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<v Speaker 1>The following message is from Faith Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

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<v Speaker 1>Join us on Sundays for our 8, 15, and 11 am worship services.

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<v Speaker 1>For more information, visit us online at faith-pcaorg or download the Faith PCA app.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for tuning in to Faith's podcast ministry.

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<v Speaker 2>The scripture reading this morning is from 2 Corinthians, chapter 5.

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<v Speaker 2>2 Corinthians, chapter 5, beginning in verse 16.

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<v Speaker 2>Hear now the word of God.

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<v Speaker 2>From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

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<v Speaker 2>Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

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<v Speaker 2>Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

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<v Speaker 2>The old has passed away.

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<v Speaker 2>Behold, the new has come.

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<v Speaker 2>All this is from God who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

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<v Speaker 2>Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, god making his appeal through us.

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<v Speaker 2>We implore you, on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God For our sake.

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<v Speaker 2>He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's pray together.

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<v Speaker 2>Lord, bless the reading of your word to our souls.

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<v Speaker 2>Lord Jesus, we honor you and we thank you for these words from your apostle, written thousands of years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>We come before you now, calling no one our teacher, but you.

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<v Speaker 2>We love no one like we love you.

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<v Speaker 2>We long to see no one like we long to see you, and so we're asking, now that you will send your Spirit, may, holy Spirit, come and fill every heart in this room, that we may see the truth, that we may hear the truth, that we may be renewed in our spirits, resurrected into the newness of life by your power, so that we may be fully obedient and faithful to you.

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<v Speaker 2>And as you do these things, we promise you the praise and the glory for it all.

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<v Speaker 2>Amen.

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<v Speaker 2>The praise and the glory for it all, amen.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, at one time or another in your life maybe too many times someone has said to you why don't you just leave me alone?

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<v Speaker 2>Those are harsh words.

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<v Speaker 2>Usually you've done something to offend somebody and they just want you out of their lives.

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<v Speaker 2>Just leave me alone.

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<v Speaker 2>It happens between people that are dating One won't give up and the other just wants you to go away.

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<v Speaker 2>Take it.

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<v Speaker 2>If that ever happens to you, just take it.

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<v Speaker 2>But it also happens between husbands and wives, sometimes parents and children.

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<v Speaker 2>Friends, just leave me alone.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, more and more in our day, just leave me alone.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, more and more in our day, while people around us are willing for us, as followers of Jesus, to have a private religion, a private spirituality.

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<v Speaker 2>They increasingly just don't want us to bother them with what we believe, and maybe sometimes boldly, maybe sometimes subtly and quietly, or just through their actions, they say to us why don't you just leave me alone?

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<v Speaker 2>And most of us are ready to comply, and we leave them alone.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, that reality that we face today in our world is appropriate for us to think about it in terms of the passage we just read.

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<v Speaker 2>So let me give you just a little bit of background here, because we just we just parachuted into a part of the Bible that many of us don't know much about, and we're right in the middle of a conversation, as it were, between the Apostle Paul and followers of Christ or a church that was in the Greek city of Corinth, and the Apostle Paul had started their faith in Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>He was the one who planted the seed and it had multiplied and good things were happening.

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<v Speaker 2>But along the way they had troubles and he kept writing them letters, and this is him responding to letters that they have written to him, because basically what they're saying is this thanks very much for what you've done, but now get out of our lives, leave us alone.

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<v Speaker 2>And in this passage the apostle reveals something in ways that he doesn't do ordinarily.

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<v Speaker 2>He sort of opens up his heart and lets them look very deeply inside of him as he tries to explain to them why he just can't leave them alone.

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<v Speaker 2>So maybe if you and I pay attention to what he says here in this passage, we can find a way that we will be able to resist the call of others who tell us to say leave us alone, and to continue to bring to them the good news of Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>I love this passage for the way that it just goes right to the heart of this famous and well-known apostle, but also how it penetrates right to our hearts too.

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<v Speaker 2>And he says a number of things here.

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<v Speaker 2>But the first thing that he says to them is this I can't leave you alone because I'm a changed person.

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<v Speaker 2>Something's happened to me.

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<v Speaker 2>He starts off by saying from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.

