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Speaker 1: And the Lord God formed Man of the dust of

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Speaker 1: the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

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Speaker 1: and Man became a living soul Genesis two seven. Dear

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Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, like Adam and Eve, I realized that I

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Speaker 1: too get to make the decision to live together with

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Speaker 1: You and divine unity. Today. Help me to make the

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Speaker 1: right choices so that I can continue to thrive in

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Speaker 1: this beautiful garden called life. I will celebrate the fact

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Speaker 1: that you have created the perfect life partner for me

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Speaker 1: that will allow me to enjoy your many blessings and

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Speaker 1: to experience the love and joy that comes with companionship.

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Speaker 1: I declare that life flows through me because you breathed

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Speaker 1: your breath into my body. I declare that I can

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Speaker 1: live in vulnerability and transparency because in your presence is

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Speaker 1: no shame or guilt. Thank you for forming me and

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Speaker 1: sculpting me out of the dust of the earth. When

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Speaker 1: life gets a little dirty and even messy at times,

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Speaker 1: I will calm my soul make us through to day's reading.

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Speaker 1: In Genesis two five to twenty four, I see you

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Speaker 1: created amazing things out of dirt in Jesus name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: thank you for praying with me to day. Continue listening

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Speaker 1: for an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible

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Speaker 1: in a Year dot com, Adam and Eve. Previously, in

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Speaker 1: our story, we witness the creation of the universe. Out

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Speaker 1: of chaos and nothingness. God made everything. He spoke light

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Speaker 1: and life into existence. The glory of the skies, the galaxies,

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Speaker 1: and the creatures of the Earth were made by God

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Speaker 1: and declared to be good. Now we will learn more

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Speaker 1: about the creation of man and woman, made in the

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Speaker 1: image of God, inspired by the Book of Genesis. Hello,

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Speaker 1: I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible

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Speaker 1: in a Year podcast. In our previous episode, we heard

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Speaker 1: about the grand unfolding of God's act of creation, night

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Speaker 1: and day, Earth, sky and seas, animals, plants, moon and stars,

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Speaker 1: and humanity. Today we take a microscope to the pinnacle

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Speaker 1: of God's creation, Man and woman, his image bearers. This

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Speaker 1: is the story of the very first humans. As you

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Speaker 1: listen today, pay close attention to how God creates man,

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Speaker 1: how he stands apart from the rest of creation. Notice

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Speaker 1: the great care God takes not only informing man, but

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Speaker 1: in providing for him in every imaginable way, including a

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Speaker 1: suitable companion, one that was perfectly made for him. This

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Speaker 1: isn't just the dawn of humanity, but the dawn of marriage.

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Speaker 1: Listen for what this passage teaches about the design of

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Speaker 1: marriage and the designer of marriage. Finally, you will encounter

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Speaker 1: a choice in today's story, a choice that God gives

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Speaker 1: because He is not interested in forced worship, compulsory obedience,

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Speaker 1: or artificial, superficial love. This story reveals God's heart to you,

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Speaker 1: his care for you, his love for you. It's a

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Speaker 1: story about his desire for you to be fulfilled by

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Speaker 1: him and in him, and for you to choose a

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Speaker 1: relationship of trust with him. So come with me, and

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Speaker 1: let's take a look in Eden at the story of

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Speaker 1: Adam and Eve and the perfect garden God gave them.

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Speaker 1: The world was new, and its refreshing mist was covered

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Speaker 1: the land, streams and rivers flowed from the ground, giving

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Speaker 1: life to all plants and living creatures. Among the quiet

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Speaker 1: and new earth, God was at work personally and intricately.

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Speaker 1: God formed a man from the dust as a potter

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Speaker 1: does with clay. Then he breathed life into him. God

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Speaker 1: named him and knew him. His name was Adam. God

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Speaker 1: made a dwelling place for Adam, in a garden called Eden.

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Speaker 1: He placed Adam there, and it was filled with every

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Speaker 1: tree that is pleasant and good for food. In this garden,

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Speaker 1: man's relationship with God began, and with that relationship a

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Speaker 1: choice of free will. There were two trees in the garden.

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Speaker 1: One was the tree of life, the other was the

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Speaker 1: tree of knowledge of good and evil. God commissioned Adam, saying,

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Speaker 1: you may eat of every tree of the garden, but

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Speaker 1: of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

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Speaker 1: for if you do, you shall surely die. This would

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Speaker 1: be Adam's choice, for God does not desire relationship without

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Speaker 1: free will. Adam was with God in Paradise. He dwelt

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Speaker 1: in the garden that was filled with all things good.

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Speaker 1: Yet there was one thing that was not good. God said,

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Speaker 1: it is not good that man should be alone. So

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Speaker 1: the Lord caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. God,

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Speaker 1: like a silent surgeon, took a rib from Adam's side.

