2022 High School Graduation

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2022 High School Graduation

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2023 Women's Conference with Lisa Hughes | Special Event

2023 Women's Conference with Lisa Hughes | Special Event

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See the grave close there He has left this place
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You won't find Him here All our fears have fled
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Let our hopes arise Heaven waits for us
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We will never die Freest day, freest day
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When He rose up from the grave
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There is still a day that we're awaiting
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For this one we love appears
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Will take us home with Him forever
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Our tears
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Oh what a day, freest day
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Oh what a day, freest day
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When He conquered death and rose up from the grave What is seen is no hope isn't what is to come
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Christ coming again to bring us to heaven A glorious end to our foe
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The trials we face will fade
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Tears are washed away I hope if the sun is risen
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Rejoice One day we'll rise from death
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Found in things we possess Nor found in the praises of men
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Our will to survive Won't bring us new life We look past this world to the next
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We'll see the king again
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I hope if the sun is risen
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Rejoice Rejoice, oh rejoice
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I hope the seeds of praise
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The sunlight fills the skies The goodness fills my life
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For all your precious gifts Receive my greatness
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The seeds that fathom all your love
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Like a never ceasing stream Are mercies through your son
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The death of Christ alone Deserves eternal song
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For such a love as His Receive my gratefulness
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It is high enough, no thanks
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It is deep enough, no lack I could sooner turn back time
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Than turn your heart away Though the years go fleeting by Your mercies never change
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Before you made the sign Your love will stay on us
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For all your faithfulness Receive my grace
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the graduating class of 2022.
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If this student could travel back in time, he would visit the 1980s and 90s and watch the 49ers win five
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Super Bowls. When asked about his favorite superheroes, this person said he'd prefer a world without superheroes.
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Based on his choice of football teams, it looks like he's had his wish come true. When asked if you were a mega monster, what city would you rampage?
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We can all be proud to know that he would rampage Washington, D .C. Our first graduate in the lineup tonight is
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John Young. This student would like to jump into a pool of cereal and milk.
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Preferences include Captain Crunch and Cocoa Pebbles. Apparently this student has forgotten the harm caused by the sharp edges of Captain Crunch and what it can do to the top of one's mouth.
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When asked if you were a mega monster, what city would you rampage? You'll be proud to know he would rampage
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Washington, D .C. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Josiah Martin.
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Now I never received a questionnaire from this individual, so I'm left to make things up.
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Let's slow down there, young man. Remember practice. This graduate's most unusual talent is the ability to swallow 20
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Lego blocks whole and then do belly flops in the pool. I'm not sure how this is going to come in handy in his future career as a writer for Reader's Digest.
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I'm betting he doesn't even know what Reader's Digest is. I'm betting half the people in this room don't know what
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Reader's Digest is. When asked if you were a mega monster, what city would you rampage?
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We can all be proud to know that he would rampage Washington, D .C. Put your hands together for Josh Kobe Parnell.
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This student is proud to be called a nail magnate because he stepped on nails many times and he has scars to prove it.
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Besides having his most embarrassing childhood memory announced at his home school graduation, this person's most embarrassing childhood memory is getting stuck in a swamp of cow manure and losing both boots.
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When asked if you were a mega monster, what city would you rampage? Once again, he would rampage
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Washington, D .C. Please welcome our next graduate, Jaden Razor.
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If our graduate was trapped on an elevator and could listen to only one song, the song he chose was, quote, the least favorite song of the person standing next to me, unquote.
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We looked up the least favorite song of all time and the winner was Nookie by Limp Bizkit.
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In prep for this event, I listened to the song in hopes of playing it for you tonight, but it just made me blush.
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Here he is, James Prennides. When asked what do you dislike most, but have no good reason for disliking it, this person detests the sound of someone brushing their teeth.
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It even makes her teeth hurt and her tongue feel thick. It's so bad that she has an electric toothbrush so she doesn't have to listen to herself brush her own teeth.
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When asked what really drives you bonkers, the answer was when people don't put the cap back on the toothpaste tube.
