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Speaker 1: Continue in prayer and watch and the same with thanksgiving.

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Speaker 1: Colossians four. Too, Lord, your word says we are to

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Speaker 1: give thanks in all things, not necessarily for all things.

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Speaker 1: As I lift up praises to you, you inhabit my praises.

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Speaker 1: Having a spirit of thanksgiving and an attitude of praise

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Speaker 1: lifts my countenance and draws the presence of God into

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Speaker 1: my circumstance. If I let the circumstances shape my attitude

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Speaker 1: and cause me to worry and get angry, I'm moving

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Speaker 1: out of the alignment for your blessings. When I trust

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Speaker 1: you and choose to be grateful for everything that I encounter,

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Speaker 1: whether I perceive it as good or bad, but give thanks,

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Speaker 1: knowing you have a blessing somewhere in this for me,

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Speaker 1: I will move through the situation more quickly and with joy.

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Speaker 1: I have so many things to be thankful for, Lenna,

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Speaker 1: I take for granted. Help me focus on those things

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Speaker 1: instead of the problems I think I have to fix.

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Speaker 1: I get caught up in the worry of how I'm

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Speaker 1: going to do it. I forget about you. But when

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Speaker 1: I trust in you and continue to pray with a

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Speaker 1: thankful heart, you show up to show me the way

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Speaker 1: and pour forth your miracle working power on my behalf.

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Speaker 1: Don't let me grow apathetic in my prayer life and thanksgiving.

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Speaker 1: Help me to be grateful every day, even for the

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Speaker 1: littlest things. Life is a gift, and I am grateful

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Speaker 1: for every breath in Jesus' name. Amen, Thank you for

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Speaker 1: listening to today's daily prayer for more inspiration and an

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Speaker 1: incredible message from our feature pastor stay tuned to pray

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Speaker 1: dot COM's Sunday service.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Faith Family. Great to worship with you this morning.

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Speaker 2: Your glad to be surrounded by some of the greatest

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Speaker 2: people in the world this morning. Amen. Faith Family Church. Well, Hey,

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Speaker 2: if you're visiting with us today, I want to say

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Speaker 2: a special welcome to you. If you're a guest, we

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Speaker 2: are so happy to have you with us today. Always

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Speaker 2: blessed and honored when people take time out of the

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Speaker 2: week to come and be in service. Hope you feel

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Speaker 2: welcome and at home today at Faith Family, and our

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Speaker 2: prayer is always that we can cheer you on in

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Speaker 2: your walk with God wherever you may be today. You

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Speaker 2: know today is one of my most favorite services of

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Speaker 2: the year and probably a lot of us feel the

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Speaker 2: same way. But it's a chance that we get to

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Speaker 2: hear all the good, the special things that God is

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Speaker 2: doing in the lives of people right here in our

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Speaker 2: own church family, people that you're sitting next to today,

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Speaker 2: just to hear, and it encourages our heart. And we

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Speaker 2: know one thing that God is no respector of persons.

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Speaker 2: What he does for one, he can do for anybody

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Speaker 2: that trusts him, and so we're thankful for that, and

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Speaker 2: He's worked in our lives in so many wonderful ways.

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Speaker 2: Our goal at Faith Family is fourfold. It's to help

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Speaker 2: people get to know God. I just know about him,

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Speaker 2: but to really have a personal relationship with Him. And

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Speaker 2: then it's helped to help help people understand the life

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Speaker 2: that He's created them to live. How many know God

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Speaker 2: has a great life for each of us to live,

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Speaker 2: amen a life of freedom. And then it's to help

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Speaker 2: you find friends that will so you won't have to

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Speaker 2: do life a loan and then plug in somewhere so

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Speaker 2: that you end up making a difference with the life

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Speaker 2: that you live.

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Speaker 3: But we'd love to help you.

