Living and Working in a Bad Situation - Part 3 | Adult Sunday School

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I Good morning welcome Spring is in the air brother.

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I Mean who knows? I mean we can get another T two feet of snow, right but Springs in the air still

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It's still light at five o 'clock that means Springs in the air Yeah Yeah Well, welcome glad you're back

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You don't know how all how glad I am each week to stand up here and still see faces in front of me

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After all of these weeks, it's encouraging. Thank you Open your

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Bibles to the sixth chapter of Ephesians Ephesians chapter 6 Ephesians chapter 6 and Let's pray to begin

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Well our father we return again this morning to this wonderful and marvelous letter from the pen of the

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Apostle Paul to believers that are so remote to us by By time by culture by experience that we cannot quickly identify without Thinking seriously about these things

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Even the The passage before us about slavery is and so alien to us and yet your truth

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Transcends cultures it transcends time It is always true and it is always applicable

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And so we pray our father this morning that we would rightly divide it that we would understand it as it came from the pen of the

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Apostle Paul and That your spirit would aid and enable us to apply it in our own culture and context in ways that are helpful in ways that bring glory to Christ In ways that draw us ever closer to our

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Savior in whose name we pray amen Well, this is the final message from Paul's household code we started

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I believe it was 18 weeks ago Back in chapter 5 and verse 15

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This we now arrive at the final Final message the final passage said in this passage that Paul is commanding and exhorting and teaching the

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Ephesian believers how to live out their Christian faith in the home and after this

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Jim pastor Jim will be doing a series on imprecatory Psalms and He wanted me to just make sure you understand that he will not only be teaching the

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Sunday school But he will be preaching in other words. He'll be applying the messages on hard work Over the next number of weeks as he both teaches and preaches twice on Sunday.

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So for that we're very grateful So don't miss that but here we are in chapter 6 and and verse 5 and Paul's addressing the topic of Christian slaves and masters

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Who are on equal terms within the body of Christ and yet who are radically different from one another in terms of power and self -determination and economic status

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So they are one in Christ equal footing there but they are vastly different in terms of their hierarchies or more priorities within the society and This teaching from Paul is so important and the implications of it are so significant

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Regarding the body of Christ and equality within the body of Christ that they really cut the thread of the whole

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Institution of slavery that was very much a part of the culture of the of the ancient world into which the gospel

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Came and it cut that thread and although it did not immediately end slavery

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It started a great unraveling if you will that eventually led to Christian nations recognizing their obligations under the gospel to Put aside such such really evil practices as the enslavement of other human beings

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So it just took time It took time, but the gospel always accomplishes its purposes

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Let's read the text together Chapter 6 beginning in verse 5 slaves Be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh

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With fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ Not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart

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With goodwill render service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatever good thing each one does

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This he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free Masters do the same things to them and give up threatening

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Knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with him

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This is addressing slavery but by application we're going to apply it to our situation because we don't understand slavery or not involved in slavery and So we're going to need to extract the biblical principles and then apply them to our environment

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Which is work which is work And so what we can draw from this is five principles

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This is our outline five principles that govern how we live in work

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When we find ourselves in a bad situation We talked last week if you are not in a bad employment situation, hang on it'll probably come

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Such as the nature of work in a fallen world So five principles last week

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We looked at two of them the first was actually found in 1st Corinthians chapter 7 in verses 20 to 24 and That was that we should change what we can

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Paul says that if you are a slave and you can get free you ought to You ought to and so I would say by extension if you are in a very bad work

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Situation and you can get out of it. If you can change you should You should

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Secondly is that we must obey where you must Obey where you must and we saw that in the first part of verse 5

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Here in Ephesians 6 slaves be obedient to those who are your masters

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According to the flesh so obey where you must And then we begin with new so the third principle the third principle for us this morning

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Found in the second half of verse 5 and all the way to verse 7 is serve with integrity

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So change what you can obey what you must serve with integrity

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And Paul says here that slaves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ Not by way of eye service as men pleasers but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill render service as to the

