357: Shawn Moynihan – Exhortation: So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

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Welcome to good Christophian
talks.

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I’m Levi.
I’m Chris.

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I’m Jason.
And I’m Brian, thank you for

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joining us this week.
On this podcast, we select one

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talk a week to help us get the
Bible in our Daily News feed.

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Each week we post a talk that we
previewed.

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From suggestions sent in by
listeners from around the world.

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Then we record a short intro
beforehand as a personalized

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recommendation to you on why we
are sharing the talk.

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And now let’s talk more about
this week’s talk.

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Hello and welcome back.
This is brother Chris Howard.

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With a excellent excitation to
share with you.

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This excitation was given near
the end of June just earlier

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this year at the Cambridge
Ecclesia and is given by Brother

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Sean Monahan.
With the title so great A.

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Cloud of Witnesses.
Now this exhortation came in as

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a recommendation that I actually
got to listen to with the

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suggester as we were doing a
road trip for the Idlewild Bible

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School and driving around with
some dear brothers and sisters

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that were staying with my wife
and I.

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After the Bible school, so this.
Exhortation was an excellent and

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encouraging reminder looking at
who is in your cloud of

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witnesses.
Now I won’t go into more detail

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than that, I’ll let Brother Sean
do that, But I found this to be

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a super encouraging one, one
that was great to listen to and

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to remind me of.
Who do you look to, both

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scripturally and in your daily
life as the reminder of who are

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we looking to be inspired by and
who do we inspire with our

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actions?
So I hope you find this

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encouraging to listen to and
reminds you of just how many

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amazing people we have both in
the Bible to look to, both big

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and small, and also the people
that in our lives that encourage

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us and inspire us on our walk to
the Kingdom.

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So I hope you find this to be an
uplifting excitation that will

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encourage you along your walk.
So now I’ll turn it over to her

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brother Sean Monahan for his
excitation entitled.

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So.
Great.

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A cloud of witnesses.
So who is in your cloud?

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Who is in your cloud?
Now, I’m not talking about cloud

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computing.
I’m talking about, biblically

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speaking, who is in your cloud.
If you can’t answer that

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question right now, it’s hoped
that by the end of the

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expectation you’ll have a firm
idea of who is in your cloud.

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Our key verse is really a
biblical cloud.

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It’s Hebrews 12/1 and two.
Therefore we also, since we are

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surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside

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every weight and the sin which
so easily ensnares us, and let

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us run with endurance the race
that is set before us, looking

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out to Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, who for

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the joy that was set before him,
endured the cross, despising the

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shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.

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So the writer to the Hebrews is
painting a picture for us, isn’t

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he?
It’s painting a picture.

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So how should we understand this
picture?

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Let’s break it down.
Well, what’s the setting of this

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picture in Hebrew?
Swell 1 and 2.

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So we’ll run with endurance the
race that is set before us.

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And this word that’s translated
race, doesn’t really mean race.

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It means any kind of
competition.

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In the Greco Roman world, it was
the agon.

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It was the IT was the the the
competition that created

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excellence, created arete and
agon is used throughout the New

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Testament to describe our
struggle as spiritual athletes.

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It’s used to describe Jesus
struggle and the Garden of

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Gethsemane.
It’s where we get our word agony

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from.
And we know that Paul especially

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loved to use this metaphor of
spiritual athletes competing,

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demonstrating excellence through
the strength of Jesus Christ and

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the God of Israel demonstrating
excellence in this competition,

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in this agon.
It occurs in Romans 9.

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It occurs in Galatians 2 and
Philippians 2 and Philippians 3

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and Second Timothy 4.
Of course, he’s talking about

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I’ve fought the good fight, I’ve
finished the course, I’ve kept

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the faith.
Henceforth it laid up for me a

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crown of righteousness.
That crown, of course, is the

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Stefanos.
It’s the Laurel wreath awarded

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to the winners, the victors, and
the agon.

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He uses it in particular in
First Corinthians 9.

