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Friends, I have the privilege to
continue in our series today 

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called Rooted. 
Are you excited for that? 

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Come on, me too. 
Yes. 

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If you don't know me, you can 
tell by my accent that I'm not 

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English. 
I am Brazilian. 

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I'm Brazilian. 
And I'm I'm also part of Hawaii 

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man Youth with a mission and 
harp and I'm a missionary. 

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And actually I got sent out from
a Baptist Church in Brazil. 

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So here we go. 
My background is a Baptist and I

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grew up in a Baptist Baptist 
Church and I love the Baptist 

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and I miss my my home church and
they are great. 

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Wow. 
OK, my talk for today is 

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Colossians one from verse 15 to 
23. 

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And before I start and before we
read the whole passage, I'd love

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for us to think that this is 
Paul writing, right? 

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And probably he, he was in 
prison in Rome. 

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But imagine like he is in prison
writing this letter for the 

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Church of Colossians and for all
of us. 

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And he was actually saying Jesus
is supreme over everything. 

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He was saying that over rulers, 
authorities, powers and as we 

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read that half die in your in 
your mind. 

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Paul was in prison writing this 
letter for us. 

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OK here we go. 
Colossians 115 to 23 The sun is 

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the image of the invisible God, 
the first born of over all 

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creation. 
For in Him all things were 

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created, things in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible, 

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where the Thrones or powers or 
rulers or authorities, all 

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things have been created through
Him and for Him. 

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He is before all things, and in 
Him all things hold together. 

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He is the head of the Body, the 
Church. 

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He is the beginning and the 
first born from among the dead, 

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so that in everything he might 
have the supremacy Hallelujah. 

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For God was pleased to have all 
His fullness dwell in him, and 

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through Him the to reconcile to 
Himself all things where the 

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things on earth or things in 
heaven, by making peace through 

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His blood shed on the cross. 
Once we were alienated from God 

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and were enemies in your minds 
because of your rooted 

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behaviors, but now He has 
reconciled you by Christ's 

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physical body through death to 
present you wholly in His sight 

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without blemishing and free from
accusation. 

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If you continue in your faith 
established and firm and do not 

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move from the hope held out on 
the Gospels, this is the gospel 

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that have you have heard and 
that has been proclaimed to 

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every creature under heaven of 
which I PO have become a 

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servant. 
This is a a strong statement 

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right there for us. 
He's holding everything together

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and I have to say some, probably
some of us, I would say probably

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all of us. 
We don't wake up thinking like 

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I'm going to slowly be feel 
disconnected with the Lord. 

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I'm going to slowly drift away. 
And I have to say it doesn't 

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happen like there. 
It's more like a subtle thing, 

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right? 
Life gets full even for us as 

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pastors in our local church. 
It gets so much Hallelujah, too 

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much. 
We got busy, right? 

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Busy. 
It's noisy, full of emails and 

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conversation, responsibilities 
and desires and all of that. 

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And this is all good, but it 
feels like there isn't a clear 

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moment where everything falls 
apart. 

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It's more like a quiet 
awareness. 

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It's something like that. 
It feels like something is not 

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quite aligned on the inside, 
even for us here. 

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We can be in a room full of 
people and yet to disconnect it.

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We can be doing the wonderful 
things, the right things in life

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and still feel disconnected 
because we are doing things out 

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of duty, not out of love. 
And we even being here at 

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church, you know, raising your 
hands, bowing down and 

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worshiping and serving and yet 
feel like something is missing. 

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And I have to say, friends, that
I'm also preaching to myself 

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here today because most like, 
most of the time, like I, I want

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to stay home being very honest, 
like, but because of my love for

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the Lord, I am going to do it 
because I want, I want people to

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meet Jesus. 
And I know that he's holding 

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everything together for us. 
And because of like, slowly we 

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drift away. 
And sometimes we feel like this 

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can be, this can be life. 
Life can be like, like this so 

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normal. 
It feels like this is normal. 

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We still show up, we still 
functioning. 

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We we do the right things, but 
in the inside, there's there's a

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sense of disconnection. 
We feel stretched and 

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distracted, pulled in different 
directions. 

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And the Bible has a language for
this, a life that has become 

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disordered, out of place of 
center. 

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The wonderful brother Eugene 
Peterson talks about this as a 

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losing the center. 
The center that holds everything

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is still there, but nothing is 
held together in coalitions. 1 

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is this is this comes to us not 
as a pressure, but as an 

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invitation from Pol to bring 
everything back to the center 

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again. 
And friends, I think I have said

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this before and being a 
Brazilian in this nation, which 

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I am so truly blessed by being a
missionary and a pastor in the 

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UK, because your nation has has 
touched my nation. 

