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It's always encouraging to hear 
how God is working through you. 

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I'm going to read this morning 
from Colossians chapter 1, 

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beginning in verse 15. 
And then down to verse 20, we 

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divided the text into two parts.
We looked at the first part last

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week, as Jesus, Lord of creation
and this week, we'll look at the

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part, Jesus. 
Lord of the church. 

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Remember, Paul's writing to the 
church in colossae, who were 

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concerned and worried about the 
different powers that impact 

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their lives, whether it It be 
political powers of Empire, 

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whether it be local powers of 
family society and their local 

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religions whether it is the 
powers of Nature and other gods.

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They were concerned about the 
powers that affected their lives

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and impacted them. 
And so Paul is writing to assure

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them of the power of God fully 
expressed through Jesus Christ. 

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And he wants to assure them of 
their faith and allegiance to 

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Jesus. 
And so he writes to them. 

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The son is the image of the 
invisible. 

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God, the firstborn over all 
creation for in him, all things 

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were created things in heaven 
and on Earth, visible and 

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invisible, whether Thrones or 
powers or rulers or authorities,

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all things have been created 
through him. 

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And for For him, he is before 
all things, and in him all 

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things, hold together and he is 
the head of the body, the 

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church, he is the beginning. 
And the firstborn from among the

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dead, so that in everything he 
might have the supremacy for God

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was pleased to have all his 
fullness, dwell in him, and 

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through him to reconcile to 
himself all things, whether 

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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. 
Jesus had an amazing encounter 

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with his friends, Mary and 
Martha, and Lazarus, Lazarus had

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died. 
And when Jesus arrived, they're 

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both sisters were concerned and 
upset. 

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That Jesus hadn't, come, and 
they both affirmed a sense of 

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faith. 
That if Jesus had been there, 

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John would be alive. 
Jesus makes the most astonishing

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statement when he says will do 
you believe I am the 

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resurrection and the life, the 
one who believes in me will 

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live. 
And his sister who heard this 

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said, I believe. 
And it opened the way for Jesus 

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to do the most astonishing thing
where the placement of her faith

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was affirmed. 
She saw it in real time as Jesus

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called out Lazarus, come out. 
And Lazarus was raised from the 

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dead. 
Lazarus would die again. 

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And be buried. 
But what of Jesus? 

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The Lord of creation who died on
a cross who was buried and rose 

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again. 
Would he die again? 

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Would his power died with him, 
or would his power still be 

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evident and at work and the life
of people and particularly in 

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the life of the church? 
This was a concern that Paul is 

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seeking to address when he says 
in verse 17, that Jesus is the 

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head of the body Verse 18. 
Sorry, Jesus is the head of the 

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body, the church. 
This Lord of creation is the 

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lord of the church. 
He is the one who is in charge 

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of it, even to this day. 
And so, Paul is affirming him 

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them that though. 
Jesus is unseen. 

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He is the lord of the church 
though. 

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Jesus isn't the one standing at 
the front of their Gatherings? 

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Jesus is the lord of the church,
not the person who stands at the

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front. 
That's good news, right? 

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Yeah, was that my wife? 
It's good news, right? 

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That I'm not the lord of the 
church and neither are any of 

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the worship leaders. 
They're not the lord of the 

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church. 
Nor is there a secret person in 

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the congregation? 
Who was Lord of the church? 

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Jesus, is the lord of the 
church. 

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He is the head of the church and
he has that. 

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Because the new creation that 
Jesus, as Lord of creation 

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began, is now to be expressed in
the church. 

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His body. 
So, the church is the body that 

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makes the lordship of Jesus 
visible. 

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The church is the body that 
makes the lordship of Jesus 

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visible. 
How are we doing? 

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We're only doing as well as we 
surrender to Jesus as Lord and 

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Caraway the allegiances that we 
make to other powers and rulers 

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and authorities. 
And declare by the spirit of 

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God. 
Jesus is Lord, and learn to 

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listen to his voice. 
Jesus said of his church, his 

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sheep that they will listen to 
his voice. 

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How was your listening going to 
the Lord of creation? 

