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Speaker 1: Welcome to Elevation Church. Due to Hurricane Florence that came

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Speaker 1: through the Carolinas this week, we weren't able to have

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Speaker 1: church at many of our locations. We shared a special

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Speaker 1: online experience this weekend, but today we wanted to share

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Speaker 1: with you a message preached by Holly Ferdict. Holly preached

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Speaker 1: this message at Reflect twenty eighteen, which is an event

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Speaker 1: for the ladies of Elevation Church. This message is centered

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Speaker 1: around the subject of friendships. It's the kickoff message to

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Speaker 1: a study that Holly has recently written called Building Friendships

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Speaker 1: That Fit. You can get more information on how to

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Speaker 1: purchase the study or how to join an eGroup at

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Speaker 1: Elevationchurch dot org. But right now we're going to jump

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Speaker 1: into the message from Holly during Reflect. Hope you guys enjoy?

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Speaker 1: Are that any grateful lady? Then I have to day,

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Speaker 1: is there anyone expecting God to speak to them tonight?

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Speaker 1: Cot your head? As I was studying, I came across

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Speaker 1: this psalm its Psalm one, verse six. It says I

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Speaker 1: stretch out my hands to you. My soul yearns for

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Speaker 1: you like a parched land. And I was just wondering

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Speaker 1: if anybody came in here tonight. Thirsty. You want to

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Speaker 1: hear from God tonight. So let's do what the psalm says.

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Speaker 1: Let's stretch out our hands to the Lord. And so, Lord,

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Speaker 1: we come to you, and we are thirsty for you.

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Speaker 1: We invite you into this place. We're excited. We're expecting

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. We give our hearts to you, God,

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Speaker 1: and we claim what James says, that if we will

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Speaker 1: draw near to you, you will draw near to us.

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Speaker 1: Speak to us now in Jesus' name, we pray, Amen, Amen,

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Speaker 1: work great night so far, Oh my goodness, thank you.

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Speaker 1: Worship Team was amazing. I am so excited and I

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Speaker 1: don't know what it's like at the other campuses, but

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Speaker 1: it sounds so good in here, Babe. I was thinking

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Speaker 1: that the next time that you're the Worship Team does

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Speaker 1: a live recording, you should just let women come. You

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Speaker 1: guys sound awesome and you look great. Don't sit down yet.

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Speaker 1: Help me welcome all of our campuses. Ladies here with Valentine.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna have to help me out. Welcome you see Matthews,

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Speaker 1: Lake Norman, Riverwalk, Blakeney lady, Why are you with me?

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Speaker 1: A Lakey? Hello mea Melbourne, Toronto, Asheville and all of

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Speaker 1: the ladies that are joining us online with our EPHAM

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Speaker 1: welcome to reflect. Thank you for braving the weather. It's

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Speaker 1: just so terrible here in Charlotte. Sun was shining most

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Speaker 1: of the day. I think this has been our best

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Speaker 1: reflect so far. Yeah, okay, while you're still clapping, will

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Speaker 1: you help me thank our pastor, Pastor Stephens. I was thinking,

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Speaker 1: I was thinking of different things that we could thank

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Speaker 1: you for. You know. I was thinking we could thank

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Speaker 1: you for the basic standard, like having the amazing faith

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Speaker 1: to start at a church that's reached so many people.

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Speaker 1: And then I was thinking, like, you know, also thank

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Speaker 1: you for bringing incredible messages that speak to our hearts

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Speaker 1: every single week. You guys need to know that preparing

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Speaker 1: a sermon is no joke, and this man does it

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Speaker 1: every week and it's so good every week. Okay, but

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Speaker 1: this is really what I want you to help me

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Speaker 1: thank Pastor Stephen for. So I want us to all

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Speaker 1: stay together, So everybody say thank you Pastor Stephen for

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Speaker 1: helping Holly with her sermon. If you live with the

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Speaker 1: best coach in the world, to take advantage of her,

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Speaker 1: all right, just stay standing while we read our scripture,

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Speaker 1: and then we will get to the preaching part. We're

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Speaker 1: going to be in Luke twenty three, starting in verse

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Speaker 1: fifty five. If you have a Bible or you can

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Speaker 1: follow along on the screens. It says the women who

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Speaker 1: had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw

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Speaker 1: the tomb and how the body was laid in it.

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Speaker 1: Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But

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Speaker 1: they rested on the sabbath and obedience to the commandment.

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Speaker 1: On the first day of the week, very early in

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Speaker 1: the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared

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Speaker 1: and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled

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Speaker 1: away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did

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Speaker 1: not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they

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Speaker 1: were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that

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Speaker 1: gleamed like lightning stood before them. In their fright. Women

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Speaker 1: bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the

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Speaker 1: men said to them, why do you look for the

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Speaker 1: living among the dead. He's not here. He has risen

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Speaker 1: so great reserve risen saviyah. Okay, you guys made me

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Speaker 1: lose my place. He is risen. Remember how he told

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Speaker 1: you while he was still with you in Galilee. He said,

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Speaker 1: the son of Man must be delivered over to the

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Speaker 1: hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day

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Speaker 1: raised again. Then they remembered his words. When they came

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Speaker 1: back from the tomb. They told all these things as

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Speaker 1: women do to the eleven, no detail left behind, and

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Speaker 1: to all the others. It was Mary Magdalen, Joanna, Mary,

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Speaker 1: the mother of James, and the others who were with them,

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Speaker 1: who told this to the apostles. I want to talk

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Speaker 1: to you tonight about your support system. As you take

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Speaker 1: your sea, ask your neighbor how strong is your support system?