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Speaker 2: Do that in any way that we can. There's a

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Speaker 2: guest card Orange guest card in the seatback. You can

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Speaker 2: fill out and dropping the offering or on the info

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Speaker 2: wall as you leave today. There's also a QR code

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Speaker 2: on the seatback, a link on the screen. All those

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Speaker 2: ways will help us get connected. But as you leave today,

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Speaker 2: outside those doors, in our Connection center, where the big

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Speaker 2: tree is to the right, is our welcome hibe. We

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Speaker 2: have a gift for you there if you're visiting with

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Speaker 2: us and a team there that can answer any questions

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Speaker 2: that you may have about the church. But thank you

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Speaker 2: for being here, faith family. Can we give our guests

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Speaker 2: a good hand and welcome?

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Speaker 3: Well? Good morning everybody. You're doing good this morning. Good. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: you're doing really good. Somebody's going to ask you to

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Speaker 3: take them to lunch after service, I think. But it's

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Speaker 3: good to see all of you. Hope your weekend is

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Speaker 3: going great so far, and I hope for those of

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Speaker 3: you who started your Thanksgiving preparations that they are going well.

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Speaker 3: For those of you wait until Wednesday because you like

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Speaker 3: the adrenaline rush, I pray it goes well for you

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Speaker 3: whenever you start. You know, this is a special time

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Speaker 3: of year, and it is the time of year whenever

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Speaker 3: people who loved preparing food bond well with people who

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Speaker 3: like eating food. Is that right? I was the youngest

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Speaker 3: of five kids, and I was thinking this week. I

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Speaker 3: guarantee you I licked more sweet stuff off the spatchelor

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Speaker 3: than any other kid in our home, being the baby

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Speaker 3: of the family. But you know, I also took some

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Speaker 3: time and prayed for our church family. And this is

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Speaker 3: what I was thinking about, how really every heart is

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Speaker 3: looking for the same thing over the holiday season. We

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Speaker 3: want to enjoy warm, close relationships with the people that

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Speaker 3: matter the most to us. We want to create some

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Speaker 3: incredible holiday memories, don't we And then we want to

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Speaker 3: make a difference in the lives of people who are

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Speaker 3: going through difficult times in their life. I think that's

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Speaker 3: why movies like you Know, It's a Wonderful Life and

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Speaker 3: the Ebenezer Scrooge. You know. I think it's why those

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Speaker 3: movies have such a long shelf life is because our

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Speaker 3: heart longs for those things. But here's the reality. Nothing

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Speaker 3: causes us to experience those things better than really getting

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Speaker 3: to know God and to value His presence in our hearts.

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Speaker 3: Can you say, man, So we're looking forward to, you know,

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Speaker 3: strengthening that in the hearts of our people and in

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Speaker 3: the hearts of our church family during this holiday season.

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Speaker 3: Isn't it great to see so many people ready to

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Speaker 3: just enjoy the life of God over this holiday season.

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Speaker 3: Let's give to the Lord.

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Speaker 2: Well, let's pray over our gifts today for given by

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Speaker 2: envelope or phone. I want you just lay your hand

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Speaker 2: on it. Let's bless it. Amen. Father, we just come

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Speaker 2: to you so grateful for how you're working in our lives. Lord,

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Speaker 2: for the good in both our own personal lives in

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Speaker 2: our world. Father, thank you for a church that teaches

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Speaker 2: us how to be loved by You and how to

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Speaker 2: live for the purposes that you have for our lives.

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Speaker 2: Bless my church family. Thank you for their faithfulness and

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Speaker 2: their giving and serving and praying and loving God, so

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Speaker 2: you can only not only work here in this region,

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Speaker 2: but in some of the darkest places of the world. Father,

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Speaker 2: we give today with glad, and we give with grateful

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Speaker 2: hearts in Jesus' name.

