WEBVTT

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 Okay, so I want you to grab a Bible again, and we're going to pray in groups at the end,

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 because then I think we can pick up some things to be praying for our church, as well as praying

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 for one another. And we're going to be thinking this evening about being a church that is centered

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 on the gospel. And so I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy. We're going to start

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 in 1 Timothy this evening. I'm going to give you a page number when I get there.

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 1 Timothy is page 1191. 1191. Not quite as pleasing as 345, but 1191. Let me pray for us as we come and

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 look at God's word. Lord God, we want to ask now for your help. We recognize that we're tired, probably,

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 from the things that are going on today. We've got other things on our mind, perhaps, but we want to

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 quieten our hearts before you to listen carefully to what you say in your word. And we want to ask

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 that you might help us. And that as we ask you to help us, we pray that might be a blessing to our

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 church, as we think about what it means to be centered on the gospel. In Jesus name. Amen.

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 So you might remember, because David left off last week, saying what our values are as a church,

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 values that we haven't dreamt up and made up ourselves, but things which we have seen in

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 God's word together. And we are thinking about over these Sunday evenings. So you get a point for each

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 one that you can remember. Okay. Yes. Center in the gospel. Yeah. That's cheating because it was a,

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 yes, you're gospel-ly centered, because we had LYs at the end of them, didn't we? Okay. So that's one.

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 Sorry. Prayerfully dependent. Yes. We're dependent on the Lord for everything.

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 Yeah. Locally rooted. So we're in this community reaching these people at this time with the gospel.

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 This is where we are. Yeah. You know, you've got to go early because it gets harder and harder as it

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 goes on. Yeah. There are seven, right? Six. Six. Lovingly diverse. This is great.

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 Yeah. Lovingly diverse. Yeah. So we are from a range of different backgrounds and places and ages.

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 And that is one of the ways we bring glory to God by our difference, yet united in Christ. Yeah.

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 Thank you. Yeah. We've done prayerfully dependent. Yeah. Yeah. Prayerfully dependent,

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 gospelly centered, locally rooted. Diversity. Yeah. We've done that one. Yeah.

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 Sorry.

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 Servantly led. Servantly led. Yes. So servantly led. So this idea that how the church is led matters,

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 that the leaders are serving you guys as we, it's all member ministry. It's not, it's not

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 ministry belonging to a few. It's ministry belonging to all of us.

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 Kingdom minded. Yeah. So we are, sorry, kingdomly, I can't bring myself to say that. Kingdomly minded,

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 right? So we are not just concerned about ourselves, but we're concerned about the kingdom of God. We're

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 concerned about training, sending workers. We're concerned to pray for other nations. We're concerned

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 about the work of the gospel, not just here, but down the road. Okay. So those are the things that we

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 are concerned about. And those are our values as a church. And we are working through them on Sunday

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 evenings. And so this evening we're doing gospel centered. And I want us just to spend a little bit of time in

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 1 Timothy and Titus. And what I want to do is just read a passage to you. And then I'm just going to work

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 through it really briefly, pointing out how the passage works. And then we're going to talk about the

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 implications of all this together. So pick it up in verse 3 of 1 Timothy chapter 1.

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 Paul writing to Timothy, he says this,

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 As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus, so that you may command certain people not to

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 teach false doctrines any longer, or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote

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 controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work, which is by faith. The goal of this command

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 is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. Some have departed

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 from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know

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 what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it

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 properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous, but for lawbreakers and rebels,

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 the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers,

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 for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders,

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 liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel

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 concerning the glory of the blessed God which he entrusted to me. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who

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 has given me strength that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service, even though I was

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 once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man. I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance

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 and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that

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 are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the

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 world to save sinners of whom I am the worst, but for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me,

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 the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who

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 would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible,

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 the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Now just work through it with me and let me try

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 and point out how the passage works. Timothy, verse 3, is in Ephesus, right? So he has been commissioned

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 by Paul to stay behind in Ephesus to sort out what seems to be false teaching, that he may command

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 certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer, verse 3. It seems that there are people,

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 verse 4, who are in or around the church who are giving their time to all sorts of crazy different

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 things. Myths, endless genealogies, promoting controversial speculations rather than advancing

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 God's work which is by faith. So they're not promoting faith in verse 4, faith which would lead to love

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 in verse 5, but instead verse 6 is meaningless talk. Now this is I think where it gets even more