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Speaker 1: So what do you think about when you hear the

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Speaker 1: word support system or the phrase support system? I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I guess if this was a men's conference.

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Speaker 1: Men don't have events, they have conferences. But if this

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Speaker 1: was a men's conference, a man might be thinking about

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Speaker 1: maybe bridges or buildings, or maybe people. But I think

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Speaker 1: of those things too. I'm sure you think of those

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Speaker 1: things too. But I got to thinking about bras. Did

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Speaker 1: you know. I'm sure you know because Oprah told us

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Speaker 1: all of this, But eighty percent of women where the

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Speaker 1: wrongs size Bra, ask the person next to you, do

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Speaker 1: you still feel supported? It wasn't that long, all right.

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Speaker 1: You know. One thing that I love about women's events

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Speaker 1: is that we can talk about things that really matter

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Speaker 1: from the stage, like Bras. Okay, I'm sorry. There are

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Speaker 1: just a few men here tonight, and this part of

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Speaker 1: the sermon may make you feel a little bit embarrassed.

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Speaker 1: But I just couldn't stop thinking about Bras. And I

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Speaker 1: promise you. I had decided on my title for the message.

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Speaker 1: I really wanted to be called support System, and I

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Speaker 1: was thinking about Bras and I promise you, honest to god,

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Speaker 1: I got this email in my inbox. It says your

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Speaker 1: support system just got better. And I don't know if

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Speaker 1: you can see this, but you see. If you need

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Speaker 1: to reply, you reply to support at fabletics dot com.

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Speaker 1: I think they did that on purpose, but it's pretty funny.

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Speaker 1: So I went to Fabletics. We have a store here

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Speaker 1: in Charlotte. If you don't know what that is, it's

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Speaker 1: like a I don't know. It's kind of like a club,

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Speaker 1: like a CD club, but for workout clothes. But then

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Speaker 1: they also have a store. If you want to join,

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Speaker 1: just put my name in the referral because I get

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Speaker 1: twenty dollars for every person that does it. So I

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Speaker 1: went to Fabletics and I got some bras, just a few,

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Speaker 1: and I know I had to get different sizes and everything,

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Speaker 1: but I know that I had kind of like an

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Speaker 1: activity like this last year and I held up a

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Speaker 1: bunch of ladies things I just I was thinking about.

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Speaker 1: I could not talk about bras without holding a couple up.

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Speaker 1: So sorry if it feels a little bit repetitive. I

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Speaker 1: only preach once here anyway, So I don't have that

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Speaker 1: many tricks in my bag. Okay, I just I picked

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Speaker 1: out a few to look at. I mean, they're all

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Speaker 1: all different colors and patterns. I like this one. That's

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Speaker 1: the color blocking thing going on. Okay, this is the

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Speaker 1: first one. No, that's not it. It's Ver's the one

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Speaker 1: I want. Okay, this is the one I want. Now,

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Speaker 1: when when I look at a braw like this, I

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Speaker 1: think that there should be like an age an age

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Speaker 1: limit for this, and I just want to read you

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Speaker 1: what it says on the tag. It says it says

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Speaker 1: light support, and then it says a little mesh goes

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Speaker 1: a long way. Then then I had one that was

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Speaker 1: more that was. This one's called the Medium Support Okay,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think they really say anything special about it,

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Speaker 1: Medium Support Sports SPRA. It's called the Kobe. I don't know. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: there's that one. Okay, Now that this one, this one's

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Speaker 1: my favorite. Okay, this this one, This one is called

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Speaker 1: the Zoe High Impact Sports Bra. And when I love

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Speaker 1: what it says in the description it says and an

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Speaker 1: easy on and off zip closure in the front. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you're not a woman, you're not gonna understand what

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Speaker 1: I'm about to say about this bra. But if you

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Speaker 1: have ever been sweaty and tried to take off a

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Speaker 1: sports bra, a woman invented this bra. Okay, So while

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Speaker 1: I clean up my mess, check out this little meme

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Speaker 1: that I found. It's so cute. You can do it.

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Speaker 1: You're awesome support bras. Okay, tonight is all about friendship.

