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Speaker 1: Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to

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Speaker 1: our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

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Speaker 2: If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a

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Speaker 2: blessing and share it with a.

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Speaker 1: Friend, reappreciate you, and pray for God's very best in

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Speaker 1: your life.

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Speaker 3: Yes, you may be seated.

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Speaker 2: When Joel and I first started dating many years ago,

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Speaker 2: we had a mutual friend and I didn't know this

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Speaker 2: at the time, but my friend was talking behind my

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Speaker 2: back with Joel.

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Speaker 3: She would say things like, she likes you.

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Speaker 2: She told me she did, and Joel would say, well,

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Speaker 2: tell you what she said.

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Speaker 3: What did she think about our first date?

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Speaker 2: He began to question her, and she began to tell him,

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Speaker 2: just keep doing what you're doing.

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Speaker 3: She really likes you a lot.

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Speaker 1: See.

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Speaker 2: He began to hear how much I liked him at

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Speaker 2: the very start of our relationship, and so it gave

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Speaker 2: him the confidence to pursue this relationship, and he began

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Speaker 2: to pursue a relationship with me. He found out something

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Speaker 2: very important. He found out that I liked him too

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Speaker 2: a lot. So as we continued with our relationship, discovering

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Speaker 2: things about one another, learning things about one another, and

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Speaker 2: it began to grow, and it began to flourish, And

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Speaker 2: twenty nine years later, it's still growing and it's still flourishing.

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Speaker 2: You see, Joel went from hearing that I liked him

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Speaker 2: to experiencing that I liked him. He went from hearing

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Speaker 2: to literally knowing.

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Speaker 3: By my words and by my actions.

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Speaker 2: And too often we sit on the sidelines of life

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Speaker 2: because we hear something is good, but we don't allow

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Speaker 2: it to develop a confidence in us to pursue what

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Speaker 2: is good, to pursue.

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Speaker 3: Those things that we want.

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Speaker 2: It's like that with the love of God, your family,

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Speaker 2: your friends. Maybe you heard about Jesus when you were young,

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Speaker 2: but you know what, there's just some areas of your

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Speaker 2: life you cannot pursue him. You've let him in maybe

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Speaker 2: a little bit, but there's areas that you think, I

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Speaker 2: don't want him to get to know me. In that area,

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Speaker 2: he may not like me anymore. You feel condemned. Sometimes

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Speaker 2: people think they need to clean themselves up, they need

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Speaker 2: to fix themself up nice and shiny before they can

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Speaker 2: develop a relationship with Jesus.

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Speaker 3: Well, they know that he.

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Speaker 2: Loves them, they've heard it, but they've never taken the

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Speaker 2: next step. Or maybe they have served God. But like

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Speaker 2: I said, there are those doors that they just won't open.

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Speaker 2: And you know, when that happens, our relationship doesn't deepen

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Speaker 2: and strengthen. We don't develop all that we can in

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Speaker 2: the relationship. Listen, if I shut some doors to Joel

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Speaker 2: and wouldn't let him in, there would be some problems.

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Speaker 2: But I had confidence that he wasn't gonna judge me.

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Speaker 2: He knew I wasn't judging him. We were in this

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Speaker 2: together and we love each other and we developed it.

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Speaker 2: And that's what we have to believe about the love

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Speaker 2: of Christ. God does not condemn you in Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 2: He loves you. In Jesus Christ. There is no door

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Speaker 2: that you cannot open to him. There is no sin

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Speaker 2: too great. There is nothing that you've done that he.

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Speaker 3: Will not forgive you.

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Speaker 2: For the Bible says when you were yet sinners, he

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Speaker 2: came and gave his life for you. See, before we

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Speaker 2: wherever even knew him, he already fell in love with us.

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Speaker 2: Let's go from just hearing about the love of God

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Speaker 2: to truly developing and experiencing the love of God. If

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Speaker 2: you're sitting here today and you've got some condemnation or

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Speaker 2: some shame. Can I tell you that is not Jesus.

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Speaker 2: That is the accuser, and Jesus is not the accuser.

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Speaker 2: There's a story in John eight that exemplifies this so

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Speaker 2: very well. Jesus was teaching one afternoon near the temple,

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Speaker 2: and the scribes and the Pharisees, that's the religious leaders

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Speaker 2: of that day, drag a woman to him in front

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Speaker 2: of everybody, and said, Jesus, this woman.

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Speaker 3: Was caught in the act of adultery.

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Speaker 2: Now in the Law of Moses it says that such

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Speaker 2: an act and such a woman should be stoned to death.

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Speaker 3: I'm sure they came.

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Speaker 2: They came with stones in their hand and dragging that

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Speaker 2: woman along.

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Speaker 3: They stood her there at Jesus' feet. I can only imagine.

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Speaker 2: A hush that came over the crowd because they said, Jesus,

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Speaker 2: what do you say about this?

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Speaker 3: The Bible says that he kneeled down. Now wait a minute.

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Speaker 3: That woman is standing there.

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Speaker 2: I can only imagine as she has her eyes glued

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Speaker 2: to Jesus to see.

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Speaker 3: What the verdict is.

