June 29, 2024 • 31 mins
In this lesson turned into preaching, Brother Tim MacDonald dives into Exodus 28 expounding on Aarons armor and the parallels that it connects to with Jesus Christ as our high priest. This is during our yearly Youth Retreat where Riverside MBC, Shady Grove MBC, Cherry Valley UBC, and Olive Branch MBC come together to make this happen! (Please bear with us on audio quality as this was recorded outside in a larger setting)
We got to see 6-7 souls get saved!!! Praise God!!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We have a scavenger hunt, we have a water activity planned, we have all those things too.
And that is fun and that's part of camp, but don't forget, you know,
why this is all we're growing to.
So I need us to have a positive attitude, an open heart, okay?
It's hard for, I've been where I've had to teach a lesson or something,
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and there's too many close hearts, or we've been in a church service where like,
Like, you just didn't want to be there, right? And it's hard to preach, and it's hard to sing.
We don't want to be that way. We want to have open hearts right now.
So we appreciate everybody quickly getting their stuff and getting over here.
Tim's going to follow this fear with his lesson. You guys participate.
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Be obedient, and then we'll move on to lunch. Okay? Okay.
Let's go, Tim!
All right, I've been praying a lot on this lesson, and I've been studying a
bunch of different areas, and hopefully everybody can hear me.
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But this one scripture over here in Exodus 28 is where God's got my heart at.
And I will say, when you read through these, I'll just ask you to kind of hang
in there with me a little bit.
There's kind of a lot of details or descriptions in here of the priest's garments over here.
But one thing I want to point out too, I was praying about this,
and I'm like, I don't want to put the teenager just to sleep.
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I don't want to bore y'all.
But God, as I was praying this morning, I woke me up at 6.30 this morning,
which for me, if you know me, that's unlike me. I don't wake up early. I'm not an early person.
But God woke me up, and He just said, look, every detail in the Bible matters.
Every small detail, whether big, whether small. all
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you know they mean something in the scriptures you know so
we're going to go through this and like i said i ask that you hang in there with me
as we go through these you know and we'll just allow the lord just
to you know work tonight work through all of this you
know but starting in exodus 28 of verse 8 through 12 and then we'll go to verse
21 through 30 in the same chapter but it says in the curious girdle of the ephod
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which is upon it shall be of the same according to the work Verse 2.
On the other stone according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in
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stone. Like the engravings of a signet. Shall thou engrave the two stones.
With the names of the children of Israel. Thou shall make them to be set in ouches of gold.
And thou shall put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod.
For stones and memorials under the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear
the names before the Lord. Upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
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And now skipping down to 21 through 30. In the same chapter we'll go ahead and read that. And it says.
And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel,
twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet.
Every one of the names shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the end of the wreathened work of pure gold.
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And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and thou shalt put
the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.
And thou shalt put the two wreathened chains of gold in the two rings which
are on the ends of the breastplate.
And the other two ends of the two wreathened chains thou shalt
fasten in the two alges is and put them on the shoulder pieces of
the ephod before it and thou shall make two rings of gold
and thou shall put them upon the two ends of the breastplate and the
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border thereof which is in the side of the ephod inward
and the other two rings of gold thou shall make and
put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath toward the
fore part thereof over against the other coupling thereof
above the curious gold or the ephod and then it
says and they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof under the
rings of the ephod with a lace of blue that it
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may be above the the curious gold girdle of the
ephod and that the breastplate be not loose from the ephod
but 29 is kind of also what stood out to me right here and
it says and aaron shall bear the names of the children of israel in
the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he go with it onto the holy
place for a memorial before the lord continually so we can see right here with
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aaron you know right here him being the priest of the children of israel this
was an influential man right here that would go on behalf into the in and out
of the tabernacle on behalf of the people is what he would do.
But upon the part that stood out to me that God, you know, just kind of the
thought that God kind of put on my heart was keeping the ways of God close.
It's kind of what really stood out to me. And you might be saying,
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well, how do you get that from, you know, Aaron and the making of everything
that the priest, you know, in his garments and what he would wear,
you know, so think about it.
We've mentioned earlier on that every detail matters right here.
So notice the coloring at the very beginning in verse eight,
you know, it actually talks about, you know, the gold, the blue,
the purple, you know, blue oftentimes is representative of grace.
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You know, this is a big picture pointing, you know, and we'll get into that
later over here in Hebrews two. But this is a big picture of Jesus Christ,
you know, becoming our high priest and our intercessor.
You know, he intervenes on our behalf.
You know, so blue, your grace, unmerited favor.
You know, we see that, you know, gold, you know, there's a there's a brilliance to gold.
You know, refiners, when they work with gold, what do they do?
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They heat it up and they scrape out the impurities is what they do to get it
in its most purest and brilliant form.
And then you look at, you know, purple. Purple is often a stands for royalty,
you know, is what it stands for. And then you look at a scarlet.
Oftentimes you read in Isaiah, he talks about how, you know,
our sins be as scarlet, but he'll make them white as snow.
You know, we got a God that does that. And then you go into,
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you know, fine twine linen.
You know, I'm thankful, you know, the spirit, you know, what does it do?
It knits us together in one. You know, and I'm thankful for that.
But then, you know, I begin to think on how on his shoulders he bore the names
of the children of Israel on the shoulders.
And then over here, it says on the breastplate, he bore the names closest to his heart.
You know, aren't you glad that we got a God that keeps us close to his heart
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to the point, you know, to where, you know, like the closest that he could ever
keep us the best place he keeps us closest to his heart. You know,
and you might be saying, how do you see Jesus in that?
Well, let's go ahead and turn. Like I said, just hang in there with me and I
promise we'll get to the meat of the lesson.
Hebrews 2, if you would. Hebrews chapter 2. I know a little bit of reading.
And now you're going to see on how, you know, Jesus was our high priest,
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you know, and how it was a big picture of pointing to him.
So Hebrews chapter two and go through verses 14 through 18. Anybody want to read that?
Don't be shy.
What did you say it was? Hebrews 2, 14 through 18.
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
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he also himself likewise took part in the same, that through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
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Did you say the rest? 18? Yeah, 318 if you don't mind. Therefore,
in all things, it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, and thanks pertaining
to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to secure them that are tempted.
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So you can see here, you know, Paul, you know, writing to the Hebrews right
here, you know, this is the part that really just stood out to me.
You know, he's referred to Jesus Christ himself is referred to as a high priest.
You know, he came in all of us. You know, first off, we say he came in all of his glory.
But on the other side of that, on the flip side, he came as like one of us.
You know, the Bible says that he made himself lower than the angels.
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You know, so that means that he brought himself lower, you know,
left the left perfection, you know, to take on the form of a servant and thought it not robbery.
