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Trust in Jesus' Honor

In this engaging sermon, Pablo Padilla addresses the significance of honoring Jesus, emphasizing the need to pour out our best for Him. He discusses the story of Mary anointing Jesus with expensive perfume, illustrating true honor and devotion. Pablo also touches on the challenges of cynical attitudes and the importance of maintaining a humble and open heart. The sermon acknowledges the faithful efforts and achievements of the OC Church community, including recent baptisms and restorations. Pablo calls for a 15-day period of refraining from negativity as a way to honor each other and prepare for Easter. The message concludes with a collective communion, reflecting on Jesus' ultimate sacrifice for humanity.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction

00:30 The Concept of Honor

02:08 Jesus' Journey to Jerusalem

04:13 Mary's Act of Devotion

09:26 Honoring the Community

15:15 Paul's Message to the Corinthians

18:26 Moving to Orange County

18:35 The Sin of Cynicism

19:25 Narrative Therapy Insights

21:41 15 Days of Honor Challenge

25:57 Personal Story of Family Struggles

32:28 Honoring Baptized and Restored Members

35:55 Closing Prayer and Communion

Transcript
Pablo Padilla:

I have the honor of, uh, leading the sermon today and,

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uh, we're gonna have a good time.

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Amen.

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What's up, Jamie?

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It is good seeing all of you here and, uh,

what a, an amazing song that talks about

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men who dream and women who dream, right?

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It's all about the ladies too, and it

is just wonderful to be with all of you.

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OC Church, welcome.

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It's great to just have the

privilege to speak before you.

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Same to those who are watching online.

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We wanted to acknowledge

them and it's grateful.

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I'm grateful that we're all here together.

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And today I wanted to talk

about Jesus's honor, ma'am.

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And, uh, I have an incredible story

here that I wanted to just, uh, mention

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that I think will prepare our hearts

as we take communion in a short while.

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I'm just gonna make sure

that our slides are working.

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There it goes.

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Let me see.

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All right.

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It's a cool little green laser up

here, so I dunno if I'm pointing

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it the right direction, but,

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well, you know what, I'll just old school

say next slide until we figure this out.

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Is that okay?

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So, uh, we are gonna talk

about today about Jesus Honor.

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I hope you could see it behind

me and in the next slide.

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Honor is something very

difficult to achieve.

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It's not something that's

easily given, right.

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Yeah, I mean, you gotta ask

yourself, who do you honor today?

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What kind of honor do you want?

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What honor are you seeking?

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And as a church, we've been studying

out this year trusting in God, and

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one of the great things that we're

learning about trusting in God is that

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it's not about us, it's about him.

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A lot of times we're fighting for

what we want, our needs, hence our

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honor, what we think we deserve.

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But at the end of the day, it's

really all about Jesus' honor.

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That's right.

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And so I thought as the elders and

the, some of the staff had asked

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me, could you speak on Sunday?

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And if you can, can you talk about

something that could really capture

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how God is working in the midst of our

region, our church, and what God is doing?

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And I started thinking, okay, Easter's

in a couple of weeks from now, right?

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Yeah.

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Next week is what we classically

call Palm Sunday, which is.

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In the Bible, you'll see it's

about six days before the Passover.

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So some people say it's

Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.

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It depends.

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But the whole point, it's about a

week before, and I started reading

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the Bible, okay, God give me ideas.

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What do you want me to

speak to your people?

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'cause I don't know

what I should speak on.

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And so I said, trusting

in God, trusting in God.

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But God gave me a great idea

and I started thinking what

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happened right before Palm's Day.

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Right.

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And if we could go to the next slide.

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It says here, well, I'll just pick it

up in Mark, chapter six, verse four.

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It says that a prophet is not without

honor, except in his own town,

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amongst relatives and in his own home.

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So it's difficult to achieve honor.

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And if we go to the next slide after

that, right, we know that it's the day

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before, palms day, if you will, and what's

happening if we go to the next slide.

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Jesus is building momentum.

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He's facing a lot of tension.

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He's doing incredible

works, incredible miracles.

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And if we go to the next

slide after that, right?

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He's resolutely set out

setting out for Jerusalem.

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So he's on a mission.

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In this mission, he's trying

to help people be saved.

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He's trying to help people be healed.

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He's trying to help the

Apostles all be together.

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How many of you have been

watching The Chosen lately?

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A few of you have.

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Some of us.

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If you have a chance, go watch it.

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Especially go watch it

in the movie theaters.

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I watched part two yesterday in the movie

theaters, which were episodes three,

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four, and five, and it was phenomenal.

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But as you could see, it's

building a lot of tension.

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It's so thick.

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You could literally cut it with a knife.

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When you see the interactions

between Judas and Jesus.

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But Jesus, it says here, he's resolutely

setting out for Jerusalem even though

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he knows he's gonna die, right?

