WEBVTT

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 For many years now, a team of us from churches in Clevedon, once a year, go into the school,

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 the secondary school, and engage in a series of lessons in the RS department with the Year

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 Sevens as an introduction to the basics of what Christians believe.

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 And a big part of those lessons is we give them the opportunity to ask us any questions that they want to ask us.

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 This year, we've been able to go back in for the first time in a couple of years because COVID basically meant we weren't able to do it.

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 So since January, we've been going in again and we've got one more lesson to go this month.

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 But it's been an absolute delight to go and re-engage with the Year Sevens once again in that way.

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 Only this year, we've made those lessons slightly different in that we've made the lessons completely questions.

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 So we go in for 100 minutes. That's how long a lesson is at the moment.

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 100 minute lessons. And they bombard us with as many questions as they want.

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 It's great fun.

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 One question that we frequently, frequently get asked, and I say this as an observation that goes back over all of the time that we've been doing this.

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 One of the questions that we frequently get asked, and it's a question that gets asked not just by Year Sevens in a school,

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 but by people of all different ages throughout the world, is this.

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 In a world in which there's so many different religions, what makes Christianity so special?

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 Why should Christianity be true and right?

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 Why should we believe in that when there are so many other claims to truth from other religious perspectives?

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 Good question.

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 And it's a big question.

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 There's loads of different things we could say in response to that, but I always like to say this.

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 All religions could be wrong.

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 They cannot all be right.

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 All religions can be wrong because logically the possibility exists that all of us could be wrong.

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 It could be that there is no God.

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 And we could all be wrong.

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 Now, obviously, I don't believe that we are.

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 But it exists as a logical possibility.

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 But what cannot be a logical possibility is that we're all right.

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 And the reason for that is that different religions, different faiths,

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 have very radically different things to say about God.

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 Different faith claims, different faith groups claim different things about the nature of God,

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 what God is like, who God is, and how God has revealed himself.

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 And no more so is this true when it comes to the one thing.

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 There are many things, but there is one very particular thing that is unique to Christianity.

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 And that is the cross.

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 Some 2,000 years on from the cross event, we have become so familiarised with it.

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 I mean, every single one of us in this room, whatever our age and whatever our background,

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 would have grown up in a world that for centuries preceding our existence would have known about the cross.

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 As such, we see crosses everywhere.

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 Not just on churches, but on people's earrings, around people's necks, everywhere.

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 All over the place.

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 And we see not just the empty cross, but we see the crucifixion depicted.

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 We see it in art.

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 We see it in stained glass windows.

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 We see it in film.

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 We see it everywhere.

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 And in our familiarity, we lose sight of just how radical and controversial and grotesque that image is.

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 It strikes me as compelling that Christianity must be true because you'd never try and make it up.

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 If you were trying to convince people in the first century that what you believed about Jesus Christ was real,

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 you wouldn't make any of that stuff up.

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 Because it claims that in Jesus, God has died.

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 And not just died, but died in the most hideous and grotesque way.

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 The cross is an object of scorn, of ridicule, of shame.

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 It's grotesque.

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 And yet it has survived some 2,000 years later because it tells the story that lies at the very heart of the Christian understanding of God.

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 That God enters death.

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 And it is that claim that engages and rejects all of those reasons that people would put forward not to believe in God.

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 Because the God that we see in Jesus Christ on the cross is unique.

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 Let me share with you an image that we also often use in school.

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 And in fact, I think we may have used here before.

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 It's a trick. It's a chemical trick.

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 I don't actually know how it works.

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 But this is some water.

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 And I'm going to pour some water into the glass.

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 As you can see, it's clear.

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 It's clean.

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 It's pure water.

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 You know, over these few weeks, as we're following what is called the four-point gospel,

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 we're following four key points about the Christian message.

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 The first point is that God loves us.

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 God loves you.

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 And when you look at this clear water, it's there as a symbol to remind us that

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 although we live in a world in which there's suffering, that's not what God wants.

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 God loves you and wants the very best for you.