You know, to go and be equal with God on top of it. But this is the part that
verse 18 is what got me is we're in that he himself is
suffered being tempted, meaning he bore everything that we could possibly ever
go through. He did that. You know, Jesus Christ took that upon himself.
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You know, think about it. What would the priest do when they would enter into
the tabernacle? They would first, you know, offer a sacrifice for themselves
first, you know, for the sins of themselves.
But then they would also offer it for the people and then they would go in.
But then I begin to think even deeper and we begin to preach on this on Sunday
a little bit was, you know, at the hem of the garment of the priest's garment,
you'll find there was pomegranates and there was bells.
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And in the pattern of it was It was a bell, and then it was a pomegranate.
It was a bell, and it was a pomegranate.
And just again, we start talking about the details with that.
That is important because if you think about it, if you take two bells and you
clink them together, you're going to get a loud distorted noise is what you're going to get, right?
So the pomegranates between the bells, the point of that was like,
so that there was a clear sound because it even talks about it up there in 28.
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And the chapter is as he was going into the tabernacle, you could hear the bells ringing.
So you can know where the priest was at all times in there. You know,
think about this. You know, it's the same way with Jesus Christ.
You know, think about it. You know, it may not be listening necessarily for
a physical, you know, bell ringing sound, but the way of God is not a distorted sound.
It is a very clear, abundantly clear sound. You know, God, the Bible says God
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is not the author of confusion.
He's not going to confuse you more. You know, that's all Satan.
You know, I'll just say this, you know, for those of you that are saved or lost,
you know, when it comes to the ways of God, you know, God's not going to confuse you more.
He's not going to make it harder for you. He's the one that makes our burdens
light, is what the Scripture says.
So if you're lost and you need to be saved, what he's going to do is he's going
to make it abundantly clear to your heart.
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All I know is that, Brother Stephen, when God spoke to my heart,
I didn't need Doug Newberry or anybody else to tell me that it was God speaking to my heart.
See, that sound was distinctly clear.
I knew that it was him speaking to my heart.
It's going to be the same for us. Lost or saved, delight.
If you are lost, I'm just going to say this. You don't need me.
You don't need Reno. You don't need any of us youth leaders.
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You don't need Pastor Stephen. We don't you don't need us to tell you whether
or not God's speaking to your heart.
You already know if he is, but he'll be very distinct about it.
You know, there's a drawing power that happens from that.
You know, so again, you know, but the best part about it is he says that he
is able to succour them that are tempted. Succour means to help.
Is what it means. You know, think about it. God just reminded me of this.
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I know it's a familiar account.
You know, you might have even heard all this before. But, you know,
think about the woman with the issue of blood.
You know, in the hem of the garments too, there was also, I think,
I don't know if it was Deuteronomy or Leviticus, actually talks about how there
was a ribbon of blue that was actually in the hem of the garment. You know, again, grace.
You know, but what did the woman with the issue of blood do, Brother Chris?
The woman with the issue of blood, she pressed through the crowd is what she did.
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Pressed through all the nonsense is what she did. I don't know the way to put it.
And then what did she do? She pressed through the nonsense and she just knew
that all she had to do was get a hold of the hem of that garment, Sister Katie.
And what did she do? She pressed through the crowd and grabbed a hold of that
hem with that blue, the grace.
And what did the Bible say? It says the virtue went out of Christ is what it said.
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You know, the goodness went out of Christ into her and she was healed of an
issue that nobody else could heal.
She saw many doctors for you might say, well, that's impossible. possible.
Well, you know, don't even get me started on the miracles of God,
brother, because I'm just going to say this, you know, I got it on my heart
to share it again, you know, but I got a niece that she's a miracle.
I'm just going to tell you, she's a miracle. I speak about her a lot.
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And I, I love, you know, we're thinking about how God worked a miracle there.
You know, I'm just going to say she was born premature. She was born with another twin.
And, you know, I'm just going to tell you this, you know, just to paint the
picture for you right here. I believe God can perform miracles today.
I a hundred percent believe that he can. You don't think that escaping hell,
I'm just going to throw this out here.
If you don't think escaping hell isn't a miracle, I'm going to tell you,
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brother Chris, you know, when I got saved, I saw the miracle happen that he
performed with me, took somebody that didn't have an upbringing in the way. I was raised Catholic.
I'll just be honest with you. I was, but what happened? He went and he showed,
he sent the gospel my way and he showed me exactly who I was and that I was
lost and undone without him.
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I needed that high priest or that intercessor or that influential person in my life.
And I did not have him. And what did he do? He made it.
He made it to where I knew it was him, speaking of my heart.
But also, too, you know what else he made very distinct is that the fact that
I didn't want to go to that awful place.
He made it very clear that I didn't want to go there. But then,
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you know, I began to talk about my niece, though.
But she was born, you know, very preeminent. She was barely a pound,
you know, when she was born.
I watched my in-laws go through the roller coaster of the NICU is what I watched.
And, you know, well, anyway, you know, they couldn't even touch their own baby
for I don't know how long. But anyway, they later did some examinations,
and they found that this baby had a hole in her heart.
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And honestly, with the signs that she was in, she wouldn't have been able to
bear a surgery like that. She really wouldn't have. The doctors even said that.
But what did they do? They were in the room praying, is what they were in the
room praying, Brother Chris.
And you don't know what they were doing. They prayed and kept praying.
And then right before the surgery, they went and did the examination again.
And you know what happened? This whole thing, they just checked the following day.
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The doctor came in, and you know what she said? And she said,
you know, whoever it is that you're praying to, you need to keep doing it.
It's what you need to do because I don't see no hole anymore.
I want to hear one person tell me that that wasn't the hand of God.
Because, you know, even if even the doctor, I don't know where she stood with God.
But all I knew is that if she had to declare to that it was God that worked
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the miracle, it's the same way with us.
I'm glad that I can look at everything in my life. And I have the one that lives
in my heart that bears my name. I'm thankful for that.
And aren't you glad that I'll just say this, you know, for you as well.
If you're lost, he can bear your name too. He already did.
You might be saying, well, how so? When he died on Calvary is what he did because
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he said he is able to secure them that are tempted.
He's able to help you not only in your trials, but he's able to help you out
of sin is what he's able to do.
My goodness. You know, I'm getting stirred up. I'm already preaching.
I didn't mean to, but I just ask you if anybody have any thoughts or comments
or questions or anything they want to add.
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Don't be shy. It's an open panel, so don't be shy.
Everybody happy? I got a question. Yeah. Do you need me to get you anything?
I can give you a bottle of water. But, you know, I guess the thing,
you know, a real quick lesson, you know, but the thing that I just want to make
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abundantly clear, though, is, you know, God took upon everything we could ever bear upon himself.
You know, and he, you know, as a priest was going and working,
you know, bearing the names on his shoulders, think about what did he do? He carried our burdens.
He carried our sin, our weight of our sin on his shoulders is what he did.