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The lord of the church. 
He is the head of the body, the 

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church Paul goes on to say, he 
is the beginning and the 

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firstborn among the dead. 
So that in everything he might 

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have Supremacy. 
He is the beginning and the our 

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our anticipation, our reflexive 
move internally. 

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If you're familiar with the 
scripture is to say, Jesus is 

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the beginning and the end he is 
the Alpha and the but Paul 

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interrupts that moved here to 
highlight the reason why Jesus 

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is the authority in this period 
of life. 

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He says Jesus is the firstborn. 
He is the beginning and the 

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firstborn among the Dead. 
Among the dead. 

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So he interrupts here with the 
end, he's the firstborn among 

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the dead, that Jesus himself was
buried. 

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And that when he rose from the 
dead, he brings the Dead with 

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them. 
Who shall be transformed unto 

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life? 
And so he didn't just Rise by 

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himself, he rises with those of 
us who would be dead without 

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him. 
And so now the dead in Christ 

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shall be born with him. 
So this is why in baptism when 

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we Baptist someone we say buried
with Christ in baptism but 

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raised to walk in you life. 
Why can we do that? 

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Because Jesus is raised for 
eternity. and so shall those who

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by faith allow themselves to be 
buried with him in baptism, My 

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old life is gone, behold the new
has come and Jesus has Primacy 

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of authority. 
He has Power Among Us. 

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Who have United with him. 
In faith and in baptism. 

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As your life United with Christ.
Both in his death and in his 

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resurrection, without his 
resurrection, I am just as good 

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as dead. 
Paul went on to say that, woe to

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those of us who are in Christ. 
If the resurrection didn't 

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really happen, he recognized 
that the moment of compelling 

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belief in Christ is the 
resurrection of Jesus. 

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The firstborn among the dead so 
that he might have Supremacy. 

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In everything. 
Is this how you see Jesus as 

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having Supremacy in everything 
or is there something in your 

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life that you've kept as a 
reserve to say? 

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Well, this is really mine Lord. 
This is my domain. 

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This is my secret space of my 
life and you can't come here. 

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That secret space of your life 
will be filled with death. 

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Unless you open the doors to 
Christ. 

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To come and bring life where you
thought, there could be no life.

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He goes on here to speak of 
Jesus in verse 19 for God was 

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pleased to have all his 
fullness, dwell in him. 

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So not only did this Jesus come,
and do this, he did it as God 

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with all of the fullness of God 
in him. 

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And so when we read the gospels 
and see Jesus on the cross, it 

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was no imposter. 
It was no fill in. 

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For God, this was truly God on 
the cross being crucified. 

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That is a mysterious thought. 
That the Lord of creation. 

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Was on the cross dying. 
For what? 

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For why? 
Notice Paul says in verse 19, 

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for God was pleased to have all 
his fullness, dwell in him. 

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And then 20, he gives the reason
and through him, to reconcile, 

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to himself all things, whether 
things on earth, or things in 

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Heaven by making peace, through 
his blood shed on the cross. 

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When God died on the cross. 
He was accomplish incredible. 

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A Reconciliation move. 
Now reconciliation is a strange 

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thing to us because if you're in
a friendship and a relationship 

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and you find that you are the 
offended party, you are the one 

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who has been wronged, what are 
you waiting for? 

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An apology. 
I thought you said coffee and I 

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said, I'm with you an apology. 
You're waiting for the other 

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person to move. 
You're waiting for the other 

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person to act. 
You're waiting for the other 

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person to soften their heart and
come and say you know I was 

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really wrong. 
I am sorry. 

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I think this caused you a lot of
pain and I am sorry. 

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Those are really difficult words
to say, right? 

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Maybe you just need to practice 
it, you can turn to your 

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neighbor and say I'm sorry. 
So now, you know, you can do it.

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You can make that move. 
That reconciliation move, except

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that's not what God did. 
God didn't wait for you to come 

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to him and apologize. 
God didn't wait for you to feel 

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sorry. 
God didn't wait for you to feel 

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the pain that he felt. 
God, moved first. 

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And all the fullness of God is 
present in the body of Jesus. 

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As he says, no one takes my life
from me, but I lay it down 

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because the father has given me 
authority to lay it down and to 

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take it back up. 
And so God moved first to love. 

