July 29, 2024 • 33 mins
God desires all to be saved. If we are now saved then we are now on mission to give God the desire of His heart. When this is settled, our evangelism is God-focused. Kingdom people announce to the world who Jesus is with their lives...their words simply confirm the message. The power of the gospel is undefeated when it is declared from the lips of authentic Jesus People who re-present Him as He is.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, man, we love you guys.
Simeon, I've missed seeing youcome up and lay hands on people
when we pray for them.
I love that about you, man.
Okay, go ahead and turn to Mark, chapter 16.
We'll be in Mark 16.
We'll be in a few differentpassages, as normal, but Mark 16
(00:23):
will be the first stoppingpoint.
We'll be in a few differentpassages, as normal, but Mark 16
will be the first stoppingpoint.
Asa is going to recite one ofthe verses that we will be
stopping in today 1 Timothy 2,verse 4.
Very good, can you say it onemore time loud?
(00:45):
Good job, bud.
1 Timothy 2, loud.
God desires all to be saved.
Good job, bud.
1 Timothy 2.4,.
God desires all to be saved.
Okay, a little bit of contextwith why we're talking about
what we're talking about today.
We have been talking about thekingdom of God for a few months
now.
One of the main points that weare making Is we are not just
(01:07):
saved, we are people of akingdom, and that kingdom is
completely contrary To thekingdom that we grew up in, the
kingdom of this world that weknow so well.
We have muscle memory on how toact in that kingdom.
So we have an encounter withJesus, we get saved, we receive
(01:32):
salvation from our sins, butthat does not automatically mean
that he becomes Lord sitting onthe throne of our heart.
I would encourage you to goback and listen to some of the
previous messages.
There's three different types ofpeople that normally find
themselves in church.
(01:52):
The folks in John chapter 2 whocome to Jesus and believe what
he is saying.
They see the miracles, theybelieve, but Jesus, he, doesn't
entrust Himself to them becausehe knows what's in their heart.
They're unsaved believers.
They're not born again.
(02:13):
They have faith on their lips,their language sounds right, but
they haven't had a born againencounter with God, again
encounter with God.
The second type of persontypically found in churches we
point to Mary on ResurrectionSunday, sitting outside of the
(02:34):
tomb.
She clings to Jesus.
Why?
Because she's saved, she's bornagain, she's received new life.
But Jesus says don't cling tome, I haven't yet ascended.
Don't cling to me yet.
I want you to cling to me, butI need you to cling to me where
I'm going to be seated andenthroned as king.
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It's not yet time to cling tome.
So who is the second person?
The second person is saved,they're born again, but they
still sit on the throne of theirheart.
They're still making thedecisions for themselves.
They're not kingdom.
The third type of person iswhat we want to be.
This is like Peter.
(03:18):
This is like Paul.
This is like James.
He uses kingdom language.
Jesus is king.
He's seated on the throne inheaven and I'm seated there with
him, I'm clinging to him asking.
You can be saved but not livekingdom life, but you can't live
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kingdom life without beingsaved.
We want to be kingdom people,jesus people.
So we've spent the past fewweeks talking about what it
means to not just be saved, tonot just have our heavenly
passport stamped, but toactually live the kingdom life.
Things like kingdom people arefamily.
(04:04):
They're not just a collectionof individuals.
We are a family.
That means we interact with oneanother in a way that
represents the kingdom,preferring others more than
ourselves, treating andinteracting with one another
with humility and meekness andgentleness and understanding.
We're family.
(04:24):
Another thing we talked aboutis kingdom people are generous,
not just with their finances,but with everything their time,
their hospitality, theirresources, their forgiveness.
Kingdom people understand thepower of their words.
They understand that the tongueis a flame, so kingdom people
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are disciplined with theirspeech.
Today we're going to talk aboutkingdom people live their life
on mission.
Kingdom people are evangelistic.
Or, to put it plainly, kingdompeople share the gospel.
Or, to put it plainly, kingdompeople share the gospel.
(05:05):
Now, if you're thinking he'sjust going to try to browbeat us
to go and evangelize, don'tworry.
There's a twist to the message.
Kingdom people are on mission.
They are a people of the greatcommission.
Kingdom people are not like thedead sea, only taking in and
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receiving the life-givingnutrients of the gospel.
They are a river of life andhope that is dispensing life,
pouring out life wherever theygo.
That's the promise of John 7,38.
Rivers of living water willflow from your inmost being.
(05:51):
That's kingdom people.
They are dispensers of truthand grace.
Kingdom people are a livingembodiment of the truth that
Jesus is alive.
Count how many times I trip onthis and almost fall.
I'm going to back this up.
(06:16):
Okay, I told you, mark, chapter16.
Mark, chapter 16, we'll readverse 15 and 16.
Of course, this is after theresurrection.
This is just prior to theascension of Jesus.
He looks to his disciples andhe says this Go into all the
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world and preach the gospel toall creation.
He who believes and is baptizedwill be saved, but he who does
not believe will be condemned.
Go, preach the gospel.
Now, it wouldn't be a fungathering in this beautiful
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setting if we didn't talk aboutthe Greek language for a minute.
So I want to talk about thisword that's translated preach,
go and preach.
The Greek word is chariso,chariso.
Chariso means to announce, tomake known, to proclaim.
That's the essence of ourmission as kingdom people Making
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Jesus known to all creation andannouncing the gospel of his
kingdom.
So today we're going to talkabout the who, the where and the
how of this mission who, whereand how.
I'm going to emphasize the how,because that's usually the one
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that we get hung up on.
