293: David Edwards- Exhortation: The Value of a Vision

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Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and
Talks.

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I’m Levi.
And I’m Chris.

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And I’m Brian.
Thank you for joining us this

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week on this podcast.
We select One Talk a Week.

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To help us get the Bible.
In our Daily News feed, we post

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a new episode at the start of
each week with the short intro

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beforehand to kind of set the
stage for the talk you’re about

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to listen to.
And now, let’s talk more about

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this week’s talk.
Hi everyone.

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This is Jason Hensley and in
this episode we are going to be

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listening to an exhortation by
Brother David Edwards.

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Brother David is from Trinidad
and Tobago and I believe he’s

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part of the Arima Ecclesia if
I’m not mistaken.

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I’m really excited for you to
listen to this talk.

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I got to say, it’s called the
value of a vision.

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And the reason that I’m really
looking forward to sharing this

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is because I think Brother David
really brings out a key piece

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that we often forget about.
One of the things I really loved

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when I was in Trinidad and
Tobago years ago was the

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emphasis on preaching and on the
need to share the good news that

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we have.
And that’s one of the beautiful

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things that really comes out in
this talk that Brother David

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gives.
He really emphasizes that if we

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are not preaching, we are not
fulfilling the vision that we

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are to be a light and that
that’s a key thing.

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Now, he he doesn’t come down
heavy on it, but that’s a really

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big message here that we need to
look inside, do a little bit of

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introspection and consider how
do we and how does our ecclesia

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as a whole, how do we preach,
how do we open up those doors

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and those opportunities to
share.

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So he calls this exhortation,
the value of a vision, because

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what he’s going to do is he’s
going to break down the

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difference between a mission and
a vision.

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So you’ll hear him do that.
And as he does that, he then

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explains what his Ecclesia’s
vision is, and then ultimately

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what the vision is that the Lord
Jesus Christ gives of his

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ecclesia.
And we’ll see how those all fit

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together.
So I hope that you find this

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motivating.
I think you will.

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And I hope that that motivation
then encourages you to go out

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and to share that light.
Because we are surrounded in a

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World of Darkness and people
need the light.

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We have something really special
that we can give.

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And I think this exhortation
reminds us of that.

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So thanks for listening.
And here comes the value of a

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Vision by Brother David Edwards.
And good morning to everyone who

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who is gathered here on this
platform.

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It is a pleasure to be able to
bring to you this morning’s

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words of exhortation.
Now, the title for this

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exhortation is called The Value
of a Vision.

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And if I was to ask a question,
what is the mission statement

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for your church?
How would you answer?

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In fact, I would have done a
pool that I will actually launch

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now which will ask that
question.

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And I just wanted to answer
honestly, it’s, I think it’s

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anonymous and see if you know,
we actually know what this

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mission statement is for our
church now while you, while you

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do that pool.
Some years ago someone asked me

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that same question and I I
didn’t know the answer to that

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question.
You know, I was like, well, I

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know.
I think I think we have one, but

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I really can’t remember what it
is.

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And it was embarrassing, Yes.
And I realized that something

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was was wrong.
All organizations, what is

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churches or companies, should
have a mission and a vision and

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that would require something
called a mission statement and a

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vision statement.
What a mission statement is,

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it’s an explanation of and
organizations reason for

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existence.
It describes the purpose and

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intention and the overall
objectives.

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A visual statement is all
different.

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It looks into the future of the
organization and it asks

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questions like what problems are
we seeking to solve?

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Where are we headed?
If we achieve all all strategic

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goals, what will we look like 10
years from now?

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So the mission and the vision
statement is to help to direct

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the efforts in the organization
towards a common goal.

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So in other words, it binds the
organization together as one.

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Now I am seeing the results of
the the pool Alan.

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It’s fine.
I was in the same, I was in the

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same you know category where I
did not know that it even had a

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vision, a mission statement, but
we do have one and I will just

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read it out for you.
And as I read it, I would like

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us to ask ourselves the
questions.

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You know, how am I contributing
towards or am I contributing

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towards fulfilling our mission
and our vision?

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So it reads.
We aspire to live up to the name

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Christadelphian, which means
brothers and sisters in Christ.

