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Better Together LIVE | Episode 174

January 14, 2021

26:00

Only God is truly good! We need the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us to become more like Him! | TBN Prayer Line: 714-731-1000

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Better Together LIVE | Episode 174

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- God is good, perfect and holy.
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Apart from Him,
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we cannot be good enoughin our own strength.
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We need the power of theHoly spirit working in us
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and through us.
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Come on, let's talk about it.
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(bright music)
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- You know, Mama Joyce,
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of course, we alllove Mama Joyce,
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she's all of our spiritualmother that is watching this.
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I remember when I was
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young in ministry
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and I met her and you know, she,
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if anyone tells it how it is,
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it's Mama J.
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And
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I remember right up front,
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she used to say to me, "Chris,
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just go out and do some good."
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Just go here and do somegood for some people.
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She goes, the Bible,one of her life
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scriptures out ofthe book of acts,
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when they talk about
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Jesus of Nazareth, whowent about doing good.
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Now, when we talk aboutthe fruit of the spirit,
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of course, goodness
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is one of those fruits.
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And I love it because
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goodness, it's not onlyabout moral virtue,
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though that's really,really important.
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You know, there's goodbehavior and bad behavior.
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If you have children,
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you constantly aretelling your children
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what is good and what is not so.
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I know we live ina cray cray world.
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Our world thinks you canjust determine what is good,
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but let me just tell you,
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God's word is whattells us what is good.
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And thank God we've gotthe word of God because
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our world has lost its mind.
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And the Bible saysin the last days,
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people will be calling good evil
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and evil good,
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and that is exactly whatis happening in our world.
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People do not knowwhich way is up.
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And if my children try totell me something's good
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that the Biblesays it's not good,
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guess who wins in our house,
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it's called the word of God.
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But anyway,
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so there's that moral virtue,
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and we'll be talkingabout both of these things
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just throughout thecourse of the day.
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What's good and what's not.
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And so we need,
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in 2021 and going intothe whole 21st century,
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good and evil asso being redefined
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that again, here we go,
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you would've thoughtthat the Lord
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wrote the fruit of thespirit for this time,
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because it's like, wow,
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maybe Christians
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who are living good
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are gonna be able toshare with the world
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what actually is good
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based on the word of God,
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but it's also connectedwith good works.
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And I think the one thingour world all agrees on
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that there are works that aregood and works that are bad.
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When the scripture talks
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about the spiritualgifting of good,
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I'm not,
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I'm saying on a macro level,
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we gotta be about doinggood works in the world.
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That means in our sphereof influence, of course,
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Nick and I areinvolved with A21.
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So we're talkingabout doing the good
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of abolishing slaveryeverywhere, forever.
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That's a huge good work.
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But then in our localcommunities being involved
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in different outreachesin our churches,
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being involved,
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especially,
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I know last year during COVID,
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so many churches were giving
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away so much food,
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helping people in waysthat they could be helped,
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every week in communities,
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in local churches peopleare doing good works.
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It is important for Christians
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as we exhibit thefruit of the spirit
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to be involved in good work,
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in our communities,
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in the world around us
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and also to be involvedin good behavior
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which is moral, upright
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behavior.
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So
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two things we'regonna talk about,
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B, where do we go?
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'Cause this word in this context
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refers to both things,
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personal integrity and goodness,
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and doing good works
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in a lost and a broken world.
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- And I love that Paul
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who wrote,
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encouraged us with thefruit of the spirit,
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also wrote to the Galatiansand said, "Do not weary
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in doing good."
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Well, what does that indicate?
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It's gonna at timesfeel exhausting.
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So Chris, as you were listingout what you did at A21
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and also like localchurch initiatives
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or what we're doingin our communities,
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you can be weary.
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Your soul could be
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tired.
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And maybe you might be watchingthis and you're in a season,
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whether you are watchingthis online or on television
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or someone sent you a link,
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and you just feel tired,
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you felt like Lord, "Ihave been doing good
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and I'm not seeing the fruit."
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Well, Paul speaks to that.
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He says, "Don't growweary in doing good,
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for in due season,
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in due season, youwill reap a harvest."
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So Paul is really using a lotof agricultural terms that
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maybe if you were in
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urban or suburban environments,
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it's not something that we
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understand fundamentally,
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but he knows that there's aprocess to inherit that fruit.
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And so he says, hey,
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Paul also when he wrote toTimothy sending the faith,
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he gave him these threedifferent examples.
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Hey, pressing like an athlete,
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go hard like an athlete,
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hey, don't giveup like a soldier.
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And my favorite one
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in regards to theconversation at hand is
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like a farmer.
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You will reap a harvestand due seasons.
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And so we're gonna have
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moments where we justreally feel exhausted.
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And I want us to kind of pause,
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I want us to recognizethat feeling,
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acknowledge the feeling
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and then darn it, get backup and keep on doing good.
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Do not grow weary in doing good
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for in due seasonwe'll reap a harvest.
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And I'm taking that word for,
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as a church planner inorange County, California,
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I'm taking that word as a wife,
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I'm taking thatword as a step mum,
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I'm taking that word as
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a teacher and a leader,
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I'm not gonna growweary in doing good.
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And when we do that,
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we're also exhibiting
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this sense ofendurance that Paul's
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writing to the Galatiansand having them not forget.
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Oneka what doesthis mean to you?
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This goodness mean to you?
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- Yes I,
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just as I'm hearingboth of y'all talk,
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it's making me think about
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the differencebetween our own good,
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you know, checking thebox of like, I'm good,
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my kids are good,my family's good,
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but versus the greater good.
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And I think sometimeswhen we're just good
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but we're not concernedabout the greater good,
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then we're doing our communitiesand our world a disservice.
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And it's easy whenwe have, you know,
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two refrigerators witheverything stopped
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and we have all the things
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that, you know, weneed in this season,
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but to forgetabout our neighbors
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who might not havewhat they need.