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Speaker 1: If you haven't clued into that, you know, you probably

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Speaker 1: weren't paying attention. Maybe you got here late. But it's

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Speaker 1: about friendship, it's about support, and I just I want

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Speaker 1: you to leave here knowing that you were never intended

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Speaker 1: to go through this life alone. God wants every one

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Speaker 1: of us to have thriving, healthy, life, giving relationships. You

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Speaker 1: should have an arsenal of friends that you can pull

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Speaker 1: out to provide the support that you need for whatever

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Speaker 1: situation that you're in. And I want to ask you tonight,

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Speaker 1: what is your support system? Like we've all heard it's

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Speaker 1: on all everybody's newsfeed, whether you read BuzzFeed or flipboard

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Speaker 1: or Apple or whatever. We've all heard that loneliness has

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Speaker 1: reached epic proportions that it's actually causing a health epidemic.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not just talking about depression and anxiety and suicide,

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Speaker 1: which are at all time highs. I'm talking about cardiovascular

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Speaker 1: problems and sleep deprivation and premature deaths are being linked

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Speaker 1: directly to loneliness. And what's strange about this which blows

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Speaker 1: my mind, is that we live in a world where

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Speaker 1: communication has never been easier. But it's like the more

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Speaker 1: communication we got, the less connection that we got, and

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Speaker 1: our connection has just become so complicated. So tonight, I

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Speaker 1: want you to take a look at your support system.

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Speaker 1: The reason that this is so important is because and

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Speaker 1: hear me on this, because this is this is this

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Speaker 1: is so important. If you're taking notes, this is maybe

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Speaker 1: one little thing you might want to write down. While

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Speaker 1: we may not get to choose what we go through

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Speaker 1: in life, we do get to choose who we go

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Speaker 1: through it with. Life is not a game of tennis.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if any of you watch tennis or

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Speaker 1: play tennis. I attempted to play tennis. I'm not good

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Speaker 1: at all. Like like, I'm on this little team and

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Speaker 1: we played Queen City League. I don't know if anybody

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Speaker 1: ever plays Queen City League. You've probably never played me.

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Speaker 1: Because there's ten divisions, Division one all the way through ten,

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Speaker 1: one being the worst, the best ones, the best, ten's

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Speaker 1: the worst. I'm in Division ten, So I'm just out

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Speaker 1: there for the fun of it in the sunshine and anyway.

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Speaker 1: But I like to watch tennis. And even if you

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Speaker 1: don't watch tennis, I'm sure that in your news feed

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Speaker 1: this week you heard about Serena's match at the US Open. Now,

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to share my opinion about Serena except

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Speaker 1: that I think that she is the greatest women's tennis

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Speaker 1: player to have ever played the game. So that's my

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Speaker 1: two cents about that. But in the championship match, Serena

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Speaker 1: received three penalties, and there's a lot of controversy going

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Speaker 1: on about these penalties, but I just want to talk

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Speaker 1: to you about the first penalty that she received, because

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Speaker 1: the first penalty that she received was for illegal coaching.

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Speaker 1: And so you see, in tennis, it is actually against

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Speaker 1: the rules to be coached during a tennis match. It

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Speaker 1: is all up to you or to Serena. So if

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Speaker 1: you're a tennis player, let's just imagine that you're a Serena. Okay,

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Speaker 1: you have to encourage yourself, you have to correct yourself,

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Speaker 1: you have to read your opponent all by yourself. And

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Speaker 1: I think that this is the mental model that some

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Speaker 1: of us just go through life with. Something happens to us,

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Speaker 1: something you didn't expect. Maybe your child is getting in

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Speaker 1: trouble at school, or maybe your marriage is beginning to struggle,

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Speaker 1: or maybe you even lost your job, and often our

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Speaker 1: immediate response is nobody needs to know. I need to

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Speaker 1: keep this a secret, and we fight alone, thinking that

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Speaker 1: if I admit that I need help, then everybody's going

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Speaker 1: to think less of me. What are people going to

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Speaker 1: think of me? You were not meant to be Serena.

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Speaker 1: I mean, thank good, there's only one Serena. Okay, you're

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Speaker 1: not meant to be like you are meant to be

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Speaker 1: like a fighter. And you know what fighters have. They

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Speaker 1: have a corner. They're out there and they're throwing their

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Speaker 1: punches and their kicks, depending on what kind of fighter

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Speaker 1: you are. I live in a house with a lot

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Speaker 1: of boys, so we watch MMA and the bloody you

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Speaker 1: know stuff and all that. But when the bell rings,

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Speaker 1: the fighter goes to their corner, and in your corner,

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Speaker 1: you have someone who's dressing your wounds, your cuts, and

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Speaker 1: your blood and your bruises and everything, and you have

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Speaker 1: someone who's giving you feedback and saying, oh, you know, oh,

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Speaker 1: like in Was It Rocky where they were like he's

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Speaker 1: drinking water? Was that the one they told him to

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Speaker 1: punch him in the stomach? I don't know one of

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Speaker 1: those fighter movies that that people we were watching. Am

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Speaker 1: I losing them with the fighting illustration? Okay, you are

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Speaker 1: not meant to do this alone. You were meant to

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Speaker 1: have a corner that you can go back to and

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Speaker 1: then go back out and fight your fight. Okay, let's

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Speaker 1: get back to the to Mary Magdalen and her friends.

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Speaker 1: I have spent the last several months one wondering about

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Speaker 1: these women that were at the resurrection. And then I

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Speaker 1: began to ask my husband some questions about them, and

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Speaker 1: I began to study them, and he gave me this

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Speaker 1: He has this seminary professor that he emails and asks

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Speaker 1: questions too, and so he gave me the poor man.