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 interesting. In verse 7 it turns out that these false teachers whom Timothy is to oppose are wannabe

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 teachers of the law, not as in the Jewish teachers of the law, but as in Bible preachers, preaching the

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 Old Testament which are the scriptures of the early church. But verse 7, despite the fact that they're

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 teaching the Bible, they're not teaching the truth. They want to be teachers of the law but they don't know

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 what they're talking about or what they say confidently affirm. They're ignorant and they're

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 teaching falsehoods. Now just pause here. We understand what's going on don't we, right? So

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 Timothy is sorting out false teachers in Ephesus, false teachers who turn out to be Bible teachers,

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 teaching what is not true. So it's important isn't it? And we know this, don't we? That

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 not everybody who opens a Bible is going to tell you the truth. The Jehovah's Witness who you meet

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 on your doorstep or at the street corner will tell you that they're going to explain the Bible to you

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 and they're not going to tell you the truth. The devil tempts Jesus by opening a Bible and quoting

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 the Bible at him. False teachers are mugging off the church in Ephesus with open Bibles. They sound

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 theological but they don't know what they're talking about. So the question then becomes how do you spot

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 that, right? How do you spot that kind of false teaching? How do you know whether the person who's

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 opening the Bible to you is telling you the truth or not? Well here comes verse 8. Look down at verse 8.

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 The law or the scriptures is good for you but only if you use it properly. Literally the word there is

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 lawfully. So the law is only useful if it's used lawfully. If the law, the scriptures are used

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 unlawfully, illegally, they are not good for you. So what does it mean to use the Bible in a lawful way?

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 Well verse 9, the lawful use of the scriptures is to apply it not as a means of righteousness for the smug

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 but as a means of grace for the lawbreaker and the rebel. In other words, you can tell if someone is

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 preaching the Bible lawfully or preaching the Bible Bible-ly because we like adding wise to the end of

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 everything because it's not good news for people who think they're already okay with God but it's

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 good news for people who know they're rebels against God. The people listed in verse 9 and 10.

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 So if your message is good news for people who are lawbreakers and rebels, ungodly and sinful,

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 unholy, irreligious, murderers of their mothers and fathers, sexually immoral, practicing homosexuality,

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 slave traders even, liars and perjurers, if it's good news for them then you know that you're preaching

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 the gospel, you're using the Bible lawfully. Paul then goes on to give an example. What does this

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 look like when the Bible is used like that? And he gives himself as an example, doesn't he, in verses 11

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 to 16. Saying that I am this great example of someone who was persecuting the church, someone who

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 was evil and wicked and yet who was saved and transformed by the gospel. And in the center of

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 that kind of personal testimony he comes up with verse 15, a trustworthy saying. Seems as if the early

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 church had a number of trustworthy sayings which were summaries of the gospel that they used in church

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 life. And this is the trustworthy saying. It's on the wall behind me. Christ Jesus came into the world to save

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 sinners. And Paul adds, of whom I am the worst.

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 So that's Paul in 1 Timothy telling Timothy to put right the false teachers by making sure that the people who

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 open the Bible are teaching it lawfully by being centered on this gospel message about Christ coming to save

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 sinners, sinners, even people like Paul. We're going to come and apply it in a moment. Any questions from

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 1 Timothy 1? Are you all with me? Yeah? Okay. I got a couple of nods from young people so I'm going to take

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 those. Right. Okay. Titus chapter 3. Turn over a couple of pages to Titus.

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 So Titus chapter 3 and verse 1. Okay. So similar situation, not Ephesus but Crete this time. And

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 Titus has been left behind there to put in order. So if you look at chapter 1 verse 5, to put in order

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 what was left unfinished. I think it's literally out of order. So he's like he's putting straight

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 things that are not yet quite finished. And it seems to be the thing that's not finished quite yet in Crete

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 is the need for elders. Elders in the churches in order to lead. So elders in every town.

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 Interesting, not an elder in each town, but elders in every town. Now listen to how he then expands on this in

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 chapter 3 verses 1 to 11. Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient,

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 to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be

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 gentle towards everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all

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 kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

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 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous

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 things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal

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 by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,

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 so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

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 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things so that those who have trusted

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 in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable

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 for everyone. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law,

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 because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second

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 time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful,

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 and they are self-condemned. Now notice that there is another gospel summary at the same sort of sense

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 as in 1 Timothy. Here he says this is a trustworthy saying, I think pointing backwards to the trustworthy

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 saying, which comes about the kindness and love of God our Savior appearing, verse 4, saving us not by

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 the good things that we do, but by his mercy. Mercy seen in this washing of rebirth, so being born again

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 by the Spirit of God, verse 5, the Spirit whom he pours out generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.

