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In these few
moments that we have

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together today, I want
to speak about the

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verses that I think
are the key to this

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00:00:09,533 --> 00:00:12,400
section, namely
verses 10 to 13 of

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Philippians 4.

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I rejoiced in the
Lord greatly that now

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at length you have
revived your concern

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00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:23,366
for me.

9
00:00:23,833 --> 00:00:26,600
You were indeed
concerned for me, but you

10
00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,033
had no opportunity.

11
00:00:28,533 --> 00:00:31,633
Not that I am speaking
of being in need,

12
00:00:31,633 --> 00:00:34,733
for I have learned
in whatever situation

13
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I am to be content.

14
00:00:36,433 --> 00:00:39,833
I know how to be
brought low, and I know

15
00:00:39,833 --> 00:00:42,366
how to abound in any and every

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00:00:42,366 --> 00:00:43,733
circumstance.

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00:00:44,166 --> 00:00:47,666
I have learned
the secret of facing

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00:00:47,666 --> 00:00:51,733
plenty and hunger,
abundance, and need.

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00:00:52,100 --> 00:00:55,900
I can do all things
through Him who

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00:00:55,900 --> 00:00:57,733
strengthens me.

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00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,733
Grace, mercy, peace
be to you from God

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00:01:01,733 --> 00:01:04,766
our Father and from
our Lord and Savior

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Jesus Christ. Amen.

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00:01:08,033 --> 00:01:10,966
As you know,
Philippians is Paul's thank

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00:01:10,966 --> 00:01:13,733
you letter to people
who had been his

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00:01:13,733 --> 00:01:16,700
partners in the Gospel,
as he says, from

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the first day until now.

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He says that at
the beginning of his

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letter.

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In the midst of all
of the uncertainties

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and conflicts of the
Roman world, they

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had heard the good
news from Paul about

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00:01:31,666 --> 00:01:34,366
God's love and
forgiveness in Jesus

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Christ that offered
peace and hope for

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00:01:37,333 --> 00:01:40,066
themselves and for the world.

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00:01:41,066 --> 00:01:44,700
But this turned out
to be a message that

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led not to a life of
acceptance and ease,

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but a life of controversy
and struggle as

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00:01:52,166 --> 00:01:55,166
they found
themselves as a small,

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00:01:55,166 --> 00:01:58,633
persecuted minority
in a Roman colony,

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00:01:58,633 --> 00:02:02,200
the first and last
Christian outpost at

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00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,566
the end of the European world.

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00:02:06,566 --> 00:02:09,666
What is perhaps
even worse, they had

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00:02:09,666 --> 00:02:12,900
learned that Paul,
their messenger of

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00:02:12,900 --> 00:02:16,200
peace and forgiveness
for Jesus' sake,

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00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,733
was involved in
struggle again and again,

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00:02:19,733 --> 00:02:23,133
and was now a
prisoner, probably of the

48
00:02:23,133 --> 00:02:25,833
all-powerful Roman state.

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00:02:25,833 --> 00:02:29,400
And added to that,
he was seriously ill

50
00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,833
besides. There were
not many signs of

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00:02:32,833 --> 00:02:36,600
success and lots of
reasons to think that

52
00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,400
this message and its
messenger would come

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00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:41,866
to nothing.

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00:02:42,766 --> 00:02:46,000
When they heard
that he was ill, it would

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00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,100
have been easy for
them to choose to do

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00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:52,166
nothing. After all,
Rome was a long way

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away from Philippi
and how could the few

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resources they had
that they could send,

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00:02:58,500 --> 00:03:01,733
how could that
make any difference?

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00:03:01,733 --> 00:03:05,700
And the community
had its own needs. But

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00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:09,666
as they looked at
the situation, instead

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of focusing on all
that they could not

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00:03:13,433 --> 00:03:17,666
do, they decided to
do what they could.

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They sent one of their
own, Epaphroditus,

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along with some
friendship gifts, to care

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00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,366
for Paul in his time
of weakness and

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need. And you
know, all that made a

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difference.