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Speaker 1: He gave me his email address. So I kept asking

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Speaker 1: him all these questions about these women, because it can

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Speaker 1: get very confusing. If you combine all of the accounts together,

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Speaker 1: you find this girl gang made up of Mary, Magdalene, Joanna,

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Speaker 1: Mary the mother of James, and silomeg And there's also

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Speaker 1: maybe a few others that could have been in this

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Speaker 1: group whose names weren't mentioned. But I just was wondering

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Speaker 1: who were these women and why were they the ones

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Speaker 1: at the tomb and why were they the ones that

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Speaker 1: the angel came to first. Were they there together by

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Speaker 1: chance or were they there together by choice? And I

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Speaker 1: know that this is a scripture about the resurrection of Christ,

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Speaker 1: but all four of the Gospels give us details about

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Speaker 1: these women, and I think that there's something really some

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Speaker 1: really important lessons that we can learn from them tonight.

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Speaker 1: Who are you going through life with? Are you going

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Speaker 1: through it with the wrong people? Are you going through

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Speaker 1: it alone. Do you have the support system to get

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Speaker 1: you through a tough time, because we're all either This

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Speaker 1: is not anything I've ever made up. Of course, I've

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Speaker 1: heard a lot of preachers, and I've heard a lot

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Speaker 1: of preachers say this. You know, you're you're either going

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Speaker 1: into a storm, or you're in a storm, or you're

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Speaker 1: coming out of one. Right, So, trouble is a part

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Speaker 1: of life. And it doesn't matter if you are sixty

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Speaker 1: years old and you've basically just given up on having friendship.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if you've been hurt by someone before

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Speaker 1: and you're scared to put yourself out there again. God

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Speaker 1: has given us many beautiful gifts in this life, and

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Speaker 1: one of them is the gift of friendship. Yes, friendship

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Speaker 1: is messy. I mean this women that we're talking about. Okay,

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Speaker 1: it's messy, it's complicated. But if you're going at it

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Speaker 1: alone and you feel like something is missing, that's because

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Speaker 1: it is. God is our provider, and yes, he meets

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Speaker 1: our every need. But have you ever stopped to think

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Speaker 1: about all the ways that He has provided for you

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Speaker 1: through someone else, whether it was encouragement, resources, a meal,

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Speaker 1: a listening ear, a wise word, somebody who says to you,

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Speaker 1: you know, I had a friend that told me that

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Speaker 1: I needed to stop breastfeeding one of my children and

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Speaker 1: just go straight to the bottle. I needed to hear that. Okay,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't making enough milk. Look at me, Okay, I

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Speaker 1: just stat up here and talked about bras. Anyway, tonight,

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Speaker 1: I want to challenge you to examine your support system,

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Speaker 1: and so I'm going to give you a framework three

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Speaker 1: characteristics of a solid support system, and the first one

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Speaker 1: is that your support system must be based on the

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Speaker 1: right thing. Look with me at Luke twenty three fifty five.

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Speaker 1: Let's see. I want to read it too from my

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Speaker 1: iPad because I highlighted exactly what I wanted to read.

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Speaker 1: So Luke twenty three fifty five says, the women who

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Speaker 1: had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw

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Speaker 1: the tomb and how his body was laid in it.

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Speaker 1: The resurrection takes place in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified,

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Speaker 1: but these women were from if you read the verse,

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Speaker 1: they had come from Galilee. When you read the Bible,

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's really easy to skip over some of the

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Speaker 1: geography and stuff. But it brings so much light when

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Speaker 1: you actually find out okay, wait, where are they Jerusalem?

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Speaker 1: Where were they from Galilee? Well, what does that mean?

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Speaker 1: I looked it up for you on Google. Okay, Galilee

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Speaker 1: is seventy miles from Jerusalem. And one little article that

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Speaker 1: I read blog or something somebody wrote. I don't even

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Speaker 1: know if this is true, but I read it on

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Speaker 1: the internet. It said that a determined person could get

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Speaker 1: from Galilee to Jerusalem in six days. Okay, So these women,

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Speaker 1: they were serious followers of Jesus. But the thing about

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Speaker 1: them was that they were brought together by Jesus. They

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Speaker 1: were so into Jesus that they hopped on a week

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Speaker 1: long hiking trip to follow him to Jerusalem and hear

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Speaker 1: him teach. And these are women. And maybe that's why

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Speaker 1: the disciples included them in this account, because they were

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Speaker 1: impressed that these women, you know, went on this trip.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm just speculating there. When you look

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Speaker 1: at your support system, you can look at every person

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Speaker 1: in your life and you can identify one thing that

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Speaker 1: brought you together. They could be your sorority sister. They

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Speaker 1: could be somebody that you have kids at the same

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Speaker 1: school with, or some when you take a yoga class

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Speaker 1: together with all of these factors are great things. We

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Speaker 1: all have some kind of connection. But if you want

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Speaker 1: to have a support system that's going to help you

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Speaker 1: on your faith journey, you're going to have to base

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Speaker 1: it on the right thing. And I'm not necessarily talking

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Speaker 1: about church, although church is a great place to start,

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Speaker 1: because we all kind of have a common goal and

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Speaker 1: we all kind of have a common idea of where

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Speaker 1: we're going in life. But what I'm really trying to

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Speaker 1: get you to think about is that you need to

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Speaker 1: surround yourself with people who are like minded, who are

