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We welcome you to the Via Zion 
Sermon podcast. 

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We are a church based out of 
Chennai, India. 

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We are thrilled that you tuned 
in today and hope that you will 

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be refreshed, revived, and 
energized by what you hear. 

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Our desire is that you will live
life with a renewed sense of 

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purpose that stems from a 
vibrant faith in Jesus. 

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We have Jennifer with us today 
to share why the Bible can be 

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trusted and used to build 1's 
life on. 

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We hope you relish knowing more 
about God's Word and that it 

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spurs you on to greater 
intimacy. 

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With God Hi Church, It's such a 
joy and privilege to share the 

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Word of God today. 
As a child, I was always scared 

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to go and talk to the teacher in
school, be it to ask for any 

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doubt or even for permission to 
go to the restroom. 

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I was so scared that I'll convey
it wrongly. 

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Stand here and share the Word of
God. 

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Today is an evidence that God 
can use anybody, irrespective of

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their limitation, for His glory.
Amen. 

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We are going through this series
alive and active. 

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Last week we saw what the Bible 
is, how it was written over 

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centuries in different 
continents, over 40 authors, yet

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it conveys the same message. 
This week we are going to answer

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the question, can I trust the 
Bible? 

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What I hold in my hand and the 
digital copy of what I see on my

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phone is the Word of God. 
And after confirming that we can

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trust this Bible, we are going 
to move on to the application 

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part of it. 
I'd like to read from Isaiah 

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chapter 40, verse 8. 
The grass Withers and the 

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flowers fall, but the Word of 
God endures forever. 

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The grass Withers and the 
flowers fall, but the Word of 

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God endures forever. 
This verse beautifully captures 

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the nature of the Word of God. 
It says everything around us may

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change, be it people's season, 
even kingdoms, but the Word of 

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God endures forever. 
It stands unshaken through 

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generations. 
That's going to be the 

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foundation for today's 
discussion. 

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How can we say that this Bible 
that we read is reliable, that 

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it is trustworthy and it is life
changing? 

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How can we be sure of that? 
To answer that, we are going to 

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look into the historic 
credibility of the Bible. 

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The historic credibility of the 
Bible, it lies on three main 

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pillars. 
Be it any research articles you 

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take or any theology class that 
you attend on this topic, they 

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are going to touch on these 
three main pillars. 

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First pillar is the Bible's 
reliability. 

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It is based on three factors. 
We are going to look into 

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archaeological evidence, 
manuscript evidence, and 

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internal consistency and 
fulfilled prophecy. 

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When we say archaeological 
evidence, the Bible describes 

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about a lot of places. 
Not just the name of place, but 

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even how the setting was when 
the event happened, what was 

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there. 
All these details are mentioned 

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in the Bible. 
For example, in John if we take 

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the pool of Bethesda, John 
describes that it had five 

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Portico's and for a long time 
people argued that there was 

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number such place. 
This was an imaginary place 

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until the pool of Bethesda was 
discovered in Jerusalem near a 

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church called Saint Anne's 
Church, just like the way how it

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is mentioned in the Bible. 
Similarly, in 1990s Davidde 

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house was discovered. 
Till then people were saying 

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that there was number evidence 
for the existence of David and 

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few inscriptions and scrawls 
that were found in the house and

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so many other discoveries that 
was found in the last 30 years 

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proves not only the existence of
David, even the lineage of David

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we can talk about South, many 
other evidences, the 

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archaeological evidence that we 
have for the Bible, but this one

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day wouldn't be enough to share 
all of it. 

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Does this Bible need 
archaeological evidence to prove

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that it's trustworthy? 
No, but archaeology keeps 

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affirming what the Scripture 
claims about itself is true, 

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that God's Word is trustworthy. 
Let's move on to manuscript 

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evidence. 
What is a manuscript evidence? 

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A handwritten copy of the Bible 
that is still available. 

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There are around 5800 Greek 
manuscripts that are available 

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for New Testament and totally 
around 25,000 manuscripts that 

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are available for in different 
languages, Greek, Latin and 

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other language. 
And I saw a beautiful experiment

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which was done by a professor in
a class on this topic. 

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So he had two beakers, one was 
for new for the Bible and the 

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other beaker for other ancient 
books for which the manuscript 

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evidences are available. 
And he had a bowl of seed. 

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He started putting in the seed. 
Say for example, one seed 

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represents one copy of 
manuscript evidence. 

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And when he finished it, the 
entire beaker for the Bible was 

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full. 
And for other books, just the 

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layer, the the one layer of the 
seed was seen totally. 

