- Recognize! God is Bigger than my problems.
- Rejoice! God has saved me from my Sin.
- Remember! God has done Great Things for me.
- Receive! God has Satisfied me.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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00:00-00:03
Worship, confession time.
00:03-00:10
When I was growing up in the church that we grew up in, I didn't understand what the whole music thing was about.
00:10-00:11
I really didn't.
00:13-00:30
I mean, you show up and you kind of sing this song that was written like 200 years ago, very poorly and out of key.
00:30-00:34
And I'll be honest with you, I just, I didn't get it.
00:34-00:35
I didn't get it.
00:35-00:36
Why are we doing this?
00:37-00:41
I'm not going to mention what church it was, lest anyone think I'm picking on a denomination.
00:43-00:49
But let's just say that it was always open up your hymnal and we're singing the first, second and last verse.
00:50-00:51
Now, how many people went to that church?
00:51-00:53
We're just singing the first, second and last verse.
00:54-00:55
That always made me feel bad.
00:55-00:56
What was up with verse number three?
00:57-00:59
Like, you know, I need to go back in some old hymnals.
00:59-01:01
Were they like heretical or something?
01:02-01:08
You know, like, you know, did they let a swear word slipped in in that verse or something like that?
01:08-01:11
What was it against verse number three?
01:12-01:13
I just, I didn't get it.
01:14-01:15
Why are we singing?
01:16-01:17
Why are we singing?
01:18-01:33
And I'll never forget, big brother already knows what I'm going to say, but we were singing this hymn this one day and the preacher in that church actually led the worship too, which doesn't happen here, say thank you.
01:36-01:37
The preacher, I'm gonna give you another run at that.
01:37-01:40
The preacher of this church doesn't lead worship here.
01:40-01:41
You're welcome.
01:43-01:44
But at this church, the preacher did.
01:45-01:49
So he'd get up with his hymnal and bless their hearts.
01:49-01:51
There was a lady that sat behind us.
01:52-01:54
She was 117 years old.
01:55-01:57
If she was a day.
01:57-02:01
And she wasn't the only one.
02:01-02:06
Well, this particular hymn, it was the whole congregation was just sort of.
02:11-02:28
♪ Oh gee ♪ Well, we got through about a verse and a half and the preacher, he goes, "Stop, stop, stop." He waves at the organist, "Stop playing, stop singing.
02:29-02:38
"I'm not going to let you ruin another one." Which to this day is the most appalling thing I've ever heard in church.
02:40-02:46
I'm not going to let you ruin another hymn.
02:48-02:50
Ouch, that was harsh.
02:52-03:05
Well, then as an associate pastor, I went to this pastor's meeting and this one particular meeting, a bunch of local pastors were sitting around this table.
03:05-03:10
This was, oh, I'd say about 12 years ago now, but a bunch of pastors were sitting around the table.
03:11-03:12
And do you know what the discussion was?
03:13-03:16
Every single pastor without exception, This was discussion.
03:17-03:19
Why aren't people passionate in worship?
03:22-03:26
Every pastor, there was that one pastor that was like, yeah, my people are really excited about worship.
03:26-03:31
Every single pastor in this community, and there were probably 15 around the table.
03:32-03:34
Why aren't people passionate?
03:34-03:39
And then the next guy was like, yeah, we sing and everybody's just kind of like, eh.
03:40-03:42
And like, oh yeah, that's how it is at our church.
03:42-03:49
We got the guy up there leading worship and everybody's just kind of sitting there with their arms folded, like what's everybody so excited about?
03:52-03:54
Why aren't people passionate in worship?
03:56-03:57
Well, let's be honest.
03:59-04:01
Sometimes we aren't there, right?
04:03-04:08
Sometimes we show up to church and the music is playing, but we're just not feeling it.
04:08-04:09
All right, confession time.
04:09-04:11
How many people have been there?
04:11-04:14
I show up to church, the music is playing, and I'm not feeling it.
04:14-04:16
Come on, confession time, seriously.
04:17-04:20
Look, I've been there, all right?
04:21-04:21
I've been there.
04:24-04:31
That I start to sing and I just, you know what, I'm just sort of mouthing the words, but my heart's just not in it today.
04:32-04:33
Why is that?
04:34-04:35
Well, jot this down.
04:35-04:36
Here are five things that hinder worship.
04:38-04:40
Five things that hinder worship.
