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Well, good afternoon. 
I'm thankful to be here with you

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and I'm honored to have the 
opportunity to speak before you 

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this afternoon. 
And for a short while, the focus

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of our study is going to be 
love, and more specifically, 

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brotherly love. 
And this comes from a question 

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that John asks us about love, a 
rhetorical question that we find

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in the scripture. 
In First John Chapter 4, verse 

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20. 
It says there if someone says I 

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love God and hates his brother, 
he is a liar For he who does not

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love his brother, whom he has 
seen. 

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How can he love God whom he has 
not seen? 

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This is a powerful question, and
we're going to dive into a few 

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aspects of love this afternoon. 
So hopefully we'll gain a useful

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understanding of this verse and 
how we can better as Christians 

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apply it to our lives in order 
to glorify God in all that we 

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do. 
The outline for a study The 

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structure for a study is based 
around 4 main questions and I'm 

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going to try my best to answer 
the first of which is what is 

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love? 
Secondly, do we really have to 

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love everyone? 
Thirdly, why do we love? 

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What should our motivation for 
loving be? 

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And 4th what happens when we 
love others? 

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What real effect should we 
expect to see when we do love as

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God expects us to throughout 
this study? 

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Separate from these questions, 
I'll be asking several personal 

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reflection questions. 
I guess you could call them 

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that. 
And they might be a little 

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challenging. 
In fact, I hope they're a little

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challenging because it's 
important to be honest with 

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ourselves as Christians. 
The only way that we can become 

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stronger Christians is if we 
could think to ourselves. 

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I'm weak in this area and I need
to become stronger. 

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So hopefully these questions 
help to make the study practical

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and applicable and relevant. 
Before we dive into further 

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questions about love, it's 
important that we agree upon 

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what Biblical love, brotherly 
love is actually referring to. 

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And the best definition that I 
could come up throughout my 

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study of this topic was the 
internal decision to act 

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outwardly in the best interest 
of others. 

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So let's look at some Bible 
examples of what this could 

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mean. 
In First John chapter 3, verse 

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18, it says my little children 
let us not love in Word or 

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tongue, but in deed and in 
truth. 

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In this verse, John is 
emphasizing the importance of 

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the act of loving rather than 
just the feeling of love that we

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often think about. 
This isn't to say that we 

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shouldn't express our love 
verbally. 

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It's never a bad thing to tell 
someone that you love them. 

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In fact, it's a good thing. 
Jesus does this to his disciples

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many times, but it shows us how 
much more important it is to 

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show our love rather than simply
telling it. 

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Furthermore, First Corinthians 
13 verses 4 through the 

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beginning of verse 8 says love 
suffers long and is kind. 

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Love does not envy. 
Love does not parade itself. 

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Love is not puffed up, does not 
behave rudely, does not seek its

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own, is not provoked, thinks no 
evil, does not rejoice in 

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iniquity but rejoices in the 
truth, bears all things, 

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believes all things, hopes all 
things, endures all things. 

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Love never fails. 
What sticks out to me about this

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passage is again the emphasis on
the outward expression of love. 

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Love, when it's talked about in 
the Bible, is not usually 

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described as some warm, fuzzy 
feeling that we get inside, but 

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rather it is an inward devotion 
that compels us to behave in a 

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certain way that the emotional 
and internal internal aspect of 

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love is definitely important. 
God blessed us with emotions for

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a reason, but what Paul 
emphasized here was the outward 

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manifestation of that internal 
state. 

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I think that there's an 
interesting connection between 

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love and faith in the scripture.
In John chapter 14 in reference 

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to love Jesus, it says there in 
verse 23 through 24 Jesus 

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answered and said to him, if 
anyone loves me, he will keep my

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word and my Father will love him
and we will come to him and make

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our home with him. 
He who does not love me does not

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keep my words and the word which
you hear is not mine but the 

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fathers who sent me. 
And in the context of faith, 

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James tells us in James chapter 
2, verse 18. 

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But someone will say, you have 
faith and I have works. 

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Show me your faith without your 
works and I will show you my 

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faith by my works. 
Both of these passages, I'd 

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argue, are making similar claims
about different subjects. 

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John's telling us that our love 
should inspire obedience. 

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And James is telling us that our
faith should inspire works. 

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In fact, it is through our 
obedience and it is through our 

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works that we demonstrate that 
we have both of these things. 

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It is not just enough to say 
that you have love, just like it

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is not enough to say that you 
have faith. 

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James tells us that faith 
without works is dead. 