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Speaker 1: growing in their relationship with God. Not perfect no perfect

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Speaker 1: people allowed, but people who will help you find the

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Speaker 1: answers that you need from the right sources. Right. Not

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Speaker 1: only does your support system, though, need to be based

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Speaker 1: on the right thing, it needs to be formed before

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Speaker 1: your crisis. These ladies did not just meet up on

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Speaker 1: this journey to Jerusalem. They have been together for a while. Okay,

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Speaker 1: look back with me at Luke chapter eight. So we

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Speaker 1: were in Luke twenty three, and now we're going to

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Speaker 1: go back to Luke chapter eight and verse one. It

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Speaker 1: says after this Jesus traveled about from one town and

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Speaker 1: village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom

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Speaker 1: of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some

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Speaker 1: women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases,

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Speaker 1: Mary called Magdalen, from whom seven demons had come out, Joanna,

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Speaker 1: the wife of Choosah, the manager of Herod's household Susannah,

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Speaker 1: and many others. These women were helping to support them,

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Speaker 1: them meaning Jesus and the disciples. They were helping to

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Speaker 1: support them out of their own means. When Luke first

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Speaker 1: introduces us to these ladies, they're in Galilee, and he

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Speaker 1: tells us that what brought them to together was that

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Speaker 1: Jesus had healed them. That's what they had in common,

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Speaker 1: and that's what we have in common in this room.

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Speaker 1: They were women of means. They were joined together, and

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Speaker 1: they were supporting Jesus's ministry, but they were doing life together.

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Speaker 1: And at this point, when they're following Jesus and supporting

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Speaker 1: his ministry, they didn't know how dark it was going

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Speaker 1: to get. I mean, Jesus told them that he was

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Speaker 1: going to be crucified, but nobody really understood what that meant.

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Speaker 1: When he said that they were just following and supporting

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Speaker 1: the one who had touched them. So when we catch

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Speaker 1: up with them later in Luke twenty three, they're on

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Speaker 1: a trip that has taken a terrible turn, a horrific turn,

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Speaker 1: because Jesus is dead, their savior has just been crucified

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Speaker 1: on the cross, which was a penalty that was reserved

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Speaker 1: for the worst criminals. So here they are. Think about

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Speaker 1: these women. They're in a foreign city, their heart broken,

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Speaker 1: but where what are they? They're still together Luke twenty three,

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Speaker 1: fifty five. We've already read it, but this ready one

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Speaker 1: more time. The women who had come with Jesus from

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Speaker 1: Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his

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Speaker 1: body was laid in it. Then they went home and

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Speaker 1: prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the sabbath

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Speaker 1: in obedience to the commandment. On the first day of

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Speaker 1: the week, very early in the morning, because women are

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Speaker 1: not afraid, they get up early in the morning. Somebody's

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Speaker 1: got to do it right. Very early in the morning,

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Speaker 1: the women took the spices they had prepared, and they

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Speaker 1: went to the tomb. They stayed together because they had

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Speaker 1: been together. It was a natural thing of course they're

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Speaker 1: going to stay together. But you know what, I think

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Speaker 1: women instinctively band together in times of crisis. Where were

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Speaker 1: the Disciples in all of this? Peter was here and

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Speaker 1: John was there. The Disciples had been disbanded, but the

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Speaker 1: women were together. That's right. Have you ever noticed that

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Speaker 1: when you were together with people that you trust, that

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Speaker 1: you can experience this collective courage and this collective faith.

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Speaker 1: You can essentially like borrow faith from someone else. These

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Speaker 1: women could have been should have been probably in fact,

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Speaker 1: were fearing for their lives. They could have been on

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Speaker 1: their way back to Galilee by now thinking while they

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Speaker 1: killed Jesus, they're probably going to come after his followers next.

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Speaker 1: But there was a job that needed to be done,

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Speaker 1: and so these women kicked into operation give Jesus a

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Speaker 1: proper burial mode. Now I'm not trying to make light

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Speaker 1: of this situation, but I just started imagining these women,

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Speaker 1: and I started thinking about what we do, what we

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Speaker 1: still do today when there's a crisis, and so, you know,

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Speaker 1: I was just imagining that maybe Mary Magdalen started a

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Speaker 1: prayer chain, and then I was thinking maybe Joanna created

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Speaker 1: a sign up genius and for meals and such and

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Speaker 1: then Silome she sold to Terra, so she was in

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Speaker 1: charge of the spices and Marry the mother of Jesus,

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Speaker 1: Marry the mother of James. She was the one in

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Speaker 1: charge of taking notes of where the body was buried,

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Speaker 1: because remember the text told us that they went and

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Speaker 1: they saw where the body was buried, because they were

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Speaker 1: coming back there the next day. They were going to

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Speaker 1: take care of Jesus. Have you ever been around a

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Speaker 1: group of women who rallied during a crisis. It is

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Speaker 1: a beautiful sight to behold. People can make fun of

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Speaker 1: casseroles all they want, but when there's a crisis, we

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Speaker 1: eat them. And on Thanksgiving too, when my father in

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Speaker 1: law was passing away and he was in the final

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Speaker 1: hours of his life, I will never forget coming out

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Speaker 1: of his bedroom and into the kitchen that was so

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Speaker 1: full of food that you couldn't put anything down on

429
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,280
Speaker 1: the counters. And I didn't even know where my children were,

430
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 1: but I knew that they were being well taken care of,

431
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 1: And I will never forget. I'd walked on into the

432
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 1: front porch and my friend Nicole was just sitting there

433
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 1: just in case I needed anything. She was just sitting

434
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:21,679
Speaker 1: there to this day. I don't even know where her

435
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,679
Speaker 1: kids were. She has three kids of her own, but

436
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,479
Speaker 1: she was sitting there just in case I needed anything.

