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Somebody asked me once,

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so what would the Biermann world

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look like if you could

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get your way?

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That was a question I had never

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really thought about,

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and it kind of took

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me by surprise,

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but it made me reflect

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a little bit.

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And maybe that's a good

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question to ask here.

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At the end of A Case

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for Character,

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assuming you've maybe read

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through the end,

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or you may be thinking about

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some of the things I've

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been discussing,

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what would this actually look

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like if it was put into action?

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And I think it would look like

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a community of people,

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a church taking very seriously

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what it means to be God's people

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in the world today.

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People who are actually

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embracing the reality of the

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gospel and delighting in the

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forgiveness of sins

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that God gives,

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simply rejoicing over

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God's love,

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God's perfect gift in Christ,

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his death and his resurrection

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and then knowing that reality.

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And being driven by God's

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purposes for them and the

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realization and appreciation of

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God's purposes for them to go

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out into their lives out into

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the world and do what god

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put them here to do.

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Knowing that they are forgiven

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to accomplish

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God's purposes that they are

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justified to do their vocation,

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that they're redeemed so they

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can be fully restored,

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so they can go out and

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accomplish what God created

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them to do.

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That's what it looks like.

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So how's this look?

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This looks like a congregation

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where the pastor is not afraid

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in a sermon to talk to the

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parents about their

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responsibility to teach their

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children and give them some

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specifics about what they

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should be teaching.

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It looks like a congregation

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where the pastor's not afraid

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to do some moral 

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instruction because he's no,

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he's not being moralistic.

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He's actually teaching people

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what it looks like to

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be fully human.

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He's actually shaping people

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into the way of Christian life.

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He's actually helping people

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know what it means to be God's

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people. It's not moralism.

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It's simply training in habits.

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It's training in virtue.

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It would look like that.

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It would also look like a

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congregation where the pastor,

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from time to time in a sermon,

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gets quite specific about

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behavior that's expected and

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doesn't just keep it generic.

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So in other words,

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law preaching can become very

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specific and very articulated to

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the actual needs of his people.

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And he doesn't feel like he's

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cheating by doing that and

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doesn't need to feel like he's

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somehow forsaking his trust

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in the gospel? No,

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he trusts the gospel completely,

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but he also realizes there are

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responsibilities in his faithful

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preaching of God's will,

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the law, all to help people know

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what God wants, shape people,

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inform them into doing what God

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has created them to do.

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And he's not ashamed of that.

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So when the family comes and

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says, we need some help.

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Our family's got some

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real struggles.

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Can you help us figure out how

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to make our family work better

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with our children and with our

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marriage? And he can do that.

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He doesn't have to just tell

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them, well, you know,

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God's got gospel forgiveness for

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all of your failures and

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shortcomings and the guilt your

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feeling. You're forgiven.

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He tells them that, yes.

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But then he can also say, now,

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let's work on some nitty

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gritty things.

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Let's work on what you need to

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do to find some strategies.

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How can you figure out how to

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solve this? What can you do?

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And, yeah,

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he can use resources from other

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parts of the world,

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the academic world,

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and even the religious world.

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He can borrow from people who

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have written well

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on these things,

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and he doesn't need to feel like

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he's somehow betraying his

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doctrine to do that.

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He's actually being quite

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consistent in teaching

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people God's truth,

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whoever is saying it,

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wherever it's coming from,

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and shaping people into that

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truth so they can learn to

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embrace and delight in that

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truth and also, frankly,

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learn to live more complete,

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whole lives as they're living

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more and more in sync with what

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God would have them to do.

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It needs to be taught.

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It's. Not intuitive.

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It doesn't just happen

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automatically.

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It doesn't happen just because

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they love Jesus or because

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you've given them the

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gospel full blast.

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They need to learn what these

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things look like,

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and you can teach them.

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And as parents,

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you don't need to feel bad

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about forming character.

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You work at it.

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You're intentional about it.

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And as a pastor,

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you can recognize,

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I can tell my people about what

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God expects of them without

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feeling guilt

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pangs. And as a teacher in a

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classroom with students,

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you can actually work on moral

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training and teaching about

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what virtues are.

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Realizing that this is part of

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what God has called us

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to do as his people.

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That's what it begins

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to look like.

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It looks like people simply

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living their lives faithfully

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around God's word,

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delighting in what God has given

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them to do and learning to

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celebrate these tasks,

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the mundane, routine,

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ordinary things and realizing

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these things matter because they

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are tasks from God and God

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has given them to us.

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And we learn how to do them

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better because this is what

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God put us here to do.

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That's what it looks like.

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And I hope that

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somehow what I've been

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trying to teach,

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either through the book or

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through these videos you

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might have watched,

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will help you to realize this is

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what god has put me here to do.

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And it's good that I do it.

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And it's part of what it means

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to be a faithful follower

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of Christ,

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even in the Lutheran tradition.

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We do this kind of stuff,

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and we can do it with a

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great deal of zeal.