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Grace to you and peace from God our

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Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus

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Christ.

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Our text for this morning is the Gospel

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reading just heard, let us pray.

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Heavenly Father, sanctify us in the

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truth.

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Your Word is truth.

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Amen.

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the

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Advent season is well and truly upon us,

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in full

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swing, isn't it?

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A season of joyful anticipation of our

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Lord's coming and we see reminders of

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this all around

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us on our beautiful campus.

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The nativity scene just outside this

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chapel, the star atop the tower, lights

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in the trees

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if you're here at night time, these two

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trees magnificent in this sanctuary.

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This is a time when we joyfully await the

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Advent of our King, the joyful

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expectation

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of our Savior and that of course means

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repentance.

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Advent means repentance for us.

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For like Lent culminating in the great

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Triduum, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and

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the Feast

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of the Resurrection, Advent also is a

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penitential season culminating in the

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Feast of the Nativity

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of our Lord, the Advent of our King.

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Who by His first Advent has brought the

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reign of God to us in His flesh and by

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His first

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Advent has provided atonement for your

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and my sin, the sin of the whole world by

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His

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death on the cross and has risen again to

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give us divine life.

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At His first Advent He instituted the

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apostolic ministry of the church, the

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proclamation of

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the gospel, the life-giving old Adam

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drowning, resurrection guaranteeing,

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forgiveness saturated

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sacrament of baptism, the forgiving and

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retaining of sins in His name, His own

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real presence

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among us in His holy body and blood,

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given and shed for you wherever God's

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word and promises

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are enacted and believed and taught and

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confessed.

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Who has promised I am with you always to

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the very end of the age and who makes us

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ready

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for His appearing again to judge the

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living and the dead.

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That final Advent that we await, that

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unknown day and hour when the veil will

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be lifted

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and when all people, believer and

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unbeliever alike will see and confess

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what already is

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Christ exalted at the right hand of the

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Father ruling over all things.

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Christ your Lord and God.

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And how do you prepare for that?

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Repentance and faith.

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Both John and Jesus tell us very plainly

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the time is fulfilled, the reign of God

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has come,

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repent and believe in the gospel.

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Oh there are a lot of things that

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threaten us in this life, in this valley

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of sorrows

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aren't there?

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Things that come outside of us, tragedy

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will attack us within, sickness,

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calamity, every

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other malady that attacks us.

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But our greatest threat is right in here,

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it's our sin.

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That which would condemn us, that of

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which we are guilty were it not for our

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Savior.

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So all last week we prayed that collect

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for first Advent, stir up your power oh

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Lord and

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come rescue and protect us from the

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threatening perils of our sins by your

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might.

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Most of all we need the forgiveness of

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sins, your sins, my sins.

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And that's just what we find in today's

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text in Luke 3 as John comes proclaiming

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a baptism

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of repentance for the forgiveness of

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sins.

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John, this forerunner of Christ, this

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last great prophet, this Elijah, this

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voice crying

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in the wilderness, to John the Word of

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God came.

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And he didn't hold back did he concerning

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this one thing needful, this gift of

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repentance

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and faith in Christ that we all need.

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From John's mouth come shocking words for

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those not ready to hear them, for all who

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would put their confidence in the flesh

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and in their own works.

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He says you brood of vipers, way to win

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friends and influence people.

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Who warned you to flee from the wrath

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that's about to be?

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The axe lies at the root of the trees,

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every tree not bearing good fruit will be

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cut out

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and thrown into fire.

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And on he goes leaving no doubt at all

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about the threatening perils of our sins.

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No gentle and mild hallmark greetings

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from John.

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Just a Christ who comes with winnowing

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fork in his hand to clear his threshing

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floor.

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A Christ come to purify His people and

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set them right.

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A Christ come not to leave them in their

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sins but redeem them from their sins.

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He is the kind of Christ who would meet

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our greatest, deepest need.

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This one thing needful, providing

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atonement by His cross and justifying

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death conquering

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resurrection for you.

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So to the confident, the self-confident,

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to all who thought they already had what

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it takes

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to be children of Abraham, to all who

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would trust in their breeding or standing

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in the

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community, their decency or their own

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virtue, John's preaching gives this

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warning.