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So if you want to turn there, he
really breaks out this metaphor.

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First Corinthians 9 starting
verse 24.

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Do not know that in a race all
the runners run, but only one

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gets the prize.
Run in such a way as to get the

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prize Everyone who competes in
the games.

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This is the the verb form of
that noun agon.

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Everyone who competes goes into
strict training.

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They do it to get a crown that
will not last, but we do it to

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get a crown that will last
forever.

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Therefore, I do not run like a
man running aimlessly.

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I do not box like a man beating
the air.

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No, I beat my body and make it
my slave, so that after I have

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preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified for the

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prize.
So this is a common picture that

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had great resonance for those
Jewish readers that were the

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first readers of this epistle
that lived in this Greco Roman

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world.
So we have a picture of the

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scene.
It’s a competition in a stadium.

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So who’s in that picture?
Well, there’s three characters.

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There’s the competitor, there’s
the athlete in the arena.

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And the writer to the Hebrews
exhorts that to be us.

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There are the witnesses
compassed about, surrounded by

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so great a cloud of witnesses.
And the last part of this

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picture is the most important
one, and it’s Jesus.

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Is it the finish line?
And the writer exhorts us to

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keep our eyes focused on Jesus.
So we have the scene.

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We have the characters and now
the athlete is acting.

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What are we exhorted to do in
this competition?

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Well, we’re exhorted to lay
aside every weight.

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And what that really means is
that in the Greco Roman world,

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athletes compete competed
without any clothes.

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In fact, gymnasium originally
meant from gumnatsuo means to

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exercise without clothes.
So I’m not going to belabor this

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point for obvious reasons, but
the the metaphor really is, is

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that you remove everything
that’s going to get in the way

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of your performance and we’re to
lay aside everything that besets

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or ensnares.
That’s a really cool Greek word.

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This word actually means to kind
of move people out of the way so

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that you can accomplish what you
need to to do.

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You can picture an athlete
preparing to compete and there’s

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people milling around this
excuse me, excuse me, I’ve got a

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place to go.
That’s what we’re to do.

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And then there’s this weird
phrase, run with patience.

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So most races, especially at
this time, we’re not very long.

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We’re not talking about a
marathon.

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We’re not talking about a 10K,
I’m talking about 5K.

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Actually, for me a 3K would be
long too, but we’re not talking

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about that.
These races were at most 400

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meters.
So run with patients.

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Well, patients is a bad
translation.

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This Greek word Hoopa Monet
really means with with spirit.

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If I could use an Ontario hockey
analogy, it means to compete

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with grit, with grit.
And the last action for the

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athlete in the arena is to look
to Jesus.

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And again, this is an
interesting word it it doesn’t

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mean to kind of look just at
Jesus, but it means to remove

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everything else from your field
of vision.

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So this idea of getting rid of
all these distractions and

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focusing on Jesus.
So let’s take a look at the

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people that are the cloud of
witnesses.

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Well, witnesses is interesting.
It it’s where we get our word

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martyr from and it and it really
it doesn’t mean something

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passive.
We’re going to see that it’s

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related to the the words that
are used in Hebrews 11 obtained

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a good report and testify and
things like that.

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So who are the witnesses?
The witnesses are examples.

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They are examples.
They’re the examples that we’re

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in Hebrews 11.
And then the example that Jesus

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sets.
We have to stop brothers and

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sisters and friends and
recognize that there is nothing

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more powerful than the power of
example.

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My favorite quote about that is
someone wrote to the Victorian

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philosopher Thomas Carlyle.
And so Doctor Carlyle, you’re an

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amazing teacher.
What you know, what do you do?

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How come you’re such a great
teacher?

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What’s your secret?
He said there’s no secret.

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Simply be what you would have
your students become.

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Simply be what you would have
your students become.

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So this cloud of witnesses,
there’s the examples, the

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powerful examples of faith.
Now let’s put it in the context.

