one.
And yet the father is not Jesus,and Jesus is not the father.
They're distinct.
(09:16):
And yet, at the same time, theyare one through the Holy Ghost.
That they also may be one in us.
Every single person who wouldbelieve.
(09:41):
Every single church today ismade of individuals.
I go around here, I knoweverybody's name.
You're individuals.
You've got different bodies,you've got different
personalities, you've gotdifferent giftings, you've got
different callings, um, you'vegot different situations that
(10:03):
you go to bed in and you wake upin, and yet we are the same.
And yet we are one.
Church is made of many members,distinct people, yet one.
Church is united with Jesus andwith the Father by means of the
(10:26):
Spirit.
What does this mean?
We all have a deep internalpersonal unity of affection, a
deep internal personal unity ofpurpose, a deep internal
personal unity of origin, a deepbond, not only with Jesus, not
(10:52):
only with the Father, not onlywith the Holy Ghost, but and
this is what you need to getback with each other.
With one another.
Me with you and you with me, andthen we're gonna go out of this
room with it.
(11:16):
Our new listeners in Africa,I've never met you.
Our listeners in Mexico, I'venever met you.
Our listeners in Germany, nevermet you.
Our listeners in South America,never met you.
Our listeners in Japan never metyou.
Our listeners in Australia,never met you.
But if you're filled with thesame Holy Ghost I am, if you're
(11:42):
under the same blood I am, ifyou love and follow the same
Jesus that I do, we areinseparably, inescapably, and
unbreakably bonded.
You can't separate the thechurch.
This has happened.
(12:03):
This prayer has been answeredfor generations.
And I got people squinting at meright now.
In America, I I have never.
I very rare I can count on thenumber of times on one hand that
Christian unity has beenpositively spoken of.
(12:25):
I can count that number of timeson one hand.
But God has it for us.
God has this for us.
And it's not a unity thatexcuses sin.
That's usually how I hear itspoken of.
(12:48):
Oh, if you're if you're you'reone of those unity preachers,
you're one of those, you know,we're all brothers and we're all
sisters.
Oh, do you sing kumbayatu aroundcampfires?
You know, they start to make funof you, and then they start to
say, okay, what sin are youcompromising on?
That's the demonic counterfeit.
(13:08):
This is the real.
(13:43):
I'm talking about that kind ofunity.
Are you?
Are you?
As believers, we're presentlyunified.
That the world may believe thatthou hast sent me.
(14:05):
Mark that, we'll come right backto it.
Because we gotta go on aboutthis unity thing, the glory.
Do you realize that you have aglory?
The glory which you have givenme.
Christian, you gotta seeyourself in this.
My brother and my sister, you'vegot to see yourself in this.
(14:26):
God the Father gave Jesus aglory.
God the Father on separateoccasions said, This is my
beloved Son.
Listen to him.
He lifted up Jesus, he glorifiedJesus, he gave Jesus a glory, he
gave Jesus a ministry, he gaveJesus a life.
(14:47):
Every single miracle, everysingle healing, every single
message that the Lord gave,whether that was to a huge crowd
or whether that was just to asmall group of people, or even
if that was just to one person,you go through the New
Testament.
Every single thing, the Fatherwas glorifying Jesus.
(15:07):
The Father was glorifying Jesus.
Every single thing, Jesus isglorifying the Father.
You have a glory.
The glory which you gave us me,I have given them.
(15:50):
Oh, church, we gotta come up.
Everyone's silent, staring atme, like you know, half the room
saying, I you don't know whaty'all talking about.
You know, and what's this haveto do with anything?
It has everything to do witheverything.
Hallelujah.
God has given you a glory thatthey may be one.
(16:12):
This is how the unity happens.
So that you have the glory ofGod and I have the glory of God.
So that, oh, we sang it earlier,magnify the Lord with me, so
that you and I can get togetherand magnify the Lord at any
(16:33):
given point at any given time.