04:40-04:41
Write this down in your outline.
04:44-04:52
You know, for those times that you go to church and you're just like, now obviously there's something to be said for the quality of the musicians and things like that.
04:55-05:00
And certainly there are things up on the platform that can be a distraction that hinder you from worship.
05:00-05:03
But what I'm talking about is, what's going on in your heart?
05:04-05:17
What I'm talking about is when you show up at a worship service and you see people with their arms raised and you see people with tears streaming down their face and you see people singing to the Lord, and you're just like, man, I'm just not getting it today.
05:17-05:18
Why is that?
05:18-05:19
Here's five reasons.
05:19-05:21
Number one is ignorance.
05:22-05:25
Some people just don't know the Lord and they don't know why everyone is singing.
05:26-05:28
That would explain most of my life.
05:29-05:31
But it's just ignorance.
05:32-05:40
You know, if you don't know the Lord, it just makes sense that the singing time doesn't really hit you too hard.
05:40-05:43
Number two, pride, pride.
05:46-05:53
That's when you're preoccupied with self and you walk into church and you're thinking, I'm pretty important, why aren't they singing about me?
05:55-05:57
Jesus had three songs today.
05:58-05:59
I didn't have any.
06:00-06:01
That's pride.
06:02-06:10
But in any way, shape, or form, when you think that you're something, We studied this in Philippians 2, right?
06:11-06:13
Consider others more significant than yourselves.
06:13-06:18
Holding on to pride, humbling yourself before God in worship isn't on the table.
06:19-06:20
Number three is legalism.
06:21-06:23
Here's a hindrance to worship, legalism.
06:24-06:25
I don't like this music.
06:27-06:30
If Charles Wesley didn't write it, we shouldn't be singing it.
06:33-06:35
My preferences aren't being met.
06:37-06:43
you realize that the beat of that song you were playing is satanic.
06:46-06:48
There are people that say that kind of stuff.
06:49-06:53
You know, when the Bible describes worship, two words, do you know what they are?
06:54-06:57
Two words, new and loud, right?
06:57-06:58
Isn't that biblical worship?
06:59-07:03
Sing to me a new song, a fresh expression of your faith.
07:03-07:06
And for the people like, I thought the worship was loud.
07:07-07:12
you're gonna have a hard time in heaven because they're not turning it down in heaven, okay?
07:12-07:18
It is loud and it resonates off four corners that don't even exist.
07:18-07:19
That's how loud the worship is in heaven.
07:23-07:27
But when you come in legalism, I don't prefer this, I don't like this, this isn't my style.
07:28-07:29
No, you're not gonna worship.
07:30-07:32
Number four, worldliness.
07:33-07:35
That's a hindrance to worship, worldliness.
07:36-07:44
You know, I was drunk and stupid at the bar last night, and I was in an adulterous affair last night.
07:44-07:49
Yeah, it's hard to roll out of bed and roll into church and worship.
07:52-07:53
What's gonna hinder that?
07:54-07:56
And then the fifth one is unforgiveness.
07:57-08:01
Unforgiveness, a bitter heart and being angry towards another person.
08:02-08:02
You can't worship.
08:03-08:04
You just, you know that.
08:04-08:06
You know there's something in you.
08:06-08:09
It's God's spirit convicting you is what it is.
08:09-08:13
But when you're trying to worship and you know like, man, I still have hatred towards this person.
08:14-08:15
What did Jesus say?
08:15-08:18
You know, if you're going to present your gift, you know, leave it there.
08:18-08:20
Go be reconciled and then come back and worship.
08:20-08:26
Jesus said the priority of the relationship actually takes the priority over engaging in worship.
08:28-08:30
Reminder, forgiven people do what?
08:30-08:31
You remember?
08:31-08:33
Forgive, yeah, forgiven people forgive.
08:34-08:35
Absolutely.
08:36-08:37
Those are five hindrances to worship.
08:38-08:42
And the ironic thing is this time of year, it can be even harder to worship.
08:45-08:52
You're like, well, I don't understand because it's Christmas time and there's, you know, they put the lights up for us, which is really nice.
08:52-08:54
And the red curtains are kind of Christmassy, I suppose.
08:55-08:58
And it's Christmas, shouldn't worship be amped up?
09:00-09:09
Well, for many people it is, but listen to this article written of the California Department of Mental Health, they actually issued this warning.
