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On that side of Japan, of 
Jamaica experienced the loss of 

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the sense of home, a loss of 
sense of security about their 

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home. 
Maybe you have experienced that 

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as well, some sense where you 
felt like, I don't feel at home 

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in my home. 
I don't feel, what is it we sing

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at Christmas. 
I'll be home for Christmas, 

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right? 
And so maybe you're like, I'm 

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not really looking forward to 
going home for Christmas because

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I've lost my sense of home. 
Something happened at my home or

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with my family or with my 
parents or in that place. 

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Something's happened to me and I
don't feel like going home or 

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I'm going and I don't feel like 
I'm going home because your 

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sense of home has changed. 
We're in the dark side of 

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Christmas. 
It's called Advent. 

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It's that part of the Christmas 
calendar and the Christian 

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calendar that makes us face 
reality before we enjoy the 

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bright lights and all the bright
songs and the festivities of 

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celebrating Christ being born. 
We are anticipating not the 

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birth of Christ, though we 
celebrate that. 

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We are anticipating the return 
of Christ. 

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And why does the return of 
Christ matter? 

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Well, if we take a look at how 
this home doesn't always feel 

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home, then we begin to notice 
our longings. 

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Advent is a time that helps us 
not rush into Christmas and the 

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bright lights, but it helps us 
take stock of the condition of 

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this world and of ourselves and 
that we often don't always feel 

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at home. 
We're going to look at a man 

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named Job this morning. 
He's perhaps very famous to you,

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maybe not so famous, but Job is 
known as the man who suffered a 

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lot in the Bible. 
And in the passage that we're 

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going to be reading from Job 29,
we see Job actually speaking up 

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for himself after he's had three
friends sort of rake him over 

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the coals. 
He's had enough. 

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And now he speaks up again. 
It's called Job's final 

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discourse. 
Job has lost his children. 

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Job has lost his wealth. 
Job has lost his homes. 

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And his wife, whom he didn't 
lose, has just said to him, Job,

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why don't you just curse God and
die? 

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You are miserable. 
Just curse God and die. 

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Because not only did Job lose 
all of that incredible wealth 

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and incredible status and 
position in his society, he had 

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now lost his health and he was 
miserable. 

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And so here's his discourse. 
How I long for the months gone 

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by. 
For the days when God watched 

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over me, when his lamp shone on 
my head and by His light I 

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walked through darkness. 
Oh, for the days when I was in 

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my prime, when God's intimate 
friendship blessed my house, 

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When the Almighty was still with
me and my children were all 

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around me. 
When my path was drenched with 

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cream and the rock poured out 
for me streams of olive oil. 

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Those were good days, right? 
He goes on. 

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In those days. 
When I went to the gate of the 

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city and took my seat in the 
public square, the young men saw

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me and stepped aside. 
The old men rose to their feet. 

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The chief men refrain from 
speaking and covered their 

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mouths with their hands. 
The voices of the nobles were 

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hushed, and their tongues stuck 
to the roof of their mouths. 

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Whoever heard me spoke well of 
me, and those who saw me 

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commended me. 
Because I rescued the poor who 

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cried for help, and the 
fatherless who had none to 

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assist them. 
The one who was dying blessed 

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me. 
I made the widow's heart sing. 

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I put on righteousness as my 
clothing. 

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Justice was my robe and my 
turban. 

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I was eyes to the blind and feet
to the lame. 

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I was a father to the needy. 
I took up the case of the 

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stranger. 
I broke the fangs of the wicked 

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and snatched their victims from 
their teeth. 

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What a man, I thought. 
I will die in my house, my own 

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house, my days as numerous as 
the grains of sand. 

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My roots will reach to the water
and the dew will lie all night 

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on my branches. 
My glory will not fade. 

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The bow will be ever new in my 
hand. 

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People listen to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my 

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counsel. 
After I had spoken, they spoke 

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no more. 
My words fell gently on their 

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ears. 
They waited for me As for 

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showers and drink in my words as
the spring rain. 

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When I smiled at them, they 
scarcely believed it. 

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Wow. 
Job smiled at me. 

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Made my day better. 
That's what he's saying. 

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The light of my face was 
precious to them. 