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Speaker 1: From this rib, he formed a woman and breathed life

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Speaker 1: into her. At this moment, Adam's loneliness was quieted, and

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Speaker 1: his soul and body was satisfied with her. Adam then

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Speaker 1: sang to her, and the two were married before God

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Speaker 1: to this day. This is why a man will leave

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Speaker 1: his family and become your sided with his wife. They

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Speaker 1: were naked and without shame, for there was no evil

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Speaker 1: to corrupt the purity of their unity. They made love,

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Speaker 1: ate the food in the garden, and cared for the

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Speaker 1: earth and its animals. God was in the garden with them,

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Speaker 1: and it was still good. Yet there still remained a

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Speaker 1: choice to stray, a choice that would alter the course

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Speaker 1: of all creation. The dawn of man. This was a

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Speaker 1: different work of creation. For all other created things, God

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Speaker 1: merely spoke and things that were not suddenly were. But

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Speaker 1: for humanity it was different. God took his own hands

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Speaker 1: in the very dirt he had created and formed a

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Speaker 1: man in the image of his triune self. But he

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Speaker 1: didn't stop there. He didn't just fashion man with his hands.

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Speaker 1: He breathed his very breath, his breath of life, into Adam.

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Speaker 1: Then God created a special place, a garden for Adam.

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Speaker 1: Did you notice the nature of God's relationship with Adam.

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Speaker 1: This was not a created being without choice, without freedom.

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Speaker 1: God created a true relationship with Adam, and so he

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Speaker 1: gave mankind a choice. Two trees one full of good

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Speaker 1: in life, the other the path of broken relationship and

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Speaker 1: an untimely death. And it was in this garden that

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Speaker 1: God and man were to live in communion, knowing each

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Speaker 1: other intimately. I imagine this garden as the very best

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Speaker 1: of the very best in a perfect creation. This was

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Speaker 1: the most perfect place imaginable, where every single need Adam

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Speaker 1: had was met, every need except one companionship and community.

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Speaker 1: Our triune God knew that to truly reflect his nature,

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Speaker 1: this man would need to, as he does with the

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Speaker 1: Son and the Spirit, live in community. Up to this

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Speaker 1: point God has said everything was good, But looking at

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Speaker 1: the lone man, he said it was not good. God

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Speaker 1: created all the animals and brought them to Adam, who

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Speaker 1: named each one of them. But none were a fitting match.

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Speaker 1: You see, they were not part of Adam's own flesh.

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Speaker 1: They were distinctly different. That simply would not do. So.

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Speaker 1: Once again, God set to work in creating with his

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Speaker 1: own hands. Genesis twenty two and twenty three records the

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Speaker 1: moment when God gave Adam this beautiful gift of a companion.

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Speaker 1: It says, and the Lord God fashioned into a woman

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Speaker 1: the rib which he had taken from the men and

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Speaker 1: brought her to the man. Then the man said, at last,

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Speaker 1: this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

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Speaker 1: She shall be called woman because she was taken out

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Speaker 1: of man. God gave Adam a helper, a perfect pair

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Speaker 1: to be with him for mutual satisfaction. Eve was created

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Speaker 1: from man into together. They lived in a perfect place,

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Speaker 1: at least for now. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

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Speaker 1: Today's story tells us something very important about our need

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Speaker 1: for community and companionship. You see, whether you are married

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Speaker 1: or not, God has created you to be in communion

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Speaker 1: with others. It is not good to be alone. As

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Speaker 1: God's image bearer, just like Adam and Eve, you are

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Speaker 1: made to live in community, in unity with others, just

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Speaker 1: as God himself exists in unity. And the highest expression

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Speaker 1: of this unity is seen nowhere better than in the

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Speaker 1: marriage relationship created by God right there in the garden

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Speaker 1: of Eden. Likewise, this story shows you that God has

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Speaker 1: given you a choice. Like Adam and Eve, you have

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Speaker 1: before you the choice to follow God or follow your

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Speaker 1: own desires. It is a choice between life eternal and

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Speaker 1: death eternal, and it's the most important choice you will

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Speaker 1: ever make. Dear Heavenly Father. Just as you provided for

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Speaker 1: Adam's every need, you continue to do so for us today.

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Speaker 1: You have created us for community with others and with yourself,

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Speaker 1: and we thank you for that. Oh Lord, help us

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Speaker 1: to choose you and your ways, God, the way of

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Speaker 1: life everlasting in Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening

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Speaker 1: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm pastor Jack

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Speaker 1: Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Prey dot com app

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Speaker 1: and make prayer a priority in your life. If you

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Speaker 1: enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love. By

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Speaker 1: sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in someone's life.

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Speaker 1: And if you want more resources on how to tap

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Speaker 1: into God's power for successful Christian living, be sure to

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Speaker 1: visit Jack Graham dot org. God bless This episode is

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Speaker 1: sponsored by Medashare, an innovative healthcare solution for Christians to

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Speaker 1: save money without sacrificing quality