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Lord and not to men So the Christian slaves

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Paul is telling them need to be Concerned to not only just obey their masters because that was a base level societal

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Expectation but Paul is very interested in the manner in which they obey He's concerned about the heart behind the outward obedience and the theological motivations that stand behind it

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So Paul's interested in their heart attitude and the theological motivation that drives their external obedience and he gives us here a fourfold description of Christian service fourfold description of Christian service and what it means to serve with integrity and Paul gives us a

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Fourfold description of it and the first is here in verse 5 and it is that they are to work

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Sincerely, they're to work sincerely with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ and the fear that Paul is talking about here is the reverence and awe that believers feel when they consider the implications of the

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Lordship of Christ it's the ascended Christ who stands behind and authenticates all the authority structures and Providentially rules over his people we see that in in chapter 1

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Just to remind you We're in Paul's first prayer here in Ephesians beginning in verse 18

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He says I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling?

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What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the Saints and what is the surpassing greatness of his power?

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Toward us who believe These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Christ When he would be the father raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places

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And here it is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age

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But in the one to come He put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church

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Which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all in other words It is the ascended

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Christ who stands behind and authenticates all the authority structures that we find in the scriptures and thus to submit to Them is in effect to submit to him.

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It is to submit to his lordship We submit to Christ when we submit to God ordained authority

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Structures and specifically here in chapter 6 and verse 5 Paul states that their their submission is to be characterized in a certain way.

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You see it sincerity of heart They are to submit but they are submit in sincerity of heart.

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In other words in an inner Sincerity or we might say a personal integrity.

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Their submission is to be marked by an inner Sincerity or a personal integrity in other words

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Paul is again dealing with the motive Be a motive behind the work.

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They're not only to do what they're told But they're to do it with a kind of an attitude that would be appropriate for a follower of Christ As if Christ himself were standing there supervising their efforts

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Second They are to work honestly They are to work honestly notice it in verse 6 not by way of I service as men pleasers

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So they're not only to work sincerely But they're to work honestly sincerely and honestly and As Paul makes clear by that by the use of this term

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I service which by the way is a fascinating word so it's It's a word that's made up of two

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Greek words that are put together The first one speaks of the eye and the next one slavery

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And so these two words put together is the idea that they are they are to work

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By not by way of being I slaves They're not to work as I slaves

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In other words, they are not to serve with a view to impress other people And this is the interesting word as I say because it's only here and in the in the parallel passage in Colossians chapter 3 verse 22

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Where there we read bond servants obey in everything those who are your earthly masters not by way of I service there it is again as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart fearing the

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Lord and The reason I think this word is so fascinating is because this is the only place it appears

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There's no references to this in secular Greek In fact, the only place it appears is these two places here in the

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New Testament and so I think perhaps Paul made this word up and as we all know, it's a sign of intelligence when you make up words and So Paul has made up a word

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He is taking the word for I and the word for slave and he stuck them together And he says we are not to serve as I slaves

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We're not to be I slaves As men pleasers So, what do you mean by all of that?

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What does that mean? That means that we're not supposed to work with the purpose of just making a favorable impression on our master.

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We're supposed to work hard We're supposed to work hard When we're being observed and when we're not being observed, that's the idea.

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That's the idea Did it work honestly There to provide a solid day's work without regard to whether the master is present or not whether the boss is looking or not

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Now I Was first introduced to the ways of the world within the realm of employment at 16

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When I found a job I got a job in a grocery store and I was working in the dairy department of the grocery store

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And I was going to be trained by a 30 year old Navy veteran and what he trained me to do was to hustle when we were out on the floor and being observed and then to take extended periods of time getting lost in the warehouse and And in the hot summer being lost in the dairy cooler arranging product, let's just say in Both of us were considered very good employees and it really wasn't until like years later reflecting back on that.