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And I would advocate to you this
afternoon that love without 

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loving behavior is dead as well.
The authenticity of both our 

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faith and our love is based upon
what they compel us to do, how 

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they compel us to behave. 
So when we think about love as 

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that decision to act in the best
interest of others, we can 

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replace. 
Place the word love in this 

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question and don't ask 
ourselves, am I loving, but 

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rather ask am I acting in the 
best interest of others? 

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This makes it a lot more 
practical, a little bit less 

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abstract, and it makes it may be
easier to answer, but harder to 

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harder to answer at the same 
time, because this is tangible, 

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this is real, this is our 
actions every single day. 

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And I know that I cannot answer 
this question yes, 100% of the 

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time. 
And I'm willing to bet that 

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many, if not all of you in the 
audience also cannot answer this

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question. 
Yes, 100% of the time. 

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But this is a good question to 
reflect upon, to recenter 

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ourselves in that love that we 
should be having. 

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I think the natural follow up 
question to what is love is who 

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do I have to love? 
Is it really true that 

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Christians are supposed to love 
everyone? 

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And is it really wrong to hate 
people even if they've done 

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horrible things? 
Let's see what the Bible has to 

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say. 
I have these verses if you're 

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taking notes listed on the 
screen and they won't be shown 

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up here. 
So feel free to follow along in 

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your bibles. 
But I'm mostly just going to 

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read through them and add an 
additional comment here there. 

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So we're going to fly through 
these verses coming up here. 

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So first of all we must love our
spiritual brethren. 

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And a few verses that deal with 
that are John chapter 13, verse 

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34. 
It says there a new commandment 

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I give to you that you love one 
another as I have loved you, 

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that you also love one another. 
This is Jesus talking to his 

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disciples. 
Furthermore, Matthew 22 verse 36

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through 39 says, teacher, what 
is the great commandment in the 

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law? 
Jesus said to him, you shall 

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love the Lord your God with all 
your heart, with all your soul 

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and with all your mind. 
This is the first and great 

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commandment. 
And the 2nd is like it. 

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You shall love your neighbor as 
yourself. 

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So a brief pause here. 
Jesus says to love our neighbor,

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but what exactly does that mean?
You know the word neighbor 

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usually refers to the person who
lives next door to you. 

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But looking at the Greek word 
for neighbor in this passage is 

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very helpful in understanding 
what Jesus is truly saying. 

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Here I believe the mic just fell
off me. 

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The Greek word for neighbor. 
I won't try to pronounce it, but

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it can be defined as any other 
man, irrespective of nation or 

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religion, with whom we live or 
whom we chance to meet. 

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Our neighbor is anyone who is in
close proximity to us and 

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brothers and sisters. 
That is literally everyone that 

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we meet on a daily basis. 
Everyone is our neighbor and 

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Jesus is telling us we need to 
love our neighbors, We need to 

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love everyone. 
First, John chapter 3, verse 14 

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and 15 say we know that we have 
passed from death to life 

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because we love the brethren. 
He who does not love his brother

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abides in death. 
Whoever hates his brother is a 

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murderer, and you know that no 
murderer has eternal life 

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abiding in him. 
So we know that we must love. 

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But now John is telling us it's 
wrong to hate to the point that 

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if we do hate a brother, we are 
in God's eyes the exact same as 

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a murderer. 
And obviously that would mean 

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that we are disqualified from 
receiving eternal life. 

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Matthew, chapter 5, verses 21 
through 24 says you have heard 

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that it was said to those of old
you shall not murder. 

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Whoever murders will be in 
danger of the judgement. 

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But I say to you that whoever is
angry with his brother without a

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cause shall be in danger of the 
judgement, and whoever says to 

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his brother Raqqa shall be in 
danger of the council. 

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But whoever says you fool shall 
be in danger of Hellfire. 

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Therefore, if you bring your 
gift to the altar and there 

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remember that your brother has 
something against you, leave 

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your gift there before the altar
and go your way. 

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First be reconciled to your 
brother, then come and offer 

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your gift. 
What's emphasized here is the 

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importance of reconciliation 
with brethren. 

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In this context, it's even put 
before coming to the altar to 

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worship. 
This means that being in good 

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standing with our brethren is 
not something that we can be 

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taking lightly. 
In fact, it needs to be at the 

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top of our priority list. 
The majority of these verses so 

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far have been dealing with 
relationships to our spiritual 

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family. 
But Jesus also taught about how 

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we need to be acting toward 
those who do not act lovingly 

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toward us. 
In Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 

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through 47 says you have heard 
that it was said you shall love 

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your neighbor and hate your 
enemy. 