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Only close to less than 10% of 
what is available for the Bible 

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is there for other books. 
That is the overwhelming 

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evidence that we have for 
manuscript evidences for the 

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Bible. 
This overwhelming manuscript 

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evidences shows how this book 
was carefully preserved through 

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years, moving on to internal 
consistency and fulfilled 

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prophecy. 
Last week we saw how Bible was 

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written by different authors in 
different continents over 

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centuries, and yet from 
beginning to the end it tells 

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one unified story. 2 Peter 
chapter one verse 21 says For 

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prophecy never had its origin in
the human will, but prophets 

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through humans spoke from God as
they were carried along by the 

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Holy Spirit. 40 authors, 3 
languages, 1500 years, 3 

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continents and they say 1 
unified story which is humanly 

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not possible at all. 
If me and my husband we were to 

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witness a scene or event and 
tell about it later, only 50% 

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will be able to tell it the same
way as we saw. 

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That is the human part of it. 
But one unified story was 

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possible only through the work 
of the Holy Spirit. 

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I'd like to show you an image. 
The image that you see has an X 

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axis and you can see white lines
below the X axis. 

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So those are the chapters. 
An arc is drawn when a verse 

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from 1 chapter is mentioned in 
another chapter and the colour 

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is varied based on the year gap 
between them. 

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It is proved that there are 
around 63779 cross references 

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that are there in the Bible. 
close to 64000 times there are 

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verses that are internally 
consistent. 

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How amazing is that? 
The next image that you see is 

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the list of people and places 
that are mentioned in the Bible.

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There are around 2619 in total. 
If two names are mentioned in 

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the same verse, then a 
connection is drawn between 

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them. 
If you see there are few names 

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written in an angle and few 
names horizontally, the ones 

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written in an angle are 
mentioned with less than 40 

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connections and more than 40 
connections are written 

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horizontally. 
The sizes are made bigger when 

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the connections are more. 
Thanks to all the researches 

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that the people have done 
because just looking at this 

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image, it makes me realise the 
worth of what I hold in my hand 

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and read today. 
With this we are done with the 

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first pillar by the Bible's 
reliability, and we are moving 

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on to the next pillar, the 
Bible's preservation. 

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In Matthew chapter 5, verse 18, 
Jesus says until heaven and 

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earth disappear, not the 
smallest letter, not the least 

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stroke of a pen, will by any 
means disappear from the law. 

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Jesus Himself confirms the 
divine authority of the 

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Scripture. 
So how was it preserved? 

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It was through careful copying. 
In Jesus time there were scribes

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who made handwritten copies of 
the Old Testament Scripture. 

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They wrote letter by letter and 
made copies of the Old 

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Testament. 
And the word scribe comes from a

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Hebrew word sophram. 
Sopha means to count. 

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You may think how does it relate
counting and someone making a 

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hand copy of the Bible, but 
here's the point. 

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After they finished the project,
they moved to the middle of the 

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Bible and they count letter by 
letter from the middle of the 

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Bible to forward and middle of 
the Bible to backward. 

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And they knew exactly how many 
letters were there. 

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Even if one letter was missed, 
the entire copy was destroyed. 

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It was a huge amount of time 
that it takes to make one copy 

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of it. 
And even if one letter was 

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missing, the entire copy was 
burnt. 

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That is how carefully God's 
people preserved the scripture. 

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What about accuracy? 
In 1940s there was a shepherd 

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who lost his sheep and he was 
searching for the sheep in a 

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cave near a Dead Sea. 
And he just threw a a stone into

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The Cave and all that he heard 
was a jar breaking. 

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He found that there were so many
jars which contained the scrolls

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of the Old Testament scripture 
and it was 1000 years old. 

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And when they compared the copy 
that they had with them at that 

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time, the scriptures where 95% 
exact. 

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It had the accuracy 95%. 
What about the remaining 5%? 

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It was all minor errors, be it a
spelling mistake or the names 

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were spelled differently, but 
other than that, there was not a

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single biblical principle which 
was changed. 

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It was 95% accurate. 
That is how accurate the Bible 

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that we hold in our hands to 
this day is. 

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The Dead Sea Scroll reminds us 
that it is just not an ancient 

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book, but it is a preserved 
promise with the same words God 

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spoke to people years back. 
He's the same God today, 

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speaking the same words to us. 
With this, we are moving on to 

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the next pillar that is the 
Bible's relevance. 

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This is the only book that 
doesn't just give us the 

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information, but it can 
transform us. 

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Today morning we had an activity
in our church. 

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I asked them three questions and
even if the answer to one of 

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those questions was an yes, they
can sit down and I'm going to 

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ask you 3 questions and I want 
you to answer to yourself first 

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question. 
Has at least one words in the 

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Bible has spoken to you in the 
last one year? 

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Has the Bible ever strengthened 
you or motivated you in the last

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one year? 
Has reading the scripture 

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refreshed your soul or changed 
your perspective in the last one

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year? 
I'm sure at least one of the 

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answer to this question would be
yes. 