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I'm sensing a pattern here. And finally, the only graduate whose first name doesn't start with J, Sophie Meekot.
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Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause for the graduating class of 2022.
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Welcome to the graduation service tonight. Would you all please stand as we sing together Be Thou My Vision?
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Be thou my vision,
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O Lord of my heart. Naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
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Thou my best thought, by day or by night.
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Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
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Be thou my wisdom and thou my true word.
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I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord. Thou my great father,
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I thy true son. Thou in me dwelling and I with thee one.
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Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise.
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Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
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Thou and thou only, first in my heart.
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High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
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High King of heaven, my victory won.
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May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun.
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Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.
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Still be my vision, O ruler. Father, I can come to you and boast of deeds
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I've done. In my pride I strive to earn the favor
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Christ has won. He alone pleads my acceptance, all my works aside.
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So I come with empty hands and I cling to Christ.
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Father, I can go astray and battle needless fears.
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Voices tell me I'm condemned and that I can't draw near.
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But your spirit calls me homeward with your words of life.
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Jesus bore my every sin, so I cling to Christ.
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It's more than I can do to keep my hold on you.
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But all my hope and peace is that you cling to me.
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It's more than I can do to keep my hold on you.
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But all my hope and peace is that you cling to me.
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Father, all my earthly aims in time will turn to dust.
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Let me learn that loss is gain for those who know your love.
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All the treasures of this world will never satisfy.
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You alone are endless joy, so I cling to Christ.
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You alone are endless joy, so I cling to Christ.
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You may be seated. You guys doing all right?
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Do you want to give a speech? Anybody? No? Okay. Thought I'd offer.
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I thought Sophie might take me up on that. I hate it when people say they don't have time.
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This is one of my pet peeves. You know, when you get a captive audience, it's nice to be able to share, just like your pet peeve. You know what
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I mean? Like you ask somebody, do they want to do something? Do they want to be part of some ministry? Or maybe at work, you see if somebody wants.
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I don't have time. I hate that. I even use it myself sometimes.
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I hate it when I use it. Why? Because it's not literally true. You do have time. You do, right?
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We all have the same amount of time. In a given day, we all have, I think, 24 hours, right?
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Seven days a week. We all have the same amount of time. So it's not literally true when someone asks you if you want to do something, if you say,
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I do not have the time. That's not actually true. It's a lie. So why do we tell that lie?
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Well, it's because we want people to think that we're constrained.
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It's not that we're making a choice, and so we have some moral obligation. It's a constraint. I don't have the time.
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But it's not true. So what I think it means to be an adult, in large part, is to understand this truth.
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You have your time. It's your time. And you have an accountability for how you spend it.
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So it's okay to prioritize your time and say no to some things, right? We have to do that. That's what it means to be an adult.
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You have to decide what's important and what isn't. We only have so much time from our conception until our death.
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We each have an accountability to God to use that in the best possible way. So we ought to think through how we spend our time.
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We ought to think enough about how we spend our time so that at the end of our time, we have a life that was lived without regret, a life that was well spent.
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We use that term spend, don't we? We spend our time. We spend our lives. And so we ought to spend wisely.
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So what is a life well spent? Well, to be able to answer that question, you have to understand why you're here. I don't mean why you're here tonight, but why you're here on this earth, why you exist.
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So today you're going to learn the meaning of life. That was a bonus you did not expect, right?
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Good. How do we know the meaning of life? The creator and sustainer of life tells us clearly.
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This is from Colossians 1, verses 12 through 18. Giving thanks to the
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Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, who rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the
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Son of His love, in whom we have redemption, forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible
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God, the firstborn of all creation, for in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together, and He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
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Did you catch that? All things were created through Him and for Him.
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That means all of creation, everything that has ever happened and everything that ever will happen and has ever existed exists for Him, and that includes you.
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That includes these six young people. We exist for Him. We exist to glorify
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God. That is our purpose. That's why we live. It's the purpose of our conception. It's the purpose of our birth, our first breath, our last breath, every breath in between.