So that you and I can magnifythe Lord, so that you and I can
worship the Lord, so that youand I can pray together, so that
you and I can lift one anotherup, encourage one another, so
that you and I can sharpen oneanother as iron sharpens iron,
so that you can bear my needsand you and I can bear your
(16:57):
needs, so we can bear eachother's burdens.
This is how it happens.
We have the glory of God, wehave the spirit of God, we have
the promises of God too, we'vegot a standing before God,
before the throne, so that atany given time, any given time,
you go before the throne andyou're welcomed.
(17:19):
You go before the throne and Godhears you.
You go before the throne, youspeak to God, you ask God, God
answers you.
Jesus said several times in thebook of John, if you ask it in
my name, I will do it.
Why?
That the Father may beglorified.
That's not back then, that's2025.
(17:43):
That's you tonight.
That's you right now.
Not just you.
You look around this room andyou see born-again people.
Not just, you know, bless God.
Look around yourself.
No matter where you're listeningto this, no matter when you're
listening to this, no matter howyou're listening to this, if
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you're born again, you've gotthe glory of God.
That they may be one, even as weare one.
And then he continues on,because my friend, this is only
possible in God.
Even Jesus Himself, hallelujah,he's praying.
He takes some time here.
I in them and thou in me, thatthey may be made perfect in one.
(18:32):
Made perfect in one.
Now, how does that work?
Hallelujah.
There's one Holy Spirit whoraised up Jesus from the dead.
There's one Lord, there's onefaith, there's one baptism, and
(18:53):
one God and Father and all,above all and through all and in
you all.
There's one author and finisherof our faith.
There's one shepherd and bishopof our souls, there's one great
high priest who is presentlyover the household of God.
(19:15):
The church has only one husband,there's one head of the church,
and his name is Jesus, and inhim all things consist.
There's one God, one faith, onebaptism, and hallelujah and
amen.
If we are all following the sameGod, if we are all loving the
(19:38):
same God, if we are all pursuingthe same God, if we're all
trusting the same God, if we areall in the same Christ and
filled with the same spirit,eventually we are going to start
to look alike.
Eventually, God is going tomature me and mature you.
(20:02):
Where are we going?
The full stature and measure ofChrist.
We are all going in the sameplace.
Eventually, hallelujah.
There's going to start to be afamily resemblance.
(20:23):
You're going to look at yourselfand you say, I know that joy
that's on you.
I hear what you're saying.
Times are hard right now, butyou're happy.
Times are hard right now, butyou're joyful.
Times are hard right now.
Now you're you're mourning.
I've mourned before.
You're mourning in the same waythat I mourned.
(20:45):
How did I I I didn't mourn likeI didn't have any hope.
You've got a living hope too.
Where'd you get that?
Oh, you got that from Jesus too.
You got that from the Word ofGod.
You're getting that from theHoly Ghost.
We're all going to start to lookalike.
(21:05):
And the unity starts to becomemore and more obvious.
Starts to become more and moreapparent.
Starts you start to actuallyexperience it with other people.
You start to actually connect.
(21:28):
That's a word we have to getback.
You actually start to connectwith other people.
Not around music, not around TV,not around sports teams, not not
around jobs, not around books,not about not around anything of
culture, not around politics.
You don't start to connectaround that.
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Fundamentally, you start toconnect because we got the same
Holy Ghost.
We all got differentbackgrounds.
We've all got differentcultures.
We've all got different lifeexperiences.
(22:12):
But if you're born again and I'mborn again, we all ended up at
the same cross.
We all ended up at the cross.
We all called upon the sameJesus.
We all received the sameforgiveness.
We all received the same HolySpirit.
We all received the samebaptism.
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We all received the same faith.
We all are under the sameshepherd.
We all are in the same householdof God.
We are all related in that way.