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<v Speaker 2>Now that's fancy Bible words for saying we don't look at people the way everybody else looks at people.

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<v Speaker 2>This is just not the way we look anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think this way about people.

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<v Speaker 2>I once did, but I don't do that anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm changed in the way I look at people, and if you think about how ordinary people think about the human race, you can imagine it as a gigantic pizza pie up here.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, and what do we do to manage this thing called people?

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<v Speaker 2>What we do is we start slicing the pie and we slice the pie between those that are like me and those that are not like me, those that have the kind of money I have and those that don't have the kind of money I have, those are educated the way I'm educated, and those that aren't, those who live in my neighborhood, those that don't, those that live nearby, those that live far away, those that are a part of my family, those that are not a part of my family.

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<v Speaker 2>Slice, slice, slice, slice, because all this slicing is designed to do something.

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<v Speaker 2>It's designed to help us figure out who should be important in our lives, who's worthy of our time, and all the other people that are not important to us and really don't deserve our time and our effort.

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<v Speaker 2>Isn't that the way you handle all the people you know?

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<v Speaker 2>Isn't that the way you handle all the people you know?

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<v Speaker 2>Some you welcome into your life, others you just kind of push to the margins.

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<v Speaker 2>Easy to do, because dealing with people is complicated.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, what I really like about this passage is what he says next, because he says there he says even though we once regarded Christ this way, we do so no longer.

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<v Speaker 2>In other words, I used to look at Jesus like the world looks at Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>So let me ask you a few questions about Jesus Now.

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<v Speaker 2>The answer to every one of these questions is no, so there's no surprises.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, you can respond by saying no.

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<v Speaker 2>Are you ready?

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<v Speaker 2>Here it is Jesus of Nazareth.

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<v Speaker 2>Did he speak English?

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<v Speaker 2>No.

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<v Speaker 2>Did he have the kind of money that you have?

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<v Speaker 2>No.

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<v Speaker 2>Did he have the kind of education you have or the fancy job that you have?

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<v Speaker 2>No.

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<v Speaker 2>Did he live in a nice neighborhood like you?

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<v Speaker 2>No.

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<v Speaker 2>So if you were to look at Jesus by all the standards that we normally use to slice up the pie, jesus doesn't fit.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, if Jesus were to walk into this room looking and talking like he did 2000 years ago, we would all shun him.

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<v Speaker 2>It would be natural to do so, because you say who is this weird dude walking into church this morning?

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<v Speaker 2>But we've been changed, haven't we?

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<v Speaker 2>The one, that One that we now call Lord, our Savior, our King?

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<v Speaker 2>Let me say something to those of you who may be here and you're not a follower of Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>Something very special happens to a person when they will put their faith in Jesus of Nazareth.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is what happens Change, changing of Nazareth.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is what happens Change, changing of your life.

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<v Speaker 2>You get to do things like start all over again.

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<v Speaker 2>It's an amazing thought that maybe many of you have had.

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<v Speaker 2>I sure do wish I could change my life.

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<v Speaker 2>I wish I could start it over again.

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<v Speaker 2>We even talk about it like being born again.

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<v Speaker 2>You get changed when you come to Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes it's radical, sometimes it's imperceptible to most people around you, but life in Jesus is a life of change, and this is how he puts it here.

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<v Speaker 2>He says in verse 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, behold a new creation, a new creation.

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<v Speaker 2>Old things have gone away, new things have come.

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<v Speaker 2>How could I possibly be the same person if I'm in Christ?

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<v Speaker 2>Because it's not just something that happens internally inside of you.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's what happens you become a part of something much bigger than you when you come to Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>It's called the new creation, and one day, when Jesus comes back to this earth, he's going to make everything in this creation new.

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<v Speaker 2>This world we live in is a magnificent place, even with all the hardships and suffering that goes on here.

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<v Speaker 2>You can look at it and go, wow, this is a beautiful place.

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<v Speaker 2>But just imagine, imagine no injustice, no war, no poverty, no disappointment, no guilt over anything you've ever done.

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<v Speaker 2>If you can just imagine this world like that, you're getting a picture of what you're a part of.