You know, and then him keeping us closest to his heart. You know,
my goodness, you know, I find strength in knowing that I got a God that cared that much for me.
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Didn't have to, but he did. You know, he carried all of us. You know, he really did.
You know, everybody thinks that when he died on Calvary, everybody always thinks,
you know, we kind of limited him in a way, don't we, in our thinking a little
bit. But we think, man, he was just looking at the Romans that were yelling, crucify him.
And we think he was just looking at the thief on the cross, the two male factors
beside him. We think he was talking about Barnabas. I'm not saying all those aren't important.
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He was looking at you and I further on. That's right. He was looking at all of us.
My goodness, isn't that amazing? The Savior, just let this resonate with you.
If anything, if you take anything from this lesson, just let this resonate with you.
The Savior of the universe, the creator of the heavens and the earth,
He sent the most precious thing that he had.
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For you and me. And the same with Jesus Christ. He sent the most precious thing.
You know, I always get stuck on the thief.
And Vince preached on the thief on the cross not so long ago.
There was one that was railing on him.
But there was one on the other side. He had no upbringing in church. He had no Sunday school.
He had no, you know, baptism. He had none of those things. But what did he do?
He said, Father, remember me when I enter into your kingdom.
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And what did Jesus say today? That will be with me in paradise.
Aren't you glad that it's that simple? A lot of people, we convolute it.
We confuse things, don't we, when it comes to the things of God?
We make it that much harder, is what we do.
We like to complicate it. We want thunderbolts, and we want physical signs,
and we want to be like Naaman, right?
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Naaman, when he had his leprosy, and I love reading about Naaman.
One of the most common scriptures you can read out there.
Naaman, he was covering leprosy, and he was expecting Elijah to come out and
call him his God. And he had all these preconceived notions on how he thought it ought to go.
We get like that. If you're lost, you're like, well, wait a minute.
I want my God to really make a big spectacle about things.
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He already did by sending his son. He already did that.
I believe Naaman believed. I most certainly do. But there was somebody over there.
I can't remember exactly how the scripture went, but there was somebody over
there that said, look, if the prophet pointed you to the river of Jordan,
wouldn't you go and do that?
Look, let me ask you to kind of present the same question to you.
If you know that you can get some help through Jesus Christ, what do you have to lose?
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You have a heaven to gain. You have not only just heaven to gain,
but you've got eternal life to gain.
You know, eternal doesn't end, Brother Reno. You know, like it doesn't end.
That's the beautiful part about it. You know, what I have on the inside, it never ends.
Because, yeah, you might be saying, well, we'll die eventually.
We most certainly will. The flesh will. My soul won't.
My soul won't. Because it's going to go to be with him in glory.
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He's going to give me that new body so I can be with him.
You know, you might be thinking tonight, you know, I swore up and down in my
tail that I was going to preach and do all this stuff. But, you know, I just can't help it.
Let's get an altar call if you would, if that's all right. You know,
somebody that has a song on your heart, you know, just I feel it very strongly.
I feel like somebody needs to pray.
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You know, one of these days I'm going to actually just teach a lesson and sit
down. But, you know, my goodness, you know, God's just too good to sit on him.
God is too good to not act like he isn't important. and God is too good to hang
on to our thoughts and our preconceived notions, our worries, our care.
You know, the theme of this whole entire, the whole entire youth retreat is overcoming fear.
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You might have, you know, Satan might be putting fear in the back of your head.
Like, well, what are they going to think if I have to kneel and pray and ask God to save me?
I'm going to tell you, you know, everybody's saved here.
You want to know what everybody thinks here? We want you to have the same thing we have.
Look, if someone kneels right beside me or wherever you're at,
you're not going to bother me one bit. But I'll tell you, you know,
we us preachers, you know, we got a thing that we say, you know,
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some people get worried that their kids are too loud.
And I'm going to say this. If the kids are louder than I am,
you know, there's probably a problem.
But the other side about that, that means that parents are bringing their kids to church.
That's amazing is what that is.
But I'm going to tell you, God thought of every single individual in here.
And look, and I'm going to tell you that's under the sound of my voice.
I just want to tell you, you know, I'm nobody special, but I just want to tell
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you that there's a heaven to gain.
There's a there's a devil to shine. and there is again there is eternity to
gain you know but that's the beautiful part about it you know I know how you
overcome fear step out on faith.
You know, Peter knew a little thing about that, didn't he, Brother Chris?
He did. You know, only one that actually stepped out of the boat.
You know, and you might be saying, well, you know, but like, you know, he sunk.
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You know, there's going to be times where you feel like you're sinking deep in your doubt.
There's going to be times that you think you're stuck in a pit of,
you know, sorrow, a pit of depression, or you're going to go through different seasons.
But you know the difference is, though, is that if you have God,
he goes through you with those things. because as soon as Peter began to sink, what did he do?
He reached out his hand, and he lifted him right up out of the water.
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I'm glad for a God that catches me when I fall.
My goodness, how many times did Paul, he was out preaching the gospel,
and people hated him for that.
He was stoned, and what did he do? I always get stuck on this scripture.
He was stoned. He was tossed out of cities. But what did he do?
You might be saying, well, what drove him to keep on going? only.
It's because there was a God that, you know, that saved a man that actually killed Christians.
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He had the letters in his hands, you know, from the high priest to go and continue
to persecute the churches and to do those things.
But what happened? You know, what did Paul do? He basically realized that,
look, yeah, I know I'm supposed to go to Rome, but he knew that there was so much need on the line.
There were so many people that needed a game when he got, when the light shined
right about him, and he acknowledged, He knew, again, it's a distinct sound.
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He knew as soon as God called on him, he acknowledged him with a capital L, Lord.
That's what he did. You don't need me to tell you who's speaking your heart,
but go ahead with that song whenever you're ready.
God's too good to pass up. He is.
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You know, you might be thinking, you know, this is something I've been studying
about a lot lately over in Ecclesiastes.
You know, we mentioned it not so long ago. We go through similar courses of life.
You know, you look at a believer and a non-believer, we will go through similar things in life.
We can have similar possessions. We could have similar trials.
We could have similar things. So you might be asking, is he really worth it?
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And he is, because there's a difference with how believers go about it.
And there is a difference with how the wicked go about it.
And that's the thing that Solomon was encouraging when he wrote in Ecclesiastes.
He was saying, look, we go through courses of life.
Everything in the earth is vanity. There's nothing to it is basically what he
said. He built himself vineyards. He was a man that was very well off.
And he had the ability to do every single one of these things.
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But in the end, he called all those things vanity.
I'll tell you, Paul, what did he do? He said, I consider all the things that I've done.
I'm paraphrasing, but all the things that I've done before Christ has done is what he said.
Why did he go and declare that? It's because Christ is worth serving.