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So one of the things that you
have to understand about

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competing at this time is that
you would go up to the arena to

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compete and as you would go up,
you would see statues of

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champion athletes in the past.
So if you were a discus thrower,

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you would go up to your event
and you would go by on your way

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up and you would see statues of
famous discus throwers in the

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past, examples that would
inspire you to do your best.

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So this is how we should
understand witness in this

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context.
They are examples for us, and

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the example is important because
the writer to the Hebrews talks

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about cause and effect, right?
He says because we are

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surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, then we should act

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this way.
Their example motivates us.

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Now let’s take a step back.
Why cloud?

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Why cloud?
What resonance would cloud have

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for the original Hebrew readers
of this text?

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Well, we know that in the Old
Testament, cloud meant many

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things.
We’re just going to focus on one

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thing, and that is the cloud
referred to God’s presence in

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his community, in his family,
and specifically his example

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that motivated his family.
The cloud was in God’s presence,

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leading the way, providing
direction in the wilderness.

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The cloud by day, right?
We know that it demonstrated his

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presence at Mount Sinai.
We know that it demonstrated his

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presence in the Tabernacle.
And later on, when we had the

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introduction of the First
Temple, God’s presence was

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indicated on all these examples
by a cloud.

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Now most specifically, we read
about the cloud in Exodus 34,

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and here we have the cloud
demonstrating God’s character

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attributes.
We read in Exodus 34 starting

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verse 5.
Now the Lord descended in the

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cloud and stood with him there
and proclaimed the name of the

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Lord, And the Lord passed before
him and proclaimed the Lord.

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The Lord God, merciful and
gracious, long-suffering and

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abounding in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands,

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forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, by no

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means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the

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fathers upon the children and
the children’s children to the

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third and 4th generation.
This is such an important

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passage for us, right?
The use of the divine name.

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You know, Brother Thomas really
asserted that that this meant I

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will be manifest in a multitude
of mighty ones.

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And what God’s really saying
here is my character will be

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manifest in men and women who I
will make part of my family

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during their lives and who will
partake of my divine nature in

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the Kingdom.
So the cloud would have would

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have resonated as the the
example provided by God’s

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presence.
And it’s really understanding

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that God’s example is at the
heart of God manifestation.

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Jesus himself says this in John
five.

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He says, most assuredly, I say
to you, I can do nothing of of

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myself, but what I see the
Father do for whatever he does,

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the Son also does.
In like manner, the power of

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example and the cloud is at a
special resonance as we saw in

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Exodus 34 for the character
attributes of God.

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And we see that in 2nd
Corinthians 3 that Paul takes

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this account in Exodus 34 and
breaks it down and he says in

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verse 18.
And we all with unveiled faces,

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beholding as in a mirror the
glory of God, are being

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transformed into the same image,
the Greek word icon, the same

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image from 1° of glory to
another, just as from the Lord.

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And that’s our purpose, right?
It’s our purpose is to manifest

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God’s character.
Our purpose is to manifest the

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00:15:27,720 –> 00:15:31,120
character attributes that we saw
so fully demonstrated in his

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00:15:31,120 –> 00:15:35,520
Son.
In Colossians one we read that

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Jesus is the image, the icon of
the invisible God.

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00:15:39,520 –> 00:15:43,960
And in Romans 8, Paul tells us
that that is our job.

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00:15:45,240 –> 00:15:50,080
He says in verse 29 for those
whom he foreknew, he also pre

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00:15:50,280 –> 00:15:55,320
predestined to be conformed to
the image, to the ikonos of his

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00:15:55,320 –> 00:15:59,720
son, in order that he might be
the first born among many

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00:15:59,960 –> 00:16:06,920
brothers.
So we have these cloud of

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00:16:06,920 –> 00:16:11,480
witnesses in Hebrews 11.
And these are examples of faith.