So I'm going to emphasize thatone.
But first I want to talk aboutthe why.
Why does Jesus tell us to gointo the world and preach the
gospel to all of creation?
Two main reasons.
The first reason is Romans 3.23.
The first reason is Romans 3.23.
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All have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.
If all have sinned, then allare condemned.
If all are condemned, then allneed a Savior.
And if all need a Savior, thenall need the gospel, which tells
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all how they can be savedUnless the lost in our community
hear that there is a way ofsalvation through the life,
death, resurrection, ascensionand enthronement of Jesus, and
then they receive that gift ofsalvation through repentance,
(08:51):
then they will die in their sinand live forever separated from
God in hell.
It's the gospel man.
All have sinned and fallenshort of God's glory.
Jesus says in John, chapter 8, Iam the light of the world.
Praise God, he's the light ofthe world.
(09:12):
Then he says this If you don'tbelieve that I am, you will die
in your sins.
That's John 8, verse 12 andverse 24.
So what does that mean?
To die in our sins?
It means we die separated fromGod forever.
This is why we have to be onmission.
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There are lots of people aroundus that are living right now
separated from God.
We don't want them to dieseparated from God, right now,
separated from God.
We don't want them to dieseparated from God.
So this leads us to the secondreason why kingdom people live
on mission to share the gospelwith the world.
All have sinned and areseparated from God.
But God takes no delight in thedeath of the wicked, but rather
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His delight is that the wickedwould turn from their evil ways
and live.
This is the desire of God'sheart.
That's Ezekiel 33, 11.
What Asa quoted earlier 1Timothy 2, 4.
God desires all to be saved andto come to the knowledge of the
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truth.
Think about this for a minute.
God has a desire in his heart.
That same word is used inEzekiel 33 as Paul uses in 1
Timothy 2.
One is the Hebrew word, theother is the Greek equivalent.
God says I don't desire thatthe wicked die and are separated
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from me.
I actually desire that theyturn and are saved and come to
the knowledge of the truth.
That's his desire.
Now, that's the tension of God'swill.
That's what desire also means.
It means will want takepleasure in.
That's God's will.
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It's his desire that all wouldbe saved.
So there's that's the tension.
On one side, god desires all tobe saved.
And then the other side of thetension is our free will to
decide.
We don't want him.
And then, right smack in themiddle, is the responsibility of
the church to make known to theworld the abundant life that is
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found in Jesus.
If 1 Timothy 2, 4 is true thatGod desires all to be saved,
then think about this God iscurrently desiring something in
our generation that he does notyet have.
God has an unfulfilled desireright now.
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This is what makes the gospelpowerful.
Now bear with me, put yourthinking caps on.
This is what makes the gospelpowerful.
It flows from the source ofGod's desire to satisfy a
longing in his heart.
First and foremost, the why ofour gospel witness is God having
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the desire of his heart.
We don't share our faith withthe world because the world is
lost and on its way to hell.
That's not our motivation.
We share our faith because Godhas a longing in his heart.
Is the world lost and on itsway to hell?
Yes, but your neighbor being ontheir way to hell doesn't give
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the gospel power.
But your neighbor being on theway to hell doesn't give the
gospel power.
God's longing in his heart iswhat gives the gospel power.
John Piper puts it this wayMissions exist because worship
does not.
We go because there are lostpeople who are not worshiping
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their creator, and that's notokay with him.
He has a desire for them to besaved.
Until every person in ourcommunity worships jesus as
savior and lord, then there'sstill the need to be on mission
for the sake of the longing inhis heart.
It's a small shift from I sharemy faith because they're lost
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and on the way to hell to Ishare my faith because God
desires something and he doesn'thave it yet.
It's a God focused evangelismor a lost world focused
evangelism.
It's a slight shift, but I'mtelling you, man, it will make
the biggest difference in yourmotivation to share your faith.
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What comes out of your mouthwhen you share your faith?
You ever seen the guys holdingthe signs, the turn and burn
type signs?
What are they focused on?
Lost sin, separation, death.
Flip it around, focus on Godand the desire of his heart, and
you will not hold up a signthat says turn or burn.
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You'll share the gospel withtears in your eyes.
When you're focused on thelonging of his heart, man, it
makes a big difference.
I've got to move on becausesome of you look hungry.
So that's the why.
Why do we share the gospel?
Who?
What is the who of our gospelwitness?
(14:38):
That answer is simple, but letme answer this simple question
with a story.
Who do we share the gospel with?
This simple question, with astory who do we share the gospel
with?
In the 1970s, there was aadvertisement placed in a
Polynesian bless you magazineasking for missionary workers to
help start churches in thejungles, where there were many
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unreached peoples.
Now, the qualifications forthese missionary workers were
this the ability to mix withpeople, to wade in rivers, to
write articles, to mix concrete,to love one's neighbor, to
deliver babies, to sitcross-legged for long extents of
time, to conduct meetings, todrain swamps, to digest
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questionable dishes, to patchhuman weaknesses, to suffer
fools gladly and to burnmidnight oil.
I love that.
It's so good.
Yeah, right, then it goes on.
The job listing suggestspersons allergic to ants, babies
, beggars, chop suey,cockroaches, curried crabs,
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guitars, humidity, indifference,itches, jungles, mildew,
minority groups, mud, poverty,sweat and unmarried mothers.
Had better think twice beforeapplying.
Who do we preach the gospel toall of creation in every
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situation imaginable?
Jesus says go out into theworld and announce what he has
done to all creation.
Some of you may be called totake the gospel across the world
.