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I realized that Essentially what he had taught me to do is game the system

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He had taught me how to game the system. He he had taught me how to be an I slave to be an

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I slave And you know, it's a sad commentary. Isn't it on the American worker? It's a sad commentary on the

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American work on the quality of the American worker When so many companies now feel compelled to install video surveillance systems

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So that they can keep track of the employees make sure they're working make sure they're not stealing from them

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It shouldn't be that way for Christians for sure. It should not be that way

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Christian workers Don't need video surveillance in order for us to put it in an honest days work for an honest days pay

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Why? Because we work under the lordship of Christ. That's why we work under the lordship of Christ Third third

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They're to work wholeheartedly Wholeheartedly, you see it again the second half of verse 6

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Not by way of I service as men pleasers Contrast but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart

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We're to work wholeheartedly So it's a contrast It's a contrast to those who work hard when somebody's looking and then goof off when they're not

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To to those that Paul is now enjoining here to recognize their ultimate master is

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Christ Their service is to him and they are to work you see it from the heart from the heart wholeheartedly, actually the word is is

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Exus is Suke it's it's out of the soul Is what it literally says?

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They're to work out of the soul in other words from the soul or or from one's innermost being that's where the work is to be coming from It's not to be coming from the over side of the supervisor, but it's to be coming from the inside out

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Again Colossians chapter 3 verse 23, whatever you do Do your work heartily as for the

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Lord rather than for men So in both epistles Paul is hammering on this point that Work that is that is done well, and it's pleasing to Christ is work that is that is motivated internally for the service of Christ for his evaluation his approval not your supervisor not your master as a slave

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They were to work hard. They were to work hard and they were to work for the benefit of their masters

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But the motivation the hard work is Not to be noticed

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But rather as a service to Christ, that's key. And finally in verse 7

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They are to work enthusiastically enthusiastically With goodwill render service as to the

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Lord and not to men Because They're working for Christ Because that's the reality of it

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They're serving Christ as they serve their their Christian masters and they can render this kind of service with a with a good or a positive attitude rather than begrudgingly

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Now this would undoubtedly make them stand out wouldn't it if you find a worker who is internally

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Motivated and is working hard and is Serving the their employer and it's and it's being driven from the inside not from the external pressures or factors

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Then they're gonna stand out Because they're they're one in a thousand Maybe rarer than that So they're going to stand out and and these slaves are going to stand out too

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If they are applying the realities of what Paul is talking about here

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They're going to stand out. In other words people are going to notice them People are going to notice them.

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I mean after all You've ever been in a supervisory position, you know a good worker and you know a bad worker and it doesn't normally take very long for you to get it figured out and So when you work hard You stand out you stand out now the motivation

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The motivation again and this is what this is all about to serve their masters in a system that is inherently unjust is

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Ultimately the recognition that their obedience is not to a faulty human master, but to a perfect Heavenly master

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Christ, that's what can keep them on the job. That's what keeps them working That's what that's what enables them to serve

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Christ in this way is they recognize that behind all of this Just as it is

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Why is the opportunity to serve Christ now if that's true of them? That's got to be true of us, too Don't you think it's got to be true of us, too these

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Christian slaves They're being called upon to serve their masters in a qualitatively and quantitatively different way

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Than all the others around them. They are being called to stand out

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Why? Because They're serving Christ The answer is they're serving

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Christ not merely their earthly master in the workforce. It's true for us

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We work hard. We work. Honestly, we work wholeheartedly why? So that we get it notice so we get a promotion.

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So we get a raise No, those are all derivative benefits. We work in this fashion because it is the service to our

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Savior It is the way we express our Devotion to him it's the recognition that Christ stands behind our work and It sanctifies it in that way and it sets it apart is ultimately service to him

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It turns work from drudgery to worship And that's significant

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That is significant Now let's be quick to say it doesn't remove the pain of the work

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Right. We're talking about slaves here. It does not Relieve the pain of the work you still could have in our

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Day and age you could still have an unreasonable boss. You can still have unpleasant co -workers That the change in focus doesn't change your circumstances a bit

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Not a bit, but it's dramatic to change that will occur in you because it changes your focus

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It allows you to see God's greater gospel purposes behind this pain

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Now it's not just about It's Monday morning. I go to work again I work with like, you know, it's really hard to soar with eagles when you work with buzzards and I'm surrounded by him or this person that I work for They need a psychological examination.