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Speaker 3: Amen. Oh, would you turn to your neighbor this morning

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Speaker 3: and say no, Well, would you say that? Would it

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Speaker 3: kind of breathe deep a little bit and just go no. Well,

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Speaker 3: that's why Jesus came, right, He came to bring us

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Speaker 3: peace on the inside of our hearts, and we'll be

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Speaker 3: talking about that and can't wait to begin our study

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Speaker 3: next week about that. Before we do, I want to

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Speaker 3: read something to you that I read that I thought

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Speaker 3: would really bless you. Doesn't have anything to do with

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Speaker 3: my message today, but it's something that was written by

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Speaker 3: the academics that the answers in Genesis, and did they

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Speaker 3: do a great job of teaching us how to defend

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Speaker 3: our faith in a cynical age that you and I

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Speaker 3: live in. But listen to what they wrote. They said,

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Speaker 3: when reading most historical sources on the origin of the

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Speaker 3: Christmas tree, it's almost universally enough handedly mentioned that it

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Speaker 3: was borrowed from pagan religious festivals and adapted into Christianity. Now,

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Speaker 3: don't get nervous, I'm not taking away your Christmas tree. Okay,

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Speaker 3: let me continue. They said that when one closely examines

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Speaker 3: these claims, they seem to have little basis. In fact,

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Speaker 3: most of the traditions associated with pagan festivals are only

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Speaker 3: remotely similar to Christmas Christmas celebrations, But even a cursory

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Speaker 3: glance as scripture shows that evergreens were mentioned prominently in scripture,

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Speaker 3: and we're associated with God's favor everybody say God's favor,

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Speaker 3: God's favor towards his people. You know, whenever the angels

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Speaker 3: announced the coming of Christ on that hill in Bethlehem,

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Speaker 3: a couple you know of two thousand plus years ago,

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Speaker 3: do you remember what the purpose was? God said, I

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Speaker 3: want my people to have peace. I want them to

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Speaker 3: know what I can do if they'll love living in

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Speaker 3: my favor. And that's really what Christmas is about, the

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Speaker 3: fact that in our imperfection, God chose to love us

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Speaker 3: just the way we are, and God chose to lead

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Speaker 3: us in ways that we experience blessing we can experience

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Speaker 3: without the goodness of God, the wisdom of God, the

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Speaker 3: strength of God. Anybody in the house grateful that Jesus

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Speaker 3: came into the world, anybody grateful for what it's meant

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Speaker 3: to your life. So I know it's not Christmas, shep,

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Speaker 3: but I want to give you a little preview, all right,

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Speaker 3: and now let's pray. Let's get into God's word. Lord,

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Speaker 3: We thank you for what you taught us about thanksgiving.

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Speaker 3: Lord's so easy to live distant from you, And Lord,

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Speaker 3: what a change it makes when we learn to let

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Speaker 3: you express your devotion and your care and your love

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Speaker 3: for us. God, we pray today that you'll help us

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Speaker 3: understand God, what you're asking us to do. That God,

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Speaker 3: you may do abundantly more than we ever dreamed that

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Speaker 3: you could do in our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Speaker 3: I really had three different texts that I thought about

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Speaker 3: teaching this morning on Thanksgiving, But after I heard the

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Speaker 3: stories that you're going to hear in just a minute,

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Speaker 3: my heart settled on Psalm one hundred. And here's why

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Speaker 3: it's settled on Psalm one hundred. It's a communal Thanksgiving song.

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Speaker 3: And what that means is, three times a year, God's

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Speaker 3: people would gather from all over Israel and they would

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Speaker 3: come to Jerusalem, and this is one of the songs

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Speaker 3: that God had them sing as they began the worship

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Speaker 3: part of that celebration. And scholars tell us that the

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Speaker 3: psalms can be classified or categorized in a number of

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Speaker 3: different categories. Number One, we have individual psalms that call

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Speaker 3: us to praise God individually as a person. Then we

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Speaker 3: have a communal psalm that teaches us the importance of

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Speaker 3: coming together on a regular basis and offering praise and

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Speaker 3: thanksgiving to God. And then we have laments which teach

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Speaker 3: us that sometimes life is going to be difficult and

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Speaker 3: God wants us to learn to find our comfort in Him.

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Speaker 3: And then we have those that are pray, these psalms

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Speaker 3: which remind us that God wants to manifest his grace

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Speaker 3: in our life and do great things in our life.

