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Jesus Christ is risen.
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He has risen indeed. Hallelujah.
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Gamaliel said, I tell you,
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keep away from these men
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and let them alone.
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For if this plan or this
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undertaking is of man,
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it will fail.
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But if it is of God,
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you will not be able
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to overthrow them.
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You might even be found
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opposing God.
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Perhaps you are like me when you
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hear that statement from Acts,
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chapter five,
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and you get a little bit of a
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smirk or have a little
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bit of a chuckle,
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for Luke has been telling
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us the whole story.
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We know what's going on behind
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the scenes and we know
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what is also ahead.
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Gamaliel is a respected
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Pharisee who has the
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ear of the council,
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including the Sadducees.
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He spoke with wisdom and
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experience of a man who
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had seen this before.
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He could recall uprisings,
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the cult of personalities,
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the religious zealots,
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and he knew his history and
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he knew human nature.
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He knew what we might say today.
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Cut off the head and
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the body will die.
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He knew the wisdom to say,
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no need to get overly excited
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with all these new converts
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watching closely.
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No reason to get the Romans
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upset with what's been been
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going on in Jerusalem over these
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last weeks and months.
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Nothing to see here.
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Just let it go.
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And now we sit here in the
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year of our Lord, 2023,
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thousands of years later,
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and hear that text,
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weeks away from another
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opportunity to celebrate Easter
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and the Feast of the
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Resurrection.
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Where we again remembered and
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were served by Jesus,
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who died on the cross for our
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sins and was raised from the
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dead on that triumphant Easter.
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For we are blessed to know the
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whole account and the
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rest of the story.
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We know that the disciples
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preaching,
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teaching and healing was of God.
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The book of Acts is the
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adventurous story of
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the early church,
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the account of how the Holy
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Spirit worked through that
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ragtag group of apostles.
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These disciples of Jesus,
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who were seen by others
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as uneducated men,
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but preached with boldness,
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performed miracles.
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And through them,
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people were coming to believe
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in Jesus as the long
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awaited Messiah.
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The first chapter of Acts have
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the waves of the continuing work
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of the Holy Spirit started
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at Pentecost.
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The preaching of the Gospel by
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Peter people cut to the heart.
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Repenting of sins coming
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to faith in Christ.
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Large numbers joining the
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Church. Disciples living together
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in common love and care
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for one another.
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The young church continued to
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preach and teach and heal.
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And just as Jesus promised
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and prepared,
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persecution happened.
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In Acts Four when Peter and John
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were also told to stop preaching
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the gospel,
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they responded that they could
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do nothing but speak of what
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they had seen and
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heard in Jesus.
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And they returned to their
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friends and spoke prayers to our
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sovereign Lord. Speaking
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and now, Lord,
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look upon their threats and
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grant to your servants to
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continue to speak Your word with
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all boldness while you stretch
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out your hand to heal and sign
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and wonders are performed
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through the name of your
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holy servant Jesus.
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And was that prayer answered.
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The Holy Spirit filled them and
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they continued to speak the word
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of God with boldness to where
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it landed them in jail.
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And from there they were
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released by the angel and
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immediately they were sent
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out to teach more
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as the Holy Spirit
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went with them.
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The good news of Jesus
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forgiveness would not be
00:04:12.408 --> 00:04:14.754
quenched and thank God for that
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undertaking that only
00:04:16.028 --> 00:04:17.480
he alone could do.
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For I have to be honest,
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when I hear this text
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from Acts Five,
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there's a certain part that
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immediately cuts to my heart.
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These were Peter's words we must
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obey God rather than men.
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Those words take me back
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to my childhood.
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My mind may not be transported
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immediately back to when I first
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heard those words of Peter,
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but certainly it was a time as
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I aged and started to learn
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a little more about the
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complications of living as a
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Christian in our fallen world.
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As I became more attuned and
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understanding of my
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own sinfulness.
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I became much,
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much more aware of how I
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was not obeying God,
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but was obeying man.
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As I was preparing
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to preach today,
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I went back to my old Bible that
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I had through high school years.
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And as I was a big highlighter
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in those days as I'd go through
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my Bible and I came to Acts Five
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and there's some things
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highlighted,
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but a lot that wasn't.
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But yet that one statement
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by Peter was highlighted.
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I can only imagine probably what
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was going through my mind the
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day that I did that and what I
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had to contemplate
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and think about.
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Now,
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this wasn't just guilt over not
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preaching as Peter did.
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But I certainly had a deeper
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understanding of how I was not
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following God. Misusing the
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Lord's name, speaking lies,
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not honoring my parents
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in so many ways,
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dishonouring relationships.
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God's word through Peter was in
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its way the two edged sword that
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we're so familiar with.
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One that still makes me skip a
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breath a bit when I think about
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how far I fall short.
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The other side of the sword,
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though,
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is that I also marvel that Peter
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speaks boldly about Jesus before
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the High priest and the council.
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I marvel that just a short
00:06:17.956 --> 00:06:18.734
time before this,
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Peter was denying knowing Jesus
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as he was on trail by the
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High priest and council.
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We see the love and restoration
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of Jesus at the work of the life
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of Peter and the other apostles.
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That is what our God does.
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He undertakes the saving and
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transforming of sinners.
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Jesus hung on a tree,
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was raised,
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is exalted and gives repentance
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and forgiveness for my sins
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and for your sins.
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And what a great opportunity is
00:06:53.668 --> 00:06:55.730
again to sit and reflect.
