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Living by Faith (Romans 1:16-17) | Louis Azuma
01:42 Understanding Romans 1:16-17
05:11 Confidence in God's Power
05:58 Evangelism and God's Power
11:41 Trusting God's Power for Salvation
16:35 The Struggle with Assurance
18:10 Living by Faith, Not by Effort
19:26 Seeing God Through the Bible
24:00 Faith and Obedience
29:58 Experiencing Eternal Life Now
34:24 Concluding Prayer and Reflection
Transcript
normally I do something kind of fun at the beginning,
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:but this is a more serious story.
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:Okay.
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:I, I met a youth pastor, um, and he
used to have pictures of his former
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:students on his walls in his office.
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:Like, oh yeah, this person graduated.
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:And, you know, they were, they
were awesome in high school.
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:They were the worship leader in,
in, in high school, or, or they,
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:they were on fire for their faith
and, and he, you know, they went
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:off to college and whatever.
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:They'd stay in touch.
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:He used to put pictures of
all his former students.
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:On, on his walls.
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:But one day he told me, he said I
had to take all the pictures down.
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:And I was like, why?
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:Why'd you have to do that?
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:Why?
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:Why did you take all the pictures down?
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:He said, I couldn't stand looking at
'em anymore because so many of those
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:students walked away from the faith.
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:So many of those students
don't love Jesus anymore.
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:So many of these faces staring
back at me from the wall in
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:my office, don't know God.
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:They don't trust the Bible.
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:They don't.
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:Go to church.
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:They don't pray.
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:They don't have a relationship with God.
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:They walked away.
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:And what we're gonna be
talking about today is how to
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:not be one of those students.
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:Right?
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:We don't, you don't wanna be the
student on someone's Instagram where
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:they're like, oh yeah, remember
that guy don't know where he is at
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:anymore or what happened to her.
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:Oh, well, we never heard from her.
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:When she graduated, she
went off to school and.
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:She doesn't come to church anymore.
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:You don't wanna be that student.
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:So we're gonna be learning today how to
make it to the end, how to not drop out,
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:how to not walk away from the faith.
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:And the good news is that God
is the one in charge of that.
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:God's power protects Christians.
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:So turn with me in your Bibles to
Romans chapter one, verses 16 and 17.
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:Romans one 16 and 17.
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:These are some famous verses, right?
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:You've probably heard these verses
before, but what I want you to
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:see is that these verses aren't
just about sharing the gospel.
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:They're also about how to stay
Christian, how to not lose your
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:faith, how to not walk away from God.
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:Like how do you know that
when you stand before God?
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:He won't say, I never knew you.
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:How do you know that when you move outta
your parents' house, you're gonna keep.
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:Loving Jesus and you won't just give up.
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:How do you know that that's you?
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:You won't make it without God's power.
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:God's power in the gospel is not just
what saves you, but what keeps you saved.
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:So look with me verses
:
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:So Paul said, I'm really excited to
preach the gospel to the people in Rome.
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:Verse 16.
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:Why for I am not ashamed of the gospel.
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:For it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes to
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:the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
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:For in it.
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:The righteousness of God
is revealed from faith.
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:For faith as it is written, the
righteous shall live by faith.
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:So how do you keep living by faith?
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:Well, the answer here in this passage
is that God's power and can is,
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:is what keeps you believing God's
power through the gospel is what
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:keeps you believing, and your faith
is what connects you to that power.
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:Your faith is what connects you to
God's power that will keep you safe.
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:So our main point tonight is that
trusting in Jesus is the key to
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:rescue from God's wrath and unlimited
happiness with him trusting in Jesus
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:and I, I put it that way, trusting
in Jesus, not having trusted
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:because it's an ongoing action.
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:I want you to think of it
ongoing trust in Jesus.
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:Not one time trust in Jesus.
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:Not well.
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:One time I trusted in Jesus
and turned for my sin.
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:Ongoing trust in Jesus is the
key to rescue from God's wrath
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:and unlimited happiness with him.
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:So Paul, he's not ashamed
to preach the gospel, right?
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:He's he's, he says, I'm not ashamed.
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:I'm not embarrassed.
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:I'm excited about it.
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:Right?
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:That's where he was in verse 15.
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:This is kind of how I like to
visualize these verses because.
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:It helps me see Paul's logic, right?
