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So Jesus makes this clear comparison with Satan who enslaves and he comes to save.

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So he comes to save the sheep, the enemy, Satan, demons, they come to enslave the sheep.

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And then he says that he might come, he comes that he might have life and might have it more abundantly.

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In this episode I'm going to be talking about the job description of Jesus.

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In the last episode I talked about Satan's job description and it's under the rubric here of

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the gates of hell shall not prevail. And so we're back at John 10 which is where I was in the last

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episode and I'm just going a step further in verse 10 but I want to read the whole thing starting at

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verse 7 because Jesus is describing who he is and why he came in John 10. So back at verse 7

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So Jesus makes this clear comparison with Satan who enslaves and he comes to save.

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So he comes to save the sheep, the enemy, Satan, demons, they come to enslave the sheep.

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And then he says that he might come, he comes that he might have life and might have it more abundantly.

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So Jesus is reinstating the purpose of humankind, the reason we've been placed on this earth.

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So if you have your Bible turn to Genesis 1 because in Genesis 1 the first mandate

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and the first purpose clearly defined for humankind why you and I were created and put

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on this earth is way back at the very beginning of the Bible Genesis 1. Then God said let us make

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man in our image according to our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,

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over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing

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that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him

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male and female. He created them, then God blessed them and God said to them, here we go,

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be fruitful and multiply. First he says have dominion, now he says be fruitful and multiply,

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fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion, here he says it again, have dominion over

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the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the

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earth and God said see I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth

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and every tree whose fruit yields seed to you shall be for this shall be for food and also

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every beast of the earth, every bird of the air, and everything that creeps on the earth in which

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there is life I have given you. God saw that it was good and he made it very good evening and

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morning the sixth day. So on the sixth day God creates man and woman. He makes this declaration

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that we are to have dominion that we've been created on this earth to be fruitful and

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multiply and basically to take life, to make life, to transform life. So it's not just

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for our benefit, it's quite frankly about us also multiplying our seed into the seeds of others

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and it's the nature of God. I live in Black Forest, Colorado which is just outside Colorado Springs

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and I live on six and a half acres full of pine trees. So I've got thousands of pine trees on my

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property. Pine trees create pine cones, and pine cones have little seeds within each leaf

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of the pine cone, and they're there to produce more pine trees. There's a multitudinous of

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pine trees inside one pine cone. My wife, Liz, loves flowers, and when she has a flower

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that has bloomed, and then it dries out, inside that flower are hundreds, if not thousands,

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of seeds. So everything that God does is about being fruitful, and multiplying, and taking

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over, and having dominion. Jesus then says, let's go back to John 10, he makes an interesting

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statement in that he said he's given us life, and it's life abundantly. It's that dominion

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that being fruitful and multiplying, this multiplicity of abundance that's a part of

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God's anointing, and it's calling on every person. Here's the word for abundantly, it's

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perissos. Perissos in Greek literally means superabundance, excessive, overflowing, surplus,

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ever and above, or over and above, more than enough, profuse, extraordinary, above the

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ordinary, and more than sufficient. So when Christ says, I came that you might have a

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life and might have it abundantly, he wants this overflowing, superabundant, profuse,

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extraordinary life flowing out of us like streams, streams of living water. I love to

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fly fish, and when I fly fish on streams, the water doesn't stop. The water where I

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go fishing is abundant, it's strong, it's powerful, it's full of trout, because it's

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an abundant stream, it's full of oxygen, it's full of life, and all along the edges

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of the stream, there's trees, and there's moss, and there's beauty, because there's

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life all around that stream. That's God's way for your life. Men and women, God's way,

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if you'll follow his way, if you'll follow his kingdom, is superabundance. The abundant

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life is the job description of Jesus. He comes to take sickness, he comes to take depression,

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he comes to take oppression, and to set you free with this new life, the power of his

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Holy Spirit flowing through your life. So I see three things, three things that are

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part of the abundant life that Christ has, and I want to give them to you right now.

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The first is a purpose for living. God gives us a purpose for living when we follow him.

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When he talks about, I came that you might have a life, and might have it abundantly,

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he wants you to have a purpose for your life. So Jesus said, in Matthew 6, let's just turn

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there, turn to Matthew 6, because I don't want to miss anything here, it's just too

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good. Matthew 6 is one of those great passages of scripture that we should probably memorize,

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but starting at verse 25, Jesus says this, therefore I say to you, do not worry about

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your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you

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will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the

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birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly

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Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can

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add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies

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of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even

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Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass

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of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much

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more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or

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what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek,

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for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Now this is the verse, but

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seek first the kingdom of God.

