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Speaker 1: Let us pray, and when it is sown, it groweth

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Speaker 1: up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out

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Speaker 1: great branches, so that the fowls of the air may

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Speaker 1: lodge under the shadow of it, Mark four thirty two.

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Speaker 1: Those who have ears to hear here these words are

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Speaker 1: the staples in which I am listening to to day's reading. Lord,

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Speaker 1: I thank you that you have given me the Bible

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Speaker 1: to help lead and guide me in the way that

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Speaker 1: I should live my life. Jesus, thank you for being

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Speaker 1: the personification of the living Word here on earth. As

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Speaker 1: I meditate on to Day's truth found in Matthew thirteen

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Speaker 1: and Mark fourth one through thirty two, I realize that

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Speaker 1: your word is the seed in which all my purpose

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Speaker 1: and destiny will blossom and come forth. Therefore, my heart

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Speaker 1: will not be like the soil that allowed your seed

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Speaker 1: to lay unprotected, so that other people around me can

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Speaker 1: steal what You've deposited in me. My heart will not

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Speaker 1: be like the shallow soil that could not allow the

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Speaker 1: root of your word to take hold, so that when

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Speaker 1: the trials of life come, it withers under the heat

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Speaker 1: of pressure. I also declare that I will not let

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Speaker 1: your word fall on the thorns of life and become

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Speaker 1: so focused on my trials that they choke your promises

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Speaker 1: out of my thoughts and speech. I declare that my

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Speaker 1: heart and my life is good soil. I declare that

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Speaker 1: I'm healthy and ready to have your word produce a

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Speaker 1: crop of abundance thirty sixty, a hundredfold in Jesus's name. Amen,

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Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with us today. Continue your time

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Speaker 1: with God by listening to today's Bible story, brought to

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Speaker 1: you by Bible in a Year dot com The Four Soils.

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Speaker 2: In our last story, Jesus accepted a sinful and broken

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Speaker 2: woman who had been scorned by the world. He rebuked

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Speaker 2: the Pharisees for their judgment. Now Jesus reveals more about

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Speaker 2: the Kingdom of God through the story of the Four Soils,

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Speaker 2: inspired by the Gospels.

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Speaker 3: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the

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Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In yesterday's episode, Jesus was

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Speaker 3: shown extravagant love and honor by a sinful woman who

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Speaker 3: entered a home and wiped the Lord's feet with her

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Speaker 3: tears and hair before bathing them in expensive perfume. Jesus

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Speaker 3: used this occasion to teach those gathered with him, many

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Speaker 3: of them religious leaders who felt that they were righteous

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Speaker 3: and justified by their good deeds. A lesson about forgiveness

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Speaker 3: and the proper response of those who have received that grace.

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Speaker 3: Today we'll hear Jesus teaching about different ways in which

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Speaker 3: God's word is received and what happens to the seeds

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Speaker 3: planted in different kinds of soil. It's one of the

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Speaker 3: most famous stories Jesus ever gave, so let's hear it

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Speaker 3: now from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 2: The seagulls flew gracefully across the face of the calm ocean.

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Speaker 2: The gentle breeze rocked the anchored boats slightly. As Jesus

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Speaker 2: sat at the front of a ship, thousands of people

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Speaker 2: sat on the shore listening to his words and wisdom.

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Speaker 2: They were enraptured by him. Jesus smiled and began to

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Speaker 2: speak of a farmer and his seed. There once was

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Speaker 2: a farmer, and he went out to sow his seed

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Speaker 2: among his land. Some of the seeds fell along the roadside.

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Speaker 2: They were vulnerable and easily swept up by the birds.

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Speaker 2: Other seeds fell on rocky soil. They sprung up quick

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Speaker 2: with water and sun, but they died just as quickly

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Speaker 2: because their roots could not go deep enough. Some of

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Speaker 2: the seed fell among thorny soil. Once they grew, the

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Speaker 2: weeds choked the life out of the planets. Jesus paused

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Speaker 2: for a moment and looked around the crowd. He stood

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Speaker 2: to his feet and lifted his fingers, saying, but there

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Speaker 2: were some seeds that fell on good soil. It was soft, pleasant,

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Speaker 2: and yielded great fruit. Some of the crops increased thirtyfold

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Speaker 2: and sixtyfold, some even one hundredfold. Whoever has an ear

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Speaker 2: to truly hear here. Then the people left back to

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Speaker 2: their homes, and Jesus was by the camp fire with

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Speaker 2: his disciples. Silence fell among the disciples as they gazed

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Speaker 2: at the stars. The flames flew up to the skies.

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Speaker 2: The sound of popping wood and crashing waves filled the silence.

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Speaker 2: Do you understand the story I told them today? Jesus

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Speaker 2: asked his disciples. They looked up at him. If they

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Speaker 2: were being honest, none of them truly knew what he

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Speaker 2: was saying. Jesus laughed, how will you understand if you

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Speaker 2: don't ask? He said in jest. He picked up a

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Speaker 2: stick and poked the fire. The soil represents the Word

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Speaker 2: of God, Jesus said. The seeds that fell on the

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Speaker 2: road represent those that here, but Satan swoops up the

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Speaker 2: truth like the birds. The rocky soil represents those that

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Speaker 2: receive the Word with joy at first, but when hard

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Speaker 2: times fall, their root is shallow and they fall away.