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I mean, they're crazy That Pain doesn't go away But the focus can change and when the focus changes it goes from something you dread to To transcend that to it to an opportunity to worship and live for Christ and live for the gospel in this environment

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Now if you can change change But maybe you can't

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Maybe you can't they certainly couldn't for the most part If a slave is supposed to serve his master in this way

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What would Paul say to us moderates, huh? What would he say to us in terms of how we're supposed to serve our employers?

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So that we don't blunt the Christian gospel If this is his words to them, what would he say to us?

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What would he say to us? And the fourth

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Principle for living and working in a difficult environment It's found in verse 8

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And it is this we are to think Eschatologically, we are to think eschatologically

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The world is full of injustice The world is full of injustice and and the righteous heart

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Longs for the day when Christ will return and set it, right? That is the longing of our hearts

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So therefore the the fourth principle by Paul Governs how we learn how we work in in this difficult situation between the comings

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We await the return of Christ when things will be made right but when it's not there it's not today at least not yet but being

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Focused and rooted and this member I said theological motivation the theological motivation that arises out of thinking eschatologically

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Provides the motivation to to live in this way verse 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does

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This he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free

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Eschatologically It's because these slaves are ultimately serving

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Christ When they serve their masters and it is Christ that they should look to for their recognition and their reward

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But it won't be in this life It won't be in this life

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There may be some more or less measures of earthly recognition that come to us

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But but the final commendation doesn't come here At the end of it all the gold watch

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Is not all there is the brass ring that you're it's always a little out of your reach.

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That's not where it's at It's not there The true reward the true reward for Christian obedience comes not in this life, but the next

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Not in this life Next And notice here that the the verb that Paul uses to express

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The speak of Paul's reward or repayment right knowing that whatever good thing each one does

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He will receive back from the from the Lord that that verb receive commit Zo It's it means to receive or to recompense

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It's the same verb that appears over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10

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And it is used there in the context of the eschatological judgments specifically the

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Bema seat judgment of Christ This is the judgment not of sin or our sin was dealt with on the cross

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But this is the evaluation of our Christian life and for the purposes of eternal reward

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Paul writes there in 2nd Corinthians 510 But we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ So that each one may be recompensed for his death the verb for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad following the rapture of the church and prior to the beginning of the tribulation all

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Christians appear before the judgment seat of Christ the Bema seat of Christ and they are

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Evaluated by him with regard to their Christian discipleship Again, it is not a judgment of our sin

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Our sin was fully and finally dealt with on the cross, but there is an evaluation of what kind of disciple

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Have we been what have we done with what was entrusted to us? It is the deeds of faith often done in secret often in the face of adversity that receive

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Christ's Commendation and reward and the faithless deeds which have no eternal value are burned up He tells us in 1st

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Corinthians chapter 3 verses 13 to 15 Now I want you to notice here in Ephesians that Paul reminds them whatever good thing they do even the smallest deeds of Christian obedience don't go unnoticed by Christ and they are rewarded in the end

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Now this emphasis on Good things knowing again verse 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does this this emphasis on the good things

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Should draw our attention back to chapter 2 and to Paul's Majestic statement about the gospel back in chapter 2 and verses 8 through 10

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Well by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God Not as a result of works so that no one may boast and we often stop there and we shouldn't

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Because verse 10 says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works

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Which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them

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These good works that Paul is referencing here in in chapter 2 and verse 10

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I think in context is The the good works that appear in chapters 4 5 and 6 of this letter.

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I mean at first Interpretation I should look for the for the definitions of the terms within the very letter itself

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And I don't need to go any further than that What are the good works that have been prepared beforehand for us

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It is the mundane everyday ordinary tasks of life

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It is husbands loving your wives Sacrificially like Christ loved the church.