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Your history with the gospel is 
beautiful and I'm forever 

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grateful for your nation. 
But I also have to say, like for

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all of us, this is me included 
as a Brazilian, we need to keep 

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practicing Thanksgiving. 
This is a reminder for us that 

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he's holding everything 
together. 

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The first thing you do in the 
morning shapes you. 

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The first thing you do in the 
morning shapes you. 

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So he's he's holding, holding 
everything together. 

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And Paul says in verse 15, he 
talks about who Jesus really is.

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He says this, the Son is the 
image of the invisible God. 

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I feel this. 
This is, this is where this is 

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where everything starts. 
It's not with what we do, but 

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with who Jesus is. 
And we become what we behold. 

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We become what we behold because
how we see Jesus, how you see 

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Jesus, shapes how you live. 
Jesus is not just a teacher or 

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spiritual figure or a part of 
your life. 

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He is God made visible for us 
through Christ. 

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Sometimes we say, you know, 
Jesus is part of my life, this 

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is all good, it's part of my 
life. 

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But I feel like this is a wrong 
statement for us. 

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He needs to be at the center and
then everything else needs to 

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flow from that place. 
Everything else is different 

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from that place. 
Whatever you do in the like, 

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whatever you do in the morning 
is in your workplace university,

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your behavior with your spouse, 
your behavior at your workplace 

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is inviting God at your, your 
ordinary life. 

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But everything, all actions 
needs to come from that place 

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where he is at the center. 
He is at the center. 

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It's like when you're about to 
have an argument with your wife,

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like if the Lord is at the 
center, you would think to why 

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before you say anything. 
So this is the reality for most 

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of us. 
Many of us are not living in 

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response to who God really is 
and we are living there. 

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We are living in a response to 
who we think He is. 

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Sometimes it's formed by our 
past disappointment, pain, and 

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what others have said, but some 
of us relate to a distant God. 

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So far is a disappointed God, a 
demanding God. 

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But Paul says something really 
beautiful. 

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If you want to know what God God
is like, look at Jesus. 

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Look how he loves, look how he 
forgives and look how he 

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welcomes friends. 
If you, if you've been here this

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morning, if you walked in today 
feeling like I have got nothing 

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to give. 
Sometimes when I feel like I 

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have, I have got nothing to do, 
I spiritual exercise that I do, 

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I take a deep breath because our
very own breath is a reminder of

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the Lord. 
He's the one sustaining us. 

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He's the one sustaining us, your
very own breath. 

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And sometimes we take our very 
own breath for granted. 

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Why? 
Because it became normal. 

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You're not thinking about it. 
It's just you're just doing it. 

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You're just doing it because it 
feels normal. 

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But if you are consciously aware
of his presence in your ordinary

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life, everything else will flow 
from there. 

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Are you with me? 
Hallelujah. 

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It's good to be in a charismatic
church. 

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Amen. 
So one of the most beautiful 

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things about Jesus now, it's not
just who he is, it's how he 

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moved towards people. 
Friend, if you come here this 

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morning and feel so isolated, 
I'll feel I'll say there is a 

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place for room at the table. 
He's already inviting you. 

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Can I be the center of your life
again and again? 

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So again and again in the 
Gospels we see this pattern. 

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People who felt disqualified are
the ones who very ones that 

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Jesus draws near to. 
Sometimes even myself being 

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here, like I'm having a lot of 
like fear of man feelings, 

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impostion syndrome, but like I 
need to remind myself that he is

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the one sustaining me, giving 
the word of God to talk to you 

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today. 
And sometimes you feel like the 

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pastor got it. 
All the pastors that they got 

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it. 
Actually, no, we're doing it 

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together because he's the ones 
who stand in this church holding

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everything together. 
Coming back to the center to 

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coming back to the center 
doesn't begin with striving. 

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It begins with seeing, 
beholding, contemplating. 

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One of the wonderful things 
about this nation that loves so 

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much is the beautiful parks, the
national parks that the UK have.

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And it's wonderful, even like 
why, when we have a florist in 

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the back and this is a good 
place for us to go and 

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contemplate the beauty of God, 
timing for ourselves to behold 

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the Lamb of God. 
Remember, the first thing we do 

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in the morning shapes you, 
shapes your day, shapes your 

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character. 
Invite the Lord to be at the 

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center again of your life. 
Hallelujah. 

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And this is what life is about. 
Verse 16 to 17. 

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All things we created through 
him and for him and that 

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includes you. 
Your life is not a random. 

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You're not here by accident. 
Your life is not a random. 

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It's not accidental. 
No, it's not meaningless. 

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You were to ready for Jesus. 
The whole point about your 

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existence is about relationship.
This is the beautiful thing 

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about the gospels. 
So, you know, sometimes we have 

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all of these spokes, work, 
family, relationship, dreams and

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responsibilities and desires. 
And I would say they are all 

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good, but they don't make a 
strong center. 

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They are not very reliable. 
And Paul says in him, through 

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Christ himself, all things hold 
together. 