Others of you may be called totake the gospel across the
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street.
He's going to lead you where hewants you to intersect with
individuals.
The big question is this areyou willing to be a witness
wherever he sends you?
Are you willing to share Jesuswith your friends, your
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neighbors, the grocery storeworker, the coffee shop barista?
Are you willing to share Jesuswith Muslims, with Jews, with
atheists, with homosexuals, withdrug addicts, with gang members
, with drunk family members?
Are you willing to be a witnessto the lost person standing
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right in front of you?
Jesus pursued those who wereseparated from him, to the point
that the religious leadersaccused him of being a glutton
and a drunkard and a friend ofsinners.
Can it be said that you are afriend of sinners?
(17:32):
Jesus didn't come to call therighteous, he came to call
sinners.
That's Luke 5, 32.
So who do we preach the gospelto?
The lost around us, whom Godgives us the opportunity to
intersect with.
So we got the why, we got thewho.
Now let's talk about the where.
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The where is very simple too.
Don't worry about it.
God will take care about thewhere.
God's going to guide your steps.
That's his responsibility.
He's going to take you and leadyou in the places you should go
.
When you have that settled,then you can trust that the
person standing right in frontof you is where he wants you to
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go with the gospel.
If you want to know God's willfor you today, if you want to
know God's will for you tomorrow.
Look at the person standingright in front of you.
That's God's will for you,that's your assignment right
there.
When you believe that God willtake you where he wants you to
go, whether across the world oracross town, you can trust that
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the person standing in front ofyou is no accident.
We got the why.
We got the where.
What was the second one, who?
Very good, that was a trickquestion.
Okay, now the why.
We've got the where.
What was the second one, who?
Very good, that was a trickquestion.
Okay, now the how.
This is the meat.
How do we announce, how do wemake known, how do we proclaim
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who Jesus is and what he hasdone is and what he has done?
The most effective gospelwitness is you and I living
lives that look like Jesus.
It's as simple and aschallenging as that.
Authentic lives of humility andmeekness.
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Humility and meekness, kindness, sacrifice, faith, honesty,
grace, surrender, obedience,generosity, radical hospitality.
When those qualities areevident in the person who tells
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another person about Jesus, thenthat gospel is undeniable.
When the life being livedmatches the word being spoken,
the world loses its argument.
I'm going to say that againbecause you guys have gotten
dull of hearing.
I've talked so much already.
When the life being livedmatches the words being spoken,
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the world loses its argument.
I could evangelize every daywith the best gospel
presentation, with the mostskilled apologetics, I could be
the best debater, I could haveall the evangelism verses
memorized and I could have everyanswer for every question that
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could be thrown my way.
But if my life does not matchthe things that I'm declaring
with my lips, then my words lackauthority.
My gospel witness is hollow andempty.
It has no weight to it.
John says this 1 John 2, verse6.
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The one who says he abides inJesus ought to himself also walk
as Jesus walked.
Translation let your walk matchyour words.
Your walk better match up withyour words.
If what I say doesn't match whoI am, then I'm actually
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diluting the truth of the gospel.
I'm weakening the power of thegospel to transform lives.
Jesus tells the Pharisees inMatthew 15, 6.
I need to give a scripture toprove what I'm saying, because
some of you look skeptical.
He tells the Pharisees inMatthew 15, 6.
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You hypocrites, you've renderedpowerless the word of God by
your traditions.
You've rendered ineffectivethat's what the word literally
means the word of God.
By how you are acting.
You've robbed the word of Godof its power by acting one way
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and speaking another.
Paul tells the Romans in Romans1 16, that he's not ashamed of
the gospel, for it is the whatPower of God unto salvation.
That's what the gospel is.
You, okay, brother, okay,anyone else, need to stand up.
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Feel free If your backside istired from sitting on those
seats.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel,because the gospel is the power
of God unto salvation.
Amen.
The pure, authentic gospel,announced from lips of blood
washed, born again, saints ofGod, is absolutely nuclear.
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It is atomic.
It is undefeated.
It's the power of God.
So let the pure, unfilteredgospel loose man and watch what
it can do when nothing isholding it back.
Let the gospel be the thingthat is rejected.
Let the gospel be the thingthat offends on its own merit,
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not because it has ourfingerprints on it, not because
we dilute the gospel witnesswith our hypocritical lives.
Let the gospel offend.
Let the gospel separate.
Big statement Ready Heavenforbid.
We stand before Jesus one daywith the blood of the lost on
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our hands because they couldn'tbelieve in a gospel that looked
like what they saw in our lives.
That's the reality of theresponsibility that we bear.
To whom much is given, much isrequired.
And, friends, we've been givenmuch Forgiveness, life from the
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dead, the spirit of Godindwelling us.
To whom much is given, much isrequired.
And with that incredible giftof God's grace comes the
responsibility of showing theworld what born again,
forgiveness from sin looks likein a person.
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We have to be authentic, wehave to be genuine.
The Holy Spirit will give usgrace to do that.
Preach the gospel with yourlife and let your words confirm
that message.
I'm almost finished.
Is everybody okay?
The truth from a nine-year-old.
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There's an old story and asaying that's attributed to
saint francis of assisi.
The story goes something likethis one day, saint francis, he
went to one of the young monksin the monastery.
He said, brother, let us gointo town and preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And the young monk was soexcited.
St Francis is asking me to gowith him to evangelize.
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So they left the monastery andthey start passing through the
town.
They pass through the mainroads and then they begin going
up and down through the alleys.
They make their way into thesuburbs and then they find their
way back to the monastery.