437
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,680
Speaker 1: Have you ever received the support of a rallying group

438
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 1: of women. If you have, you never forget it. You

439
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: never forget it. These women were devastated, they were grieving.

440
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 1: But if there is one thing that we know how

441
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,280
Speaker 1: to do well in a crisis, it is get crap done.

442
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,119
Speaker 1: We may be sad, but we're going to get this

443
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 1: stuff done. And they were not about to go back

444
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 1: to Dalily without knowing that their savior had been buried properly,

445
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,199
Speaker 1: and they were going to do it together, even if

446
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,359
Speaker 1: they had to risk their lives and guests who shows

447
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 1: up when they were together? Look at Luke twenty four.

448
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,880
Speaker 1: We were in verse two. It says they found the

449
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 1: stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered,

450
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

451
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men enclosed

452
00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,119
Speaker 1: that gleamed like lightning, stood before them. In their fright.

453
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,160
Speaker 1: The women bowed down with their faces to the ground.

454
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,160
Speaker 1: But the men said to them, why do you look

455
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: for the living among the dead. He's not here he

456
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 1: has risen. Remember how he told you while he was

457
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: still with you in Galilee, the son of Man must

458
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,360
Speaker 1: be delivered over to the hands of the sinners, be

459
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,000
Speaker 1: crucified on the third day, and raised again. Then they

460
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:48,960
Speaker 1: remembered his words. I had this thought while I was

461
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 1: preparing for this message. All my life I grew up

462
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: in church. My dad was a pastor. I never I

463
00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:57,239
Speaker 1: was telling some of the other day I never really

464
00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 1: played any sports, and they said, well, what did you do?

465
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: I said, I don't want to try. When we were

466
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 1: there all the time, it was like Tuesday night visitation,

467
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,560
Speaker 1: Wednesday night supper, and Sunday night. I don't know. We

468
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 1: were at church all the time. And growing up I

469
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 1: thought that there were two ways that God could speak

470
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: to you. One was if you were alone and you

471
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,160
Speaker 1: were either praying or reading your Bible, and two was

472
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: if you were listening to a sermon. But you know,

473
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 1: as I have grown in my faith, and as I

474
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 1: have began to notice God all around me in the

475
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 1: small parts of my day, I realize that if I

476
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,640
Speaker 1: surround myself with the right people, God can speak to

477
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:46,320
Speaker 1: me through them. Now, this is not like a like

478
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,440
Speaker 1: don't go all crazy on this. This is not like

479
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 1: a Holly, I have a word from the Lord for you.

480
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 1: Usually that doesn't come from a friend. Usually that just

481
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 1: comes from like some random person. Okay, talking about when

482
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,239
Speaker 1: my friends got around me one day and we were

483
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,000
Speaker 1: in a meeting and they started saying, Holly, you need

484
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,520
Speaker 1: to write a Bible study for the women of our

485
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,600
Speaker 1: church about being a godly wife. That was God speaking

486
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: to me through them. When I was talking to a

487
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,000
Speaker 1: friend one time and over a crying baby who told

488
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 1: me that I was a good mom. That's God speaking

489
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 1: to me through my friend. When a friend told me

490
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: not to give up, or a friend who was just

491
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:32,160
Speaker 1: there physically present, listening to me process through a very

492
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,440
Speaker 1: difficult situation. If you don't think that that's God in

493
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 1: all of those times in your life, you've got God

494
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: all wrong. These women were not reading their Bible and

495
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 1: praying when the angel appeared to them. They were together

496
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,840
Speaker 1: doing something. They were there and the angel asked them

497
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 1: a question. I think this is such an interesting question.

498
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,640
Speaker 1: The angel said, why do you look for the living

499
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: among the dead. This got me thinking about dead places

500
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 1: in our friendships, places where we can go that harm

501
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: our relationships. Rather than help them. One of those dead

502
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 1: places is when we compare. Comparison is a funny thing

503
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 1: because it comes in two ways, because you can think

504
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,560
Speaker 1: I don't compare, but you might be comparing. Let me,

505
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 1: let me explain this. Okay, So maybe you're on social media.

506
00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: Maybe you don't have social media, but I'm assuming most

507
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: of you do. And you're scrolling through and you see

508
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,400
Speaker 1: one of your friends and she makes these beautiful lunches

509
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 1: and those little lunch boxes that like have all the

510
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:43,080
Speaker 1: little compartments, and you think, oh my gosh, I'm a

511
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 1: terrible mom because I don't do the little grapes and crackers.

