A WOW Moment with Vicki and Mercedes (Date: November 5th 2020)

Whitten Baptist Church

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Well you said it and I just thought about it. Mercedes got a mocha double shot.

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We'll be with you in just a moment. This is how the night goes when we don't have a guest.

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We don't know what we're doing. We really don't know what we're doing. Is someone going to help us? It's just me and Mercedes.

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Not at all. Okay well, it'll work.

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That's fine Mercedes. Let's turn the fan off. You want to turn it up?

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Okay, turn it on. Excuse her. Excuse me. We're going to have wind for days.

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Alright. Hi guys. Hello. Welcome to... I'm using this like a microphone.

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Welcome to... I'm just going to go ahead and lay down.

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I've really had a bad, bad, bad day. But... It's just gotten so much better since I've been here.

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Yay. This place seems to do that to you. Except for I still don't know how to talk.

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Well you have that problem when you're not having a bad day. I don't know. A while ago

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I said the complete wrong word. Again. I was using my tea like a microphone.

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Like it's going to help excel the voice. But anyways.

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Yeah, that didn't make much sense either. But when you have a bad day, it just gets better.

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Right? So tonight... You know. Good evening and welcome to our

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Bible study. I'm Vicki. Everyone knows Mercedes, I think. She's wishing right now she probably wasn't

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Mercedes. But she is. Tonight we do not have a guest with us.

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It's not that we don't want one. It's not that we don't have people scheduled. We've been doing these since March.

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March now. And we haven't sat down just the two of us in a while. The first one we did all by ourselves.

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And we've done one other one completely by ourselves. But it's been a minute.

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And I've been on vacation a few times.

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I had COVID. She's had COVID. So we've had set -in guest hosts,

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I guess you could say. Or study buddies or whatever. Co -hosts. Co -hosts. I like study buddies better.

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We're study buddies. And to be quite honest with y 'all, we do not have a verse picked out at all.

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Oh, really? Zero, zero. I told her, I said, what we'll do is we'll just, yes, get a little chilly in it.

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I told her, I said, let's just go for it. You know? I mean, we know that the

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Holy Spirit's going to speak through us and give us the word that we need to share.

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And so we pulled up. I got here first, and she pulled up in the parking lot. And she goes,

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I was listening to. I was listening to some, I think they're called sermon jams.

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Elena sent one to me the other day, and I listened to it today and continue to listen through the rest of the playlist.

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And there was one that stood out, and I had heard it before. But the explanation in this podcast, if you want to call it that, really helped me understand it more, at least a part of it more, so much so that I ended up getting those little goose bumps.

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And so I was like, you know what? This is the one tonight.

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So, yeah, so I pull up in the drive. I mean, I'm in the parking lot. She pulls up into the parking lot.

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She gets out of her car. She comes over. She tells me this. And I'm like, okay. I mean, because honestly, with the day

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I've had today, I hadn't had Jack on the brain, really.

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Poor Jack. He never gets thought about. Nobody knows where he is. Oh, my.

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Did you just say that? Okay, you've been working with Josiah.

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You know, that was an Aisha one. Anyways, oh,

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I can see her saying that. Poor Jack. Yeah. Anyway, so I said, well, what book is it in?

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What did she say? Zephaniah. So y 'all got your

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Bibles? If not, we're going to be in Zephaniah for a few minutes tonight. And I see that she's got a few notes over here.

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So it looks like we're going to be roaming around again.

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We're not roaming. We're American. Josiah Schiffer, I'm going to just choke you when

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I see you again. I'm going to just choke you.

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I work with him. I know. Four days out of the week. I know. And I think it's a bit too much.

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So anyways, so if you want to hang tight and let's see where the

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Holy Spirit takes us tonight. Because I'm really, I have this feeling that it might be about to get really good in here.

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It just came over me about 20 seconds ago. So I don't know if any of y 'all have ever felt the

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Holy Spirit. Trust me,

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I have felt conviction a lot. But the uplifting of the Holy Spirit is one also to be noticed and to be thankful for and to praise at the time that it happens.

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And I just have this overwhelming feeling. So now,

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Mercedes, I need you to read. Zephaniah 3, 17.

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Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness.

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He will bring you quietness with his love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy. All right.

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Yahweh your God is among you. That in itself to me speaks volumes.

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Especially when you can acknowledge and humble yourself to that.

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To that presence. A warrior who saves.

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Amen. Thank you, Lord. He will rejoice over you with gladness.

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He will bring you quietness with his love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.

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So the way this thing that I listened to today explained it was

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God rejoices over you.

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He delights in you with shouts of joy. And that has been really hard for me to wrap my brain around because I'm like, but I suck.

