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Grace, mercy, and
peace be to you from

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God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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In yesterday's sermon,
Dr. Nafzger, as an

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aside, asked in reference
to the symposium's

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peril and promise theme,
whether the promise

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is supposed to make
us think of Jesus.

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He didn't answer the
question, but thanks,

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Dr. Nafzger, for giving
me the opportunity

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to do so.

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Thus, the title of this
sermon, Nothing Rules

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Over Jesus, the
promise that all things are

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possible.

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The promise of what was
technologically possible

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was no more apparent
to me and my wife, Cindy,

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than when we purchased
our first cell phone,

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as you see on the
sheet that you hopefully

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picked up when you came in.

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Back in the heady
days of 1997, I was in the

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midst of my matriculation
in the Notre Dame

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doctoral program.

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My wife was teaching
in the South Bend Public

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Schools and our, at
the time, three-year-old

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daughter was going to the

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preschool on Notre
Dame's campus.

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Cindy, ever vigilant
about being able to be

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in touch with the
preschool when Maggie was

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there and to be in
touch with me, saw the

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immense promise in the
new cell phone technology.

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So we bought a
Motorola flip phone.

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One former user
describes it this way.

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Motorola MicroTAC Elite
II Analog with a whopping

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10-speed dial memory
and a lithium-ion slim

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line and a regular-sized
battery and with

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a dual slot desktop
battery dock charger.

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Really?

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Really?

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Oh, but the promise.

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But the promise of what
this thing could do and did.

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As I hunkered down in
my closet, oops, I mean

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my carol at the library
in Notre Dame, the

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preschool could
reach me at any time.

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And I could reach
Cindy if there was an

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emergency or I needed
to pick Maggie up.

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And that did happen
on a fairly regular basis.

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And yet the peril.

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It was easy for us to
become dependent on

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that Motorola phone
to trust that it was the

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means for assuring
Maggie's safety.

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I can't count the
number of times I had to

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repent for forgetting
the phone at home.

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In this week's Gospel,
the question of the

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unclean spirit boy's
father might be construed

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as seeking a
technological solution.

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Teacher, I brought
my son to you because

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he has a spirit that
makes him mute.

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And whenever it
seizes him, it throws him

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down and he foams at
the mouth and he grinds

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his teeth and becomes rigid.

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So I asked your
disciples to cast it out.

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And they were not able.

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If you are able, admittedly
that is a gratuitous reading.

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This narrative is
not about technology.

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The only technology
mentioned is that the

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unclean spirit throws
the boy into fire in

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order to destroy him.

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But the father's
question, but if you are

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able in some way to
come to our aid by having

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heartfelt compassion on
us, pushes us to approach

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technology from a
stance of faith and trust.

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Yet moving toward that
stance already betrays us

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that we are already in
peril in our relationship

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with technology.

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Think about the
advances in medical

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technology over
the past 100 years.

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The promise in
those technologies

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is literally life giving.

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But what is our
first response to

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a challenging
medical diagnosis?

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Reliance upon those
very medical technologies

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to sustain life and
to thwart death.

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Our first response
usually isn't

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to fall down on
our knees and pray.

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When we see where
we locate our trust, at

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least initially we
realize we regularly live

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in, dwell in a disenchanted
universe where

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trust in God's will
and in His providential

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care is not the water
that we swim in.

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This explains Jesus odd
response to the boy's father.

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Oh unbelieving generation,
how long must I be with you?

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Until when must
I put up with you?

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Where is faith in
this generation?

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Jesus doesn't ask the
question just of the crowd

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at the bottom of the
mount of transfiguration.

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He is asking you.

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It is a perennial
question since we

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as humans use
technology all the time.

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As Dr. Okamoto indicated

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yesterday, it is
natural to do so.

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And we do as Christians.

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Our use of technology
thrusts this trust right

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relationship question
on us, especially in

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the face of
technology's promise.

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As one website promoting
artificial intelligence

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puts it, as we stand
at the cusp of a new

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era, it's crucial to
explore the profound

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impact AI is poised to
make on our world and

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division the possibilities
that lie ahead.

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AI has the potential to
address some of humanity's

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most pressing challenges,
from climate change

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to global health,
and its transformative

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power is only limited
by our imagination.

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By embracing AI
responsibly and ethically,

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we can harness its
power to create a brighter

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future for all.

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The promise is wondrous,
but it is powerfully tempting.

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The temptation
to turn our trust.

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The temptation to
believe, as Dr. Voelz notes,

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that the disciples
wanted to do coming down

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from the mount
of transfiguration.