09:10-09:19
"The Christmas season is marked by greater emotional stress, "more acts of violence than any other time of year." Did you know that?
09:21-09:25
Greater emotional stress, more acts of violence than any other time of year.
09:27-09:43
It goes on, "Christmas for many is an excuse to get drunk, to have a party, to get something, to give a little back, to leave work, to get out of school, to spend money, to overeat, and all other kind of excesses.
09:46-09:51
And then we go to church, and we wonder why there's a disconnect.
09:54-09:54
Let's turn to God's Word.
09:55-09:56
Joyful surrender.
09:56-10:01
I'd like to remind you last week, joyful surrender.
10:01-11:08
the angel Gabriel had shown up to Mary and said, "Mary," you know, "here's this, you know, young teenage girl." Gabriel shows up and says, "Mary, God has His hand on you and you're having a baby, but you're not just having any baby. You're going to be giving birth to the King of Eternity, the King of the universe, the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. Well, then Mary went off to see Elizabeth. We see in verses 39 through 45. Now let me pause right here for a second. Why do you think Mary went to visit Elizabeth? Why do you think Mary went to visit Elizabeth? Is that like some hormonal thing, like, you know, when my wife was pregnant she was eating Big Macs like Tic Tacs, all right? But maybe for some women it's, now that I'm pregnant I just feel the need to travel. Lord, do you have any of that going on now?
11:09-11:44
Well, obviously not. The reason Mary went to see Elizabeth, remember the conversation, she's like, "I've never been with a man, so how am I going to be pregnant and Gabriel says, "Oh, you remember your relative who used to be called Baron? She's pregnant, so God's like doing some stuff right now." So he's starting to see the connection. Elizabeth was like, "If there's one person on the planet that will believe me, that will understand the situation I'm going through, that I can really talk to, who's it gonna be? Tell me." Elizabeth, right?
11:44-12:20
Another miraculous pregnancy. Mary's like, "She'll get it." So she went to see Elizabeth. It was a three or four day journey and she would have had a lot of time to think. And we're not going to look through these verses today, but do you remember what happens when Elizabeth and Mary get together? You remember what happens? John the Baptist, who was in Elizabeth's womb, actually jumped for joy at the arrival of Mary, and more importantly, who was to be born to Mary.
12:22-12:27
Well, we saw last week in verse 29, Mary was greatly troubled.
12:27-12:31
I mean, you can imagine, think back ladies being 13 years old.
12:32-12:37
Imagine being 13 and an angel shows up and says, "By the way, you're giving birth to God in the flesh.
12:38-12:47
Have a nice day." that sit with you? It'd be hard, wouldn't it? The Bible says she was greatly troubled.
12:49-13:15
Well, now you see Mary's starting to get it. Like, God's doing something. God's doing something. Her doubts were gone, and now she's responding to the events, and her response to God is worship. Worship. Worship... Before we even get into the I want to leave you a couple things here to keep in the back of your mind as we go through this.
13:15-13:29
But understand this, worship must be a natural response from your soul, an adoration, appreciation, and awe of God, who he is and what he's done.
13:30-13:31
But worship has to be a natural thing.
13:33-13:36
You know, I can't give you a pep talk to make you a better singer.
13:38-13:42
You'll be a better worshiper if you just, it has to be natural.
13:44-13:47
Worship's not just singing this song and pretending to be engaged.
13:49-16:07
And you're like, "Well, I hear what you're saying, Jeff, but how can I come in here and passionately worship when I'm hurting and when I'm depressed and when the world's beating me down?" You know, I heard what you're saying about ignorance, pride, legalism, worldliness, and but what about, I'm hurting man, I'm just hurting. My heart's heavy, I've been depressed, you know, I've had some relationship problems. How do I worship when I'm stuck in hard circumstances, right? All right, quick vote, how many people would say that Mary was stuck in hard circumstances at this point? Young, betrothed girl, pregnant, and she's telling people that, "Yeah, the Holy Spirit conceived in me and I'm giving birth to the Messiah. Who's buying that yet?" It was a hard circumstance, but she shows us in this text how we can worship even in the hardest of circumstances. You ready? Are you ready? Okay. Yeah. You better be. Verse 46, number one, recognize God is bigger than my problems. Verse 46, and Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord." We're gonna pause here for a second. You have to recognize that God is bigger than my problems. As I just said, worship has to be a natural outpouring of your heart. Notice Mary says, "My soul, my soul." Real worship isn't just by doing something or by saying something. It's flowing out of the heart. It has to start in your soul. But notice Mary says, "My soul magnifies the Lord. What does that mean? Understand this, Mary was not making God bigger. Why not? Because God can't get any bigger, right? It's not like, "Oh God, you're so small, let me give you a leg up." And that's not what she was saying at all.