I'm going to tell you, he may not have kept the fire from the three Hebrew children,
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but who was in it with them?
They didn't even have the smell of smoke on them when they were in the fire with him.
Daniel in the lion's den. I'll tell you, you know, I bet you,
I fully believe that Daniel had the best sleep of his life in that lion's den.
You might be saying, that's foolishness. Well, guess what?
All I know is that he prayed and he acknowledged that God had shut the lion's den.
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That's the kind of God I serve. The one that performs miracles like that for the Christ.
You might be saying, what do I do? You know, just kneel where you're at.
If you're too shy or ashamed, you grab somebody's hand. You know,
look, I'll tell you, I can't pray into heaven, but I'll pray with you. I can always pray.
There is no shame in just following God. Just like those priests,
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you know, they were supposed to be influential people.
You know, the most influential person in my life is Christ.
I'm not saying God don't put other people in your life that won't be like roses.
Bless our brother. I'm not saying that God won't place roses in your life of
people that are important.
He most certainly will. But you know, that's the beautiful part about getting
saved. Is that you have this right here. You've got family right here.
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I'll tell you, when one brother is down, you've got another to lift you up.
I'll tell you, it talks about how two are better than one over there in the scriptures.
All I know is that I'll tell you, I admitted to Brother Cripps this morning
and I told him, I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm just going to
give you the truth. I've been a little mad at God lately.
I have. I've been in a season where I've been just mad because I thought certain
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things in my life should have been different.
But you know what God still reminds me is He's still too good for me to go and
stay that way. I just can't stay that way, Adam, brother Chris.
I can't stay mad at a God that gave me eternity.
I can't stay mad at a God that wants to save people.
There is too much at stake. There's too much to lose to sit down on my God. Too much to sit.
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I'll tell you some of the best times I've had.
My parents growing up, I love my parents dearly. I believe they did everything
they could, you know, to raise me the way they thought they should.
But I'm going to tell you, they told me the best years of my life.
And you probably heard me say it. They used to say the best years of your life
would be when you're in high school.
Let me tell you, I'm not saying you can't have some good times in your youth.
The Bible even talks about to not despise your youth.
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I do believe that. You certainly should enjoy the life you have.
But I'm just going to say it. Why not enjoy it more with Christ?
I'll tell you, there's some youth in here that absolutely stir my heart.
There are. I'll tell you, I'm going to pick on Hannah because I know she can
take it. She is absolutely a beautiful voice.
And I absolutely love the fact that she sings for God is what she does.
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But you know what I know the best part about it is look, whether you're in school,
whether you're sitting at your desk, summer break, no matter who you interact
with, that's the best part about it. He isn't just God in school.
He's the God that goes with you everywhere else.
I'll tell you, I believe wholeheartedly that if you ask these youth that are
saved by the grace of God, they will tell you that He is absolutely worth serving.
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They'll tell you that.
Ask them a single time that God has failed them.
And that's what God's been saying with me a lot lately. He's saying,
name one time that I have failed you.
I can't name a time. Every time I try to count my blessings, you know what?
I've actually physically, and this is how ridiculous I am sometimes,
I try to sit down and actually physically count everything that's analytical.
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I tried to count my blessings, but I couldn't do it. That's how blessed we really are, brother.
Can't count them.
Because he's just that good.
I'll tell you, there's some folks getting some help. Don't be shy.
There's nothing wrong with getting help from God. Amen. I don't have to worry about my legacy.
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The past is a promise I'll have on my knees.
This morning and everything, getting everything together, it seemed like a lot's
going on, a lot of distractions and everything like that.
But I'm just thankful to see this right here. Someone's getting help this morning.
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This could be you this morning. You might be sitting in your seat right now.
Your heart might be bumping a little bit. But this is your moment.
We're just trying to facilitate. We're just trying to do everything that God
is asking us to do. But this is your moment right here.
I'm 28 years old. I've really enjoyed all these youth retreats when I was a little bit younger.
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But I know my position now, and that's to help you guys out.
And I just want to do everything that I can to make sure you can have this moment,
that you can have some peace.
Amen. Guys, we're getting separated for a week from the world.
We've got plenty of stuff and distractions out in the world.
Have your moment right now. Yeah. It can be today. Today is the day of salvation. Amen. Amen.
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So have your moment now. Don't wait until later. Don't take it to your bum.
Don't take it to lunch with you now. Have it now. Yeah. Amen.
Good advice. you know that's
the one thing we were talking about i don't know if it was me and steph i
was talking about i talk a lot so i can't keep track but uh
well you know i was talking with somebody and uh you know
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i don't ever want to be the youth leader brother reno that acts like i've got
it all together all the time i don't want to act i put that kind of because
there's a stigma out there you know and i've been saying it a lot but there
really is there's a stigma out there where they think christians don't ever
go through things or you know and you might be saying well again why Why does that make it sound like,
why does it seem like if they follow the same course that we do, why should I serve God?
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And I begin to think, the reason why I don't ever want to act like that I'm
perfect, act like that I always don't have it together, because I want you to
see that I need God just as much as anybody else does.
I need Him just as much as anybody else.
But also, too, I'm just going to declare to you, too, He, again, He is worth serving.
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But he will be with you. That's the best part about it is if you're saved by
the grace of God, he goes with you everywhere. He follows you everywhere.
I'm thankful for that. But I'm thankful too that even when I ain't got it together,
when I come to him broken hearted or when I come to him in different seasons,
we do. We all go through different seasons.
But I'm glad that he's the God of all seasons.
Every one of them. He specializes in every one of them. Like we read,
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he suffered everything that we could ever suffer.
But he also provides a way to sick-howard them. He provides as a way to help.
And I'm thankful for that. Anybody else? Do you have anything before we move on?
You talk about Paul getting... They left him thinking he was dead.
This is verse 20. It says, How did, as the disciples stood round about him,
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he rose up and came into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned to give.
If you notice, it says, as the disciples stood round about him, he wasn't by himself.
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Yeah, amen. We're not by ourselves here.
Right. But Paul could have laid us in his worry.
We could lay here in our worry and feel like we're dead to God.
Yeah, amen. You've got people standing around you that want to help you.
Don't stay there. Be like Paul. He got up. Why did he get up? To help other people.
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Amen. We saw a lot of people get helped last year. We're seeing people get helped already this year.
But I don't want to sit down on God. Right, amen.
I don't want to sit down on God. I want to raise up when he says get up. Yes, amen.
And that's a light. That was a light to those disciples standing around me.
You know, if he would have stayed down, what would that have done to the other? Yeah.
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If he would have said, you know, God, you sent me here.
He told me to come this way and this is what happens to me sometimes we're like
that but he didn't do that he said he looked to what Christ was Christ was a
perfect example he went through all that,
and still kept me we should be like that amen amen amen.
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Somebody else before we come to a close If you've got a testimony, don't be shy.
