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We were once enemies of God.

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And Jesus called us into relationship with himself.

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Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

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The very last drip of blood,

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the very last drop of blood that Jesus shed on the cross

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was shed for you and was shed for me.

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And Jesus took those enemies

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and turned them into sons and daughters.

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He turned them into servants.

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He turned them into his disciples and his friends.

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Friend, this is amazing news.

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This is profound news.

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And if this doesn't excite you,

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then I would check your pulse

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because this is something that should excite you.

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We were once enemies of God

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and we are now friends of God.

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Hey, welcome back.

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Today, we're gonna be looking at Matthew chapter nine,

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part two.

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Today, we're actually gonna be reading verses nine

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all the way down to verse 13.

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Starting in verse nine, it says this,

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and Jesus passed on from there.

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He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth

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and he said to him, follow me.

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And he rose and followed him.

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And as Jesus reclined at the table of the house,

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behold, many tax collectors and sinners came

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and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.

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And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,

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why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

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And when he heard it, he said,

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those who are well have no need for a physician,

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but those who are sick, go and learn what this means.

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I desire mercy and not sacrifice

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for I came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners.

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To give you a little bit of a historical context

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of why this portion of scripture is so profound,

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is because tax collectors in those days were hated.

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You see, for many reasons, they not only overtaxed people,

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but they were also on the side of the Roman government.

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And so what that would look like today

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is that would be a foreign nation who came into power

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and they were oppressing the people of the land.

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And they were only oppressing them,

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but they were taking husbands and sons

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and forcing them to fight in a battle

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that they had no right to be in,

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that they had no skin in the game in.

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They were forcing them to fight.

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And then when they died,

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there was really nothing that was given for them.

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So they were forcing these young men and these older men

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and these husbands and these sons and these brothers

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to fight in a war that wasn't theirs.

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But not only that, they were forcing those families

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to pay for these wars to be funded.

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And so, and they were just paying like a small percentage.

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They were actually taking a huge amount.

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They were taking so much

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that it was affecting the livelihood of these people.

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And not only that,

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but this government was actually coming in

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and Rome at the time was actually known for pillaging,

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raping and plundering whatever town

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that they were conquering.

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And so you had this government,

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you have this world power coming in

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and they were taking wives and they were taking sisters

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and they were taking daughters

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and they were doing terrible things to them.

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And they were making them live there.

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And they were basically there as these pets, as these toys,

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as these people who were hated,

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that were just kept around for a good time, if you will.

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I'm not gonna go into detail what that means,

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but I'm sure you can understand what I'm saying.

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And then you have certain people that in your town,

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in your village, in your neighborhood,

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who were raised up and what their job was to do

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was to tax you to be able to continue supporting

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this kingdom, to be able to support this government

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that is doing these things to you and your family.

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And these people didn't just stop there.

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They weren't just taxing you to support this government,

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but they were overtaxing these people

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so that way they could line their own pockets.

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And so it's understandable why tax collectors were hated

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and despised and considered enemies

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and even worse than some of the Romans at this time.

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And that's who Jesus runs into.

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It says, as Jesus passed on from there,

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he saw a man called Matthew sitting at a tax booth

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and he said to him, follow me.

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And he arose and followed him.

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So for Jesus to call a tax collector into service

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and into relationship was profound.

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See, the amazing thing here is that Jesus has taken

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an enemy and turned him into a disciple.

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And that is the very testimony

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of every single Christian today.

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We were once enemies of God and Jesus called us

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into relationship with himself.

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Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

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The very last drip of blood, the very last drop of blood

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that Jesus shed on the cross was shed for you

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and was shed for me.

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And Jesus took those enemies and turned them into sons

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and daughters.

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He turned them into servants.

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He turned them into his disciples and his friends.

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Friend, this is amazing news.

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This is profound news.

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And if this doesn't excite you,

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then I would check your pulse

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because this is something that should excite you.

