Adversity Brings Growth
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Welcome to Insights. This is our last
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our last program for 2025. We're getting
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ready to enter into 2026 and a new year.
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And each new year brings its own special
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uh things to overcome and to deal with
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and to find victory in. So, let's pray.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for today.
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We thank you for your word, Lord. We ask
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that you help us to understand
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how it's through adversity that strength
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comes and help us Lord to have a humble
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heart and a humble spirit and to keep
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ourselves focused on you and the work
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that you've set before us. In Jesus name
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we pray. Amen. So,
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uh, 1 Peter 5:6, it says, "Humble
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yourselves therefore under God, under
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the mighty hand of God, that he may
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exalt you in due time, casting all your
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care upon him, for the carth for you. Be
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sober, be vigilant, because your
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adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,
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walketh about seeking whom he may
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devour, whom resists steadfast in the
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faith, knowing that the same afflictions
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are accomplished in your brethren that
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are in the world. But the God of all
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grace, who hath called us unto his
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eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
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that ye have suffered a while, make you
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perfect, establish, strengthen, settle
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you. To him be glory and dominion
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forever and ever. Amen. Have you noticed
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that if you look through history
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for
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every great revival that takes place uh
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prior to that revival something serious
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happened
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and uh one of the things that I always
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look at is how the church
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has grown every time
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adversity has come against it.
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stop and take a look at the book of
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Acts. The first seven chapters of Acts
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is uh focused on
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the birth of the church and the things
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that were happening in Jerusalem.
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In chapter 1, Jesus before his
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ascension, he tells his disciples to
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tarry in Jerusalem
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for a few days. It's actually 10 days.
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And
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when the Holy Spirit is poured out and
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the church is birthed,
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he tells them that they would be
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witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
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the uttermost parts of the earth. And
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when you're reading through those first
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uh seven chapters of Acts, you see this
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and and
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the unparalleled
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growth in the church. Peter's first
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sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts
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chapter 2, 3,000 people are added to the
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church. A few days later, he preaches
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again and 5,000 men are added to the
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church, not counting the women and
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children. So, the church has this
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explosion of growth. All of a sudden,
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there's 8,000, 10,000, 13,000 people
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that are in the church. And the church
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is it's struggling. It's having growth
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pains. They have all these people. And
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to understand those first chapters
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of Acts
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fully, you have to understand what's
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going on. At this point, the church is
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100% Jewish.
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There are no Gentiles in the church. And
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the Jewish people of that time are
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divided into two groups. You have
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the strict Jews that are following the
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law, that are doing all of these things
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and and every part of their life is is
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directed
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by what the law says. And then the other
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group of Jews are called henistic Jews.
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These are Jewish people that have taken
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on Greek customs. They dress like
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Greeks. They talk like Greeks. um they
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enter into society as a whole as the
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Greeks did. And so there's a a schism, a
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division in the church all the way back
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to the beginning. There's a division in
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the church on what is the right way to
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live. So you have people um and Paul
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addressed this in his writings and and
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he told people, you're not of this world
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that u you should separate yourself from
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the world. You shouldn't follow worldly
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ways. And every time there's a great
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revival in the church,
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and this is for the last 2,000 years,
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you can you can follow it through. If
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you do a little historical reading and
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studying, you'll find out that every
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time there's a great revival preceding
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that revival
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was people who began to embrace the
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world and their their
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relationship with Christ
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uh became religious practices rather
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than a life of faith through
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relationship with Christ. And we see
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that today. Uh
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I I don't want to glorify anybody
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specifically, but I want you to take a
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look at what's happened in this country
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since October or September when Charlie
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Kirk was shot.
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There was a a resurgence of faith in the
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country, but it was it was hit and miss.
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And then Charter Kirk gets assassinated
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in public and there's this all of a
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sudden this huge influx of people coming
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into the church. And every time
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God does something amazing in the world,
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it's always preceded by something
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catastrophic
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or a great neglect for God. You can see
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it through the history of Israel in the
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Old Testament. uh they would they
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starting from David. David was the king
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after God's own heart and Israel
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flourished under his kingship. And then
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the kingdom was passed to Solomon and it
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prospered
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until Solomon began to
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follow after his wives and he started
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building groves in the mountains and
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he's doing these things and and then the
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kingdom gets divided.