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:He's writing this letter to the Romans.
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:I'm eager to preach the
gospel to you in Rome.
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:Why four?
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:That means because whenever you
see four in the Bible, like not,
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:not little four, this kind of four,
four, I'm not ashamed because I'm
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:not embarrassed about the gospel.
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:Why not Paul?
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:Because it's the power
of God for salvation.
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:It's God's power.
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:God's power, right?
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:Not just the emperor's power, not
just the president's power, not just.
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:A big truck's power.
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:God's power for salvation.
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:God's power is what gives
Paul confidence in the gospel.
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:So that's why he's not embarrassed about
it, and that's why he wants to preach it.
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:That's why he's excited to tell people
about it, because it's God's power.
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:So point number one tonight, be
confident in God's saving power.
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:That's the opposite of
being ashamed, right?
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:Being confident.
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:God's power is what makes Paul confident.
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:It makes him excited.
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:The obvious application of this
passage that you've probably
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:heard before is evangelism, right?
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:You probably heard this
passage quoted like, well, why?
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:You know, what motivates
people to share their gospel?
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:What motivates people to,
to tell people about Jesus?
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:Well, it's, it's.
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:I'm not ashamed of the gospel, right?
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:There's a, there's a rap group that uses
this as their theme verse, and they,
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:they talk about how they're unashamed
and they talk about Romans one 16, right?
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:God's power gives Paul confidence in
evangelism, and I think sometimes, right?
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:If you're, if you're a Christian
and you've tried to share their
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:gospel with someone, it's easy
to to be embarrassed, right?
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:It's easy to, to feel awkward.
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:It's easy to feel uncomfortable.
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:It's easy to, to be unsure.
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:It's easy to, to just not wanna do it.
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:Right.
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:So how do you get someone like Paul
who's eager to, to preach the gospel?
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:How do you be like that?
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:Well, here's what Paul says.
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:He says, I think about God's power.
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:I think about God's power.
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:If you think about with evangelism,
are you the one that's really doing
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:the heavy lifting in evangelism?
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:Like who's the one that's actually
doing the, the saving in evangelism?
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:God is right.
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:So it's not like you're
just coming in there.
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:Okay, cool.
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:Like I'm trying to convince this person to
believe Jesus and that the Bible's true.
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:Whenever.
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:It's like, well, God uses
you, but it's God's power.
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:God's doing the saving
in evangelism, not you.
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:So maybe if you're scared to evangelize,
this is a great thing to think about.
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:Right?
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:God's the one who's
gonna save that person.
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:Maybe there's that person in your life you
say, you know, I don't, I just don't see
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:how they're ever gonna believe the gospel.
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:They're so hardhearted.
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:They, they hate Jesus.
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:They don't like Christians.
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:Or you think of that, that classmate,
you're like, man, I would be so
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:embarrassed if they found out I was a
Christian, or there's no way they're,
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:they're, they would ever look at me the
same way if they knew I was a Christian.
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:Paul says, I think about
God's power, right?
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:I think about who God is.
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:God could squish that
person in an instant, right?
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:God made the world, God, you've been,
been outside in a thunderstorm like God.
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:God does that right?
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:You, you watch like a storm on the news.
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:God does that.
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:You read scenes in the
Bible about God's power.
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:I think God is powerful and it helps
put everything in perspective, right?
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:God is the one who's,
who's gonna save them?
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:Not, not my presentation
of the gospel, right?
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:Not how eloquent I am or, or the
Bible verses I quote, or how I, how I
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:share it or, or the timing, you know?
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:Well, it's an awkward time.
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:Maybe I won't share the gospel.
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:God's power is, is is better
than awkwardness, right?
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:God is much stronger than
than your awkwardness.
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:Your awkwardness is not gonna hinder
God's power to save that person, right?
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:So if you're embarrassed about sharing
the gospel, you're not sure if you
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:could share the gospel with that person.
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:Just think about, look, God's
the one doing the heavy lifting.
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:I'm just here to, to spread
the message, but God's power is
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:gonna be what goes through me.
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:And maybe you're thinking about.
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:I just don't know if I'm smart enough.
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:'cause what if they come up
with an objection, right?
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:Then I'd be embarrassed.
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:What if they said something
that I didn't know?
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:What if they come up with some
question like, well, did you know that?