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00:16:12,440 –> 00:16:16,440
They’re not examples of
perfection, which personally I

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00:16:16,440 –> 00:16:23,360
find very comforting.
I had the example of Gideon when

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00:16:23,360 –> 00:16:30,200
we read in in Judges 6, because
let’s be honest, Gideon tried

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00:16:30,200 –> 00:16:34,640
faith after every other option
didn’t work out right.

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00:16:34,640 –> 00:16:38,080
The Angel comes to him and says
you’re going to deliver Israel,

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00:16:38,080 –> 00:16:41,280
you mighty man of valor.
And he said, I don’t see any

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00:16:41,280 –> 00:16:43,120
evidence that that God is with
me.

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00:16:44,640 –> 00:16:47,760
And the next step, well, it’s,
it’s going to happen.

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00:16:47,760 –> 00:16:51,720
Well, you know, I need a sign.
And then he gets the sign and

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00:16:51,720 –> 00:16:55,040
then it’s still not enough.
Because did you notice the the

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00:16:55,040 –> 00:16:58,600
little detail is that he was
still too scared to do stuff

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00:16:58,600 –> 00:17:03,280
during the daytime.
So this is encouraging, right?

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00:17:03,280 –> 00:17:06,000
These examples in Hebrews 11 are
not perfect.

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00:17:06,680 –> 00:17:09,280
They’re men and women like we
are who make mistakes.

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00:17:09,440 –> 00:17:12,520
And isn’t it awesome that we
have a God that is so forgiving?

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00:17:14,160 –> 00:17:16,800
So who’s in my cloud?
I’m going to pick 3 examples.

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00:17:16,800 –> 00:17:20,680
From Hebrews 11.
Gideon’s in my cloud because I

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00:17:20,680 –> 00:17:28,560
can really empathize with his
faithfulness and God’s patience

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00:17:28,880 –> 00:17:33,400
with his evolving faithfulness.
Who else is in my cloud?

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00:17:33,400 –> 00:17:39,160
From Hebrews 11, Sarah is in my
cloud because she laughed when

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00:17:39,160 –> 00:17:40,760
she heard of the promise of
Isaac.

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00:17:41,320 –> 00:17:46,360
And yet we know in Hebrews 11
that by faith Sarah herself

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00:17:46,360 –> 00:17:49,160
receives strength to conceive
seed.

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00:17:49,880 –> 00:17:54,080
And she bore a child when she
was past age because he she

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00:17:54,080 –> 00:17:56,480
judged him faithful who had
promised.

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00:17:57,920 –> 00:17:59,680
It’s never too late to have
faith.

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00:18:01,600 –> 00:18:03,960
And the last example that I’ll
pick for the sake of time in

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00:18:03,960 –> 00:18:08,320
Hebrews 11 is David.
What really resonates for me

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00:18:08,320 –> 00:18:11,440
right now in this point in my
life from David is his

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00:18:11,440 –> 00:18:14,840
faithfulness despite great
family pain.

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00:18:18,320 –> 00:18:22,640
In Second Samuel 18, we read
after he gets news that Absalom

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00:18:22,640 –> 00:18:30,240
was killed.
O Absalom, my son, Absalom

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00:18:31,440 –> 00:18:35,200
would.
I had died for thee, O Absalom,

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00:18:35,720 –> 00:18:42,720
my son.
It resonates for me because we

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00:18:42,720 –> 00:18:47,960
recognize that we have hopes for
our children, and those hopes

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00:18:48,440 –> 00:18:51,520
don’t always become realized as
part of the plan of, of God.

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00:18:52,920 –> 00:18:55,920
And yet, you know, the anguish
here from David leaps off the

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00:18:55,920 –> 00:18:58,240
page, doesn’t it?
It leaps off the page.