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That's the good works prepared for us It is wives submitting and respecting your husband.

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That is the good works that have been prepared for you It is children being obedient to your parents.

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That is the good works that have been prepared for you slaves It is to be obedient to your masters not as I slaves but from the heart wholeheartedly with sincerity

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That is the good works that have been prepared for you And of course masters we'll get to in a moment because they have theirs as well so these are the kinds of good works and We might say it's rather dramatic isn't it for the life of a slave

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These are the good works slave That has been prepared for you It is to live counter culturally to all around you and we can say that I think with regard to us in our

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Situation in our day and age in the same way. What are the good works that have been prepared prepared for you? They begin

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Monday morning How you approach this Makes a huge difference.

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It makes a huge difference Change what you can Obey where you must

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Serve with integrity Think eschatologically and fifth and finally practice mutuality verse 9 practice mutuality and Masters do the same things to them and Give up threatening knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality

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With him just like with the marriage and Parenting all ends this section of the household code with instructions of the dominant party in the relationship

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It's the same way. It was with wives and husbands Children and parents now it's slaves and masters

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He speaks first to the one who was called to obey and to submit he speaks then to the one who is in the position of authority same same idea

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Previous two cases his instructions to the master are radically countercultural

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And they reflect the transformation in the relationship brought about by Christian conversion it is not just the the

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Subservient party in the relationship that is called to live a new and radical way It is the dominant party in the relationship that is also called with the same kind of radical

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Countercultural Life that is brought about as a result of the indwelling

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Christ Now specifically, let's take a look verse 9 Specifically Paul is calling on the

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Christian masters To display first the same integrity in attitude and action toward their slaves that the slaves are called upon to display towards them you see it and Masters do the same things to them in other words

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You are to demonstrate to them a sincerity and honesty a good attitude

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Even though you are in the dominant role in the relationship second

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They are called upon to give up their societally accepted prerogative of threatening

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Violence in order to manipulate and motivate their slaves All right, give up threatening

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Give up threatening. This was the way it was done This is the way it was done

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Now he's not forbidding the master from from punishing a disobedient slave

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He's not doing that. But what he is prohibiting is

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The use of threatening as a management technique He is prohibiting for a

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Christian The use of threatening as a management technique and I think

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I can easily see this apply in our Society and setting today. There is no place for a

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Christian man manager and our woman manager To a resort to intimidation and threatening as a way to manage

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Employees, it's contrary to the Christian message 40 years ago

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My early years in banking I Witnessed a grown man reduced to tears in a public meeting when a

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VP Humiliated him for failing to have been adequately prepared for the meeting

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He began to dress him out in such a way that the man literally began to cry

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And that was my first exposure to that kind of a really violent management style

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It was about 10 years later in another setting where I witnessed the vice chairman of Bank of America dress down the president of our subsidiary

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With profanity and in a public way in order to intimidate all of us

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Over the fact that a Diet Coke had not been provided to him to go with his jelly donut

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For the breakfast meeting that tirade went on for 30 minutes I'd never seen anything like it.

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I've never seen anything like it since But I'm pretty positive that I've not just witnessed like two exceedingly rare instances

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Those of you who have been in the workplace for any period of time, you know, you know that violence

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Intimidation Humiliation harassment are standard management tools and there is no place for them

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No place for a Christian to utilize threats Actual or implied in their leadership of their employees none if you're a

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Christian You must resist the temptation to employ this kind of dehumanizing behavior

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Even though Even though it is frequently used Frequently used now.

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Let's look at the motivation. Give it up. He says why? The motivation to give up the societal privilege.