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:You know that the, actually at the
time of Jesus, there was another
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:cult that actually said all the same
things and whatever, and the early
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:church copied that, and that's why
we have Christmas trees, right?
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:That's not true.
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:But what if someone just said
something like, really smart and I
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:didn't know what, how to, what to say.
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:Well, think about.
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:You're, you're on the winning team, right?
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:No one's gonna outsmart God.
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:No one's come up with an argument
that's like, Hey, you know what?
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:I've debunked God, I've come up
with this argument that's, that's
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:smarter than, than, than God.
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:I've come up with this, this final
proof that's going to prove that
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:Christianity's fake because God
is the one who made it right?
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:No one's gonna outsmart God.
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:So you don't have to be worried
that someone says something to
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:you and they ask you a question.
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:Maybe it's a really good question.
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:Maybe it's something you've
never thought about before.
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:You can say, you know what,
that's a great question.
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:Let me get back to you.
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:And then you talk with them again.
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:You do your research, do your homework.
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:You join Aquip and you talk to
them and you come back and you
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:say, oh, here's what I learned.
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:Or you say, Hey, let's
research this together.
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:'cause guess what?
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:If God's, if God's real, do you
think their question is gonna
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:debunk everything, it's God.
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:Right?
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:No matter how smart this person is
that you're talking to, they're not
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:gonna be able to to overcome God.
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:And so that gives you confidence.
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:'cause you know, oh, I'm on the,
you ever heard this phrase, I'm
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:on the right side of history.
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:People say that sometimes, like,
oh, well you wanna be on the
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:right side of history, right?
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:That's why you should support
whatever our culture says.
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:'cause you wanna be on the right.
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:Yeah, you don't, you don't wanna
be like one of those people
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:who supported slavery, right?
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:So you should also support X, Y, and Z.
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:Be on the right side of history.
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:Well, guess what?
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:God's on the right side of history
so you don't have to be worried.
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:About being wrong about something.
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:If you're saying what the Bible says,
even if everyone else around you opposes
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:you, you don't have to be worried
because you know that God's on your team.
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:It's kind of like.
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:When we play games here in true North,
like when we play football, we used to
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:play football outside and I always, you
know, junior high versus high school.
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:I always had Mr.
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:Clancy on my team and I was like,
if we're playing football and Mr.
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:Clancy's on my team, we're good.
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:Right?
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:We're good.
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:I don't care.
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:You can have Josh, you can have Jacob, you
can have Weston, you can have everyone.
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:But if we got Mr.
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:Clancy, we're good.
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:Right?
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:That's how, that's how I feel going
out there on the football field.
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:In a much bigger way.
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:That's how you should feel when,
when you share the gospel, right?
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:Who's on your team?
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:God's on your team.
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:It's God's message.
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:You're on God's team, right?
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:God's not on your team.
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:You're on God's team.
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:You're gonna be okay, right?
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:You've got, you've got
God's message, God's power.
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:You don't have to be
embarrassed about it, right?
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:And it helps just to
put it in perspective.
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:Just think about it.
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:Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed.
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:You know, someone says something
or they look scary or whatever,
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:and just think about it.
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:Pause and think about it, man.
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:God's on.
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:Like, this is God's message.
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:This is God's power, not mine, not my
skill, not my eloquence, not my whatever.
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:This is God's power at work, not me.
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:So that's one way to gain
confidence in God's saving power.
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:Maybe another way you don't
have confidence in God's
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:saving power is because you're
scared to become a Christian.
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:'cause you think, oh,
what if it doesn't work?
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:Like, what if, uh, I pray and ask God
to save me, and then nothing happens.
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:What if I try to repent on my
sin and then nothing happens?
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:Right?
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:I've heard this so many
times from students.
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:It's like, well, I tried
to become a Christian.
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:It didn't work.
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:Or I, I prayed this prayer
and nothing happened.
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:What that shows is a lack of trust
in God's power because you're
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:asking what if, what if, what if?
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:What if?
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:What if?
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:It's like, you know, when, when like the
little kid is trying to learn how to swim
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:and dad's like, jump in the pool, and he's
like, well, what if you don't catch me?
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:What is the kid, what is that
kid saying about their dad?
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:I don't trust you.
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:I don't trust you to catch me.