512
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 1: Sing In all honesty, I'm just gonna tell you, guys,

513
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,480
Speaker 1: I tried that the little box thing, and we kept

514
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 1: forgetting about the boxes and they would stay. In my case,

515
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,959
Speaker 1: it's backpacks, and then they gets so disgusting and moldy.

516
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:06,760
Speaker 1: That was not for me. We're more like a brown

517
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: bag kind of family. We have bunchboxes too. But the

518
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,800
Speaker 1: other side, so the one side of comparison is I'm

519
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 1: not as good as her, right, But the other side

520
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,360
Speaker 1: of comparison is, you know, have you ever thought, well,

521
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,040
Speaker 1: at least I don't feed my kid's fast food. I mean,

522
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:24,440
Speaker 1: we go to Chick fil A in a pinch, but

523
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: we would never go to McDonald's. Since I'm talking about comparison,

524
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:35,800
Speaker 1: I have to tell you a funny story. It doesn't

525
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: really have that much to do with anything, but anyway,

526
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 1: I was working out on my peloton bike that my

527
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:43,880
Speaker 1: husband got me for Christmas. And if you don't know

528
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,960
Speaker 1: what a peloton bike is, it's basically a death machine

529
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 1: for your home, and also known as a stationary bike

530
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,480
Speaker 1: with this like cool like monitor where you can actually

531
00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 1: take spin classes. And so on this particular day, I

532
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,360
Speaker 1: was really going for it. Now, I'm gonna be honest

533
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 1: with you. There are a lot of days that I

534
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:05,720
Speaker 1: get on there and I don't exactly do what the

535
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 1: instructor tells me to do. You know, she says turn

536
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 1: it up, and I'm like, eh, I'm not ready. And

537
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: but this day I was trying to beat my best,

538
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:19,000
Speaker 1: you know, And so the instructor had told me to

539
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,360
Speaker 1: add one or two to my resistance so many times

540
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 1: that my legs are just like churning through mud. Okay,

541
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,520
Speaker 1: And I did not I did not look pretty. I

542
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 1: did not look like this when I was on my bike. Okay,

543
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 1: I paid someone to do my makeup tonight, just so

544
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 1: you know I was. I was pouring sweat and I

545
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,600
Speaker 1: don't really even sweat that much. I was pouring sweat,

546
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 1: and my glasses were like kept sliding down my nose

547
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 1: because I'm like hunched over, you know, I keep pushing

548
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:49,240
Speaker 1: my glasses up. And my heart rate, I am this

549
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 1: is the truth. My heart rate was one seventy seven,

550
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: which I think is like just shy of a heart attack.

551
00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,480
Speaker 1: And so of course the instructor has barely broken the

552
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: sweat and she's smiling like her fourth class that she's

553
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,880
Speaker 1: taught of the day. And so Graham comes up. Graham's

554
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 1: my ten year old son. Yeah, I'm just you know, dying.

555
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,520
Speaker 1: And Graham looks at the monitor and he looks at me,

556
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:24,600
Speaker 1: and he says, why don't you look like her? Because

557
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,839
Speaker 1: comparison is a dead place, and I am not a

558
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:38,200
Speaker 1: spin instructor, so we compare, and then that can sometimes

559
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 1: lead us to compete. Have you ever been around someone

560
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:47,200
Speaker 1: whose story is always better or worse than yours. I

561
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,239
Speaker 1: had lunch with a friend the other day who has

562
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 1: been through a really tough separation with her husband, and

563
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 1: she said that the worst thing throughout her separation was

564
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,640
Speaker 1: when people would try to comfort her by telling them

565
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,880
Speaker 1: how much worse there's situation was than hers. We compare,

566
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:09,160
Speaker 1: and we compete, and then sometimes we get so tired

567
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 1: of playing this game that we just check out. Now,

568
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,399
Speaker 1: this is a really dead place to be. I mean,

569
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,879
Speaker 1: I know dead is dead, but checking out is when

570
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 1: you have just you've just given up. Maybe you were

571
00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 1: betrayed by a friend you told her something in confidence

572
00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,399
Speaker 1: and it got back to you, or maybe you were

573
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:33,040
Speaker 1: let down just one too many times from some of

574
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:35,960
Speaker 1: the women in your life, and you just decided I've

575
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 1: been hurt enough, and well, you know what, I have

576
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,439
Speaker 1: my husband and he will just have to be good enough.

577
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,800
Speaker 1: Or or maybe I'll just throw myself into my work

578
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,720
Speaker 1: or to my kids. And then we wonder why we're lonely.