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 God creates us with the desire that we live a life that is clear and pure and perfect,

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 in which there is no death and no suffering.

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 That, the Bible says, is what God wants for each and every person in history.

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 And yet, of course, reality is not like that.

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 Why?

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 Well, because a central part of God's love for us is that he gives us this thing called freedom,

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 including the freedom to do what is wrong.

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 And so, very early on in the book of Genesis, in the biblical narrative,

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 we're given this story of how Adam and Eve reject God.

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 They choose wrong over right.

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 Why?

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 Because God gifts them with that thing that makes us distinctively human,

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 the freedom to choose.

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 Without freedom, we wouldn't be loved.

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 And it is because God loves us that he gives us freedom.

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 This stuff here is iodine.

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 And if I pour it into this water, you'll see what happens.

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 Suddenly, not quite so clean and pure again.

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 Now, the very old-fashioned word that is used in the Bible to describe that is sin.

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 But the stuff, the consequence of our God-given freedom, because God loves us,

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 means that, and this is the second point in that four-point gospel,

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 we've all done something wrong.

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 We need forgiveness.

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 And we don't have to look very far at any point, in any place, at any time in history

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 to see the results of when we use and abuse our God-given freedom.

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 Of course, we see the most horrific images on our screens right now in Ukraine.

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 But you don't have to go anywhere near that far to see and be reminded of the reality,

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 the basic reality, that none of us is perfect.

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 Now, of course, we see some consequences have much bigger gravity

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 and much greater scale in terms of their evil and their impact on human lives.

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 But nobody can claim to be perfect.

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 That's the mess in which we live.

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 And there are different ways in which we can try to do something about it.

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 Every human being knows that sense that things are not quite right,

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 and we respond to that reality in different ways.

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 Perhaps one of the most basic ways is kindness.

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 And it's no accident that when you see the most horrific things happen in the world,

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 you also see the best come out in human beings.

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 When people come to the help of others.

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 Why?

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 Because that is a reflection of the love of God that is in us,

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 because God has created us, even though there is so much mess.

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 And so we see at times, always, when there is trouble going on,

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 and that's always acts of human kindness.

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 And we may think that perhaps through our kindness, through our giving,

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 whether that means giving of our money, giving of our time, giving of our energy, whatever,

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 is the right thing to do, and of course it's the right thing to do.

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 But in and of itself, it doesn't get rid of the damage.

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 It mitigates.

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 It's right that we do it.

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 But it doesn't ultimately change it,

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 which is why history has always presented the same realities of suffering and pain.

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 Another way in which we might choose to respond,

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 and we see this at every stage in human history and in every culture,

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 is with religion.

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 And perhaps, you know, we appeal to our religious, our spiritual instincts,

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 to try to put things right.

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 We go to places of worship.

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 We perhaps become institutionally religious,

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 or DIY religion, spirituality, whatever it may be.

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 However we try to express it, and again, it's good to express it.

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 But, it doesn't change the mess.

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 And indeed, all of us know the painful tragedy,

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 that very often, it is religion that is at the very cause of the world's problems.

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 Religion is human beings striving to reach out for God or for something spiritual.

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 But ultimately, we're still broken.

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 We're still in a mess.

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 Only in Jesus Christ do we have hope.

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 Because only in Jesus Christ do we see God revealed in a way that is unique,

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 and that challenges every single religious instinct in us.

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 Because it tells of God, who is the rescuer God,

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 who is relentless in his mission to come to us,

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 knowing that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves.

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 August the 5th, 2010, San Jose Mine in Chile.

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 The mine collapsed.

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 33 men were trapped in that mine.

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 Two and a half kilometres from the entrance to the mine,

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 and 700 metres below surface.

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 They were in that place for 69 days.

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 After some time,

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 when it was thought that those men were going to die,

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 they managed to make contact.

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 By boring a hole from the surface

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 to the place below ground,

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 some 700 metres,

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 where those men were trapped.

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 I'm sure you remember the story.

