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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.

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Speaker 1: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.

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Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving

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Speaker 2: in your life.

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Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. You know, I'd heard about mom guilt,

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Speaker 1: but no one ever told me about dad inadequacy and

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Speaker 1: that feeling sometimes we have his dad's feeling like not

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Speaker 1: only are we not doing enough sometimes, but I know

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Speaker 1: some of us feel this condemnation from the enemy sometimes

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Speaker 1: telling us that we're not enough. And I just felt

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Speaker 1: led to just prophesy over the dads today and ultimately

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Speaker 1: just remind you that before you were a father, you

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Speaker 1: were a son. And there's something so powerful about in

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Speaker 1: those places where we feel like we're not enough, reminding

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Speaker 1: ourselves that I was a son first. Chris was just

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Speaker 1: sharing in the back about the prodigal son, about the

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Speaker 1: younger son who came home. But I love what the

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Speaker 1: father spoke over the older son. He said, my son,

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Speaker 1: everything that I have, it was already yours. And when

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Speaker 1: you can wake up every day and remind yourself that

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Speaker 1: I'm a son. First, it's an opportunity to recognize that

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Speaker 1: everything your father has is available to you. So I

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Speaker 1: just speak life over you today and the blessings of

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Speaker 1: your father and Heaven over you today. In the name

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Speaker 1: of Jesus, we honor you, your honor and your well.

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Speaker 1: If we haven't yet met yet, my name is Jonathan.

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Speaker 1: I have the privilege of serving as the campus pastor

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Speaker 1: here at our Balentine location and welcome everyone's joe Us

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Speaker 1: and certainly always an honor to be able to share

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Speaker 1: God's word. I feel so grateful today. It's also always

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Speaker 1: an honor to stand behind the pulpit of my favorite

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Speaker 1: preacher on the planet. And it's kind of like if

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan invited you to play on his personal court.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're not on that level, but it's still

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Speaker 1: pretty it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. And while I

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Speaker 1: consider it's such an honor to stand behind this pulpit

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Speaker 1: to day, what's an even greater honor for me is that,

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Speaker 1: for the last twelve years, the greater honor is that

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Speaker 1: I've been able to be a part of this church.

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Speaker 1: And standing behind a pulpit is cool, but sitting in

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Speaker 1: that seat week to week is so special. I'm so

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Speaker 1: grateful to be a part of this house under the

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Speaker 1: leadership of such amazing pastors. Can we thank God for

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Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hawley and and the other thing

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Speaker 1: that's kind of cool about sitting next there is I

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Speaker 1: get to sit next to my wife of we just

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Speaker 1: celebrated fifteen years on Friday, fifteen years of marriage. The

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Speaker 1: Anna knows this right there. Well. I want to share

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Speaker 1: from a passage of scripture in John chapter nine. It's

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Speaker 1: this story about Jesus healing a man who was born blind,

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Speaker 1: and ultimately the man starts getting interrogated by the Pharisees.

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Speaker 1: And here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna give you

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Speaker 1: just one verse right now. We'll let you take your seats.

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Speaker 1: I know the dads just wanted to sit down for

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Speaker 1: Father's Day. That's it. Give me a break, So one

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Speaker 1: verse and I'll give you my title. But then I'll

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Speaker 1: ask that you'd be patient with me because I want

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Speaker 1: to work through the majority of this chapter John chapter nine,

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Speaker 1: and work through this story together. Is that good? John

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Speaker 1: Chapter nine, Verse twenty five. The Pharisees, they're asking this

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Speaker 1: man questions about who Jesus is. They're mad because Jesus

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Speaker 1: held him on the Sabbath. You know, they don't like that.

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Speaker 1: And so they asked this man a question about Jesus,

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Speaker 1: and look at his response verse twenty five. He replied,

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Speaker 1: whether he is a sinner or not? I don't know.

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Speaker 1: One thing I do know. I was blind, but now

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Speaker 1: I see whether he's a sinner or not. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm not a student of the law like you guys.

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Speaker 1: I'm just a I was a blind beggar just a

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Speaker 1: few days ago. I don't know. But one thing I

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Speaker 1: do know. I was blind, But now I see. My

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Speaker 1: title for today is all I know. All I know.

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Speaker 1: And as you're taking your seat, turn to your neighbors, say,

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Speaker 1: all I know is that I'm so blessed to be

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Speaker 1: sitting next to you today. God has really been speaking

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Speaker 1: to me through this passage. And since it is Father's Day,

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Speaker 1: let me show you a picture of my family real quick,

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Speaker 1: because I am a proud dad and my family right

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Speaker 1: here with my kids. And okay, so my oldest, Zion,

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Speaker 1: he's ten years old. And then we've got Elias, he

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Speaker 1: turns eight this week. He was actually born on Father's Day.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, he came early. I kept telling people, I

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Speaker 1: think Anna just pushed him out early because she didn't

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Speaker 1: want to get me a gift. Yeah, and see this

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Speaker 1: is the problem. And everybody laughs, they thought I was joking.

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Speaker 1: And then guess what day. Our daughter, Olivia was born

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Speaker 1: on Father's Day? All right, So if you've got an

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Speaker 1: extra twenty in your pocket, just bless the Woman of

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Speaker 1: God so she can get me a proper father this

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Speaker 1: day gift this year. That's our family. We're so we're

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Speaker 1: so blessed. And and I grew with three sisters and

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Speaker 1: we'd always ask my parents, you know, who's the favorite,

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Speaker 1: you know, and they would always say, we love you

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Speaker 1: all the same. And that's true, but it doesn't exactly

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Speaker 1: answer the question, right And as a parent, as a

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Speaker 1: parent myself, now it's true, I love them all the same.

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Speaker 1: But tell your neighbors say, there's definitely a favorite. There's

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Speaker 1: definitely a favorite, Zion, is there a favorite? There's a favorite?

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Speaker 1: But in this passage in John chapter nine, I love

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Speaker 1: what this man expressed in that one sentence. He's talking

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Speaker 1: about the tension of He's saying whether he's a sinner

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Speaker 1: or not he makes the confession, I don't know, but

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Speaker 1: one thing I do know, I don't know I know,

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Speaker 1: And the word no know shows up like eleven times

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Speaker 1: in this one passage of scripture. You're going to see

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Speaker 1: it pop up over and over again, and it starts

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Speaker 1: speaking to me because I find myself in a season

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Speaker 1: of life right now where I find myself saying more

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Speaker 1: than ever, maybe I don't know, I don't know. Situations

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Speaker 1: at work, I'm trying to figure out where it's like, well,

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Speaker 1: what do we do about I don't know. Just talking

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Speaker 1: to a friend the other day about health stuff. He's

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Speaker 1: like everything one thing I read says do this, the

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Speaker 1: other thing says do that. He's like, I don't even

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Speaker 1: know what to believe anymore. He's like, I just I

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Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know. When it comes to even

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Speaker 1: when me and Anda do like marriage counseling. Now it

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Speaker 1: used to be we'd go to talk about us, to

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Speaker 1: work on us. Now we're going to talk about the kids,

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Speaker 1: like how do we do this? It's getting harder and

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Speaker 1: harder as they get older. We're trying to figure this

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Speaker 1: thing out. And I know some of you are like,

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Speaker 1: you only got a ten year old just just you wait.