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Speaker 3: And so they call us to give God great praise

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Speaker 3: in our heart. Now, as I said, this morning is

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Speaker 3: a communal psalm. And listen to what the Zondervant academic

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Speaker 3: writes about this psalm. It says, Psalm one hundred consists

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Speaker 3: of seven commands and two motivational clauses that give us

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Speaker 3: clear reasons that justify our call to continual thanksgiving as

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Speaker 3: God's people. So here's what we're going to do, is

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Speaker 3: we study this psalm this morning. I'm going to ask

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Speaker 3: you to notice the seven commands that God gives us

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Speaker 3: and also the two motivational clauses that are in this psalm,

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Speaker 3: Because whenever we study the commands, it will tell us

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Speaker 3: what God wants us to do. But when we study

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Speaker 3: the motivational clauses, it'll tell us why God wants us

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Speaker 3: to do it. So the psalm begins by telling us

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Speaker 3: that God wants us to shout for joy in all

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Speaker 3: the earth and to worship the Lord with gladness. He

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Speaker 3: wants us to come before him with joyful songs. Now,

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Speaker 3: you notice I underline some things for you to help

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Speaker 3: you pass the test? Aren't you glad? I mean, after all,

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Speaker 3: it's the holidays. Don't you wish all our teachers would

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Speaker 3: give us the answers to our tests because it's the

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Speaker 3: holiday season? Right? But you notice the first thing got

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Speaker 3: things God wants us to do is shout for joy,

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Speaker 3: worship him with gladness, and to come before Him on

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Speaker 3: a continual basis with joyful songs. Why does God want

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Speaker 3: us to do that? Well, the next verse says, because

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Speaker 3: he wants us to know that He is God. In

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Speaker 3: other words, God wants our worship service to have a

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Speaker 3: component to it that causes us to constantly remember that

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Speaker 3: God calls us to live with big praise and big

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Speaker 3: thanksgiving on the inside of our hearts. You know, Tamor

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Speaker 3: did a great job when our kids were small and

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Speaker 3: they were growing up, of teaching him to say please

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Speaker 3: and thank you. At first, she would literally say it

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Speaker 3: for them when they should have said it, and then

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Speaker 3: as they got older, she would just look at him

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Speaker 3: and they'd say please or thank you, or sometimes you

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Speaker 3: go you know, and pretty soon the kids would say

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Speaker 3: please or thank you. What was she doing when she

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Speaker 3: did that? She was teaching them that, you know what,

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Speaker 3: you need to be appreciative for the grace of other

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Speaker 3: people and how that grace is a blessing to your life.

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Speaker 3: And in the same way, God ordained praise and worship

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Speaker 3: so we as his people, would live grateful for the

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Speaker 3: things that He wants to do in our life. Now,

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Speaker 3: I want you to notice the next four commands that

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Speaker 3: God gives us. After he says he wants us to

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Speaker 3: know that He is God and it's he who made

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Speaker 3: us and we are his We are his people, the

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Speaker 3: sheep of his pasture. Then God says, I want you

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Speaker 3: to enter my gates with thanksgiving and my courts with praise.

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Speaker 3: Now want you to give thanks to me, and I

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Speaker 3: want you to begin to praise my name. Now, why

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Speaker 3: is God so intent on telling his children I want

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Speaker 3: you to learn to praise my name. Well, it's not

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Speaker 3: because God simply needs the affirmation or God wants us

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Speaker 3: to talk about how great he is all the time.

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Speaker 3: Although that's really important because how many of you know.

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Speaker 3: The praise of the Saints lets people know that there's

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Speaker 3: a God they need to think about, right, But the

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Speaker 3: reason God wants us to do it is because God

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Speaker 3: wants us to God want us to be good to us,

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Speaker 3: and He can't be good to us unless we quiet

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Speaker 3: to clutter that's in our heart and we learn how

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Speaker 3: to consecrate our hearts and really enjoy the presence of

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Speaker 3: God in our lives. Do you remember when Jesus was

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Speaker 3: teaching the disciples how to pray. He didn't teach them

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Speaker 3: that we could just ask God for whatever we wanted

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Speaker 3: and God would give us what we ask of him.