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<v Speaker 2>If you've come to Jesus and the apostle says we used to look at Jesus according to the old ways, now we look at him differently and it's time for us to start looking at the rest of humanity in a different way too.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, it's a big, gigantic pizza pie, but really, if you're a follower of Jesus, you slice that pie only once.

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<v Speaker 2>It's sort of like we develop as human beings.

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<v Speaker 2>You know preschoolers how do they think of the human race?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, other preschoolers and then all the big people around them that are telling them what to do all the time.

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<v Speaker 2>Just two categories.

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<v Speaker 2>You become a teenager and you're thinking about usually boys and girls.

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<v Speaker 2>Who am I going to date?

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<v Speaker 2>So the human race divides usually boys and girls.

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<v Speaker 2>Who am I going to date?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, so the human race divides between male and female.

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<v Speaker 2>You get to be a young married adult and your life starts rotating around the human race, divided between people who are married and people who are not married.

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<v Speaker 2>You get to be a grandparent and then the whole universe divides into grandparents and grandchildren and nobody else matters.

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<v Speaker 2>It's simple, really.

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<v Speaker 2>When you think about it, as you grow up, the way you look at the world changes.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, that's the way it is with followers of Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>The pizza pie gets sliced once, and here's the slice those who are in Christ and those who need to be in Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>Those who are in Christ and those who need to be in Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>In the end, that's all that matters those who are my brothers and my sisters in Jesus and those who ought to be my brothers and sisters in Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>No wonder he said to them oh yeah, we're different.

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<v Speaker 2>I grew up in a different city from the New Corinthians.

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<v Speaker 2>Most of you are just pagans anyway, and I'm Jewish.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we're different in so many different ways, but it really doesn't matter.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm changed.

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<v Speaker 2>And so, as you think about your neighborhood, I don't know what your neighborhood is like, but I can just tell you my neighborhood, my wife and I can't find people that are like us in natural, normal terms.

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<v Speaker 2>But you've got to take those glasses off.

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<v Speaker 2>You've got to put on new glasses, your new creation, two kinds of people in the world In Christ and those who are in need of him.

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<v Speaker 2>How can we possibly leave them alone?

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<v Speaker 2>Now the apostle doesn't just talk about change.

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<v Speaker 2>That happened to him.

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<v Speaker 2>He's, he remember, he's sort of opening up his heart to these people and he says something else about himself.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not just changed, I've got this calling in my life and it's the most unbelievable calling you can possibly imagine.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, as we read that from the say verse 18, and following, he says all this is from God who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

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<v Speaker 2>Those are really fancy words, ministry of reconciliation.

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<v Speaker 2>If anybody in here for a moment think of themselves as people who have a call and the definition of that call is ministry of reconciliation.

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<v Speaker 2>We don't think about that much, but in normal terms, everyday life, you can think of reconciliation as a ministry of reconciliation, as you got two people that don't like each other I mean, they maybe really don't like each other and your role in that situation is to stand between them and try to make peace.

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<v Speaker 2>That's what family.

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<v Speaker 2>Therapists do, marriage counselors, preachers do it all the time as they sit with their church members, trying to make peace between people that have become enemies.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's what a ministry of reconciliation is in normal, everyday terms.

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<v Speaker 2>But here the apostle has something very special in mind.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not just people who don't like each other and trying to make peace between them.

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<v Speaker 2>It's people who have made themselves the enemies of God.

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<v Speaker 2>They've rejected God, they've rejected Jesus, they've rejected the truth and the light.

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<v Speaker 2>They've gone their own way and along the way they have become actually opponents of all things that come from God, that come from Jesus, and so they're making themselves the enemies of God.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, above them is the holy God of the universe, who's perfect in all of his ways, who knows all things, and you and I are in the middle.

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<v Speaker 2>A ministry of reconciliation Trying to bring peace Between people who are the enemies of God.

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<v Speaker 2>A ministry of reconciliation trying to bring peace between people who are the enemies of God and the holy God of the universe.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, I don't know about you, but I have a hard time dealing just with the sort of horizontal reconciliation thing in my life, this vertical thing of God and people and getting in between that and messing around and those kinds of things.