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 Having been justified, declared not guilty by his grace, we become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

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 That's a trustworthy saying, says Paul. And so having shown that trustworthy saying, he then says in verse 8,

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 that ministry looks like emphasizing these things, stressing these things. This gospel message, this trustworthy

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 saying is what you need to stress, verse 8. So it's not just that you need to touch upon this, or it's not just that you

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 you at least need to cover this in your teaching program in the church, Titus, is that the emphasis

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 of church ministry is this trustworthy saying, this message of the gospel. This is presumably then is what

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 the elders in every town are to be emphasizing to their churches, because this is what ministry looks like.

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 Why should that gospel message be the emphasis of the ministry in the church? Well, because this will do

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 people good, right? It will mean that they be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good, excellent,

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 and profitable. It mean that they will avoid these, again, controversies about genealogies, which are

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 unprofitable and useless, and it will help them build unity, because they will be building on the Lord Jesus

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 Christ, and not on these divisions. It's interesting, isn't it? If you look back at chapter 2, verse 11,

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 we're told that the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say

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 no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this

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 present age, while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,

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 Jesus Christ, who gave himself to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for himself a people that

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 are his very own eager to do what is good. What trains us in those verses for living a Christian life?

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 What people need is not seminars on each individual area, an ethical question that they're facing.

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 Those might be helpful, but actually it is the teaching of the gospel which trains people to

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 live a Christian life. The gospel, teaching the gospel, which is, again, summarized, isn't it?

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 The one who gave himself to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for himself a people

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 that are his own. That trains people. Knowing that gospel trains people to say no to ungodliness,

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 and to live upright, self-controlled lives in the present age. So ministry, says Paul to Titus,

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 is the emphasis of the gospel. Just like in 1 Timothy, ministry is emphasizing the gospel. The

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 lawful use of the law is bringing out the gospel from it. Okay, so that's a summary of those passages.

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 Any questions about what those passages mean, or are you all with me?

00:17:46.700 --> 00:17:54.279
 Good. Yeah? Okay, great. No questions. That's amazing. I can only assume that you're all much

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 sharper than I am. Right. What I wanted to do then is just put it together for a moment.

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 Paul seems to be saying something like this, and I think I've put this on the next slide,

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 so hopefully it'll come up. I'm trying to summarize what gospel-centeredness means.

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 There is a message of good news for sinners, a message of mercy, new birth, justification,

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 and eternal hope. Trying to pull out these things in Titus. A message not centered on our works,

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 but on Christ's works. And that message is the emphasis of the scriptures, 1 Timothy,

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 and therefore the emphasis of ministry in the church. I think that's what we're trying to say.

00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:31.380
 Yeah? So it's not trying to say...

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 Let me... Am I going to go there, or are we going to talk about that in a minute? No. Well, yeah,

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 let me say this. We're not trying to say, let's kind of boil down what everybody agrees on. Right?

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 You know this idea of lowest common denominator unity? So the idea that, okay, let's write a list

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 of everything we believe and cross out all the things that we disagree on, and then whatever we're left

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 with, that will be what we build our unity on. It's not that, is it? These are the high truths of the

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 Christian gospel. These are the central truths of the scriptures from beginning to end. And these are

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 so great, and so majestic, and so glorious, and taught from the beginning to the end of the Bible,

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 that the point of ministry and church life is that we emphasize these together, and that draws us to

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 one another. So I want you to write out, or think out, together in groups twos, threes, fours,

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 something like that. What are the implications of that, then, for us as a church together? What does it

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 mean for us to live this out in our church life? So what will that mean? Maybe you want to pick a

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 particular area of church life, so you want to, maybe you're in on the Sunday school rota, or you're

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 on the welcome rota, or you're doing groups during the week, or your youth group, or whatever. What

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 would it look like to have the emphasis of the ministry of the church based on this message of the

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 gospel? Okay, have a think about that. In some ways, there are no wrong answers, and we're going to

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 discuss them together as we come back. So speak to the person next to you, and have a think on that.