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By God’s grace, we strive to be
the House of God and the body of

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Christ in our area.
We are a Bible based group who

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share a common belief in God.
We seek to support and encourage

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each other in our faith and be a
light to those in the community

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around us.
And it gives 5 different points

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in matters of worship.
As a first point it says we

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acknowledge our love of God and
His Son and of all God praise

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and worship.
Second point.

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In matters of growth, it says,
we seek the spiritual

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development and nourishment of
all members and encourage and

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guide our children and visitors
toward conviction and baptism.

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In matters of witness, we share
the hope of the return of Jesus

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Christ and the coming Kingdom
with our local community and

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testify to those with whom we
come in contact.

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In matters of community, we
provide our godly social

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environment involving every
member, visitor, young person

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and child to build a people for
God’s name.

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In matters of compassion, we
reflect the love of God by

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showing care and compassion to
one another and to those in the

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community around us.
So that is our mission vision

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statement.
So our vision statement is to be

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a light to the community around
us and the mission with the five

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different things that I would
have mentioned that would get us

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there towards the vision.
The visual animation is supposed

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to bind us together as a
community.

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It’s supposed to give us
direction, which means any

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activity or event that we plan,
it should be in alignment with

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the mission and division
statement.

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So even when we look in
scripture, we see that God has a

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vision statement.
Yes He does, and we may be

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familiar with it.
It is in number chapter 14,

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verse 21.
We don’t have to look this up.

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It says as truly as I live, all
the earth shall be filled with

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the glory of the Lord.
And he says it again in Habakkuk

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chapter 2, verse 14.
The Earth for the earth shall be

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filled with the knowledge of the
glory of the Lord as the waters

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cover the sea.
So that is the idea.

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That is what God wants.
That is his end goal.

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That is his vision statement.
It’s something futuristic.

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He’s trying to fill this world,
this wicked world, with his

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goodness.
But how would he fill the earth

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with his glory?
That would be his mission

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statement as to how would he
accomplish something like that.

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So I want us to turn to Isaiah
chapter 49 and verse 6, Isaiah

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chapter 49 and verse six in one
hand.

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And in the other hand I would
like you to also have Acts

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chapter 13 and verse 47.
Sorry about those who are

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electronic devices, but you’ll
need to have a Bible to have two

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passages in front of you.
So Isaiah chapter 49 verse six

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in one hand and the other hand
Acts chapter 13 verse 47 and it

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reads in Isaiah chapter 49 verse
6.

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I am cheating a little bit
because I have it in front of my

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screen here.
So in verse six it says.

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In the second part of verse six
it says I will also give thee

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for a light to the Gentiles or
to the nations, that thou mayest

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be my salvation unto the end of
the eighth.

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Sorry that again.
In order for God to fill the

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earth with his glory, he needed
a mission statement.

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And when we look at Isaiah 49
verse six, it says, I will also

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give thee for a light to the
Gentiles or nations, that thou

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mayest be my salvation unto the
end of the earth.

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So let’s fill the earth with his
glory and save the world.

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What God needed to do was to
send a light into this Dark

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World, and Jesus was that light.
As we know, Jesus said I am the

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light of the will.
He that followeth me shall not

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walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life.

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That is John 812.
And if we look at God’s meshah

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and vision, it is filled with a
lot of love, because he sees the

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will in darkness and wickedness
and he sends light into it so

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that we will not stumble, so
that we will not fall and

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eventually perish.
But when he when he sends the

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light into the will, we will be
able to see and not stumble and

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live.
So it’s a situation where God

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gives hope to those who are
hopeless.

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He gives healing to those who
are broken hearted, who are sad.

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So God’s vision is to affiliate
with his glory and his mission.

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That is how he was to fulfill
That was to create a light which

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was Jesus for the will to follow
to be saved.

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So now Jesus has the vision
statement of being a light to

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the will, but it doesn’t end
there.

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I hope we have our other hand in
Acts chapter 13 verse 49,

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because you will notice that
Paul and Barnabas quote that

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same passage we looked at in
Isaiah 49, verse six, a passage

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that seemed to only speak about
Jesus Christ.