We're all family here.
Alright. Nobody had anything?
We have a scavenger hunt, we have a water activity planned, we have all those things too.
And that is fun and that's part of camp, but don't forget, you know,
why this is all we're growing to.
So I need us to have a positive attitude, an open heart, okay?
It's hard for, I've been where I've had to teach a lesson or something,
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and there's too many close hearts, or we've been in a church service where like,
Like, you just didn't want to be there, right? And it's hard to preach, and it's hard to sing.
We don't want to be that way. We want to have open hearts right now.
So we appreciate everybody quickly getting their stuff and getting over here.
Tim's going to follow this fear with his lesson. You guys participate.
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Be obedient, and then we'll move on to lunch. Okay? Okay.
Let's go, Tim!
All right, I've been praying a lot on this lesson, and I've been studying a
bunch of different areas, and hopefully everybody can hear me.
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But this one scripture over here in Exodus 28 is where God's got my heart at.
And I will say, when you read through these, I'll just ask you to kind of hang
in there with me a little bit.
There's kind of a lot of details or descriptions in here of the priest's garments over here.
But one thing I want to point out too, I was praying about this,
and I'm like, I don't want to put the teenager just to sleep.
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I don't want to bore y'all.
But God, as I was praying this morning, I woke me up at 6.30 this morning,
which for me, if you know me, that's unlike me. I don't wake up early. I'm not an early person.
But God woke me up, and He just said, look, every detail in the Bible matters.
Every small detail, whether big, whether small. all
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you know they mean something in the scriptures you know so
we're going to go through this and like i said i ask that you hang in there with me
as we go through these you know and we'll just allow the lord just
to you know work tonight work through all of this you
know but starting in exodus 28 of verse 8 through 12 and then we'll go to verse
21 through 30 in the same chapter but it says in the curious girdle of the ephod
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which is upon it shall be of the same according to the work Verse 2.
On the other stone according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in
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stone. Like the engravings of a signet. Shall thou engrave the two stones.
With the names of the children of Israel. Thou shall make them to be set in ouches of gold.
And thou shall put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod.
For stones and memorials under the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear
the names before the Lord. Upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
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And now skipping down to 21 through 30. In the same chapter we'll go ahead and read that. And it says.
And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel,
twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet.
Every one of the names shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the end of the wreathened work of pure gold.
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And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and thou shalt put
the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.
And thou shalt put the two wreathened chains of gold in the two rings which
are on the ends of the breastplate.
And the other two ends of the two wreathened chains thou shalt
fasten in the two alges is and put them on the shoulder pieces of
the ephod before it and thou shall make two rings of gold
and thou shall put them upon the two ends of the breastplate and the
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border thereof which is in the side of the ephod inward
and the other two rings of gold thou shall make and
put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath toward the
fore part thereof over against the other coupling thereof
above the curious gold or the ephod and then it
says and they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof under the
rings of the ephod with a lace of blue that it
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may be above the the curious gold girdle of the
ephod and that the breastplate be not loose from the ephod
but 29 is kind of also what stood out to me right here and
it says and aaron shall bear the names of the children of israel in
the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he go with it onto the holy
place for a memorial before the lord continually so we can see right here with
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aaron you know right here him being the priest of the children of israel this
was an influential man right here that would go on behalf into the in and out
of the tabernacle on behalf of the people is what he would do.
But upon the part that stood out to me that God, you know, just kind of the
thought that God kind of put on my heart was keeping the ways of God close.
It's kind of what really stood out to me. And you might be saying,
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well, how do you get that from, you know, Aaron and the making of everything
that the priest, you know, in his garments and what he would wear,
you know, so think about it.
We've mentioned earlier on that every detail matters right here.
So notice the coloring at the very beginning in verse eight,
you know, it actually talks about, you know, the gold, the blue,
the purple, you know, blue oftentimes is representative of grace.
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You know, this is a big picture pointing, you know, and we'll get into that
later over here in Hebrews two. But this is a big picture of Jesus Christ,
you know, becoming our high priest and our intercessor.
You know, he intervenes on our behalf.
You know, so blue, your grace, unmerited favor.
You know, we see that, you know, gold, you know, there's a there's a brilliance to gold.
You know, refiners, when they work with gold, what do they do?
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They heat it up and they scrape out the impurities is what they do to get it
in its most purest and brilliant form.
And then you look at, you know, purple. Purple is often a stands for royalty,
you know, is what it stands for. And then you look at a scarlet.
Oftentimes you read in Isaiah, he talks about how, you know,
our sins be as scarlet, but he'll make them white as snow.
You know, we got a God that does that. And then you go into,
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you know, fine twine linen.
You know, I'm thankful, you know, the spirit, you know, what does it do?
It knits us together in one. You know, and I'm thankful for that.
But then, you know, I begin to think on how on his shoulders he bore the names
of the children of Israel on the shoulders.
And then over here, it says on the breastplate, he bore the names closest to his heart.
You know, aren't you glad that we got a God that keeps us close to his heart
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to the point, you know, to where, you know, like the closest that he could ever
keep us the best place he keeps us closest to his heart. You know,
and you might be saying, how do you see Jesus in that?
Well, let's go ahead and turn. Like I said, just hang in there with me and I
promise we'll get to the meat of the lesson.
Hebrews 2, if you would. Hebrews chapter 2. I know a little bit of reading.
And now you're going to see on how, you know, Jesus was our high priest,
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you know, and how it was a big picture of pointing to him.
So Hebrews chapter two and go through verses 14 through 18. Anybody want to read that?
Don't be shy.
What did you say it was? Hebrews 2, 14 through 18.
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
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he also himself likewise took part in the same, that through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
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Did you say the rest? 18? Yeah, 318 if you don't mind. Therefore,
in all things, it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, and thanks pertaining
to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to secure them that are tempted.
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So you can see here, you know, Paul, you know, writing to the Hebrews right
here, you know, this is the part that really just stood out to me.
You know, he's referred to Jesus Christ himself is referred to as a high priest.
You know, he came in all of us. You know, first off, we say he came in all of his glory.
But on the other side of that, on the flip side, he came as like one of us.
You know, the Bible says that he made himself lower than the angels.
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You know, so that means that he brought himself lower, you know,
left the left perfection, you know, to take on the form of a servant and thought it not robbery.
You know, to go and be equal with God on top of it. But this is the part that
verse 18 is what got me is we're in that he himself is
suffered being tempted, meaning he bore everything that we could possibly ever
go through. He did that. You know, Jesus Christ took that upon himself.
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You know, think about it. What would the priest do when they would enter into
the tabernacle? They would first, you know, offer a sacrifice for themselves
first, you know, for the sins of themselves.
But then they would also offer it for the people and then they would go in.
But then I begin to think even deeper and we begin to preach on this on Sunday
a little bit was, you know, at the hem of the garment of the priest's garment,
you'll find there was pomegranates and there was bells.