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 Okay, sorry to interrupt your conversations, but let's feedback. So if this is the message at the

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 center of church life, then what's that going to mean for different areas of church activity?

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 Does anyone want to help us out with what you were talking about in your group?

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 No? Okay.

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 My wife told me that I'm not a lot of the state, she said, so I'm a fan of that.

00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:40.580
 Okay. You did that beautifully, Clifford, yes.

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 She said, I'm not a lot of the cause on you, so she said the messenger who's standing in the

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 public was the moment message, but I'm getting the message to us.

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 Yes, absolutely. Yeah, it's really, really important that the person who is preaching

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 knows this message and speaks it clearly. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

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 I think you can say, can't you, that until the person preaching has preached the gospel,

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 they haven't really understood the passage. If this is, if we're not,

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 this idea of being gospel-centered is basically the same as being Bible-centered, isn't it? But we,

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 it's not quite enough to say we're Bible-centered, because lots of people say they're Bible-centered,

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 don't they? We want to be gospel-centered, because we believe the Bible says the gospel, right? So,

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 and until the person preaching has shown you how the message of the passage that they are teaching

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 shows us and teaches us the glory of Christ in the gospel, they've not yet preached, right?

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 Yeah? Great. Hilda, that was really helpful. Thank you.

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 Anything else?

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 I think what you're saying here as well, I must think about this idea of realizing how simple we are,

00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:13.299
 practicing and all of that, it's an element on repentance and all of this.

00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:13.720
 Yes.

00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:19.960
 I think there's a risk for us staying there, this realization, and always like right now,

00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:25.220
 how simple we are, just realizing. It's a thing that we love to put out there sometimes

00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:32.360
 to show how humble we are and so on. I think the idea of who we use, who we use mercy for life,

00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:39.779
 there is this thing about joy. I think joy needs to get on at the beginning.

00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:42.019
 There's something about it.

00:22:42.120 --> 00:22:42.579
 Yes.

00:22:42.579 --> 00:22:42.659
 Yeah.

00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:52.139
 That's so helpful.

00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:58.680
 The gospel is not about how bad we are. The gospel is about how loved we are in Christ,

00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:06.580
 even though we're bad. Yeah. And again, so it's fair to say too, isn't it, that if you come to a

00:23:06.580 --> 00:23:11.340
 gathering of the church and you're just made to feel bad, I mean, actually Christians quite like that

00:23:11.340 --> 00:23:14.980
 because it kind of, you know, we sort of like that kind of thing, don't we? Or certain Christians do.

00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:21.220
 We've not really understood the gospel either, have we? We need to go, like, as wicked as I am,

00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:25.880
 I am loved. That's the amazement of Paul in 1 Timothy, isn't it? I was the chief of sinners,

00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:31.700
 and he loved me? And so the kind of wonder of that in the gospel. Yeah, that's really helpful.

00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:32.259
 Yeah.

00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:37.500
 Yes.

00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:48.480
 Yes. Yes. So Romans 15 verse 7. I don't like the NIV translation of this particularly, but

00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:55.000
 it's because I think literally the way there is welcome. So Romans 15 verse 7, welcome one another

00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:02.019
 then, just as Christ welcomed you in order to bring praise to God. Yeah, there should be a friendliness

00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:08.200
 to our church life, to our church welcome. Christ welcomed us into his family, undeserving sinners.

00:24:08.339 --> 00:24:13.259
 He loved us and now calls us brothers and sisters, and that should be the welcome that we extend

00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:20.200
 to others. Yeah. Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. Yeah. Great. Anything else?

00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:20.799
 Yeah.

00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:21.960
 I'm going to say something.

00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:23.900
 Thank you.

00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:26.139
 Yes, I'm in Paris.

00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:42.960
 Yes. Yes. So there's an unchangingness, isn't there, to this. Lots of things about our church

00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:47.180
 might change. Lots of things about our church have changed over the last few weeks, haven't

00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:51.840
 they? But this will not change because this is an unchanging message at the center of the

00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:53.759
 scriptures. Yeah, that's really helpful. Thank you.

00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:54.620
 Yeah.

00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:58.780
 Anybody else?

00:25:01.780 --> 00:25:06.180
 Anderson, what were Ray and Jeff saying at the back? Anything interesting?

00:25:09.380 --> 00:25:14.020
 Don't worry. We don't want to back them out on anything. Yeah.

00:25:15.860 --> 00:25:17.580
 Anything from you guys?