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Speaker 3: But he did teach him something very very compelled, and

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Speaker 3: that's in John fifteen seven. He said, if you'll learn

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Speaker 3: to abide and me and let my words abide in you,

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Speaker 3: you're going to start asking for the things that you're

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Speaker 3: wishing for, and they're going to be given unto you.

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Speaker 3: Do you notice that God says that I'm not going

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Speaker 3: to give you everything just because you ask for it,

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Speaker 3: But if you'll learn to abide and be grateful for

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Speaker 3: My presence in your life, I'm going to give you

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Speaker 3: the things that your heart is longing for. And here's

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Speaker 3: what I've learned about God, and that is God is

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Speaker 3: so good that sometimes he just gives me things in

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Speaker 3: my life because He's good how much you know what

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Speaker 3: I'm talking about. I mean, there is a little bit

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Speaker 3: of sugar Daddy in God, and sometimes God just gives

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Speaker 3: stuff to me. And I know I don't deserve to

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Speaker 3: experience the goodness of God to the degree that God's

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Speaker 3: being good to me in life. But there's another side

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Speaker 3: of God that isn't going to just be good to us.

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Speaker 3: But Jesus taught this. He said, if you'll let me

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Speaker 3: make your heart good, then your future's going to be good.

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Speaker 3: But if your heart ever goes bad, then you know

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Speaker 3: what your future is going to end up going bad.

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Speaker 3: And all of us have had times whenever the stuff

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Speaker 3: in our life began to mess up what God was

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Speaker 3: trying to do in our life. And that's why abiding

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Speaker 3: is so important, because when we ask, nothing's changing inside

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Speaker 3: of us. But when we abide, we experience both God's

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Speaker 3: goodness to us and also God begins to make us

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Speaker 3: into somebody who can live in His blessing and live

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Speaker 3: in more of it. Every single day you see, God

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Speaker 3: doesn't want us to be like this little boy I

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Speaker 3: heard about. Sadly, his parents died and he was put

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Speaker 3: in a Catholic orphanage near Thanksgiving, and he started watching

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Speaker 3: when the priests were praying to God, and one day

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Speaker 3: he got the boldness. They go up to one of

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Speaker 3: them and he tapped him on the shoulder and he said,

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Speaker 3: do you think if I asked God for a new

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Speaker 3: bicycle that God would give me that bicycle at Christmas?

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Speaker 3: And the priest said, perhaps you will, And so he

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Speaker 3: started praying and a week went by, didn't get a bicycle.

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Speaker 3: Two weeks went by, didn't get a bicycle. Three weeks

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Speaker 3: went by, still no bicycle, and Christmas was just days away.

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Speaker 3: So he devised another plan. He looked into chapel and

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Speaker 3: he snuck in later grabbed the statue of Mary, looked

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Speaker 3: up to Heaven and said, Jesus, if you ever want

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Speaker 3: to see your mama again, you better give me that bicycle. Right.

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Speaker 3: And that's the difference in, you know, asking God versus

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Speaker 3: abiding in him. And this particular psalm is calling us

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Speaker 3: to a work where we experienced the goodness of God.

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Speaker 3: But as he does it, something transformational is happening on

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Speaker 3: the inside of our hearts, and this morning, I just

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Speaker 3: want to talk for a few minutes about what happens

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Speaker 3: in the heart of somebody that God begins to do

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Speaker 3: so much more in their life. What happens in the

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Speaker 3: heart of somebody who's here this morning. And you say,

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Speaker 3: you know what, Pastor, the circumstances of my life are

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Speaker 3: so stressful. It just seems like it's all I can

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Speaker 3: think about today. Her, maybe you're thinking, you know, money's

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Speaker 3: so tight, and Pastor, it just seems like all I

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Speaker 3: can think about this morning is are the money issues