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:And so if you're on the fence,
if you're saying, well, I tried,
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:I don't know if it's gonna work.
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:I tried this.
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:I'm not sure if it, if
anything didn't happen.
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:Just God's power saves people.
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:And God is much more
powerful than your sin.
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:And so you can trust him to save you.
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:You can, you can jump
into the pool and trust.
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:Trust him to catch you.
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:God does the saving, not you.
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:Right?
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:If you're saying, well, I tried
and it didn't work, who are
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:you counting on to save you?
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:You?
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:Because you're saying, I did
something and it didn't work.
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:Not, oh God did something.
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:That's that.
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:When you get saved, that's the
whole point is God does it not you.
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:So, and this also works with assurance.
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:Maybe you're, you are a Christian,
you're, sometimes you're like,
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:I'm not sure if I'm a Christian.
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:I'm not, I don't know.
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:I'm struggling with his sin.
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:Or I, I'm not sure if
I'm really a Christian.
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:Maybe my intro scared.
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:The, the living daylights
outta you as they say.
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:And you're like, oh my goodness.
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:I don't know if I'm a Christian anymore.
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:God's power, God's Christians.
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:I want you to see something.
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:This verse right here, verse 16,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
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:For it is the power of God for salvation.
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:For who?
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:For people who don't believe.
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:For people who do believe and remember.
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:Remember who Paul's
preaching the gospel to.
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:He's preaching the gospel to
the Romans, not Roman soldiers.
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:Roman Christians who may
be worse soldiers too.
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:But Roman Christians, Paul's
preaching the gospel to Christians.
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:He's saying the gospel is the
power of God to save Christians.
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:How do Christians get saved?
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:Well, salvation, right?
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:You're, you're saved in a sense
of you're justified, right?
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:And that happens as soon as
you put your faith in Jesus.
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:But the way the Bible talks about
salvation is that salvation is sometimes
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:a future thing when you get to heaven.
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:We learned about this in
our main service, right?
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:Christians who by God's power,
see, that are being guarded
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:through faith for a salvation.
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:Ready to be revealed in the last time.
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:So there's present salvation, right?
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:You're justified and
there's future salvation.
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:You're glorified, right?
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:You're in heaven with God.
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:So if you're saying, oh, I don't know
if I'm gonna make it right, I don't.
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:I know if I'm gonna make it to heaven.
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:I'm not sure.
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:I don't know if God will keep me saved.
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:I don't know if I'm a Christian.
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:God guards Christians, God's power
guards Christians and keeps them saved.
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:Put your confidence in
God to keep you saved.
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:Don't put your confidence in,
well, if I try really hard,
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:then I'll make it to heaven.
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:If I keep reading my Bible, if I keep
praying, if I keep coming to, like,
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:God uses those things to save you.
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:Yes, but God's power is what guards you.
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:God's power is what guards you.
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:But what does God use?
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:His power.
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:How does he use his power?
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:How, what does that actually look like?
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:Right?
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:Because you don't, you can't see God
using his power to keep people saved.
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:Well, look, God, God's power guards people
through faith, through that's like means.
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:That's like how something happens.
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:God's power, God's people through faith.
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:God uses your faith.
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:To keep you safe, and that's what
Paul is talking about in this passage.
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:Salvation for everyone who
believes and the righteousness
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:of God is revealed from faith.
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:For faith as is written, the
righteous shall live by faith.
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:Your faith is what God uses to guard you.
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:That's why our main point was trusting
Jesus is what gets you to heaven.
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:Trusting Jesus is also what keeps
you saved because God's the one who
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:does it, so you trust God to do it.
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:God uses your faith to guard you.
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:And so that's where your confidence
needs to be because if your confidence
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:that you're gonna stay Christian is
in your Bible reading plan, or what
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:church you go to, or who your parents
are, your confidence isn't in God.
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:Your confidence is in yourself
and you're gonna let yourself down
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:because you're not good enough.
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:But God is God's power guards people
and he uses your faith to do it.
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:So that's why.
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:Your confidence has to be
in God to keep you saved.
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:'cause a lot of times when we
struggle with like assurance, right?
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:I'm not sure if I'm a
Christian, it's because we're
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:thinking about what I'm doing.
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:I need to do this, I need to do this.
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:I'm not doing this.