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Speaker 1: But even at the stage we're at right now, I

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Speaker 1: find myself saying, I don't know, I don't know. Maybe

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Speaker 1: find yourself in that place today where you're facing situations

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Speaker 1: and if you're honest, you're like I, I just don't know.

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Speaker 1: But where it really started to hit me was that,

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Speaker 1: even when it comes to my faith and my walk

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Speaker 1: with God, I find myself saying, yeah, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. There's two members in the church who

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Speaker 1: have really been undermining my confidence as a pastor and

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Speaker 1: as a follower of Christ. And I don't want to

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Speaker 1: expose anybody. It's not it's not you, Tad, You're good.

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Speaker 1: But I'll just show you a picture real quick of

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Speaker 1: the two church members I'm talking about. Yeah, these two,

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Speaker 1: these two, because they're at the stage now. It's so

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Speaker 1: amazing watching our kids grow in their faith, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: It's so awesome to see them just take steps towards Christ.

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Speaker 1: And then at the same time, the thing that comes

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Speaker 1: with it is they're asking me so many questions, and

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Speaker 1: they're good questions too, and they'll ask me at the

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Speaker 1: most unexpected times, like I don't get to I don't

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Speaker 1: get to do any research. You know, my youngest he

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Speaker 1: asked me. He some of the questions are fun, like

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Speaker 1: why did God make bad guys? And then you get

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Speaker 1: to explain to them, well, actually we're all bad guys,

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Speaker 1: and apart from Christ, none of us are righteous. And

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Speaker 1: you're walking them through that, and then ask me, why

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Speaker 1: did God make mosquitoes? Now that's a it's a tough one.

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Speaker 1: I hate him so much. That's like the equivalent of

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Speaker 1: asking why does God let bad things happen to good people?

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Speaker 1: That's how I feel like every time I get a mosquito,

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Speaker 1: By Lord, why have you forsaken me? The other day,

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Speaker 1: we're driving home from school and my eight year old

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Speaker 1: he was getting ready to be baptized. He got baptized

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Speaker 1: in our church just a couple weeks ago, and we

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Speaker 1: were talking about the moment where Jesus was baptized. You

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Speaker 1: remember that story. Jesus is baptizing and a dove, the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit descends like a dove in the voice of

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Speaker 1: his father in Heaven speaks over him. This is my son,

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Speaker 1: whom I love, whom I'm well pleased. And my eight

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Speaker 1: year old son, he said, Dad, if Jesus is God,

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Speaker 1: how is God talking to Jesus. He's eight years old

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Speaker 1: and he's asking me about the Trinity. Have you ever

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Speaker 1: tried to explain the Trinity to an eight year old?

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Speaker 1: Forget it? Have you ever tried to explain the Trinity

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Speaker 1: to a full grown, functioning adult. These are things that

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Speaker 1: we believe, right, we believe in it. That this is

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Speaker 1: something that the church, like followers of Christ, have believed him.

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Speaker 1: But if you asked me the question, how do I know?

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Speaker 1: I gotta be honest. I don't know sometimes and I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to. If I had told you turn to your

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Speaker 1: neighbor right now and explain to Trinity, you would be

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Speaker 1: pulling up chat GPT so quick and going to some

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Speaker 1: lame stuff. Well, it's kind of like an egg. It's

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Speaker 1: three parts that's all in one, and it's like, let's

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Speaker 1: be honest for a second. We don't know. We don't know.

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Speaker 1: There's so many things that we believe, and if we're honest,

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Speaker 1: we feel like, if we're honest, we could say that

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Speaker 1: we don't know. And the problem is we feel like

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Speaker 1: we should. I know, I feel like I should. I'm

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Speaker 1: a pastor. I'm supposed to know these things. I went

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Speaker 1: to school for these things, and whether it's sitting down

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Speaker 1: with a couple trying to guide them in the ways

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Speaker 1: of God as they navigate a situation in life, or

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Speaker 1: even just the own my own questions that I'm wrestling with.

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Speaker 1: I find myself saying I don't know. I don't know,

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Speaker 1: but I'm realizing that if my confidence is built on

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Speaker 1: all I know, I will always be insecure. And God's

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Speaker 1: been teaching me through this passage that being in a

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Speaker 1: place of not knowing isn't always bad thing. In fact,

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Speaker 1: not knowing might just be a good place to be.

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Speaker 1: So let's start at the beginning of this story where

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Speaker 1: this man who is born blind has a miraculous encounter

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Speaker 1: with Jesus. And there's some things about knowing that I

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Speaker 1: want to show you through this passage today. Good if

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Speaker 1: we walk through the scriptures for just a moment. Ken

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Speaker 1: in verse one, it says, as he went along, he

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Speaker 1: saw a man blind from birth. Now right there, I

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Speaker 1: got grateful. I got grateful knowing that even when I

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Speaker 1: couldn't see Jesus, he saw me and his disciples. They

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Speaker 1: asked him a question. Rabbi means teacher, teacher. They want

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Speaker 1: to learn something. Who sinned this man or his parents

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Speaker 1: that he was born blind? Rabbi, who sinned this man

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Speaker 1: or his parents that he was born blind? I love

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Speaker 1: the fact that the disciples are willing to ask Jesus questions.

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Speaker 1: They're saying, Jesus, we have teach us, teach Us. There's

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Speaker 1: still at a place in their faith where they're willing

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Speaker 1: to ask questions. Some of us grew up in a

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Speaker 1: tradition of faith where we were taught not to ask questions.