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They applied it to themselves,
they said in Acts 13, verse 47.

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For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, We have said thee to

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be a light of the Gentiles,
that’s the nations that thou

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shouldst be for salvation until
the ends of the Eve.

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And then it said in 48, when the
Gentiles heard this, they were

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glad and the glorified word of
the Lord.

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So Paul is telling us that we
need to be a light to the

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Gentiles.
We need to be a light to the

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nations around us.
And not only Paul, but Jesus

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himself points to us and says
that we’ll just sit into Matthew

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chapter 5, verse 14 to 16.
So Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 to

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16.
So Paul is telling us that we

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need to be a light for the
Gentiles.

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We are the light for the
Gentiles and poor.

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And Jesus points to us and says
in Matthew chapter 5, verse 14,

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Ye are the light of the womb.
A city that is set on an hill

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cannot be hidden.
Neither do men.

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Light a candle and put it under
a bushel, but on a Candlestick,

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and it giveth light unto all
that are in the house.

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Let your lights will shine
before men that they may see

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your good works and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.

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So Jesus is saying my vision
statement is your vision

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statement.
So my vision is your vision.

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That’s what Jesus is telling us
now.

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In order to fulfill his vision
as Jesus, he needed a mission

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and he found his mission by
reading and studying the

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scriptures.
It says in Luke chapter 4, verse

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17.
We don’t have to turn this up,

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but when Jesus was in the
synagogue in Nazareth, it says

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that we’re probably familiar
with the verse.

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There was delivered unto him the
book of the prophet Isaiah, and

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when he had opened the book he
found a place where it was

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written.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon

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me, because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the

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poor.
He hath sent me to heal the

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broken hearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives,

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recovering of sight to the
blind, to set out liberty them

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that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord.

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And then he closed the book,
gave it to the minister, and

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said to the congregation, This
day, is scripture fulfilled in

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your ears?
So that was Jesus’s mission.

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He had a clear vision of how he
was to be a light of the world,

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and he went about doing just
that.

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So Jesus is telling us we need
to be a light of this world.

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What does that mean for us?
Well, if Jesus’s vision is our

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vision, then Jesus’s mission has
to be our mission, because his

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mission as to how he wanted to
accomplish being allied to the

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world.
If our vision is the same thing

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as it says in the the
Christopher statement, if we

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were to do that, we need a
mission to accomplish that.

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And Jesus’s mission, as we just
read, is to preach the gospel to

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the poor.
Healy broken hearted preach

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deliverance to the captives,
recovering our sight to the

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blind, set out Liberty Denver to
brews, preach the acceptable

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year of the Lord.
And we should still be in

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Matthew chapter 5, But I want us
to check off with Siri.

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We will see that these different
points, these different missions

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that we need in order to be
alighted will is part of the

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gospel message.
So verse 3.

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To preach the gospel to the
poor.

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It says blessed are the poor in
spirit for days is the Kingdom

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of heaven.
To heal the broken hearted it

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says in verse four blessed are
they that mourn for they shall

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be comforted to preach
deliverance to the captives.

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We know that the light sorry we
are made free from sin in

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Christ.
That’s what the the gospel

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messengers system to make us
free from sin because we know

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that we have captured by sin and
Jesus made us free from sin.

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So that is part of the gospel
message.

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Recovering of sight to the blind
that is the light of the gospel.

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Jesus is saying they’ll be blind
leaders of the blind but he was

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the light of the world to give
them sight the gospel message to

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set at liberty.
Them that are bruised in verse

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10 we see blessed are they which
are persecuted for

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righteousness.
See, for there is the Kingdom of

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heaven and we know that is what
the gospel message is about.

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And then finally to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord is

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the gospel message.
So we see that all those

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different points has to do with
the gospel message.

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And Jesus packaged all of that
into a statement that he makes

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in Matthew chapter 28 and verse
18.

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And we could look at this
Matthew chapter 28 still in

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Matthew but just chapter 28
verses 18 to 20 Jesus before his

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00:19:43,640 –> 00:19:47,760
ascension he tells us exactly
what our mission is.