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And so sometimes we think,
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well, we're doing good because
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we're watching church online
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or we're going tochurch in person
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and we're checkingall of our boxes,
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but to not forget aboutour brothers and sisters
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who might not be doing good
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and feeling good,
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even though everyonearound us seems good.
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Sometimes you canjust look down your
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neighborhood streetand think, "Oh yeah,
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our world is good,
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everybody's doing good."
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But to ask God,to give ourselves
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eyes to see those thataren't doing good,
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and even when we growweary in doing well,
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I think we're energized
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when we're making sure andensuring that other people
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are doing well.
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- Yeah, that's really good,
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'cause I think even especiallyin the year that we were in,
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you know, the pandemic hashit everyone very differently.
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Now, in my life,
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sometimes I feel like I haven't
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felt the impact of it,
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because,
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you know,
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I'm seeing the faithfulnessof God in certain areas.
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And sometimes you easily,just like you mentioned Oneka,
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you easily forget that
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just because
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in this area of your lifeGod has been faithful,
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it doesn't mean that thisis the world's experience.
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And I rememberthere was a moment
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where I was seeking theLord and I said, Lord,
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what is even,
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you know, just evenunderstand, like,
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why am I not feelingthe impact of this?
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And then the Lord began tojust teach me something that,
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you know, there is a timeand a season for everything
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under the sun likethe Bible tells us.
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Everyone would always gothrough a wilderness process.
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Now, your wilderness seasonmay have not been this year,
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it was the years prior.
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Now, this may be a collectivewilderness period for others.
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But at the end of the day
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is having this heart
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that says, "Lord give methis heart of empathy.
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Let me understand what myneighbor is going through."
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Because again,
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you know, even when itcomes to a lot of people
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dealing with loneliness,
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I'm like anextroverted introvert.
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So when I seepeople, it's amazing,
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but when I'm at home, Ireally love being at home.
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You know, but then thereare people who are,
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that is not their norm,
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they need to bearound the community.
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And so in this season I foundmyself even praying more.
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Lord, give me your heartconcerning the nation.
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Not what is happeningto me as an individual
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but what is happeningto the nations.
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So that I can partout myself and
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be my brother's keeper,be my sister's keeper,
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understand what myneighbor is going through,
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that I can revealthe goodness of God.
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Because at the end of the day,
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when God wants to answera person's prayer,
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he uses people.
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And so
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my prayers are, "Lord,let me be the person,
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let me be a person
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that you can showyourself mighty through,
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for your goodness on the earth.
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- So good.
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You know, the goodness of God
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reflects the character of God.
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And so the goodness and us
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wants to see the goodness
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for another person.
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I wrote this down last night,
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the supernatural urge in aperson to reach beyond himself,
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to meet the natural needsof those around him,
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and thus showing forthe goodness of God
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is when we go past ourselves,
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we get past that selfishness,
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and this has been agood year for that.
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And I think a lot of people
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in 2020
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have reached beyond themselves
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to show good, and in 2021,I think we're gonna see
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a harvest of that inour own life Chris,
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because that is afruit of the spirit
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that we just don't wantthe good all for ourselves,
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but we want to seeother people blessed.
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We wanna reach out,
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we want to see thegoodness of others.
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- Well,
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you're 100%, right, you know.
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In fact,
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when you talked about it beingpart of the character of God,
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Psalm 119 says, youknow, you are good
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and you do good,
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and you and I wannabe Christ followers,
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so we want to,
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the two things go together,
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you are good,
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you do good.
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The doing flows from the being.
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And so in our own selves,
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we need to allow the Holyspirit to say, "Okay, show me
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what is good and what is evil."
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Because I can't go to the world
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to find out anymore
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what really is goodand what is evil?
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'Cause in the world,
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the world's calling evil, good
00:10:15.938 --> 00:10:17.473
and it's calling good, evil.
00:10:17.473 --> 00:10:18.574
So I need to go to the scripture
00:10:18.574 --> 00:10:20.409
and go, "Okay, God,what do you say?
00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:22.611
What patterns of behavior,
00:10:22.611 --> 00:10:24.480
what lifestyle habits
00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.083
to do with everyarea of my life,
00:10:27.083 --> 00:10:29.552
what is good and what is not?"
00:10:29.552 --> 00:10:31.487
And so I want to be goodbecause God is good,
00:10:31.487 --> 00:10:34.724
and I wanna be like God,
00:10:34.724 --> 00:10:36.125
and then I want to do good.
00:10:36.125 --> 00:10:38.194
And I think at that reps rightinto the great commandment,
00:10:38.194 --> 00:10:41.897
where we're taught tolove the Lord, your God,
00:10:41.897 --> 00:10:43.132
with all your heart,mind and strength and
00:10:43.132 --> 00:10:45.000
love your neighboras you love yourself.
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:46.535
And that's what I love
00:10:46.535 --> 00:10:47.770
what you just readout Lori because
00:10:47.770 --> 00:10:50.139
we should want to love yourneighbors you love yourself.
00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:52.708
It doesn't say
00:10:52.708 --> 00:10:53.943
love your neighborinstead of yourself.
00:10:53.943 --> 00:10:56.045
So you've gotta loveyourself, your family,
00:10:56.045 --> 00:10:58.514
in terms of like,
00:10:58.514 --> 00:10:59.448
because you willonly love others
00:11:00.449 --> 00:11:02.084
to the degree that you love you.
00:11:02.084 --> 00:11:03.552
But what it means is that,
00:11:03.552 --> 00:11:05.054
what you want for you,
00:11:05.054 --> 00:11:06.655
love your neighbor as yourself.
00:11:06.655 --> 00:11:07.990
So what do I want for me,
00:11:07.990 --> 00:11:09.925
what do I want for my family,
00:11:09.925 --> 00:11:11.761
what do I want for,
00:11:11.761 --> 00:11:13.195
you know, my sphereof influence?
00:11:13.195 --> 00:11:14.463
Well, then I shouldwant that for everybody.
00:11:14.463 --> 00:11:16.298
So do I want, and do I wantmy family to have food?