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Every time your heart beats, we ought to be giving back to God. We ought to be glorifying Him for the gifts that He's given us.
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All of our talents and all of our resources, all of our time, is His, for His glory.
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So we ought to glorify God with our lives, with our time. So, great, that's good to know. How do we do that?
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Well, first and foremost, we have to acknowledge the brilliant truth of His Gospel. We have to agree with Him in the Gospel.
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It's in the Gospel that He is most glorified, and so we have to first agree with Him in the
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Gospel. So you may say, well, what is the Gospel? Well, the Gospel, in short, is two main facts.
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Number one, you're an awful sinner. You, individually, you are an awful sinner. And two,
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Jesus is the great Savior. The Gospel, in a nutshell. Now, did you know you're an awful sinner?
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You guys know that? Yeah, you should know that. You've heard it enough.
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You're an awful sinner. If I asked you if you consider yourself to be a good person, what would you say?
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Well, if you think you might be a good person, let me just test that. I'm going to look at a few of the
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Ten Commandments. Now, the Ten Commandments are given... God gives some standards for His image -bearers.
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These are God's standards. God wrote these commandments Himself. So let's just look at how you'd measure up to a few of these.
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We'll do four or five or six. Sandy told me I had ten minutes. At least,
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I think is what she said. Something like that. I have no idea how long this is going to take.
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You don't even need to worry about it. The Ninth Commandment. Have you ever told a lie? How many lies do you think you've told?
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The Bible says all liars have their place in the lake of fire. Have you ever stolen anything? It doesn't matter what the value is.
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The Eighth Commandment is not thou shalt not steal. It doesn't have a value limit on it.
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It's just thou shalt not steal, right? If you've stolen anything, it's a violation of that commandment. Have you ever wanted something that belonged to somebody else and jealous of something that someone had?
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That's coveting. That's a violation of the Tenth Commandment. Have you ever looked at a person with lust?
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Jesus said whoever looks on a woman with lust has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Pornography, adultery, fornication, all of those sins, even if they're sins of the mind.
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Have you ever used the names of God in a way that you would throw out a four -letter curse word? Blaspheme the name of the
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God who has given you everything, given you all the blessings of common grace. Have you ever killed anybody?
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You know that Jesus said someone who's angry with their brother unjustly is guilty of murder in their heart.
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So we can go on. That's, I think, six commandments. I should give you a picture of who you are. You're an awful sinner.
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Jesus said you must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect, and you're not.
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We're not. So if you were to die on the way home today and God were to judge you by his standards, these commandments, would you be guilty or innocent?
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If you're honest with yourself, you'd be guilty. So what do you deserve? Do you deserve heaven, perfect reward, or do you deserve hell?
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If we're honest with ourselves, we deserve hell. That's all we deserve from the hand of God. Look, these are not small sins we're talking about.
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There are no small sins. We are sinning against the infinite God of the universe.
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That's the one we're offending, a vile creature of dust offending the God of the universe.
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There's no small sins. And so the right thing for God to do is to send you to hell. Well, that doesn't sound like gospel.
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Gospel's supposed to mean good news, right? That's the bad news part of the gospel. So what's the good news? What has God done so that we might escape his wrath, his judgment, while he still maintains justice?
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Let's go back to Colossians 1. This is verses 19 through 23. For in him, speaking here of Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
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And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, but now he reconciled you, and the body of his flesh through death, in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.
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If indeed you continue in the faith, firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you've heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which
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I, Paul, was made a minister, we can be reconciled to God," it says, is made at peace with God by the blood of the cross of Jesus.
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If we repent of our sins and we put our faith in Christ, then that great gift of the sacrifice of Christ, our savior on the cross, is imputed to our account.
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Our sins are atoned for, his righteousness put in our account, and our sins are forgiven.
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He paid the price for your sin. He took your place. That's the gospel, if you put your faith in him.
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So the bad news is you're an awful sinner, and the good news is Jesus is a great savior. So believing that gospel is the first and most important thing we can do to glorify
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God, which, again, that's the point of our life. That's the key to happiness. It's the key to contentment and joy, is living for your purpose, which is the glory of God.