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And when the kingdoms divided, you can
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look at the kings in Israel and the
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kings in Judah. And they would have a
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king who would steer the nation back to
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God. And for one generation,
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they would have this great revival in
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Israel. But the next king that came into
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uh came in to be king would be, as the
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Bible would call it, he did wicked or
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evil in the sight of the Lord. And then
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he would lead Israel astray again. And
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this happened repeatedly
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until Israel was taken captive by
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Assyria.
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And then Judah was taken captive by
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Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.
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And then they come back from their
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captivities.
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And
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the Israel became known as Samaria.
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And when Judah came back, they
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reestablished their covenant with God.
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And then they got very dogmatic about
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following the law.
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And that lasted for about 200 years
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until
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um
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Alexander of Macedonia, Alexander the
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Great, conquered the known world
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and Greek customs and lifestyles
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uh permeated all the places where he had
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went. He conquered Israel. He conquered
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Egypt. He conquered uh the uh
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the Persian Empire. Uh he went all the
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way to India. And every place he went,
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they took on Greek culture. They began
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to dress like the Greeks and they did
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all these things. And even so far as
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when he conquered Egypt
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and he after he died, Egypt was put
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under the control of one of his generals
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named Tommy. and his descendants are
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the tool pharaohs which included
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Cleopatra and her brother Tommy III. So
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this influx of Greek culture into the
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Middle East created some division in the
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church from the start
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and to uh and the uh the conflict that
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was created at the start was the fact
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that the Jews had separated between the
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Henistic Jews and the traditional uh law
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Jews. Jews
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and
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the traditional Jews who hadn't who
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actually hated the Hellenistic Jews
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refused to help the widows and orphans
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and feed them. And so as you you have
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the apostles there in in uh Jerusalem
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are trying to manage this growth of
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church that's you know somewhere between
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10 and 20,000 people and how to handle
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and care for all these people. And so
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they put into place deacons. And what
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deacons were put into place for was to
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handle the day-to-day ministry and
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ministering to the needs of the people
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that they had to take care of. And this
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is where you read the story of Ananas
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and Safra and they were killed for lying
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to the Holy Spirit and they just struck
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dead by God. Um, and in this process,
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the church is continuing to grow under
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this adversity.
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And after Stephen is stoned, something
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takes place. Now, remember Jesus told
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the disciples, he told the apostles to
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tarry in Jerusalem until they received
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the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
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And then they were supposed to be his
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witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
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and the uttermost part of the earth. And
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up until this point of Steven being
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stoned, they stayed in Jerusalem. They
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hadn't ventured outside of of Judea.
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They they had localized the church. And
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what happens in Acts chapter 7 is what
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Peter's talking about here about this
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adversity. The first thing that happens
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is in Acts chapter 7 where Steven is
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stoned, we're introduced to somebody
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who's a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus.
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And Saul was a de about man. Saul was a
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Pharisee of Pharisees of the strictest
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order of the sect. Um he was a Jew of
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Jews and what that means is both of his
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parents were Jewish. He didn't have a
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Jewish father and a Greek mother. He had
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a Jewish father and a Jewish mother. And
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he was from Tarsus.
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And he approved,
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in fact, he was he approved to the point
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of Hebrews rejoicing that Steven was
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stoned. He even held the blade closed.
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And
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because of that event that took place,
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the stoning of Steven,
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a what's the word in Greek is diaspora,
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there was a scattering of the church.
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They actually moved the the church
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leaders moved out of Jerusalem because
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of the persecution.
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And this is where we go into chapter 8.
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were introduced to Philillip
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the evangelist, the first person to take
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the gospel outside of the Jewish rail.
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And Philillip went to Samaria. And on
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the way there, he met the Ethiopian unic
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who was reading out of the book of
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Isaiah. And Philip says, "Can I explain
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that to you?" And so he shares what it
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means. And the man receives Jesus and
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Philip baptizes him. And then Philip is
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spirited away to Samaria where he stays
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the rest of his life. And if you read
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through Acts, you'll even see that Paul
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stayed with Philip for a while. But that
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dispersion that took place, that
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diaspora,
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it brought some things about. The first
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one was Saul of Tarsus went and got
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letters of authority from the Sanhedrin.
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that's that's the ruling body of the
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Jews to find every Christian that he
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could find to put them in chains and
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bring them back to Jerusalem to be tried
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for heresy and executed.