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I chose the way for them and sat
as their chief. 

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I dwelt as a king among his 
troops. 

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I was like one who comforts the 
mourners. 

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You know what the next verse 
says? 

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The next verse says. 
But now the young men mock me. 

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You see, Job has experienced 
losses that have shattered his 

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sense of home. 
One of the aspects of growing 

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and maturity is how you handle 
your losses. 

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The growth and maturity. 
As a Christian, your emotional 

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fortitude is how you handle your
losses. 

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And what losses have you had? 
I know you're afraid of losses 

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in exam season, but what losses 
have you had? 

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What battles did you fight and 
lose? 

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00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,680
This is a really important 
aspect of Christian life and 

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discipleship, and it's why it's 
part of Advent. 

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00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:40,280
Job's losses have shattered his 
sense of home in that great 

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movie called Friday Night, 
Friday Night Lights. 

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Do you all know it, Coach 
Taylor, there's a football fan 

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right up there. 
He knows this movie, Coach 

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Taylor, you know, is known for 
saying clear eyes, full hearts 

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can't lose. 
But what happens when you do 

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lose? 
Every man at some point, he says

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in his life is going to face a 
battle, a battle which will make

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him a man because he's going to 
lose it. 

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But in the midst of that, what 
will be a win in the battle is 

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that he does not lose himself. 
And Job is at the crux. 

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Job is at the intersection of 
will Job lose himself? 

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He his sense of home is 
shattered. 

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The roof fell down and killed 
his children. 

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00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,520
Chaldeans came and stole all his
wealth. 

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A storm came and killed his 
wealth. 

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A storm had changed his life. 
And so now he has had a loss of 

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honor. 
Not just a loss of stuff, but 

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he's had a loss of honor. 
And in traditional societies, 

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you are somebody because you 
have something and you can 

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provide for your family, you can
provide for others. 

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You are somebody because you 
continue to accomplish 

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something, and so you provide 
for them. 

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You noticed, he says. 
I was like a king to them. 

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I was like a father to them. 
But now his loss of honor is the

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product of a shattered home. 
Now they mock me. 

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He's has an internal loss of 
security. 

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Some of you know this. 
Your families went to through 

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financial hard times and rent 
was hard or the mortgage was 

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defaulted. 
Maybe you had a parent who went 

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bankrupt. 
And so that loss of security 

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about your next paycheck, the 
next meal rippled through your 

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family, and you were nervous 
about it. 

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Job describes that nervousness, 
giving a personified sense to 

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the terrors. 
He says terrors overwhelm me. 

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And notice what he says of the 
night. 

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He said the night pierces my 
bones. 

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In other words, he says, I'm 
laying down to sleep. 

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And it says if the darkness is 
piercing into me like a sword, 

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like a needle, that's a loss of 
security when you cannot lay 

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down and truly rest. 
Here's how he describes his loss

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of health, though. 
He says there's a churning, not 

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a churching. 
There's a churning inside me in 

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Job 30. 
He says that churning never 

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stops. 
Do you know the stomach that 

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00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,680
just won't stop churning? 
He's talking about that internal

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sense. 
Everything inside of him is 

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unwell. 
And he says that even his skin 

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has become blackened. 
His skin is rotting, and he was 

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covered in boils. 
When his friends found him, he 

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was sitting in the dirt with a 
piece of pottery, scraping the 

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boils off of him. 
That's a terrible loss of 

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health. 
His sense of home was shattered,

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and with it came loss of honor, 
loss of security, loss of 

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health. 
Have you been there? 

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If not, those days come. 
I hate to tell you, but maybe 

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they're there for someone else, 
you know? 

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Maybe that's there for some of 
Sid's family in Jamaica, whole 

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communities who feel this way. 
We live in a world that's never 

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far from these kinds of 
troubles, where this world does 

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not feel like home. 
But Job goes on. 

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His sense of home, his sense of 
being at home in his place is 

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also disturbed. 
But also his sense of home with 

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God, of being at home with God 
was disturbed. 

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And God, Job was really under 
pressure in his relationship 

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with God. 
Remember, his wife said, just go

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ahead and curse God and die. 
So how did Job describe that? 

