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Welcome to the Illuminate Church
podcast. 

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We hope today's message is 
encouraging to you. 

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But as they get the Bibles out 
and as you get your Bibles out, 

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I need to ask you a question and
I want you to ponder it 

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sincerely for yourself. 
And it's this how would you live

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if you had no more bills to pay?
How would you, how would you 

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feel? 
What would your life be like if 

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there was no more debt on on 
you? 

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Let's think about this for a 
second. 

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I have here the United States 
debt clock, which is kind of 

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depressing to look at. 
It's overwhelming to look at. 

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It's going to come up any 
second. 

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And there it is. 
This is in real time, $39 

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trillion U.S. 
National debt. 

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You got mortgage debt. 
You got credit card debt, which 

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is in the hundreds and hundreds 
of billions of the trillions of 

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bazillions of sextillions of 
dollars, so much money. 

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What if all of this was wiped 
out and went to zero? 

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How would you feel? 
No more student loans, anybody? 

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No more car loans. 
Yep, no more credit card. 

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You're outing yourself and no 
more mortgage payments. 

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I love these videos where a son 
or a daughter or a child just 

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pays off their parents mortgage.
Have you seen these videos? 

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I got one for you. 
Watch this. 

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It's just precious. 
Hope you can see it because I'm 

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kind of in the way a little. 
More gift for you. 

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For. 
Both of you. 

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Only me and your daddy. 
It has to be a nice present 

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because this is special after 
this. 

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No, I love you. 
Yeah, Yeah, you feel it. 

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I could just end the message 
with this line. 

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When the sun pays off the debt, 
it's pretty amazing. 

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Amen. 
Do you feel it? 

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Can you feel the freedom that 
this might bring? 

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What would change in your life? 
I want you to remember this 

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feeling as we zero in here to a 
familiar Easter story that may 

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have some missing details for 
you that I want to point out 

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today because I think it is 
imperative that we see the 

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entire Easter picture as it 
should be seen. 

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Let's zoom in straight to the 
crucifixion. 

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Jesus has been nailed to the 
cross. 

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He's been lifted up in front of 
all people and by him are two 

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criminals, one on his right and 
one of those left. 

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We pick it up in Luke chapter 
23, verse 39. 

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If you're ready, say I'm ready. 
One of the criminals who hung 

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there hurled insults at him. 
Anyone heard this story before? 

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Raise your hand with me. 
This is the participation part. 

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You get a trophy at the end. 
One of the criminals who hung 

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there hurled insults to him. 
Aren't you the Messiah? 

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Save yourself and us, he says. 
But the other criminal rebuked 

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him. 
Don't you fear God, He says, 

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since you're under the same 
sentence, we are punished 

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justly, for we are getting what 
our deeds deserve. 

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They've earned the cross, but 
this man has done nothing wrong.

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And then he says to Jesus, 
Remember Me when you come into 

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your Kingdom. 
Only kings have kingdoms. 

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And Jesus answered him, truly. 
I tell you today you will be 

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with me in paradise. 
Even as this criminal is being 

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put to death on a cross with his
last breast. 

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The criminal recognizes this is 
the king that's right next to 

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him. 
Like, do you got it? 

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You got it. 
Have you heard this story 

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before? 
Isn't this how we know the 

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story? 
There is one criminal who is pro

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Jesus and there's another 
criminal who's anti Jesus. 

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One's like, yeah, Jesus. 
The other one's like, Boo Jesus.

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Isn't this the way the story 
goes? 

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Right. 
Wrong. 

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Unbelievable. 
This is why reading the entire 

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scriptures matters. 
When you see what I'm about to 

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show you, it'll change the way 
you've seen the story. 

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At least it did for me and I 
didn't. 

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I'm 52 y'all and I read this 
last year for the first time. 

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Like what? 
Right, Here we go. 

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Matthew chapter 27, verse 44. 
You don't have to turn there 

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because I'm going to move 
quickly. 

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It says this in the same way the
rebels, plural, who were 

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crucified with him also heaped 
insults on him. 