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Speaker 1: We thought faith was certainty in our answers. But faith

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Speaker 1: is not certainty in your answers. Faith is where you

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Speaker 1: go with your questions. So they asked Jesus. They're looking

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Speaker 1: at a man born in an unfortunate situation, and they're

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Speaker 1: asking him, how did this happen? What happened? Was it

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Speaker 1: something he did or his parents did. Now it's a

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Speaker 1: crazy question to us, because remember the man, he was

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Speaker 1: born blind. So when he says, did this man sin

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Speaker 1: to be born that way, you're like, well, that doesn't

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Speaker 1: really compute. But it's kind of a bad question because

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Speaker 1: it was rooted in bad beliefs. Some of the bad

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Speaker 1: questions we have are rooted in bad beliefs and here's

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Speaker 1: what I mean. They the Disciples had such a transactional

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Speaker 1: view of God that they believe that if anytime someone

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Speaker 1: was in a situation of sickness or suffering, that God

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Speaker 1: was so transactional that it must have been punishment for

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Speaker 1: something that they did. And so, rather than rather than

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Speaker 1: basing their theology on what the scripture said about God,

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Speaker 1: who is slow to anger, abounding in love, rich in mercy,

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Speaker 1: sometimes we begin to create a view of God based

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Speaker 1: on our circumstances rather than the other way around. So

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Speaker 1: they actually developed a theology that was common in that

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Speaker 1: day that someone could commit sin while they were still

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Speaker 1: in the womb. So when they asked Jesus, why was

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Speaker 1: this man born blind? It's rooted in the belief that

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Speaker 1: something must have gone wrong for him to be born

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Speaker 1: in this condition. But they're asking him a question, and

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Speaker 1: look what Jesus says in response. He says, neither this

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Speaker 1: man nor his parents sinned, but this happens so that

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Speaker 1: the works of God might be displayed in him. They're

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Speaker 1: looking at a situation and they're asking why why is

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Speaker 1: this happening? And it's one thing to look at situations

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Speaker 1: in our life and wonder Why, God, Why am I

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Speaker 1: going through this divorce?

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Speaker 2: God?

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Speaker 1: Why am I spiraling into this addiction again? God? Why

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Speaker 1: am I being buried alive by shame again? It's one

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Speaker 1: thing to look at situations in our life and ask

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Speaker 1: why is this happening? But Jesus redirects their question with

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Speaker 1: their answer, and he doesn't necessarily say what caused it,

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Speaker 1: but he answers why as and what is the purpose

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Speaker 1: of what they're going through? He said, forget about what

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Speaker 1: caused this man to be born blind. I want to

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Speaker 1: show you what's going to happen as a result of

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Speaker 1: his condition. This happens so that the works of God

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Speaker 1: might be displayed in him. In other words, that if

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Speaker 1: I can reframe my belief system to recognize God that

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Speaker 1: all things are working together for my good. When I

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Speaker 1: find myself in a situation saying I don't know how

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Speaker 1: I got here, I can change my question to say, God,

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Speaker 1: even though I don't know what got me into this situation,

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Speaker 1: I know that there's something you are doing in me

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Speaker 1: and through me, and through what I'm facing, You're going

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Speaker 1: to get glory. This happens so that the works of

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Speaker 1: God might be revealed in him. After saying this verse six, Jesus,

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Speaker 1: he spit on the ground. He made some mud with

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Speaker 1: the saliva, and he put it on the man's eyes. Go,

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Speaker 1: he told them, wash in the pool of Siloam. This

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Speaker 1: word means scent. The scent one is sending him to

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Speaker 1: a pool called send. So the man went and washed

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Speaker 1: and came home seeing. Talk about blind faith for just

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Speaker 1: a moment, the ability to move in obedience even when

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Speaker 1: you don't have all the answers. Remember, this man has

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Speaker 1: never seen Jesus. In fact, when Jesus said go wash

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Speaker 1: in the pool, he didn't tell Jesus, go and wash

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Speaker 1: and you'll be healed. He gave him no information. Can

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Speaker 1: you imagine sitting there hearing people talking about you in

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Speaker 1: the background. Next thing you know, your eyes are getting

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Speaker 1: slapped with some mud, and you heard a spitting sound,

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Speaker 1: and now there's something goofy on your eyes, and you're

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Speaker 1: going wait a second, and then the man says, go

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Speaker 1: and wash, And it says that he went and he

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Speaker 1: came home seeing. Blind faith is the ability to move

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Speaker 1: in obedience on nothing but a word from Jesus. Some

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Speaker 1: of us are stuck in the circumstances we find ourselves

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Speaker 1: in today because we need too many answers before we'll

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Speaker 1: move in obedience. Some of us stay trapped in the

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Speaker 1: place we are and we're praying God get me out

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Speaker 1: of this situation. And God saying, I gave you in

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Speaker 1: an instruction, but you needed to know a B. C.

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Speaker 1: D If then when And God is looking for people

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Speaker 1: who have blind faith, faith enough to trust in his

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Speaker 1: voice and not all the answers. So this man goes

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Speaker 1: to the pool, he washes, and he came home seeing

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Speaker 1: Can you imagine he's walking back to his village, seeing

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Speaker 1: mountains for the first time, seeing the blue sky for

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Speaker 1: the first time, seeing his parents for the first time.

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Speaker 1: And it says this His neighbors and those who had

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Speaker 1: formerly seen him begging ask him, is this the same

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Speaker 1: man who used to sit and beg Some claimed he was,

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Speaker 1: others said no, he only looks like him. They don't know,

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Speaker 1: But he himself insisted, I am the man. How then

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Speaker 1: were your eyes open? They asked. The man they called

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Speaker 1: Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.

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Speaker 1: He told me to go to saloam and wash. So

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Speaker 1: I went and washed, and then I could see. So

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Speaker 1: they bring him to the Pharisees Verse thirteen. The man

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Speaker 1: who had they bring the man who had been blind

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Speaker 1: to the Pharisees. Now, the day on which Jesus had

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Speaker 1: made the mud and opened up the man's eyes was

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Speaker 1: a sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he

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Speaker 1: had received a sight. He's given the same testimony over

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Speaker 1: and over again. He put mud on my eyes, the

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Speaker 1: man replied, and I washed, and now I see. And

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Speaker 1: the Pharisees start going back and forth. This man Jesus,

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Speaker 1: he can't be from God. He doesn't keep the sabbath,

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Speaker 1: but others are like. But how is he performing these signs?

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Speaker 1: So they're divided. They don't know. And then they turned

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Speaker 1: away again to the blind man. What do you have

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Speaker 1: to say about him? It was your eyes he opened,

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Speaker 1: and the man replied, this man is a prophet. They

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Speaker 1: still did not believe that he had been blind and

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Speaker 1: had received his sight, until they sent for the man's parents.

