WEBVTT

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 um it's lovely to hear um scripture read from maybe a different aspect from that which we're

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 used to hearing and if you'd like to broaden that at all as a quick advert um if you'd like to get

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 more into bible reading notes gay is here this morning gay give us a wave have a word with gay

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 gay would love to direct you towards daily bible reading notes and i know she's faithfully done

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 that for years and i think sometimes just to read scripture from a different version sometimes

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 really helps and it helped me this morning because in this thing of wisdom that we're looking at and

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 in this theme the question is this morning why are we here it's a really interesting question

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 i asked myself that this morning because um i went to a concert last night in exeter

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 and it was a great concert if it's feeder if you've ever heard of them and it was absolutely brilliant

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 driving home by about half past 11 12 o'clock into bed getting to bed at two o'clock why am i here

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 and uh i think this is what paul is asking us to grapple with this morning what is the reason why

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 are we here why are we here this morning why are we here today are we here to worship are we here to

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 give thanks are we here to seek the presence of god are we looking for answers are we looking for ways

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 in which we can serve him more and more what is the reason we are here i love it when you ask

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 a young person what they want to do in life it's really interesting you've got to ask them before

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 they get to that stage where they just grunt back at you but that age where they've got this enormity

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 of i can do anything amazing i asked that it's very patronizing to say to a young person what do you

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 want to do when you grow up really because many of us aren't really sure that we have grown up yet

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 but when you ask a 10 year old and i i asked some of the the kids in school saying what would be your

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 dream job one said an astronaut i thought it's great another one said an astrophysicist

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 i couldn't even write that another one said they wanted to be a world famous musician that's not a great

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 thing and another said i would love to win an olympic medal you know when we were young we had this time

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 for optimism didn't we you know every day was new the future looked like an endless canvas to be

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 painted on we could do whatever we wanted to do if we don't accomplish something today there's always

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 tomorrow or this next week or this next year and here we've got paul and maybe you're with me on this

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 one but as i grow older and not necessarily wiser i find those future prospects compress themselves

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 quite greatly into fewer and fewer years what if we don't get to fulfill that time that we want to do

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 things in well i don't have time to do these things because we want i don't know maybe we've got other

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 things planned but i sense for me that time is shrinking and i guess paul was thinking about that

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 he was in prison he was seeing his options maybe in an earthly way closing but then we have this great

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 scripture that encourages us and enlivens us today there's a few there's a film from a few years back i

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 don't know whether you saw it's um it's called the bucket list and it was jack nicholson and it was

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 morgan freeman now i'm going to be i don't know whether you've seen morgan freeman he's played god

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 in several things i'm going to be really upset when i get to heaven and it's not morgan freeman no no

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 that's a joke um but there is morgan freeman and jack nicholson jack nicholson is a wealthy guy

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 very very wealthy morgan freeman is has a very simplistic life he is a car mechanic with family

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 making his way through life they find themselves thrown together in um a wing of a hospital where

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 they are both facing a terminal illness that is their defining thing that have brought them together

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 so they start to talk about life and life in general and so they decide that they're going to

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 fulfill all the things that they wanted to do in life and they called it the bucket list before you kick

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 the bucket they travel to various different places morgan freeman is a man of faith jack nicholson

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 has lived through his money through his wealth and still feels as though for him life is totally

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 unfulfilled

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 you see paul is sure that there is more paul knows that whether wherever he is and happens to be

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 that is his purpose that's where he is and that is where he is meant to be

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 and i find that a huge encouragement because i don't want to grieve the things i haven't done

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 i just want to live by faith and the two starkness of the characters as you watch this film

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 is one who is really really hung up on what he's missing and morgan freeman is a man who is certainly

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 at peace with where he is and i think that comes through in our scripture with paul as he gives us

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 this morning every time you cross my mind i break out in exclamations of thanks to god each exclamation

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 is a trigger in prayer i find myself praying for you with a glad heart i this is a guy who's in prison

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 i am so pleased that you have continued this with me believing and proclaiming god's message from the

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 day you heard it right up to the present date there has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that

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 god has started this great work in you and would keep it going and flourishing on the very day that

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 jesus christ appears what a great man of faith and i long for that as well and i think there's a certain

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 piece of finding where we are and where we are supposed to be rather than looking ahead i always

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 remember we were at women's day you've had the advert for the women's day it was many years ago i was at

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 the back there hurrying around with all the guys making coffee um i'm one of these people who want

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 think that the grass is always greener i'm always looking to the next thing it's not good it's not

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 good better to live for today and there was a particular thing at the time there was a job advert

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 that somebody had sent me and i've been hugely tempted by this i'm busying myself around and the

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 leader who was up here the lady was leading in prayer i can't remember her name at the time and she

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 just stopped where she was and she said i sense i have a word for somebody here you need to hear this

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 and that you're looking over the fence and you think the grass is greener she said i just want

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 to tell you that it's astroturf

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 i think for the guys um who knew me at the time i was a bit of a mess on the floor at the back

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 at the time i had never expected to come to a women's day and find myself being prayed for at

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 the back it was just an amazing moment i think this scripture speaks to me so clearly because there is

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 a reason for paul being where he is and i guess that wasn't clear to him but he had a sense of peace

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 in knowing that he was in the place that he was supposed to be however difficult that was

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 and this is a man who refuses to be diminished by his situation or age i think that's really

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 important this is a man a person who refuses to be diminished by his situation or his age there's