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So if we go to the next slide, in

John chapter 12, the Bible reads,

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this is where we pick it up.

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Six days before the Passover, Jesus

came to Bethany where Lazarus lived,

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whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

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Very controversial.

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By the way, here.

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A dinner was given in Jesus' honor.

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That's where we get the

title from today's sermon.

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Martha served while Lazarus was among

those reclining at the table with him.

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Then Mary took about a pint of

pure Nard, an expensive perfume.

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She poured on Jesus's feet and wiped his

feet with her hair, and the house was

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filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

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If we go to the next slide, my very first

point is you gotta pour out your best.

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For Jesus's honor.

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Jesus is not mediocre.

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Jesus doesn't like second best.

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He's not into just gimme your leftovers.

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Give me what you saved, what

you cooked from the day before.

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He wants you to cook him a

fresh, hot meal that day.

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Amen.

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That's how Jesus is, and that's okay.

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He's our king.

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He's our Lord.

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He's our God.

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We should give him our best.

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And that's what Mary did.

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Mary gave her very best.

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If we go to the next slide.

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Right.

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We see a depiction here, an artist.

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It wasn't like this of course,

but a, an artwork of her humility.

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She came in there and literally with

this jar full of this expensive perfume,

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and if we go to the next slide, this

perfume nard, they shortened it or

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abbreviated it here in John 12 for us.

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But really the technical name is

Spikenard, and it was a potent

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fragrance that they transported it all

the way from the Himalayan mountains.

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Now, if you don't know where the Himalayan

mountains are, that's by Nepal, Northern

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India, and it's a very mountainous region.

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It's very difficult.

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You can't really walk there.

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I mean, you need a calvary to

get you up and down these hills,

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up and down these mountains.

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And so when they found this type

of fragrance there and cultivated

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it to bring it thousands of miles

back to Jerusalem, to those ancient

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biblical lands for us in our time.

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It was a mission.

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I mean, there was no FedEx

in those days, right?

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There was no UPS, no.

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Amazon.

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Hey, I'm gonna send

this package over there.

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I mean, it took a lot of work.

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So this perfume, this

fragrance was very expensive.

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Yeah.

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Now, I don't know exactly

why Mary had this perfume.

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I know there's another story in the

gospels that talks about someone

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who was wicked, a sinner, a woman

who came before Jesus and had

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a similar interaction with him.

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At a Pharisees home, so

that was a separate one.

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This is completely different.

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Mary's been part of Jesus' ministry.

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She has repented of her life,

and Jesus has healed her over

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seven demons, and so she's here.

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We don't know, maybe it was

something she inherited.

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Maybe it was some money she had

saved up for her own burial.

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Maybe she thought one day when I

go, I want to smell good and I want

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people to approach my body and say,

Shalom, peace, and I wanna smell great.

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I have no idea.

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But all I know is that she said, this is

my most coveted possession or physical

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possession I have on this planet.

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Now, if Jesus were to ask you

today, Hey, can you give me

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your most coveted possession?

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Whatever you've been saving for your

401k, your jobs, your titles, degrees,

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whatever you put out there, yeah,

your heirlooms that maybe has been

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passed down generation to generation.

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Would you be able to sacrifice

it before Jesus' feet?

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That's the honor that

Jesus is looking for.

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Amen.

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If we could go to the next slide.

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What you see here in this beautiful

passage is an intersection

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of four amazing characters.

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You have, uh, Martha, who's

a servant, and I'm like her.

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I'm a worry person.

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So I'm like, go, go, go.

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Do, do, do.

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What's the next thing on in line?

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So that's Martha.

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And a lot of us can relate with that.

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You know, Mary the sinner,

she had a heart that.

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It was so humble.

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She would fall before prostrate,

right before Jesus' feet and

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say, Jesus, you are king.

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And she was a sinner.

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And I've been there before too, right?

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Every day.

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I'm a sinner, so I could relate with that.

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She felt so undeserving.

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And then you have Lazarus

who's reclining at the table.

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He's kicking back, chilling, right?

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He's eating good food and he's just safe.

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He was dead for four days.

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So imagine his cow WBS in his mind, right?

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I mean, we can't blame him for reclining.

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He must have been like, dude,

I was dead for four days.

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How do I recover from that?

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But Jesus saved him after being four days.

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He was so smelly.

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I'm sure he got a shower right afterwards.

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They, you know, took care of him.

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And so he's there reclining,

eating good, and he was saved.

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He was raised from the

dead like many of us.

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But who was there too?

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The fourth and final most important

characters, Jesus' Savior, was there.

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And so when you see these four

characters always in the same

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room, the tension is gonna be high.

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The tension is gonna be thick, the tension

is gonna be hard because you need to be

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spiritual to handle those moments there.

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And Jesus is trying to deal

with all these situations.

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All at the same time, and you

get a really good look at that

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when you watch the Chosen.