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Speaker 1: Is this your son? They've got questions? Is this the

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Speaker 1: one you say was born blind? How is it that

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Speaker 1: he can now see? Look at this. We know he

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Speaker 1: is our son. The parent's answer, And we know he

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Speaker 1: was born blind, But how he can see now or

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Speaker 1: who opened his eyes? We don't know touch your neighbors said,

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Speaker 1: we don't know. Ask him. He's of age, he will

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Speaker 1: speak for himself. His parents said this because they were

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Speaker 1: afraid of the Jewish leaders who had already decided, who

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Speaker 1: had already decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was

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Speaker 1: the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. They

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Speaker 1: had already made up their mind. You ever been in

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Speaker 1: a situation where someone's asking you for advice and you

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Speaker 1: quickly get the sense they had already decided, you know,

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Speaker 1: should I break up with her? Should I keep seeing?

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Speaker 1: You're like, I've been telling you, this relationship's toxic. And

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Speaker 1: sometimes people are asking you questions because they just want

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Speaker 1: confirmation or proof in what they already believe. Right, there's

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Speaker 1: times in our marriage where we're arguing back and forth

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Speaker 1: about something. Instead of actually listening to understand my wife's

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Speaker 1: side of the story, I'm just listening for my next

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Speaker 1: argument to prove I was right. It's what the Pharisees

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Speaker 1: are doing in this story. They're asking questions, But if

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Speaker 1: we're honest, they're not actually curious, they're not actually trying

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Speaker 1: to understand they've already made up their mind about Jesus

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Speaker 1: that he isn't who he says he is, and they're

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Speaker 1: looking for reasons to trap him. So even though they're

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Speaker 1: asking questions, it's not the same type of questions that

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Speaker 1: the disciples are asking. The disciples are asking because they're

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Speaker 1: seeking understanding. The Pharisees are asking because they have a

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Speaker 1: questioning spirit. They're just trying to prove what they've already

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Speaker 1: decided they believe verse twenty four. A second time, they

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Speaker 1: summon the man who had been blind give glory to

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Speaker 1: God by telling the truth. They said, we know this

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Speaker 1: man is a sinner. Here's our key verse and he replied,

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Speaker 1: whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know

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Speaker 1: one thing. I do know. I was blind, but now

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Speaker 1: I see turn to your neighbors, say I don't know much,

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Speaker 1: but I know what he's done for me. This word

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Speaker 1: no that keeps showing up k n O W the

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Speaker 1: Bible uses translates different Greek words into this word no.

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Speaker 1: In this scripture, when the word no shows up, it's

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Speaker 1: referring to a to a head knowledge. It's it's the

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Speaker 1: type of knowing that you can that you can learn

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Speaker 1: right it's information. That's what the Pharisees possessed, maybe more

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Speaker 1: than anyone. Remember, their influence in that society at that

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Speaker 1: time didn't become wasn't because of a political affiliation, but

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Speaker 1: because of their authorities in the scriptures. They would memorize

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Speaker 1: the scripture, study the scriptures, study the Law of Moses.

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Speaker 1: Their authority was based on what they on, what they knew.

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Speaker 1: But it was a knowledge that came simply through learning. Now,

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Speaker 1: of course learning is good. I want my pilots to learn,

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Speaker 1: I want my doctors to learn. Learning is good. But

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Speaker 1: but their level of knowledge was solely connected to what

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Speaker 1: they had learned. When the man says, I don't know

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Speaker 1: whether he's a sinner or not. Can you imagine you're

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Speaker 1: a beggar going toe to toe with the theological experts

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Speaker 1: of your day and they're trying to get him to debate,

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Speaker 1: what do you say about Jesus? What do you think

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Speaker 1: about the Messiah? And he's like, yo, this isn't my

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Speaker 1: area of expertise, this is this is your category. So

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Speaker 1: he has the humility to say, hey, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I didn't learn all that. I didn't

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Speaker 1: go to school like you did. I don't know. I

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Speaker 1: don't know, but one thing I do know. One thing

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Speaker 1: I do know, he referred. He begins to reference what

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Speaker 1: he personally experienced. I was blind, but now I see.

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Speaker 1: Other times in scripture, there's another word for knowing, like

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Speaker 1: in Philippians three ten, where Paul says, my one purpose,

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Speaker 1: my one aim is that I would know Christ, or

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Speaker 1: when Jesus prayed for us as believers, that we would

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Speaker 1: know the Father. It's not the type of knowing that

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Speaker 1: comes from learning. It's a It's a word that speaks

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Speaker 1: to relationship. It's the way a father knows a son,

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Speaker 1: the way a husband knows a wife. It's the type

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Speaker 1: of knowing that comes through personal experience. Like if you

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Speaker 1: ask me to tell you about Anna, I wouldn't just

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Speaker 1: tell you she's five foot four born January sixth I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't just like read you information off her driver's license,

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Speaker 1: right because I know her. I know we've been married

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Speaker 1: for fifteen years. I have a relationship with her. So

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Speaker 1: if you ask me to tell you about Anna, i'd

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Speaker 1: tell you while she's remarkably patient, how do I know?

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Speaker 1: Because we're trying to teach our boys how to clean

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Speaker 1: up after themselves, and I still leave socks on the

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Speaker 1: living room floor like a nine year old myself, and

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Speaker 1: she still lets me cuddle with her. She's patient, she's patient.

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Speaker 1: I would tell you how she's an amazing listener. It's

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Speaker 1: unbelievable to watch. Sometimes Anna will sit down with someone

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Speaker 1: and ask just a couple questions and then they can

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Speaker 1: talk for an hour, and then she'll just wait to

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Speaker 1: chime in at the end with a little bit of advice.

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Speaker 1: She's really why she's an amazing listener. I would talk

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Speaker 1: about her in a different way because I have a

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Speaker 1: personal relationship with her. And so when this man is

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Speaker 1: being questioned by the Pharisees, they're trying to figure out

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Speaker 1: tell us something, tell us something we need to know

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Speaker 1: so we can prove that Jesus isn't who he says

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Speaker 1: he is. And the man's like, I don't know what

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Speaker 1: to tell you about that. All I know is I

427
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,919
Speaker 1: was blind. But now I see. This is the power

428
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:16,480
Speaker 1: of your personal experience with God in your life. For

429
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,840
Speaker 1: the times where you don't know, for the times where

430
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,360
Speaker 1: you have doubts, for the times where you have questions

431
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,879
Speaker 1: that you can't seem to figure out, there's something so

432
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,119
Speaker 1: powerful about being able to stand confident in what you

433
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 1: do know. I was blind, but now I see it's

434
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,400
Speaker 1: what I personally experience. I was sharing with our youth

435
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 1: just a couple of weeks ago about how I know

436
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 1: it's hard being in high school because people are asking

437
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:40,880
Speaker 1: you all the time about your faith and they don't

438
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 1: understand it. Why do you believe those things about Jesus?