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He says in verse 18.
And Jesus came and speak unto

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them, saying, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in youth

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and verse. 19 Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing

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them in the name of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy

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Spirit, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have

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commanded you.
And lo, and with you always,

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even to the end of the world.
Amen.

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This should be our #1 mission
statement and by the wider

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00:20:24,000 –> 00:20:27,400
Christian community.
They know it as the Great

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00:20:27,400 –> 00:20:31,720
Commission.
So the Great Commission, which

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is a commandment given to us by
Jesus Christ to go out into the

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world and preach it, is the sole
purpose of any Christian Church.

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If nothing else, and many times
we forget or ignore this

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command, but it will be
detrimental to the health of

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your church.
Now there’s a book called The

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00:21:00,040 –> 00:21:06,600
The Autopsy of a Deceased Church
by Thomas Rayna and I recommend

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00:21:06,600 –> 00:21:08,920
everybody gets a copy of that
book.

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00:21:10,360 –> 00:21:19,720
It’s a book where Thomas, well,
Thomas Rayna, the author, he

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00:21:20,240 –> 00:21:25,960
does research on dead churches
and does an autopsy on them and

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00:21:26,760 –> 00:21:31,040
he’s trying to find out how what
was the cause of death for the

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00:21:31,040 –> 00:21:34,160
church and what an autopsy is.
It’s where you’re trying to find

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00:21:34,160 –> 00:21:37,360
out how the person dies, but he
does not in relation to

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churches.
And there’s a chapter that is

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entitled The Great Commission
Becomes The Great Omission.

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00:21:49,880 –> 00:21:54,280
He explains that that is where
the church stopped preaching in

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00:21:54,280 –> 00:21:58,360
the communities and those that
he interviewed from the dead.

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00:21:58,360 –> 00:22:02,320
Church said that they remember
the good old days when the

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00:22:02,320 –> 00:22:06,720
church was packed and they had
multiple baptisms every year.

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00:22:07,440 –> 00:22:11,320
A lot of members in the church
vibrant preaching efforts in the

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00:22:11,320 –> 00:22:17,320
community and they longed for
similar results for today and

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00:22:17,320 –> 00:22:20,960
wondered how come they couldn’t
replicate the same results

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00:22:21,000 –> 00:22:24,400
today.
And they mostly played the blame

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00:22:24,400 –> 00:22:31,280
game, but they were not willing
to extend the effort to go out

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00:22:31,680 –> 00:22:37,520
and teach.
So Jesus commanded us saying, go

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00:22:37,520 –> 00:22:43,000
make disciples.
There’s another chapter in the

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00:22:43,000 –> 00:22:49,320
book, and I will read an excerpt
from the book itself, And that

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00:22:49,320 –> 00:22:55,400
subheading is entitled The
Church Becomes a Fortress.

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00:22:57,640 –> 00:23:03,240
And it reads What imagery comes
to your mind when you hear the

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00:23:03,240 –> 00:23:07,160
word fortress.
A medieval castle, Fort Knox,

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00:23:07,520 –> 00:23:12,040
Huge buildings with gates and
locks and moats, something that

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00:23:12,040 –> 00:23:15,640
is almost impossible for the
outside world to enter.

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00:23:16,960 –> 00:23:18,880
Any of these with pictures will
work.

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00:23:19,440 –> 00:23:24,280
The key is to keep people and
possessions on the inside safe

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00:23:25,000 –> 00:23:28,120
and to keep people on the other
side out.

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00:23:29,000 –> 00:23:32,760
If you talk to members in a
dying church, most will deny

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00:23:32,760 –> 00:23:37,720
that their church is a fortress.
But in our autopsy we found that

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00:23:38,000 –> 00:23:40,320
is exactly what was taking
place.

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00:23:40,760 –> 00:23:44,720
People in the community did not
feel welcome in the church.

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00:23:45,280 –> 00:23:48,880
Those in the church were more
concerned about protecting the

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00:23:48,880 –> 00:23:52,720
way they did church rather than
reaching the residents of the

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00:23:52,720 –> 00:23:56,160
community.
You see, these churches really

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00:23:56,160 –> 00:23:59,520
were fortresses.
The very thought of making

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00:23:59,520 –> 00:24:04,040
significant changes to reach and
impact the community is

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00:24:04,040 –> 00:24:07,600
frightening.
It is our fortress, they say.