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If we go to the next slide, you

know, speaking about honor, I

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wanna honor all the faithful

disciples of Orange County Church.

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Amen.

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You guys have done so much

over the last many years.

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You have appointed five new

elders in our congregation.

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The people chose them.

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It wasn't the leadership.

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We sought advice.

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We had a consultant, we did all that.

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But the people nominated those names.

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We went through a vetting process.

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And thank God we have those

five elders and their wives.

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We have a financial plan in motion.

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You know, I appreciate Kenny

Barber talking about that.

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I know a lot of us, Hey, we want

the finances to be transparent.

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We're working on that.

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We're working on including you and

inclusive, and please talk to your

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group leaders and your ministry leaders,

because we include them in on the mix.

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Amen.

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They're fully briefed on most

things, and we wanna make sure

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that they know everything.

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And if you wanna know, be

in the know, please ask 'em.

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But there is a financial plan in motion.

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It's not perfect.

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It's not.

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It's always gonna be needed to get better.

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Of course, we gotta improve it, but we

need your feedback and we appreciate that.

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That is something that's

great that God is doing.

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We're also on the cusp of possibly

hiring a new regional leader.

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Amen.

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And we're gonna be talking about

that in our leadership team

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today with all the leaders from.

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We have a vision to go back

to the building at some point

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and be the one OC church.

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Isn't that incredible?

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Many of us have been wanting that.

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I know.

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When I heard that initially

I was, that was not my cup

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of tea or coffee or any cup.

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Hey man.

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I was like, wow.

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I, I love what we're building

here in coastline, in, in

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the Huntington Beach area.

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I like the beach.

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I like the breeze weather.

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It gets a little warm

inland, don't get me wrong.

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Right.

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I mean, it's true.

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But I'm like, I like being where I'm at.

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But you know what?

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After talking to my people, I

wanted to listen to my people.

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I said, this is not my church.

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I said, what do you guys want to do?

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And most of the people in cosign were

like, we should go back to the building.

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Parents were like, Hey,

we'll help my teens.

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My kids grow up with other kids.

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The singles were like, I want

to be part with other singles.

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Pablo in, in cosign.

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We don't even have a campus ministry.

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It'd be great to relate with the

campus students and the leadership

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and the staff and the elders

were like, let's go be back one.

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That's amazing.

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Yeah.

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You know, it took a lot of a

lot of gritty work, and I wanna

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applaud the staff and the elders.

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It's a lot of gritty work

that we have to do to talk

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that.

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That was, that's not an

easy decision to make.

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Amen.

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Just to uproot and move on.

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More details to come about that.

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And lastly, and I think most

importantly, we've been closer

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to God like never before.

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I'm really impressed by the

eldership that we have the six

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couples, if you include the Willis.

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When you, when you, when you hear

the things that they're doing, and,

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and they wouldn't say this but I'm

gonna say it for them, they've been

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fasting, they've been taking turns,

fasting every day amongst themselves.

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So remember they're six.

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Someone has to fast twice a week.

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So if you fast it on Sunday, you might

have to fast on Saturday, and that is

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the rotation that they've been having.

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Isn't that amazing to withhold food.

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I can't even withhold a meal.

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I mean, it's just not my thing.

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Even last night we, we were

going on a double date.

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I'm like, you want dessert?

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Technically, I'm not supposed to

have it, but I'm gonna get it.

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Let's get the dessert.

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So I got a nice apple crumble

cheesecake type thing.

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It was amazing.

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If we go to the next slide,

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but it says that one of his disciples,

what happens when good things are

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going on and Jesus is building

momentum, A disciple gets in the way.

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Can you believe that?

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You would think it would be a sinner.

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You would think it would be a Roman

soldier or some king or something.

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In John 12, there's, here's a

warning we gotta take to heart.

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One of his disciples, Judas, is scar

it, who was later to betray him.

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Objected.

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Why wasn't this perfume sold and the

money given to the poor not a terrible

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idea, it was worth a year's wages.

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He did not say this because he cared about

the poor, but he, but because he was a

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thief, as keeper of the money of the bag,

he used to help himself and get this.

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He would and to what was put into it.

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So my first point was Mary was

pouring out her best for Jesus.

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And we need to imitate

that of her to honor Jesus.

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But when you're about self and into

that, you're, when you pour into

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self, it disrupts Jesus's honor.

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Now, let me be very clear.

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You'll never stop Jesus from getting

all the honor even on the cross.

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He got all the honor when people

didn't believe the resurrection.

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He got all the honor.

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Yes.

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So no matter what happens, Jesus is

gonna get the honor, but our role can

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disrupt that process a little bit.

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God is always gonna work his

way, but ourselves, when we pour

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into ourselves, it disrupts.

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Now that might be paradoxical to many

of us because we think don't, shouldn't.

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We do self-care, and if

we go to the next slide,

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it's a matter of the heart.