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 none of this well i've done that i've done my bit and now i can sit back and relax no there is a

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 purpose for him in every season and i think that comes through strongly in our scripture this morning

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 he says alive i'm christ's messenger dead i'm his bounty life versus even more life i can't lose

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 isn't that a great place to be where we don't lose there is no loss whatever we do

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 i was sent a great book about two years ago and it was helen pett she may have recommended it to you

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 as well this is my third time of reading and as i read this again while i've been away for the week

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 i was really uh thinking obviously we we didn't quite do the brexit thing did we on the 31st

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 and um and i was thinking about donald trump with fake news and i came to the chapter where it talked

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 about fake religion fake stuff if you ask a thousand people who don't want anything to do with religion

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 why that is they'll tell you all the reasons why they don't like it but i doubt they'd be describing

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 the real thing paul is like an older brother timothy and in this letter as he writes to him he says paul

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 called this kind of religious devotion that people have in many ways a form of godlessness because it's

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 the exact opposite to what it's pretending to be he was telling timothy to watch out for people who fake

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 it with their faith in other words some religion looks like it's wrapped in the right package but

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 it's not and what he was talking about is he says it's like identity theft it seems like a lot of people

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 who say they know jesus have all the right words and all the right moves but what they don't have is

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 sincerity and authenticity did you get that in paul's writing i get it every time

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 they talk a big game and a big bunch of 20 pound words to describe an otherwise simple idea about

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 faith but in reality they really do they don't but in reality they never really do anything

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 it's like a guy with a cowboy hat one duck one cow and a tractor and he calls himself a rancher

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 we don't want to be all hat and no cattle when it comes to faith god doesn't like it when people

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 fake it it's not the same as identity theft in a way only the figures are stealing god's identity

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 and using it to make people feel bad or force them to change who they are to fit into a particular

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 religious community that power is easy to spot what is really easy to do is to have faith

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 because that is shown in a form of grace and acceptance as well as sincere love and respect

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 it's the kind of power that actually does things rather than just talks about it

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 paul is talking about the real deal the real deal and that is why we're here

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 i've been blessed with a car with um this that's got digital radio and so i can now listen to

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 premier christian radio in ucb and i was challenged the other morning at driving along and uh there was a

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 story that an american pastor was telling that they'd prayed for a guy in their church called

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 dave dave was senior in years he'd been in hospital they'd been praying from this week and they'd expected

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 him to pass to go home to be with the lord the church had gathered they'd prayed earnestly for dave

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 unexpectedly on the tuesday there was a guy and i think his name was steve

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 and steve was a young guy he had a young family he was a dentist and accidentally in his work he'd

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 been bitten by one of his patients he'd been infected the infection had gone to his brain

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 and he was in intensive care the church gathered and prayed for him

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 amazingly dave had this miraculous healing this older guy this senior guy in their church

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 steve went home to be with the lord a young man with a young family the eldest of the church came to him

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 and said what do we do this week what do we do on a sunday how can we celebrate dave when pete

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 this sort of steve has gone home to be with the lord

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 and he said dave got healed

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 but steve got better

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 they've got healed but steve got better

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 because he's now with the lord and we're all going to be with the lord i'm going to miss you a lot if i go before you

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 but i'm going to see you i'm going to see you

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 you know i think what paul is saying is death has no fear for me

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 because i've got a job to do and i know what my purpose is

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 whenever that time comes but i've got a job to do

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 i pray this morning that as we think about this thing about wisdom

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 is they gave thanks as paul gives thanks for his situation paul knows his reason for being here

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 at this time and the question is do we

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 do we live for christ or do we go around with all these things that we wanted to do

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 and feeling resentful because we didn't get to do them or haven't

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 and i think i'm speaking to myself especially at the moment

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 paul knows his reason for being here as long as i'm alive in this body

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 there is good work for me to do if i had to choose right now

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 i hardly know which i choose the desire to break camp and to be with christ is powerful for me

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 some days i can't think of anything better

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 but most days because of what you are going through

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 i am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here

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 so i plan to be around a while

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 our faith says live for christ and in christ and to seek his purpose

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 so what is our reason for being here today tomorrow and this week

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 to fulfill some dreary bucket list

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 to feed our longing for something that we feel we missed

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 or will we use it to tell the amazing work of god

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 or will we use it to tell of his wonders

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 like the guy looking out the window of the plane

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 will we use it to encourage others in the faith

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 will we use it to tell it as it is

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 and not some form of dreamed up fake religiosity

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 will we use it to deepen our discipleship

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 in whatever age we might be in

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 there is no better way than to go deeper with christ

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 will we use it to engage in the purposes of our church

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 in reaching our community

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 will we use it to speak out for justice

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 if ever there is a time for the church to stand and speak out for justice

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 to encourage our next generation

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 of christian witness

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 not only in this place

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 but in our community

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 to consider our legacy

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 to give and share

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 what will people say of us

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 when we are with the lord

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 whatever that is

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 paul encourages us this morning

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 let's not avoid the question

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 paul was forced to ask himself

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 what is my reason for being here

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 let's ask god the same question

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 and ask the spirit of god

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 to show us

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 encourage us

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 and empower us

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 afresh

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 as maybe we go home and read that scripture again today

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 and tomorrow

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 and during this week

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 i pray that you together with me

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 are as encouraged

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 and challenged with this scripture

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 as the day i read it

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 praise god

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 bless you

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 because Generally

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 who Gosh

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 is

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 i

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 the

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 you

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 are

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 no