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00:24:08,040 –> 00:24:11,960
Outsiders are not welcome.
We will fight to keep the church

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00:24:11,960 –> 00:24:16,240
just as it did until we die.
And that day is not very far

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00:24:16,240 –> 00:24:20,560
away.
Now.

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00:24:20,680 –> 00:24:27,440
There’s another chapter entitled
The Budget Moved Inwardly, and I

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00:24:27,440 –> 00:24:31,080
will read this passage as well.
Now, as I read it, we have to,

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00:24:31,080 –> 00:24:34,360
you know, think about it, think
about where we are as an

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00:24:34,360 –> 00:24:37,400
Ecclesia and these different
things and see how we could

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00:24:37,400 –> 00:24:40,680
best, you know, help our
ecclesia, see if we fall into

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00:24:40,680 –> 00:24:44,960
any of these categories.
So this chart, this title, this

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00:24:44,960 –> 00:24:47,840
chapter title, was the budget
moved inwardly.

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00:24:47,840 –> 00:24:51,120
And I’ll just read a short
exhume from it.

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00:24:52,720 –> 00:25:00,240
It says it is fascinating to
look at 20 consecutive annual

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00:25:00,240 –> 00:25:05,720
budgets of churches that closed.
In the few churches where we

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00:25:05,720 –> 00:25:10,120
were able to get budgets, we had
a clearer understanding of why

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00:25:10,120 –> 00:25:13,440
the churches eventually died.
Follow the money.

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00:25:14,400 –> 00:25:16,920
Look at the line items in the
budget.

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00:25:16,920 –> 00:25:22,240
See where the cuts are made.
Our autopsy revealed in most

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00:25:22,240 –> 00:25:27,040
cases, cuts were made to
ministries and programs with

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00:25:27,120 –> 00:25:31,680
outward focus, so a particular
ministry to the community is no

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00:25:31,680 –> 00:25:35,720
longer essential.
Funds to reach beyond the church

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00:25:35,880 –> 00:25:40,640
are no longer available.
The decision is justified by

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00:25:40,800 –> 00:25:43,280
declining receipts.
Fair enough.

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00:25:43,840 –> 00:25:47,920
But notice that the outreach and
the community ministries are the

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00:25:47,920 –> 00:25:52,640
1st to go, not those ministries
for church members.

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00:25:53,200 –> 00:25:58,360
Not at first anyway.
And the chapter concludes with

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00:25:58,560 –> 00:26:00,960
the closing statement.
In all the churches we

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00:26:00,960 –> 00:26:04,760
autopsied, a financial pattern
developed over time.

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00:26:05,080 –> 00:26:08,400
The pattern was one where funds
were used more to keep the

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00:26:08,400 –> 00:26:12,160
machinery of the church moving
and to keep the members happy

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00:26:12,480 –> 00:26:15,720
than funding the Great
Commission and the Great

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00:26:15,720 –> 00:26:19,280
Commandment.
The money, though, was

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00:26:19,280 –> 00:26:24,280
symptomatic of a heart problem.
The church cared more for its

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00:26:24,280 –> 00:26:28,640
own needs than the community and
the world, and no church can

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00:26:28,640 –> 00:26:32,280
sustain such an inward focus
indefinitely.

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00:26:32,720 –> 00:26:37,800
It will eventually die of heart
failure and coot.

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00:26:40,120 –> 00:26:44,200
No, I’m not reading these things
to have us point fingers at

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00:26:44,200 –> 00:26:46,120
anybody and say, hey, you know,
it’s your fault.

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00:26:46,480 –> 00:26:50,600
But it is for us to ask
ourselves, is this the

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00:26:50,600 –> 00:26:55,760
trajectory of my closure?
What can I do to be of service?

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00:26:56,080 –> 00:26:59,880
How can I help my closure to
obeyed Great Commission?