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<v Speaker 2>You know what my natural reaction is?

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<v Speaker 2>Yuck, I don't want to do that.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been doing this thing called ministry or professional religious worker, whatever you want to call it.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been doing it a long time and I still don't want to do that.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd rather do practically anything to get into that mess.

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<v Speaker 2>Now I say yuck, and you probably do too, if you're honest.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, just let my next door neighbor mind his business and I'll mind mine.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, that kind of thing.

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<v Speaker 2>You probably are like me and you probably just don't like the idea.

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<v Speaker 2>But the Apost, apostle Paul, didn't think of it that way for himself.

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<v Speaker 2>He said no, this is not something that should be rejected or disdained.

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<v Speaker 2>He said it's really a special place to have in the world.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is how he puts it.

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<v Speaker 2>He says in verse 20, listen to what he says.

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<v Speaker 2>He says, therefore we are ambassadors for christ god making his appeal through us ambassadors.

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<v Speaker 2>He uses the technical phrase, the technical word for a political ambassador, someone who would represent a king or a nation to another nation or another king.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, he's using political terms here and he says well, we are ambassadors.

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<v Speaker 2>So God himself was speaking through us.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, I never really understood this passage.

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<v Speaker 2>I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church and all the little boys in Southern Baptist Church were called royal ambassadors from this verse.

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<v Speaker 2>We RAs for short, we just called ourselves rotten apples were called royal ambassadors from this verse we are A's for short.

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<v Speaker 2>We just called ourselves rotten apples instead of royal ambassadors we were.

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<v Speaker 2>It didn't really touch our lives, but the theme was good.

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<v Speaker 2>We are royal ambassadors, okay, ambassadors of the king.

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<v Speaker 2>But I didn't understand that until I met an actual ambassador.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a dramatic event in my life met an actual ambassador.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a dramatic event in my life.

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<v Speaker 2>I was on a short-term mission trip to the old country that was called Czechoslovakia, now called the Czech Republic.

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<v Speaker 2>They split it and now it's the Czech Republic, but then it was the Czechoslovakia.

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<v Speaker 2>And we had gotten there and our senator from the state of Mississippi, trent Lott, had arranged for this little group of Christians, about 30 of us, to meet the ambassador of the United States.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it was a great idea, but it was early in the morning when the announcement was made.

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<v Speaker 2>We got to rush across town and get there right now.

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<v Speaker 2>I was in bed.

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<v Speaker 2>I wasn't dressed.

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<v Speaker 2>So I'm in the back of the car and I'm putting on my clothes in the back of the car to get ready to go see the ambassador of the United States.

00:19:18.926 --> 00:19:22.278
<v Speaker 2>And along the way I learned who the ambassador was.

00:19:22.278 --> 00:19:44.941
<v Speaker 2>It was Shirley Temple Now, shirley Temple Black was her name at that point, but it was Shirley Temple and if you don't know this, if you're too young to know this, shirley Temple was an old, old child movie star and she was a dancer and a singer and she was probably the most popular movie figure in the whole country at the time.

00:19:44.941 --> 00:19:46.805
<v Speaker 2>When she was a movie star.

00:19:46.805 --> 00:20:00.386
<v Speaker 2>And we were on our way to see Shirley Temple Now, I was a seminary teacher, the professor, and so while I'm pulling my socks on in the back seat, everybody else in the car was saying what are you going to say, richard?

00:20:00.555 --> 00:20:01.217
<v Speaker 2>What are you going to say?

00:20:01.217 --> 00:20:02.781
<v Speaker 2>I said I'm not going to say anything.

00:20:02.781 --> 00:20:03.664
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, you got to.

00:20:03.664 --> 00:20:06.198
<v Speaker 2>You're the professor, you got to say something.

00:20:06.198 --> 00:20:12.487
<v Speaker 2>So in my usual cynical way, I said okay, I know what I'm going to do.

00:20:12.487 --> 00:20:14.830
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to ask her to sing Good Ship Lollipop.

00:20:14.830 --> 00:20:25.025
<v Speaker 2>You may not know me well enough to know this, but if I think you think you're somebody, I'm going to let you know I don't by asking something embarrassing.