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I tell you, God is able from these stones

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to raise up children for Abraham.

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If you want your ears massaged with

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affirmations about how good you really

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are deep down, if

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your ears itch to hear the desires of

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your own heart echoed back at you, if you

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want

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a Christ who's come to scratch those

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itches, then John's preaching will come

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as a shock.

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To the complacent, the self-confident, to

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all who would justify themselves or their

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sin, John's preaching is bad news.

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Very bad news.

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The worst news.

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And the only way to cope with it is to

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dismiss it, diminish it, to find some way

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not to take

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it seriously.

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But it is good news.

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The very best news imaginable for those

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who would be rid of their sin.

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For John came proclaiming a baptism of

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repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

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to prepare for

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a Christ come to save sinners in need of

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repentance.

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And that is everyone.

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It's you.

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It's me.

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Everyone.

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Christ died for sinners, said Dr. Luther,

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so you better be one.

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And you are one.

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So am I.

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Christ is for you.

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Well let's consider how John calls the

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crowds to repentance.

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How he prepares also us for Christ's

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advent.

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First, the crowd asked, what should we

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then do?

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They wanted to know what these fruits

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worthy of repentance were.

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So John answers, the man with two tunics

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should share with him who has none, and

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the one who

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has food should do the same.

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The fruit of repentance is love your

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neighbor.

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Help and support him in every physical

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need.

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But as John also makes clear, such deeds

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of love and service are just the fruit

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worthy

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of repentance, not repentance itself,

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contrition and sorrow on account of sin.

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Faith in the one who delivers us from it.

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No good works, no acts of love, no

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self-sacrifice of ours can pay the debt

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we owed.

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But Christ has paid it.

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Christ has paid it.

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John would urge us to good works that

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grow out of repentant hearts, that humbly

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look

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in gratitude to the one whose advent he

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was heralding.

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Come to save us.

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Well then John follows up by calling to

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repentance people according to their

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vocations and stations

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in life.

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To the tax collector he says, don't

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collect any more than you are required

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to.

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For them that means thou shalt not steal.

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To the soldier he says, don't extort

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money and don't accuse people falsely.

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Be content with your pay.

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Don't rough people up just because you

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can.

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Don't take advantage.

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To all of us, don't abuse your vocation

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and station in life, instead live as God

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has called

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you to live.

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Take every opportunity to love as He has

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loved you.

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For isn't it so very true that the places

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in life that God has put us while

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bringing

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us wonderful opportunities to love and

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serve those around us according to our

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vocations

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are also opportunities to sin against

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those people and against God.

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What about your other vocations, the

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relationships that they define?

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You husbands, I think you know well that

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you can sin against your wife and let her

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down

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like no other man in the world has

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opportunity to do.

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So do you wives.

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You know how you can sin against your

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husband like no other woman can.

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You single people, you know the unique

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ways that the perils and temptations of

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sin take

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a different shape for you.

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And parents, what a wonderful privilege

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we have to raise these, God's children.

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But we too can sin against our children

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in ways no one else in the world can.

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Likewise, children called to honor father

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and mother can sin against their parents

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in

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ways no other children can.

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Well that's sin, isn't it?

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Sin is no abstract idea, no mere concept.

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Sin is real, concrete, lived, the stuff

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of real life and real relationships,

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whether

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of thought, word or deed, of commission

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or omission, original inborn, in curvatus

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inse

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sin bears its rotten fruit when we sin

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against real people and against our real

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God.

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So consider your place in life according

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to the Ten Commandments, says the

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Catechism.

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Are you a father, mother, son, daughter,

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husband, wife or worker?

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And to these we could add seminary

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student, professor, deaconess, pastor,

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administrator.

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Have you been disobedient, unfaithful or

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lazy?

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Have you been hot-tempered, rude or

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quarrelsome?

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Have you hurt someone by your words or

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deeds?

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Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted

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anything or done any harm?

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The Catechism, like John, takes no

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prisoners because the law kills.

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It allows no excuses.

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It would have you tell the truth, tell

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how it really is.

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Like John, it would have you repent and

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die to all self-justification.

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It urges us all to pray, Lord, rescue and

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protect us from the threatening perils of

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our sins.