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All things hold together, 
friend. 

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This is so powerful, so 
powerful. 

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So this donates that Christ is 
the active, sustaining force 

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that maintains the cohesion, 
stability, and existence of the 

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entire universe. 
Moment, my moment, moment by 

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moment. 
What I'm trying to say is this. 

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It's not in your control, it's 
not your effort, It's him, 

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Christ himself. 
And this is where sometimes many

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of us we struggle because we've 
built our lives around good 

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things and good doing. 
And sometimes they, even the 

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good doing the good things can 
become idols in our hearts. 

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They can become OK, I've done my
good bit today. 

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I've come to church today, but 
done and I've come, I've read 

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the you know, the the Bible 
verse that shows up in my my 

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phone every day. 
But done. 

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You like that, The sound effect.
Yeah. 

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And we slowly replace him. 
You know, we feel like sometimes

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it feels like you don't. 
It's just a quiet awareness 

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sometimes, like we're just doing
life on your own. 

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And you're just in that pace of 
like business and emails and 

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things and busy and all of that.
And sometimes, like, you feel 

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like, man, something is not 
quite there yet with my life. 

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It's because we are putting 
these these things at the 

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center. 
The problem is that the problem 

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is when they become the central,
because whenever it's at the 

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center becomes the reference 
point for everything else. 

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It shapes your decisions. 
It shapes your emotions. 

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It shapes how you see yourself. 
Even if you, if you if work, 

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friends, if work is at the 
center, your identity rise and 

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falls into performance. 
If approval is at the center, 

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your piece depends on what 
others will think. 

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If comfort is at the center, you
avoid everything that stretches 

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you. 
Because when Jesus at the 

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center, everything else finds 
its right, right place. 

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It's not about. 
It's not removed, but reordered.

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It was never meant to hold you. 
Only Jesus can hold your life 

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together. 
And let me ask you something. 

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What is at the center of your 
life right now? 

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What is at the center of your 
life right now? 

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Because whatever is sits at the 
center shapes everything else. 

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Whatever is at the center shapes
everything else. 

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Yeah. 
Let's take a moment to think 

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about that. 
Sometimes when we read this 

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back, this passage, Colossians 
one that he holds everything 

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together. 
Sometimes we'd even take the 

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passage for granted. 
I've read that before. 

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And this is. 
Yeah, Yeah, He's got it. 

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Yeah, but actually this is a 
strong statement that we are 

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proclaiming today and friends, 
like I'd say the Lord is moving 

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the UK, the Lord is moving the 
UK. 

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Like this is a strong statement 
for all of us that he's holding 

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his church together in the UK, 
right. 

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Even the last, the last last two
weeks in the last, I think last 

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week, I was leading worship in 
a, in a Church of England called

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Imprint in Bank. 
And the beautiful thing about 

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that place is there's a lot of 
people walking outside of the 

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church. 
And as we were worshiping, you 

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know, beholding the lame of God 
in worship, a lot of people from

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outside just got so captivated 
by the sound, the mighty sound 

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of worship. 
And I have to say there was like

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a, I'll say 50 people just 
showing up coming in. 

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I could see some of the heads. 
This is great. 

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MMM good music and some of them 
left like after a minute. 

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But there were a lot of people 
that got so captivated by how we

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pursue Jesus in our lives, how 
we, you know, how we posture 

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ourselves in worship. 
And I have to say the Lord, it 

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is in a movie in the UK. 
This is the time for us to keep 

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declaring this in our lives. 
He's holding everything 

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together. 
My friends, if we're struggling 

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financially, he's holding 
everything together. 

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If you're struggling with mental
health, he's holding everything 

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together. 
This is a strong statement. 

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It's for us. 
It's the time for us, for the in

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the UK to walk towards one 
another. 

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Believers walk towards one 
another. 

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There's no time for division 
anymore. 

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No time for like, you know, 
disappointment. 

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I feel like it's time for us to 
move closer to one another 

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because the Lord is moving in 
the UK. 

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He's holding everything 
together, holding everything 

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together. 
You know when you you're on your

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way to your work on Monday, 
sometimes some people commute to

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London by train. 
You know when you get into some 

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Pancras, right? 
And then you try to use your 

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phone and you lose sick. 
You know, I feel like that 

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sometimes I'm in the phone doing
something and then as soon as we

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enter the some Pancras and it 
feels like you, you lose signal.

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You try the what you can. 
Sometimes you try to use the 

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free Wi-Fi in a train doesn't 
work, but it stays free Wi-Fi 

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already paid for my ticket. 
What's going on? 