00:20:25.025 --> 00:20:31.763
<v Speaker 2>So I'm going through the song On the good ship lollipop, and I don't know the rest of the words, but candy shop.

00:20:31.763 --> 00:20:32.436
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I got it.

00:20:32.436 --> 00:20:34.743
<v Speaker 2>So I'm trying to remember all the words so I can catch her.

00:20:34.743 --> 00:20:40.186
<v Speaker 2>Okay, because I'm expecting her to do a little dance and sing the song, if I ask her to.

00:20:42.455 --> 00:20:45.703
<v Speaker 2>Well, we're marched up to her office and she's not in the office.

00:20:45.703 --> 00:20:48.221
<v Speaker 2>It's a big room, it's about half the size of this building.

00:20:48.221 --> 00:20:56.979
<v Speaker 2>Right here, this room and everyone else, being from Mississippi, knew proper decorum and they knew how to act.

00:20:56.979 --> 00:21:02.439
<v Speaker 2>They all sat down and folded their hands in their laps and waited for the ambassador to come in, not me.

00:21:02.439 --> 00:21:03.963
<v Speaker 2>I didn't know what to do.

00:21:03.963 --> 00:21:06.261
<v Speaker 2>I'm not from Mississippi.

00:21:07.395 --> 00:21:15.207
<v Speaker 2>So I start walking around the room and I'm looking at things, all the paraphernalia that are on the tables and up on the walls, the pictures and things.

00:21:15.207 --> 00:21:28.009
<v Speaker 2>And the first thing that caught my eye was that Shirley Temple was standing with the Queen of England with her arm around her, not curtsying with her arm around her, drinking champagne like they're old sorority sisters or something.

00:21:28.009 --> 00:21:29.214
<v Speaker 2>I thought, wow, that's weird.

00:21:29.214 --> 00:21:34.366
<v Speaker 2>And then next picture is George Bush and she's like punching him in the arm, things like that.

00:21:34.366 --> 00:21:37.243
<v Speaker 2>And next was Gorbachev of Russia.

00:21:37.243 --> 00:21:45.901
<v Speaker 2>And by the time I got to the third or fourth picture I began to realize, hey, this woman's an important woman, this is pretty impressive.

00:21:45.901 --> 00:21:49.315
<v Speaker 2>She's a friend with the leaders of the world.

00:21:49.315 --> 00:22:06.643
<v Speaker 2>And then, of course, it hit me all of a sudden she speaks for my president, she speaks for me on the world stage, and about that time the two big French doors at the other end of the room open up and in walks Shirley Temple, black.

00:22:06.643 --> 00:22:09.021
<v Speaker 2>Well, the group stood up.

00:22:09.021 --> 00:22:12.121
<v Speaker 2>Of course, they're separating me from her.

00:22:12.121 --> 00:22:14.884
<v Speaker 2>So they create this parting of the red sea.

00:22:16.837 --> 00:22:20.183
<v Speaker 2>And I start walking down the red sea on dry ground.

00:22:20.183 --> 00:22:26.500
<v Speaker 2>I had a couple of students over here going richard, richard, richard, richard.

00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:29.425
<v Speaker 2>They wanted it so bad, oh, they wanted it so bad.

00:22:29.425 --> 00:22:35.567
<v Speaker 2>And I walked right up to her, I put my hand out and I said said, how do you do, madam Ambassador?

00:22:35.567 --> 00:22:38.403
<v Speaker 2>It's an honor and a privilege to meet you.

00:22:38.403 --> 00:22:42.746
<v Speaker 2>I did not dare mention Good Ship Lollipop.

00:22:42.746 --> 00:22:46.102
<v Speaker 2>I sat down and that was the end of my show.

00:22:46.102 --> 00:22:48.186
<v Speaker 2>Why?

00:22:48.186 --> 00:22:56.845
<v Speaker 2>Because I realized she was an important person, so important, she shouldn't be treated like that.

00:22:58.654 --> 00:23:00.942
<v Speaker 2>Well, hear what the Apostle Paul is saying about you.

00:23:00.942 --> 00:23:02.586
<v Speaker 2>Listen to what he's saying.