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So when he went to Samaria, when he was
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on his way to Damascus,
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his mission was to find every Christian
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in Damascus that had fled from Jerusalem
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to put him into chains and bring them
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back to Jerusalem to be tried and
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executed.
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And that's when he's converted.
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And it and in verse in chapter 10, you
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see that Peter takes the gospel to the
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first group of Gentiles. And then Paul
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after his conversion and after his time
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in the wilderness and and then he goes
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to Antioch and he begins to preach in
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Antioch and then he comes back to the
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the persecution by the Sanhedrin kind of
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calmed down. They were still upset with
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the Christians, but at this point they
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were no longer trying to kill them all.
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And he comes with Barnabas and they take
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off on the first of four missionary
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journeys where he spends time traveling
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with Barnabas. And then he takes two
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missionary journeys with Silas and he
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his final missionary journey he's
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traveling with Luke and and Timothy and
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spreading the gospel to the Gentiles.
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And uh what happens is and and these
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types of things have happened throughout
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history. Anytime there was a great
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revival that came, there was something
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catastrophic happened. First, we had the
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same thing World War II. People between
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about 1920 and 1941,
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they had really drifted away from God.
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They were focused on money. They were
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focused on on wealth. They were focused
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on all of these other things. And then
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uh they passed the prohibition laws
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where alcohol became illegal in the
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United States. And then the depression
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hit.
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And during the depression, people there
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were no jobs. People didn't have a way
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to eat and all of these kind of things.
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And then World War II hit.
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And when World War II hit, people
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started turning back to God. But after
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World War II, there was a resurgence of
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people going back to church and they
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were they were seeking a relationship
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with God. But just like has happened
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throughout history
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um with the Jewish people first and then
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with Christians, that resurgence would
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last for about a generation and then
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people would start drifting away. And
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with the uh rise of the Catholic Church
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and the church becoming the state
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religion of Rome in 300 AD under
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Constantine, Emperor Constantine, it
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became the state religion of Rome. And
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now so everywhere there was the Romans
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were was the church because it was the
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official religion. Now they got they
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stopped the uh polytheistic religion of
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worshiping all these different gods and
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had focused in on being Christian
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and when you when you're a student of
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history and you go through you see how
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things happen and and how corrupt people
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come into control.
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Um
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during the height of its power,
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the Roman Catholic Church put kings in
17:27
place and removed them by
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excommunication.
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Uh the church of England broke away from
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the Catholic Church. They were
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Protestant. They they were semifing the
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teachings of Martin Luther. They
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separated from the Catholic Church,
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created the Church of England. And the
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king is the head of the church.
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Even today, King Charles of England uh
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is the head of the church of England. He
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is there. And so we come to the United
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States and we have this what they call
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this experiment
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in a new form of government. And uh you
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hear a lot about this. You hear
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especially you know liberal people that
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have no love or desire to be connected
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to God in any way. They are constantly
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pushing the separation of church and
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state. The church can't make laws that
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govern the country which is true but
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that's not what church separation of
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church and state means. What it means is
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the government cannot set a nationwide
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religion that is uh administrated by the
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government.
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people have the right to worship God
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freely in the United States without
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government interference into their
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worship or government direction.
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But all of these things we should be
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aware of. We should watch because it's
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through adversities that have happened
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that people
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get a spirit of revival. They draw
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closer to God. They spend more time
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praying. and they're seeking God because
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they are in crisis.
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And for a generation, that church will
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there will just be explosive growth in
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the church. And then when things get
19:20
good again, people begin to neglect God.
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They begin to look away from God and the
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things that God has done. And then they
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begin to fall away again.
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It's an ongoing repeated cycle.
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So my challenge I guess to you is this
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is
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December 31st 2025
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and if you made a commitment to Christ
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to serve Christ to seek God with all
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your heart and to do what Jesus said
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which is to love the Lord your God with
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all your heart with all your soul and
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with all your might
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then I don't believe personally in New
20:05
Year's resolutions because they're never
20:07
kept. What I do believe though is that
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you should have goals set. You should
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determine for yourself this is what I
20:17
intend to accomplish this year. Not
20:19
about I'm going to give up this or I'm
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going to give up that, but rather my
20:24
goal is to increase my relationship with
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Christ in 2026.
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So, as you're going through
20:36
today, think about what you want to
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accomplish in your relationship with
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Christ. Not what you want to gain, not
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what you want to have, not not your
20:46
financial successes or job successes or
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any of those other things, but focus in
20:52
on what where you want your relationship
20:56
to be
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at the end of 2026.