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Yeah, because here in Luke

5 37, Jesus addresses this.

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No one pours new wine.

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Right?

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God's new teaching, new

vision into old wineskins.

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An old crabby disrupted hard heart.

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Otherwise, a new wine will burst.

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Because what happens with the

leather wine holder, it breaks.

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I mean, leather at some point

will get so dry and brittle.

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It will break.

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It will start to disintegrate.

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And the wine and the gases that has been

in there will disrupt that and we'll burst

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them and the wine they'll burst, the wine

skins and it says that the wine will run

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out and the wineskins will be ruined.

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No, the new wine must be poured into new

wineskins, so we don't need to worry about

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the wine that Jesus is presenting to us,

his teaching and the His best for us.

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What we need to worry about is

our hearts being open to him.

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Let's hope.

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Go to the next slide please.

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Here's an incredible scripture

that I want to spend a minute on.

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In two Corinthians chapter six,

verse three to 13, it says, this is

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Paul's heart for the church in CORs,

we put no stumbling block, right?

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He doesn't wanna be disruptive.

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He's like, how can I help

God's purpose move forward?

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I don't wanna get in the way.

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So he says, we put no stumbling block

in anyone's path, anyone's path, so that

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our ministry will not be discredited.

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It won't be dishonored.

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Amen.

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Rather, as servants of God, we

commend ourselves in every way.

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In great endurance in OC church,

you have endured in troubles, in

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hardships, distresses, beatings,

imprisonments, riots, and hard work,

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sleepless nights and hunger impurity.

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It's a struggle to stay pure, right?

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Understanding, patience, kindness in

the Holy Spirit and insincere love.

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In truthful speech and in the power

of God with weapons of righteousness

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in the right hand and in the

left through glory and dishonor.

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Bad report, good report.

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Genuine, yet regarded as inspo.

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Imposters, known yet regarded as unknown.

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Dying.

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Yet we live on.

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Come on, Kevin Mains.

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His spirit lives on

amongst our fellowship.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Beaten yet not killed, sorrowful yet.

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Always rejoicing poor, yet

making many rich, having nothing

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yet possessing everything.

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We have spoken freely to you Corinthians,

and opened wide our hearts to you

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see Paul's heart here, he's like,

I'm opening my heart to you guys.

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He's not worried about

what's being poured in.

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He's worried about what's going out.

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Amen.

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Yeah.

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He's like, how can I honor the church?

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How can I honor Christ's body?

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And in verse 12, it says, we are not

withholding our affection from you,

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but you are withholding yours from us.

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Yes, as a fair exchange,

I speak as to my children.

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Open wide.

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Your hearts also.

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Amen.

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You wanna be refreshed?

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Open your heart.

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Get open, confess a sin.

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Come on.

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You don't even have to

confess multiple sins.

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Just confess one.

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Start with one.

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That'll build your courage.

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You're not open to some

ideas, talk about it.

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Get open, get help, seek some input.

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Sit down with people, invite

people over to your house.

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So many times, no one

invites me to these meetings.

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Why don't you open up your house and

open people to come to your house

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and say, Hey, I prepare a meal.

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Let's talk about it.

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I have some questions, I have

some thoughts, and I made a meal.

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I have some dessert in the oven 'cause

I wanna talk about these issues.

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Let's go to the next slide.

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:

But you know what sometimes we could do

is we could be cynical and let me be,

406

:

from an outside perspective moving in.

407

:

I'm so proud to be a part of the

OC Church, my former ministry.

408

:

It's a great ministry.

409

:

It went through a lot of tumultuous

times and during the pandemic, God

410

:

miraculously worked through that region,

uh, Metro LA and, and it was amazing.

411

:

And God has been healing that ministry

and strengthening that ministry.

412

:

And when we ended up moving over.

413

:

To, um, orange County.

414

:

We were like, wow, they're in good hands.

415

:

Now.

416

:

We wanna help another ministry situation.

417

:

And in the last four or five years since

we've been here, people may say, man,

418

:

the church OOC struggles with pride.

419

:

Or maybe they struggle with this

situation or that situation.

420

:

Selfishness, maybe.

421

:

You know what our biggest sin, I

think is today, is we're cynical.

422

:

We don't think things are gonna change.

423

:

Hmm, that leader's never gonna grow.

424

:

That leader's never gonna change.

425

:

These people are never

gonna have soft hearts.

426

:

We're never gonna give to

what we used to give to.

427

:

Since Kevin Main's past in 2017,

things have not been the same.

428

:

But you know what?

429

:

They can get even better.

430

:

And I know Kevin from the other

side, he's rooting for us.

431

:

He's telling us, you guys can change.

432

:

You guys can grow, bring back the honor

to Christ, but stop being cynical.

433

:

Wow.

434

:

And I had to repent of that.

435

:

If we go to the next slide,

436

:

because I was doing therapy for

people, uh, where I work out here

437

:

in Laguna Beach, and I remember many

individuals would come and see me.