00:23:02.586 --> 00:23:07.405
<v Speaker 2>Surely, temple Black had nothing over you.

00:23:07.405 --> 00:23:18.397
<v Speaker 2>She was merely the ambassador of the United States of America, one of many countries that will come and go with the winds of history.

00:23:18.397 --> 00:23:37.431
<v Speaker 2>But you, if you are in Christ, you are the ambassador of the king of the universe, whose kingdom will never fail, will never come to an end, a kingdom that will prevail over the entire creation forever.

00:23:37.431 --> 00:23:39.662
<v Speaker 2>And God has chosen you.

00:23:39.662 --> 00:23:45.587
<v Speaker 2>And God gives you the privilege of being the one through whom he speaks to others.

00:23:45.587 --> 00:23:55.244
<v Speaker 2>What more could you possibly want out of life than that that the creator of the universe has chosen to speak through you.

00:23:55.244 --> 00:24:08.241
<v Speaker 2>So put your shoulders back, put your chest out and realize what an honor and what a privilege you have been given to represent the king of the universe to the world around us.

00:24:08.241 --> 00:24:14.130
<v Speaker 2>We are ambassadors for Christ.

00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:18.705
<v Speaker 2>We are ambassadors for Christ God speaking through us.

00:24:21.613 --> 00:24:25.135
<v Speaker 2>No wonder the apostles said to these Corinthians I can't leave you alone.

00:24:25.135 --> 00:24:36.720
<v Speaker 2>Why would I deny the greatest privilege I have in life of speaking on behalf of God to you?

00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:47.934
<v Speaker 2>Why would you deny yourself that privilege by hiding your king and keeping him a secret.

00:24:47.934 --> 00:24:58.709
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

00:24:58.709 --> 00:25:00.151
<v Speaker 2>So the apostle says I'm a changed man.

00:25:00.151 --> 00:25:00.951
<v Speaker 2>I don't look at people like I used to.

00:25:00.951 --> 00:25:01.531
<v Speaker 2>That's why I can't leave you.

00:25:01.531 --> 00:25:03.275
<v Speaker 2>A changed man, I don't look at people like I used to.

00:25:03.275 --> 00:25:04.757
<v Speaker 2>That's why I can't leave you alone.

00:25:04.757 --> 00:25:08.361
<v Speaker 2>I've also got this calling in my life and it's phenomenal.

00:25:08.361 --> 00:25:11.164
<v Speaker 2>That's why I can't leave you alone.

00:25:19.349 --> 00:25:22.355
<v Speaker 2>But he says one more thing, and in some ways this is kind of the hardest one for people like you and me.

00:25:22.355 --> 00:25:25.763
<v Speaker 2>It's especially in our day If we hear that we should change the way we look at people.

00:25:25.763 --> 00:25:37.496
<v Speaker 2>I think in a Presbyterian church like this, when everybody will say you know, I need to do that, I need to stop slicing that pie up in so many ways and just chop it once, I think we will also go.

00:25:37.496 --> 00:25:41.580
<v Speaker 2>You know, it really is a privilege for someone like me to be an ambassador for Christ.

00:25:41.580 --> 00:25:44.816
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a privilege, so I need to live like that.

00:25:44.816 --> 00:25:47.492
<v Speaker 2>But this last one's a little harder.

00:25:47.553 --> 00:25:49.877
<v Speaker 2>Listen again, beginning at verse 20, to what he says.

00:25:49.877 --> 00:25:56.173
<v Speaker 2>He says, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, god making his appeal through us.

00:25:56.173 --> 00:26:05.305
<v Speaker 2>We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God, there it is.

00:26:05.305 --> 00:26:16.445
<v Speaker 2>We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.

00:26:16.445 --> 00:26:17.711
<v Speaker 2>I want you to notice what he doesn't say here.

00:26:17.711 --> 00:26:18.412
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't now.

00:26:18.412 --> 00:26:21.214
<v Speaker 2>In other places he might use these words, but here he doesn't.

00:26:21.214 --> 00:26:25.219
<v Speaker 2>He's being very vulnerable at this point.

00:26:25.219 --> 00:26:32.006
<v Speaker 2>He's revealing the depths of how he feels about these people and he says we implore you.