And the young monkey says did weforget our intention today?
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Francis says, my son, we havepreached.
Don't worry, we were preachingwhile we were walking.
We've been seen by many.
Our behavior has been closelywatched.
The world is watching.
Our behavior has been closelywatched.
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Thus, we have preached ourmorning sermon.
It is of no use, my son, towalk anywhere to preach unless
we preach everywhere as we walk.
It's of no use, my son, to walkanywhere to preach unless we
preach everywhere as we walk.
The world is watching to see ifwe are who we say Jesus is.
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We say Jesus is.
The world is watching to see ifwe are who we say Jesus is.
So John says in 1 John 4, Ibelieve it's 17, you are as he
is in the world, and the worldis watching.
Now this famous story has anaccompanying quote that probably
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some of you have heard beforePreach the gospel at all times.
St Francis of Assisi said, andsometimes, if necessary, use
words.
It's cute, it's catchy, it'scheeky.
I agree with the heart behindit that our lives will often be
the best gospel presentation,but the message of Jesus,
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friends, must be communicated.
We have to use words, we haveto explain the gospel message.
Romans 10, 14,.
How shall they believe if theyhave not heard?
The lost have to hear that sinand hell and separation from god
are real.
Repentance must be explained bythose who have received it.
(27:38):
Kingdom people articulate thegospel with their lives and
their words.
So how about we tweak StFrancis' statement just a little
bit to something like thisPreach the gospel at all times
with your life and your words.
That's the how of our gospelwitness.
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Live a life that is undeniablyChrist-like and let your words
be life-giving, dead-raising,chain-breaking, eye-opening
flames that ignite cold, deadhearts with the mysteriously
spontaneous combustion of thegospel.
Let your lives, let your wordscompletely confound dead things
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and bring them to life with thegospel.
Closing thoughts Praise GodBryson's hungry.
Why do we announce Jesus?
Why do we preach Jesus?
Because he desires all to besaved, and right now all are not
yet saved.
(28:52):
Who do we announce Jesus?
To?
All of creation, everyone thatwe intersect with.
Where do we announce Jesus?
Wherever he takes us?
How do we announce Jesus Withlives that confirm our words?
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I want to give you one practical, the easiest thing you can do
to begin that conversation witha stranger that is so awkward
and so fearful.
You want to share your faith,but you don't know how.
What do I do?
Ask them if there's anythingthat they need prayer for.
(29:38):
I've found that that is theeasiest way to bring Jesus into
a conversation.
Everybody needs prayer.
I've told hundreds, if notthousands, of people about jesus
and I could probably count onone hand how many of them
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refused prayer, and I can attestit wasn't that awkward.
So if you want to bring Jesusinto your situation, just ask
the person standing in front ofyou is there anything I can pray
for you about?
And see what they say Usually,what happens.
They'll open up with what'sgoing on in their life yeah,
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actually I have this going onand that and that.
Then you can interject truthinto their situation.
Well, you know the Bible saysthis.
This is the truth of God's word.
Interject truth into theirsituation.
Well, you know the Bible saysthis.
This is the truth of God's Word.
Or you can interject testimonyfrom what you've seen God do in
your life.
Let me tell you I was dealingwith that same thing.
Let me tell you what God did,and then you pray for them and
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see what God does.
Kingdom people live on missionAmen.
Are there any questions, anycomments, any contributions?
All right, shall we eat?
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Okay, I forgot to give you guysan opportunity to give.
If you would like to do that,there are in the house.
We have these boxes.
You can put checks or cash inthese wooden boxes.
On top is a QR code.
You can just scan that andit'll take you to the giving
option on the website.
Feel free to do that.
Thank you for being generous.
All right, let's pray and thenkids remember, don't rush into
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the house.
Let those who have prepared themeal go in first, get things
ready, and then we'll go intogether.
All right, thank you Jesus,thank you, lord.
Your nature is you desire allto be saved.
God, it's who you are.
Nature is you desire all to besaved.
God, it's who you are.
So, holy Spirit, would you giveus the grace to communicate who
you are to the world around usin our lives and in our words?
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Or we want to represent yourightly.
Give us the grace, god.
Give us this grace.
This is too big for us.
So, lord, would you, like weprayed earlier, remove fear from
our lives.
Remove all doubt and questionsand all of the reasons why we
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could never do that.
Lord, remove those things.
Give us opportunities to beJesus to someone this week.
God, let this week be a week ofsalvation in our community.
God, that the blood of Jesuswould run swiftly through the
streets of our community andbring life everywhere it goes.
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Thank you, god.
Lord, thank you for this time.
Thank you for everyone here,lord.
Whatever needs are present,lord, I ask that you would break
in Touch bodies, touch bankaccounts, touch marriages, lord,
touch dreams and hopes andunanswered prayers with the
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gospel.
Lord.
Thank you for everyone whocontributed to this meal.
Lord, I pray that our timewould be rich, that it would be
full of life, that ourconversation would be spiritual,
it would be life-giving, lord,that we would even speak
prophetically to one another,build one another up in the
counsel of God.
Thank you, jesus, we love you.
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Thank you for the opportunityof gathering like this in such a
of God.
Thank you, jesus, we love you.
Thank you for the opportunityof gathering like this in such a
beautiful setting.
In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
Hey, man, we love you guys.
Simeon, I've missed seeing youcome up and lay hands on people
when we pray for them.
I love that about you, man.
Okay, go ahead and turn to Mark, chapter 16.
We'll be in Mark 16.