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Probably not in
the way that they

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expected, but an even greater

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00:03:38,233 --> 00:03:41,833
contribution. This
little sign of their

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00:03:41,833 --> 00:03:45,200
continuing love and
care and concern,

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00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,800
their decision to
seize the opportunity

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to help as they
were able, made an

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important difference
in Paul's life and

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work.

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00:03:57,666 --> 00:04:00,900
Way back in the last
century, the LCMS

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00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:04,200
Board for Mission
Services called me to

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00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,133
work with the
Evangelical Church of

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00:04:07,133 --> 00:04:10,533
Eritrea and with
Swedish missionaries to

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develop a church
study center, a program

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to train pastors
for service in the

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00:04:16,866 --> 00:04:18,800
Eritrean Church.

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The church in
Eritrea is the mother

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00:04:22,733 --> 00:04:26,000
church of the
denomination that we know

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00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,433
as the Mekani Jesus,
the largest Lutheran

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church in the world.
Swedish missionaries

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00:04:32,866 --> 00:04:35,966
began Lutheran
work in Eritrea in the

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00:04:35,966 --> 00:04:37,566
19th century.

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00:04:38,566 --> 00:04:41,933
Our family arrived
in Asmara, now the

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national capital of
Eritrea, and in our

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second night
there, the Eritrean

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00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,133
Liberation Front
began its attacks on the

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city.

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Overnight, everything
changed. Now we

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00:04:57,233 --> 00:05:00,733
lived in a war zone
under the control of

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00:05:00,733 --> 00:05:03,633
a military governor
and the army.

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00:05:03,633 --> 00:05:07,266
Conflict and death
and destruction were a

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00:05:07,266 --> 00:05:08,933
daily reality.

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00:05:08,933 --> 00:05:12,500
That people's
futures and even their

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00:05:12,500 --> 00:05:16,500
lives could be
destroyed in a moment for

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00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:20,400
no reason is a reality
that you need to

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learn and not ever accept.

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00:05:24,366 --> 00:05:27,133
But the fact of
the matter is that

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pastors were needed
more than ever in

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such dreadful
circumstances. Men still

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needed to be
trained for ministry.

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And it was clear
that outsiders like me

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would soon have
no opportunity and

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privilege to be
involved. But you must

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seize the opportunities
that God puts

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before you.

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Our friend and
coworker, Gebre Afeworki,

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00:05:57,766 --> 00:06:01,633
an Eritrean national
with his own wife

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00:06:01,633 --> 00:06:05,600
and children, was
picked up by the army

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and held in a
frightful military prison

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in those days.

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In those days, every
Eritrean man could

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be suspected of being
either a Liberation

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Front agent or a supporter.

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We missionaries
tried to make the case

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for his release, and
we even contacted

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00:06:30,033 --> 00:06:33,266
the Swedish and
American embassies to ask

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for help.

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They were sympathetic,
but there was

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nothing that could be done.

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I will always
remember the evening

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gathering where
we as the missionary

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community, the
Swedish missionaries and

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their families, and
our American family

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were gathered together
for devotions and

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prayer.

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You may have noticed
yourself how God

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leads and guides His
people when they ask

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Him to speak to Him
through His word and

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they talk to Him in prayer.

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Ingrid Holmgren, our
Swedish nurse who

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was in charge of the
church's Women and

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00:07:22,900 --> 00:07:26,166
Children's Emergency
Health and Feeding

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Program, the only
program permitted by

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the government in
that war zone, said,

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If Gebre cannot come
to us, we must go to

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him. We talked about
the opportunities,

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and so it was decided
that since family

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and friends were
expected to provide

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00:07:47,466 --> 00:07:51,333
assistance to prisoners
in the prison, we

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00:07:51,333 --> 00:07:55,766
would try to provide
assistance to Gebre.