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Irrespective of which age group 
you are, whether you're young or

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old or somewhere in between, at 
least one answer to this 

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question would have been an yes.
This ancient book has spoken, 

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guided, encouraged you, or 
changed so many of us personally

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in the last one year. 
That is just not relevance. 

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It's the living power of this 
word. 

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In Hebrews 412 we read for the 
Word of God. 

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For the word of God is living 
and active. 

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This Bible which was written 
across centuries, it still 

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speaks to us today. 
And the reason is Jesus is the 

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living word behind the written 
word. 

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We often say Jesus is the 
answer, but have we ever stopped

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and thought about what the 
question is? 

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The first few chapters of 
Genesis shows us the original 

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design of God. 
Man was created to have 

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communion with him, to share a 
relationship with him. 

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But from Genesis 3 onwards we 
see that human rebel, run and 

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hide from God. 
And we see a God who pursues, 

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who restores and redeems the 
mankind through Jesus Christ. 

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And that is the message of the 
Bible. 

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A God who wouldn't stop until he
mends this broken world through 

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Jesus Christ. 
Romans 15. 

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Four says everything that was 
written in the past was written 

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to teach us so that through the 
endurance taught in the 

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scriptures and the encouragement
they provide, we might have 

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hope. 
I want to share a small story of

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a cold case detective named Jay 
Warner Wallace. 

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He was an atheist and he wanted 
to prove that this Bible is 

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false. 
Wallace had solved decade old 

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murder cases through 
circumstantial evidences and the

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forensic report that was 
available. 

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And he wanted to use the same 
technique to the New Testament, 

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treating that as a crime scene. 
And he wanted to prove that this

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Bible, what it says is not true.
But the end of his research he 

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became a Christian when he was 
35 years old. 

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Saying this gospel has the 
hallmark evidences to say that 

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these are true. 
The eyewitnesses match perfectly

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and the differences had genuine 
detail to it. 

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Even an atheist detective found 
that this Bible was trustworthy,

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it was life changing and it is 
true. 

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And he didn't have an answer why
he shouldn't believe in a God 

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who have. 
Who has inspired to write this? 

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Now that we've seen the 
reliability of the Bible, the 

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preservation of the Bible, and 
the relevance of the Bible, we 

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can say that this Bible is 
trustworthy, life changing, and 

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it is reliable. 
Having known this, what are we 

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going to do about it? 
If you have a treasure map in 

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your hand and you know that it 
is trustworthy and it has the 

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way to find the real treasure, 
what would you do about it? 

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Will you keep it in the shelf or
would you just admire it or just

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hold it close to you? 
Or will you follow it and do 

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whatever it takes to find the 
real treasure? 

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Wouldn't all our answers be we 
will follow and find the real 

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treasure? 
When I was a child, I always 

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used to sleep keeping my Bible 
next to my pillow. 

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I always thought that I will not
get bad dreams if I do that. 

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But the power of the Bible, it 
is not unlocked by its 

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proximity. 
But when we engage with it, how 

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many times we engage with this 
Bible? 

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Why? 
Why do you think so many people 

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are using ChatGPT? 
Because it gives them an answer.

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Sometimes it gives suggestions 
and it gives clarity, more 

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information than we are supposed
to know. 

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This Bible has all the answers 
to your question. 

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Be it any problem that you take,
any situations that are there, 

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we have answers to all our 
questions. 

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In this Bible it says God says 
that our guilt is removed and 

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our future is secured and our 
future is guaranteed in him. 

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But are we engaging with the 
Bible? 

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Are we treating it like a 
treasure? 

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I'd like to take an example from
the Bible who treated the word 

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of God like a treasure and it is
Ezra. 

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I'd like to read from Ezra 
Chapter 7 verse 10. 

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It says for Ezra had set his 
heart to study the law of the 

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Lord and to do it and to teach 
his statutes and rules in 

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Israel. 
He set his heart, meaning it was

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a deliberate choice that he 
took. 

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He set his heart to read the 
Word of God and to follow it so 

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that he can teach to the people.
He didn't treat it like a book 

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of rules, but he treated it like
a treasure. 

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He followed it part by part. 
And what was the end of it? 

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God used Ezra to revive a whole 
nation that was drifted away. 

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My first application point to 
you is that would you engage 

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with the Word of God? 
Will you treat it like a 

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treasure and not a comfort book 
or book of promises, but follow 

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what is there in it? 
Secondly, would you allow the 

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word of God to have authority 
over your life? 

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Don't choose to live in the 
grey. 

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The Bible never gives an answer 
in grey. 

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It is either black or white. 
Either it is right or wrong. 

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You can't justify any sin or 
anything saying maybe this is 

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not worded this way, maybe Bible
directly doesn't say this is 

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wrong. 
We all know the answer. 