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00:27:01,200 –> 00:27:07,360
Am IA burden to my closure?
There’s an example that Paul

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00:27:07,360 –> 00:27:11,000
gives to Timothy in First
Timothy chapter 5, verse 16,

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00:27:11,000 –> 00:27:15,840
where he makes the statement and
says if any woman who’s a

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00:27:15,840 –> 00:27:20,160
believer has widows in her care,
she should continue to help them

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00:27:20,160 –> 00:27:24,200
and not let the church be
burdened with them so that the

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00:27:24,200 –> 00:27:28,840
church can help those widows who
are really in need.

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00:27:30,360 –> 00:27:34,600
So while the church is tasked
with taking care of its members,

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00:27:34,840 –> 00:27:39,600
we must be aware that that
should not be the only task that

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00:27:39,720 –> 00:27:45,760
the church does.
It must have an outward focus on

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00:27:45,760 –> 00:27:52,680
the community and on outreach.
So while this is individual

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00:27:52,680 –> 00:27:58,080
inspection introspection, it
should be a joint effort for us

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00:27:58,200 –> 00:28:03,400
all to help steer our eclesia
towards its vision.

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00:28:04,960 –> 00:28:09,160
And we must remember that we are
not alone in this.

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00:28:11,640 –> 00:28:14,800
We should recall in that same
passage in Matthew 28 where it

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00:28:14,800 –> 00:28:18,720
says go ye therefore enter the
world and teach all nations.

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00:28:19,240 –> 00:28:27,440
In verse 20 it actually says I
am with you always, even unto

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00:28:27,440 –> 00:28:31,520
the end of the world.
So we might feel that it might

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00:28:31,520 –> 00:28:34,240
be too much to fix or too hard
to fix.

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00:28:34,360 –> 00:28:36,320
I have nobody to help me fix
this.

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00:28:36,840 –> 00:28:41,480
But we should always remember
that Jesus will be with us, he

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00:28:41,480 –> 00:28:45,160
says, not us.
And if it is, we actually want

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00:28:45,160 –> 00:28:48,520
to help our churches.
Do you think God will allow us

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00:28:48,520 –> 00:28:53,960
to fail that?
Definitely not, because what we

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00:28:53,960 –> 00:28:58,600
saw is that our vision aligns
with what God wants.

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00:28:58,600 –> 00:29:02,640
Once our vision is to be a light
for the community to around us,

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00:29:02,840 –> 00:29:05,560
we know that is exactly what
Jesus commanded.

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00:29:05,560 –> 00:29:12,280
That is what God wants, and we
will be one with him if our

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00:29:12,640 –> 00:29:18,480
purpose is the same.
And this was actually a prayer

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00:29:18,480 –> 00:29:27,240
that Jesus offered for us.
That’s in John 17, where Jesus’s

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00:29:27,240 –> 00:29:29,600
prayer he was praying for his
disciples.

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00:29:30,560 –> 00:29:33,680
He says in verse 18 of John
chapter 17.

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00:29:35,280 –> 00:29:40,560
As thou hast sent me into the
world, Even so have I also sent

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00:29:40,920 –> 00:29:43,640
them into the world.
That’s verse 18.

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00:29:43,920 –> 00:29:49,560
That is the same vision.
God sent Jesus into the world to

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00:29:49,560 –> 00:29:52,680
be our light.
So Jesus is sending us into the

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00:29:52,680 –> 00:29:55,560
world to be our light, the same
vision.

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00:29:57,320 –> 00:30:01,760
And he says neither pray I for
these alone as his disciples,

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00:30:02,040 –> 00:30:06,880
but for them also which shall
believe on me through their

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00:30:06,880 –> 00:30:08,520
will.
So that’s talking about us

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00:30:08,560 –> 00:30:13,280
because we believe their will.
And he see goes on in verse 21,

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00:30:13,280 –> 00:30:18,600
that they all may be warned, as
thou father art in me, and I

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00:30:18,600 –> 00:30:22,640
indeed, that they also may be
one in us, that the world may

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00:30:22,640 –> 00:30:28,120
believe that thou has sent me.
And verse 22 and the glory which

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00:30:28,120 –> 00:30:33,280
thou give us me, I have given
them that they may be one, even

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00:30:33,280 –> 00:30:38,720
as we are one.
So Jesus prayed for us 2000

396
00:30:38,720 –> 00:30:43,680
years ago that we may be one,
and that is one in purpose, one

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00:30:43,680 –> 00:30:49,640
in mission, one in vision.
And there were results of

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00:30:49,640 –> 00:30:53,720
Jesus’s prayer in the 1st
century church in Acts chapter

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00:30:53,720 –> 00:30:59,840
2, verse 41.
We may recall they were of one

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00:30:59,840 –> 00:31:02,560
mind and one heart and
singleness of mind.