00:25:17.579 --> 00:25:21.319
 Okay, what do you do?

00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:21.319


00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:27.819
 Who do you do what you do what you do what you do what you do what you do what you do what

00:25:27.819 --> 00:25:57.799
 Okay, go on.

00:25:57.799 --> 00:26:08.039
 what do you do what do you do what do you do what do you do what do you do what do you

00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:08.039


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00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:11.779
 Yes.

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00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:41.599
 who may at times doubt their mercy,

00:26:42.879 --> 00:26:44.680
 doubt their salvation,

00:26:44.940 --> 00:26:47.220
 and is coming back and saying,

00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:48.960
 yes, we are sinful,

00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:50.500
 and yes, we do fall down.

00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:53.500
 But can you look at the mercy of Jesus

00:26:53.500 --> 00:26:54.559
 and look at his love

00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:55.940
 and look at what he did?

00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:57.899
 That is our justification on the cross.

00:26:57.899 --> 00:27:00.779
 And look towards heaven because it's coming.

00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:05.279
 So it's not just preaching the sinners outside,

00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:07.559
 but preaching the sinners all about sin.

00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:09.839
 Yes, great, great.

00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:10.960
 Yeah, thanks, Liz.

00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:14.440
 It means that we've always got something to say

00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:15.839
 that's true and helpful,

00:27:16.039 --> 00:27:17.619
 whether you're not yet a Christian

00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:18.919
 or whether you've been a Christian for years,

00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:22.119
 because this message is what helps us

00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:23.679
 in whatever situation we're facing.

00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:26.339
 So you might think,

00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:27.799
 oh, they're a church member.

00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:29.319
 I know they're going through a difficult situation.

00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:30.759
 I don't really know much about it.

00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:31.779
 How can I pray for them?

00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.740
 You can pray a gospel-shaped prayer for them,

00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:36.359
 and it will be a real blessing and a real help

00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:39.179
 because this is always good news, isn't it?

00:27:39.699 --> 00:27:41.959
 I think also that implies, isn't it,

00:27:41.959 --> 00:27:43.240
 that the gospel is...

00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:47.079
 So although you can summarize the gospel

00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:48.439
 in a simple way,

00:27:49.099 --> 00:27:50.159
 the message of the gospel

00:27:50.159 --> 00:27:52.740
 is incredibly broad in all its implications.

00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:54.960
 So the message of the gospel

00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:56.539
 is not just for us to talk about

00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:57.579
 as we gather as a church.

00:27:57.620 --> 00:27:59.700
 It's for you on Monday morning at work, right?

00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:01.700
 It changes the way you do that.

00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:04.819
 It affects how you relate as a family.

00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:08.400
 It affects how you think about your life choices

00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:09.440
 and what you want to do.

00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:13.579
 So the gospel is incredibly broad

00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:15.079
 in all of its implications,

00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:17.559
 and we need to be thinking about that as a church

00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:19.000
 and working that out together.

00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:21.140
 It's brilliantly liberating

00:28:21.140 --> 00:28:22.220
 for the ministry of the church

00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:24.500
 that we equip one another for the Christian life

00:28:24.500 --> 00:28:25.940
 by teaching the gospel

00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:28.579
 because there are so many different situations

00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:30.519
 faced in a really diverse church, aren't there,

00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:31.619
 that we just can't...

00:28:31.619 --> 00:28:32.819
 We simply can't address them all.

00:28:33.019 --> 00:28:34.900
 But we will equip you for the Christian life

00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:36.259
 by teaching the gospel

00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:37.460
 because of the breadth of the gospel.

00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:37.920
 Yeah.

00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:42.960
 Yes, yes.

00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:47.539
 Yeah, there's one God and one gospel.

00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:48.640
 Yeah, yeah.

00:28:51.560 --> 00:28:52.980
 The other thing that I wanted to say,

00:28:53.060 --> 00:28:53.759
 and I'll finish with this

00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:55.080
 and then we're going to pray in groups.

00:28:56.120 --> 00:28:58.080
 I think the implication of this is

00:28:58.080 --> 00:29:00.120
 that churches should provide room

00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:02.620
 for disagreement on secondary issues as well.

00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:05.480
 If we think that at the center of the scriptures

00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:06.539
 is the message of the gospel,

00:29:06.539 --> 00:29:08.599
 which is summarized in these trustworthy sayings

00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:10.159
 and is the teaching from the beginning

00:29:10.159 --> 00:29:10.940
 to the end of the scriptures,

00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:12.559
 there will be things

00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.480
 that are not as important as this, right?