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 The world watched with bated breath,

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 as eventually they bored a hole that was wide enough,

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 700 metres, remember,

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 that was wide enough to fit a purpose-built capsule

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 down to bring them back to safety.

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 But in order for that to happen,

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 that capsule had to be lowered

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 from the place of safety with one person in it.

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 That person got inside that capsule

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 knowing that in the journey from the place of safety

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 to the place of great danger down below,

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 they could get stuck at any time,

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 and their fate could be precisely the same

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 as those that were down there.

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 And yet one person did.

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 They got inside the capsule,

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 and they were lowered down.

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 And one by one,

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 and this was in mid-October by this time,

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 each of those 33 men were brought back to safety.

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 Any analogy breaks down eventually,

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 but I find it a very helpful one.

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 You see, we live in this world

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 in which we cannot pull ourselves

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 out of the brokenness.

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 Only God can do that,

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 because only God is perfect and eternal,

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 and only God is God.

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 And in Jesus Christ,

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 when God goes to the cross,

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 God is lowered down

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 to where we are.

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 When Jesus dies on the cross,

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 something unique,

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 supernatural,

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 and history-changing happens.

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 Because when Jesus dies on that cross,

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 so God is in that death.

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 death.

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 And as Jesus dies on that cross,

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 all the mess,

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 everything that is wrong with the world,

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 with you,

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 and with me,

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 is taken up

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 and absorbed by him,

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 so that he goes to the place of death

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 that is ours,

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 and out the other side.

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 What it is to actually be dead,

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 none of us know,

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 because we haven't been there yet.

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 But because Jesus has gone on the cross for us,

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 we can be confident

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 that as he has been raised,

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 he has been there,

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 through there,

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 and out the other side,

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 because he is the rescuer God.

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 That is why in the Psalms we read,

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 David say,

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 even before this has happened,

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 that it was revealed to him,

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 even if I make my bed in Hades,

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 in the world of the dead,

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 you are there.

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 That is why Paul is able to say confidently in Romans,

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 that there is nothing in all creation

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 that can separate us

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 from the love of God,

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 even in death.

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 Because God,

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 in Christ,

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 on the cross,

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 goes there,

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 ahead of us.

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 That changes

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 everything.

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 So in just a moment,

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 we're going to pray.

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 And in the prayer,

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 I'm going to ask God

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 to remind us once again

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 of the power of his cross.

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 It may be

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 that you've listened to this,

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 this morning,

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 and for the first time in your life,

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 it suddenly

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 slotted into place.

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 And if that's you,

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 the first prayer

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 is particularly for you.

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 And I invite you,

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 if you've never done this before,

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 this morning

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 to give your life to Christ.

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 I suspect that there are

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 I suspect

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 that there are many of us

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 that have heard this message

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 over and over again

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 and would have

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 would have made a commitment

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 we might even be able

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 to put the time

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 and date on it,

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 possibly decades ago.

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 And yet,

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 somehow,

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 just long to

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 encounter

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 and to be reminded

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 of that truth

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 in our lives

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 once again.

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 And if that's you,

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 I want to encourage you

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 to say that,

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 you know,

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 the message of the cross

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 is not just a,

00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:41.640
 it is a once and for all thing,

00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:43.440
 but it's something

00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:44.720
 that we need to be reminded

00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:45.460
 of daily,

00:17:46.580 --> 00:17:48.160
 time and time again.

00:17:50.080 --> 00:17:50.420
 You see,

00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:52.140
 in the New Testament,

00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:53.680
 there are two particular terms

00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:54.460
 that we come over,

00:17:54.620 --> 00:17:55.140
 come across,

00:17:55.340 --> 00:17:56.180
 time and time again.

00:17:56.779 --> 00:17:57.299
 One is

00:17:57.299 --> 00:17:58.600
 that as Christians,

00:17:58.799 --> 00:17:59.080
 we are

00:17:59.080 --> 00:18:00.299
 in Christ.

00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:02.440
 The other term is

00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:03.639
 that as Christians,

00:18:04.139 --> 00:18:05.279
 Christ is in you.