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We were once enemies of God and we are now friends of God,

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but it doesn't just stop there.

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You see, it continues and we read on.

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We read on that as Jesus reclined at the table in the house,

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behold, many tax collectors and sinners came

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and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.

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You see, from the kindness and mercy Jesus showed Matthew,

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many other outcasts came to Jesus.

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You see, word got out that Jesus is a friend of sinners.

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He called them to be with him.

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You see, Jesus having a meal with one

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opens up an opportunity for him to have a meal with all.

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So the question I have for you is,

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what are you doing in your neighborhood?

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Who are your neighbors?

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Are you having meals with them?

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Are you reclining at a table with them?

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Are you watching football with them?

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Whatever your hobbies are, is your home open to them?

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Why, because if Jesus did it for you,

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if the doors of his home are open to you,

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then the doors of our home should be open to others.

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So that way, when they come in,

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they can have a face-to-face encounter with Jesus.

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In church today, we talk a lot about revival.

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We talk a lot about what revival will look like.

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We look at revivals in the past.

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And the thing we see is a lot of the revivals in the past

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lasted for so many generations,

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and you can actually trace it back to old women

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actually staying up late and praying for years.

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But if you also look at it, you can trace it back,

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even in the book of Acts, even here in Matthew,

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what you can trace it back is revival happened

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when Christians opened their lives to others.

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Now, I'm not saying that you have to have a kitchen table

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in order to see revival, but it does help.

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It does help.

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You might be thinking,

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Marcus, I don't know how to preach a sermon.

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Marcus, I don't know how to lead a Bible study.

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I don't know how to pray for people.

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Well, do you know how to make

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peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?

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Do you know how to sweep your floor?

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Do you know how to vacuum?

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Do you know how to invite people to come and eat with you?

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If you wanna see revival, it starts with opening your door.

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It starts with inviting people into your house,

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and it starts with inviting people to live life with you.

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Now, I know that is such a cheesy Christian term

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to say we live life together,

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but there is so much truth in that.

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There is such a profound truth

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in saying that we live life together,

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because when you live life with a person,

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you're inviting them into your mess.

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You're inviting them into your, sorry,

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you're inviting them into the Legos on the ground

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if you have kids.

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You're inviting them into dogs jumping everywhere

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and dog hair everywhere.

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You're inviting them into your life just as you are.

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You're not trying to paint a pretty picture.

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You're not trying to be someone you're not.

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No, what you're saying is, hey, here's who I am.

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I am Marcus.

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You know, I live in Colorado Springs.

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I have a wife.

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I have two kids.

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Our house is a mess because of our two kids.

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We have two dogs,

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and sometimes our grass gets a little long.

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Would you wanna live life with me?

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Would you come over to my house for dinner?

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Would you come over and watch football with me?

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Would you come over and have a barbecue with me?

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Whatever it is, just inviting someone into your house,

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just inviting people to come and dine with you,

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to come hang out with you,

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that is the catalyst for revival.

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You see, if you wanna see revival,

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if you wanna see lives transformed,

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invite people, sinners, non-believers,

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believers as a whole,

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invite them into your life,

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and it can be as easy as opening your home

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and sharing a meal.

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Here's the thing.

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We've made revival so difficult.

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We've made revival so mystic.

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We've made revival so mysterious

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in ways that we think,

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oh man, maybe if I pray a certain way,

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maybe if I fast for so long,

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maybe if I say the right words,

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maybe if I'm at the right place at the right time,

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then I'll see revival.

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If you wanna see revival, start with your neighbors.

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Start at the end of your driveway,

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and start with the friends at your church,

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and let your home be a safe haven

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and a safe place for everyone that you meet.

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Well, my prayer and my hope is that this encourages you,

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and it doesn't discourage you,

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and my prayer and my hope

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is that you feel encouraged and empowered

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to be able to invite people over for dinner,

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invite them over for a meal,

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invite them over for coffee,

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just to live life with one another.

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God bless.