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Mark chapter 15, verse 32, those
again plural, crucified with him

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also heaped insults on him. 
And so wait a minute, you're 

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telling me this whole time it 
was both criminals who were 

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slandering Jesus? 
Because I always thought it was 

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one that was pro Jesus and one 
that was just like a hard 

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hearted donkey of a man. 
That's the story in my mind. 

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And it's also interesting that 
both Matthew and Mark use a term

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here translated for us as heap 
or heaping, which means a lot. 

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I think of mashed potatoes like 
bunches of globs of globs of 

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mashed potatoes. 
Heaps. 

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Are you following me? 
Yeah, It would be one thing to 

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say a side remark to Jesus, 
like, hey, buddy, I guess you're

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a crook too. 
Just one, but these guys, both 

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of them kept going on and on and
on, as it were, to kick a man 

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while he's down to rub sand in 
the wound. 

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They are verbally abusing Jesus.
It's completely rude. 

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It's an onslaught. 
And I kind of wish there was a 

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Matthew chapter 27, verse 44, 
Part 2. 

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You know the first part, they're
like Jesus, you should save 

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yourself. 
And Jesus would be like, you 

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know what, in three days you'll 
still be dead, so shut your 

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mouth. 
But that's not what he says, and

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that's not what Jesus does. 
It's quite the contrary. 

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And what Jesus actually says and
Jesus actually does changes the 

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heart of one of the criminals. 
But I want you to know, it could

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have changed the heart of both 
of them, but only one went from 

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knowing about Jesus to caring 
about Jesus. 

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What happened? 
Well look up in your scriptures 

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and we're going to find out what
changed the man because he goes 

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from insulting him to declaring 
that he's the king. 

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Luke 23 verse 32. 
Just look up a little bit. 

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Two other men, both criminals 
were also let out with him to be

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executed. 
When they came to the place 

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called the skull, they crucified
him there along with the 

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criminals, one on his right and 
the other on his left. 

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And Jesus said, drink this in 
with your whole soul, Father, 

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forgive them, for they do not 
know what they're doing. 

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This moment, if perceived 
correctly, should leave us 

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breathless. 
What's happening in this scene? 

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The entire world seems to be 
gnashing its teeth at Jesus. 

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You have the mock trial, you 
have the whipping, You have the 

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crown of thorns that they beat 
into his head with a Reed whap. 

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You have the piercing of nails, 
you have the onslaught of the 

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insults, just all of this abuse 
coming at Jesus, and here he is 

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full of mercy and resplendent in
his grace. 

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And what does he do? 
He intercedes for the people. 

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He's praying to the Father on 
behalf of the very people who 

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were torturing him to death. 
I would have said something 

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like, Hey, why don't you strike 
them all dead, Dad? 

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Just come down and smite them 
all. 

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And Jesus says, I'm asking you 
Lord, to remove the punishment 

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that is due to them. 
I would have said something like

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avenge me Father. 
And Jesus says, Father, will you

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cancel the day? 
Will you forgive it all? 

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And somehow the idea of being 
debt free, somehow the idea of 

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his insults being returned with 
kindness, it changes the heart 

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of our criminal brother. 
The criminal thinks what I hope 

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that you will think today as 
Jesus speaks these words. 

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Do you think that that 
forgiveness is for me too? 

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Do you think he's praying to the
Father for my forgiveness? 

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So this guy goes from hurling 
insults to Jesus to turning to 

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Jesus for salvation, and Jesus 
clearly accepts. 

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But here's the thing, this man 
wasn't just forgiven, but he was

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also invited. 
Jesus says, truly, I tell you, 

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today you will be with me in 
paradise. 

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That's like having your credit 
card paid off and your mortgage 

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and your student loans and your 
car payments, all of that paid 

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off, and the same person who 
paid it off then handing you a 

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check for $100 million. 
It wasn't just that he was 

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wiping the slate clean. 
He was filling the slate with 

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all of His grace, all the 
beauty, all the colors of heaven

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right there for that man. 
Here's what I'm trying to show 

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you today. 
This man, this criminal, wasn't 

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just in sin. 
We've all been there. 