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Speaker 3: that we have in our life? Her, maybe you messed up,

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Speaker 3: and if I were to be able to take this

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Speaker 3: gauge and put this gauge on your heart, it would

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Speaker 3: show me that all you keep doing is rehearsing this

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Speaker 3: mess up that you've gone through in your life. Her,

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Speaker 3: maybe today you've got deep pain inside because some people

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Speaker 3: have hurt you, and you really wonder if you can

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Speaker 3: get through the pain or not. Well. This morning, before

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Speaker 3: we hear the stories who are that are beautiful stories

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Speaker 3: of God's goodness to some of us, We're going to

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Speaker 3: study this psalm because how many of you know our

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Speaker 3: God doesn't want to be good to some of us.

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Speaker 3: Our God wants to be good to all of us.

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Speaker 3: In all things. He works for the good of those

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Speaker 3: who will love him and be led by him. Amen.

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Speaker 3: So this psalm teaches us something really important. It teaches

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Speaker 3: us that transformational Thanksgiving starts with us believing something. In

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Speaker 3: other words, God says, I want you to shout for joy.

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Speaker 3: I want you to worship the Lord with gladness, and

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Speaker 3: I want you to come before me with joyful songs.

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Speaker 3: So when we come to church, God wants us to clap,

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Speaker 3: He wants us to shout for joy, and he wants

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Speaker 3: us to be glad in our hearts because we believe something.

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Speaker 3: And when you first come to church, the truth is

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Speaker 3: it's kind of shallow. I'm a first generation Christ Follower,

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Speaker 3: and I can still remember at seventeen years old coming

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Speaker 3: hinto an environment like this, and when people would clap

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Speaker 3: and people would shout. My honest thought in my heart

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Speaker 3: was is this real? Or is this really just something

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Speaker 3: that people are doing to make them feel good? For

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Speaker 3: a little while, but then I started studying the scripture

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Speaker 3: and I started having God's truth began to transform who

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Speaker 3: I was On the inside. I started having experiences with

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Speaker 3: the Holy Spirit in my own life, and it began

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Speaker 3: to change everything about my life. So I want you

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Speaker 3: to see praise this morning from this perspective. Okay, when

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Speaker 3: I was in the fifth grade, our varsity football team

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Speaker 3: went oho to nine. I still remember, because my sister

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Speaker 3: was a senior that I looked in her yearbook and

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Speaker 3: they put this headline over their football schedule, unblemished record.

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Speaker 3: That was the only positive they could put on that

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Speaker 3: football season. But when I went to the games, the

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Speaker 3: cheerleaders were cheering, hey night, fans, stomp your feet. We

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Speaker 3: know we can't be beat. And I'm thinking, all we

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Speaker 3: can do is get beat every time I come out

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Speaker 3: here on a Friday night. And you know I didn't

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Speaker 3: recognize that. You know what, the most important time to

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Speaker 3: be positive and to find answers is when you need

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Speaker 3: answers the most right And I'm sure glad our school

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Speaker 3: board believed that we could have a good football team.

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Speaker 3: I'm glad they found a football coach who believed that

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Speaker 3: we could have a good football team, because listen, nine

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Speaker 3: years later, we won the state championship, y'all from our

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Speaker 3: little school. Because somebody believed in the power of praise,

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Speaker 3: and I remember being at the state championship game. It

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Speaker 3: was my first year out of high school and my

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Speaker 3: friends were playing, so I want to support them. And

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Speaker 3: the team we played was a perennial state champion, and

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Speaker 3: whenever you watch their fans, you could see why they

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Speaker 3: were champions. They didn't cheer like normal people cheered. I

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Speaker 3: remember one of their cheers was this end center tackle guard.

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Speaker 3: Hit them guys, hit them hard, and I thought I'd

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Speaker 3: like to play on that football team. Right or here

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Speaker 3: was my favorite one. I had to write it down

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Speaker 3: to totally remember it, but it came back to me.

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Speaker 3: They would say, hit them, bust them. That's our custom.