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:And maybe it's because you have
unconfessed sin in your life and maybe
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:God's using that to show you something.
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:But a lot of times it's because you're
focusing on, well, I'm not seeing enough
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:fruit, or I'm not like this person.
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:It's all about you.
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:So God uses your faith in
him to, to keep you saved.
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:God's power is for salvation to
everyone who keeps on believing, right?
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:The people who who keep on believing
are the ones who stay saved, right?
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:Because they keep trusting Jesus.
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:They keep doing the same
thing that got them saved.
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:They trusted Jesus, and you keep trusting
Jesus all the way to the end, right?
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:Trusting Jesus isn't
just a one time thing.
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:You don't just trust Jesus for
salvation and then do the rest of
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:your Christian life by your works.
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:You don't just trust Jesus to get to
get you saved, and you say, all right,
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:now that I'm saved, I trusted Jesus.
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:Take away my sin.
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:Now I'm gonna try really
hard so I can grow a lot.
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:No, no.
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:You trust Jesus to get you
saved, and then you keep trusting
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:Jesus the rest of the way.
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:The righteous shall live
by faith, not by effort.
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:Faith is what God uses to
guard you and also to grow you.
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:And so our second point tonight is
to keep looking to God for faith.
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:Keep looking to God for faith.
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:And again, this is an
ongoing thing, right?
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:It's not just, well, I trusted
Jesus once and now I'm good.
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:And that's what I think Paul is talking
about when he says the righteousness
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:of God is revealed from faith.
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:For faith.
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:He's saying that initial faith in the
gospel leads to more faith down the road.
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:Your initial faith in the gospel
then keeps growing and you keep
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:trusting Jesus and then you end up
living your whole life by faith.
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:That's how you make it to the end.
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:That's how you're, you're finally saved.
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:That's how you reach to heaven because
God keeps you saved using your faith.
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:You keep trusting him.
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:And so what we need to do
is we need to live by faith.
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:We need to keep, keep trusting God.
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:So well, it's like,
well, how do I get faith?
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:Right?
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:How do I get faith?
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:Well, it's right here.
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:The righteousness of God is revealed,
and that's what leads to faith.
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:So you see God and you get faith.
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:That's how the, that's how God works.
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:That's how God gives you faith.
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:You look at God and that gives you faith.
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:Well, how you see God, right?
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:I, I haven't seen God.
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:Uh, most people who
lived haven't seen God.
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:Where do you see God?
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:Right here.
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:That's why we tell you to read
your Bible, not because if you read
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:your Bible, you'll go to heaven.
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:Because you read your Bible, you see God.
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:You see God, and you get faith.
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:And faith is how you live as a Christian.
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:Faith is the key to being a
Christian, and so that's why we
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:care about you reading your Bible.
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:That's why your parents
tell you to do your rivalry.
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:That's why at our church,
Bible's literally our middle
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:name because the Bible's where
you see God and it's objective.
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:It's like, well, no, this is what it says.
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:'cause imagine.
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:'cause some people are like,
oh well I want a vision of God.
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:Right?
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:I wish, I wish I could see God like in my
head and have a, have a dream about him or
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:a vision of him, and that'd be super cool.
454
:'cause then I know for sure
that I was a Christian, right?
455
:Well, guess what?
456
:Let's say you had a dream about God and
then in like five years you're like,
457
:well, did I really have that dream?
458
:Or was I just kind of hallucinating?
459
:Or what if, what if it wasn't really God?
460
:What if it was someone
else that looked like God?
461
:See how unreliable that is.
462
:You, you can't count on
like a, a vision or a dream.
463
:What you can count on is this.
464
:'cause guess what, if you're not sure
what she read, guess what you can do?
465
:You can look right back at it and
say, oh yeah, that is what God said.
466
:And then the next week when
you forgot what you read, you
467
:can say, okay, what did I read?
468
:And you look right back at it.
469
:Here's what God said.
470
:It's objective.
471
:And that, that's why God gave us a book.
472
:That's why God just doesn't give everyone
a vision or a, a burning in their bosom
473
:to tell them that they're a Christian.
474
:He gives you a book to help you
see him because it's objective and
475
:you can always come back to it.
476
:And that's where you look to get faith.
477
:You look at, you look at God
through his word, and you get faith.
478
:That's what Paul's gonna
say in Romans chapter 10.