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And in the pattern of it was It was a bell, and then it was a pomegranate.
It was a bell, and it was a pomegranate.
And just again, we start talking about the details with that.
That is important because if you think about it, if you take two bells and you
clink them together, you're going to get a loud distorted noise is what you're going to get, right?
So the pomegranates between the bells, the point of that was like,
so that there was a clear sound because it even talks about it up there in 28.
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And the chapter is as he was going into the tabernacle, you could hear the bells ringing.
So you can know where the priest was at all times in there. You know,
think about this. You know, it's the same way with Jesus Christ.
You know, think about it. You know, it may not be listening necessarily for
a physical, you know, bell ringing sound, but the way of God is not a distorted sound.
It is a very clear, abundantly clear sound. You know, God, the Bible says God
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is not the author of confusion.
He's not going to confuse you more. You know, that's all Satan.
You know, I'll just say this, you know, for those of you that are saved or lost,
you know, when it comes to the ways of God, you know, God's not going to confuse you more.
He's not going to make it harder for you. He's the one that makes our burdens
light, is what the Scripture says.
So if you're lost and you need to be saved, what he's going to do is he's going
to make it abundantly clear to your heart.
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All I know is that, Brother Stephen, when God spoke to my heart,
I didn't need Doug Newberry or anybody else to tell me that it was God speaking to my heart.
See, that sound was distinctly clear.
I knew that it was him speaking to my heart.
It's going to be the same for us. Lost or saved, delight.
If you are lost, I'm just going to say this. You don't need me.
You don't need Reno. You don't need any of us youth leaders.
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You don't need Pastor Stephen. We don't you don't need us to tell you whether
or not God's speaking to your heart.
You already know if he is, but he'll be very distinct about it.
You know, there's a drawing power that happens from that.
You know, so again, you know, but the best part about it is he says that he
is able to succour them that are tempted. Succour means to help.
Is what it means. You know, think about it. God just reminded me of this.
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I know it's a familiar account.
You know, you might have even heard all this before. But, you know,
think about the woman with the issue of blood.
You know, in the hem of the garments too, there was also, I think,
I don't know if it was Deuteronomy or Leviticus, actually talks about how there
was a ribbon of blue that was actually in the hem of the garment. You know, again, grace.
You know, but what did the woman with the issue of blood do, Brother Chris?
The woman with the issue of blood, she pressed through the crowd is what she did.
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Pressed through all the nonsense is what she did. I don't know the way to put it.
And then what did she do? She pressed through the nonsense and she just knew
that all she had to do was get a hold of the hem of that garment, Sister Katie.
And what did she do? She pressed through the crowd and grabbed a hold of that
hem with that blue, the grace.
And what did the Bible say? It says the virtue went out of Christ is what it said.
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You know, the goodness went out of Christ into her and she was healed of an
issue that nobody else could heal.
She saw many doctors for you might say, well, that's impossible. possible.
Well, you know, don't even get me started on the miracles of God,
brother, because I'm just going to say this, you know, I got it on my heart
to share it again, you know, but I got a niece that she's a miracle.
I'm just going to tell you, she's a miracle. I speak about her a lot.
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And I, I love, you know, we're thinking about how God worked a miracle there.
You know, I'm just going to say she was born premature. She was born with another twin.
And, you know, I'm just going to tell you this, you know, just to paint the
picture for you right here. I believe God can perform miracles today.
I a hundred percent believe that he can. You don't think that escaping hell,
I'm just going to throw this out here.
If you don't think escaping hell isn't a miracle, I'm going to tell you,
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brother Chris, you know, when I got saved, I saw the miracle happen that he
performed with me, took somebody that didn't have an upbringing in the way. I was raised Catholic.
I'll just be honest with you. I was, but what happened? He went and he showed,
he sent the gospel my way and he showed me exactly who I was and that I was
lost and undone without him.
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I needed that high priest or that intercessor or that influential person in my life.
And I did not have him. And what did he do? He made it.
He made it to where I knew it was him, speaking of my heart.
But also, too, you know what else he made very distinct is that the fact that
I didn't want to go to that awful place.
He made it very clear that I didn't want to go there. But then,
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you know, I began to talk about my niece, though.
But she was born, you know, very preeminent. She was barely a pound,
you know, when she was born.
I watched my in-laws go through the roller coaster of the NICU is what I watched.
And, you know, well, anyway, you know, they couldn't even touch their own baby
for I don't know how long. But anyway, they later did some examinations,
and they found that this baby had a hole in her heart.
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And honestly, with the signs that she was in, she wouldn't have been able to
bear a surgery like that. She really wouldn't have. The doctors even said that.
But what did they do? They were in the room praying, is what they were in the
room praying, Brother Chris.
And you don't know what they were doing. They prayed and kept praying.
And then right before the surgery, they went and did the examination again.
And you know what happened? This whole thing, they just checked the following day.
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The doctor came in, and you know what she said? And she said,
you know, whoever it is that you're praying to, you need to keep doing it.
It's what you need to do because I don't see no hole anymore.
I want to hear one person tell me that that wasn't the hand of God.
Because, you know, even if even the doctor, I don't know where she stood with God.
But all I knew is that if she had to declare to that it was God that worked
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the miracle, it's the same way with us.
I'm glad that I can look at everything in my life. And I have the one that lives
in my heart that bears my name. I'm thankful for that.
And aren't you glad that I'll just say this, you know, for you as well.
If you're lost, he can bear your name too. He already did.
You might be saying, well, how so? When he died on Calvary is what he did because
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he said he is able to secure them that are tempted.
He's able to help you not only in your trials, but he's able to help you out
of sin is what he's able to do.
My goodness. You know, I'm getting stirred up. I'm already preaching.
I didn't mean to, but I just ask you if anybody have any thoughts or comments
or questions or anything they want to add.
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Don't be shy. It's an open panel, so don't be shy.
Everybody happy? I got a question. Yeah. Do you need me to get you anything?
I can give you a bottle of water. But, you know, I guess the thing,
you know, a real quick lesson, you know, but the thing that I just want to make
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abundantly clear, though, is, you know, God took upon everything we could ever bear upon himself.
You know, and he, you know, as a priest was going and working,
you know, bearing the names on his shoulders, think about what did he do? He carried our burdens.
He carried our sin, our weight of our sin on his shoulders is what he did.
You know, and then him keeping us closest to his heart. You know,
my goodness, you know, I find strength in knowing that I got a God that cared that much for me.
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Didn't have to, but he did. You know, he carried all of us. You know, he really did.
You know, everybody thinks that when he died on Calvary, everybody always thinks,
you know, we kind of limited him in a way, don't we, in our thinking a little
bit. But we think, man, he was just looking at the Romans that were yelling, crucify him.