439
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 1: Are you really trying to Are you really trying to

440
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 1: stay pure intil marriage? You really go and serve on

441
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 1: your free time? You go serve at the church. Why

442
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,480
Speaker 1: do you do all those things? And there's a temptation

443
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,639
Speaker 1: for us when people are challenging us in our faith

444
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,960
Speaker 1: to go to what we know. You know, well, I

445
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 1: believe this about the Bible, and listen, I get that too.

446
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: I went to school for this stuff. I love this stuff.

447
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: The other day someone was asking me, he said, I

448
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,600
Speaker 1: don't know how you believe this Christianity stuff. I said, okay, why?

449
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,600
Speaker 1: He said, it seems so illogical to believe in the Bible. Wow,

450
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 1: And everything within me wanted to start like going apologist mode.

451
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 1: You know, I love watching this guy lately on YouTube,

452
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,679
Speaker 1: Wesley Huff, this historian and theologian, and he gives an

453
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,199
Speaker 1: amazing defense for the faith, And every time I watch him,

454
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I wish I knew all that stuff,

455
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 1: but I can't. I can't remember how old I am

456
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,399
Speaker 1: half the time, let alone when the Bible was put together.

457
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 1: This guy was saying, I don't know how you believe it.

458
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,920
Speaker 1: It's so illogical. And while I wanted to start defending

459
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,520
Speaker 1: my faith, something into me said stop and just said,

460
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,320
Speaker 1: just speak about your personal experience with God. Why do

461
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,479
Speaker 1: you follow Jesus? I just started saying, like all the

462
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 1: moments in my life where I felt his hand, his

463
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,679
Speaker 1: hand on me, his hand guiding me through. Because you

464
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 1: can talk someone into believing, you can give them information

465
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 1: that might change their mind, but only personal encounter can

466
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:11,760
Speaker 1: change somebody's part. And there's a level of knowing that

467
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,680
Speaker 1: comes from being in real relationship with Jesus, where he's

468
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,879
Speaker 1: active in working in your life. That builds a confidence

469
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,479
Speaker 1: that no matter what storms come your way, even if

470
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 1: it's the one thing you do know you can stand

471
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,199
Speaker 1: on it, not just for when people are challenging you

472
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 1: about your faith, but for the questions you have about

473
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,159
Speaker 1: your faith, for the situations you're facing where you just

474
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 1: don't know to be able to go back and say,

475
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 1: I was blind, but now I see. This man's testimony

476
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,119
Speaker 1: has become an anthem for believers. Amazing grace, how sweet

477
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,560
Speaker 1: the sound save the wrench? Like me, I once was lost,

478
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,720
Speaker 1: Now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see.

479
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,520
Speaker 1: In preaching, Pastor Stevens taught us he said, in when

480
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 1: you're preaching, you need an osp A one sentence premise. Ans,

481
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:02,959
Speaker 1: how can can you can you say your sermon in

482
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 1: just one sentence what your message is about? But I'm

483
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:11,640
Speaker 1: realizing in life I need an ost a one sentence testimony,

484
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:19,040
Speaker 1: A one sentence testimony, not an elaborate story, but in

485
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 1: one sentence, the ability to say, just like this man,

486
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,399
Speaker 1: I was blind, but now I see. We were with

487
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,199
Speaker 1: our leaders just a couple of weeks ago, and we

488
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,479
Speaker 1: were talking about this, and and I said, if you

489
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,920
Speaker 1: had to boil your story down into into into one sentence,

490
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:35,639
Speaker 1: it's I said, I bet you could do it like that.

491
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 1: You know, like if I said to explain the Trinity

492
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 1: to your neighbor, you'd have to you'd struggle for a minute.

493
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 1: But if I said, tell your neighbor, right, now what

494
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 1: God has done for you, you'd be able to do

495
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 1: it in a moment because it's not real to you.

496
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,439
Speaker 1: Someone stood up in the room and they said, my

497
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,320
Speaker 1: marriage was at its bottom and God made it better.

498
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,679
Speaker 1: Someone said I was in bondage and an addiction and

499
00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,239
Speaker 1: He set me free. And they weren't giving details, they

500
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,879
Speaker 1: weren't going into the whole, just one sentence, and you

501
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 1: could feel faith rising in the room because it wasn't

502
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 1: just things that people knew in their head. It was

503
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,679
Speaker 1: things that were real to them because it's what they

504
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,160
Speaker 1: had personally experienced by the power of Christ. You need

505
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 1: a one sentence testimony in your life. I was looking

506
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 1: at different scriptures that speak about what Jesus has done

507
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,440
Speaker 1: for us, and I put them in chat gpt to say,

508
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 1: take the verse, make it one sentence. I want to

509
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,040
Speaker 1: show you some of these because when we go to

510
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: the word of God to learn, which is so important.

511
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 1: We go to the Word of God. Learning is good,

512
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:37,440
Speaker 1: but remember it's always an invitation. It's always an invitation

513
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,840
Speaker 1: to experience a reality in Christ. So when I read

514
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,440
Speaker 1: the scripture, it's not just for information, but for transformation.

515
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 1: And here's what the scriptures say about you. Now. If

516
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 1: you don't have a one sentence testimony, you might be

517
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:51,959
Speaker 1: able to find one on the screen right now and listen.

518
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: Everything I'm about to read to you. If you are

519
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: a believer in Christ, is true of you, but it

520
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,239
Speaker 1: may not be true to you yet. When I get

521
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: to the one that's true to you, the thing that

522
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 1: you know from the depths of your being, you can shout,

523
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,160
Speaker 1: you can praise, you can jump if you want to

524
00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: look at all these scriptures. The scripture says the Colossians

525
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,800
Speaker 1: two thirteen fourteen. I was guilty, but now I'm forgiven

526
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: through Jesus. I was abandoned, now I'm adopted. I was

527
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,920
Speaker 1: spiritually dead, now I'm alive. I was anxious, but now

528
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: I have peace. I was bound, but now I'm free.

529
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,399
Speaker 1: I was cursed, but now I'm redeemed. I was condemned,

530
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,960
Speaker 1: now I'm justified. I was in darkness, but now I

531
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 1: walk in light. I was unlovable, but now I'm loved.