00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:17.500
 If the scriptures are sufficient

00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:18.980
 to teach us the gospel,

00:29:19.460 --> 00:29:21.920
 that means that what these scriptures emphasize

00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:23.940
 is also what we emphasize

00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:25.220
 and what these scriptures

00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:27.379
 don't spend very much time on,

00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:29.819
 we also don't want to spend all of our time on.

00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:33.799
 So if something is really important to you personally

00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:34.419
 as a Christian

00:29:34.419 --> 00:29:36.659
 and either you can't find it in the Bible

00:29:36.659 --> 00:29:37.939
 or it's not there very much,

00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:40.899
 you've probably got that thing out of proportion, right?

00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:43.460
 Because actually the emphasis of the scriptures

00:29:43.460 --> 00:29:45.599
 is part of the inspiration of the scriptures.

00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:48.659
 And so we should allow ourselves room for disagreement

00:29:48.659 --> 00:29:50.460
 on things that the Bible doesn't emphasize.

00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:53.740
 I think, I think I, in a way,

00:29:53.840 --> 00:29:55.700
 the sort of primary and secondary issue thing

00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:56.819
 is maybe not as helpful

00:29:56.819 --> 00:29:59.920
 as the emphasis, de-emphasize thing.

00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:02.539
 So the things that are really emphasized in the Bible,

00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:03.400
 we should really emphasize

00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:05.079
 and the things that are not so emphasized,

00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:07.160
 we should not, let's emphasize

00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:09.140
 and say that we provide breadth

00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:10.259
 for one another in that way.

00:30:11.120 --> 00:30:11.539
 Great.

00:30:12.519 --> 00:30:14.100
 Heavenly Father, we want to pray

00:30:14.100 --> 00:30:16.819
 and ask that you might help us as a church

00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:19.720
 to keep this great news of the gospel

00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:21.839
 right at the center of our church life.

00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:24.659
 We thank you this is not something

00:30:24.659 --> 00:30:26.679
 that we've made up or dreamt up ourselves,

00:30:26.819 --> 00:30:28.559
 but this is the consistent teaching

00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:29.639
 and message of your word.

00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:32.879
 Thank you that we've not learned it

00:30:32.879 --> 00:30:33.939
 by working it out,

00:30:34.059 --> 00:30:35.759
 but you have opened our eyes

00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:37.059
 to its truth by your spirit.

00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:40.099
 Thank you that this message of the gospel

00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:42.279
 is good news for everyone who will listen.

00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:45.960
 Thank you that it continues to be good news

00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:47.180
 for people like us

00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:49.360
 who have come to trust in you

00:30:49.360 --> 00:30:51.740
 yet still struggle in so many different ways.

00:30:52.779 --> 00:30:54.539
 Lord, we pray that you would help us

00:30:54.539 --> 00:30:56.200
 to be increasingly shaped

00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:57.640
 by this good news of grace

00:30:57.640 --> 00:30:59.920
 in every area of our lives.

00:31:00.620 --> 00:31:02.420
 We want to pray that it would seep out of us

00:31:02.420 --> 00:31:03.900
 in conversations with one another.

00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:05.900
 We want to pray that it would shape the way

00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:07.819
 that we welcome one another at church.

00:31:08.299 --> 00:31:09.860
 We want to pray that it would shape the way

00:31:09.860 --> 00:31:11.240
 that we pray for each other.

00:31:12.120 --> 00:31:14.819
 So Lord, we pray for those in our church family

00:31:14.819 --> 00:31:16.799
 in particular need.

00:31:16.939 --> 00:31:19.099
 We thank you that no matter how old we are

00:31:19.099 --> 00:31:21.740
 or however far through the journey of this life

00:31:21.740 --> 00:31:24.480
 we are, that we can say through the gospel

00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:26.740
 that our best years are still ahead of us

00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:29.139
 because we still await this great glory.

00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.119
 So Lord, we pray and ask for your blessing

00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:33.919
 and your help in Jesus' name.

00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:35.000
 Amen.

00:31:35.539 --> 00:31:35.759
 Amen.

00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:35.939
 Amen.

00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:36.939
 Thanks, everybody.

00:31:36.939 --> 00:31:37.059
 Amen.

00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:37.059


00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:37.059


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00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:37.059