00:11:16.298 --> 00:11:20.236
Yes.
00:11:20.236 --> 00:11:21.437
Oh, we should wanteverybody to have food.
00:11:21.437 --> 00:11:22.872
Do I want everybody,
00:11:22.872 --> 00:11:24.406
do I wanna have water?
00:11:24.406 --> 00:11:25.641
Yes, I should wanteveryone to have that.
00:11:25.641 --> 00:11:27.843
Do I want housing?
00:11:27.843 --> 00:11:29.111
Yes,
00:11:29.111 --> 00:11:30.279
I should want myneighbor to have that.
00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:32.381
Do I want education,
00:11:32.381 --> 00:11:33.783
do I want protection,
00:11:33.783 --> 00:11:35.084
do I want medical care?
00:11:35.084 --> 00:11:36.552
So what we're saying is
00:11:36.552 --> 00:11:38.387
doing good is going withwhat I've been given.
00:11:38.387 --> 00:11:41.323
I know it's not all for me.
00:11:41.323 --> 00:11:42.758
The Bible says, youknow, some is seed to sow
00:11:42.758 --> 00:11:45.294
and some is bread for food.
00:11:45.294 --> 00:11:47.229
The problem is when Christians
00:11:47.229 --> 00:11:49.598
eat the seed
00:11:49.598 --> 00:11:50.833
rather than understand,this is my bread
00:11:50.833 --> 00:11:53.068
and then this is seed.
00:11:53.068 --> 00:11:54.336
And I'm talking aboutevery sphere of life.
00:11:54.336 --> 00:11:55.404
You do good with your time,
00:11:55.404 --> 00:11:56.872
you do good with your talent,
00:11:56.872 --> 00:11:58.340
you do good with your treasure.
00:11:58.340 --> 00:11:59.642
That's what we haveto give back to God.
00:11:59.642 --> 00:12:01.710
And so we're sayingwe're not living
00:12:01.710 --> 00:12:03.612
like the world,
00:12:03.612 --> 00:12:04.513
the world,
00:12:04.513 --> 00:12:05.714
it's all about me.
00:12:05.714 --> 00:12:06.949
I want more,
00:12:06.949 --> 00:12:08.017
I wanna accumulate more,
00:12:08.017 --> 00:12:09.118
I wanna acquire more,
00:12:09.118 --> 00:12:10.052
I wanna amass more,
00:12:10.052 --> 00:12:10.986
I wanna make it all about me.
00:12:10.986 --> 00:12:12.521
I'm saying no,
00:12:12.521 --> 00:12:14.190
I wanna fulfill thegreat commandment
00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:15.758
and I wanna, like God,
00:12:15.758 --> 00:12:17.092
I wanna be good andI wanna do good,
00:12:17.092 --> 00:12:19.295
and I want myneighbor to be blessed
00:12:19.295 --> 00:12:21.063
just like I'm blessed.
00:12:21.063 --> 00:12:22.064
So I'm gonna know
00:12:22.064 --> 00:12:22.998
what is bread for food,
00:12:22.998 --> 00:12:24.133
what is seed to sow,
00:12:24.133 --> 00:12:25.367
and I'm gonna takepersonal responsibility
00:12:25.367 --> 00:12:28.070
in my sphere of influence
00:12:28.070 --> 00:12:29.839
to do good.
00:12:29.839 --> 00:12:31.207
So with Nick and I,
00:12:31.207 --> 00:12:32.942
that has meant
00:12:32.942 --> 00:12:34.143
having the privilegeand opportunity
00:12:34.143 --> 00:12:36.612
to be able to run a globalanti-trafficking organization
00:12:36.612 --> 00:12:39.215
in 22 cities at thispoint around the world.
00:12:39.215 --> 00:12:41.984
But you know,
00:12:41.984 --> 00:12:42.885
that all sounds amazing.
00:12:42.885 --> 00:12:44.887
But before I ever did that,
00:12:44.887 --> 00:12:47.389
'cause that's, you know,
00:12:47.389 --> 00:12:48.324
that's only the last 15 years,
00:12:48.324 --> 00:12:50.159
in my own local backyard,
00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:52.194
whether it was like at thetime when I had no money,
00:12:52.194 --> 00:12:54.730
I would just go to church
00:12:54.730 --> 00:12:56.799
and sign up and serve forwhatever needed to happen, man.
00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.902
I didn't have anythingto give like that,
00:12:59.902 --> 00:13:01.403
I didn't sat, but I would go
00:13:01.403 --> 00:13:02.872
and I would give my time.
00:13:02.872 --> 00:13:04.173
And I'd go, man, Ican sweep floors,
00:13:04.173 --> 00:13:05.641
I can pick up,
00:13:05.641 --> 00:13:07.076
so we can all do somethingis what I'm saying,
00:13:07.076 --> 00:13:08.544
'cause most people think
00:13:08.544 --> 00:13:09.812
I can't really dogood until I had more.
00:13:09.812 --> 00:13:12.181
Chris, it's okay for you, man.
00:13:12.181 --> 00:13:13.582
If I just had more
00:13:13.582 --> 00:13:14.984
and right now I lostmy job during COVID,
00:13:14.984 --> 00:13:17.019
I don't even have enough.
00:13:17.019 --> 00:13:18.787
And another Mama Joyce,
00:13:18.787 --> 00:13:20.923
this is for free everyone,
00:13:20.923 --> 00:13:22.224
Mama Joyce gold.
00:13:22.224 --> 00:13:23.792
She said, "Listen,
00:13:23.792 --> 00:13:24.960
best way to getyourself off your mind
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.528
is to go do some good
00:13:26.528 --> 00:13:28.564
for somebody else."
00:13:28.564 --> 00:13:30.132
- I think it's wisdom.
00:13:30.132 --> 00:13:31.367
I absolutely thinkit's wisdom and it's
00:13:31.367 --> 00:13:33.135
applicable wisdom,which is beautiful.