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Like I am totally depraved. I screw up daily.

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I am not worthy. But he rejoices over us because he also rejoices over Jesus and we are in Christ.

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Therefore, he rejoices in us or over us because of that. So because we are in Christ, because we are part of that fold and part of that body.

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We are also rejoiced over through Christ. And when

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I heard that, I was like, oh, now that makes sense.

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In my study Bible. My other. My second one.

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In the red one. 17 says, for the Lord your

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God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness.

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With his love, he will calm all your fears. Wow. With his love, he will calm all your fears.

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He will exalt over you by singing a happy song. That goes back.

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It reminds me back when Kayla last week was on with us.

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And she talked about peace and righteousness.

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And how that righteousness is what brings peace. We can't have that righteousness that brings us peace without the love of God.

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Therefore, his love is what brings us those things.

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That quietness. That calm spirit. What it said about fear.

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Read it again. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will calm our fears. All of our fears.

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What does all mean? All of them. What does all mean?

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All. All. Every one of them.

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He won't leave none of them. Wow. In the beginning of 17 where it says, for the

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Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. And in yours it says, a mighty Savior. He is a mighty

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Savior. He is a mighty Savior. The battle has already been won.

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And, you know, he's our Savior. But I really like a warrior who saves.

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Yeah. Because he is our warrior. Yeah. He carries us through the storms.

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He goes before us and behind us in battle. Yes. He's always among us.

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Yeah. Even when you're having a really bad day.

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And it just doesn't feel like anything is going to go right. Like you are just by yourself, alone, or whatever it may be.

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You're not. He's there. No matter what. No matter what.

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That's deep. That's really deep.

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That's a lot of love. That's a lot of love. And to think that he had that love for us.

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You know, I don't like you that much, though. I mean, let's think about it. I don't mean it like that.

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See? See? That happened again. To think that I do like you that much.

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Thank you. Thank you. But to think to have the love for somebody willing enough to go die for them.

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Right. I can't see that. I can't even fathom.

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As a matter of fact, let me tell you. Let me tell y 'all.

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I watched Pastor Jeff's sermon from when I was on vacation. I watched it the night before last.

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And I was sitting on my couch shouting. And I thought, my son thought I was probably crazy.

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Because he peeked his head out of his room one time. I was in there by myself. But to imagine.

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And you're not even my child. You're not my biological anything. Right? But for the

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Lord to place his wrath on his own son. The love that he has for us is just unbelievable.

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I mean, I couldn't kill you for somebody. You know what I'm saying? Are you feeling me?

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Are you getting what I'm saying? Are you getting what I'm laying down? Yeah, I'm smelling what you're stepping in.

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Oh my gosh. Smelling what I'm stepping in. And to think.

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I just kind of went way off track, didn't I? Well, no, not really. Because he will bring you quietness with his love.

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So we're just talking about love still. And to think that that love was there before he said, let there be.

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Before anything was created. Before we were even a thought in our parents' minds.

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That love was still there. That love was there before the cross.

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That love was there after the cross. Yeah, it was there before he took the root from.

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From eternity past to eternity present. I mean, future. Boy, I was really understanding you for a minute until you corrected it.

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And then I was like, that's not what she said. I knew it was. I don't know.

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That just, that alone brings comfort. Right? I don't know.

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You're flipping. They call her flipper. What does that say?

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Josh? Joshua? Yeah. But then I came across Deuteronomy and that's also on my list.

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Okay. Might as well. Which one are we doing? 68.

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See, that's what I like when it's just me and Mercedes, y 'all. Don't even have a clue. My glasses don't read that far.

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Your glasses don't read that far? No, they don't read that far. I can't, my eyes can't see.

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Now y 'all see what I deal with. On a daily. There it is.

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16, 14. We need to get our ducks in a row here.

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We do better when we have a guest. Our ducks are ADHD and cannot walk in a straight line.

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That's not what that is. What? This is

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Job. Oh, that's where I was. I read the top one.

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That's Joshua. Don't hit, oh, I thought you were going to hit me. I wasn't going to hit you.

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I read the first book and the second verses that she's got over here.

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That didn't work. I'm just trying to find one that pops up. So far, none of them are popping up. They're not popping?

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No. Let me ask you this.

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Did you watch? No, I'm not going to put you on the spot like that. Never mind. I'm not going to put you there.

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Okay. I don't want to throw you on a bus, Mercedes.

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Well, I'm kind of used to it. I just jerked you out from underneath the bus. I should have asked you that before we started and then we could have talked about it.

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I don't know if I watched it. Tuesday night.

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You probably didn't watch Tuesday night yet. I don't either.

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Your Sunday school teacher did the lesson. John did the lesson.