479
:Faith comes from hearing and
hearing through the word of Christ.
480
:That's the Bible.
481
:That's how you get faith.
482
:Where does faith come from The Bible?
483
:Because you see God.
484
:God gives you faith.
485
:That's how anyone gets saved, right?
486
:That's what this, that's what
this passage is about in context.
487
:How are they gonna believe
if they've never heard?
488
:Well, they're gonna hear
the gospel from God's word.
489
:That's how you initially got faith is
someone preached the gospel to you.
490
:But that's also how you
live as a Christian.
491
:You, you keep hearing God's word.
492
:That's why we care about sermons, right?
493
:That's why I don't just come up
here and give you life advice.
494
:That's why I give you a sermon because
the, the Bible is where you meet God,
495
:and that's where you get faith and
that's how you survive as a Christian.
496
:It's kind of like, you know when Jesus
was walking on the water and then Peter
497
:wanted to walk out to Jesus on the water,
Peter's like, oh yeah, it's super cool.
498
:I wanna try that.
499
:Right?
500
:And then Peter started to sink.
501
:Why did Peter start to sink?
502
:Because he stopped looking at Jesus.
503
:He started looking at the wind.
504
:He started looking at the water.
505
:What would give Peter more faith?
506
:Look at Jesus.
507
:Look at him.
508
:He's walking on water.
509
:He can surely, he, he made water.
510
:He can definitely keep you above water
too, Peter, but he didn't do that.
511
:And so then he didn't trust Jesus as much.
512
:But looking at Jesus is
what gives you faith.
513
:That's, that's why we care about
memorizing the Bible, right?
514
:Because how are you gonna look to Jesus
if you don't have God's word ready?
515
:If it's not, if it's not
there for you to grab onto.
516
:How are you gonna get your faith?
517
:And that's why we want you to, to
internalize God's word, to memorize
518
:it, to think about it, to know
what it says, because that's how
519
:you get, that's your lifeline.
520
:That's how you get faith.
521
:If you, if you don't know God's
word, you're not able to get
522
:faith because you can't see God.
523
:And you're gonna be so concerned
with everything else that's going on,
524
:so you keep looking.
525
:And that's why also, it's not just,
oh, read the Bible, check the box, and
526
:forget about it for the rest of my day.
527
:Because you live by faith.
528
:You don't check the box and move on.
529
:So living by faith, right?
530
:We hear that all the time.
531
:Live by faith.
532
:What does that mean?
533
:Well, it means that faith is the
key to all of Christian living.
534
:There's two verses that I I want
you to see, and they're kind of
535
:crazy when you think about it.
536
:First one, Hebrews 11, six.
537
:Without faith, it's
impossible to please God.
538
:If you don't trust God,
you can't please him.
539
:You do something without trusting God.
540
:God is not pleased with that.
541
:That's what this passage is saying.
542
:Anything you do apart from
faith is not pleasing to God.
543
:God's not excited about that.
544
:And then Romans 1423, whatever does
not proceed, that means come from
545
:whatever doesn't come from faith.
546
:Whatever's not generated by faith is sin.
547
:Which is even crazier, right?
548
:Not just that God isn't pleased with it,
it's actually you're sinning and, and
549
:that's also why we care so much about your
heart, because faith isn't just external.
550
:This is why you might not be
pleasing God with your Bible reading.
551
:You might not be pleasing God
with how you serve at church.
552
:You might not be pleasing God
with how you obey your parents.
553
:Because if you're not doing
it as an act of trust,
554
:then you're sinning.
555
:And don't get mad at me.
556
:You can't mad at God.
557
:That's what God's saying.
558
:Every act obedience is an expression
of trust dependence in the Lord.
559
:It's a, it's a heartfelt thing, right?
560
:Remember Romans one, five, we
talk about obedience of faith.
561
:Faith and obedience are connected.
562
:They're always together.
563
:Real obedience is always connected.
564
:To trust in the Lord.
565
:One pastor, he put it like this,
you obey because God is for you
566
:not to get God to be for you.
567
:The difference between those is
if you're obeying by works, right?
568
:To earn something you're trying to
get God to, to do something for you.
569
:You're trying to to obey so that
maybe God will like you more.
570
:Or you're trying to obey so that
maybe God will let you pass the math
571
:test or you're trying to obey so that
maybe God will make your life better.