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So what else? If we believe the gospel, what else? I'm trying to give some life advice to these six over here.
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I hope that they believe the gospel. I pray that they believe the gospel. What next? Well, continue in the faith, firmly grounded and steadfast, not moved away from the hope of the gospel.
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That describes a life well spent. If you want to spend your life well, you want to use your time wisely, this is how you do it.
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Continue in the faith, firmly grounded and steadfast, not moved away from the hope of the gospel. It's very simple. A life well spent is spent in proclamation of the glory of God, primarily in the gospel, and then in obedience to God and his word.
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Share the gospel with your friends and coworkers. Simple. Live as an obedient child of God.
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Live as a saved person. Be a good friend. Help people who are in need. Simple. Stand up for the truth.
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Learn more about God through his word so you can glorify him. Be a good husband. Be a good wife. Be a good daughter, a good son, a good mother, a good father.
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Be a good employee, a good employer. Be a godly man or woman. It's not difficult. A life well spent is not about winning medals or multiplying degrees or making lots of money or any of that nonsense that the world thinks is important.
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It's not about a long list of remarkable accomplishments. Who cares about that junk? You have good role models for how to spend your life.
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You have grandparents and parents, people that you know and love in your church. They're good role models.
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They simply serve Christ in whatever roles they find themselves in. That's a life well spent.
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That's what we want for you guys. We want a life that is lived without regret.
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When you finally really do graduate, when you leave this planet,
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I want you to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. Let's pray together.
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Father, we do love these young people, and we love you, and we pray that they would glorify you with their lives. You've given them such great resources and talents, and we just pray,
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Lord, that they would use those to the fullest extent. We pray that they would use their lives, they would spend their lives, they would plan their lives around your glory.
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In Jesus' name. Well, there's something about a fake mustache that never gets old, does it?
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Well, as we gather tonight and we're reflecting on the past and preparing a little sermon, don't worry,
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I had it down. It's only 15 pages. We just wanted to remember a few things about Sophie that we really appreciate.
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It's been a joy these past four years watching her as she progressed through high school and seeing how she's overcome to be self -motivated and also pursued a godly character.
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When we first entered here into Sandpoint, she stepped out of homeschool and into public school, and there was some rough entry points, but through that strange environment, she learned how to develop the skill of loving others.
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Through difficult relationships with students, learning how to break into a social crowd that was already very closed, and learning even how to deal with some difficult things with teachers, she demonstrated a real willingness to love others and overcome those obstacles and befriend the people who
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God had put in her life. She's also demonstrated self -motivation. We never have to chase her around and see if she's getting done with her responsibilities.
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She's always right on it. She's been marked by being a hard worker.
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She's a very diligent student. She's president of the National Honor Society and joined that club in her freshman year.
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She's pursued the development of skills through extracurricular activities like Business Professionals of America, and wouldn't you know, if you join that club, you can actually get a trip to Dallas, Texas for free.
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Had I only known. She looks for opportunities to excel in her work as well and pursuing a career in employment.
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She's pursued a godly character. We are very honored to have a child who values the truth.
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She considers that a high priority in her life. The gospel is critically important to her.
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She professes Christ and is unashamed of the gospel and her public testimony.
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She's obedient to her parents. She responds when she's corrected. She receives the guidance and the wisdom that we try to offer her.
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She is diligent in her work. We never have to push her academically.
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In fact, we don't even know when the honor roll comes out except that the neighbor across the street comes running across with the newspaper in her hand pointing out that her name's on the list once again.
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So, watching how she has pursued a godly character and excelled in all things has been a real joy.
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Proverbs 23, chapter 23, verses 24 and 25 say,
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The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice and he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
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Let your father and your mother be glad and let her rejoice who gave birth to you. That's true of sons and it's also very true of daughters.
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We are so honored to have Sophie as our daughter. She is a joy and a refreshment in our life.