00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:07.539
 So if you have

00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:08.379
 accepted Jesus

00:18:08.379 --> 00:18:09.519
 as your Lord and Saviour,

00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.899
 you are in Christ,

00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:12.859
 but Christ is in you.

00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:16.059
 Somebody said years ago

00:18:16.059 --> 00:18:19.480
 that to be in Christ

00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.440
 makes you fit

00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:22.379
 for all eternity.

00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:26.519
 To have Christ in you

00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:28.099
 makes you fit

00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:29.399
 for your time here on earth.

00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:32.019
 And therefore,

00:18:32.159 --> 00:18:33.200
 it is a daily reality

00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:34.159
 and a daily prayer

00:18:34.159 --> 00:18:34.940
 that we need

00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:35.680
 to be reminded

00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:37.139
 and to draw on that strength

00:18:37.139 --> 00:18:37.919
 that is the power

00:18:37.919 --> 00:18:38.619
 of the cross.

00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:40.119
 The same power

00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:41.200
 that defeated death

00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:41.819
 on the cross

00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:43.359
 and that raised Jesus

00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:44.039
 from the dead.

00:18:44.259 --> 00:18:45.319
 That is the power

00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:46.359
 that lives in you.

00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:48.960
 And so,

00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:50.279
 of the two prayers

00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:51.139
 that I'm going to pray

00:18:51.139 --> 00:18:51.839
 in just a moment,

00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:52.779
 that second prayer

00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:54.680
 is particularly

00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:56.440
 for you to join in

00:18:56.440 --> 00:18:57.259
 if you just want

00:18:57.259 --> 00:18:58.279
 more of that

00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:00.119
 in whatever it is

00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:00.740
 that you're facing

00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:01.339
 right now.

00:19:04.339 --> 00:19:05.359
 Let's pray together.

00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:12.879
 this is the first prayer

00:19:12.879 --> 00:19:14.759
 and it's especially

00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:15.500
 for anybody

00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:16.579
 who wishes to make

00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:17.219
 a response

00:19:17.219 --> 00:19:18.319
 for the first time

00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.279
 to accept the message

00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:21.019
 of the cross

00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:22.159
 of Jesus.

00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:24.619
 Here's the prayer.

00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:29.419
 Lord God,

00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:30.179
 thank you

00:19:30.179 --> 00:19:31.159
 that you love me

00:19:31.159 --> 00:19:31.719
 enough

00:19:31.719 --> 00:19:34.139
 to give me freedom.

00:19:36.139 --> 00:19:37.379
 Freedom to choose

00:19:37.379 --> 00:19:38.319
 right from wrong.

00:19:40.959 --> 00:19:41.379
 Lord,

00:19:41.459 --> 00:19:42.019
 this day

00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:45.579
 I want to choose

00:19:45.579 --> 00:19:46.379
 what is right

00:19:46.379 --> 00:19:48.579
 and I want to choose

00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:49.059
 you.

00:19:49.059 --> 00:19:52.579
 thank you

00:19:52.579 --> 00:19:53.599
 that you came

00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:54.919
 to save me

00:19:54.919 --> 00:19:56.559
 on the cross

00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.559
 to save me

00:19:58.559 --> 00:19:59.240
 from death

00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:00.579
 and to set me free

00:20:00.579 --> 00:20:01.299
 to live life

00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:01.899
 to the full

00:20:01.899 --> 00:20:03.319
 now on earth

00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:04.639
 and for all eternity.

00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:08.399
 I give my life

00:20:08.399 --> 00:20:09.500
 to you this day.

00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:12.220
 Amen.

00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:16.139
 If you prayed

00:20:16.139 --> 00:20:17.220
 that prayer just now

00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:19.579
 please afterwards

00:20:19.579 --> 00:20:20.299
 come and speak

00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:21.539
 to one of us.

00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:25.100
 Here's the second prayer.