532
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 1: I was broken, but now I'm healed. I was rejected,

533
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,880
Speaker 1: but now I am chosen. I was lost, but now

534
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,159
Speaker 1: I'm found. I was weak, now I'm strong. I was

535
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 1: um righteous, and now I'm made right. I was empty,

536
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,119
Speaker 1: but now I'm filled with the spirit of God. I

537
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:48,879
Speaker 1: was looking for a church to bat me up and

538
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 1: make some noise right here. I was a slave to sin,

539
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,240
Speaker 1: but now I'm free. I was in shame, but now

540
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 1: I'm prowned with mercy. I was defeated, but now I'm victorious.

541
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:08,120
Speaker 1: This is what He's done for me. It's what He's

542
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: done for me. And so even as a parent, as

543
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 1: my kids are asking me these questions about faith, if

544
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,000
Speaker 1: I have answers, I want to give it to them.

545
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 1: I want to teach them what to believe, teach them

546
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 1: what we know. But I got to get better about

547
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: not just telling them about what I know up here,

548
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,240
Speaker 1: but sharing with them the testimonies of what God has

549
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,400
Speaker 1: done in my life, in my family's life, what I've

550
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 1: seen him do in this church and in this ministry.

551
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,679
Speaker 1: It's the confidence of knowing what I know, just to

552
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: be able to say I know that I know. It's

553
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,040
Speaker 1: not just what I learned somewhere in a textbook or

554
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 1: in a seminary course. It's what I personally experienced from

555
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: the hand of God in my life. I was lost,

556
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I

557
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,840
Speaker 1: see again. Tell your neighbors say I don't know much,

558
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 1: but I know what he's done for me. Come on,

559
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: do you know what he's done for you? If you

560
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 1: know what he's done for you, take a moment just

561
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 1: to praise his name, for his faithfulness, his hand, his mercy.

562
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 1: This man the honesty to say I don't know, and

563
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: yet the confidence to say, but what I do know?

564
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 1: I was blind, but now I see. They keep asking

565
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 1: him the same question, over and over again. What did

566
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,200
Speaker 1: he do to you? How do you open your eyes?

567
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 1: The man who at first is so intimidated being pulled

568
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 1: in front of the Pharisees and questioned is you can

569
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 1: see him growing a little bit sass Here he says,

570
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,760
Speaker 1: I've told you already and you didn't listen. You want

571
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:40,640
Speaker 1: to hear it again? Do you want to become his

572
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,680
Speaker 1: disciples too? He's like straight mocking them now. Then they

573
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 1: hurled insults at him and said, you are this fellow's disciple.

574
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,720
Speaker 1: We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke

575
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,320
Speaker 1: to Moses. But as for this fellow, we don't even

576
00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,880
Speaker 1: know where he comes from. This is the only time

577
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 1: the Pharisees say we don't know every other. We know this,

578
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 1: we know that, so blinded by their certainty. And the

579
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,480
Speaker 1: one time they say we don't know is when they say,

580
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,720
Speaker 1: and we don't even know where this man comes from.

581
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: The man says, now, that's remarkable. You don't even know

582
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: where he comes from. Yet he opened my eyes. He's

583
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 1: realizing something about the Pharisees in this moment. He's saying, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

584
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 1: wait wait wait. You give your life to studying these scriptures,

585
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,760
Speaker 1: and yet you don't see who the scriptures were talking

586
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: about the whole time. Do you mean to tell me

587
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 1: that you know all this but you don't know the

588
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,560
Speaker 1: one thing that matters most where this man came from.

589
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,000
Speaker 1: We know now look at him, prophesied. We know that

590
00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:54,200
Speaker 1: God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the

591
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 1: godly person who does as will. Nobody has ever heard

592
00:30:57,640 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 1: of the opening of the eyes of a man born blind.

593
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 1: It's the only time someone who is born blind receives

594
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,840
Speaker 1: their sight born blind. If this man were not from God,

595
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 1: he could do nothing to this. They replied, you were

596
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 1: steeped in sin at birth, how dare you lecture us?

597
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 1: And they threw him out. Here's where the story gets

598
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,959
Speaker 1: cool to me. Remember, Jesus heals them by sending him

599
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 1: to a pool. So Jesus spoke to him, but he's

600
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: never seen Jesus. Then he's questioned by his neighbors, questioned

601
00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,000
Speaker 1: by the Pharisees. Now, after he's kicked out of the temple,

602
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 1: Jesus shows up again. Jesus must have been close the

603
00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 1: whole time, because it says that Jesus heard that they

604
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,840
Speaker 1: had thrown him out, and when he found him. First

605
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 1: is Jesus who sees him. And now it's Jesus who

606
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 1: finds him. And Jesus finds them, and he asks them

607
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,440
Speaker 1: not what he knows, but he asked them a question

608
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: about what he believes. He says, do you believe in

609
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 1: the Son of Man? He's asking him the same question

610
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,080
Speaker 1: the Pharisees were asking him. Do you believe in the Messiah?

611
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,320
Speaker 1: Do you believe in the Christ, the Son of Man,

612
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,880
Speaker 1: son of God? The man has a question? Who is he? Sir?

613
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 1: Tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said,

614
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 1: you have now seen him. In fact, he is the

615
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 1: one speaking with you. What caught my attention is those

616
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 1: first few words of Jesus when he meets the man

617
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 1: for the second time. Remember when he sees him on

618
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 1: the road, this beggar born blind, Jesus speaks to him,

619
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 1: go wash in the pool. He puts mud on his eyes,

620
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:36,719
Speaker 1: and the man went home seeing he was physically healed.

621
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 1: Now Jesus finds him again and he says this phrase.

622
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,000
Speaker 1: He says to him, you have now seen. This is

623
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:48,239
Speaker 1: the second seeing, the second seeing, because look at the

624
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:52,280
Speaker 1: man's response verse thirty eight. After Jesus says you have

625
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:58,280
Speaker 1: now seen, then the man said, Lord, I believe, and

626
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,200
Speaker 1: he worshiped him. The first time this man is asked

627
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: about Jesus, he calls them a man named Jesus. The

628
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 1: second time he's asked about Jesus, he calls them a prophet.

629
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 1: Now he meets Jesus, and Jesus says, you have now seen.

630
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 1: And something shifted because he doesn't call him a man,

631
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,520
Speaker 1: he doesn't call him a prophet. He calls him lord,

632
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: and he worshiped. The second seeing led him to a

633
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: revelation of who Jesus is. There are people who know

634
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,520
Speaker 1: more about the Bible, know more about theology than I

635
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:36,240
Speaker 1: could ever dream. And yet if you ask them about Jesus,

636
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 1: they would say he was just a man. He was

637
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 1: a man. He lived, but he's just a man. There

638
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 1: are people who come to church, there are people who say, man,

639
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 1: I love what Jesus says. It gives me inspiration, it

640
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 1: gives me hope. He was a great teacher. If you

641
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,440
Speaker 1: ask them about Jesus, they would say, he's a prophet.