438

:

Paolo, I've been traumatized

since the pandemic.

439

:

I had a lost one.

440

:

Uh, recently, even this week I had

a, a, uh, a mother who came, she

441

:

lost two of her children recently.

442

:

It was so heartbreaking.

443

:

I was like, oh my goodness.

444

:

What do we do here?

445

:

Yeah, and I remember using this narrative

therapy technique with her and with many

446

:

of my patients the last many years since

I've been in Orange County, and even I use

447

:

this with disciples in our ministry there.

448

:

And I'd like to pass it on to you

that narrative therapy is a form

449

:

of psychotherapy that focuses on

helping individuals understand and

450

:

change the stories they tell about

themselves and their experiences.

451

:

It is based on the premise that

people's identities and problems

452

:

are shaped by the narrative.

453

:

They create.

454

:

What narrative are you

creating today for yourself?

455

:

The key principles are you gotta

externalize, Hey, separate yourself.

456

:

Look from 10 feet away.

457

:

Okay, I see the problem and I'm over here.

458

:

I'm not with the problem.

459

:

Then you gotta deconstruct it

and then you gotta re-author it.

460

:

You gotta come up with a new narrative

and make yourself the star of it.

461

:

Because one of the things I

told that lady, I'm really sorry

462

:

that you lost your two children.

463

:

And I know this is gonna sound

controversial, I told her this, but

464

:

even the loss of your children, that's

not the star of the show of your life.

465

:

You are the star of your life.

466

:

And she broke down crying.

467

:

She says, I've been holding this

for years, Pablo, thank you so much.

468

:

I wanna see you next week.

469

:

She said, and I empowered her and I said,

you don't have to live that life that.

470

:

You know, this tragedy's gonna define

you, it's gonna shape you, it's gonna

471

:

make an impact, but you could still

be the star of the show and we can

472

:

honor your kids through your legacy.

473

:

If we go, and I do wanna give a shout out

to some of the sisters who had a a, we

474

:

call 'em passion groups when they meet

for midweeks for a couple of months.

475

:

And they discussed some of the

tough topics and they, their group

476

:

was called Mind Change and uh, I

wanted to lift them up because if

477

:

you've never heard of mind change.

478

:

Talk to my wife or talk to some of

the sisters that participated in that.

479

:

It's really, really helpful and healthy.

480

:

If we move on to the next slide,

one of the things that I wanted

481

:

to just call the ministry to is

we wanna do 15 days of honor.

482

:

And man, this was just my idea that

I think God provided to me is that

483

:

so many times we're cynical and we

complain, and all we do is sometimes

484

:

in our minds focused on the negative.

485

:

And so in a way, to honor one

another about ourselves, I'd like

486

:

to ask between now 15 days from

now, we'll be exactly Easter.

487

:

Amen.

488

:

Yeah.

489

:

No complaining, no

negativity, no criticizing.

490

:

I'm lucky.

491

:

'cause after this, you

can't criticize a sermon.

492

:

Amen.

493

:

So I'm blessed,

494

:

but next week, if you hear from

Marcel or Kyle or whoever, Martine,

495

:

whoever speaks in your ministry, Ron

or James, let's not criticize 'em.

496

:

Let's encourage them.

497

:

If someone does a communion and

they don't do it, well lift them up.

498

:

Man.

499

:

You had the courage.

500

:

Yeah, right.

501

:

Anybody who does anything, hey you.

502

:

Those cupcakes aren't the

best, but you know what?

503

:

Awesome job, sister.

504

:

Bro.

505

:

You look like you're losing weight.

506

:

Not really, but you're looking

like you're losing weight.

507

:

Let's honor one another and

refrain from being critical.

508

:

I wonder what God can do in two weeks.

509

:

I wonder what the spirit

can do in two weeks time.

510

:

Be before now.

511

:

And to set you up your success for your

Palm Sundays and your Easter services.

512

:

'cause you're gonna bring your friends

and family, and I want them to come and

513

:

see the body of Christ and be blown away.

514

:

Like, what is this fellowship all about?

515

:

This is amazing.

516

:

You guys love each other, the diversity.

517

:

You guys forgive each other.

518

:

You guys are encouraging each other.

519

:

It's amazing.

520

:

That's what we want to do,

but we gotta obey the Bible.

521

:

Honor one another above ourselves.

522

:

If we could go to the next slide.

523

:

God has been blessing.

524

:

Amen.

525

:

Yes.

526

:

The South singles Ministry, Armando

Pineta, got baptized recently

527

:

in the campus ministry.

528

:

Peyton Wilson got, uh, baptized

529

:

in the singles ministry.

530

:

Ryan, to me, got restored.

531

:

Shout out to Eric Scheffler.

532

:

And, uh, Andrew Richmond and Tony and

all the brothers there that helped 'em.