572
:That's not from faith.
573
:That's you being selfish and
trying to earn something from God.
574
:Or maybe it's, well, I want to, I
want to do all these things for God so
575
:that I feel really good about myself.
576
:So I'm like, oh, look at me.
577
:I'm such a great Christian.
578
:That's not from faith.
579
:That's the opposite of faith
because you're building yourself up.
580
:Faith says.
581
:I need God, I trust him.
582
:I depend on him, not myself.
583
:So living by faith means that you obey
out of an expression of your faith, right?
584
:Every time you read the Bible,
it's because I need God.
585
:I am helpless without him, right?
586
:Jesus says in John 15, apart
from you, I can do nothing.
587
:And he's talking about God, right?
588
:Apart from God, I can do nothing.
589
:So
590
:without faith, you, you cannot please God.
591
:So if, if your obedience is all
surface level, external, right?
592
:If your Bible memory, if your kindness
to other people, if, if it's all
593
:external, if it's all just going
through the motions to get things done,
594
:to make yourself feel good or earn
God's approval, that's not from faith.
595
:And God would say that that's
not pleasing to him because
596
:that's about you, not about God.
597
:And that's why we care about your heart.
598
:We, faith is more than
just just a decision.
599
:Faith involves all of you.
600
:It involves your desires,
it involves your emotions.
601
:Because if so, think about it like this.
602
:If, let's say, um, your parents
ask you to unload the dishwasher.
603
:You say, okay, fine, I'll do it.
604
:And you're super grumpy and in
your head you're like, I can't
605
:believe to make you do this.
606
:I don't know why.
607
:This is what younger siblings are for.
608
:Why do they make me do this?
609
:This is the worst.
610
:My parents are the worst.
611
:Why is this happening?
612
:Are you really obeying them externally?
613
:You are right, but internally, you're not.
614
:Internally, you kind of hate them.
615
:If you're honest in that
moment, you're hating them.
616
:Sometimes we say, oh, I'm obeying God
because I'm, I'm doing the right things.
617
:It's like, well, you're, you're,
yes, externally, you're obeying
618
:God, but internally you're not.
619
:Right?
620
:Internally, you're still unloving.
621
:You're still not kind.
622
:You're still not patient.
623
:You still don't trust God.
624
:You still don't love God.
625
:So faith is not just a.
626
:External decision.
627
:Oh, like I placed my intellectual trust
in Jesus that he is the only way to
628
:save me faith is also loving Jesus.
629
:Treasuring Jesus saying, I, I want Jesus.
630
:Like we talked about this, I
don't know when, before we talked
631
:about how you don't wanna just
be a Christian to get outta hell.
632
:Right?
633
:That's like dating someone just
'cause you don't wanna be single.
634
:Right?
635
:That's the worst.
636
:That's called rebounding, right.
637
:Uh, don't make your relationship
with God like that either.
638
:Like, oh, I'm just a Christian
so I don't have to go to hell.
639
:Right?
640
:It's not loving God.
641
:That doesn't say, that doesn't, that
doesn't make God look good, right?
642
:It doesn't glorify God.
643
:It has to come from the heart.
644
:So keep looking to God for faith
because faith is how you live, right?
645
:When we talk about living by faith.
646
:That idea of live in the Bible.
647
:Such a big word.
648
:You think about John's gospel,
he talks about eternal life.
649
:He says that when you, when you become a
Christian, you get eternal life right now.
650
:Like it starts now.
651
:And I think he, he doesn't just mean
in terms of number of years, like, oh,
652
:you're gonna live forever, eternal life.
653
:I think he also means eternal, like
abundant, like vibrant, like you're
654
:really living, you know, like, you know
when you listen to a song on your phone.
655
:I remember the first time someone showed
me, Forrest Frank, and they showed me on
656
:their phone and I was like, okay, cool.
657
:Then they showed me in their
car and I was like, oh, okay.
658
:I get this now.
659
:This makes, I understand
why this guy's so popular.
660
:Because there's a, it's like
fundamentally different, right?
661
:The, the, the phone speaker
versus the car speaker, right?
662
:Or like when you're playing a
video game and someone turns up the
663
:sensitivity on your controller, right?
664
:I didn't know you could do that.