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God moved first to forgive. 
God moved first to breathe life.

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And all those who were dead 
apart from him. 

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God moves first to reconcile. 
What was unreconciled label. 

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It required blood. 
It required life and on this 

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occasion, he didn't ask anyone 
else to do it but he said I will

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do it. in John 3, we spoke of 
this last month that that little

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verse for God. 
So loved the world that he gave 

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his only son, that whoever 
believes in him, shall have 

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life. 
God loves you that much. 

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And he would move first. 
This Rift between us and God. 

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Created and creates hostility. 
It creates, hardness it creates,

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Rejection, it creates Pride. 
Pride is a strange thing when we

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think of sin pride is a strange 
thing. 

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When we think of Reconciliation.
But pride is not so strange in 

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the academy, is it? 
The pride of our 

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accomplishments, the pride of 
what we say, we will do the 

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pride of what we can be. 
There's an author. 

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Her name's Frederica Matthews 
Green, she's written a lot of 

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books on occasion. 
She writes for newspapers like 

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the Washington Post and she says
that when she was a kid, she had

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lots of faith around eight or 
nine. 

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She would go around and tell her
her parents that she wanted to 

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be a nun. 
And they're like, we're going to

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have none of that. 
And so she learned pretty 

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quickly, that somehow being 
religious wasn't all that good. 

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Don't be too religious. 
And so, progressively over the 

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next 10 years of her life, she 
began to just shut it down. 

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Shut it down, shut it down to, 
ultimately, she would say, I've 

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tried to be an atheist. 
I've tried to be an act Gnostic.

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I've tried even other religions.
She said, the religion, she 

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liked the most was Hinduism. 
She said this so colorful, But 

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she said it was a strange 
experience that pulled her out 

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of all of that. 
She and her husband were on 

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their honeymoon. 
And they had traveled to 

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Ireland. and in Dublin, What 
else do you do you visit 

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churches? 
She visited a church. 

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And she felt very anxious as 
they went in because her husband

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had just said the night before, 
you know, I'm an atheist. 

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But there's something about 
Jesus. 

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I've never encountered anyone 
like this before. 

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I know he's speaking the truth 
but I'm an atheist. 

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But if Jesus says there's a God,
there must be a god. 

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She said that experience of him 
completing an assignment in a 

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class where he was asked to read
a gospel. 

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Made her very nervous going into
that church. 

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She said I didn't want him to be
a Christian. 

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She said, when they walked 
through the church, she went to 

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the corner. 
I'm just was sitting down when 

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she looked in and saw a white 
marble statue. 

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It was a statue of Jesus with 
his heart exposed. 

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And Thorns were wrapping around 
it and Flames were coming out of

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it. 
It was strange art. 

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But suddenly, she realized as 
she looked she had fallen on her

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knees. and she said it was if 
there was a radio that clicked 

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on in her head, Anna voice. 
That said, I am your life. you 

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thought that your life was in 
your history, in your name and 

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your personality, you thought 
that your life was the fact that

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your heart beats, but that is 
not your life. 

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I am your life. 
I am the foundation of 

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everything else in your life. 
She says, it was pretty 

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indisputable as to, who was 
talking to me? 

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She said, I started reading the 
Bible. 

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I found that I disagreed with 
Jesus about a lot of things. 

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But something had happened to me
in that church and I realized 

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that I didn't know anything 
about the world. 

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And she said, gradually, I came 
to Faith? 

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And my husband came to Faith and
then several months went by and 

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our friend said to us. 
Well, have you ever given your 

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heart to Jesus? 
Have you ever asked Jesus to be 

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Lord? 
And and she said, I didn't know 

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quite what to say him. 
I could only say well we're not 

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Southern Baptists. 
She said, you know, you have to 

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think about where I live. 
They were the most extreme 

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Christians around in her town. 
She said they're the only 

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people. 
I knew who asked is Jesus. 

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Lord And he says, well, actually
it's for everybody. 

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And they said, well, you know, 
we're in graduate school. 

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And he says, no even for you. 
It's for you. 

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Jesus is Lord. 
And so she says the three of 

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them knelt down and prayed and 
asked Jesus to be our Lord. 