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But I say to you, love your 
enemies, bless those who curse 

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you, do good to those who hate 
you, and pray for those who 

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spitefully use you and persecute
you, that you may be sons of 

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your Father in heaven. 
For he makes the sunrise on the 

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evil and on the good, and sends 
rain on the just and on the 

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unjust. 
For if you love those who love 

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you, what reward have you? 
Do not even the tax collectors 

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do the same. 
And if you greet your brethren 

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only, what do you do more than 
others? 

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Do? 
Not even the tax collectors do? 

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So Jesus is saying, if we love 
only those who love us, we are 

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no better than a tax collector. 
And in this culture that would 

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have been a huge slap in the 
face. 

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Nobody wanted to be likened to a
tax collector. 

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Everyone disliked them, but the 
point being, we truly show love 

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by acting in the best interests 
of even those who hate us. 

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This doesn't mean that we do 
what they want us to do 

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necessarily, but it means that 
we don't refrain from doing 

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things like sharing the gospel 
towards someone just because we 

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think that they don't like us. 
It means that we don't stop 

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acting lovingly toward those who
do not act lovingly toward us. 

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So, having discussed who we need
to love, I present this question

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Is there someone in your life 
that you aren't on good terms 

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with? 
And you know that if you just 

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reached out, it would make 
things better? 

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Are there any names or any faces
that come to mind? 

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Furthermore, are we acting in a 
loving way toward people that we

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might not feel deserve our love?
Are we being kind to people 

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without expecting kindness in 
return? 

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And are we being friendly toward
people who are not friendly to 

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us? 
What might make it easier to do 

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these things is understanding 
why we're supposed to love 

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others. 
If we have that motivation it's 

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going to be a lot easier and the
execution of this. 

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The primary reason I believe for
us to love others is simply 

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because God loves us. 
In first John chapter 416 it 

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says and we have known and 
believed the love that God has 

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for us. 
God is love and he who abides in

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love abides in God and God in 
Him. 

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Furthermore, Romans 5/8 says but
God demonstrates his own love 

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toward us and that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for 

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us. 
When we have trouble loving 

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people, I would advocate that 
it's usually because that person

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did something to us, said 
something to us, and we don't 

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think that they deserve our 
love. 

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And this verse here really does 
a great job of pointing out the 

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irony in that situation. 
Remember that question I asked? 

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Do I love people even if I feel 
they don't deserve my love? 

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That is a very selfish way to be
thinking. 

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And I know I have been in that 
position, and I'm sure many of 

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you have as well. 
But this verse puts that all 

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into perspective for us. 
How can we as sinners claim that

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other people are undeserving of 
our love when God, the perfect 

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almighty Creator of the 
universe, gave his only begotten

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Son to come to earth, live a 
life full of suffering and pain,

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to die for that person on the 
cross so that they might have a 

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hope of eternal salvation? 
Unless our love is somehow more 

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precious than God's. 
Spoiler alert. 

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SPOILER alert, it isn't. 
We are in no position to 

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withhold it. 
Finally, in first John 411, it 

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says Beloved, if God so loved 
us, we also ought to love one 

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another. 
In beautiful simplicity, John 

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sums it up. 
God loves us. 

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We should love others. 
What you might consider our 

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secondary reason for loving 
others is to show God that we 

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love Him. 
We've already established, Read 

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through those passages that talk
about how we're commanded to 

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love others, and Jesus says in 
John 1415, if you love me, keep 

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my commandments. 
Because we love God, we must 

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keep His commandments. 
And because God has commanded us

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to love others, failure to do so
would be evidence that we do not

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truly have a obedience inspiring
love for God. 

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So now ask yourselves this 
question. 

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Am I showing the people around 
me what God's love for man is 

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like? 
What God's love for me is like? 

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Am I demonstrating the love that
God showed us when he gave his 

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only Son to die for a world that
hated and rejected him? 

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Am I being loved? 
Where have I been loving even 

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when I won't be loved back? 
Finally, what happens when we as

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Christians truly do have that 
love that God wants us to in our

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lives? 
What should we expect to see? 

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First of all we display unity to
a divided world. 

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In John chapter 13, verse 34 and
35 it says a new commandment. 

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I give to you that you love one 
another as I have loved you, 

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that you also love one another. 
By this all will know that you 

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are my disciples if you have 
love for one another. 