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She has never given us a moment to doubt that she was pursuing righteousness. When people approach us, it's only to give her praise.
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Her co -workers are very effusive. Everything she does there is repeated to us and they value that she seeks to excel at her job, that she is a quick learner and she puts effort into her work and pride into her work and value.
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Her reputation is flawless, both with her co -workers and with her teachers as well and with her parents.
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We love her and we're very proud to have her. Solomon also said that charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the
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Lord, she shall be praised. You have quite a few years before the beauty passes, but you've definitely taken some strides on the path of wisdom and growing in the fear of the
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Lord. We love you, sweetie. When Jaden was young, active, inquisitive child, we nearly lost him a few times because he was just full of interest in everything.
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But he kind of developed on a different timetable than a lot of children with his speech and his reading and things.
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And I just so often watched him when he was preschool age, early grade school age, and just seeing this little boy who was so full of life and so interested in everything and feeling so grateful that I had the privilege to homeschool him because a traditional classroom just would not have been a good fit for him.
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And I was just so grateful to be able to have him at home and have him develop in his own way.
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Over the years, I've been blessed to watch him grow into just an intelligent, capable young man.
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Jaden, you're known for being diligent, for having good leadership qualities. You're creative, funny, and most of all, you love
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God and want to serve Him with your life. And we are just very proud of you and love you. You love me still
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And in love before you laid the world's foundation You predestined to adopt me as your own
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You have raised me up so high above my station I'm a child of God by grace and grace alone
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When you seek out for your own terrible cause
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Jesus, your face was set for atone
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Jesus, you paved my soul of my life
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Spirit, you made me see How slow
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I moved in your wicked kingdom
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I'm a child of God by grace and grace alone
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We're also very grateful and I know this family prays that these freedoms would continue a very long time.
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And we want to thank God for the various provisions that were necessary for our family to homeschool.
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So I just want to share a couple things about John. He's been such a happy child, very pleasant since birth, always smiling, ready to laugh, ready to sing, dance.
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And at an early age, it became very obvious that he could memorize things pretty easily.
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He heard that there were some presidents named John. That was very interesting to him.
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So he looked on this board and he found all those presidents. And he said, John, you know, you named them off to me.
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Then he started memorizing them. He gets to memorize like first eight and the eighth one is Martin Van Buren.
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And I'm like, well, why don't you keep on? See how many more you can do. So, you know, weeks go by, weeks go by.
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He's not even six years old and he's got the whole list of, you know, presidents memorized. And I'm like,
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I can't even name like five, you know. So that ability to memorize, of course, came very helpful in Awanas and then later in classical conversations.
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He's always applied himself to his school work. I didn't have to get after him too many times to get with it.
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But come fifth grade when we joined classical conversations, he became very, very dedicated to his studies.
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And we pray that God would use John's memory and the love of truth and the love of people as he seeks a career in helping those who are hurting and seeking help.
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So, John, as you graduate high school and enter adulthood, we have a few verses for you. Luke, John 27.
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And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.
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Matthew 5, Matthew 5, 16. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good and deeds and glorify your
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Father in heaven. Congratulations, John, you've earned this. And as your father,
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I'm proud of you. Since we homeschool, we're always, you know, people always kind of separate yourself, you know, from society.
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And so yesterday at work, I'm sitting listening to two guys talk. And they're like, yeah, I've only ran across one kid that homeschooled that's normal.
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And I thought, man, I must have him. I must have this one kid. I don't know. I just, we just felt so honored to homeschool kids that it's just been such a chore and a wonderful thing.
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And then today, we both happen to work at the same place. And the assistant manager comes up to me and says, hey, you know that one old guy, the old crusty guy that really doesn't like anybody?
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They say this kid's already figured it out. So at 18, he's already figured it out with the old crusty guy.
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So I mean, anyways, but he's a good worker. He's a good kid.
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Anytime I tell him, he just, he jumps up. He helps me. He never questions anything.
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As you saw in the pictures, we had cows. He always helped. Our neighbors had cows. He would help. He'd help whenever I need help.