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You can go back one. 
There we go, one more, one more.

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You're going forward. 
Come back this way. 

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There we go. 
Joe became desperate and he 

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began to press in. 
He did not lose himself. 

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Joe began to press in and 
desperately declare his 

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innocence. 
He was known as a blameless guy.

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He was known as a just man. 
He was known as a generous man. 

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And so he begins a long list of 
ways to declare his innocence, 

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to say, come on, God, I'm not 
that bad. 

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In fact, here are all the good 
things I've done, and here are 

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all the things I've not done, He
says. 

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00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,200
Look, if I've walked with 
falsehood or my foot has hurried

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after deceit, let God weigh me 
in honest scales and he will 

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know that I am blameless. 
Weigh it out in the scales of 

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justice. 
That's what he's saying to God. 

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00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,800
Take a look at my life. 
I'm innocent. 

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00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,640
Now there's going to be a rebuke
to this. 

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00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,800
A young man rushes up, is mad at
the friends and is mad at Job 

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00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,600
and says there's no way you can 
be innocent in front of God. 

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His name was Elihu. 
But Job here is not losing 

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00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,040
himself. 
He's giving a record, an account

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00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,920
of himself. 
And if you've met with anyone 

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who's facing the terrible sense 
of loss of home, who's facing a 

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00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:37,920
terrible crisis, who's facing a 
terrible loss, you're going to 

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hear them suggest it's not fair.
Where is God in this? 

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00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,160
It's not fair. 
I can find someone who's worse 

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00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:56,600
than me. 
I'm PG, pretty good. 

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00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,400
And what are you going to do? 
You just need to let them vent. 

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00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,520
You need to let them get it off 
themselves because it's them 

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00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,240
saying I have not yet lost 
myself. 

195
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:21,120
I'm still here. 
So he's pressing in for his 

196
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,200
innocence, trying to find is 
there anything good in me And 

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00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,840
he's then he's pressing in for 
his merit to say, look, I've 

198
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:34,200
actually not just avoided doing 
things, I've done good things. 

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00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:40,880
Surely I've merited some favour 
from God, He says. 

200
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,440
Look, if I've denied the desires
of the poor or let the eyes of 

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00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,240
the widow grow weary, if I've 
kept my bread for myself, not 

202
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,440
sharing with the Father this, 
then let my arm fall off of my 

203
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,320
shoulder. 
He's like, just let my arm fall 

204
00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,200
off 'cause that's what those 
kind of people are. 

205
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,480
They have hands and they hold 
everything to themselves. 

206
00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:09,760
They're worthless to the world. 
And this is this is him saying, 

207
00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,440
look, at least I've done 
something. 

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00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,280
So I've got some merit. 
I've done something that was 

209
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,200
good. 
And in the midst of all this, 

210
00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,880
job goes on. 
Or do you feel a little nervous 

211
00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,120
about this, a little anxious 
about job's pressing in? 

212
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:32,080
Do you feel a little 
uncomfortable when you sat 

213
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,880
across from a friend who was 
doing this or a family member 

214
00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,960
who was doing this or someone 
else who had lost something? 

215
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:42,440
You probably felt a little 
uncomfortable because they're a 

216
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,520
part of us that goes you're not 
that good. 

217
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,080
Oh, you probably didn't really 
do as much as you could have, 

218
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,040
and that's exactly what Job's 
friends had been doing. 

219
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:03,600
But now he's venting. 
Until now he's pressing in on 

220
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,560
God and he's pressing God into a
corner. 

221
00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,520
He says, look, if I had 
concealed my sin as people do, 

222
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,480
oh, that I had someone to hear 
me, I signed. 

223
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,400
Now my defense let the Almighty 
answer me. 

224
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,440
If my accuser put his indictment
in writing, I would give him a 

225
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,920
count of my every step. 
In fact, he says I would take 

226
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:31,640
that paper that that it's been 
written on and I would turn it 

227
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,960
into a crown and I would present
my crown to him. 

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Every argument to God, he's 
saying I'm going to present the 

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crown to God, my accuser, and 
let's see if God is fair. 

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Let's see if God is just what 
he's doing here. 

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He's actually saying God is like
a beast that can't distinguish 

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between the wicked and the 
righteous. 