00:13:33.135 --> 00:13:34.570
James,
00:13:34.570 --> 00:13:35.504
in James 1, it talks about,
00:13:35.504 --> 00:13:36.772
"For us not to simplybe hearers of the word
00:13:36.772 --> 00:13:39.275
but doers of the word.
00:13:39.275 --> 00:13:40.542
And in this entire week,Monday through Thursday,
00:13:40.542 --> 00:13:42.745
we've been speaking aboutthe fruit of the spirit.
00:13:42.745 --> 00:13:44.079
Now, my fear is
00:13:44.079 --> 00:13:45.848
we're gonna watch this program
00:13:45.848 --> 00:13:47.316
and then we're gonnaturn off the television,
00:13:47.316 --> 00:13:49.485
we're gonna walk away
00:13:49.485 --> 00:13:50.519
and forget what we just learned.
00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:52.254
And so this is my encouragement.
00:13:52.254 --> 00:13:54.523
I want us,
00:13:54.523 --> 00:13:56.091
James, after hesays, "don't just be
00:13:56.091 --> 00:13:57.793
hearers of the word butbe doerers of the word,
00:13:57.793 --> 00:13:59.795
he says that
00:13:59.795 --> 00:14:00.796
the person who reads the word
00:14:00.796 --> 00:14:02.598
and walks away and doesnot do anything with it
00:14:02.598 --> 00:14:04.800
is like the man who looksat himself in the mirror,
00:14:04.800 --> 00:14:07.169
walks away and forgetwhat he looks like.
00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:09.338
I want us to be menand women of the word,
00:14:09.338 --> 00:14:11.340
when we hear this, do good,
00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:13.142
and we take these principles.
00:14:13.142 --> 00:14:14.743
Whether it's our speech,
00:14:14.743 --> 00:14:16.111
whether it's our action,
00:14:16.111 --> 00:14:16.912
whether it's our time,
00:14:16.912 --> 00:14:18.280
whether it's ourresource or our finances.
00:14:18.280 --> 00:14:19.882
So everyone who iswatching right now,
00:14:19.882 --> 00:14:21.884
whatever time zone,
00:14:21.884 --> 00:14:23.118
whatever country,whatever continent,
00:14:23.118 --> 00:14:24.286
whatever city,whatever community,
00:14:24.286 --> 00:14:25.387
this is what I want us to do,
00:14:25.387 --> 00:14:26.855
I want us to bedoers of the word.
00:14:26.855 --> 00:14:29.224
Like Chris said,
00:14:29.224 --> 00:14:30.893
you don't need tobe a millionaire tomake a big impact.
00:14:30.893 --> 00:14:32.094
What does it look like
00:14:32.094 --> 00:14:33.629
to stand outside and holdthe door open for someone?
00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:36.065
What does it looked like
00:14:36.065 --> 00:14:37.599
to buy a cup of coffee forthe homeless man outside,
00:14:37.599 --> 00:14:39.201
what does it look like tomake a meal for your neighbor
00:14:39.201 --> 00:14:41.770
or to financially bless asingle mom in this season?
00:14:41.770 --> 00:14:44.907
I want us to be doersof the word of God,
00:14:44.907 --> 00:14:47.876
and y'all, we'vebeen sitting here
00:14:47.876 --> 00:14:49.111
talking about thefruit of the spirit,
00:14:49.111 --> 00:14:50.646
I think it's high time weare harvesting some fruit
00:14:50.646 --> 00:14:52.414
and start sharingwith our neighbors.
00:14:52.414 --> 00:14:54.183
So I got some love,
00:14:54.183 --> 00:14:55.451
but I also got alot of challenges.
00:14:55.451 --> 00:14:56.885
May we not behearers of the word
00:14:56.885 --> 00:14:58.487
or talkers about the word,
00:14:58.487 --> 00:15:00.322
but may we actuallygo out and do
00:15:00.322 --> 00:15:02.491
what the word tells us to do.
00:15:02.491 --> 00:15:04.593
Ms. Oneka what do you think?
00:15:04.593 --> 00:15:06.061
- Practically speaking,
00:15:06.061 --> 00:15:07.296
tagging off of whatyou just said, Bianca,
00:15:07.296 --> 00:15:08.998
I know for me,
00:15:08.998 --> 00:15:10.366
when I was in college,
00:15:10.366 --> 00:15:11.533
it was actually asimple act of doing good
00:15:11.533 --> 00:15:14.970
that led me to the Lord.
00:15:14.970 --> 00:15:16.538
And so I think wediscount ourselves
00:15:16.538 --> 00:15:18.374
or sell ourselvesshort when we think,
00:15:18.374 --> 00:15:20.009
oh, when I'm marriedand I have resources,
00:15:20.009 --> 00:15:21.810
like Chris said,
00:15:21.810 --> 00:15:22.745
then I can do good.
00:15:22.745 --> 00:15:23.912
Or when I get thatpromotion at my company,
00:15:23.912 --> 00:15:25.614
then I can do good.
00:15:25.614 --> 00:15:26.448
When I write that book,
00:15:26.448 --> 00:15:27.916
then I can do good orwhen I go to high school,
00:15:27.916 --> 00:15:29.618
then I can do good.
00:15:29.618 --> 00:15:30.853
But I remember whenI was in college,
00:15:30.853 --> 00:15:32.054
it was one of my coworkers
00:15:32.054 --> 00:15:33.589
who kept inviting me to church.
00:15:33.589 --> 00:15:35.691
And finally I said, yes.
00:15:35.691 --> 00:15:37.860
And for her, that was doing good
00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:39.661
that had an eternalimpact on my life
00:15:39.661 --> 00:15:42.131
and the familythat I have today,
00:15:42.131 --> 00:15:43.866
and so I just wanna remind
00:15:43.866 --> 00:15:45.367
all the girls and guys thatare watching with us today
00:15:45.367 --> 00:15:47.469
that your do gooddoes not have to be
00:15:47.469 --> 00:15:49.838
just this like huge thingthat is paralyzing you
00:15:49.838 --> 00:15:52.674
because you haven'tdone this huge thing,
00:15:52.674 --> 00:15:54.476
it can be a simple actof inviting someone
00:15:54.476 --> 00:15:57.379
to church online with you
00:15:57.379 --> 00:15:59.081
or paying for someone'smeal like we said earlier
00:15:59.081 --> 00:16:01.617
or buying someone'scoffee or paying
00:16:01.617 --> 00:16:03.352
for someone's electric bill,
00:16:03.352 --> 00:16:05.020
whatever we can do, itdoesn't have to be great.