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00:18:59,480 –> 00:19:02,880
And yet David was faithful
because he knew that whatever

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00:19:03,440 –> 00:19:08,920
God had done was right.
So those are three examples from

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00:19:08,920 –> 00:19:17,040
my cloud in Hebrews 11.
Now the writer to the Hebrews

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00:19:17,040 –> 00:19:19,760
tells us that it’s not just
Hebrews 11 because he says we’re

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00:19:19,760 –> 00:19:22,000
compassed about, we’re
surrounded, they’re all around

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00:19:22,000 –> 00:19:24,520
us.
These examples, they’re not just

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00:19:24,520 –> 00:19:27,560
in the Faith Hall of Fame in
Hebrews 11.

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00:19:29,080 –> 00:19:32,960
Paul says this over and over
again in Philippians 317.

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00:19:32,960 –> 00:19:36,760
He writes, Imitate me, brothers
and sisters, and look around to

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00:19:36,760 –> 00:19:40,200
those already following the
example that we have said

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00:19:41,440 –> 00:19:44,720
famously, he exhorts, Timothy,
let no man despise thy youth,

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00:19:44,720 –> 00:19:49,560
but be an example.
And then in writing to the

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00:19:49,920 –> 00:19:54,440
ecclesia at Thessalonica, he
says, And you became followers

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00:19:54,440 –> 00:19:58,040
of us and of the Lord, having
received the word in much

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00:19:58,040 –> 00:20:03,120
affliction with joy, and with
joy of the Holy Spirit, so that

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00:20:03,120 –> 00:20:09,200
you became examples to all.
And Macedonia and Akaia who

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00:20:09,200 –> 00:20:16,800
believe examples, we’re
surrounded by examples and

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00:20:16,800 –> 00:20:19,000
examples.
Of course, Paul is demonstrating

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00:20:19,000 –> 00:20:22,280
that can come from our ecclesia.
It’s not just Hebrews 11.

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00:20:22,280 –> 00:20:25,200
It’s from our ecclesia and from
our personal history.

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00:20:26,160 –> 00:20:28,760
So I’m going to share one
example from my personal history

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00:20:28,760 –> 00:20:31,600
of someone who’s in my cloud.
And I’m going to share 3

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00:20:31,600 –> 00:20:35,120
examples of folks in our
collegia that are in my cloud.

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00:20:35,800 –> 00:20:42,000
Don’t worry, no names will be
used except my wife Kathy.

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00:20:43,480 –> 00:20:46,400
Goes without saying that Kathy’s
in my cloud as an inspiring

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00:20:46,400 –> 00:20:50,840
example to me.
But from my personal history, my

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00:20:50,840 –> 00:21:01,720
grandfather’s in my cloud.
So my grandmother and

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00:21:01,720 –> 00:21:04,520
grandfather raised me and my
grandfather died when I was 9.

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00:21:06,000 –> 00:21:13,480
And his example of loving God’s
Word sticks with me to this day.

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00:21:15,280 –> 00:21:17,440
And I’m just going to use an
example, sorry, brother Paul.

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00:21:17,720 –> 00:21:20,080
So brother Paul carries this
briefcase.

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00:21:21,000 –> 00:21:24,760
My grandfather carried A
briefcase just like that and it

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00:21:24,760 –> 00:21:28,480
was, it was chock full of books.
He had like 8 different

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00:21:28,480 –> 00:21:30,720
concordances.
He had the companion Bible, he

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00:21:30,720 –> 00:21:32,520
had the diaglot.
He had help as Israel.

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00:21:32,800 –> 00:21:35,960
I can remember being like 5 or 6
and trying to pick it up and I

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00:21:35,960 –> 00:21:42,200
was like staple to the floor.
I can remember him listening to

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00:21:42,480 –> 00:21:46,280
to exhortations.
And you know what you had to do

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00:21:46,280 –> 00:21:48,800
to listen to an exhortation in
1971?

308
00:21:50,040 –> 00:21:54,920
You had to get a reel to reel
tape and this tape recorder that

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00:21:54,920 –> 00:21:58,760
was like the size of this table
and listened to it.

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00:22:05,000 –> 00:22:15,640
He loved God’s word.
So my grandfather’s in my cloud.