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He wasn't just living apart from
God. 

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Maybe you've been there, but 
this man was literally cursing 

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Jesus to his face. 
You might say that's kind of the

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worst of the worst. 
I mean, all sin is equal. 

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All sin ends up in the same 
place, which is death. 

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But when you're cursing Jesus to
his face and Jesus turns to him 

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and says, I forgive you and it 
melts the man. 

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I wonder if when Jesus said it, 
he just looked directly at the 

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criminal. 
He meant it for everybody, but 

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his eyes full of mercy just 
turns to the criminal and says, 

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Father, forgive him. 
He doesn't know what he's doing.

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First Corinthians 13, a very 
famous scripture, if you've been

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to weddings, it's the love 
chapter. 

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When you read of the love, what 
you're really reading about is 

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God because God is love. 
So everything you know about 

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love is everything you know 
about God. 

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And in the middle of First 
Corinthians 13, we get this 

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statement that should wreck you 
in the greatest of ways. 

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There is no record of wrongs. 
Somebody ought to say 

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Hallelujah. 
Somebody ought to say 

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Hallelujah. 
Somebody to Mezzanine ought to 

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say Hallelujah. 
Hey, Mezzanine is open at 9:00 

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AM Hey, that's cool. 
Yeah. 

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If you were to take your send 
resume and hold it in front of 

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you, what would you see? 
I mean all the times you lashed 

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out at somebody, your hand 
gestures on I-4. 

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Anger, lust, pride, greed, envy,
jealousy, slothfulness, The 

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things we've said to God in a 
bad season in our own way, 

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hurling, heaping insults to God.
You take that resume and look at

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it. 
What do you see? 

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1st Corinthians 13 is trying to 
make a very clear point to you. 

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Jesus on the cross to the 
criminal is trying to make a 

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very clear point to you. 
If you could capture this in 

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your heart, it will change your 
life forever. 

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Your sin resume because of the 
blood of Jesus is 100% blank. 

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There's nothing there. 
He has canceled the debt. 

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Amen. 
So let's return to our original 

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question. 
How would you live if you had no

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more debt? 
The good news in Jesus is that 

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you have no debt. 
The good news in Jesus is that 

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you do not have to pay for the 
sins that you have committed. 

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The good news of Jesus is that 
there's no imprisonment for you 

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because of the sins, because 
he's already gone there in your 

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place. 
This is the good news. 

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Jesus is covered it all on the 
cross in the tomb, now risen 

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from the dead as the reigning 
Savior of the world. 

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How would it feel? 
I I want to show you another 

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video first. 
I showed you somebody getting 

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their debt mortgage forgiven. 
What about your sins? 

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All forgiven. 
Please watch Jacob's story. 

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Thanksgiving of 2024 my my dad 
had been battling throat cancer 

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for a few years and he told me 
that it came back and it wasn't 

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looking like it was going to go 
away. 

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This time I cursed God in my 
mind he was allowing this cancer

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to just destroy my father. 
And seeing him go through the 

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pain that he did of not being 
able to eat anymore, not being 

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able to drink anymore, having to
get a feeding tube. 

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I thought that there is no way 
that there's this all loving God

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that cares about his people. 
And so I, I just continued down 

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that path. 
You know, July 18th, my father 

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passed away. 
Then there came a point the 

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night where my mom had gone back
to bed, my wife had gone back to

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bed, and I was sitting in the 
room and looking at his empty 

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chair and looking at his empty 
bed. 

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I, I figured I didn't see the 
point any of this anymore in the

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emptiness of that room. 
I went completely numb. 

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Like I don't want to do it 
anymore. 