00:16:05.020 --> 00:16:07.389
It can be small, buthave a great impact.
00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:09.758
- So powerful.
00:16:09.758 --> 00:16:10.692
I definitely agree with that.
00:16:10.692 --> 00:16:11.927
You know, it remindsme of a friend of mine
00:16:11.927 --> 00:16:14.196
who now lives in San Diego,
00:16:14.196 --> 00:16:16.065
but when I had met him,
00:16:16.065 --> 00:16:17.733
so he was a,
00:16:17.733 --> 00:16:18.934
he came from aMuslim background,
00:16:18.934 --> 00:16:20.202
you know, and he was aMuslim for many years,
00:16:20.202 --> 00:16:22.071
and we would just havethese conversations
00:16:22.071 --> 00:16:24.406
just to even show thesimplicity of doing good.
00:16:24.406 --> 00:16:26.975
Because he would have these,
00:16:26.975 --> 00:16:28.477
he would wanna have this hardconversations and I'm like,
00:16:28.477 --> 00:16:30.112
I just, I'm here to listen.
00:16:30.112 --> 00:16:31.713
You know, sometimesit's just about even
00:16:31.713 --> 00:16:33.549
being there for people,showing up for people,
00:16:33.549 --> 00:16:35.984
and he understood that we have,
00:16:35.984 --> 00:16:37.753
our beliefs are very different,
00:16:37.753 --> 00:16:39.388
but when he had,
00:16:39.388 --> 00:16:40.589
you know, when he wouldhave events or plays
00:16:40.589 --> 00:16:42.424
or different things like that,
00:16:42.424 --> 00:16:43.625
and he would askme if I could come,
00:16:43.625 --> 00:16:45.127
I'm like, "Of course, youknow, I'll show up for you."
00:16:45.127 --> 00:16:47.162
And just by showing up,
00:16:47.162 --> 00:16:49.231
there was one particular day
00:16:49.231 --> 00:16:50.732
that we had a conversation andhe was like, you know what?
00:16:50.732 --> 00:16:53.001
I wanna know about your Jesus.
00:16:53.001 --> 00:16:54.970
And I started talkingto him about the Lord,
00:16:54.970 --> 00:16:57.306
and in that moment hesaid he started shaking.
00:16:57.306 --> 00:17:00.275
And he was like, "I don'tknow what's happening to me."
00:17:00.275 --> 00:17:02.277
And all of a suddenhe starts crying.
00:17:02.277 --> 00:17:04.513
And I said, "You know what?
00:17:04.513 --> 00:17:05.747
That is the powerof the Holy spirit."
00:17:05.747 --> 00:17:07.249
I'm like, "Why don't youcome to church with me?"
00:17:07.249 --> 00:17:09.051
And so because I had shownup for him at his events,
00:17:09.051 --> 00:17:11.887
he thought churchwas just an event.
00:17:11.887 --> 00:17:14.823
So he was like, "You know what?
00:17:14.823 --> 00:17:16.058
Yeah, I'm gonna toshow up at church."
00:17:16.058 --> 00:17:17.326
He's like, "Are youspeaking that day?"
00:17:17.326 --> 00:17:18.594
So he called it the talk,
00:17:18.594 --> 00:17:19.628
"Are you doing a talk?"
00:17:19.628 --> 00:17:21.063
I said, "I'm sure doing a talk."
00:17:21.063 --> 00:17:23.198
So he shows up,
00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:25.300
but that very day hegave his life to Jesus.
00:17:25.300 --> 00:17:28.203
When there was an altar call,
00:17:28.203 --> 00:17:29.705
he came right down to the altar
00:17:29.705 --> 00:17:31.840
and we just loved onhim and hugged on him,
00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:34.543
and it was such abeautiful thing.
00:17:34.543 --> 00:17:36.678
And so just what we're saying,
00:17:36.678 --> 00:17:38.247
doing good, it goes from just,
00:17:38.247 --> 00:17:40.282
it's very simple,
00:17:40.282 --> 00:17:42.184
it's the simple things in life.
00:17:42.184 --> 00:17:44.119
And then because of that,
00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:45.354
on that platform,
00:17:45.354 --> 00:17:46.622
God can use you to doa lot of grand things,
00:17:46.622 --> 00:17:48.457
but it starts with theseed of simplicity,
00:17:48.457 --> 00:17:50.559
showing up for people,
00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:52.027
being there for people,
00:17:52.027 --> 00:17:53.529
helping paying forsomeone's groceries,
00:17:53.529 --> 00:17:55.898
any simple thing, becauseat the end of the day,
00:17:55.898 --> 00:17:58.333
our good works,
00:17:58.333 --> 00:17:59.568
it points peopleback to the Lord,
00:17:59.568 --> 00:18:01.236
it points people back to Jesus.
00:18:01.236 --> 00:18:03.105
And all of a sudden,
00:18:03.105 --> 00:18:04.339
now they're interested to say,
00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:05.941
"Who do you serve,
00:18:05.941 --> 00:18:07.276
and what is it about Him?'
00:18:07.276 --> 00:18:08.710
- Yeah, you know,
00:18:08.710 --> 00:18:10.212
what I think is that,
00:18:10.212 --> 00:18:12.181
if we're waitingfor a certain time
00:18:12.181 --> 00:18:14.883
to go ahead anddo something good
00:18:14.883 --> 00:18:17.786
or making sure thatyou've got enough finances
00:18:17.786 --> 00:18:20.923
to do good or
00:18:20.923 --> 00:18:22.591
I don't think you'llever have it, Chris.