665
:And then someone showed me, we
were playing, I think Star Wars
666
:Battlefront, and they were like, you
know, because they started playing
667
:and they were like, what is this?
668
:And I was like, what's what?
669
:And they're like, they go to the settings.
670
:And I was like, I've never
even seen this before.
671
:And they turned sensitivity up.
672
:And I was like, whoa, this
is like, like, I'm alive now.
673
:You know?
674
:Or like.
675
:My in middle school, my favorite ride
at Disneyland was the star tourist,
676
:the 3D like flight simulator thing.
677
:And my friend, he hated the 3D
stuff 'cause it made him nauseous.
678
:So he did the whole ride
without the 3D glasses and I
679
:was like, what are you doing?
680
:Like you might as well not go on the ride.
681
:Right?
682
:That's kind of like when you
become a Christian, you put the 3D
683
:glasses on and you're like, whoa.
684
:That's what everything's for.
685
:Like this makes so much sense now.
686
:This is so much better.
687
:This is so much more full.
688
:This is like your, your
joy is so much more full.
689
:Your peace is so much deeper.
690
:Your heart is so much more alive.
691
:Your friendships are, are so much
better because you're living.
692
:That's why God says that you're
dead in your sin because it's,
693
:you're just, you're just walking
around with, with a cold heart.
694
:You're just looking for all these
things to satisfy you, and they're not
695
:going to, they're leaving you empty.
696
:So you're not just living by faith in
the sense of you're existing by faith.
697
:You're alive.
698
:You're really alive,
like figuratively, right?
699
:The things are brighter, the things
are jumping off the screen at you.
700
:They're, it makes sense, it's
deeper, it's fuller, it's vibrant.
701
:It's the illustration I was gonna
use, but you guys are probably
702
:way too young to get it, which is
crazy because I'm not that old.
703
:But there's this really old
movie called The Wizard of Oz,
704
:and what was so big about this movie
is it, it starts off in all black and
705
:white, and then there's this scene.
706
:She opens the door, she opens the
door, and then it's all color.
707
:That's, that's what
we're talking about here.
708
:When you, when you have a
relationship with Jesus, it's
709
:like, oh, it's all here now.
710
:Like eternal life starts as a Christian.
711
:Jesus offers you joy, satisfaction,
peace, all, all these things that are
712
:just, they're black and white, two
dimensional, low sensitivity when you
713
:don't have a relationship with him.
714
:And so that's the kind of.
715
:Christianity that that's real is
when you've really experienced
716
:like Psalm 34 taste and see
that the Lord is good, right?
717
:It's, it's an experience of I know
God, not just, I did things for God.
718
:I know God, I, I trust him.
719
:He's, he's real to me.
720
:So what, what gets people to
heaven is persevering faith.
721
:They keep looking to God for faith.
722
:It's an ongoing pursuit of
God, ongoing dependence of God.
723
:Because if, if, if you just trust in your
decision, then you're not trusting God.
724
:You're trusting your decision.
725
:So I know my prayer for all of you,
and I know your leaders as well, is
726
:that, is that you don't, you're not
one of the students where, where we
727
:take your picture off the wall, right?
728
:We want you to make it to the end.
729
:And the way to do that is genuine,
ongoing, continual faith in Jesus.
730
:And that's what you're gonna
talk about more in small groups.
731
:So let's pray and we'll
get to small groups.
732
:God, we are so grateful
that your power guards us.
733
:We couldn't ask for
anything more from you.
734
:Um, but this the same power that.
735
:Created the world, the same power
that flooded the Earth, the same power
736
:that raised Jesus from the dead is
guarding us if we really are saved.
737
:And so I pray that for those of us who are
Christians, that that we would continue
738
:to just lean into you, that we would
continue to put our, our confidence in
739
:you to save us, to grow us, and that
we would show that confidence in you.
740
:Buy our relationship with you, that
we would live out that confidence in
741
:you by doing things like praying and
reading the Bible and coming to church
742
:because we trust you not to, not to
puff ourselves up, but because we need
743
:you and we want you, and we love you.
744
:I pray for anyone here
who's who's not saved.
745
:God, I pray that you use
your power to save them.
746
:I pray that as Almighty God, you
would raise them from their spiritual
747
:deadness and give them new life.
748
:We pray all this in Jesus name.
749
:Amen.