00:26:32.006 --> 00:26:38.606
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't say we preach at you.

00:26:38.606 --> 00:26:42.307
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't say we argue with you.

00:26:42.307 --> 00:26:44.452
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't say we attack you.

00:26:44.452 --> 00:26:46.996
<v Speaker 2>No, what he says is we implore you Now.

00:26:47.115 --> 00:26:53.404
<v Speaker 2>I grew up learning this verse from the King James Bible, and some of you who are as old as me may remember it also.

00:26:53.404 --> 00:27:00.559
<v Speaker 2>It says in the King James Bible we beseech thee be reconciled to God.

00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.349
<v Speaker 2>Well, nobody beseeches anybody today, okay, nobody.

00:27:02.349 --> 00:27:04.516
<v Speaker 2>But implore is a good way to translate it.

00:27:04.516 --> 00:27:05.298
<v Speaker 2>We implore you.

00:27:05.298 --> 00:27:15.278
<v Speaker 2>But maybe that's a little heavy too, because we don't do a lot of that either, and maybe it's better for us to say something we know like we plead with you be reconciled to God.

00:27:15.278 --> 00:27:22.414
<v Speaker 2>Some translations even say we beg you, be reconciled to God.

00:27:22.414 --> 00:27:28.065
<v Speaker 2>And this gives us that third characteristic that's revealed in this passage.

00:27:28.750 --> 00:27:37.178
<v Speaker 2>Third characteristic of the Apostle Paul that should be characteristic of us too he wasn't just changed, he wasn't just called.

00:27:37.178 --> 00:27:38.654
<v Speaker 2>He cared about them.

00:27:38.654 --> 00:27:44.695
<v Speaker 2>He cared about other people.

00:27:44.695 --> 00:27:55.115
<v Speaker 2>He wasn't dismissive of them, he didn't reject them.

00:27:55.115 --> 00:27:56.457
<v Speaker 2>He cared about them.

00:27:56.457 --> 00:28:03.590
<v Speaker 2>Yes, they blew their leaves into his front yard, just like your neighbors do, but he still cared about them.

00:28:03.590 --> 00:28:12.280
<v Speaker 2>Yes, they may have spoken with a different accent, just like some of your friends and acquaintances at school or at work do, but he cared about them.

00:28:12.280 --> 00:28:20.911
<v Speaker 2>Yes, they may not have been as good looking as you are, but he still cared about them.

00:28:20.911 --> 00:28:24.913
<v Speaker 2>He may not wanted to have married them, but he still cared about them.

00:28:26.373 --> 00:28:46.402
<v Speaker 2>We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, and I think that lots of parents here today, probably certainly around the world, feel this at times, especially when they have children that have gone wayward.

00:28:47.622 --> 00:28:57.625
<v Speaker 2>Maybe in their teenage years, they're starting to do things that you know are really bad dead ends for them, taking them down a path that will be so destructive in their lives.

00:28:57.625 --> 00:29:02.347
<v Speaker 2>It's a little bit of a stereotype, but let me tell you what usually happens, at least in Christian homes.

00:29:02.347 --> 00:29:08.855
<v Speaker 2>Usually the mother's heart is broken, but the father, the husband, is mad.

00:29:08.855 --> 00:29:18.102
<v Speaker 2>He can't believe that his son would do this kind of thing, he can't believe his daughter would do this kind of thing, and so he rails against them.

00:29:18.102 --> 00:29:31.803
<v Speaker 2>He's so mad and the wife sits there praying that Jesus won't let him do something like put this person in timeout or into the bedroom for the next six years, which is what he's about to threaten.

00:29:31.803 --> 00:29:35.097
<v Speaker 2>You're not going to get any, even food for me for the next 10 years.

00:29:35.097 --> 00:29:36.362
<v Speaker 2>Okay, that kind of thing.

00:29:36.362 --> 00:29:37.252
<v Speaker 2>Men are crazy.

00:29:37.252 --> 00:29:37.615
<v Speaker 2>That way.

00:29:37.911 --> 00:29:39.695
<v Speaker 2>It's usually our first reaction to hurt.