00:18:22.591 --> 00:18:24.493
I don't think the timingwill ever be good for you
00:18:24.493 --> 00:18:28.163
if you think that way.
00:18:28.163 --> 00:18:29.631
- A hundred percent,
00:18:29.631 --> 00:18:30.866
and, you know, youstart being good
00:18:30.866 --> 00:18:32.935
right where you are.
00:18:32.935 --> 00:18:34.503
That's, you know,
00:18:34.503 --> 00:18:35.437
and it could be a small thing.
00:18:35.437 --> 00:18:36.471
I remember with,
00:18:36.471 --> 00:18:37.606
when I got saved,
00:18:39.007 --> 00:18:40.209
I mean, imagine me everyone,
00:18:40.209 --> 00:18:41.843
you all know I'm soradical about everything.
00:18:41.843 --> 00:18:43.579
So of course, I have a pool,
00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:45.747
you know, on the roadto Damascus salvation.
00:18:45.747 --> 00:18:48.116
So I'm this way,
00:18:48.116 --> 00:18:49.284
you know, I'm killingpeople one day,
00:18:49.284 --> 00:18:50.452
the next day I'm saved.
00:18:50.452 --> 00:18:51.787
Like, you know,
00:18:51.787 --> 00:18:52.721
and no, I wasn't like really,
00:18:52.721 --> 00:18:53.755
I'm just thinking that's, okay.
00:18:53.755 --> 00:18:55.290
But the thing is I hadthis radical salvation.
00:18:55.290 --> 00:18:58.427
But I came from a verystaunch Orthodox family.
00:18:58.427 --> 00:19:01.697
So, you know,
00:19:01.697 --> 00:19:02.731
I basically go home,
00:19:02.731 --> 00:19:04.433
I start ripping downthe icons off the wall,
00:19:04.433 --> 00:19:07.069
saying this is idolatry,everyone's goingto hell, you know?
00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:09.671
No wonder my family wasn't,like, getting to saved.
00:19:09.671 --> 00:19:12.140
I'm like, everyone'sgoing to hell,
00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:13.575
this is all idolatry.
00:19:13.575 --> 00:19:14.743
It's like,
00:19:14.743 --> 00:19:15.644
I'm like so radical.
00:19:15.644 --> 00:19:16.878
I didn't even know whatI was talking about.
00:19:16.878 --> 00:19:19.915
But there was a season where
00:19:19.915 --> 00:19:22.684
my mom and I,
00:19:22.684 --> 00:19:23.852
it was not good.
00:19:24.753 --> 00:19:26.088
And so there wasa couple of years
00:19:26.088 --> 00:19:28.090
almost, that she, like,barely spoke to me,
00:19:28.090 --> 00:19:30.459
and I felt
00:19:30.459 --> 00:19:31.793
the Holy spirit just said to me,
00:19:31.793 --> 00:19:32.961
"This is what I want you to do.
00:19:32.961 --> 00:19:34.329
I want you to stay homeon a Tuesday nights."
00:19:34.329 --> 00:19:37.633
And like, my life andministry was kind of,
00:19:37.633 --> 00:19:40.535
you know, reallytaking off and it's
00:19:40.535 --> 00:19:42.871
just before I was married.
00:19:42.871 --> 00:19:43.872
"And all I want you to do,
00:19:43.872 --> 00:19:45.574
I want you to cook dinner,
00:19:45.574 --> 00:19:47.209
I want you to wash up,
00:19:47.209 --> 00:19:48.377
I want you to wipe up,
00:19:48.377 --> 00:19:49.511
I want you to just
00:19:49.511 --> 00:19:51.280
take all that nightfrom your mom and do."
00:19:51.280 --> 00:19:53.515
And I'm like, "God, whywould I even stay there?
00:19:53.515 --> 00:19:55.684
She doesn't, hardly talk to me,
00:19:55.684 --> 00:19:57.152
she doesn't barelyacknowledges my presence,
00:19:57.152 --> 00:19:59.421
says really mean things tome at the time, you know?
00:19:59.421 --> 00:20:01.957
It just,
00:20:01.957 --> 00:20:03.191
ridicules me for my faith,
00:20:03.191 --> 00:20:04.960
like why would I do this?
00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.129
And He was,
00:20:07.129 --> 00:20:08.664
I don't want youto say anything,
00:20:08.664 --> 00:20:09.865
I don't want you tosay anything about me",
00:20:09.865 --> 00:20:11.033
the Lord saying to me,
00:20:11.033 --> 00:20:12.567
"I don't want you to sayanything about the Bible,
00:20:12.567 --> 00:20:14.369
I don't want you,
00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:15.671
I want you to watch, andthere was this like dumb
00:20:15.671 --> 00:20:17.639
TV series at the time,
00:20:19.207 --> 00:20:20.776
and look at my personality type.
00:20:20.776 --> 00:20:22.678
It was like "Neighbors",
00:20:22.678 --> 00:20:24.212
and I'm like, I could have read
00:20:24.212 --> 00:20:25.480
three Bible commentariesand written 15 sermons
00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:27.616
by that time,
00:20:27.616 --> 00:20:28.884
but, you know, soI'm like, Lord,
00:20:28.884 --> 00:20:30.285
but it's, like, literally,
00:20:30.285 --> 00:20:31.520
the Lord's like, "Iwant you to sit down,
00:20:31.520 --> 00:20:34.056
I want you to cook dinner,
00:20:34.056 --> 00:20:35.824
which she probablywon't even acknowledge,
00:20:35.824 --> 00:20:38.260
I want you to watchthat dumb TV series,
00:20:38.260 --> 00:20:41.563
kind of days of our livesdumb TV series thing,
00:20:41.563 --> 00:20:44.399
then
00:20:44.399 --> 00:20:45.634
I want you to getup and wash the
00:20:45.634 --> 00:20:48.370
dishes,
00:20:48.370 --> 00:20:49.604
dry everything upand ask your mom
00:20:49.604 --> 00:20:50.739
if she wants a cup of coffee."