16:10-16:16
Magnifying the Lord means we see him as he is and we regard his bigness.
16:20-16:22
That's what it means to magnify the Lord.
16:24-16:26
Do you think Mary's problems seemed huge to her?
16:28-16:29
Do you think her problems seemed huge?
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Again, put yourself as much as you can in her situation.
16:34-16:38
Thirteen, pregnant, the Holy Spirit conceived in me, I'm not married.
16:38-16:43
I'm like, you know, a ways away from that. And now all of a sudden I'm pregnant.
16:43-16:47
Would that seem like a huge problem? That would seem like an enormous problem.
16:48-17:01
What's Joseph going to do? What's my family going to think? What are my friends gonna say? My whole world's crashing down right now. Her problems seemed huge.
17:03-17:06
And sometimes when we face problems, how does God seem?
17:08-17:10
Sometimes when we face problems, God seems so small.
17:13-17:16
And sometimes we face problems, God seems so far away.
17:20-17:23
When the truth is, God is huge and God is near.
17:25-17:31
But, you know, it's hard to worship when you come in here focused on your problems, and I that happens every week.
17:31-17:33
Sometimes we just can't help it.
17:35-17:39
So let me ask you, what do you need in your life to be smaller?
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What problem in your life do you need to be smaller?
17:48-17:50
For maybe someone here, it's a financial problem.
17:50-17:51
Maybe you're like, you know what?
17:51-17:53
I have this financial crisis right now.
17:53-17:55
Oh, you know what, Pastor Jeff, I wish that was smaller.
17:56-17:58
Yeah, I wish that was really small.
17:59-18:01
Well, maybe for someone else it's a health problem.
18:02-18:07
I know some people here that are dealing with health issues and have some family members dealing with health issues.
18:07-18:09
They're like, "Oh, you know what, Pastor Jeff?
18:09-18:12
"I wish that this health problem was just so small.
18:13-18:17
"I wish it was a minor health problem." Or maybe for someone else there's a relationship thing.
18:18-18:23
Like, "I had this big blowout with a family member "and I don't think they're ever gonna forgive me.
18:25-18:32
"It's a huge problem, so how do I make it small?" How do you make those problems small, do you know?
18:34-18:38
Take those problems, as huge as they look, and what do you do?
18:38-18:40
You set them beside God.
18:41-18:42
That's what you do with those problems.
18:43-18:44
You set them beside God.
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You make much of the Lord.
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That's how you stare your problems down.
18:51-18:52
My soul magnifies the Lord.
18:53-18:53
Think about it.
18:53-18:58
That little financial problem you're having, you're like, It's not little, Pastor Jeff.
19:00-19:01
What is it to God?
19:04-19:05
Let me ask you, how much does God own?
19:07-19:08
How much does God own?
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Everything, right?
19:11-19:13
God owns everything.
19:14-19:17
Do you think God is, like, daunted by your financial problem?
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Like, "Phew, you know, I sure hope she doesn't pray about that, because my bank account can't cover that one." God's ever said that?
19:27-19:28
He owns everything.
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And hypothetically, if he ran out, he would just speak and make more, okay?
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It's not gonna happen.
19:38-19:38
He owns everything.
19:41-19:42
You know, the health issue.
19:44-19:52
All right, well, Pastor Jeff, you know, we're dealing with cancer, and we're dealing with, you know, some very serious health issues going on.
19:52-19:54
What is that to God who created you?
19:56-20:05
What is that to God who is going to give you a glorified, resurrected body someday, knowing that this body is going to wear out anyways?
20:07-20:09
Does God have the power and the ability to heal?
20:09-20:10
Of course he does.
20:11-20:13
Your cancer doesn't scare God.
20:17-20:19
You're like, well, what about this relationship blowup I had?
20:20-20:22
God is in the business of healing relationships.
20:27-20:28
And that brings us to the second point.
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Number one is, you know, recognize, here's how you worship God is bigger than my problems.
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You dragging your problems into church, put them beside God and now do a comparison.
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Your problem looks pretty small next to awesome God, doesn't it?