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00:31:03,520 –> 00:31:07,680
It says of the church in Acts
chapter 2, verse 41.

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00:31:09,080 –> 00:31:13,840
Then they that gladly received
His word were baptized, and the

403
00:31:13,840 –> 00:31:19,360
same day they were added on to
them about 3000 souls, 3000

404
00:31:19,360 –> 00:31:24,800
people in one day, verse 42 And
they continued steadfastly in

405
00:31:24,800 –> 00:31:28,880
the apostles, doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of

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00:31:28,880 –> 00:31:34,440
bread and in prayers, and all
that believed were together.

407
00:31:34,440 –> 00:31:37,400
They had all things in common.
Verse 46.

408
00:31:37,400 –> 00:31:41,360
They continued daily with one
accord in the temple, and

409
00:31:41,360 –> 00:31:44,240
breaking bread from house to
house did they lead their meat

410
00:31:44,240 –> 00:31:47,560
with gladness and singleness of
heart.

411
00:31:49,680 –> 00:31:52,120
And they were praising God,
having favour with all the

412
00:31:52,120 –> 00:31:54,920
people.
And the Lord added to the Church

413
00:31:54,920 –> 00:32:00,840
daily as such should be saved.
And of the same Church, Chapter

414
00:32:00,840 –> 00:32:03,400
4, verse 32.
It said the multitude of them

415
00:32:03,400 –> 00:32:07,800
not believed, were of one heart
and of one soul.

416
00:32:10,560 –> 00:32:13,280
So this was the result of
Jesus’s prayer.

417
00:32:14,160 –> 00:32:17,760
The 1st century church was
blessed significantly because

418
00:32:17,760 –> 00:32:22,680
they obeyed the Great Commission
to be a light for the world

419
00:32:22,680 –> 00:32:25,800
around them.
They obeyed the commandment to

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00:32:25,800 –> 00:32:31,160
go out into the world to preach,
and we must do the same as well.

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00:32:32,720 –> 00:32:38,680
And as we turn our minds to our
Lord Jesus Christ, we know that

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00:32:38,680 –> 00:32:43,760
our Lord fulfill His mission and
His vision on earth.

423
00:32:44,440 –> 00:32:48,400
We see at the end of His life in
John chapter 19, when he was

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00:32:48,400 –> 00:32:53,960
crucified, it says in verse 13.
When Jesus therefore had

425
00:32:53,960 –> 00:32:58,560
received the vinegar, he said it
is finished and he bowed his

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00:32:58,560 –> 00:33:04,200
head and gave up the Spirit.
It is finished.

427
00:33:05,000 –> 00:33:08,320
That marks the end of Jesus’s
mission.

428
00:33:09,040 –> 00:33:14,120
His life was wholly dedicated to
fulfilling his mission from God,

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00:33:15,480 –> 00:33:18,840
and we also need to see our
lives like that.

430
00:33:19,240 –> 00:33:22,360
We need to see our lives as not
belonging to us.

431
00:33:22,360 –> 00:33:27,080
We were bought with our price.
Our life is not our own, but we

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00:33:27,080 –> 00:33:32,480
are the Lords.
We have a mission to accomplish

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00:33:32,520 –> 00:33:36,120
in being the light to the
community around us.

434
00:33:37,320 –> 00:33:43,480
Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel as our Lord

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00:33:43,480 –> 00:33:46,480
says.
Thank you very much.

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00:34:03,200 –> 00:34:05,320
Thank you for listening to the
good Crystal Adelphian Talks

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00:34:05,320 –> 00:34:07,920
Podcast.
We hope this talk helped you in

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00:34:07,920 –> 00:34:09,440
your walk and brightened your
day.

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