00:20:50.739 --> 00:20:52.474
Now, I did this possibly for,
00:20:52.474 --> 00:20:55.010
I would say almost six months
00:20:55.010 --> 00:20:57.379
with not even a word,
00:20:57.379 --> 00:20:58.547
like, not even a,
00:20:58.547 --> 00:20:59.481
"Mum, do you want a coffee?"
00:20:59.481 --> 00:21:00.449
Like not even an answer.
00:21:00.449 --> 00:21:01.883
It was like, what,why are you even,
00:21:01.883 --> 00:21:03.018
and I remember it was like,
00:21:03.018 --> 00:21:04.720
killing me,
00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:05.554
and that was the purpose of it,
00:21:06.822 --> 00:21:08.323
I'm trying to bepractical in this one,
00:21:08.323 --> 00:21:09.825
it was crucifying my flesh.
00:21:09.825 --> 00:21:12.260
It was killing
00:21:12.260 --> 00:21:13.528
my ego,
00:21:14.529 --> 00:21:15.964
and it was just, keep doingthis, keep doing this.
00:21:15.964 --> 00:21:18.333
And then I just remember,
00:21:19.334 --> 00:21:20.302
maybe it was about nine months,
00:21:20.302 --> 00:21:21.837
I can't remember exactly, butit was quite a long time in.
00:21:21.837 --> 00:21:24.172
I just remember I could cry,you know, saying to my mum,
00:21:24.172 --> 00:21:27.676
you know, would youlike a cup of coffee?
00:21:28.877 --> 00:21:30.145
And
00:21:30.145 --> 00:21:31.613
she just nodded her head.
00:21:31.613 --> 00:21:33.315
And then maybe it wasabout another month,
00:21:33.315 --> 00:21:35.283
and she just walkedinto the kitchen
00:21:35.283 --> 00:21:36.752
and picked up a tea toweland began to wipe up.
00:21:36.752 --> 00:21:39.388
All I'm trying to say is,
00:21:40.555 --> 00:21:41.623
just those simple
00:21:41.623 --> 00:21:43.392
acts of kindness,acts of goodness,
00:21:43.392 --> 00:21:45.594
and in the fruit of the spirit
00:21:45.594 --> 00:21:46.862
goodness and kindnessare so tied together,
00:21:46.862 --> 00:21:49.097
it began to break
00:21:49.097 --> 00:21:51.433
something in my homewithin, one by one,
00:21:51.433 --> 00:21:54.403
my family startedto get saved and
00:21:54.403 --> 00:21:56.705
everything startedto turn around.
00:21:56.705 --> 00:21:59.241
But what I'm trying to,
00:21:59.241 --> 00:22:00.175
it wasn't any of my sermons,
00:22:00.175 --> 00:22:01.376
and my mum
00:22:01.376 --> 00:22:02.844
went home eventually to be withthe Lord, she got saved, but
00:22:02.844 --> 00:22:06.047
my mum had only everheard me speak once
00:22:06.047 --> 00:22:08.283
in 30 years of preaching, once.
00:22:08.283 --> 00:22:10.852
But my mom,
00:22:10.852 --> 00:22:12.087
but it was thissolid almost year
00:22:12.087 --> 00:22:14.823
of this constant act of goodness
00:22:14.823 --> 00:22:17.626
and kindness thateventually turned her heart
00:22:17.626 --> 00:22:21.630
towards so many other thingsand turned my family around.
00:22:21.630 --> 00:22:25.000
And so what I needyou to know is
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:26.668
my preaching will win
00:22:26.668 --> 00:22:28.670
some people, I pray the Holyspirit will work through it,
00:22:28.670 --> 00:22:31.573
but acts of goodness
00:22:31.573 --> 00:22:33.241
and being good anddoing good works
00:22:33.241 --> 00:22:35.944
are actually gonna reacha whole lot more people.
00:22:35.944 --> 00:22:38.313
So you don't need to think,
00:22:38.313 --> 00:22:39.815
I'm gonna be a preacherlike Chris Caine, no, no,
00:22:39.815 --> 00:22:41.216
I'm saying quite the contrary.
00:22:41.216 --> 00:22:42.684
It was never my preaching thatwon my mother to the Lord,
00:22:42.684 --> 00:22:45.053
it was my acts of goodness.
00:22:45.053 --> 00:22:46.788
And all of us can do that.
00:22:46.788 --> 00:22:48.790
- Absolutely.
00:22:48.790 --> 00:22:50.158
You know,
00:22:50.158 --> 00:22:51.426
Chris was speaking aboutnot watching television
00:22:51.426 --> 00:22:53.128
so she can readbiblical commentaries,
00:22:53.128 --> 00:22:55.297
I watch television for
00:22:55.297 --> 00:22:56.865
cultural commentary.- That's right.
00:22:56.865 --> 00:22:58.600
So I think both of us together,
00:22:58.600 --> 00:23:00.836
we add to it,
00:23:00.836 --> 00:23:01.903
but this is one thing that
00:23:01.903 --> 00:23:03.405
I do want us to hold onto that I've been, again,
00:23:03.405 --> 00:23:05.040
just listening to everyone's
00:23:05.040 --> 00:23:06.274
bits and piecesof their stories,
00:23:06.274 --> 00:23:08.310
is I think sometimes wegrossly underestimate
00:23:08.310 --> 00:23:11.847
a small act of kindness
00:23:11.847 --> 00:23:13.949
can impact someone's eternity.
00:23:13.949 --> 00:23:16.685
Nicolaus Von Zinzendorfsaid, preach the gospel
00:23:16.685 --> 00:23:20.021
and when necessary use words.
00:23:20.021 --> 00:23:22.624
Now, that quote
00:23:22.624 --> 00:23:23.859
is usually attributed toSt. Francis of Assisi,
00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:25.427
but it's not him.
00:23:25.427 --> 00:23:26.561
He jacked it from somebody else.
00:23:26.561 --> 00:23:28.997
So Nicolaus Von Zinzendorf.