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That God is like those wild 
animals that just devour 

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anything that comes in their 
step. 

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Like the hungry lion just 
devours, not even 

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distinguishing, oh this person's
good, this one's better. 

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I, I think I'll, I'll eat the 
bad person. 

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We wish life was like that. 
In fact, the Book of Job is 

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meant to disabuse us of the idea
that bad things don't happen to 

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good people. 
It's meant to disabuse us of 

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this idea that if you have 
wealth, you're either wicked or 

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really, really good. 
You just have wealth. 

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The Book of Job is meant to 
disabuse us of this idea that 

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somehow we could get God on our 
side by just doing some good 

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things. 
And that's what makes the Book 

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of Job so difficult for us. 
Job is trying to say God, you're

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you're no better than the beast.
In fact, This is why when God 

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shows up to speak to Job, God 
speaks about Behemoth and 

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Leviathan, two humongous 
creatures. 

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Where are my English literature 
people who know about Behemoth 

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and Leviathan, great sea 
creatures. 

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And God says, look, I have tamed
them, I have made them my pet. 

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I am greater than them. 
And then God says, I am just. 

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So there's something here that 
we have to really tend to, and 

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that is that God showed up when 
Joseph, I mean, when Job called 

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out, God showed up when Job 
called out. 

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Job did not get a why these 
things happened, but he did get 

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who. 
He got a who? 

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He got a God who was present to 
him who would restore a sense of

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life and dignity and purpose to 
him, who invited him to move 

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from the wise into the What 
purpose will you find in this 

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today Job? 
It's a very significant move to 

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make in our troubles. 
Notice what the Lord says. 

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Then the Lord spoke to Job out 
of the storm. 

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Now, this is really important. 
What was it that took away the 

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life of His children? 
A storm. 

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What was it that took away some 
of his wealth? 

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A storm. 
And then there were enemies that

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created its own storm. 
And so now God shows up in a 

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storm and speaks to Job. 
Who is this that obscures my 

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plans with words without 
knowledge? 

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Brace yourself like a man. 
How do you do that? 

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Brace yourself like a man and I 
will question you, and you shall

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answer me. 
And then begins the really 

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famous monologue from God in the
Book of Job. 

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Two things to notice here. 
God has not failed us even when 

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a storm shatters our sense of 
home. 

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That's the truth to take hold of
before you're there. 

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That's the truth to take care of
when you are there. 

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That's the truth that will seem 
so far away in the darkness. 

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The second is that God can speak
above a storm's chaos. 

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When you think you're in a storm
and that God can't hear you, 

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that God can't find you, that 
God himself can't speak over it,

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it's time to remind yourself 
when God's ready, God can speak 

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to me. 
And when I'm ready, God will 

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speak to me. 
He will reveal His power and 

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fulfill his plans. 
And on a side note, it's that 

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our righteousness, our being 
good with God, is never a means 

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00:23:17,390 --> 00:23:21,470
to an end. 
It is an end in and of itself. 

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Do you know, sometimes we get 
into places in our lives where 

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we're like, I'll make a bargain 
with God. 

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When I was a kid, I was like, 
God, I'll quit picking my nose 

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if you'll do this for me. 
I'd try for a day. 

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I'd pick my nose, you know, and 
then like, well, I guess God 

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00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:45,520
just, you know what, Whatever it
is for you where you're like, 

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00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,000
I'll bargain with God if it can 
get God on my side. 

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00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,760
God is so kind sometimes He 
honors those things in our 

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00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,840
lives. 
Oh, God, if you'll do this, if 

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you will save this, then I will 
dedicate my life to this. 

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00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,520
But here's how Job replied to 
God. 

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00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:11,440
I know that you can do all 
things. 

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00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,320
No purpose of yours can be 
thwarted. 

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00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,720
You asked, who is this that 
obscures my plans without 

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00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,360
knowledge? 
Surely I spoke of things I did 

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00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:25,520
not understand, things too 
wonderful for me to know. 

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00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,600
You said, Listen now and I will 
speak. 

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00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,040
I will question you, and you 
shall answer me. 

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00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:36,240
My ears had heard of you, but 
now my eyes have seen you. 