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She says I had no idea what that
would mean, but I so wanted to 

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find out. 
Jesus is Lord of creation. 

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And he's lord of the church. 
Do you know when we speak of the

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church? 
And this passage in large part 

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were speaking of This Global 
sense of the Church of Jesus. 

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He is Lord of the church, but 
he's also Lord of these smaller 

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expressions of it. 
Whether it be here at origin, or

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at Tenth or at University 
Chapel, or any other 

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congregation in the area, these 
gatherings of little 

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congregations are expressions of
the church and Jesus is always 

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seeking to ground into the place
eyewitness to himself to make 

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this. 
A bowl by his body, his lordship

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over creation and over people. 
And so this is why we will 

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follow him to langara and to 
Oakridge and we will look to see

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that God would establish again 
of visible witness of his 

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creation and up his new 
creation. 

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My father used to say when 
asked, do you witness? 

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Do you do evangelism? 
My dad will say, well, yeah. 

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And I get up and I go meet with 
the church. 

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I remember listening to that as 
a kid and thinking that's not 

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enough, is that really enough 
but it's the start, isn't it? 

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To go and be a part of the 
visible expression of the 

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lordship of Jesus. 
To make visible, what would be 

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invisible? 
As our connection together as 

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brothers and sisters, our 
connection together as the 

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redeemed, the rescued, our 
connection as the reconciled. 

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I find that a lot of my friends.
Like to maintain a bit of 

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humanity in their life and 
mystery. 

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And so they will say I'm 
religious, I'm spiritual, but 

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not religious I'm spiritual but 
not religious. 

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Our hyper individualism. 
Has rejected the lordship of 

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Jesus. 
And it is the lordship of Jesus 

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that calls us to Value his body.
The church It is the lordship of

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Jesus that calls us in some way 
to maintain connection, even 

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when our lives get complicated 
and busy and the seasons of our 

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life change, it is the lordship 
of Jesus that calls us back into

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connection with each other. 
He says, by this the world will 

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know Your love for each other. 
That you are my disciples. 

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There was a pastor named Philip 
Johnson in 1969. 

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The year after I was born, he 
accepted an assignment to Pastor

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11 churches in Newfoundland. 
Now, I don't know about you but 

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pastoring 11 churches would be 
really stressful, but he was 

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doing a circuit. 
So he pastored one church. 

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That was larger and then ten 
other little congregations. 

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He would travel to it on the 
weekend and they would meet 

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together on one occasion. 
The first time he went, he 

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traveled 40 miles. 
To go and visit a congregation. 

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That morning one person showed 
up. 

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It was a fisherman who had 
traveled 20 miles. 

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And so while Pastor Johnson was 
tempted to say let's just pray 

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and go home. 
He realized, oh my we have both 

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traveled 60 miles to be here, so
maybe I should run the service. 

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So he said we did everything. 
We did it all. 

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We did the hymns, we did the 
readings, we did the prayers, I 

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did the sermon, we did the 
Lord's Supper, we did the 

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benediction, we did it all, and 
he said, then I went to the back

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door and I stood there and I 
shook his hand. 

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And he said, I didn't think it 
would all that well, because the

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whole time that we did all of 
that together, this man kept his

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head down. but at the door after
shaking his hand, the fishermen 

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said Reverend I've been 
thinking, I've been thinking for

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about 30 years to become a 
Christian. 

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And today is the day. 
Nothing is wasted. 

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Done in faith with Jesus, who is
Lord? 

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Let's pray together. 
Heavenly Father, we set our 

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lives before you and thank you 
for the son who is Lord of 

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creation and Lord of the church 
and we surrender Our Lives. 

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Once again, we open our hearts 
to you, we bend the knee and 

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declare that Jesus is Lord. 
Oh, Come Holy Spirit and fill us

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revive your church, do your 
creation work again in the chaos

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and mess of our lives and 
relationships and busyness 

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somehow break in Lord and 
restore to us. 

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Our first love, our first love 
for you. 

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Our first love for your church. 
Oh, Come Lord Jesus and work 

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Among Us. 
Oh, Come Lord Jesus and work 

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Among Us.