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Speaker 2: When he began to kneel down, I can only imagine

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Speaker 2: her heart beginning to flutter in her chest, thinking, oh no,

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Speaker 2: what is he going to do?

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Speaker 3: Is he going to pick up a rock? Is he

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Speaker 3: going to start this execution right now?

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Speaker 2: Because see we read that story quickly, but when it's

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Speaker 2: happening to you, it's happening in slow motion. You got

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Speaker 2: time to think about it. Why else would he bend

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Speaker 2: down if he.

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Speaker 3: Wasn't going to pick up a rock? Can you imagine

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Speaker 3: that going on in her mind?

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Speaker 2: But the scripture says that he knelt down and he

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Speaker 2: began to write in the dirt. Then he stood up again,

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Speaker 2: and he looked at those accusers, and he said, those

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Speaker 2: of you without sin, you cast the first stone.

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Speaker 3: He looked at them, and then he knelt down again.

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Speaker 2: The scripture says that one by one, one by one,

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Speaker 2: they begin to walk off, from the oldest to the youngest.

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Speaker 3: You know, that's just like Jesus.

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Speaker 2: He gives you time to think about it. He tells

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Speaker 2: you something, and then he gives you time to think

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Speaker 2: about it. He stood up again, looked around. It was

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Speaker 2: no one, just he and the woman. Can you imagine

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Speaker 2: that woman standing there still trembling. She's standing there thinking.

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Speaker 3: What just happened? You know?

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Speaker 2: The law that they talked about was the law of Moses.

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Speaker 2: That was given to Moses by God, and it was

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Speaker 2: written on tablets of stone by God's own finger, was

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Speaker 2: written on Mount Sinai Jesus when he knelt down. We

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Speaker 2: don't know what he wrote. He didn't come to abolish

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Speaker 2: the law. The scripture tells us. He came to fulfill

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Speaker 2: the law. And I find it quite interesting that the

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Speaker 2: same law that was written by God's finger, he sent

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Speaker 2: his son to write something else with his finger in

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Speaker 2: the dark, and that was mercy.

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Speaker 3: We don't know what he wrote, but it had to

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Speaker 3: have been.

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Speaker 2: Mercy, because he looked at that woman and said, where

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Speaker 2: are your accusers? Is there anyone here condemning you? She said, no, sir,

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Speaker 2: and he said I don't condemn you either. He said,

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Speaker 2: go and sin no war. As she stood face to

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Speaker 2: face with Mercy, she went from hearing about Jesus. Everybody

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Speaker 2: in the town knew about Jesus. They had heard something

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Speaker 2: about him. She probably heard, yes he performed some miracles, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: he's a nice man.

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Speaker 3: But she went that day from hearing about.

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Speaker 2: Jesus to experience it the love of Jesus. She went

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Speaker 2: from hearing to knowing this love. Standing face to face

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Speaker 2: with Mercy can you imagine that day her heart was

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Speaker 2: opened in such a way that when she walked off,

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Speaker 2: she didn't walk off condemned. She walked off convinced, this

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Speaker 2: is a man of love, This is a.

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Speaker 3: Man that just touched me. I mean, mercy opens the door.

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Speaker 2: Of our heart for repentance. He told her, go back

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Speaker 2: and sin no more. I'm empowering you and I'm strengthening

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Speaker 2: you by my mercy and my grace to stand against sin.

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Speaker 2: You see, grace does not give us a license to sin.

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Speaker 2: Grace gives us a power to stand against sin, the power.

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Speaker 3: To say no to sin.

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Speaker 2: That day, Jesus was in a very intimate place with

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Speaker 2: that woman, a part of her life.

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Speaker 3: She wouldn't want no one to see.

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Speaker 2: But everyone saw, and they saw Jesus not pick up

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Speaker 2: a rock, but take his own finger and write mercy

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Speaker 2: in the dart. If you're here today, I want to

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Speaker 2: tell you Jesus isn't condemning you. Rocks they hurt Jesus,

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Speaker 2: love it heals.

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Speaker 3: No today if.

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Speaker 2: Anybody's throwing rocks at you, if there's condemnation in your mind,

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Speaker 2: because there's areas of your life you really don't want

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Speaker 2: to expose to Jesus no today, but he is not

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Speaker 2: going to condemn you. He wants to convince you that yes,

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Speaker 2: there is power to turn that thing around and go

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Speaker 2: another way.

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Speaker 3: He wants to strengthen you.

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Speaker 2: And give you the power you need to live the

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Speaker 2: life he's called you to live. Amen.

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Speaker 3: Amen.

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Speaker 1: If we all go through disappointments and things that are

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Speaker 1: not fair, but God sees every hurt. He's injustice and

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Speaker 1: He's promised to pay you back for the unfair things. Now,

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Speaker 4: Now?

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Speaker 1: If you've never been to Lakewood, we have a great

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Speaker 1: option opportunity to come. We call it Homecoming weekend. We'd

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Speaker 1: love to meet you and your family and you can

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Speaker 1: see the building and attend one of the services. It's

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Speaker 1: a great time to be a part of the Lakewood family.

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Speaker 1: Looking forward to seeing you at Homecoming weekend,