And we think he was just looking at the thief on the cross, the two male factors
beside him. We think he was talking about Barnabas. I'm not saying all those aren't important.
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He was looking at you and I further on. That's right. He was looking at all of us.
My goodness, isn't that amazing? The Savior, just let this resonate with you.
If anything, if you take anything from this lesson, just let this resonate with you.
The Savior of the universe, the creator of the heavens and the earth,
He sent the most precious thing that he had.
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For you and me. And the same with Jesus Christ. He sent the most precious thing.
You know, I always get stuck on the thief.
And Vince preached on the thief on the cross not so long ago.
There was one that was railing on him.
But there was one on the other side. He had no upbringing in church. He had no Sunday school.
He had no, you know, baptism. He had none of those things. But what did he do?
He said, Father, remember me when I enter into your kingdom.
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And what did Jesus say today? That will be with me in paradise.
Aren't you glad that it's that simple? A lot of people, we convolute it.
We confuse things, don't we, when it comes to the things of God?
We make it that much harder, is what we do.
We like to complicate it. We want thunderbolts, and we want physical signs,
and we want to be like Naaman, right?
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Naaman, when he had his leprosy, and I love reading about Naaman.
One of the most common scriptures you can read out there.
Naaman, he was covering leprosy, and he was expecting Elijah to come out and
call him his God. And he had all these preconceived notions on how he thought it ought to go.
We get like that. If you're lost, you're like, well, wait a minute.
I want my God to really make a big spectacle about things.
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He already did by sending his son. He already did that.
I believe Naaman believed. I most certainly do. But there was somebody over there.
I can't remember exactly how the scripture went, but there was somebody over
there that said, look, if the prophet pointed you to the river of Jordan,
wouldn't you go and do that?
Look, let me ask you to kind of present the same question to you.
If you know that you can get some help through Jesus Christ, what do you have to lose?
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You have a heaven to gain. You have not only just heaven to gain,
but you've got eternal life to gain.
You know, eternal doesn't end, Brother Reno. You know, like it doesn't end.
That's the beautiful part about it. You know, what I have on the inside, it never ends.
Because, yeah, you might be saying, well, we'll die eventually.
We most certainly will. The flesh will. My soul won't.
My soul won't. Because it's going to go to be with him in glory.
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He's going to give me that new body so I can be with him.
You know, you might be thinking tonight, you know, I swore up and down in my
tail that I was going to preach and do all this stuff. But, you know, I just can't help it.
Let's get an altar call if you would, if that's all right. You know,
somebody that has a song on your heart, you know, just I feel it very strongly.
I feel like somebody needs to pray.
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You know, one of these days I'm going to actually just teach a lesson and sit
down. But, you know, my goodness, you know, God's just too good to sit on him.
God is too good to not act like he isn't important. and God is too good to hang
on to our thoughts and our preconceived notions, our worries, our care.
You know, the theme of this whole entire, the whole entire youth retreat is overcoming fear.
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You might have, you know, Satan might be putting fear in the back of your head.
Like, well, what are they going to think if I have to kneel and pray and ask God to save me?
I'm going to tell you, you know, everybody's saved here.
You want to know what everybody thinks here? We want you to have the same thing we have.
Look, if someone kneels right beside me or wherever you're at,
you're not going to bother me one bit. But I'll tell you, you know,
we us preachers, you know, we got a thing that we say, you know,
(18:51):
some people get worried that their kids are too loud.
And I'm going to say this. If the kids are louder than I am,
you know, there's probably a problem.
But the other side about that, that means that parents are bringing their kids to church.
That's amazing is what that is.
But I'm going to tell you, God thought of every single individual in here.
And look, and I'm going to tell you that's under the sound of my voice.
I just want to tell you, you know, I'm nobody special, but I just want to tell
(19:13):
you that there's a heaven to gain.
There's a there's a devil to shine. and there is again there is eternity to
gain you know but that's the beautiful part about it you know I know how you
overcome fear step out on faith.
You know, Peter knew a little thing about that, didn't he, Brother Chris?
He did. You know, only one that actually stepped out of the boat.
You know, and you might be saying, well, you know, but like, you know, he sunk.
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You know, there's going to be times where you feel like you're sinking deep in your doubt.
There's going to be times that you think you're stuck in a pit of,
you know, sorrow, a pit of depression, or you're going to go through different seasons.
But you know the difference is, though, is that if you have God,
he goes through you with those things. because as soon as Peter began to sink, what did he do?
He reached out his hand, and he lifted him right up out of the water.
(20:00):
I'm glad for a God that catches me when I fall.
My goodness, how many times did Paul, he was out preaching the gospel,
and people hated him for that.
He was stoned, and what did he do? I always get stuck on this scripture.
He was stoned. He was tossed out of cities. But what did he do?
You might be saying, well, what drove him to keep on going? only.
It's because there was a God that, you know, that saved a man that actually killed Christians.
(20:23):
He had the letters in his hands, you know, from the high priest to go and continue
to persecute the churches and to do those things.
But what happened? You know, what did Paul do? He basically realized that,
look, yeah, I know I'm supposed to go to Rome, but he knew that there was so much need on the line.
There were so many people that needed a game when he got, when the light shined
right about him, and he acknowledged, He knew, again, it's a distinct sound.
(20:47):
He knew as soon as God called on him, he acknowledged him with a capital L, Lord.
That's what he did. You don't need me to tell you who's speaking your heart,
but go ahead with that song whenever you're ready.
God's too good to pass up. He is.
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You know, you might be thinking, you know, this is something I've been studying
about a lot lately over in Ecclesiastes.
You know, we mentioned it not so long ago. We go through similar courses of life.
You know, you look at a believer and a non-believer, we will go through similar things in life.
We can have similar possessions. We could have similar trials.
We could have similar things. So you might be asking, is he really worth it?
(21:32):
And he is, because there's a difference with how believers go about it.
And there is a difference with how the wicked go about it.
And that's the thing that Solomon was encouraging when he wrote in Ecclesiastes.
He was saying, look, we go through courses of life.
Everything in the earth is vanity. There's nothing to it is basically what he
said. He built himself vineyards. He was a man that was very well off.
And he had the ability to do every single one of these things.
(21:54):
But in the end, he called all those things vanity.
I'll tell you, Paul, what did he do? He said, I consider all the things that I've done.
I'm paraphrasing, but all the things that I've done before Christ has done is what he said.
Why did he go and declare that? It's because Christ is worth serving.
I'm going to tell you, he may not have kept the fire from the three Hebrew children,
(22:15):
but who was in it with them?
They didn't even have the smell of smoke on them when they were in the fire with him.
Daniel in the lion's den. I'll tell you, you know, I bet you,
I fully believe that Daniel had the best sleep of his life in that lion's den.
You might be saying, that's foolishness. Well, guess what?