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Speaker 2: The disciples began to nod. They were understanding Jesus as

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Speaker 2: he explained. The thorny soil represents the cares and worries

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Speaker 2: of the word. Some are so anxious that they are

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Speaker 2: unable to truly receive truth. They are choked by the

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Speaker 2: worries and cares of the world. Jesus grinned from cheek

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Speaker 2: to cheek. Then there's the good soil for those that

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Speaker 2: but hear the word and accept it. They do not

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Speaker 2: toil or worry. They simply receive with gladness. These are

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Speaker 2: those that will bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God.

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Speaker 3: Our reading today is an illustration of the kinds of

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Speaker 3: hearts that received God's truth, and how the seeds of

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Speaker 3: truth grow or wither in each kind of soil. Jesus

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Speaker 3: is speaking to his followers a larger crowd at first,

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Speaker 3: and he's using an agricultural image. This is something his

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Speaker 3: audience would have understood well. He spoke to the crowd,

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Speaker 3: telling them of a farmer who went out to spread seed.

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Speaker 3: Farming was much different in those days. No high tech

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Speaker 3: farming equipment of course, precise planting of seeds and neat

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Speaker 3: little rows. This farmer was just walking across his plot

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Speaker 3: of land, scattering seeds. It almost seemed haphazard. I picture

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Speaker 3: a man with a bag of seeds in one hand,

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Speaker 3: dipping his other hand into the bag and pulling out

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Speaker 3: a handful of seed that he tosses here and there,

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Speaker 3: letting them land where they may. So as he walks along,

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Speaker 3: the seed falls on four different kinds of soil. Some

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Speaker 3: doesn't even make it to the ground. It hits the

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Speaker 3: path and birds quickly eat it up. Some falls among

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Speaker 3: rocky ground, and though they sprouted, the seeds lacked nutrients

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Speaker 3: and water, so the plants withered. A third bunch fell

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Speaker 3: among the thorns. The soil was good enough for the

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Speaker 3: plants to grow, but the environment around them was hazardous

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Speaker 3: and toxic, and the thorns choked out the crops. But

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Speaker 3: some of the seed fell in a good soil. It

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Speaker 3: grew strong and healthy and produced a great crop, yielding

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Speaker 3: one hundredfold. That's the good stuff. Jesus then said to

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Speaker 3: the crowd, whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

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Speaker 3: The disciples asked why he spoke in parables, and he

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Speaker 3: responded that the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven had

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Speaker 3: not been given to them, but to the disciples. In

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Speaker 3: other words, Jesus was going to give these men special

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Speaker 3: insight into the things of God, into the Kingdom of God,

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Speaker 3: to prepare them for what is to come. Jesus also

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Speaker 3: said he spoke in parables to reveal truth to those

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Speaker 3: who would respond to it and receive it. He said

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Speaker 3: in Matthew thirteen, sixteen and seventeen, blessed to your eyes

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Speaker 3: because they see in your ears, because they hear. For truly,

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Speaker 3: I tell you, many prophets and righteous people long to

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Speaker 3: see what you see but did not see it, and

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Speaker 3: to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

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Speaker 3: The disciples were hungry for understanding, so Jesus explained this

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Speaker 3: parable to them. The seeds represented the word of God

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Speaker 3: and the soil represented human hearts. Some hear God's word,

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Speaker 3: but the enemy comes and snatches away the word. It

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Speaker 3: never takes root in the heart, so it never grows.

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Speaker 3: The rocky ground represents the hearts that accept the word quickly,

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Speaker 3: but without any depth. The root of truth doesn't establish itself,

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Speaker 3: and so when troubles arise, those people fall away from

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Speaker 3: the Word. Still others represented by the thorny ground, receive

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Speaker 3: the word and it sprouts in their heart, but worldly

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Speaker 3: worries choke them out and they never produce any fruit.

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Speaker 3: The good soil represents the heart that receives the word

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Speaker 3: and bears much fruit. This is the heart of the

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Speaker 3: believer who understands God's word. The truth of the Gospel

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Speaker 3: grows in their heart and they yield fruit for the

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Speaker 3: Kingdom because they believe what God has said. That's an

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Speaker 3: important word for us here as believers today, we are

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Speaker 3: to be sowers of seeds. We are to give the

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Speaker 3: Gospel to the world and spread it to the hearts

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Speaker 3: of men. The yield does not depend on us, and

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Speaker 3: we are not to pick and choose where we sow

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Speaker 3: the seed. We are to share all the Gospel with

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Speaker 3: all men, until the whole world hears. Some will receive

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Speaker 3: the truth and yield fruit, but others, for various reasons,

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Speaker 3: will either never receive the word or will never bear fruit. Nevertheless,

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Speaker 3: it is the calling of every one of us who

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Speaker 3: name the name of Christ, who are followers of Jesus,

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Speaker 3: to be witnesses of the Gospel, to sow the seeds

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Speaker 3: of truth and to trust God for the harvest. God,

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Speaker 3: we thank you that your word is always effective, that

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Speaker 3: it always accomplishes your purposes. May we boldly proclaim your truth.

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Speaker 3: Thank You that we have been called to participate in

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Speaker 3: the ministry of the Gospel by sowing seeds among men

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Speaker 3: and women. That as many as will receive Christ can

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Speaker 3: be saved by your grace and your love because of

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Speaker 3: your cross and resurrection. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to Today's Bible in a year.

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Speaker 3: I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download

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Speaker 3: the pray dot Com app and make Bible study and

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Speaker 3: prayer the priority of your life. If you appreciate this podcast,

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Speaker 3: please share it with someone else. I also want to

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Speaker 3: encourage you to go to Jack Graham dot org. That's

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Speaker 3: Jack Graham dot org for information. God bless you