20:45-20:45
Recognize.
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Number two, rejoice.
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God has saved me from my sin.
20:49-21:03
Look at verse 47, Mary says, "And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Mary calls God her what?
21:06-21:08
I'll give you a hint, it's in verse 47.
21:09-21:11
Don't be shy about speaking out, come on.
21:12-21:45
I'm going to give you another run at this, it's right there in verse 47, it's the last word and it begins with a capital S. This is really important. You ready? Mary calls God her Savior. Now why is that important? Because some people teach that Mary was sinless and she's like the, you know, the dispenser of the graces and uh-uh. Mary Mary was a phenomenal human being, but she was also someone who needed a Savior.
21:48-21:51
So the question is, do you have a Savior?
21:51-21:52
Do you have a Savior?
21:54-21:56
You're like, "Well, everybody has a Savior, right?
21:57-21:58
It's Jesus.
21:58-22:06
Isn't Jesus the Savior of everyone?" Well, there's a difference between what everybody has and what some people have.
22:07-22:12
For example, show of hands, how many people here have a family?
22:14-22:15
Okay, everybody, right?
22:16-22:18
Everybody has a family or had a family.
22:20-22:23
All right, how many people here have a cat?
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Oh, you're so ashamed of yourselves.
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Come on, cat people.
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Raise them high, cat people.
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All right.
22:34-22:38
Everybody has a family, but not everybody has a cat, right?
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Or what about this?
22:40-22:41
How many people here have hair?
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There's some guys that are like, "Well, not on my head anymore, but like on my back." Yeah, we all have hair.
22:52-22:54
All right, now how many people here have a smartphone?
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Raise them high.
22:57-22:58
How many people here have a smartphone?
22:58-22:59
You people make me sick.
23:03-23:14
I have this thing from Verizon that's a little more technologically advanced than the tin cans and wax string that I have to scream at people while I'm on the phone.
23:16-23:21
Sometimes I've just, you know, sometimes when I've been on the phone with people, I'm like, you know what, let's just do this.
23:22-23:27
Hang up your phone and open your window and I'll open my window and just scream at you.
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It's a lot better than this phone.
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I'm sorry, I'm not talking about the phone here.
23:33-23:34
I just couldn't help it.
23:35-23:41
But the difference here, everybody has a family, not everybody has a cat, everybody has hair, but not everybody has a smartphone.
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What's the point?
23:43-23:47
Well, there are some things that everyone has, and there are some things that people choose to have.
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And there is a difference.
23:53-23:54
Do you have a savior?
23:58-24:05
Not everyone has a savior, but everyone is trusting something to get them to heaven.
24:06-24:06
That's true.
24:08-24:35
Except I would say 99% because every time I've shared the gospel with people that have said, "I'm going to hell "and I know I'm going to hell and I don't care." I'm like, "Oh, so you're clueless." Other than that, the jokester, everyone is trusting something to get them into heaven, but the problem is everything isn't going to get you to heaven.
24:38-24:43
You see, the Bible says that God is holy and God is just.
24:45-24:54
Well, by nature, we are sinners and we are rebellious, but then the Bible says that God is loving.
24:56-24:58
And for us, that looks like a dilemma, right?
24:58-25:03
God says, "I'm holy and I always punish sin." Do you know that God always punishes sin?
25:03-25:04
He always does.
25:06-25:10
God's not like grandpa that's like, "Oh, the kids are sinning again, but kids will be kids.
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"I'll just overlook it." God is a perfect judge and He always, always, always punishes sin.
25:19-25:22
And what we deserve is eternal condemnation.
25:22-25:23
That's what we deserve.
25:24-25:27
But you see, the other side of that is the Bible says that God is loving.
25:29-25:31
And again, that looks like a dilemma to us, doesn't it?
25:31-25:35
Well, wait a minute, He has to punish sin, but He loves us.
25:36-25:38
So how are you going to figure that one out?
25:42-25:49
Well, that's why everybody around here is just so excited about Christmas, because we're celebrating the way God answered the dilemma.
25:52-25:59
He did that by becoming a man, Jesus Christ, to bear the weight of your sin.
25:59-26:15
You know, there's a prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 53, verse six, that says, "We all like sheep have gone astray, "each to his own way." You know, we all have sinned.
26:16-26:21
Then he says, "Each to his own way." What that means is your sin tendency might be different than my sin tendency.