We'll be in a few differentpassages, as normal, but Mark 16
(00:23):
will be the first stoppingpoint.
We'll be in a few differentpassages, as normal, but Mark 16
will be the first stoppingpoint.
Asa is going to recite one ofthe verses that we will be
stopping in today 1 Timothy 2,verse 4.
Very good, can you say it onemore time loud?
(00:45):
Good job, bud.
1 Timothy 2, loud.
God desires all to be saved.
Good job, bud.
1 Timothy 2.4,.
God desires all to be saved.
Okay, a little bit of contextwith why we're talking about
what we're talking about today.
We have been talking about thekingdom of God for a few months
now.
One of the main points that weare making Is we are not just
(01:07):
saved, we are people of akingdom, and that kingdom is
completely contrary To thekingdom that we grew up in, the
kingdom of this world that weknow so well.
We have muscle memory on how toact in that kingdom.
So we have an encounter withJesus, we get saved, we receive
(01:32):
salvation from our sins, butthat does not automatically mean
that he becomes Lord sitting onthe throne of our heart.
I would encourage you to goback and listen to some of the
previous messages.
There's three different types ofpeople that normally find
themselves in church.
(01:52):
The folks in John chapter 2 whocome to Jesus and believe what
he is saying.
They see the miracles, theybelieve, but Jesus, he, doesn't
entrust Himself to them becausehe knows what's in their heart.
They're unsaved believers.
They're not born again.
(02:13):
They have faith on their lips,their language sounds right, but
they haven't had a born againencounter with God, again
encounter with God.
The second type of persontypically found in churches we
point to Mary on ResurrectionSunday, sitting outside of the
(02:34):
tomb.
She clings to Jesus.
Why?
Because she's saved, she's bornagain, she's received new life.
But Jesus says don't cling tome, I haven't yet ascended.
Don't cling to me yet.
I want you to cling to me, butI need you to cling to me where
I'm going to be seated andenthroned as king.
(02:56):
It's not yet time to cling tome.
So who is the second person?
The second person is saved,they're born again, but they
still sit on the throne of theirheart.
They're still making thedecisions for themselves.
They're not kingdom.
The third type of person iswhat we want to be.
This is like Peter.
(03:18):
This is like Paul.
This is like James.
He uses kingdom language.
Jesus is king.
He's seated on the throne inheaven and I'm seated there with
him, I'm clinging to him asking.
You can be saved but not livekingdom life, but you can't live
(03:41):
kingdom life without beingsaved.
We want to be kingdom people,jesus people.
So we've spent the past fewweeks talking about what it
means to not just be saved, tonot just have our heavenly
passport stamped, but toactually live the kingdom life.
Things like kingdom people arefamily.
(04:04):
They're not just a collectionof individuals.
We are a family.
That means we interact with oneanother in a way that
represents the kingdom,preferring others more than
ourselves, treating andinteracting with one another
with humility and meekness andgentleness and understanding.
We're family.
(04:24):
Another thing we talked aboutis kingdom people are generous,
not just with their finances,but with everything their time,
their hospitality, theirresources, their forgiveness.
Kingdom people understand thepower of their words.
They understand that the tongueis a flame, so kingdom people
(04:45):
are disciplined with theirspeech.
Today we're going to talk aboutkingdom people live their life
on mission.
Kingdom people are evangelistic.
Or, to put it plainly, kingdompeople share the gospel.
Or, to put it plainly, kingdompeople share the gospel.
(05:05):
Now, if you're thinking he'sjust going to try to browbeat us
to go and evangelize, don'tworry.
There's a twist to the message.
Kingdom people are on mission.
They are a people of the greatcommission.
Kingdom people are not like thedead sea, only taking in and
(05:29):
receiving the life-givingnutrients of the gospel.
They are a river of life andhope that is dispensing life,
pouring out life wherever theygo.
That's the promise of John 7,38.
Rivers of living water willflow from your inmost being.
(05:51):
That's kingdom people.
They are dispensers of truthand grace.
Kingdom people are a livingembodiment of the truth that
Jesus is alive.
Count how many times I trip onthis and almost fall.
I'm going to back this up.
(06:16):
Okay, I told you, mark, chapter16.
Mark, chapter 16, we'll readverse 15 and 16.
Of course, this is after theresurrection.
This is just prior to theascension of Jesus.
He looks to his disciples andhe says this Go into all the
(06:36):
world and preach the gospel toall creation.
He who believes and is baptizedwill be saved, but he who does
not believe will be condemned.
Go, preach the gospel.
Now, it wouldn't be a fungathering in this beautiful
(06:58):
setting if we didn't talk aboutthe Greek language for a minute.
So I want to talk about thisword that's translated preach,
go and preach.
The Greek word is chariso,chariso.
Chariso means to announce, tomake known, to proclaim.
That's the essence of ourmission as kingdom people Making
(07:24):
Jesus known to all creation andannouncing the gospel of his
kingdom.
So today we're going to talkabout the who, the where and the
how of this mission who, whereand how.
I'm going to emphasize the how,because that's usually the one
(07:44):
that we get hung up on.
So I'm going to emphasize thatone.
But first I want to talk aboutthe why.
Why does Jesus tell us to gointo the world and preach the
gospel to all of creation?
Two main reasons.
The first reason is Romans 3.23.
The first reason is Romans 3.23.
(08:07):
All have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.
If all have sinned, then allare condemned.
If all are condemned, then allneed a Savior.