533

:

It was amazing.

534

:

God is working.

535

:

And I do have some more good news.

536

:

If we could go to the next slide.

537

:

If, uh, I'm gonna ask in a few

minutes anyone who's been baptized or

538

:

restored to do me something simple.

539

:

Two little things.

540

:

You'll be asked to walk somewhere

and you'll be asked to stand.

541

:

That's how you're gonna do.

542

:

Amen.

543

:

So if you know of someone that

got baptized or restored since

544

:

the pandemic, we could even start

as early as January of:

545

:

It don't matter.

546

:

Right.

547

:

This is, we're not legalistic here.

548

:

Just whoever got baptized or restored

in the last four or five months, I'm

549

:

gonna four or five years I should say.

550

:

I'm gonna ask them to come up

in a short while, so get ready.

551

:

Okay.

552

:

Fix your hair a little bit.

553

:

If you're wearing a jacket, you know,

make sure you wanna look proper.

554

:

I get it.

555

:

You may be a little shy, but I wanna build

up your courage 'cause you can do it.

556

:

I'm gonna ask you to do something really

simple in a short while, but in John

557

:

12, we're gonna close that out here.

558

:

Jesus replied to Judas who was

being disruptive, leave her alone.

559

:

Come on ladies.

560

:

Right?

561

:

Don't you wanna hear that all the time?

562

:

Leave her alone.

563

:

It was intended that she should say

this perfume for the day of my burial.

564

:

You'll always have the poor.

565

:

We will always have issues you,

but you will not always have me.

566

:

If we go to the next slide,

Jesus goes even deeper in

567

:

Matthew 26, this version says.

568

:

That when she poured the perfume

on her, on his body, he, well,

569

:

he's speaking, so I'll read it.

570

:

In his, uh, in, in his perspective,

when she poured this perfume on my body,

571

:

she did it to prepare me for burial.

572

:

Truly, I tell you, wherever this

gospel is preached and it's preached

573

:

right here in OC Church throughout

the world, what she has done will also

574

:

be told in memory of her AKA honor.

575

:

Amen.

576

:

Wow, Pablo.

577

:

But, but I've been speaking up and

I've been trying to champion these

578

:

causes and I just don't feel it.

579

:

Keep opening up your heart.

580

:

God will return you the honor.

581

:

Yeah.

582

:

You don't have to fight for your honor.

583

:

God will do it for you and

in amazing ways as a better

584

:

storyteller in my sin, in my shame.

585

:

Um, I have a sister, her name is Ramona.

586

:

She's incredible.

587

:

And, uh, our relationship's been getting

better, but my goodness, me and her

588

:

we're step, uh, brother and sisters.

589

:

Oh, we, uh, hated each other.

590

:

Same mom, different dads.

591

:

And I remember one time, um, my

sister was in a real bad need and

592

:

she needed to move into our home,

and she brought her niece with her.

593

:

And I remember asking my wife about

it, and, uh, it's public knowledge.

594

:

By the way.

595

:

She shared this.

596

:

She's been in our church and out of

our church, and she was restored.

597

:

She shared this.

598

:

That she's, uh, battled with

substance, uh, abuse, addiction.

599

:

And uh, there was a point where she

was sober and she was in our home.

600

:

She got restored and it was great.

601

:

It was phenomenal.

602

:

And unfortunately she relapsed and was

going through a very challenging time.

603

:

I remember we got to the point where

she was breaking a lot of boundaries

604

:

and disobeying our household rules,

and she was not contributing that

605

:

I had to tell her, you know, I

think you may need to move out.

606

:

And what was really shameful was, I

remember she came to the door and I told

607

:

Nicole I was at work, change the locks.

608

:

And so my wife being obedient, change

the locks and my sister was knocking

609

:

on the door and she couldn't get in.

610

:

And I remember, I, I, I, she text

me, I was in bed and she said,

611

:

Pablo, please open the door.

612

:

I'm out here.

613

:

And I said, I'm not

coming out to the door.

614

:

She says, I'm gonna call the cops.

615

:

I know my rights.

616

:

And I said, you don't know nothing.

617

:

This is my house.

618

:

Right.

619

:

I was poured into myself, right.

620

:

My sin.

621

:

I was like, this, this ain't your house.

622

:

It's my house.

623

:

It's me and my wife's home.

624

:

And this is, I even use Jesus' name.

625

:

And by the way, it's Jesus's home.

626

:

So we don't do drugs here.

627

:

We don't come at two in the morning

partying and, uh, inebriated

628

:

and we bring boys to the home.

629

:

We don't do none of that stuff, right?

630

:

We respect the rules of the home.

631

:

And I was really just talking about me.

632

:

Of course, my honor.

633

:

Well, the police came.

634

:

They knocked on my door, so I let them in.

635

:

They told me, sir, have a seat.