00:29:39.695 --> 00:29:41.741
<v Speaker 2>We get angry.

00:29:41.741 --> 00:30:08.598
<v Speaker 2>But if that child, even through all the grounding that they go through and all the punishment they go through, if that child doesn't turn around, eventually the husband, the father's heart breaks too and the man that was once full of anger is begging please don't do this.

00:30:08.598 --> 00:30:12.337
<v Speaker 2>Please don't ruin your life like this.

00:30:12.337 --> 00:30:23.282
<v Speaker 2>I'm pleading with you, I'm begging you and the tears will roll and his heart will be laid out there.

00:30:23.282 --> 00:30:27.479
<v Speaker 2>Please don't follow this path anymore.

00:30:30.010 --> 00:30:52.182
<v Speaker 2>Have you felt that with your children, or maybe some of you, with your grandchildren, that's a heart that cares, and we have relatives and we have co-workers and we have relatives and we have co-workers and we have neighbors and we have old friends and new friends that need for somebody to care about them enough.

00:30:52.182 --> 00:31:06.079
<v Speaker 2>Care about them enough to let them know about Jesus and to have an attitude of not condemning them, but an attitude of caring about them.

00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:15.159
<v Speaker 2>We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God Now.

00:31:15.159 --> 00:31:18.791
<v Speaker 2>If you're a follower of Jesus today, let me just ask you a couple of simple questions.

00:31:19.634 --> 00:31:27.181
<v Speaker 2>Aren't you glad that Jesus is bringing a new creation and that you're a part of it, that you've been changed from the kind of person you once were?

00:31:27.181 --> 00:31:29.136
<v Speaker 2>Isn't that just a glorious thing?

00:31:29.136 --> 00:31:40.095
<v Speaker 2>And aren't you glad that Jesus came to this earth as God, the Father's ambassador, and he brought the truth, he spoke the truth of God.

00:31:40.095 --> 00:31:42.141
<v Speaker 2>Aren't you just?

00:31:42.141 --> 00:31:44.659
<v Speaker 2>Doesn't that just thrill your soul a little bit?

00:31:44.659 --> 00:31:57.079
<v Speaker 2>And aren't you glad that this same Jesus has cared for you day after day, year after year, even when you, as his follower, have turned away from him?

00:31:57.079 --> 00:32:04.942
<v Speaker 2>Then how can we do anything but follow his way?

00:32:04.942 --> 00:32:16.038
<v Speaker 2>We do anything but follow his way to live as changed people, people that no longer look at others from a worldly point of view, but with the eyes of Jesus.

00:32:16.038 --> 00:32:28.285
<v Speaker 2>How can we do anything but be glad and delighted that God would take someone like me and you and use us to speak to others as his ambassador?

00:32:28.285 --> 00:32:38.223
<v Speaker 2>And how can we, in the light of how much Jesus has given himself to us with tender, loving care.

00:32:38.223 --> 00:32:42.318
<v Speaker 2>Do anything but show the same to others.

00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:53.005
<v Speaker 2>Today, yeah, I think we're going to see it more and more.

00:32:53.005 --> 00:33:01.317
<v Speaker 2>Even here in Alabama, people are going to say keep your religion to yourself, leave me alone, and rather than turning and saying, okay, I'll do just that.

00:33:01.317 --> 00:33:02.000
<v Speaker 2>Thank you very much.

00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:06.770
<v Speaker 2>I really didn't want to anyway, didn't want to get involved in your life.

00:33:06.770 --> 00:33:17.934
<v Speaker 2>We've got to be people who now look at them differently and know what a privilege it is to know what Jesus has to say to them and begin to care.

00:33:17.934 --> 00:33:20.117
<v Speaker 2>Let's pray together.

00:33:20.117 --> 00:33:22.240
<v Speaker 2>Lord Jesus, how we love you.

00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:38.019
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, holy Spirit, for inspiring these words, so that they were not just words for thousands of years ago, but that they are words for us today too.

00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:54.551
<v Speaker 2>We lean on you, we hope in you, we trust in you to change us, to call us, to make us care about others, and as you do it, we will honor you and praise you for it all, amen.