What your personality is, nomatter what your skin color is,
no matter what your politicsare, no matter what your culture
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is, no matter what language youspeak, no matter what you've
seen and what you've heard, nomatter what you've done, no
matter what you haven't done, nomatter what your economics are,
no matter what, no matter what.
It all comes down to this.
Do you have the Spirit ofChrist?
Hallelujah.
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Do you have the Spirit ofChrist?
Then we have fellowship one withanother.
And then this idea of being madeperfect in one.
It's it's a completion.
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That's what it is.
It's not sinless perfectionismfrom the get-go, it's a
completion.
It's that you are set apart inChrist and for Christ and unto
Christ all at the same time.
And he starts lifting you up.
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He starts maturing you.
He starts, you know, hallelujah,he'll lead you through the fire
sometimes.
But then you come out on theother side of that fire.
And my friend, you've grown.
You look back, you know.
I've said it before from thispulpit.
You know, you should have adifferent pastor evangelist
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talking to you in six months.
I should be different in sixmonths.
You should be different in sixmonths.
And we should be able to gettogether and testify of what the
Lord has done today, of what theLord has done today, of what the
Lord has done in the last sixmonths, twelve months, eighteen
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months, of what the Lord hasdone in me and what the Lord has
done in you.
And we edify each other and weencourage each other and we
build each other up.
Hallelujah and amen.
And now, you gotta get to thepart I get very excited about as
an evangelist.
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This starts to go on.
You and I start to realize thistogether, but the world is
watching.
Go back up to verse 21.
That the world may believe thatyou, Father, have sent Jesus the
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Son.
That the world you gotta see theconnection.
I'm praying for that Holy Ghostlight bulb to go on.
That they all, that's you, maybe as one as thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that theymay also be one in us, so that
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the world may believe that thouhast sent me.
That's what's missing.
That is what will ignite yourchurch, that is what will ignite
evangelism, that is what willopen the door.
So many people we're praying fordoors to be opened.
(26:12):
So many people were praying foropportunities, so many people
were looking for opportunities.
This generates the opportunity.
The world sees this, and theworld, you know, we know from
scripture, cannot receive thethings of the spirit.
But you can, because you've gotthe Holy Ghost.
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The world watches you andwatches the church interact.
And all all the world mightknow, and hallelujah, if this is
all they know, it's enough.
There's something differentgoing on.
Hey, they're not complaining.
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Hey, they're happy.
Hey, they're they're they'repeaceful.
Hey, they always seem to knowjust what to do.
Hey, that family actually wantsto be around each other.
Hey, those parents, theyactually want to be they they
(27:21):
don't just drop their kids offat the sports and then just go
somewhere.
They actually want to stay, theyactually want to watch, they
actually want to be involved.
What's we don't know what to dowith that.
Nobody does that.
They do, they they they do, youknow, and the world starts to
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see you walking with Jesus,walking in the Holy Spirit,
putting yes, putting off the oldand letting, you know,
mortifying the old in thespirit.
Yes, all that personalindividual stuff that's all in
play.
But y'all are doing it together.
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We're all doing it together.
There's a together involved inthis that's not like anything
that the world's ever seenbefore.
And, you know, the oldevangelist you used to say um,
you know, B.R.
Lake, and you can try to lookhim up on YouTube too, you know,
(28:24):
amen.
See if there's anything stillout there.
But but hallelujah.
He said, uh, you know, you walkdown the street, you know, and
bump into somebody in theshoulder.
Um, you should turn around and,you know, and you know, it
tastes like honey.
I ran into that Christian and itwas sweet.
I ran into that Christian andand it was good.
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I don't have it, but I can'tdeny that something else is
going on here.
Do you begin to see, especiallyin America, where this has been
stolen.
(29:09):
And I gotta say it was somesobriety here.
The fact that I never saw thiskept me out of the faith for
years.
The fact that I went toChristian campuses and all I saw
was fighting.