26:22-27:38
You know, if you would do a poll of sin tendencies of people in this room, there are people in this room that would say, "My sin tendency is lust." Some would say, "Well, my sin tendency is gossip or lying or covetousness." It seems like people have different sin tendencies. That's why when you see somebody sin in a way that isn't your sin tendency, that just seems so weird to you. Like, why is he so attempted to do that? Well, because that's his sin tendency. We all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way. That's the problem. But the second half of Isaiah 53 verse 6 says the solution, where it says that God has laid our iniquity, the iniquity of us all, on him, meaning the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. And here's what this means. Here's what this means. Let this hand represent me. We all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own ways, sinned. Instead of the Bible, let's pretend that this is a book recording every sin that I've ever committed. Okay?
27:39-27:43
And I know what you're thinking. It would be a much larger book, and you're right.
27:44-28:08
It would be a much larger book. It would be much larger and printed on like microfilm to write down every sinful word thought or deed that I've that I've had in my life or will have. Let this book represent the entirety of Jeff Miller's sin. When God sees me, what does he see? He sees my sin. He says, "You're guilty Jeff.
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you're guilty of all of this sin. That's the beauty of Isaiah 53 6 it says, "But the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all upon him." Let this hand represent Jesus Christ. God took my sin and put it on his Son. And you see when Jesus Christ was on the cross, what was he doing? He had my sin and he had your sin. He had the sin of everyone who eventually in all time would accept him and believe. He had the sin on himself. So imagine all of the sin on Jesus Christ on the cross and God poured out His wrath on my sin by pouring it out on His Son. So God took my sin and He laid it on His Son. So now when God sees me, what does He see? What does He see? Does He see any sin? When God looks at me, what He says is, "Oh, Jeff is sinless.
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Why is Jeff considered sinless?
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Because God laid my sin on his son.
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Do you know how incredible that is?
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Because here's what some Christians do.
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Well, like, yeah, my sin's on Jesus, but there's a couple still on me that I'm going to answer for someday.
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Wrong.
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Every sin has been laid on Jesus Christ.
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So that when God sees you, He sees you as being perfectly righteous.
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And when you stand before God someday.
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If you've received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God is going to welcome you into his eternal kingdom as a child, that's what you are.
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If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you still have.
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Some things to answer for.
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And really what you have to answer for doesn't really have to do with your sin.
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Do you know what you have to answer for?
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Why didn't you receive the gift of salvation and eternal life that I've offered through my Son?
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That's what you have to answer for.
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God says, "I've given you a free gift and you rejected it." So now all this sin still carries the penalty, but who's going to carry it?
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You are.
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And that's why there's hell.
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Because God will not overlook sin.
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But you see, Mary knew God.
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Mary knew God as a Savior.
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So let me ask you, do you have a Savior?
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Do you have a Savior?
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What are you trusting to get you to heaven?
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Who was I just talking to that just came to me?
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I was just talking to someone who was walking around the neighborhood in a city asking people, how do you get to heaven?
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He said not one person could tell him, not one person.
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Could tell him the right answer.
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What is the right answer?
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You have a savior?
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There's only one.
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There's only one.
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There's only one who bore your sin.
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There's only one who gives eternal life.
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You're not going to get it anywhere else.
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So rejoice, God has saved me from my sin.
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Number three, remember God has done great things for me.
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Remember, God has done great things for me.
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Look at verses 48 through 50, Mary goes on, "For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
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For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
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"For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation." Remember, God has done great things for me. First of all, look at verse 48. See what Mary's saying there? "He picked me." He has looked in the humble estate of his servant. That's very poetic way, Mary's saying, "He picked me.
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"God picked me." That's awesome.
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Do you guys remember when you were kids and the teacher would pick you for something?
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Do you remember that?
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That was such a big deal, wasn't it?
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Do you remember that?
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Come on, how many people remember?
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I know some of us are further away from childhood than others.
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But how many of you remember, like, if the teacher would say, you know, "Laura, would you hold the flag "so that people can do the salute today?" Didn't you feel like the queen of the universe?
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"Oh my gosh, he called me to pick the flag." But we lose that.
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When we become adults, we're like, "Don't pick me." But when we're kids, we're like, "I got picked." And see, that's what Mary's saying here.
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"God picked me for this." God looked at, Mary's like, "I was just like this "know-nothing girl from a know-nothing town, "and God picked me for this." And then verse 49, I have this underlined in my Bible, and you better have it underlined in yours too because I'm checking.