And if all need a Savior, thenall need the gospel, which tells
(08:30):
all how they can be savedUnless the lost in our community
hear that there is a way ofsalvation through the life,
death, resurrection, ascensionand enthronement of Jesus, and
then they receive that gift ofsalvation through repentance,
(08:51):
then they will die in their sinand live forever separated from
God in hell.
It's the gospel man.
All have sinned and fallenshort of God's glory.
Jesus says in John, chapter 8, Iam the light of the world.
Praise God, he's the light ofthe world.
(09:12):
Then he says this If you don'tbelieve that I am, you will die
in your sins.
That's John 8, verse 12 andverse 24.
So what does that mean?
To die in our sins?
It means we die separated fromGod forever.
This is why we have to be onmission.
(09:37):
There are lots of people aroundus that are living right now
separated from God.
We don't want them to dieseparated from God, right now,
separated from God.
We don't want them to dieseparated from God.
So this leads us to the secondreason why kingdom people live
on mission to share the gospelwith the world.
All have sinned and areseparated from God.
But God takes no delight in thedeath of the wicked, but rather
(10:02):
His delight is that the wickedwould turn from their evil ways
and live.
This is the desire of God'sheart.
That's Ezekiel 33, 11.
What Asa quoted earlier 1Timothy 2, 4.
God desires all to be saved andto come to the knowledge of the
(10:25):
truth.
Think about this for a minute.
God has a desire in his heart.
That same word is used inEzekiel 33 as Paul uses in 1
Timothy 2.
One is the Hebrew word, theother is the Greek equivalent.
God says I don't desire thatthe wicked die and are separated
(10:45):
from me.
I actually desire that theyturn and are saved and come to
the knowledge of the truth.
That's his desire.
Now, that's the tension of God'swill.
That's what desire also means.
It means will want takepleasure in.
That's God's will.
(11:07):
It's his desire that all wouldbe saved.
So there's that's the tension.
On one side, god desires all tobe saved.
And then the other side of thetension is our free will to
decide.
We don't want him.
And then, right smack in themiddle, is the responsibility of
the church to make known to theworld the abundant life that is
(11:31):
found in Jesus.
If 1 Timothy 2, 4 is true thatGod desires all to be saved,
then think about this God iscurrently desiring something in
our generation that he does notyet have.
God has an unfulfilled desireright now.
(11:54):
This is what makes the gospelpowerful.
Now bear with me, put yourthinking caps on.
This is what makes the gospelpowerful.
It flows from the source ofGod's desire to satisfy a
longing in his heart.
First and foremost, the why ofour gospel witness is God having
(12:19):
the desire of his heart.
We don't share our faith withthe world because the world is
lost and on its way to hell.
That's not our motivation.
We share our faith because Godhas a longing in his heart.
Is the world lost and on itsway to hell?
Yes, but your neighbor being ontheir way to hell doesn't give
(12:44):
the gospel power.
But your neighbor being on theway to hell doesn't give the
gospel power.
God's longing in his heart iswhat gives the gospel power.
John Piper puts it this wayMissions exist because worship
does not.
We go because there are lostpeople who are not worshiping
(13:09):
their creator, and that's notokay with him.
He has a desire for them to besaved.
Until every person in ourcommunity worships jesus as
savior and lord, then there'sstill the need to be on mission
for the sake of the longing inhis heart.
It's a small shift from I sharemy faith because they're lost
(13:33):
and on the way to hell to Ishare my faith because God
desires something and he doesn'thave it yet.
It's a God focused evangelismor a lost world focused
evangelism.
It's a slight shift, but I'mtelling you, man, it will make
the biggest difference in yourmotivation to share your faith.
(13:55):
What comes out of your mouthwhen you share your faith?
You ever seen the guys holdingthe signs, the turn and burn
type signs?
What are they focused on?
Lost sin, separation, death.
Flip it around, focus on Godand the desire of his heart, and
you will not hold up a signthat says turn or burn.
(14:16):
You'll share the gospel withtears in your eyes.
When you're focused on thelonging of his heart, man, it
makes a big difference.
I've got to move on becausesome of you look hungry.
So that's the why.
Why do we share the gospel?
Who?
What is the who of our gospelwitness?
(14:38):
That answer is simple, but letme answer this simple question
with a story.
Who do we share the gospel with?
This simple question, with astory who do we share the gospel
with?
In the 1970s, there was aadvertisement placed in a
Polynesian bless you magazineasking for missionary workers to
help start churches in thejungles, where there were many
(14:59):
unreached peoples.
Now, the qualifications forthese missionary workers were
this the ability to mix withpeople, to wade in rivers, to
write articles, to mix concrete,to love one's neighbor, to
deliver babies, to sitcross-legged for long extents of
time, to conduct meetings, todrain swamps, to digest
(15:20):
questionable dishes, to patchhuman weaknesses, to suffer
fools gladly and to burnmidnight oil.
I love that.
It's so good.
Yeah, right, then it goes on.
The job listing suggestspersons allergic to ants, babies
, beggars, chop suey,cockroaches, curried crabs,
(15:44):
guitars, humidity, indifference,itches, jungles, mildew,
minority groups, mud, poverty,sweat and unmarried mothers.
Had better think twice beforeapplying.
Who do we preach the gospel toall of creation in every
(16:05):
situation imaginable?
Jesus says go out into theworld and announce what he has
done to all creation.
Some of you may be called totake the gospel across the world
.
Others of you may be called totake the gospel across the
(16:27):
street.
He's going to lead you where hewants you to intersect with
individuals.
The big question is this areyou willing to be a witness
wherever he sends you?
Are you willing to share Jesuswith your friends, your
(16:49):
neighbors, the grocery storeworker, the coffee shop barista?
