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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We are so glad to

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Speaker 2: have you listening with us here today. Today's topic is

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Speaker 2: when you don't have a.

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Speaker 3: Church community at Easter. We will return after a brief

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Speaker 3: message from our sponsor. When you don't have a church

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Speaker 3: community this Easter? Written by Peyton Garland, read by Rochelle

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Speaker 3: Alberti Bible reading.

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Speaker 2: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to

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Speaker 2: acts of love and good works. And let us not

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Speaker 2: neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage

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Speaker 2: one another, especially now that the day of His return

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Speaker 2: is drawing near Hebrews ten twenty four through twenty five

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Speaker 2: in LT. In our first five years of marriage, my

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Speaker 2: husband and I moved six times. Jobs and dreams pulled

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Speaker 2: us all over the place, back and forth across the country.

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Speaker 2: But while this wild newly weed season was beautiful, it

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Speaker 2: left little time for us to invest in a church community.

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Speaker 2: Many believers are left without a church community this Easter,

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Speaker 2: whether caused by time and location constraints. Old church wounds

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Speaker 2: are a tried but failed attempt to find their people.

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Speaker 2: Relationships can be complicated, offward and intimidating to navigate, especially

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Speaker 2: for Christian adults who are encouraged to develop vulnerability and

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Speaker 2: share their faults and fears with others. Church community, the

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Speaker 2: healthy kind requires an unguarded trust in others, our release

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Speaker 2: of self preservation and appearances. But it's in this uncomfortable

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Speaker 2: place that our pride dies and our souls find the

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Speaker 2: encouragement to continue in the faith when the days are

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Speaker 2: dark and lonely. Granted, I understand the skepticism of opening

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Speaker 2: up to others in the church, especially as someone who

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Speaker 2: once had a bitter taste in her mouth for any

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Speaker 2: assembly that remotely resembled the unhealthy church I grew up in. However,

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Speaker 2: on the other side of my church hurt, after lots

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Speaker 2: of therapy and answered prayers, as my husband and I

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Speaker 2: settled into a church community to raise our sons, I

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Speaker 2: can say wholeheartedly that you need a church community. You

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Speaker 2: don't need your people. You need Jesus, people who messily, openly,

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Speaker 2: sacrificially love Him. And finding those believers and in becoming

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Speaker 2: one of them, you find a community you can lean

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Speaker 2: on in all seasons, even when the spiritual high up

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Speaker 2: holidays like Easter and Christmas fates. My church has a

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Speaker 2: saying you don't stumble upon great Christian community. You create it. So,

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Speaker 2: no matter how many fair weather churchgoers come and go

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Speaker 2: in this religious Easter season, no matter your past hurt

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Speaker 2: or the present inconveniences that make community easy to avoid,

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Speaker 2: I challenge you to invest your heart in faith in others.

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Speaker 2: Jesus's earthly ministry was short, only three years, but even

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Speaker 2: he who recognized the need for godly friendships and fellowship

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Speaker 2: of others, calling twelve men to quite literally travel and

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Speaker 2: live with him. If Jesus recognized the need for a

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Speaker 2: Christian community, who are we to disregard his example in

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Speaker 2: this resurrection season centered on life, love, and sacrifice for others,

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Speaker 2: intersecting faith in life. When my husband and I met,

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Speaker 2: we were both Christians, but both of us had been deeply,

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Speaker 2: deeply wounded by the church. Legalism kept me tethered to

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Speaker 2: weekly attendants all out of fear, but my husband's personal

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Speaker 2: hurt had driven him completely awake from church. When we met,

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Speaker 2: and I mandated his church attendants if he wanted to

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Speaker 2: continue dating me, He admitted it was the first time

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Speaker 2: he had set foot in a church in roughly five years. Today,

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Speaker 2: we are life group leaders for seven young families in

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Speaker 2: our church. It's funny and often ironic how God not

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Speaker 2: only heals us, but calls us to the places we

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Speaker 2: thought we could never navigate again. God devised the impossible,

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Speaker 2: even in our finite bodies, if we are willing and

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Speaker 2: able to get uncomfortable and be molded for His purposes. Meanwhile,

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Speaker 2: though my husband and I have come a long way

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Speaker 2: to establishing a church community for ourselves and our sons,

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Speaker 2: we understand and how hard it is to maintain these relationships. Jesus,

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Speaker 2: people are still people, and their flaws and your flaws

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Speaker 2: combined won't make for perfect friendships. Church community won't save you.

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Speaker 2: It won't even sustain you, at least not on its own.

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Speaker 2: But when you dig your heels in deep and choose

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Speaker 2: to love others because God done his heels in deep

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Speaker 2: to save and sustain you despite all your wrongdoings, you

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Speaker 2: find that His resurrection hope lasts far longer than the

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Speaker 2: Easter season. You realize that His ability through you to

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Speaker 2: be long suffering towards sinners is what makes life worth living.

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Speaker 2: If you aren't part of a church community, find some

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Speaker 2: quiet time to take personal stock in why has your

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Speaker 2: life's season been overwhelming.

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Speaker 1: Has the church hurt you?

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Speaker 2: Did you try one or two different small groups or

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Speaker 2: Bible studies that simply felt in personal or off Recognize

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Speaker 2: your why, but allow this newfound understanding to challenge you

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Speaker 2: to step up, get uncomfortable, and relentlessly pursue the godly

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Speaker 2: relationships God has in.

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Speaker 3: Store for you.

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Speaker 2: I promise you you won't regret it. Further reading How

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Speaker 2: to Get Back into Church Roma's twelve four through five,

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Speaker 2: Proverbs twenty seven seventeen.

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Speaker 1: The Crosswalk Devotional is a production of Life Audio and

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Speaker 1: Salem Media. If you liked what you heard today, please

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Speaker 1: can find the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts,

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Speaker 1: visit us at lifeaudio dot com