All I saw was the Catholics overhere, Presbyterians are over
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here, um, and they're they justI used to call it the Holy Wars.
I would just kind of go and tryto get my education and block it
all out.
Because I didn't want to bebothered with it, you know,
quite frankly.
And you know, they they seem tohave one book and all they do is
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fight with each other.
Wants to really be a part ofthat.
Do you see how critical this is?
Because the world is watchingyou and me.
And I don't want you to hearthat like it's pressure.
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It's not.
The good news is that this typeof oneness.
Is only possible in the Lord.
It's only possible in the Lordbecause we seem to be geared
toward pride.
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We in our flesh, it's pride.
In our flesh, we'll divide overanything.
In our flesh, we are driven toform camps.
We are driven to form tribes.
We are driven to, you know, howdoes our you know our pastor say
(31:01):
it?
Driven to other people, to makethem make ourselves the good
ones and make it make them thebad ones.
And what I'm talking about, whatthe Lord's talking about, what
the Holy Ghost is giving youtonight, is something utterly
different from that.
Charity.
Have fervent charity amongyourselves.
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And don't expect anything inreturn.
Wait a minute, you gave thatperson all that.
And what are they gonna giveyou?
What are you gonna get out ofit?
That's the way the world works.
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Well, my Lord said, hallelujahand amen.
He just said, have ferventcharity among yourselves.
He said, bear one another'sburden.
He said, forgive one another andforbear one another.
He said, encourage one anotherand lift one another up.
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And it's if you want to knowwhat I get out of it, that's
that's the reward.
I'm following my Lord.
I'm loving my Lord.
He said that he said things likethis.
This does not happen in theworld.
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But it happens here, and it'sthe norm.
Get back to that.
This is not an exceptionalsituation.
This is the Lord's prayer forthe normal day-to-day operation
of any given church.
Any given church.
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So the unity is not onlypossible, it's guaranteed.
The unity is not onlyguaranteed, it's the Lord's
will.
It's the Lord's prayer.
And my friends, the Father hasbeen honoring this prayer every
day, day in and day out, sinceit was given.
Day in and day out.
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The Spirit is moving toward theunity of the church.
The unity in Him.
Very, very critical.
This is a unity that lifts upJesus.
This is a unity in Christ.
This is a unity that covers sin.
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This is a unity that destroysthe works of the devil.
This is a unity that isstrength.
This is a unity of worship.
This is a unity in prayer.
This is a unity and bless God,get back to this.
This is a unity when churcheswork together.
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Churches and and bless God, justin the city of King alone.
If one church walked across thestreet to the other church, oh
my.
And said, We love you in theLord.
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And we love the Lord.
We want to know you.
See, that would be a great placeto start.
We want to know you.
Hallelujah.
We want to sit down with you.
We want to visit your services.
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To see what you're about.
We want you to know us too.
Test the spirit, my friend.
Because you know, I understandthis would be very, very strange
if this were to be walked out.
And so I invite you, along withthe Holy Ghost himself, to try
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this, to see if it really be ofthe Lord.
Try this.
And watch what the Holy Ghoststarts to do.
Because my friend, there'sthere's so much of a false unity
(35:40):
being preached.
A unity that says that, hey, weshould never say another word
about sin.
That's we should we shouldnever, you know, um we should
never make people feeluncomfortable.
Uh there's a unity that says,you know, what's what's the
middle ground between all thedifferent worldviews?
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There the the Antichrist willhave a sort of unity.
But it's the Antichrist's unity.
It's not God's.
You know, the devil nevercreated anything.
God Himself is one.
Three and one, one and three.
(36:23):
But the devil can short pervertit, and the devil can short
twist it.
And my friends, not only betweenyou and the Lord, do this, but
understand that the world iswatching.
(36:44):
Look in the mirror of the Wordof God.
Put yourself in someone else'sshoes for one moment.
What does that person see?
What does that person see ofyour church?