Are you willing to share Jesuswith Muslims, with Jews, with
atheists, with homosexuals, withdrug addicts, with gang members
, with drunk family members?
Are you willing to be a witnessto the lost person standing
(17:11):
right in front of you?
Jesus pursued those who wereseparated from him, to the point
that the religious leadersaccused him of being a glutton
and a drunkard and a friend ofsinners.
Can it be said that you are afriend of sinners?
(17:32):
Jesus didn't come to call therighteous, he came to call
sinners.
That's Luke 5, 32.
So who do we preach the gospelto?
The lost around us, whom Godgives us the opportunity to
intersect with.
So we got the why, we got thewho.
Now let's talk about the where.
(17:52):
The where is very simple too.
Don't worry about it.
God will take care about thewhere.
God's going to guide your steps.
That's his responsibility.
He's going to take you and leadyou in the places you should go
.
When you have that settled,then you can trust that the
person standing right in frontof you is where he wants you to
(18:14):
go with the gospel.
If you want to know God's willfor you today, if you want to
know God's will for you tomorrow.
Look at the person standingright in front of you.
That's God's will for you,that's your assignment right
there.
When you believe that God willtake you where he wants you to
go, whether across the world oracross town, you can trust that
(18:39):
the person standing in front ofyou is no accident.
We got the why.
We got the where.
What was the second one, who?
Very good, that was a trickquestion.
Okay, now the why.
We've got the where.
What was the second one, who?
Very good, that was a trickquestion.
Okay, now the how.
This is the meat.
How do we announce, how do wemake known, how do we proclaim
(19:03):
who Jesus is and what he hasdone is and what he has done?
The most effective gospelwitness is you and I living
lives that look like Jesus.
It's as simple and aschallenging as that.
Authentic lives of humility andmeekness.
(19:24):
Humility and meekness, kindness, sacrifice, faith, honesty,
grace, surrender, obedience,generosity, radical hospitality.
When those qualities areevident in the person who tells
(19:47):
another person about Jesus, thenthat gospel is undeniable.
When the life being livedmatches the word being spoken,
the world loses its argument.
I'm going to say that againbecause you guys have gotten
dull of hearing.
I've talked so much already.
When the life being livedmatches the words being spoken,
(20:11):
the world loses its argument.
I could evangelize every daywith the best gospel
presentation, with the mostskilled apologetics, I could be
the best debater, I could haveall the evangelism verses
memorized and I could have everyanswer for every question that
(20:34):
could be thrown my way.
But if my life does not matchthe things that I'm declaring
with my lips, then my words lackauthority.
My gospel witness is hollow andempty.
It has no weight to it.
John says this 1 John 2, verse6.
(20:54):
The one who says he abides inJesus ought to himself also walk
as Jesus walked.
Translation let your walk matchyour words.
Your walk better match up withyour words.
If what I say doesn't match whoI am, then I'm actually
(21:20):
diluting the truth of the gospel.
I'm weakening the power of thegospel to transform lives.
Jesus tells the Pharisees inMatthew 15, 6.
I need to give a scripture toprove what I'm saying, because
some of you look skeptical.
He tells the Pharisees inMatthew 15, 6.
(21:42):
You hypocrites, you've renderedpowerless the word of God by
your traditions.
You've rendered ineffectivethat's what the word literally
means the word of God.
By how you are acting.
You've robbed the word of Godof its power by acting one way
(22:06):
and speaking another.
Paul tells the Romans in Romans1 16, that he's not ashamed of
the gospel, for it is the whatPower of God unto salvation.
That's what the gospel is.
You, okay, brother, okay,anyone else, need to stand up.
(22:28):
Feel free If your backside istired from sitting on those
seats.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel,because the gospel is the power
of God unto salvation.
Amen.
The pure, authentic gospel,announced from lips of blood
washed, born again, saints ofGod, is absolutely nuclear.
(22:50):
It is atomic.
It is undefeated.
It's the power of God.
So let the pure, unfilteredgospel loose man and watch what
it can do when nothing isholding it back.
Let the gospel be the thingthat is rejected.
Let the gospel be the thingthat offends on its own merit,
(23:15):
not because it has ourfingerprints on it, not because
we dilute the gospel witnesswith our hypocritical lives.
Let the gospel offend.
Let the gospel separate.
Big statement Ready Heavenforbid.
We stand before Jesus one daywith the blood of the lost on
(23:40):
our hands because they couldn'tbelieve in a gospel that looked
like what they saw in our lives.
That's the reality of theresponsibility that we bear.
To whom much is given, much isrequired.
And, friends, we've been givenmuch Forgiveness, life from the
(24:03):
dead, the spirit of Godindwelling us.
To whom much is given, much isrequired.
And with that incredible giftof God's grace comes the
responsibility of showing theworld what born again,
forgiveness from sin looks likein a person.
(24:24):
We have to be authentic, wehave to be genuine.
The Holy Spirit will give usgrace to do that.
Preach the gospel with yourlife and let your words confirm
that message.
I'm almost finished.
Is everybody okay?
The truth from a nine-year-old.
(24:51):
There's an old story and asaying that's attributed to
saint francis of assisi.
The story goes something likethis one day, saint francis, he
went to one of the young monksin the monastery.
He said, brother, let us gointo town and preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And the young monk was soexcited.
St Francis is asking me to gowith him to evangelize.
(25:15):
So they left the monastery andthey start passing through the
town.
They pass through the mainroads and then they begin going
up and down through the alleys.