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Our love and unity in the church
should be a sign to those in the

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world that the church is a place
of refuge. 

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It is a breath of of fresh air 
in a world that is polluted with

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hatred and division. 
One of the most powerful 

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evangelistic tools is showing 
the world that we have this love

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and unity and that it is 
possible when you can't find it 

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anywhere else in the world. 
The people in the world are 

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watching us, and if they look 
into the church and see a group 

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of unloving, cruel and divided 
people, why in the world would 

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they be drawn in the way that we
interact with one another? 

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We've already discussed this has
serious consequences for us 

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personally in that interaction, 
but also for those on the 

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sidelines looking in. 
Our Christian relationships have

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the ability to make or break 
someone else's willingness to 

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accept the gospel just because 
of how we are acting. 

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So we need to be taking them 
seriously. 

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Secondly, when we love, as God 
would have us, we can stand with

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confidence on the Day of 
Judgement. 

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First. 
John chapter 4, verse 17 says 

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this love has been perfected 
among us in this that we may 

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have boldness in the Day of 
Judgement because as he is, so 

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are we in this world. 
When we love as we're supposed 

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to, we have nothing to fear and 
that is extremely comforting to 

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think about. 
Finally, when we love as we're 

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supposed to, God abides in US. 
First, John chapter 4, verse 12 

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says no one has seen God at any 
time. 

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If we love one another, God 
abides in US and his love has 

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been perfected in US. 
Now, I'm not 100% sure about all

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the nuances of this verse. 
This is a very loaded verse, but

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what I do know is that it is 
comforting to think about God 

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abiding within me. 
If I keep His commandments, if I

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love. 
There was no one better to have 

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by your side than God. 
So in an attempt to wrap it all 

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up neatly and come full circle, 
John says in First John 420, if 

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someone says I love God and 
hates his brother, he is a liar.

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00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,920
For he who does not love his 
brother whom he has seen, how 

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can he love God? 
Whom he has not seen, The answer

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is he can't. 
John's very clear in his 

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00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:16,840
message, if we don't love our 
brothers and sisters, we can't 

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love God. 
So as a final question, do I 

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love God? 
It's what it all comes down to. 

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This is at the root of the 
problem. 

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00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,520
And if the answer is yes, which 
I'm sure every single one of us 

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here today hopes that we can 
answer this question as yes, it 

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00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,120
means that we have to love our 
brethren. 

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00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,680
It means that we have to love 
those in the world. 

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It means we have to love 
everyone, both internally and 

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both externally. 
That concludes my thoughts for 

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00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,200
this afternoon. 
But we never want to close 

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without offering the gospel 
invitation. 

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00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,320
This is not my invitation. 
This is not the congregation 

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00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:03,880
hears invitation. 
This is Jesus Christ's 

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00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:08,480
invitation, and he died so that 
you would have the opportunity 

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00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:13,160
to accept it. 
And that means hearing the word 

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00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,360
of God, believing that Jesus is 
the Son of God, repenting of 

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00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,640
your sins, confessing that Jesus
is the Son of God, and being 

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baptized for the remission of 
sins. 

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00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,040
If there is something in your 
life that is holding you back 

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00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,960
from doing this, think about 
what's important. 

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00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:38,360
Don't let something here on 
earth stop you from missing that

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00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:40,400
opportunity. 
Don't let that opportunity slip 

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00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,520
through your fingers. 
The opportunity that Jesus died 

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00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,080
to give you. 
The opportunity that Jesus died 

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00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:52,160
to give me. 
Don't wait if you have taken 

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00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,960
those steps, though, and you 
would like to request the 

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00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:56,320
prayers of the Church on your 
behalf. 

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00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,480
Whether it's sin of a public 
nature, are you just like the 

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00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,520
support of the Church? 
We'd be happy to help you in 

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00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,680
that way as well. 
If there's one of either case, 

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00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,880
please come while we stand and 
sing a song. 

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00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,520
We thank you for listening to 
our podcast put on by the Church

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00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,960
of Christ at 2215 Plans Rd. in 
Bakersfield. 

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00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,120
If you would like any additional
information or you would like to

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00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:23,120
receive a free Bible 
correspondence course by mail, 

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00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:29,160
please e-mail us at info at 
churchofchristbakersfield.com. 

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00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:35,120
Our service times are Sundays at
10:30 AM and 5:00 PM and 

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00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:39,560
Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. 
Please make plans to join us. 

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00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,200
We would love for you to be our 
honored guest.