All I know is that he prayed and he acknowledged that God had shut the lion's den.
(22:37):
That's the kind of God I serve. The one that performs miracles like that for the Christ.
You might be saying, what do I do? You know, just kneel where you're at.
If you're too shy or ashamed, you grab somebody's hand. You know,
look, I'll tell you, I can't pray into heaven, but I'll pray with you. I can always pray.
There is no shame in just following God. Just like those priests,
(22:58):
you know, they were supposed to be influential people.
You know, the most influential person in my life is Christ.
I'm not saying God don't put other people in your life that won't be like roses.
Bless our brother. I'm not saying that God won't place roses in your life of
people that are important.
He most certainly will. But you know, that's the beautiful part about getting
saved. Is that you have this right here. You've got family right here.
(23:20):
I'll tell you, when one brother is down, you've got another to lift you up.
I'll tell you, it talks about how two are better than one over there in the scriptures.
All I know is that I'll tell you, I admitted to Brother Cripps this morning
and I told him, I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm just going to
give you the truth. I've been a little mad at God lately.
I have. I've been in a season where I've been just mad because I thought certain
(23:45):
things in my life should have been different.
But you know what God still reminds me is He's still too good for me to go and
stay that way. I just can't stay that way, Adam, brother Chris.
I can't stay mad at a God that gave me eternity.
I can't stay mad at a God that wants to save people.
There is too much at stake. There's too much to lose to sit down on my God. Too much to sit.
(24:13):
I'll tell you some of the best times I've had.
My parents growing up, I love my parents dearly. I believe they did everything
they could, you know, to raise me the way they thought they should.
But I'm going to tell you, they told me the best years of my life.
And you probably heard me say it. They used to say the best years of your life
would be when you're in high school.
Let me tell you, I'm not saying you can't have some good times in your youth.
The Bible even talks about to not despise your youth.
(24:35):
I do believe that. You certainly should enjoy the life you have.
But I'm just going to say it. Why not enjoy it more with Christ?
I'll tell you, there's some youth in here that absolutely stir my heart.
There are. I'll tell you, I'm going to pick on Hannah because I know she can
take it. She is absolutely a beautiful voice.
And I absolutely love the fact that she sings for God is what she does.
(24:58):
But you know what I know the best part about it is look, whether you're in school,
whether you're sitting at your desk, summer break, no matter who you interact
with, that's the best part about it. He isn't just God in school.
He's the God that goes with you everywhere else.
I'll tell you, I believe wholeheartedly that if you ask these youth that are
saved by the grace of God, they will tell you that He is absolutely worth serving.
(25:21):
They'll tell you that.
Ask them a single time that God has failed them.
And that's what God's been saying with me a lot lately. He's saying,
name one time that I have failed you.
I can't name a time. Every time I try to count my blessings, you know what?
I've actually physically, and this is how ridiculous I am sometimes,
I try to sit down and actually physically count everything that's analytical.
(25:44):
I tried to count my blessings, but I couldn't do it. That's how blessed we really are, brother.
Can't count them.
Because he's just that good.
I'll tell you, there's some folks getting some help. Don't be shy.
There's nothing wrong with getting help from God. Amen. I don't have to worry about my legacy.
(26:15):
The past is a promise I'll have on my knees.
This morning and everything, getting everything together, it seemed like a lot's
going on, a lot of distractions and everything like that.
But I'm just thankful to see this right here. Someone's getting help this morning.
(26:35):
This could be you this morning. You might be sitting in your seat right now.
Your heart might be bumping a little bit. But this is your moment.
We're just trying to facilitate. We're just trying to do everything that God
is asking us to do. But this is your moment right here.
I'm 28 years old. I've really enjoyed all these youth retreats when I was a little bit younger.
(26:57):
But I know my position now, and that's to help you guys out.
And I just want to do everything that I can to make sure you can have this moment,
that you can have some peace.
Amen. Guys, we're getting separated for a week from the world.
We've got plenty of stuff and distractions out in the world.
Have your moment right now. Yeah. It can be today. Today is the day of salvation. Amen. Amen.
(27:17):
So have your moment now. Don't wait until later. Don't take it to your bum.
Don't take it to lunch with you now. Have it now. Yeah. Amen.
Good advice. you know that's
the one thing we were talking about i don't know if it was me and steph i
was talking about i talk a lot so i can't keep track but uh
well you know i was talking with somebody and uh you know
(27:39):
i don't ever want to be the youth leader brother reno that acts like i've got
it all together all the time i don't want to act i put that kind of because
there's a stigma out there you know and i've been saying it a lot but there
really is there's a stigma out there where they think christians don't ever
go through things or you know and you might be saying well again why Why does that make it sound like,
why does it seem like if they follow the same course that we do, why should I serve God?
(28:01):
And I begin to think, the reason why I don't ever want to act like that I'm
perfect, act like that I always don't have it together, because I want you to
see that I need God just as much as anybody else does.
I need Him just as much as anybody else.
But also, too, I'm just going to declare to you, too, He, again, He is worth serving.
(28:22):
But he will be with you. That's the best part about it is if you're saved by
the grace of God, he goes with you everywhere. He follows you everywhere.
I'm thankful for that. But I'm thankful too that even when I ain't got it together,
when I come to him broken hearted or when I come to him in different seasons,
we do. We all go through different seasons.
But I'm glad that he's the God of all seasons.
Every one of them. He specializes in every one of them. Like we read,
(28:44):
he suffered everything that we could ever suffer.
But he also provides a way to sick-howard them. He provides as a way to help.
And I'm thankful for that. Anybody else? Do you have anything before we move on?
You talk about Paul getting... They left him thinking he was dead.
This is verse 20. It says, How did, as the disciples stood round about him,
(29:09):
he rose up and came into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned to give.
If you notice, it says, as the disciples stood round about him, he wasn't by himself.
(29:34):
Yeah, amen. We're not by ourselves here.
Right. But Paul could have laid us in his worry.
We could lay here in our worry and feel like we're dead to God.
Yeah, amen. You've got people standing around you that want to help you.
Don't stay there. Be like Paul. He got up. Why did he get up? To help other people.
(29:57):
Amen. We saw a lot of people get helped last year. We're seeing people get helped already this year.
But I don't want to sit down on God. Right, amen.
I don't want to sit down on God. I want to raise up when he says get up. Yes, amen.
And that's a light. That was a light to those disciples standing around me.
You know, if he would have stayed down, what would that have done to the other? Yeah.
(30:21):
If he would have said, you know, God, you sent me here.
He told me to come this way and this is what happens to me sometimes we're like
that but he didn't do that he said he looked to what Christ was Christ was a
perfect example he went through all that,
and still kept me we should be like that amen amen amen.
(30:49):
Somebody else before we come to a close If you've got a testimony, don't be shy.
We're all family here.
Alright. Nobody had anything?
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