642
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,840
Speaker 1: He's a prophet. What he says is true. But what

643
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 1: we read in this scripture and what the scriptures tell

644
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,160
Speaker 1: us about him is he's not just a man, and

645
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 1: he's not just a He's Lord. He's the Son of God.

646
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 1: He's the Christ, he's the Messiah. And when this man,

647
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 1: when this man meets Jesus, Jesus says, do you believe

648
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:15,520
Speaker 1: in the son of man? Tell me who he is?

649
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 1: Jesus says, you have now seen, and the eyes of

650
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 1: his heart are opened, his spiritual eyes are open, and

651
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:27,200
Speaker 1: in a moment he recognizes, Oh, oh, what I didn't

652
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:29,839
Speaker 1: know when they were asking me qu what I didn't know?

653
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:34,319
Speaker 1: Then I know now he's Lord, and he worshiped him,

654
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 1: and he worshiped him. When I read that phrase, or

655
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: when I read that verse, it reminded me of a

656
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,880
Speaker 1: phrase that comes from what the apostle Paul says in

657
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 1: Ephesians Paul he prayed one time in Ephesians one eighteen.

658
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: He said, I prayed that the eyes of your heart

659
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 1: may be enlightened. This phrase, the eyes of your heart,

660
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:56,640
Speaker 1: it's an internal knowing. And I thought about that phrase,

661
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,400
Speaker 1: and I went to that verse, and what really struck

662
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 1: me was actually the verse before it, verse seventeen. Look

663
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:05,360
Speaker 1: at this. Paul prayed for us as believers, and he said,

664
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,480
Speaker 1: I keep asking that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ,

665
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,719
Speaker 1: the Glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom

666
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 1: and revelation so that you may know him better. I

667
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 1: pray that God would give you a spirit of wisdom

668
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:29,759
Speaker 1: and revelation so that you may know him better. I'm

669
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,400
Speaker 1: so grateful that for the moments in my life where

670
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,480
Speaker 1: I'm not sure which way is up and which ways down,

671
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,239
Speaker 1: that God has given me a spirit of wisdom. The

672
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 1: Word of God says that if anybody lacks wisdom, we

673
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 1: should ask. God gives faithfully without finding fault. The spirit

674
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,040
Speaker 1: of God, as believers, is our guide. It'll give us

675
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,960
Speaker 1: insight into things that we couldn't know otherwise. I'm so

676
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 1: grateful for the spirit of God that helps me make

677
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,280
Speaker 1: decisions in my life that even when I'm not sure

678
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,640
Speaker 1: what His will is, that I can be guided by

679
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,600
Speaker 1: His Holy Spirit. But the primary purpose of the Spirit

680
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,560
Speaker 1: of God, the spirit of wisdom and revelation, is this

681
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:06,879
Speaker 1: so that you would know Him better. When I saw

682
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:09,319
Speaker 1: that word know, I thought, well, which no, is it?

683
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,080
Speaker 1: Is it the type of knowing that comes from learning,

684
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,160
Speaker 1: or is it the type of knowing that comes through

685
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,520
Speaker 1: experience and relationship? And I look it up and it

686
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: blew me away. There's a third type of knowing. This

687
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:28,799
Speaker 1: word means spirit revealed in sight. There's what I learn,

688
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,520
Speaker 1: there's what I experience. But there is a knowing that

689
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 1: comes through the Spirit of God that illuminates things to

690
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:39,560
Speaker 1: me that no one else could show me. It's a

691
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: different type of knowing. It's a deeper knowing. It's a

692
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: knowing that I can build my life on. It's a

693
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 1: confidence in knowing who He is. This is like when

694
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 1: Jesus asked Peter the question who do people say that

695
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:52,680
Speaker 1: I am? Well, some people say that you're a prophet,

696
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 1: some say you're Elijah. Some people say just like the

697
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:57,480
Speaker 1: fair some people say you're just a man. Some people

698
00:36:57,520 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 1: say you're a prophet. But Jesus says, who do you say?

699
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:04,240
Speaker 1: Say that I am? Peter makes this confession. He said,

700
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:08,279
Speaker 1: you are the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the

701
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 1: Living God. And look what Jesus says to him. He says, Simon, Peter,

702
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 1: blessed are you for this was not revealed to you

703
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,200
Speaker 1: by flesh and blood. Why because when it comes to

704
00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:21,279
Speaker 1: the knowledge of Christ's, flesh and blood can't reveal it

705
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,320
Speaker 1: to you. That's why before I get up here to preach,

706
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: or even when I come sit in church on a

707
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,080
Speaker 1: Sunday morning, I pray that God would give me a

708
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,360
Speaker 1: spirit of wisdom and revelation. Show that. As my pastor

709
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,280
Speaker 1: is preaching the Word of God and I'm learning about

710
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:36,799
Speaker 1: the scriptures, I need the Spirit of God to show

711
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,239
Speaker 1: me things that only He can reveal to me. He said,

712
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 1: flesh and blood did not reveal these things to you,

713
00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:44,520
Speaker 1: But my Father in Heaven. There's a type of knowing

714
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,760
Speaker 1: that comes from the spirit of God, and you, my son,

715
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:52,839
Speaker 1: you daughter of God, have access to that spirit as

716
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,839
Speaker 1: a follower of Jesus. That for the moments in your

717
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:59,160
Speaker 1: life where you're like, I don't know what to do next,

718
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,719
Speaker 1: you can stand confident saying, even if I don't know

719
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,279
Speaker 1: what to do, and even if I don't always know

720
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 1: what I believe, I'm so grateful that the Spirit of

721
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,280
Speaker 1: God has revealed to me who he is. That's enough

722
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:17,799
Speaker 1: to build my life on. I was so encouraged by

723
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,239
Speaker 1: this man's this blind man's story, because I resonated with

724
00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:22,920
Speaker 1: it of just saying I don't know, I don't know,

725
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 1: I don't know, and learning once again to find my

726
00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: faith and confidence and security not in what I know,

727
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:34,839
Speaker 1: but to build my life on who he is. And

728
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,400
Speaker 1: so as I was reading his story, I felt like

729
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,560
Speaker 1: I could relate to him, and I was frustrated because

730
00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: I was like, God, there's just so many things I

731
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 1: don't know about right now. And it was like the

732
00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:46,080
Speaker 1: Spirit of God reminded me, he goes, you think you're

733
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:50,000
Speaker 1: that blind man, and he goes, and he reminded me

734
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,359
Speaker 1: of a time where I was less like the blind man,

735
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:55,560
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know, and I was more

736
00:38:55,600 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 1: like the Pharisees. I know this, I know that into

737
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,040
Speaker 1: my life where I felt like I had all the answers.