636

:

My sister came in, my wife was there, all

witnesses about, like, they thought I was,

637

:

I don't know, some, some crazy assassin

because there was like three patrol cars

638

:

out there, and I was so embarrassed.

639

:

I was living in an area

called Monterey Park.

640

:

It's really calm and quiet.

641

:

There's beautiful hills,

and I was remembering at the

642

:

time, this is so embarrassing.

643

:

Why is this happening?

644

:

I'm here to help my sister, but

look, she, oh my gosh, I should

645

:

have never let her, let her in.

646

:

Look at all this.

647

:

This is bringing shame to

our family, to my home.

648

:

People know me here.

649

:

I'm a therapist, I'm a minister.

650

:

Why are cops coming to your house?

651

:

So I remember the gentleman, the

officer sat us down and said, has your

652

:

sister lived here more than two weeks?

653

:

And I said, yeah.

654

:

And by the way, there's a law if you don't

know that if, if someone lives with you

655

:

on the 15th day, they're your tenant.

656

:

Whether they pay rent, do drugs,

don't do drugs, whether they eat

657

:

your drink, your milk or not, right?

658

:

They're your tenant.

659

:

That is the law by California,

because they're supposedly

660

:

trying to decrease homelessness.

661

:

So I said, yeah, she's been a

tenant for five and a half months

662

:

and I don't wanna make it six.

663

:

So can you please get her outta here?

664

:

And they say, we won't be able to do that.

665

:

She has a right to live here, and

if you want to do that, you have

666

:

to put a notice on her door for

30 days that she has to leave.

667

:

And she won't.

668

:

And so after another 30 days, you go to

the Pasadena Courthouse, you pay a hundred

669

:

and something dollars to evict her.

670

:

And then on the 61st day, we

will come out and pick her up

671

:

and take her if she's still here.

672

:

And I said, I have to deal with

this for another two months.

673

:

And the officer said, absolutely.

674

:

And he said, look, sir, I just

want to tell you, you and your

675

:

sister, you guys are fighting.

676

:

But I would just say drop the issue.

677

:

And I was, you know, my heart,

I was, my blood pressure was up.

678

:

I wanted to slap the police officer.

679

:

I was like, man, get outta here with that.

680

:

I don't want to hear that.

681

:

And I remember the police officer said,

you know, I've lost loved ones and I

682

:

would give my right arm to bring them

back just to spend a day with them.

683

:

And he says, don't you love your sister?

684

:

He started with me and me as an

evangelist of God's kingdom, as

685

:

a disciple of Christ since 99.

686

:

Through all that I've

been through at the time.

687

:

I said, no, I don't love her.

688

:

And my sister's Faith fell and she was

like, okay, my sister used the 60 days.

689

:

Trust me, she didn't leave

any, any earlier and she left.

690

:

And it was a very heartbreaking situation.

691

:

But in that moment, I brought Shing to

my family and I dishon my sister, my mom.

692

:

And the kingdom of God and God,

most of all his love, because he

693

:

wanted me at that time to say yes.

694

:

And man, it's taken many years and

thank God our relationship's better now.

695

:

My sister's been through, uh,

we've celebrated our birthdays.

696

:

You know, we're, we're on better

terms now, but I had to say sorry.

697

:

A lot of times I remember it got so

bad we had a, a picture of her on the

698

:

refrigerator where she had been restored.

699

:

And at that time we were

doing monthly newsletters.

700

:

And her face was on the picture.

701

:

And I remember I had two copies.

702

:

I had one in my office of that,

so I said, I'm gonna keep it.

703

:

But in my pride, I, when she left,

I, I grabbed that thing and I

704

:

crumpled it and I remember, man,

whatever, I threw it in the trash

705

:

can in the kitchen and I walked away.

706

:

I have another copy, but I don't

wanna see her face on my fridge.

707

:

That's what I said.

708

:

And I remember one day my mom was

asking me, Hey Pablo, I lost something.

709

:

Can you go in my closet?

710

:

And.

711

:

Figure it out.

712

:

I'm like, oh mom.

713

:

Okay, sure.

714

:

So I go, I go to the closet, I'm

trying to look through some documents

715

:

and lo and behold, I look up in

the closet and you know what I see

716

:

inside of the closet, the crumpled up

newsletter that I threw in the trash.

717

:

Wow.

718

:

My mom had more honor for my

sister than I did as a disciple.

719

:

Wow.

720

:

And I was like, my mom didn't

know I had another copy.

721

:

And my mom.

722

:

I suspected maybe Pablo or

Nicole or somebody crumpled

723

:

it up, but I was like, wow.

724

:

Again, I brought shame.

725

:

That's why I poured into myself.

726

:

Don't be like Pablo today.

727

:

Amen.

728

:

Don't do that.

729

:

It causes division, and I am happy to

report me and my sister on better terms.

730

:

That's why I'm able to share this

story with you and pray for her.

731

:

Her name is Ramona.

732

:

Amen.