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Well, maybe John's words don't come as

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such a shock to your Lutheran ears after

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all.

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After all, the theological use of the law

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is to kill, to hold up the mirror of the

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law

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to our wretched state and show us how it

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really is.

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No great surprise or shock there.

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But there's a lot more to John and his

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ministry than killing us with the law.

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For in verse 18 we heard from the ESV,

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with many other exhortations, he preached

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the good

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news to the people.

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More literally and exhorting many other

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things, he was evangelizing the people.

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John was fulfilling the vision that

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Isaiah son of Amos saw, a holy highway

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through the

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desert and waste places, well watered,

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bringing life, bringing God's people back

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to Zion,

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out of captivity.

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John is, Luke records, the voice of one

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crying in the wilderness, prepare the way

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of the

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Lord, make his paths straight.

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Every valley shall be filled, every

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mountain and hill shall be made low, and

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the crooked

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shall become straight, and the rough

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places shall become level ways, and all

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flesh shall

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see the salvation of our God.

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The glory of the Lord, the Kavod Adonai,

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the presence of God himself in the flesh

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was coming

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in Christ.

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John was heralding Christ come to bring

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His people back from a captivity that

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transcends

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that of any empire, be it Babylonian or

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Roman.

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Christ come to bring release from the

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captivity that has captured all people,

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the shroud that

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covers all nations, death, and its fatal

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sting, sin.

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Perilous, threatening sin.

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For that kind of redemption, you need a

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suffering Christ who atones for you.

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And that's exactly who was about to set

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foot on the scene.

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As Jesus is baptized, the heavens open,

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the Holy Spirit come down, and the

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Father's voice

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00:15:54,833 --> 00:15:58,266
from heaven says, you are my beloved Son,

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00:15:58,266 --> 00:16:00,733
with you I am well pleased.

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Yes, the law must do its work, even shock

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us with the truth about ourselves and

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just

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how high the stakes really are.

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But something even more shocking was

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about to take place.

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One whose sandals John was unworthy to

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untie.

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Christ, innocent, perfect, holy God in

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the flesh was about to submit to John's

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baptism

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of repentance.

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Christ about to be not washed clean, but

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washed dirty in the very sins that John

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was calling

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out.

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Christ, about to be bathed in your and my

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every impure thought, wayward word and

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00:16:50,033 --> 00:16:50,566
act

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contrary to God's holy will.

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Sins of commission and sins of omission,

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sins actual, sin original, all sin

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00:16:59,933 --> 00:17:01,566
imputed to Christ.

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Christ becomes sin for you, then dying

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00:17:05,266 --> 00:17:09,200
your death and rising to life for you.

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That you may be washed clean, clean by

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the life giving waters of your baptism, a

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00:17:19,066 --> 00:17:20,033
baptism

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00:17:20,033 --> 00:17:22,833
empowered by His all powerful word, a

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00:17:22,833 --> 00:17:25,666
baptism in which he gives you His own

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divine immortal

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life, His righteousness, His innocence,

399
00:17:30,500 --> 00:17:34,166
His holiness in a great exchange for your

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and

401
00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:37,300
my wretchedness, impurity, pride and

402
00:17:37,300 --> 00:17:40,133
everything at enmity with God that's in

403
00:17:40,133 --> 00:17:40,566
us.

404
00:17:41,533 --> 00:17:45,033
Every threatening perilous sin.

405
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Yes, the law is shocking, but the gospel

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thankfully is much more so.

407
00:17:53,733 --> 00:17:56,166
So rejoice repentant people of God and

408
00:17:56,166 --> 00:17:58,600
await with joy the advent of your king

409
00:17:58,600 --> 00:17:59,433
and savior

410
00:17:59,433 --> 00:18:02,733
already now present with you, even as we

411
00:18:02,733 --> 00:18:05,933
await the time when all flesh shall see

412
00:18:05,933 --> 00:18:07,233
the salvation

413
00:18:07,233 --> 00:18:09,866
of God, your salvation.

414
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Amen.

415
00:18:12,966 --> 00:18:14,800
And the peace of God which surpasses all

416
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:16,700
understanding, keep your hearts and minds

417
00:18:16,700 --> 00:18:17,533
in Christ Jesus

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now and forevermore.

419
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Amen.