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00:22:19,200 –> 00:22:21,680
OK, 3 examples from our ecclesia
that inspire me.

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00:22:23,240 –> 00:22:28,120
First, the parents that are
working so hard to raise

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00:22:28,120 –> 00:22:30,160
children and the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.

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00:22:31,400 –> 00:22:33,640
I know you probably don’t feel
inspiring.

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00:22:33,680 –> 00:22:36,000
In fact, probably the dominant
feeling that you have right now

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00:22:36,000 –> 00:22:40,080
is exhaustion.
It’s OK, but you’re in my cloud.

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00:22:41,040 –> 00:22:49,840
You’re in my cloud.
The second example are folks who

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00:22:49,840 –> 00:22:55,120
are facing serious and ongoing
health challenges and yet meet

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00:22:55,120 –> 00:22:58,040
those challenges with faith and
with gratitude and with

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00:22:58,040 –> 00:23:07,120
thankfulness and with optimism.
You’re in my cloud and older

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00:23:07,120 –> 00:23:10,560
folks, now I’m going to stop
here because right now all the

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00:23:10,560 –> 00:23:13,000
teenagers thinking, but you’re
pretty old.

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00:23:13,000 –> 00:23:14,400
Uncle Sean, are you talking
about yourself?

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00:23:14,400 –> 00:23:18,000
Like, no little tip, once you
get to be 20 years old, an old

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00:23:18,000 –> 00:23:19,560
person is 20 years older than
you.

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00:23:21,080 –> 00:23:26,000
But older folks who are facing
the significant challenges of

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00:23:26,000 –> 00:23:30,720
age, yet are so faithful and so
optimistic and such an example

328
00:23:31,920 –> 00:23:36,000
of that thing, that grit, that
perseverance over time.

329
00:23:37,800 –> 00:23:44,480
You’re in my cloud.
So brothers and sisters, I’d

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00:23:44,480 –> 00:23:47,960
invite you to look around.
Look around.

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00:23:49,520 –> 00:23:58,560
Who’s in your cloud?
Whose example inspires you the

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00:23:58,560 –> 00:24:00,920
best?
The most important example, of

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00:24:00,920 –> 00:24:04,680
course, is Jesus, and he is the
most important person in our

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00:24:04,680 –> 00:24:08,040
cloud, Paul states.
This clearly says be imitators

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00:24:08,040 –> 00:24:12,280
of me, even as I also am of
Christ, Peter writes.

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00:24:12,600 –> 00:24:15,840
For to this you’ve been called
because Christ also suffered for

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00:24:15,840 –> 00:24:19,280
you leaving an example so that
you might follow in his steps.

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00:24:20,120 –> 00:24:23,720
And Jesus himself said I am the
way, the truth and the life.

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00:24:23,960 –> 00:24:26,760
No one comes to the Father but
by me.

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00:24:29,280 –> 00:24:31,560
So Jesus example is a powerful
one.

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00:24:33,560 –> 00:24:36,360
He says after washing the the
disciples feet.

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00:24:36,360 –> 00:24:39,560
I have given you an example that
you should do just as I have

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00:24:39,560 –> 00:24:43,800
done to you an example of humble
service.

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00:24:46,480 –> 00:24:51,080
And we live out Jesus example in
two sets of interrelated

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00:24:51,080 –> 00:24:53,880
relationships, right?
And he talks about the two great

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00:24:53,880 –> 00:24:56,600
commandments, loving God and
loving your brother.

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00:24:59,400 –> 00:25:05,600
That is how we enact our
manifesting of the characters of

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00:25:05,600 –> 00:25:09,240
God with our relationship with
God and with our relationship

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00:25:09,240 –> 00:25:12,760
with each other.
One’s kind of a vertical

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00:25:12,760 –> 00:25:16,960
relationship, one’s horizontal,
but they’re interrelated.