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There's a theologian named Paul 
Hovey who says men do not reject

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the Bible because it contradicts
itself, but because it 

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contradicts them. 
The Bible doesn't just tell us 

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what we want to hear, it tells 
us what we need to hear. 

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Let's take an example of Daniel.
I'd like to read from Daniel 

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chapter one verse 8:00 and 9:00.
But Daniel purposed in his heart

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that he would not defile himself
with the royal food and wine, 

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and he asked the chief official 
for permission not to defile 

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himself this way. 
Now God had caused the official 

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to show favour and compassion to
Daniel. 

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Daniel was taken to Babylon, a 
place where everything that he 

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believed in was redefined, be it
his culture, his food, his 

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worship, his name. 
But though the setting changed, 

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his standards did not change. 
He was not ready to compromise 

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on anything. 
And when we read in Daniel 

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chapter one, verse 8, he 
purposed his heart. 

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That means even before the 
temptation came in, he decided 

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that this Word of God is the one
that has authority over his 

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life. 
Not the kings, not the rules, 

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not the ways of the world, but 
what is written in the Word of 

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God. 
Everyone around him compromised.

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It's just food, it's just 
culture, it's just the diet. 

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But he did not. 
What are we compromising? 

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Be it in our workplace, in our 
families, when no one is 

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00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,040
watching? 
Are we saying is it OK to do 

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this when the Word of God 
clearly says it is not what we 

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have to do? 
Would you allow the Word of God 

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to have authority over your 
life? 

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00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,040
Thirdly, this week, would you 
allow the word of God to change 

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00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,320
your life? 
You may have a perfect devotion 

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00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:16,800
plan or a schedule, but last 
week we saw when we read the 

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Bible, it is like a mirror. 
It reads us, it reveals who God 

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is. 
This week as you read, would you

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allow the word of God to show 
you who you really are and who 

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He really is? 
One perfect example for this 

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would be David. 
Over and over in the Psalms we 

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see that he cries search me, 
cleanse me, show me who I am. 

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I'd like to read few scriptures 
from the Psalms. 

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Psalm 139 verse 23 says search 
me O God and know my heart. 

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00:22:55,200 --> 00:23:01,240
Psalm 5110 says Create in me a 
clean heart, O God, and renew a 

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right spirit within me. 
These weren't just poetic words,

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but it's a prayer of a man who 
was willing to be changed every 

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time. 
David came before God's word. 

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00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,760
He did not hide, but he came 
with honesty. 

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00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,080
He knew what it is to live in a 
fallen world. 

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00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,640
He came with a heart like that 
of a clay. 

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00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:32,080
Asking God to mould him is a 
heart's hardened today to what 

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00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:37,480
God is telling us, just like how
the clay is in the Potter's 

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00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,640
hand. 
Can you submit yourself, 

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00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:45,000
surrender to God in such a way 
that He can only mould you and 

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00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,320
make you? 
David wasn't perfect, but he was

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00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,120
ready to change. 
He kept coming back to God's 

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00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:55,960
presence again and again so that
he will be moulded. 

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00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,920
He will become more like the one
who he worshipped even today. 

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00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,520
This is just not a book that has
information about what has 

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00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,400
happened. 
But this is the only way through

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00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,040
which we can be transformed. 
This is the only way through 

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00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,160
which we can be changed. 
This week, would you engage with

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00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,840
the Word of God? 
Would you allow the Word of God 

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00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,680
to have authority over you? 
And finally, would you read the 

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00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,800
Bible so that it changes your 
life? 

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00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:32,400
My trust is that as you read, as
you meditate, you will just not 

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00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,560
trust the Bible, but you'll 
trust the God who's behind it. 

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00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,760
Can we look to God in prayer? 
Thank you for the God for this 

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00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,920
time. 
Thank you for the Bible that we 

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00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,480
hold in our hands. 
Thank you, Father God, that it 

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00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,640
still speaks to us. 
So, Father Lord, thank you that 

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00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,800
you have preserved this Bible of
Father God, Lord, that it is 

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00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,960
trustworthy. 
It is relevant to this day of 

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00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,160
Father God, Lord, even now. 
Father Lord, I pray even as we 

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00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,440
meditate on your word this week,
Oh, Father God, Lord, it will 

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00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,640
transform us. 
So Father God it will change our

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00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:11,360
lives, our Father Lord, I pray 
that we will just not trust the 

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00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,360
Bible or Father God, but we will
trust the God behind it. 

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00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:19,200
Or Father be with us, guide us 
and Goddess in Jesus name we ask

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00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:20,480
and we pray. 
Amen. 

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00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,760
Thanks for. 
Listening to this message, we 

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00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,000
hope you were blessed to hear 
more messages like this. 

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00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,360
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00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:52,320
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