00:23:28.997 --> 00:23:30.599
And I feel like it'ssuper important, because
00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:32.934
we just don't know
00:23:32.934 --> 00:23:35.070
how people are reading us
00:23:35.070 --> 00:23:36.605
like we read the epistles,
00:23:36.605 --> 00:23:38.173
how people are reading ourlife and our compartment,
00:23:38.173 --> 00:23:40.775
like we would read the gospels.
00:23:40.775 --> 00:23:42.777
Like, people are reading us
00:23:42.777 --> 00:23:44.179
the way that we readthe New Testament.
00:23:44.179 --> 00:23:46.348
So what would itlook like this week
00:23:46.348 --> 00:23:48.049
brothers and sisters to letgoodness reign in our life,
00:23:48.049 --> 00:23:51.887
to let us be people ofaction not just thought.
00:23:51.887 --> 00:23:55.790
action not just word,
00:23:55.790 --> 00:23:57.292
action not just reading a text.
00:23:57.292 --> 00:23:59.427
So this is my encouragementover us today,
00:23:59.427 --> 00:24:01.196
I'm gonna pray a bold prayer
00:24:01.196 --> 00:24:03.231
that the spirit of God
00:24:03.231 --> 00:24:04.666
would bring to mindsomeone that we can love,
00:24:04.666 --> 00:24:07.636
someone that we can encourage,
00:24:07.636 --> 00:24:08.970
someone of that wecan bless this week,
00:24:08.970 --> 00:24:10.572
and then we get torevel in the joy.
00:24:10.572 --> 00:24:13.041
This is what I call a doubledip of the fruit of the spirit,
00:24:13.041 --> 00:24:15.877
that our goodness
00:24:15.877 --> 00:24:17.112
will bring us the sense of joy,
00:24:17.112 --> 00:24:18.914
to bring us a sense ofeven love for someone else.
00:24:18.914 --> 00:24:21.182
And so I'm gonna pray us outand believe with much faith
00:24:21.182 --> 00:24:24.219
that God, that the earthis gonna shake and be shook
00:24:24.219 --> 00:24:27.689
by the goodness thatcomes out of His saints.
00:24:27.689 --> 00:24:29.691
So spirit of God,
00:24:29.691 --> 00:24:31.192
I pray for every single earlistening to this moment,
00:24:31.192 --> 00:24:33.762
I pray Lord thatyou begin even now
00:24:33.762 --> 00:24:36.298
to quicken in our spirit,
00:24:36.298 --> 00:24:37.866
the name,
00:24:37.866 --> 00:24:39.134
the face of someonethat we get to love,
00:24:39.134 --> 00:24:40.936
that someone that we getto express goodness over
00:24:40.936 --> 00:24:43.204
and goodness to.
00:24:43.204 --> 00:24:44.272
I pray Lord God,
00:24:44.272 --> 00:24:45.507
that our metrics and ourbarometer of goodness
00:24:45.507 --> 00:24:47.676
is based on how goodyou have been to us.
00:24:47.676 --> 00:24:50.178
You were good, you are good
00:24:50.178 --> 00:24:51.513
and you willcontinue to be good.
00:24:51.513 --> 00:24:53.081
May we model thatgoodness right now, God.
00:24:53.081 --> 00:24:55.283
I'm believing,
00:24:55.283 --> 00:24:56.484
I'm believing thateven on social media,
00:24:56.484 --> 00:24:57.886
there's gonna be DMs into
00:24:57.886 --> 00:24:59.321
bettertogether.tv oftestimony stories, God
00:24:59.321 --> 00:25:03.058
of how your goodness
00:25:03.058 --> 00:25:04.526
manifested goodness intothe life of those around us,
00:25:04.526 --> 00:25:07.629
may lives forever be changed.
00:25:07.629 --> 00:25:09.397
My bold big prayer isthat people will encounter
00:25:09.397 --> 00:25:11.967
like Oneka,
00:25:11.967 --> 00:25:12.867
like Chris's mom,
00:25:12.867 --> 00:25:14.336
salvation through us, justloving to the act of goodness,
00:25:14.336 --> 00:25:17.505
in your mighty name we pray,
00:25:17.505 --> 00:25:19.307
Amen.
00:25:19.307 --> 00:25:20.375
- Amen, Amen, Amen.- Amen.
00:25:20.375 --> 00:25:22.277
I love that,
00:25:22.277 --> 00:25:23.545
preach the gospel at alltimes and if necessary,
00:25:23.545 --> 00:25:26.081
use words.- Use words.
00:25:26.081 --> 00:25:27.015
I love it.
00:25:27.015 --> 00:25:28.550
You know, the Bible tellsus to pray for one another
00:25:28.550 --> 00:25:29.951
and that's exactly whatour Better Together team
00:25:29.951 --> 00:25:32.454
wants to do for you.
00:25:32.454 --> 00:25:33.855
You can connect withus @bettertogethertv,
00:25:33.855 --> 00:25:35.991
we wanna hear yourprayer requests
00:25:35.991 --> 00:25:37.859
and your praise reports.
00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:39.494
Thank you for joining us today.
00:25:39.494 --> 00:25:41.096
Tomorrow,
00:25:41.096 --> 00:25:41.930
we will wrap up the week
00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:43.465
by talking about thefruit of faithfulness.
00:25:43.465 --> 00:25:46.501
How can we expressour commitment to God
00:25:46.501 --> 00:25:48.803
no matter whatseason we are facing?
00:25:48.803 --> 00:25:50.905
We'll see you then,we love y'all.
00:25:50.905 --> 00:25:52.507
We'll see you later.
00:25:52.507 --> 00:25:53.341
Bye-bye.
00:25:53.341 --> 00:25:54.643
(soothing music)
00:25:54.643 --> 00:25:57.379

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Better Together LIVE | Episode 174

Better Together LIVE | Episode 174

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Menu Top

Better Together LIVE | Episode 174

Better Together LIVE | Episode 174

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