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It was not much of
an opportunity, but

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perhaps it would
make a difference. We

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00:08:02,366 --> 00:08:05,266
decided that I would
drive the mission

151
00:08:05,266 --> 00:08:08,200
car to the prison
and watch and try to

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keep us out of trouble.

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00:08:10,333 --> 00:08:13,633
Yeah, right. Good
luck with that. And

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Ingrid would carry
the gift into the

155
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prison. So we
prepared our little basket

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of fruits and
vegetables along with a

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00:08:23,733 --> 00:08:25,866
couple of blankets.

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I thought it was a
bit over the top that

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Ingrid insisted that
we also include some

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Swedish pastries
that we all liked, but

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okay. And so we did it.

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The prison guards
were utterly amazed

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00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,700
that a Swedish woman
would get mixed up

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in the chaos and
grimness of the prison

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to bring relief for
an Eritrean prisoner.

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But there she was.
We did the same thing

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a second day.

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00:09:00,133 --> 00:09:03,533
On the third day,
Ingrid went into the

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00:09:03,533 --> 00:09:06,600
prison, and when
she came out, she

170
00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,800
brought Gebre with
her. You see, the

171
00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,400
prison administrators
could not stand it

172
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,966
when a woman who
clearly did not need to

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00:09:16,966 --> 00:09:21,166
get involved starts
assisting a prisoner.

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00:09:21,166 --> 00:09:24,200
And who knows
what will happen next.

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Maybe other people
who have been afraid

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00:09:27,500 --> 00:09:30,700
to get involved
will start to care and

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conclude that prisoners
here are people

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00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,433
too and that they
need to be treated like

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00:09:37,433 --> 00:09:39,033
human beings.

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00:09:40,033 --> 00:09:44,233
We can't have this
daily demonstration.

181
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It would be better
to just let him go.

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00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:52,500
Just because some
people looked for God

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00:09:52,500 --> 00:09:56,566
and God pointed
them to an opportunity

184
00:09:56,566 --> 00:10:00,100
for one man, at
least, there was

185
00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:03,000
deliverance and life.

186
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,766
I think that is
essentially Paul's

187
00:10:06,766 --> 00:10:09,866
experience reflected
in our text. What

188
00:10:09,866 --> 00:10:12,966
was important to
St. Paul was not that

189
00:10:12,966 --> 00:10:15,966
the Philippians sent
him a person and

190
00:10:15,966 --> 00:10:19,300
some supplies that
made his life a little

191
00:10:19,300 --> 00:10:20,366
easier.

192
00:10:21,366 --> 00:10:24,966
What was important
to him is that they

193
00:10:24,966 --> 00:10:28,633
had seized the
opportunity to put their

194
00:10:28,633 --> 00:10:32,433
faith in action, to
share with him God's

195
00:10:32,433 --> 00:10:34,133
love and care.

196
00:10:34,133 --> 00:10:37,966
Paul had already
learned how to deal with

197
00:10:37,966 --> 00:10:41,466
the good days and
the bad days and all

198
00:10:41,466 --> 00:10:45,100
the changes of life.
He had learned, as

199
00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:48,833
he says, that I am
to be content because

200
00:10:48,833 --> 00:10:50,966
I know the secret.

201
00:10:50,966 --> 00:10:55,433
And what is the
secret? I can do all

202
00:10:55,433 --> 00:11:00,533
things through him
who strengthens me. We

203
00:11:00,533 --> 00:11:05,533
too know the secret.
I can do all things

204
00:11:05,533 --> 00:11:10,266
through Christ who
strengthens me.

205
00:11:11,133 --> 00:11:15,966
Now may He open our
eyes to see the needs

206
00:11:15,966 --> 00:11:20,200
and the opportunities
and lead us to

207
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,233
respond. Amen.

208
00:11:23,566 --> 00:11:26,466
And the peace of God
which surpasses all

209
00:11:26,466 --> 00:11:29,333
understanding will
keep your hearts and

210
00:11:29,333 --> 00:11:32,233
minds in faith in
Christ Jesus. Amen.