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And he never said, what was he saying? I don't have the time. He always, just always helped me.
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So I'm very proud of him. I know he's going to do well in his life. So. Not be the proof, the proof of your love.
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Let my love look like you and what you made of.
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How you lived, how you died, and all the sacrifice. Oh, let my love be the proof, the proof of your love.
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If I give to a needy soul, don't have love for you, it's poor it seems.
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All the poverty is found in me. So let my love be the proof, the proof of your love.
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Let my love look like you and what you made of.
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How you lived, how you died, and all the sacrifice.
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Oh, let my love be the proof, the proof of your love.
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When it's all said and done, always sing your final song.
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Only love, only love. If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy, but don't love, if I speak
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God's word with power, revealing all of his mysteries and making everything as plain as day, and if I have faith to say to a mountain, jump, and it jumps, but I don't lie on to the poor or even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love,
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I've gone nowhere. So, no matter what I say, no matter what
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I believe, no matter what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Let the proof of your love.
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Let my love look like you and what you made of.
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How you lived, how you died, and all the sacrifice. Oh, let my love be the proof, the proof of your love.
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Well, Josiah, you're the end of a long line of Martins. You started your home school career, schooling at home, and you finished up the last five years in a secular school and did a fabulous job.
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I know you don't want me to say very much to you because you're a very humble person, and I won't say much to embarrass you, but I thank you for the wise young man that you are.
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You have a genuine servant's heart without complaining or expecting recognition. You're quick to do what is asked of you, whether it's to serve your church on the music team, clean up trash with your scout group, help your grandfather and I around the house, or come to my aid when
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I desperately need help with my computer. Even though most people don't know this because you don't assume center stage, you have an enjoyable, dry sense of humor that brightens up other people's day, especially mine.
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Over the past few years, you stepped into the role of being a man at a much younger age than most teenage boys must do that.
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While I know losing your dad and making adult decisions was harder than you even let me know, you faithfully worked through those situations with reliance on the
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Lord so I knew I could trust your judgment and your advice. You're a young man of integrity, who
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I have seen grow in the Lord. I love to spend time with you discussing how your faith intersects with what's happening in the culture around you.
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You're a very knowledgeable young man about what's going on and how that either agrees or disagrees with what
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Scripture has to say, and that makes me really pleased. I pray that you will continue on this path of how
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Scripture says a man should act and speak. Keep depending on the Lord for the guidance that he has promised you in his word.
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As Proverbs 19, 20 -21 says, listen to the counsel and accept discipline that you may be wise the rest of your days.
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Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand. You've done well in high school and at North Idaho College, so now as you work to save up for university,
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I thought I'd give you a little head start on your college fund. Enjoy counting the pennies.
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Everybody has to see this. This is Josiah's college fund, okay? And remember that he who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.
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♪
01:03:27
Well, good. Well, James, I can't tell you how proud I am of you and how excited your mom and I are for this day to be here.
01:03:35
We are honored that God has made you our son. We were reading this morning and then
01:03:40
God's good providence. Our schedule this morning was Psalm 127, and it just reminded me of those words that I've read so many times that God chooses to bless families with children, and when he blessed us with you,
01:03:54
I had no idea how good it was going to be, and I'm really just thankful for how you have matured and grown as a man and are preparing yourself to be a man in a world that desperately needs men who are willing to lead and to lead their families, to be a part of their churches, to glorify
01:04:12
God in the midst of a perverse and lost world that needs to see Christ and needs to see him lived faithfully and needs to see him in men like you.
01:04:22
We need bold men who are willing to step out, and I know you are bold. You have been since you were a little guy, and I really appreciate that about your character.
01:04:33
Being the firstborn of two firstborns, you got to enjoy the opportunity of stepping out and trying new things, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't work so well, and the firstborn gets to try it, and then the next one still doesn't have to do anything about it, right?
01:04:47
So the guinea pig is always the one who gets to learn that way. But what
01:04:52
I've really appreciated you as you've grown and matured is your willingness to serve, whether it's serving in your body, serving in the family, loving the little children and cousins that come around and that you take care of them.