579
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,920
Speaker 1: Do we have to risk having relationships with other when

580
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,560
Speaker 1: we have relationships with other women, Absolutely we do. Could

581
00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:03,360
Speaker 1: we get hurt, Absolutely get hurt, But if you build

582
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,320
Speaker 1: your support system right, the reward is so much greater

583
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:16,080
Speaker 1: than the risk. The other dead place that is so

584
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 1: dangerous is when we begin to compose. We live in

585
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 1: a world where it has never been more easy to

586
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:29,359
Speaker 1: pretend that everything is okay, and we can even have

587
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:33,919
Speaker 1: we can even create an entire persona that no one

588
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:37,719
Speaker 1: ever has to know the truth. No one ever has

589
00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,960
Speaker 1: to know that I have an anger issue, no one

590
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 1: ever has to know that I have an eating disorder,

591
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: or no one ever has to know that my marriage

592
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 1: is falling apart. No, this is not how it has

593
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:54,399
Speaker 1: to be. We do not have to compose, because your

594
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:59,120
Speaker 1: support system must be founded on honesty. If you're going

595
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,560
Speaker 1: to build this thing right, you've got to build it

596
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 1: on honesty. Look at these verses in First John. First John,

597
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 1: chapter one. It says, this is the message that we

598
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 1: have heard from him, and declare to you. God is light,

599
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:19,319
Speaker 1: and in him there is no darkness at all. If

600
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 1: we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk

601
00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,399
Speaker 1: in the darkness, we lie and we do not live

602
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,879
Speaker 1: out the truth. But if we walk in the light

603
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,160
Speaker 1: as He is in the light, we have fellowship with

604
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:36,719
Speaker 1: one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies

605
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 1: us from all sin. Did you catch that if we

606
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 1: walk in the light as He is in the light,

607
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:49,560
Speaker 1: we have what fellowship? We have fellowship with one another?

608
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:54,320
Speaker 1: How can I support you through your struggle with infertility

609
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:56,759
Speaker 1: If I don't even know that you're wanting to have

610
00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,399
Speaker 1: a baby, that you're trying to have a baby, how

611
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,879
Speaker 1: can I? It's say for you in your marriage if

612
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:08,480
Speaker 1: you're always acting like it's perfect and you know what

613
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,120
Speaker 1: honesty isn't just about the things that are going wrong

614
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,799
Speaker 1: in your life, but sometimes if you don't share, like

615
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:17,440
Speaker 1: if something good happens, so how could I even celebrate

616
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,880
Speaker 1: with you? If your child has a good behavior report

617
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 1: if I didn't know that he was even not doing

618
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,720
Speaker 1: good in school. My friend Julie says, I love this line.

619
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:35,359
Speaker 1: She says, shame like mold, grows in the dark. When

620
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:42,440
Speaker 1: you bring your thank you, when you bring your life

621
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:47,960
Speaker 1: into the light with the right people, I guarantee you

622
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,479
Speaker 1: that you will not only find love, but you will

623
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:54,920
Speaker 1: find hope, and you will find help, and you will

624
00:38:54,960 --> 00:39:02,480
Speaker 1: find fellowship. If you surround yourself with the right people,

625
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:10,520
Speaker 1: your relationships will not only deepen with honesty, they'll grow stronger.

626
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,680
Speaker 1: But you see, the enemy wants you to think that

627
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,840
Speaker 1: it will make you look weak, and he wants you

628
00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 1: to think that if you're honest, it's going to weaken

629
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:24,000
Speaker 1: your relationships, but it's not true. A couple weeks ago,

630
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 1: I was talking with one of my friends who has

631
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,759
Speaker 1: been walking through a difficult season in her marriage for

632
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:34,840
Speaker 1: over a year, and we were reflecting on how timely

633
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,200
Speaker 1: her relationship was with this other girl. Let's call the

634
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 1: other girl Lisa. So Lisa had been through a similar experience,

635
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:47,359
Speaker 1: and Lisa had opened up to her E group and

636
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,920
Speaker 1: shared about a struggle that she and her husband were

637
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:55,000
Speaker 1: going through. This was eighteen months before my friend went

638
00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 1: through her struggle. And she told me that when she

639
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:02,840
Speaker 1: received that news on that day, you know that day, like,

640
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:07,120
Speaker 1: if you live long enough, everyone will have that day,

641
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,880
Speaker 1: that day they got the call from the doctor, or

642
00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:12,880
Speaker 1: that day when their husband confessed to them, or that

643
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:14,960
Speaker 1: day when you lost your job. Okay, So she was

644
00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:19,360
Speaker 1: in that on that day and she said, I don't

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Speaker 1: know what I would have done or who I would

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Speaker 1: have called if Lisa hadn't shared her story in our group.

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Speaker 1: Do you see. And it was eighteen months later that

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Speaker 1: she remembered, this is the person that I need to

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Speaker 1: talk to. If we walk in the light as he

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Speaker 1: is in the light, bring it out into the light together.

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Speaker 1: These women had courage together they were able to remember

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Speaker 1: the Angel said to them. Remember what he said to them,

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Speaker 1: Remember what he said to you. Together, they were able

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Speaker 1: to remember the words that God had spoken to them.

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Speaker 1: We are stronger together. The work that God wants to

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Speaker 1: do in your life and this season is directly connected

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Speaker 1: to the people who are in your life. So how

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Speaker 1: strong is your support system? That's my question to you tonight. Well,

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Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed the podcast today, and if you did,

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Speaker 1: there are just a couple things I'd love for you

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Speaker 1: to do. Number One, subscribe to our show. That way,

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00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,520
Speaker 1: the most recent episode will always be in your feed,

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Speaker 1: waiting for you ready when you are. And secondly, if

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Speaker 1: this ministry has impacted you and you'd like to help

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00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,239
Speaker 1: us continue to reach others, you can click the link

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Speaker 1: in the description and you can give now and I'll

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Speaker 1: see you next time on the Elevation Podcast