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I started contemplating suicide.
I grew up in the church, you 

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know, so that there, there were 
certain things I knew from 

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Scripture, from from the Bible, 
you know, like the, the 

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paralyzed man that you know that
Christ tells him to pick up his 

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mat and walk. 
And the way that I felt 

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paralyzed in my depression and 
in that emptiness and in that 

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space, I, I heard Jacob pick up 
your mat and walk. 

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Those words, when they had, when
they were told to me, they 

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resonated with something inside 
of me from so long ago. 

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That Sunday, I walked into 
Illuminate for the first time. 

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I didn't clean myself up first. 
I didn't have anything to offer.

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I just showed up. 
And what I found wasn't 

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judgement, it was forgiveness. 
Already there, already waiting. 

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After everything I'd done, Jesus
didn't abandoned me. 

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I don't have it all figured out,
but Jesus found me anyway. 

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Thank you Jacob, love you man. 
Colossians chapter 2 says this. 

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When you were dead in your sins 
and in the uncircumcision of 

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your flesh, God made you alive 
with Christ. 

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He forgave us all our sins. 
Having canceled the charge of 

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our legal indebtedness, which 
stood against us and condemned 

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us, He has taken it away, 
nailing it to the cross. 

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And having disarmed the powers 
and authorities, he made a 

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public spectacle of them, 
triumphing over them by the 

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cross, as it was for the 
criminal breathing his last 

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breaths. 
It's true for us too. 

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It's never too late. 
You're not too ruined. 

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And not only that, you're 
invited to live in paradise 

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forever. 
In God's family. 

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You can be debt free. 
Just imagine what that could do 

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in your life. 
And I think this is important. 

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This is where you go from 
knowing the Easter story to 

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caring about it. 
The whole world in general knows

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the Easter story. 
Even if they're not believers, 

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atheists, agnostic believers in 
other religions, they know that 

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on Easter Sunday, the Christians
gather in their houses of 

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worship to honor the one who is 
sacrifice. 

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They've heard the story of Jesus
in some way, shape or form. 

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They know the story of Jesus. 
You may be here today and you 

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know the story. 
That's why you're here. 

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Easter Sunday, I know the story.
We go to church. 

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But when you move to caring 
about Easter, it changes your 

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entire life because you realize 
that Jesus didn't just know you,

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but he cares for you to the 
extent that he went to the cross

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so that you wouldn't live with 
this £10,000 rock of sin and 

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shame and guilt dragging behind 
you every day of your life. 

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All the ways that you've messed 
up, all the people that you 

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hurt, the ways that you hurt 
yourself, the ways that you've 

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cursed God, dragging them 
through Jesus with this mighty 

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machete. 
Messiah went whack and he 

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eliminates it all. 
What could it be like in your 

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life to live without the shame 
of the past? 

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What would it be like for you to
be truly forgiven and all the 

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guilt to be gone? 
For you to receive the love and 

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the forgiveness of Jesus could 
be like Jacob, buried in the 

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water, raised to new life in 
Christ, leaving everything 

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behind in the water, newness of 
life. 

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Jesus says not only you free, 
but you're free indeed, 100% 

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done through the blood of Jesus.
So how does one enter the 

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Kingdom of heaven? 
How does one enter paradise? 

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This is how you enter forgiven. 
You enter washed in the blood of

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Jesus through the forgiveness of
Jesus. 

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Here's a test as we wrap up 
today. 

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When you sin, not if you sin, 
but when you sin, you feel me, 

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you feel me. 
You're allowed to talk in 

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church. 
When you sin, do you move 

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towards Jesus or away from Him? 
When we sin, we often think, 

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well, I've messed up. 
I can't go to a holy God or I've

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messed up and he's not helping 
me. 

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So I'm going to live over here 
in my sin and my brokenness and 

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my shame and my guilt. 
And I kind of get in this spiral

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that the only way I can feel 
better because I'm not going to 

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God is to continue to do the 
things that give me temporary 

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relief but just make me feel 
worse. 

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You feel me? 
Do you feel me? 

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One criminal kept turning from 
God in the moment that he could 

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have been forgiven. 
The other criminal turned to 

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God, recognizing His grace and 
forgiveness. 