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00:25:19,480 –> 00:25:24,000
You know, our relationship with
each other is the demonstration

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00:25:24,360 –> 00:25:30,600
of our relationship with God.
It’s the mark of our

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00:25:30,600 –> 00:25:33,720
discipleship.
Jesus says that in in John 13.

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00:25:33,720 –> 00:25:36,240
By this will all men know that
ye are my disciples.

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00:25:36,280 –> 00:25:42,960
If you have love one for
another, and John takes it even

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00:25:43,560 –> 00:25:47,040
further in first John 4, if
someone says I love God and

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00:25:47,040 –> 00:25:51,360
hates his brother, he is a liar.
For he who does not love his

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00:25:51,360 –> 00:25:56,120
brother whom he has seen, how
can he love God whom he has not

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00:25:56,120 –> 00:25:58,560
seen?
And this is the commandment that

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00:25:58,560 –> 00:26:02,120
we have from him, that he who
loves God must love his brother

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00:26:02,120 –> 00:26:07,400
also.
So let’s go back to the scene.

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00:26:09,000 –> 00:26:15,560
We’re exhorted to compete, we’re
exhorted to lay everything else

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00:26:15,560 –> 00:26:20,400
aside, and we’re exhorted to
look unto Jesus, the author and

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00:26:20,400 –> 00:26:24,040
finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him,

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00:26:24,040 –> 00:26:28,880
endured the cross.
Jesus is our finish line.

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00:26:29,000 –> 00:26:33,640
He’s our example.
And and we have the key for

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00:26:33,640 –> 00:26:35,680
running the race.
We have the motivation for

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00:26:35,680 –> 00:26:39,520
running the race for the joy
that was set before him.

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00:26:40,880 –> 00:26:43,280
I think that there are many
occasions when the joy was set

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00:26:43,280 –> 00:26:47,720
before him, but I think of one
in particular, and that’s the

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00:26:47,720 –> 00:26:53,360
transfiguration.
And what’s interesting, one of

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00:26:53,360 –> 00:26:56,120
the many interesting things
about the transfiguration is

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00:26:56,120 –> 00:26:59,400
that we read this in Luke 9
starting verse 34.

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00:27:00,400 –> 00:27:04,640
While he was saying this, a
cloud came and overshadowed them

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00:27:04,960 –> 00:27:08,840
and they were fearful as they
entered the cloud and a voice

376
00:27:08,840 –> 00:27:12,680
came out of the cloud saying
this is my beloved son, hear

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00:27:12,680 –> 00:27:18,720
him.
So like us Jesus support comes

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00:27:18,720 –> 00:27:25,400
out of the cloud.
So as we take of the bread and

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00:27:25,400 –> 00:27:30,360
wine, brothers and sisters, ask
yourself who is in your cloud?

380
00:27:31,920 –> 00:27:33,680
We have all these examples from
scripture.

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00:27:33,920 –> 00:27:38,480
Choose people that resonate with
you, that provide an example

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00:27:38,480 –> 00:27:40,680
that you can relate to and be
inspired by.

383
00:27:42,240 –> 00:27:44,720
Think about your personal
history and your ecclesial

384
00:27:44,720 –> 00:27:49,360
family, the people in this room.
Think about people that resonate

385
00:27:49,360 –> 00:27:51,640
with you, that provide an
example that you can relate to

386
00:27:51,640 –> 00:27:55,920
and be inspired by.
And most important, think about

387
00:27:56,040 –> 00:28:02,240
Jesus and the power of His
example, because as we compete,

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00:28:03,720 –> 00:28:07,040
He is helping us every step of
our race.

389
00:28:07,360 –> 00:28:12,680
We know this because in Hebrews
7 we read He is able to save

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00:28:12,680 –> 00:28:16,720
completely those who draw near
to God through him, because He

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00:28:16,720 –> 00:28:20,120
continually lives to intercede
for them.

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00:28:34,920 –> 00:28:37,040
Thank you for listening to the
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00:28:37,040 –> 00:28:39,640
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00:28:39,640 –> 00:28:41,160
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