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He who is mighty, I have underlined, has done great things for me.
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Has done great things for me.
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Has done great things for me.
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Remember, God has done great things for me.
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Romans 121, we're not going to turn there, but draw that reference on.
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121 teaches us that faith and gratitude are inseparable. Faith and gratitude are inseparable, meaning this, if you come up to me and you say, "Hey, you see that guy?
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He's got great faith." Then I'm going to say, "Well, then he must be very grateful to God." Or if you come up to me and say, "Hey, you see her? She is very grateful to God for everything." Then I would assume that she's someone of great faith. You too. And since worship flows from faith, I would suggest to you that worship and gratitude are inseparable. Did you make that connection with me? Faith and gratitude inseparable. Worship flows from faith. Worship and gratitude inseparable.
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If you're visiting with us, I know I've shared this with people before, but we have a box that Aaron calls the blessings box, but I call it the thank you God box.
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And every time God hits us with an unexpected blessing, we jot it down on a note card and just stick it in the box.
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And every year around Thanksgiving, we get the box out and just here's the way God has blessed us over the past year.
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Do you wanna know some ways that God has blessed us?
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Do you wanna know?
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I'm gonna tell you anyways, whether you wanna know or not.
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What time do the Steelers play today?
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Who cares, right?
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They'll wait.
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Get Tomlin on the phone, tell him I ain't done yet.
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Let me tell you some awesome things that God has done.
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Do you know when my wife, talking about babies, you know when my wife was pregnant with Cade, the doctors told her to get an abortion or go blind?
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Those were her only two options.
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You can kill your child and save your eyesight where you can have the child and be blind.
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And you'll notice that my wife can see and we have Cade, both.
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What's the explanation for that?
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Come on, somebody explain that one to me.
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God, that's the explanation for that, God.
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This same Cade, a couple of years ago, got kicked in the face by a horse.
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It was the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in my life.
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We were out at my in-laws and the horse was out of the barn.
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And I'm not talking like a pasture pony.
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We're talking a full-size horse that like the family rides on, okay?
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And Cage, this little kid, he runs up behind it.
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I was on the other side of the yard by the garage with my father-in-law, I know, and Cage running up behind his horse.
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And I just turned and said, "You don't think that horse will," and as soon as I said that, that horse kicked Cage right in the face catapulted him across the yard.
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He did a full flip in the air and landed how many feet away?
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He was launched.
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I thought he was dead.
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I ran down the hill to see my son laying there with blood coming out of his mouth and his eyes open but not moving.
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I thought he was dead.
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Not one broken bone.
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Did you know that?
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We took him to the children's hospital, not one broken bone.
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He was in the trauma unit that night.
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He got out of bed the next day and started playing and singing and dancing like nothing happened.
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So somebody explain that one to me without using the phrase "God showed up." I could go on and I will.
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How about the launching of this church?
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That was a miracle, you remember that?
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That was a miracle.
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How many times were we like, we don't have, we don't have, we don't have, and God provided, God provided, God provided.
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You're like, oh, Jeff, you're always talking about these things that happened like a long time ago.
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Do you have anything recent?
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Yeah, you want something recent?
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How about a month ago?
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You know, sometimes we're like you, sometimes there's too much month at the end of the money, right?
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Anybody else like that?
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That happens to us a lot.
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Like too much month at the end of the money and our kids needed shoes.
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And Aaron's just like, oh, you know, you know, Thunderfoot here needs new shoes.
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And we just, we don't have the money for shoes right now.
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We're just going to have to cram his fat foot into his shoes he has now or wear mine or something.
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I went outside.
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to take the garbage out or something.
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Like right after Aaron and I had this conversation, I went outside, my neighbor across the street hollers over, "Hey, could your boys use some shoes?" Yeah, well, she gave us like several pairs of shoes and like what, three bags of clothes.
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Somebody explain that one to me without using the phrase, "Oh, God showed up." I could go on and on and tell you about all the unexpected blessings that God has given us and you would have a hard time believing it because quite frankly there are times I look back and I have a hard time believing it. But the point is this, I can stand here in front of you and I can say the Lord has been good to me. Can you say that? You can say that and I'm gonna give you an opportunity. You to three, I want you right now to think about all of the ways that God has blessed you. And I know typically we hang on to our problems. I want you to think all the ways that God has blessed you. And I want you to say, like Mary, like I just shared with you, I want you to share that testimony unto the Lord. I want you to say, "The Lord has been good to me." Are you ready? Let's hear it. One, two, three.