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Maybe you're in here today. 
Feel like man. 

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I thought the roof was going to 
cave in when I walked in. 

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I thought the place was going to
light up, spontaneously combust 

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because of me, because of how 
bad and wrong and filthy I am. 

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That's the mindset of this 
criminal over here. 

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Jesus says to you, Father, 
forgive them. 

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Cancel it all. 
So that you will turn to him 

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like the criminal and say, 
Remember Me in your Kingdom and 

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00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,240
hear Jesus saying to you as he 
said to me when I was 13 years 

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old. 
He said, Tim, you're going to be

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with me in paradise. 
That's the offer for you this 

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00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,280
morning. 
If you would bow your heads, 

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close your eyes. 
We bow our heads as a sign of 

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humility. 
We close our eyes to focus. 

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This is not just a religious 
posture, it has meaning. 

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I want to ask you this morning, 
are you running from, are you 

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running to God? 
If you've never placed your 

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faith in Jesus Christ to say 
God, I receive your forgiveness.

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I want to live with you forever 
beginning now on in the 

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00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,600
paradise. 
The Bible makes it clear all you

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00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,000
have to do is confess with your 
mouth and believe in your heart 

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that Jesus is Lord and you will 
be saved free indeed. 

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00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,160
Debt cancelled forever. 
The sin resume blank, forever 

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00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,720
saved from sin, saved from 
death, saved to the heart of the

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00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:19,680
Father, saved to God's family. 
What we're going to do, church, 

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is every voice is going to pray 
this together. 

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And if you're praying this for 
the first time, then just make 

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00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,240
it personal. 
Every voice repeating after me, 

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00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:29,720
louder than a library, but not 
at a football game. 

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00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,760
Somewhere in the middle. 
Here we go saying, Father, in 

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the name of Jesus, I recognize 
that I am a Sinner in need of a 

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00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:46,840
Savior, in need of forgiveness, 
and I confess and I believe that

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Jesus is Lord, my Savior. 
He paid the price so that I 

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00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,480
could be free. 
Now Jesus, a little bit more. 

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Now, Jesus, come live your life 
in my life, all the days of my 

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00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:08,920
life. 
Hallelujah, just with your eyes 

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00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:14,160
close, your head bowed here. 
Just take a moment to speak to 

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00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,440
the Lord. 
Let the Holy Spirit encourage 

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00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,600
you. 
If you prayed that prayer for 

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00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,280
the first time, receiving Jesus 
by faith, you just became a 

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00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,680
believer, a Christian. 
The Bible calls you born again, 

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00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:31,280
once born of the flesh, now born
of the Spirit, and this is the 

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00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,480
greatest thing you've ever done.
I'm going to ask you to do one 

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00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,040
thing if you're believing for 
the first time, one bold thing, 

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00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,640
as bold as Jesus's love for you 
on the cross. 

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00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,160
I'm just going to count to 3. 
And if you've received Jesus 

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00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,080
today, I want you to raise your 
hand as high as it will go up 

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00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,840
into the air because our ushers 
have something they need to give

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00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,280
you today. 
It's crucial that you receive 

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00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:51,760
this. 
So on the count of three, raise 

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00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:56,000
your hand 123 anyone believe in 
Jesus for the first time, nice 

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00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,040
and high. 
Come on, we're celebrating with 

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00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,680
you. 
We see you all the way up here, 

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00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,200
all the way here. 
Any in the mezzanine, we're 

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00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,520
moving to you. 
Any others Today? 

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00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:06,160
All the way over here, we're 
coming to you. 

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00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:08,160
Right over here, we're coming to
you. 

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00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,120
Come on, church. 
Celebrate with me. 

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00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,760
Hallelujah. 
Thanks for joining us today. 

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00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,840
We hope God is speaking to your 
heart through this message. 

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00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,800
If you'd like to connect with 
us, you can text connect to 

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00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:30,360
407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate
dot church. 

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00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,040
Have a great week.