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Speaker 3: Now many of you know that sounds like somebody who

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Speaker 3: thinks they're going to win a football game right there,

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Speaker 3: and something happens. Listen, when you come into a church

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Speaker 3: where there are people who have authentically walked with God

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Speaker 3: for years, and your marriage is hurting, your kids, things

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Speaker 3: aren't working, and that you know what they're going to do.

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Speaker 3: They're going to make you not be critical because they

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Speaker 3: know criticisms like poison. It's going to kill you on

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Speaker 3: the inside. And they're going to make you praise the Lord,

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Speaker 3: and they're going to make him. You begin to lift

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Speaker 3: up God. Why because we believe something. We believe that

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Speaker 3: Jesus came and died on the cross. And if he

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Speaker 3: says to us that I came so that you know

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Speaker 3: all the promises are true, then we believe all the

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Speaker 3: promises are true. Can somebody give me a good amen?

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Speaker 3: And here's the second thing that happens is when we

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Speaker 3: believe something, pretty soon we begin to experience someone. And

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Speaker 3: verse three when it says that God wants us to

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Speaker 3: know the Lord, our God, when he says, I want

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Speaker 3: you to know I'm God, and I want you to

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Speaker 3: know that you're one of my precious sheep that's in

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Speaker 3: my fold, and I want you to know that I

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Speaker 3: want to take care of you. That word know is

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Speaker 3: a word YadA in the Hebrew, and it means to

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Speaker 3: know where to ascertain because we've seen him do it.

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Speaker 3: I can tell you this morning, I've got so much

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Speaker 3: to be thankful for. I've got a daughter who's alive,

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Speaker 3: has given me three of the most beautiful grandchildren this

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Speaker 3: whole wide world. And you know why, because the Holy

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Speaker 3: Spirit saved her life years ago. I'll tell you, I'm

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Speaker 3: so glad I know that he's my God and I'm

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Speaker 3: one of the sheep who live in his pastor can

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Speaker 3: you say, a man, I'm so glad that years ago

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Speaker 3: God told us to build this building and we had

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Speaker 3: no money in the bank account, and he said, build

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Speaker 3: it with nothing but faith what I created the world

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Speaker 3: out of. I know we wouldn't be sitting here today.

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Speaker 3: But thank God, we know he's God and he's doing

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Speaker 3: good things in our midst Can you say a man?

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Speaker 3: And I want to encourage you this morning with all

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Speaker 3: of my heart that when you start it can feel

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Speaker 3: shallow in your heart, but just know it is shallow,

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Speaker 3: and you've got to believe something so you begin to

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00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:13,159
Speaker 3: experience somebody. See. The reason so many people in my

435
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,240
Speaker 3: generation walked away from church is because they were educated

436
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 3: in God's word, but they never really experienced God on

437
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 3: the inside the way that they should. And so they

438
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 3: found other interests they started investing their time in, and

439
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 3: before you knew it, they didn't realize how much blessing

440
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 3: they were missing out on, and they didn't realize that

441
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 3: they were forfeiting the love and blessing of God in

442
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 3: their life. So say it with me. Everybody say we

443
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 3: believe something, and because of that we experience someone. Say

444
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 3: experience someone. And then here's what the psalm calls us

445
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:51,600
Speaker 3: to it at the end, it calls us to enter

446
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,200
Speaker 3: into an awareness. It says that we're to enter God's

447
00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:00,600
Speaker 3: gates with thanksgiving. We're to come into God's courts with praise. Now,

448
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,000
Speaker 3: what is a court. A Court's a place where judgment happens. Right,

449
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 3: And when we come into church, God wants us to

450
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 3: be upbeat and to be thrilled with what He's doing

451
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,400
Speaker 3: in our life. If that's not going on, you may

452
00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 3: have some education in the Bible, but you haven't learned

453
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 3: to experience who God is yet well on the inside

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00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,719
Speaker 3: of your heart. And then when we come in and

455
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 3: we thank Him for his goodness, the Bible says, now

456
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 3: you come into his courts with praise. And when we

457
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 3: come into God's courts, he starts judging the attitudes that

458
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 3: we're living with. When we come into God's courts, he

459
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,840
Speaker 3: starts judging the actions that we're living our life with.