What does that person see ofyou?
What are you showing that otherperson?
(37:04):
Because at least in America, atleast you know, here where I am,
doesn't mean much to say, well,come to church with me.
Um, you know, we we should dothat again.
You know, type in the zip codethat we're in and see how many
churches are in that same zipcode.
It's well over a hundred for agood old 27021.
(37:27):
It is well over 100.
It means nothing anymore.
But what I'm saying is that wellover a hundred churches out
there.
If we got together in the HolySpirit, that alone, if we had
(37:52):
well over a hundred churchesworth of people unified in the
Holy Ghost right now, how manysouls would be one to the
kingdom of God?
How many people would seesomething so precious, so
(38:12):
unusual, so unheard of that theywould want to see more?
And then you and I have theglory of introducing these
people to Jesus.
Oh, my friends, what will ittake for you to walk in that
(38:35):
unity?
I understand it may take a lot.
But again, I pray that you'veheard me.
I'm talking about unity innothing and nobody else than the
Father, the Son, and the HolySpirit.
So, hallelujah.
(38:56):
If our musicians will be comingforward, um, my friend, this is
all sort of a setup for themessage next week.
Amen.
Hallelujah.
Uh, there will be a part two.
Now, my friend uh Lord kind ofshowed me, you know, a little
while ago, if you don't givethis, the part two won't mean
near as much.
Um, but my friends, hear this.
(39:20):
You know, just start out withjust you and the Lord during
this invitation.
Is this this is something thatJesus has prayed for?
Is this something that youexperience and that you want?
Because, my friend, it'll changethe way churches interact with
churches, it'll change the waythat people interact even within
(39:41):
this church.
It will change much.
And the church will startactually functioning as the
church.
And so, what fear is holding youback from this?
What fear?
Because, my friend, if it's afear of what other people will
think of you, oh my friend, youneed not worry.
(40:05):
God, I hope you've heard thattonight.
Jesus Himself thinks the worldof you.
Jesus Himself loves youpassionately.
Jesus Himself went to a crossand he died for your sin.
Jesus himself, um, he can,that's how he showed his love
(40:25):
for you.
He loves you when you're at yourat your worst.
And he still went to the crossfor you.
And my friend, you may havetrusted him, but been so bound
up on what are other peoplegoing to think.
My friend, I'll tell you whatthis church will think.
This church will love you.
(40:47):
Just solely on the basis thatJesus loves you.
Solely on the basis that you'rea brother and you're a sister.
Uh, my friend, if you give thischurch an opportunity to share
your burdens, give this churchan opportunity to help you, give
this church an opportunity toembrace you as a brother and as
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a sister.
My friends, I've said it before,you'll find grace and you'll
find truth.
You'll find the people who wantto bring you closer to the Lord
and not drive you further fromthe Lord.
As my friends, have no fear tolet other people know your
burdens.
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Those other people have burdensthemselves.
As my friends, um who are any ofus to say?
You may share your burden withme, and hallelujah.
I help you with it, and at thesame time, you help me with
mine.
And the church starts tofunction.
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So hallelujah and amen.
Um, my friend, just respond tothe Lord in this tonight, and
the altar is open for you.
And my friend, if there be atestimony, feel free to share it
tonight.
Hallelujah and amen.
And um, my friends who arelistening abroad, um, so many
different nations around theworld, 83.
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And I know for a certain factthat Jesus had every single one
of us in mind when he waspraying for this.
And so, my friends, um, we wantto know you and we want you to
know us.
And so get in touch with us,email us, call us, visit our
services.
Um, yeah, we'll feel welcomedand encouraged to do that, and
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also feel encouraged.
And as you walk this out, Iguarantee you, you'll reach
people.
And so, amen, and glory to God.
Uh, thank you for listening,thank you for being here, thank
you for being a part of this,and may the Lord continue to
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richly bless us.
Amen.
Amen.