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It's amazing to sit in our place
00:06:58.696 --> 00:07:00.834
here again in the year of 2023,
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days away from Call Day and
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Placement Day for some of you.
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Weeks away from the end of
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another academic year
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graduation for some.
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No doubt,
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you pastors that are here and
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those that have served in the
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church over the last weeks at
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the end of exhausting weeks of
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leading people to the cross
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and the empty tomb.
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And we are here because we
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know the whole story.
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We are here because of the work
00:07:26.384 --> 00:07:28.890
of that same Holy Spirit.
00:07:29.550 --> 00:07:31.114
We are here because he brought
00:07:31.162 --> 00:07:32.654
us to faith through God's work
00:07:32.692 --> 00:07:34.378
and baptism and gathered
00:07:34.394 --> 00:07:35.920
you into Christ's body.
00:07:36.530 --> 00:07:38.222
We are beneficiaries of Christ
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working through the confession
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of Peter,
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of John and the apostles and the
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many faithful who
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came after them.
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We benefit from God's
00:07:46.318 --> 00:07:47.506
undertaking at the work of
00:07:47.528 --> 00:07:48.782
Johannes Bugenhagen,
00:07:48.846 --> 00:07:51.246
Martin Luther and the reformers.
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By the work of the Holy Spirit
00:07:53.038 --> 00:07:54.638
they were captured by God's word
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to speak his truth and deliver
00:07:57.058 --> 00:07:57.926
God's forgiveness to
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those who believe.
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You each have people in your own
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lives who God used and uses
00:08:04.322 --> 00:08:05.560
to do this work.
00:08:06.330 --> 00:08:09.270
Parents, childhood pastors,
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college professors and pastors,
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DCE's, teachers, deaconess,
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aunts and uncles,
00:08:16.086 --> 00:08:17.385
all those who share the good
00:08:17.408 --> 00:08:19.100
news of Jesus Christ.
00:08:20.050 --> 00:08:21.674
You have professors and staff
00:08:21.722 --> 00:08:23.294
here that pray for you,
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educate you,
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challenge you and want the best
00:08:27.092 --> 00:08:29.802
for you. I know this firsthand.
00:08:29.866 --> 00:08:31.645
It is great honor to be
00:08:31.668 --> 00:08:33.280
here with you today,
00:08:33.650 --> 00:08:35.102
but I know if Dr.
00:08:35.155 --> 00:08:35.818
Schmidt,
00:08:35.914 --> 00:08:37.342
going back to my days
00:08:37.395 --> 00:08:38.198
in Homiletics,
00:08:38.234 --> 00:08:39.506
one is one probably first
00:08:39.528 --> 00:08:40.306
impressed that could actually
00:08:40.328 --> 00:08:41.630
even get into the pulpit,
00:08:41.710 --> 00:08:42.786
let alone string two
00:08:42.808 --> 00:08:44.034
sentences together.
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As you have a great community
00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:47.425
here that supports you in the
00:08:47.448 --> 00:08:49.502
work as you confess the gospel
00:08:49.646 --> 00:08:50.674
and share the good news
00:08:50.712 --> 00:08:51.780
with God's people.
00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:54.590
And you and your many vocations
00:08:54.670 --> 00:08:55.922
can rest assured that God
00:08:55.976 --> 00:08:57.580
is at work in you.
00:08:58.030 --> 00:08:59.254
God answers your prayers
00:08:59.302 --> 00:08:59.960
for boldness when
00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:00.718
you don't seem to
00:09:00.724 --> 00:09:01.614
have the words.
00:09:01.732 --> 00:09:02.986
And when you may be exhausted
00:09:03.018 --> 00:09:03.898
from the challenges
00:09:03.994 --> 00:09:05.054
in the world.
00:09:05.252 --> 00:09:06.666
He sends His Holy Spirit
00:09:06.698 --> 00:09:07.790
to grant strength
00:09:08.930 --> 00:09:11.326
to give you perseverance as you
00:09:11.348 --> 00:09:12.800
serve in his mighty name.
00:09:13.410 --> 00:09:14.766
And I also thank you for
00:09:14.788 --> 00:09:15.898
being those pastors,
00:09:15.994 --> 00:09:17.982
church workers and laypeople who
00:09:18.036 --> 00:09:19.514
work in the field of youth
00:09:19.562 --> 00:09:20.990
and children's ministry.
00:09:21.330 --> 00:09:22.782
Whether this be in your field
00:09:22.836 --> 00:09:24.186
work, your internship,
00:09:24.218 --> 00:09:24.946
your vicarage,
00:09:25.018 --> 00:09:26.006
or as a professor or
00:09:26.028 --> 00:09:26.786
seminary staff,
00:09:26.818 --> 00:09:28.422
or as a parent or in your future
00:09:28.476 --> 00:09:29.414
congregation or present
00:09:29.452 --> 00:09:30.854
congregation of service.
00:09:31.052 --> 00:09:32.278
May the Lord bless you with
00:09:32.284 --> 00:09:33.494
boldness to teach his word,
00:09:33.532 --> 00:09:34.518
to speak his words of
00:09:34.524 --> 00:09:36.454
forgiveness and to show his love
00:09:36.492 --> 00:09:38.886
of sinners. That we are told and
00:09:38.908 --> 00:09:40.006
that we can confess of that
00:09:40.028 --> 00:09:41.714
great love that we know in Jesus
00:09:41.762 --> 00:09:43.554
Christ and the forgiveness
00:09:43.602 --> 00:09:44.630
of our sins.
00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:47.602
In the name of Jesus.
00:09:47.665 --> 00:09:47.890
Amen.