00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:28.860
 Lord Jesus,

00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.960
 I've been following you

00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:33.039
 for many years

00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:35.980
 and you know

00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:36.579
 what my life

00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:37.680
 looks like right now.

00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:38.620
 The challenges

00:20:38.620 --> 00:20:39.360
 I face,

00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:40.600
 the things

00:20:40.600 --> 00:20:41.500
 that make me happy

00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:42.140
 and the things

00:20:42.140 --> 00:20:43.180
 that terrify me,

00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:44.860
 the things

00:20:44.860 --> 00:20:45.799
 that bring me joy

00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:46.380
 and hope

00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:47.280
 and the things

00:20:47.280 --> 00:20:48.020
 that make me feel

00:20:48.020 --> 00:20:49.120
 afraid or worried.

00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.480
 You know the struggles

00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.020
 that are part

00:20:53.020 --> 00:20:53.820
 of my reality.

00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.020
 Thank you

00:20:58.020 --> 00:20:59.680
 God

00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:00.680
 that in Jesus

00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:02.160
 you know

00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:02.680
 what it is

00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:03.500
 to feel pain

00:21:03.500 --> 00:21:04.100
 and struggle.

00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:07.860
 Thank you

00:21:07.860 --> 00:21:08.580
 for the power

00:21:08.580 --> 00:21:09.340
 of the cross

00:21:09.340 --> 00:21:10.360
 and the resurrection.

00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:14.259
 Lord,

00:21:14.439 --> 00:21:15.199
 may I know

00:21:15.199 --> 00:21:16.099
 that power

00:21:16.099 --> 00:21:17.099
 in my life

00:21:17.099 --> 00:21:17.699
 now

00:21:17.699 --> 00:21:19.919
 right in the midst

00:21:19.919 --> 00:21:20.919
 of all of those

00:21:20.919 --> 00:21:21.379
 things

00:21:21.379 --> 00:21:24.059
 and may I know

00:21:24.059 --> 00:21:24.679
 that power

00:21:24.679 --> 00:21:26.119
 and grow in that power

00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:27.519
 today,

00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:28.719
 tomorrow

00:21:28.719 --> 00:21:30.699
 and in the time

00:21:30.699 --> 00:21:31.219
 to come.

00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:35.599
 In Jesus' name.

00:21:37.419 --> 00:21:37.759
 Amen.

00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:43.399
 Amen.

00:21:43.399 --> 00:21:44.199
 Amen.

00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:45.119
 Amen.

00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:45.419
 Amen.

00:21:45.459 --> 00:21:45.979
 Amen.

00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:47.519
 And I know

00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:54.099
 thatatch

00:21:54.439 --> 00:21:55.859
 is going to be

00:21:56.419 --> 00:21:56.919
 coming to breath.

00:21:56.919 --> 00:21:57.639
 Amen.

00:21:57.679 --> 00:21:57.979
 Amen.

00:21:57.979 --> 00:21:58.099
 Amen.

00:21:58.099 --> 00:21:58.519
 Amen.

00:21:58.539 --> 00:21:59.139
 Amen.

00:21:59.139 --> 00:21:59.259
 Amen.

00:21:59.259 --> 00:21:59.559
 Amen.

00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.779
 Amen.

00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:01.099
 Amen.

00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:01.219
 Amen.

00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:01.319
 Amen.

00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:02.199
 Amen.

00:22:02.199 --> 00:22:03.439
 Amen.

00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:04.659
 Amen.

00:22:04.879 --> 00:22:05.339
 Amen.

00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:05.519
 Amen.

00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:06.059
 Amen.

00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:06.519
 Amen.

00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:06.799
 Amen.

00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:07.399
 Amen.

00:22:07.399 --> 00:22:07.639
 Amen.

00:22:07.699 --> 00:22:08.059
 Amen.

00:22:08.059 --> 00:22:08.899
 Amen.

00:22:08.899 --> 00:22:09.159
 Amen.

00:22:09.159 --> 00:22:09.419
 Amen.

00:22:09.419 --> 00:22:09.859
 Amen.