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Because I'll tell you, when adversity
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comes and it forces you into the place
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of submitting your will to God's will
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and God begins to grow and prosper you
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uh because of your dedication
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into your relationship, don't let that
21:21
relationship go cold because through
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that adversity, God is creating in you a
21:27
more usable vessel for his glory. Um,
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it's never uh about
21:35
me or about you. It's about Jesus and
21:39
his kingdom and what we're following and
21:42
watching and seeing happen. Uh, you're
21:46
always going to have naysayers. You're
21:48
always going to have people who want to
21:51
ruin whatever it is that God is doing in
21:53
your life. And that's normal. That's how
21:56
the enemy attacks. But what you I would
22:00
encourage you to do is this. Focus on
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Christ. Focus on growing your
22:05
relationship with him. Learn more about
22:07
him. Learn more about his work. Learn
22:10
more about what God's will for your life
22:12
is. And I'm not talking about what it
22:14
says. It says um
22:19
that uh in everything give thanks for
22:22
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
22:24
concerning you. That's the will of God
22:26
for your life. But God has ministry for
22:29
you to complete. That's a calling. And
22:33
so you need to find out from God exactly
22:36
what that calling is
22:39
and then pursue it. At the same time,
22:42
also being thankful for all the things
22:44
that God has already done. And while
22:47
you're going there, you're going to go
22:48
through things. You're going to have
22:49
trials. You're going to have
22:50
tribulations. You're going to have
22:52
troubles. But if you focus in on what
22:56
Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 5 and
22:59
endure it, when you get to the other
23:01
side, you're going to have a an amazing
23:05
relationship with Christ that you never
23:07
thought was possible. So, I want to
23:09
encourage you,
23:11
if times are tough,
23:15
it's only part of the journey. If you
23:17
stay focused on God and on what God is
23:20
doing in your life, you'll get through
23:22
this. And when you get to the other
23:23
side, it will be much better. Remember
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Romans 8:28. It says, "For all things
23:28
work together for good to them that love
23:30
the Lord and are the called according to
23:32
his purposes." You are all called.
23:36
Everyone who is a Christian is called.
23:38
We all have ministry to fulfill.
23:41
Everybody's ministry is not the same.
23:44
And not everyone when you say called to
23:47
ministry is an apostle, prophet,
23:49
evangelist, pastor, teacher.
23:51
But everyone is called to share the
23:53
gospel with other people to tell people
23:59
about Jesus. Um,
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everybody can relate to you. I know a
24:04
man that can change your life and his
24:07
name is Jesus. And when um people see
24:12
Jesus in you, they get hungry. Remember,
24:18
you are supposed to be the salt of the
24:21
earth and the light of the world. And if
24:23
you do those things and you present
24:26
Jesus to people, not just by words, but
24:29
by the actions of your life, you're
24:31
going to reach people that you never
24:33
believed you could.
24:35
So, I want to encourage you to focus
24:38
your yourself on to the one thing that
24:42
matters most,
24:44
building your relationship with Christ.
24:47
Set some goals that you want to reach
24:50
for the kingdom for 2026
24:54
and work towards those goals. And don't
24:57
set New Year's resolutions
25:00
because they're not going to last. but
25:03
rather focus on growing your
25:05
relationship with Christ. And if you do
25:09
that, 2026 could be the best year you've
25:12
ever had. And so I would encourage you,
25:16
get focused,
25:18
focus on that relationship with Christ
25:20
Jesus. Move towards him.
25:24
And remember, the enemy doesn't like it
25:27
when you do that. And the enemy is going
25:29
to do whatever he can to stop you. But
25:32
if you persevere, if you follow through
25:35
to the end, when you get to the other
25:37
side, you're going to reap uh such a
25:41
harvest as you've never seen before
25:44
because God is using you to reach other
25:47
people, which is the whole point. So
25:50
that's my me final message for this
25:52
year. We'll be back next week and we're
25:56
going to be looking at new things in a
25:58
new year. So, I want you to stay focused
26:02
on Christ, to live your best life in
26:06
Christ, and remember, it's not about the
26:09
things, it's about the provider, it's
26:11
about the giver, which is Christ. We'll
26:14
see you guys next week. Thanks for
26:16
joining me this year, and we're looking
26:18
forward to a brand new year, 2026.
26:21
God bless you