738
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:04,840
Speaker 1: So I felt like I was good in my faith,

739
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,040
Speaker 1: but I wasn't dependent on God. I was dependent on

740
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,960
Speaker 1: what I knew. And it took me back to a

741
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,120
Speaker 1: season of my life where I grew up in church

742
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,120
Speaker 1: all my life in a really great church with really

743
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:16,879
Speaker 1: great parents who taught me the word of God. I'm

744
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:21,200
Speaker 1: so grateful for that. And as a result of that, though,

745
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:22,960
Speaker 1: as I was getting ready to go to college, I

746
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:24,520
Speaker 1: was going to Bible School. I knew I wanted to

747
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 1: be a pastor. I went into Bible school eighteen years

748
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:32,240
Speaker 1: old thinking I had all the answers debate me, thinking

749
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 1: I was so I know, it sounds cringey just even

750
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 1: hearing me say it right now. And I'm going to

751
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 1: Bible school to, you know, to learn more, just to

752
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 1: top off I already knew so much, just to learn

753
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 1: a little, just a little bit more. And I'm in

754
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,360
Speaker 1: the dorm room at Liberty University a couple weeks in.

755
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,000
Speaker 1: I'm going to all these classes New Testament, all that

756
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,120
Speaker 1: New Testament Survey, Old Testament, all that stuff, learning about

757
00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,160
Speaker 1: the Bible. And I remember this moment with God where

758
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,560
Speaker 1: he spoke to me and he said, do you want

759
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:05,279
Speaker 1: to know more about me? Or do you really want

760
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:10,320
Speaker 1: to know me? And it convicted me because I realized

761
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: that I had more knowledge about God than I had

762
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:17,960
Speaker 1: knowledge of God. And it began this process early on

763
00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:20,640
Speaker 1: in my freshman year of just beginning to pray to

764
00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,319
Speaker 1: God sincerely. I had this prayer. I said, Lord, help

765
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,719
Speaker 1: me unlearn everything I think I know and help me

766
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:33,440
Speaker 1: truly experience who you are. An honest prayer, a dangerous prayer,

767
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 1: a simple prayer. Lord, help me unlearn everything I think

768
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,600
Speaker 1: I know and help me truly experience You for who

769
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,920
Speaker 1: you are. And from that point forward, every night when

770
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,239
Speaker 1: I would open up the scriptures, it wasn't to learn

771
00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:50,400
Speaker 1: more information. It was because I wanted to see the

772
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:54,480
Speaker 1: scriptures as an invitation into knowing Him. That was my

773
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 1: prayer every night. And God answered that prayer in a

774
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,520
Speaker 1: season where I was like a pharisee, going, ah, I

775
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:04,000
Speaker 1: have all the answers. So blinded by my arrogance, God

776
00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:06,440
Speaker 1: began to humble me. And one of the gifts he

777
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,520
Speaker 1: brought me is the worship team here. I asked, Amari,

778
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:13,040
Speaker 1: he's one of our worship leaders over at our Blakeney campus.

779
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:15,719
Speaker 1: I asked if I could borrow him over here at

780
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:20,080
Speaker 1: Valentine today because me and Mari have been friends almost

781
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 1: twenty years. You're getting old. You're getting old, and Amari.

782
00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:28,880
Speaker 1: Right around that time, I just remember this guy wandering

783
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,560
Speaker 1: up from the dorm floor below me and coming to

784
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:33,799
Speaker 1: sit in the dorm. And every time this guy would

785
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 1: talk about the things of God, I realized, Oh, my goodness,

786
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: he sees something I don't see. He knows something I

787
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:42,040
Speaker 1: don't know what. You might not be able to tell.

788
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:44,600
Speaker 1: Watching Amar lead worship, I know you can tell he's

789
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 1: anointed and gifted, but Amari is legally blind. And I

790
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:51,439
Speaker 1: meet this guy at this pivotal moment in my life

791
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,920
Speaker 1: where I'm praying God, I just want to know you

792
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 1: for who you are. Take the blinders off. I want

793
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:58,799
Speaker 1: to see you. God sends this man into my life

794
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 1: who starts inviting me just to pray on Tuesday nights

795
00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:03,720
Speaker 1: with some other people who are hungry for the face

796
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:06,080
Speaker 1: of God. And as I was just reading about the

797
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:07,759
Speaker 1: story of Mark, why I wanted you hear even it

798
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,600
Speaker 1: was just cool for me and nobody else was because

799
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,280
Speaker 1: you were such an answer to prayer in my life

800
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,040
Speaker 1: at that season. And I'm reading this story about the

801
00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,040
Speaker 1: Pharisees and a man born blind and It just stuck

802
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,359
Speaker 1: out to me that God used a blind guy to

803
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:35,239
Speaker 1: open up my eyes. And the way Jesus ends us

804
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:38,360
Speaker 1: encounter with this man is he says, this weird mission statement,

805
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 1: this weird thing. He said. I came so that the

806
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: blind would see, and that those who see would become blind.

807
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,239
Speaker 1: So many moments in my life where I feel like God,

808
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,600
Speaker 1: I just don't know. It makes me feel insecure. I

809
00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 1: feel like I should, But I'm reminded that maybe not

810
00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:57,120
Speaker 1: knowing is a good thing. Maybe in the moments where

811
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:01,040
Speaker 1: I'm able to admit God, I'm blind right now, God,

812
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 1: I can't see, Maybe those are the moments where the

813
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,240
Speaker 1: Spirit of God comes in like a light to illuminate

814
00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:10,680
Speaker 1: my heart and to show me not answers, not what

815
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,880
Speaker 1: to do next, not just direction, but to reveal to

816
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,120
Speaker 1: me who he is. You are the Christ, You are

817
00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:20,480
Speaker 1: the Lord, son of God, Son of Man. I can't

818
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,120
Speaker 1: build my confidence in what I know. I want to

819
00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:27,440
Speaker 1: build my life on who I know. Thank you for

820
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:28,120
Speaker 1: joining us.

821
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:30,880
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

822
00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:34,440
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

823
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,080
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give

824
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:41,319
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more

825
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:45,160
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

826
00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:47,479
Speaker 2: You can share it with your friends. You can click

827
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:49,759
Speaker 2: the share button, take a screenshot and share it on

828
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,640
Speaker 2: your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks

829
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:59,040
Speaker 2: again for listening. God bless you.