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To believe that the rule and

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reign of God is
at our fingertips.

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The kingdom of God is coming.

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We can see it embedded in
our technological advances.

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The peril lurks.

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When we intentionally
use technology, and

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don't be fooled, we
do use it, and we will,

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we risk that it will
turn our trust in our

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future and in the future
of the whole creation

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toward technology.

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And when we make that turn,
we've embraced another god.

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Technology as our lord.

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And using us.

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That is precisely the
story of Jesus healing

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and the Spirit-Possessed
Boy has something

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to say to us about this
technological world.

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In his desperation, the
boy's father has come

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to Jesus, turned to
him to seek deliverance

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for his son.

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But if you are able in
some way, come to our

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aid by having heartfelt
compassion on us.

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Jesus responds
as a call to trust.

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To trust in Him and the
promising word that He speaks.

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If you are able,
all things are

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possible for the
one who believes.

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And the father cries
with the humility of

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faith in Jesus and
his words, I do believe.

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Help my unbelief.

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In this case, Jesus'
voice is all it takes.

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No technology needed.

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Jesus rebukes
the unclean spirit.

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Mute and deaf spirit,
I command you, come

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out of him and never
enter him again.

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And after crying out and

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convulsing him
a lot, it came out.

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And he became like a dead man.

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So that the masses
began to say he had died.

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But Jesus took his hand and
raised him up and he arose.

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Deliverance from
evil and its life-robbing

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effects begins with the
one who is the Creator's

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beloved Son.

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At the intersection of
faith and trust, Jesus'

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words of promise and
life-giving recreation

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meet.

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So it was for the
Son of God himself.

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That intersection is
where Jesus remained.

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Just after the story comes

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Jesus' second
passion prediction.

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The Son of man is
going to be handed over

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into the hands of men
and they will kill Him.

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And although He
has been killed,

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after three
days He will rise.

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Where does Jesus
locate His trust?

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In the words of the Father,
you are my beloved Son.

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Even though you
die, yet shall you live.

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All things, all
things are possible.

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And because Jesus
has been raised from

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the dead, that
promise is yours too.

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All things are possible
for the one who believes.

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You meet the promise
there in his resurrection

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and you cry, I do
believe, help my unbelief.

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The promise and
peril of technology

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resides in our use of it.

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So how do we avoid the peril
and embrace the promise?

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How do we escape it
ruling over us, but use

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it in ways that glorify
God and serve our

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neighbor?

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By adopting the same
stance as the boy's father.

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Remaining at the
intersection of faith, where

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the living word and
new life in Christ meet.

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By coming to Jesus,
turning to Him, seeking

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Him out and asking
Him if he is able.

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You know what
the answer will be.

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All things are possible.

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All things in Him.

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Technological
advances point us to

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the living word
of all possibilities.

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Consider just this
small list of exponentially

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life-altering technology
from the past 70

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years.

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1955 polio vaccine,
1958 commercial jetliner,

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00:12:39,326 --> 00:12:44,933
1959 integrated circuit,
1966 commercial jetliner,

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1977 coronary bypass
surgery, 1973 magnetic

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resonance imaging MRI,
1977 the personal computer,

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1989 the world wide
web, 1999 Bluetooth, 2007

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the iPhone, 2012,
2017 artificial intelligence

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2021 malaria vaccine.

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All these things flow
from the human mind,

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which in some ways
reflects the mind of the

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Creator himself.

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But they are always
only reflections.

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Limited in their cosmic
scope and fullness.

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There is only one,
there is only one

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for whom all
things are possible.

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The God who created
all things, who is delivering

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all things from evil
and destruction and who

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will renew all
things in the end.

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Only the risen word
can deliver that renewal.

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The fulfillment of
all that is possible.

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I can remember when
my wife, whom I was dating

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at the time, introduced
me to her new computer,

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looked very much
like this first IBM

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computer in 1987
in her dorm room.

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Once she taught me
how to use this basic word

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processor PC, the
possibility of not having

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to type a paper on a
typewriter and have

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the computer save
the work, no more white

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out, if you remember what that
was, was simply mind blowing.

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Yet there are times when
the technology reminds

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me that I should not
place my ultimate trust

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in it, such as
when all the files

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in a computer crash or lost.

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Yes, that did actually
happen before the invention

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of the, yeah, now I
can't think of the cloud.

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Technology's peril
can point us to Jesus.

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And the promise
should certainly

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make us think of Jesus.

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That's where the
technology should lead us,

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to see through it to
the only one in whom

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all things are possible
for those who believe.

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In the name of
the Father and of

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the Son and of
the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.