460
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,320
Speaker 3: And can I tell you something this morning, When I

461
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,720
Speaker 3: came into God's courts years ago, there was so much

462
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 3: wrong with this little redheaded guy who's preaching to you today.

463
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,880
Speaker 3: But I'll tell you, the love and faithfulness of God

464
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:56,440
Speaker 3: are amazing. And he just kept fixing my attitude, teaching

465
00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:00,240
Speaker 3: me better actions, sticking with me. And I can tell

466
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,200
Speaker 3: you today that I'm among those who want to say

467
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 3: to my world, taste and see that the Lord is good.

468
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,479
Speaker 3: Whatever you're going through, he can get you through it.

469
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 3: Can you say?

470
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 2: Man?

471
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,119
Speaker 3: So, I don't know where you are today, but I

472
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 3: just want to encourage you to enter His courts this

473
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 3: season with thanksgiving in your heart, enter it with praise

474
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,720
Speaker 3: for the fact that He's at work in your life.

475
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 3: And I want to leave you with this closing illustration

476
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,639
Speaker 3: before our production starts this morning. How many of you

477
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,680
Speaker 3: have ever been in an escape room? Can I see

478
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,680
Speaker 3: your hand if you've ever gone to an escape room?

479
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 3: I hate those things. I mean, I go in there

480
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,840
Speaker 3: and I'm so add I don't concentrate good enough, and

481
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 3: then my kids start correcting me because I'm not concentrating enough,

482
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 3: and then I'm just not good at looking at every

483
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 3: little clue. I have the gift of being oblivious. Can

484
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:55,440
Speaker 3: anybody relate to me? And so my kids used to say, Dad,

485
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,680
Speaker 3: let's go to an escape room, and I think, can

486
00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,960
Speaker 3: I go to jail instead of going to an escape

487
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 3: And finally I figured out what caused me to start

488
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,119
Speaker 3: enjoying the escape room. Can I tell you what it was.

489
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,720
Speaker 3: I just made sure that one of my two kids,

490
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,880
Speaker 3: who's really really good at this, picked me on their team.

491
00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 3: I won't tell you which two they are because it's

492
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 3: Thanksgiving and that would get me in lots of trouble.

493
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 3: But two of my kids are really really good at it,

494
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,480
Speaker 3: and I just made sure they picked me on the team.

495
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 3: And then I started acting like I was doing stuff,

496
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,680
Speaker 3: but mostly I was just thankful I was on their

497
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:36,920
Speaker 3: team and they started helping me win and get out

498
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 3: of this escape room. And I realized my faith is

499
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 3: a little bit that way. Some people are overwhelmed in

500
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,359
Speaker 3: your marriage today, and my heart goes out to you

501
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 3: because your heart is heavy. What this psalm is asking

502
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,720
Speaker 3: you to do is to set that aside and to

503
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 3: realize Jesus picked you on his team and how many

504
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,160
Speaker 3: of you know his presence can bring about God's promises

505
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 3: in our life. Amen, Now we're going to start, but

506
00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,119
Speaker 3: before we do, I want to just say this to

507
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,920
Speaker 3: you. You're going to hear the songs, and as you listen

508
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 3: to three songs, you're gonna think I've never heard that

509
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,200
Speaker 3: song before. That's because you haven't. The lyrics were written

510
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 3: by our own worship pastor, Michael Graff, and the music

511
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 3: was orchestrated by Michael in conjunction with all of our

512
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 3: faith family, worship band, and team. So can we do

513
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,359
Speaker 3: something before we start? Can we thank our worship band

514
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,679
Speaker 3: and our whole creative department for how they bless us

515
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,879
Speaker 3: every single week? Amen? We pray this is going to

516
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 3: be one of your best Christmases ever