01:05:07
You've always had a very tender heart and are willing to take care of them, and I know you will do well with your own children. Frankly, you've been a huge help to me.
01:05:18
I just think two years ago when we were moving in the middle of a pandemic and we were doing it all by ourselves, and you were doing a man's work.
01:05:24
You carried every other end of every heavy piece of furniture in our house and did a man's work.
01:05:30
So I know that 17 is just the beginning. The work that you have done over the past couple of years has been man -quality work.
01:05:40
You've been entrusted with responsibility. You've stepped up and you've honored that responsibility. And so I look forward to seeing how
01:05:48
God continues to use your love of automobiles, your love for this community, your love for our family, and your love for this church.
01:05:55
And I'm confident that he who began a good work, he will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. We love you.
01:06:38
We love you.
01:07:38
We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.
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We love you.
01:08:53
We love you. We love you. We love you.
01:09:00
We love you. We love you.
01:10:23
We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.
01:10:40
We love you. We love you.
01:10:56
We love you. We love you. We love you.
01:11:04
We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.
01:11:09
We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.
01:11:19
We love you. We love you. We love you.
01:11:24
We love you. We love you. we're proud of you have such a work ethic you work hard Um just harder than most kids
01:11:33
I've you know seen and you you have a generous spirit and a generous heart
01:11:40
I 've seen you give money away to people when you know the guy on the subway way he's saying, you just reached in your pocket and handed him money.
01:11:46
You do that for people and nobody ever knows the things you do. I have loved the hours we have spent in the car together discussing scripture, discussing current events.
01:11:56
I've loved watching you grow. But I chose that song that Journey sent because it talks about being unstoppable and I know that you are so anxious to get things done.
01:12:07
You just can't wait for the next day to have the next project done. But you have time. My words to you would be, as Paul said to the
01:12:18
Bereans, I want you to be a Berean. I want you to be that person that studies the word for yourself, digs in, studies.
01:12:28
I know that there's a lot ahead of you and that God has great plans for you. The one thing
01:12:35
I would say is never stop saying, I love you mama. That is my favorite words in the whole world.
01:12:44
And I love you very much and I'm very proud of you. You're cleaning it up,
01:13:07
Jesse. Isn't it great to have a church? Isn't it great to do things like this, be a part of each other's lives like this?
01:13:18
It's fantastic. You guys can stand up and I'm going to pray for you guys and then we'll have the presentation.
01:13:27
Let's pray together first. Father, we are just so grateful for these six young people.
01:13:33
It brings back memories of my own kids and even my own young life and I was a little bit struck as I thought about what do
01:13:44
I want to pray for these kids? It's exactly the same that you want for each of your children.
01:13:51
Let's pray that they would glorify you, that they would obey you and in so doing they would find their good.
01:13:58
They would find the best and most joyous and happy and contented life they could find. They wouldn't look in empty places.
01:14:06
They would look to you, Lord. I know I wasted so much of my life looking for contentment and fulfillment in places where it wasn't.
01:14:17
It's found in you. It's in you that we place our hope. It's in you that we find our joy and I pray that they would not go down the dark roads and into empty places, that they would seek after you and they would serve you and they would stay close to you.
01:14:33
They would learn from your word, learn from wise people, not make the mistakes that we all seem to sometimes have to make on our own.
01:14:40
I just pray that that would not be the case for them. Lord, we don't know what the world's going to be like. It doesn't look good and you're going to need people that, you don't need anyone, but your church is going to stand or fall on people that have the boldness to stand for Christ and I pray that these six would be those people in Jesus' name.
01:15:02
Amen. All right, so we're going to do a little ceremony now. Some of them are going to do another graduation later on.
01:15:09
There's something popping up on there just now. Okay, look up there. Some of them are going to do a little ceremony.
01:15:14
Some are going to do it later on in their school or whatever. So for those of you that are going to do it, we do the traditional turning of the tassel.
01:15:22
You may do that now. I present to you our 2022