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and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

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Probably the most noble of all verses in the Bible that if we will align ourselves with

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the noble cause of the kingdom of God, we'll have a new purpose for living.

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And with that purpose, finding that as the most noble, the most primary of life, God's

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going to take care of the secondary.

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He's saying, if you'll line up the primary, if you'll seek first the kingdom of God, I'll

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take care, God the Father is saying to us, I'll take care of all those things that you

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worry about, all these things that you concern yourself with.

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Usually those are material things.

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If you'll seek first the kingdom, I'll line up those secondary issues of your life.

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I'll take care of that.

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You don't need to worry.

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Take your focus, the purpose of God, which is to seek first the kingdom of God.

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So first of all, the abundant life is seeking first the kingdom of God and letting God add

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things up, letting God take care of the secondary life.

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So first of all, God gives us a purpose for living.

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Second, God gives us provision for living.

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So purpose for living, secondly, provision for living.

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Right here in Matthew 6, Jesus goes through the things we worry about.

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We worry about clothing, we worry about food, we worry about how we look, we worry about

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our future, we worry about our job, we worry about our finances, and he says, seek first

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the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, food, clothing, job, finances

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shall be added unto you.

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If you will make Jesus and his kingdom the primary focus of your lives, what happens

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in your heart is that when you start thinking kingdom, you start thinking king, Jesus, God

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begins to form your mind and your heart in his direction.

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That's what God does.

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That's the abundant life is when we begin to discover the kingdom for our lives and

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God's going to provide for you.

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After being a missionary for 10 years, being a pastor now for over 20, I can tell you right

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now that the reality is, is that when I make Jesus my king and I make the kingdom first,

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it is extraordinary, it is actually supernatural what God does in the material areas of our

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life.

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Liz, if she were here, she would have testimony after testimony, story after story of where

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God came through with mighty really signs and wonders in these areas because we've made

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Jesus the Lord of our life.

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We made him the king over our life.

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So first purpose for living, second provision for living, and then third, which is really,

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really important, power for living.

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How do we do this?

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How do we live the Christian life?

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Well, you can't do it.

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So the good news is you have power for living.

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The bad news is you can't do it.

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You don't have the power, but he does.

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And so that's what was the dilemma of the disciples.

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After Jesus rose from the grave, they didn't know what to do.

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They were freaking out.

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They were fearful of the authorities.

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They're all hanging out in the upper room.

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Nobody wants to go out.

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They're afraid they're going to get arrested.

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They're afraid they're going to be killed.

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And then Jesus says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you

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shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of

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the earth.

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Well, that command is for every believer, men and women.

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You can have the power of the Holy Spirit living within you.

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If you will surrender to Christ, ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill you, he will.

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And it's a daily experience of giving over control, giving over our future, giving over

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our vision for our lives to the Holy Spirit and saying, Holy Spirit, give me power to

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live today for you.

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God, give me power to surrender my lust, my jealousy, my envy, my worry over to you.

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Fill me with your Holy Spirit.

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And he does.

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He comes.

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He fills you with the spirit.

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Liz and I did a teaching on the Holy Spirit channel.

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You can look that up and empower you.

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And we talk about the daily release of the power of the Holy Spirit over your life.

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So that's what Jesus does.

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That's the abundant life.

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People of the world, people who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior do not

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have that power.

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We do.

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They do not have the purpose that we have.

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They do not have the provisions that we have.

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And they do not have.

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have the power of the Spirit working in their lives.

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You do, if you're a Jesus follower.

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If you're on Empower You, you're at the right place

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because God's teaching you and training you

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about this abundant life.

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So that's the abundant life that only Christ can give us.

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You can't find it through success.

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You can't find it through having a lot of money.

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You can't find it through having the perfect job.

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As important as all those things are,

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they will never suffice for the abundance

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of knowing Jesus Christ in an intimate and powerful

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and loving and kind and joyful and purpose-driven way.

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Only Christ can do that.

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So in my next talk, I wanna be talking

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about the mission of Jesus and how God comes,

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how this abundant life actually works itself out

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in the world today.

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So God bless you, and I hope this has been helpful to you.

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I am Pastor Jim Stead, and I'm working

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to evolve this community to deliver

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abundant Seton Nevada organizations.

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And so let me say that,

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when I say people come to Jesus,

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I mean people that are on the

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right path to the Georgian portal.

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So if you are a Christian,

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I encourage you to ask,

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if you are a Christian,

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we wanna help you.

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Don't be the first and don't be the last,