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00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:42,080
Therefore I despise myself. 
I lower myself, in other words, 

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00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:49,520
and repent in dust and ashes. 
That's a strange thing to think,

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00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,920
that the outcome of having lost 
a sense of home. 

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00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:04,120
In the effort to save yourself, 
you surrender to God by 

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00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:13,160
repenting of that very move. 
That is the strange way of a 

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00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,320
Christian life, and it is the 
strange way of Christmas. 

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00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:24,640
One of the things that we need 
to really aim for in this is 

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00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:31,240
that we we reconsider why that 
sense of home is so important. 

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00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:37,240
CS Lewis wrote these famous 
words, but maybe you've not seen

318
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,880
what's on either side of it, he 
says. 

319
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,800
If I find in myself a desire 
which no experience in this 

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00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:48,720
world can satisfy, the most 
probable explanation is that I 

321
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:54,240
was made for another world. 
If none of my earthly pleasures 

322
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:59,160
satisfy it, that does not prove 
that the universe is a fraud. 

323
00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:04,760
Probably earthly pleasures were 
never meant to satisfy it, but 

324
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:09,160
only to arouse it, to suggest 
the real thing. 

325
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:15,840
If that is so, I must take care 
on the one hand never to despise

326
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,680
or be unthankful for these 
earthly blessings, and on the 

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00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:25,160
other never to mistake them for 
the something else of which they

328
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:29,920
are only a kind of copy or echo 
or mirage. 

329
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:36,440
I Here's the call of action. 
I must keep alive in myself the 

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00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:41,400
desire for my true country, 
which I shall not find till 

331
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,440
after death. 
I must never let it go or get 

332
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:50,440
snowed under or turned aside. 
I must make it the main object 

333
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:56,800
of my life to press on to that 
other country and to help others

334
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,120
do the same. 
There's our call to action. 

335
00:27:06,330 --> 00:27:09,930
We need a homemaker, don't we? 
Not a home wrecker. 

336
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:17,400
Our desperate longing for home 
reveals our longing for the 

337
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:21,800
homemaker. 
Jesus said if anyone hears my 

338
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:28,840
words and receives me, my Father
and I will come and make our 

339
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:36,440
home in them. 
So no matter what happens in 

340
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:42,440
this home, God can be at home in
you. 

341
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,160
And This is why we need Jesus. 
Let's pray together. 

342
00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:54,720
Heavenly Father, we thank you 
that you created this home for 

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00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,360
us and that one day you will 
fully renew it in the new 

344
00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:03,640
creation. 
But in the space in between, we 

345
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,880
are longing at times to be it 
more at ease, to have more 

346
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,760
honor, to have more security, to
have more health, to have more 

347
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,160
wealth. 
And all of those longings seem 

348
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,200
to exceed our longing for you. 
They've covered it up. 

349
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:26,880
So we pray today that you would 
help us to repent of those 

350
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:31,320
things so that they can be right
sized in our life and that you 

351
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,600
can be right sized, super sized 
in our life. 

352
00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:42,480
So come Lord Jesus and be our 
homemaker. 

353
00:28:49,420 --> 00:28:52,780
In a moment we will receive the 
Lord's Supper, which is Jesus 

354
00:28:52,780 --> 00:28:57,500
coming the first time to make it
so, to make the way by laying 

355
00:28:57,500 --> 00:29:01,260
down His life. 
He made his home among us, 

356
00:29:04,980 --> 00:29:10,640
experiencing all of the home 
wrecking things of this life, 

357
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:16,560
but maintaining his own 
integrity and personhood and 

358
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:21,480
life with the Spirit, with the 
Father, so that he might make a 

359
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,760
way and invite you into that 
very life. 

360
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,440
If you've never said yes to 
Jesus, we want to encourage you 

361
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,360
today. 
Just make a simple prayer and 

362
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,720
say, Oh Jesus, would you come 
and make your home in me? 

363
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,520
There's things that need to be 
removed. 

364
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,600
There's things that need to be 
cleaned. 

365
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,160
There's things that need to be 
rearranged. 

366
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:50,560
But I make, I open the door to 
you today to be my home maker. 

367
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:53,200
Let's stand together.