They make their way into thesuburbs and then they find their
way back to the monastery.
And the young monkey says did weforget our intention today?
(25:37):
Francis says, my son, we havepreached.
Don't worry, we were preachingwhile we were walking.
We've been seen by many.
Our behavior has been closelywatched.
The world is watching.
Our behavior has been closelywatched.
(25:59):
Thus, we have preached ourmorning sermon.
It is of no use, my son, towalk anywhere to preach unless
we preach everywhere as we walk.
It's of no use, my son, to walkanywhere to preach unless we
preach everywhere as we walk.
The world is watching to see ifwe are who we say Jesus is.
(26:26):
We say Jesus is.
The world is watching to see ifwe are who we say Jesus is.
So John says in 1 John 4, Ibelieve it's 17, you are as he
is in the world, and the worldis watching.
Now this famous story has anaccompanying quote that probably
(26:48):
some of you have heard beforePreach the gospel at all times.
St Francis of Assisi said, andsometimes, if necessary, use
words.
It's cute, it's catchy, it'scheeky.
I agree with the heart behindit that our lives will often be
the best gospel presentation,but the message of Jesus,
(27:11):
friends, must be communicated.
We have to use words, we haveto explain the gospel message.
Romans 10, 14,.
How shall they believe if theyhave not heard?
The lost have to hear that sinand hell and separation from god
are real.
Repentance must be explained bythose who have received it.
(27:38):
Kingdom people articulate thegospel with their lives and
their words.
So how about we tweak StFrancis' statement just a little
bit to something like thisPreach the gospel at all times
with your life and your words.
That's the how of our gospelwitness.
(28:03):
Live a life that is undeniablyChrist-like and let your words
be life-giving, dead-raising,chain-breaking, eye-opening
flames that ignite cold, deadhearts with the mysteriously
spontaneous combustion of thegospel.
Let your lives, let your wordscompletely confound dead things
(28:32):
and bring them to life with thegospel.
Closing thoughts Praise GodBryson's hungry.
Why do we announce Jesus?
Why do we preach Jesus?
Because he desires all to besaved, and right now all are not
yet saved.
(28:52):
Who do we announce Jesus?
To?
All of creation, everyone thatwe intersect with.
Where do we announce Jesus?
Wherever he takes us?
How do we announce Jesus Withlives that confirm our words?
(29:13):
I want to give you one practical, the easiest thing you can do
to begin that conversation witha stranger that is so awkward
and so fearful.
You want to share your faith,but you don't know how.
What do I do?
Ask them if there's anythingthat they need prayer for.
(29:38):
I've found that that is theeasiest way to bring Jesus into
a conversation.
Everybody needs prayer.
I've told hundreds, if notthousands, of people about jesus
and I could probably count onone hand how many of them
(29:59):
refused prayer, and I can attestit wasn't that awkward.
So if you want to bring Jesusinto your situation, just ask
the person standing in front ofyou is there anything I can pray
for you about?
And see what they say Usually,what happens.
They'll open up with what'sgoing on in their life yeah,
(30:20):
actually I have this going onand that and that.
Then you can interject truthinto their situation.
Well, you know the Bible saysthis.
This is the truth of God's word.
Interject truth into theirsituation.
Well, you know the Bible saysthis.
This is the truth of God's Word.
Or you can interject testimonyfrom what you've seen God do in
your life.
Let me tell you I was dealingwith that same thing.
Let me tell you what God did,and then you pray for them and
(30:45):
see what God does.
Kingdom people live on missionAmen.
Are there any questions, anycomments, any contributions?
All right, shall we eat?
(31:09):
Okay, I forgot to give you guysan opportunity to give.
If you would like to do that,there are in the house.
We have these boxes.
You can put checks or cash inthese wooden boxes.
On top is a QR code.
You can just scan that andit'll take you to the giving
option on the website.
Feel free to do that.
Thank you for being generous.
All right, let's pray and thenkids remember, don't rush into
(31:33):
the house.
Let those who have prepared themeal go in first, get things
ready, and then we'll go intogether.
All right, thank you Jesus,thank you, lord.
Your nature is you desire allto be saved.
God, it's who you are.
Nature is you desire all to besaved.
God, it's who you are.
So, holy Spirit, would you giveus the grace to communicate who
you are to the world around usin our lives and in our words?
(31:56):
Or we want to represent yourightly.
Give us the grace, god.
Give us this grace.
This is too big for us.
So, lord, would you, like weprayed earlier, remove fear from
our lives.
Remove all doubt and questionsand all of the reasons why we
(32:19):
could never do that.
Lord, remove those things.
Give us opportunities to beJesus to someone this week.
God, let this week be a week ofsalvation in our community.
God, that the blood of Jesuswould run swiftly through the
streets of our community andbring life everywhere it goes.
(32:42):
Thank you, god.
Lord, thank you for this time.
Thank you for everyone here,lord.
Whatever needs are present,lord, I ask that you would break
in Touch bodies, touch bankaccounts, touch marriages, lord,
touch dreams and hopes andunanswered prayers with the
(33:06):
gospel.
Lord.
Thank you for everyone whocontributed to this meal.
Lord, I pray that our timewould be rich, that it would be
full of life, that ourconversation would be spiritual,
it would be life-giving, lord,that we would even speak
prophetically to one another,build one another up in the
counsel of God.
Thank you, jesus, we love you.
(33:27):
Thank you for the opportunityof gathering like this in such a
of God.
Thank you, jesus, we love you.
Thank you for the opportunityof gathering like this in such a
beautiful setting.
In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
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