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See that's the important thing to see It's a societal privilege. The threat of violence was widely accepted

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It's grounded in their understanding of a few things here first that they also have a master themselves their master

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Yes, but they have a master over them and that master is Christ And they are thus accountable to him who is a higher authority

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And it is the same higher authority that that stands over their slaves They have the same master

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You see it give up threatening knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven

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That's a radical concept in the Roman world That is a radical concept in the

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Roman world Paul just put slaves and masters on equal spiritual footing He's just said regardless of the societal differences here before Christ we're equal

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We're equal So they all they have a master Second that master is an impartial judge

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You see it there is no partiality with him

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Christ is an impartial judge. He's not impressed by nor is he show favor to human distinctions

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He's entirely unimpressed with him Therefore in the eyes of Christ both slave and master stand on equal footing and they will receive equal

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Treatment in the evaluation of how they carry out the implications of the gospel in their separate spheres

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Partially judged and third when will this happen first aid at the baby seat at the baby seat

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Master or if I can say it now employer Those of you who employ others those of you who are in supervisory capacities over others

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There will pardon me there will be a judgment there will be a judgment there will be an evaluation of how you

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Live the gospel in this situation If you don't live transit

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Billy Transcendentally, if you do not live in light of the reality that both your employees and you stand equally before God you're missing it.

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Now Paul's teaching here is not Egalitarian. Okay. Let's just be sure we say that There is a flattening at the foot of the cross spiritually, but he is not an egalitarian in other words the relationship between slave and master is

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Reciprocal, but it is not symmetrical It is reciprocal, but it is not

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Symmetrical. In other words, they are not socially equal They are not socially equal

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But they are similarly obligated to submit their attitudes and actions to the Lordship of Christ.

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That's true for us today If you are the boss, you are still the boss Your relationship is not symmetrical with your employees

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It is your responsibility to tell them what to do and it is their responsibility to say yes and do it

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And yet if you are both believers Before Christ You're equal you imagine how hard that must have been in the first century church

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Remember we talked about slavery We said that the slaves in a Roman Empire came in all stripes and forms and and served in all aspects of society

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Like they were very educated slaves taking captive Imagine me a first century church, which is has a large slave population in it why because there's a large slave population in the

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Roman Empire and You walk into the church and and It wasn't Monday through Friday, but you get the idea

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That there's this kind of hierarchy going on and then you walk into the church and it goes like this Your slave is now your spiritual elder

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Now has authority over you in the Lord the only way

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That can work is with a fundamental understanding of the gospel and the reality of what it means

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You We are in a reciprocal relationship, but not a symmetrical relationship

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Paul does not command the Christian masters to free their slaves. He does not but rather to treat them in a way that recognizes the status of both the master and the slave as joint heirs of Christ and Subject to his gracious lordship over them.

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That's the key. That's the key to it Well May the

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Lord help us, huh? May the Lord help us to apply this truth In our lives in whatever situation we find ourselves to the glory of Christ Let's pray

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You Our father the gospel is a radical message

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It is a radical message because we live in a world that is absolutely upside down and There's a gospel in the gospel alone that can turn things right -side up It is the gospel that can help us to understand

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Our true value our true worth It is the gospel that can help us to appraise the value and worth of others

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It is the gospel that enables us to humble our heart and restrain our flesh And to seek to be served rather than to serve or excuse me to serve rather than to be served

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It is the gospel that enables people to love one another to To be a blessing to one another

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It is the gospel that unites us together in the body of Christ It is the gospel that enables us to pierce through the cultural morass that we find ourselves in And to live in a way that is radically different Or it is the gospel alone that can save It is the gospel alone

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That can draw men and women boys and girls from their bondage to sin and Enable them by faith to live differently in a way that is winsome to others

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Oh Lord the The things that we have learned over these many weeks have confronted all of us one degree or another

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There is none of us without sin There is none of us

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Who does not fall and fail regularly? And thus there is not a one of us who is outgrown the need for this gospel of grace

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May you apply it this morning to our hearts And father for those here this morning who are in a difficult situation or perhaps a difficult marriage

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Or perhaps there's children even in a difficult family setting Please encourage them today to look to Christ May he be their source of strength and confidence we pray for his glory and his alone.

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Amen Well beloved there you go, that's 18 weeks