733

:

We're praying for her every day.

734

:

But I want one day for her to re

be returned to God's kingdom and

735

:

be restored so that her story

could be told all over the world.

736

:

That's what we gotta do as disciples.

737

:

Amen.

738

:

If we go to the next slide.

739

:

Meanwhile, large crowd of of Jews found

out that Jesus was there and came not

740

:

only because of him, but also to see

Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

741

:

So the chief priest made plans to kill

Lazarus as well for an account of him.

742

:

Many of the Jews were going over

to Jesus and believing in him.

743

:

And so we need some Jews and we

need some disciples that became, uh,

744

:

Christians over the four or five years.

745

:

'cause you believe in Jesus

and you're following Jesus.

746

:

And we wanted to honor you today.

747

:

So if you've been baptized or

restored, I'd like to ask you

748

:

to come and join me on stage.

749

:

Amen.

750

:

Amen.

751

:

Because I'm about to pray.

752

:

So yeah,

753

:

because.

754

:

Remember, this is not about our honor.

755

:

Great to see you, sister.

756

:

Good, look nice.

757

:

We're gonna have to make some

room, so let's come on in.

758

:

So yeah, if you got baptized,

restored, come on through.

759

:

Great job.

760

:

Great job.

761

:

Great job, Brendan.

762

:

Make room.

763

:

Make room.

764

:

There's a few more coming.

765

:

Thank you guys for being

courageous and coming up.

766

:

Feel free to go to your right.

767

:

More Parker.

768

:

Good seeing you, my friend.

769

:

Now, why did I wanna do this?

770

:

It was to bring up Jesus's honor.

771

:

Amen.

772

:

That in the midst of losing our loved

ones, people moving out, maybe to move to

773

:

another state, to have a better life, and

us being heartbroken and left with that,

774

:

maybe some of us losing our friends and.

775

:

Neighbors to, to COVID or or to division

or whatever you call it, heartbreak.

776

:

God is still always working.

777

:

He's working with the servants,

he's working with the sinners.

778

:

He's working with those who are

saved because he's the savior.

779

:

And this is the product

of God's love right here.

780

:

And I wanted.

781

:

And we wanted the staff and the elders

wanted you to see this so that you could

782

:

be encouraged that God still works in

the midst of trials, that God still

783

:

works in the midst of suffering, and

that he will return the honor only if

784

:

you hang in there and fight for it.

785

:

Amen.

786

:

If we go to, please stay here

guys, uh, but we're gonna close out

787

:

shortly if you go to the next slide.

788

:

I already did that.

789

:

You brought you guys all up.

790

:

I wanted to close out with this.

791

:

As we think of communion, uh, Jesus

says, this is my blood of the covenant.

792

:

He made a new covenant with

these amazing disciples, right?

793

:

But it says, which is poured out

again, that's the theme today,

794

:

honoring God by being poured out.

795

:

It says, for many, for all

these individuals here.

796

:

And that is what Jesus did.

797

:

He poured out his best for us.

798

:

And said, I'm gonna die for

these people so that they can

799

:

have a second chance at life.

800

:

And so what we're gonna do is we're

gonna go arm in arm and I'm gonna

801

:

close us out with their communion.

802

:

If we can grab arm in arm, everyone,

for those of you that are able, if

803

:

you wanna hold hands or, or lock

arms if you're close to someone.

804

:

And we're gonna close out with communion.

805

:

The ushers will be passing around

communion sets if any of you need 'em.

806

:

And we'll be listening to an

amazing song during the moment.

807

:

Let's pray.

808

:

Father, we're so grateful for

you because you've honored us.

809

:

And it is true that sometimes we

sadly bring this honor upon you.

810

:

We break your heart.

811

:

I know I've done it multiple times where

I've been faithless, cruel, unloving.

812

:

But thank you, father, that you

stoop so down to reach a sinner like

813

:

me in hell from the pit of hell,

and to bring you even before me,

814

:

to bring me before your presence.

815

:

It's so undeserving.

816

:

I do not deserve the honor, but I'm just

grateful, father, that you've given me

817

:

enough of courage, enough of strength,

not just to me, to my fellow brothers and

818

:

sisters here on stage, and to those in

the audience and those watching online.

819

:

I pray that you just comfort them,

that you are with them, that I know

820

:

some of them are wondering, when is

my honor, Pablo, when is our turn?

821

:

But Father, it will happen soon enough.

822

:

We just need to be patient and

fight and hold on to the miracles

823

:

that you are about to provide.

824

:

And I pray that today could

be a display of honor to you.

825

:

Father, as we take communion that remember

that Jesus poured out his best for us.

826

:

I pray that we humbly meditate

on that and that we're encouraged

827

:

that he would do such a thing,

a noble act to love us that way.

828

:

In Jesus, holy name.

829

:

We pray all these things.

830

:

Amen.

831

:

Amen.

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