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Amen. Let's hear it again. You ready? Go. The Lord has been good to me. What has God done for you in the last week? What has God done for you in the last month? I'm sure there's somebody here that's like, "Nothing. God has done nothing for me in the last week." Well, that's never true.
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What is true is the fact that you just refuse to see it. And it's no wonder you have a hard time worshiping when you refuse to acknowledge God's personal goodness to you. So I would encourage you get a box. Get a box and write down things that is happening in your life that can only be explained by God. And Receive, God has satisfied me.
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Verses 51 through 55, "He has shown strength with His arm.
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He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
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He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate." Here it is, "He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich He has sent away empty.
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He has helped us serve in Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.
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And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
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So receive, God has satisfied me.
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Again, proud people, Mary mentions proud people.
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Proud people can't worship.
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They're too busy worshiping themselves to chime in with the worship of Jesus Christ.
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But you know what the real danger is with pride?
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Proud people never get what they think they deserve.
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Just make a mental note or even write that down.
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But proud people never get what they think they deserve.
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But you see, that's why Mary says, "He has filled the hungry with good things." That is, those who come and say, "God, it has to be you.
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Only you can satisfy God.
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Only you can meet the real need, God." That's why Jesus said, "All who are thirsty, come and drink." Why would Jesus say that?
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Because only He can satisfy.
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That's why Jesus told the woman at the well, "If you drink regular water, you're going thirsty again, right? But Jesus says, "If you drink from the water that I give you, it actually becomes a spring welling up inside of you." What was he saying? Jesus was saying that only he can satisfy. And you know, look at what people use to try to satisfy themselves. Alcohol, for example. What's the danger with that? When What road does that take you down?
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I need more and I need stronger.
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And it never satisfies.
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Some people try to satisfy themselves with pornography.
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What's the problem with going down that road?
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I need more and I need stronger.
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And it never satisfies.
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Some people try to satisfy themselves with drugs.
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What's the problem with going down that road?
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I need more and I need stronger.
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And it never satisfies.
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Some people try to satisfy themselves with money and stuff.
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What's the problem with trying to find satisfaction in money and stuff?
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I need more, I need more, I need more, I need more.
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He who seeks to be satisfied with riches is never satisfied with riches.
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Addiction is actually a worship disorder.
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Did you know that?
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And the devil keeps you hooked by making you crave more of something that is never enough.
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That's when the devil has you.
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When your eyes are off of Christ and you're craving something of this world, Satan is laughing his head off.
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He's like he's trying to find satisfaction in that, but it's never going to happen.
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But he's going to keep trying.
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The wrong things that I try to satisfy myself with always leave me hungry.
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That's why Jesus Christ is all you need, but you'll never know it until he's all you got.
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So the question is not, "Well, can God satisfy?" That's not the question.
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Here's the question.
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Am I willing to seek satisfaction from Him?
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Am I willing to stop looking to these other things?
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Am I willing to stop looking towards substances and money and stuff and other people?
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Am I willing to stop looking at these things for satisfaction and invest myself fully in seeking fulfillment in my relationship with God because He has filled the hungry with good things.
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And when you are willing, you will be full and you will have joy and real worship as going to be natural.
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In just a moment, we're going to be receiving the Lord's Supper.
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And the Lord's Supper means so much, doesn't it?
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It's a remembrance of the price that was paid for our sin.
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It's a proclamation of the Lord's death until he returns.
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In just a moment, our ushers are going to be passing the communion trays.
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You do not have to be a member of Harvest Bible Chapel to take communion.
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What is the criteria for taking communion?
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If you are a born-again believer of Jesus Christ, he invites you to receive the Lord's Supper.
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And parents, I do not encourage young children to take communion.
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If you're not sure where your children are in their walk with the Lord, parents, I would use this as a teaching opportunity, but I would not encourage them to take communion.
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This is so many things.
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This is a celebration of the outpouring of God's love.
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This is also an act of worship.
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Joyful worship.
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Celebrating a God who, instead of holding our sins against us, essentially pour them out on Himself.
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So as we pass out these elements, I ask that you hold them, and we will receive the Lord's Supper together.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Luke 1:46-56
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.