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It's fake news, but it's more 
like even if it's what I'm 

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trying to say is this, you can 
still open the apps on your 

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phone. 
You can still like take a selfie

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for your social media. 
You can still, you know, trying 

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to open another app to check 
your nose, But it feels like 

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you're disconnected. 
It feels like you're out of 

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control because the tendencies, 
they're like, I want to be 

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connected. 
I want to feel like, oh, yes, I 

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can see this new, this new, this
new news coming up on my phone. 

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And you feel disconnected. 
You feel out of control. 

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So, but what Paul is saying to 
us here is this is your 

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conscience, your conscious 
awareness of him. 

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What this is what Paul is trying
to communicate in these verses, 

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that your your awareness of him 
that he is in control is not by 

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our own power and strength that 
he's holding everything 

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together. 
Even if you get into the into 

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some punctures by train, he's 
holding everything together in 

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your phone. 
Hallelujah. 

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So, as I said about 
Thanksgiving. 

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What Paul is trying to say to us
is the awareness of him and what

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Jesus has done. 
Verse 19 to 22, making peace 

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through his blood. 
Once we were alienated, now 

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you're reconciled and this is 
the center of everything Jesus. 

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Jesus didn't say distant, He 
come close and he stepped into 

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our brokenness, into our 
disconnection into into our off 

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center lives. 
And on the cross he made peace. 

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He brought us back. 
He brought he brought us back. 

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And friends, notice this, Jesus 
didn't just come to improve your

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life, He come to restore your 
relationship with God. 

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He didn't come to improve your 
life and make yourself the 

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better version of yourself. 
He come to restore your 

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relationship with God and he 
didn't come just to make you a 

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better version of yourself. 
He come to bring you back to the

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one, to the one you were created
for. 

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And that changes everything 
because Christianity is not a 

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primarily about behaviors 
change. 

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It's about relationship 
restored. 

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It's about being reconnected to 
God. 

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And from that place everything 
else begins to shape, to change.

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And This is why the cross 
matters so much for us as 

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believers. 
Because on the cross, Jesus 

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dealt with everything that kept 
us distant, seeing shame, fear 

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00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,160
for men in Poston syndrome, 
guilt, separation. 

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He removed all the barriers so 
that we could come near. 

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Not someday, not next week, but 
now. 

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Now he's holding everything 
together. 

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God is putting everything back 
together again in Christ. 

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The gospel is not is not that 
you are forgiven, is that you 

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are restored. 
And this is the beautiful thing 

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about the gospel's friends, the 
gospel of Jesus. 

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Once you were far, now you're 
near, you are disconnected. 

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Now you are restored. 
You were lost and now you're 

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welcomed. 
Amen, yes, Amen, Amen. 

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Now you're welcomed and you 
know, like I'm using simple 

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language today or like the 
pastor is not coming up with 

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00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,840
eloquent phrasing and all of 
that. 

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I know like the this is a simple
message for all of us. 

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It's time to for us to go back 
to the centre. 

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Simplicity, simplicity. 
Sometimes you're longing. 

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00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,120
So can I have this? 
Can I have there? 

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00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:07,880
If I have this or have 
confidence, you have that. 

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00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,320
I have confidence, I have this, 
I have a better life. 

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00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,720
But we forget who is the head of
the church, who is the head of 

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00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:16,240
your life? 
Who is the head of your 

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00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,600
household? 
You were brought back into a 

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00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,600
relationship with God and so 
your life can be made whole 

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00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:30,880
again. 
And this is my and this is the 

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00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:37,640
invitation for us today. 
Verse 23 says this continue in 

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your faith, continue in your 
faith. 

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00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,240
So following Jesus, friends, 
it's not just a one time moment.

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00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,080
It's it's that daily returning, 
it's that daily recentering. 

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Daily recentering. 
As I said, sometimes the first 

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00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,400
thing we do in the morning is to
scroll, scroll our phones and go

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00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,760
to newspaper and that dictates 
the shapes how our lives and our

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00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,720
day will go by. 
But The Walking with Jesus is 

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00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,680
about consistency. 
It's about discipline. 

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00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,440
You are choosing to behold the 
Lamb of God in the morning. 

355
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,960
You're choosing to behold. 
You're choosing to stay with him

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00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,200
daily. 
Sometimes the return, it looks 

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00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:24,840
very simple. 
It's not always a big and 

358
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,800
dramatic moment. 
Sometimes it's just pausing for 

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00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,640
a few minutes in your day and 
becoming aware of God again. 

360
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,280
Whispering, just whispering, a 
simple prayer. 

361
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,000
Jesus, I bring my attention back
to you. 

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00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,200
It's like when you feel so 
overwhelmed at your work, like 

363
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,880
there's something going on that 
I need to or something's off. 

364
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,160
Like this is an invitation for 
the Lord. 

365
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,120
Take a moment, take a deep 
breath, invite the Lord again in

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00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:55,640
your mind, Lord, you're holding 
everything together for that. 

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And now this is I'd love for us 
to stand right now. 

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We're going to go into ministry.