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Tuesday night? Tuesday night. Oh. Well, then I don't have to watch it. Yes. You can watch all of them.

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All right. Do you need a pillar? You want me to just talk about something?

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Yeah, just talk. All right. So, how was everybody's day? Oh, I know what

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I was thinking about before I started flipping.

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We were talking about God killing his own son.

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Yeah. Right? Yeah. What is that scripture that is read almost every

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Sunday? I don't know if it's Romans or not. I can't remember.

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But it says, I know you know what

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I'm thinking about. Help me. You want my brain to work?

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Yeah. Rarely one will die for a.

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Help me out. I know you know what I'm talking about. The sparrow? No, that's not here.

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Well, that's the only one I'm thinking about dying. No, no, no. It's talking about Christ dying on a dying for us.

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But then it says Lee reads it almost every week. And so you would think that I would remember the reference by now.

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Rarely one will die. Yeah, I don't want

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Pastor Jepson to Google me. Google. Rarely one will.

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Dang it. It was in conjunction to your your.

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I'm so sorry, guys. We are struggling a little bit tonight. Well, I can read this.

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Okay. Because this is what I got. Well, let's see.

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Seth and I have the verses three through three. I mean, let me start all over with it.

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Chapter three. It is Romans. Nine through. Nine through 18.

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In a little snippet.

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Basically, it's how do you feel when you sense someone is angry with you?

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You may feel anxious or angry. But you certainly don't feel intimate with that person.

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In this beautiful passage, God promises to forgive his people.

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With his forgiving love comes a release from fear, guilt.

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I lost it. Fear, guilt, and accusation. The New Testament says that perfect love expels all fear.

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First John 418. God desires not to drive us away in fear, but to draw us near in intimacy.

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Do you ever feel afraid of or accused by God?

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Ask him to assure you of his steadfast and forgiving love.

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So that's kind of a little snippet of Zephaniah 3.

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Nine through 18. And, you know, I read a lot of Zephaniah before we started.

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Because when she said Zephaniah, I said, okay. Usually I walk into these blind.

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Usually I walk into a blind on a book or a verse that I've read before.

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Am I distracting you? Sorry. That I've read before or heard of.

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But not tonight. The funny thing about it all was when

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I opened up my Bible to Zephaniah, now let me get back to it.

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It is right here. And I turned,

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I was turning the pages to get to it.

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No. Guess what? Zephaniah 3, 17 is already underlined in my

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Bible. So guess what?

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I have heard of it. I found that one in Romans. Talking about, you know,

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Christ dying and how you couldn't imagine, like, killing your own child or someone else's.

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Romans 5. Romans 5 is excellent. The whole book is excellent.

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But I really like Romans. Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God.

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Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay. Well, it's 7 and 8.

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No, it's really 7. But 6, 7, and 8, it says, for a while we were still helpless at the appointed moment.

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Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely someone will die for a just person. Though for a good person, perhaps someone might even dare to die.

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But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's what popped in my head when you were talking about that.

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Yeah, much more than since we have now been declared righteous.

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By his blood, we will be saved. Therefore, there is now no condemnation.

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Yeah. Which then, in this, in how we're talking about God rejoicing over us and delighting in us with shouts of joy, made me think of Psalms 118 .24.

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My pages are still sticking together. I'm so glad Pastor Jeff gave me a young person with a mind.

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I mean, with a memory. This is a day that the

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Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. He rejoices over us and with gladness and delights in us with shouts of joy.

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Of joy. Of joy.

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All the time. Yeah, read Romans. So let us also rejoice in the day that he has made, which is every single day that we have breath in our lungs.

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Read Romans 5 .18. Romans 5 .18. Luke, John, Acts, Romans.

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I gave you tabbies. I know, and I'm so worried that I'm going to jack up the paper or the pages.

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5 .18? Oh, look,

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I've got 19 highlighted. So then, as through one trespass, there is condemnation for everyone.

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So also through one righteous act, there is life -giving justification for everyone.

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Keep going. For just as through one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners.

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So also through one man's obedience, the many will become righteous. Will be made righteous.

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Grace and mercy. I mean, yeah. Because we're all just a bunch of pooping heads.

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And then some. Every day. Every day. Even on Easter.

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Yeah. You know, and Christmas. Yeah, and Christmas. You ever just sit back, and you look at the old you, and you just get this sickening feeling in your stomach, because you're like, if I had known then.

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You know? And to think that even then, when we were just doing things in a worldly way, and were without God, and not in any way seeking at all.

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You know, I'm speaking of those who are children of Christ, who are believers.

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The ones who, you know, me and you, who were not at the time. He knew that we were.

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You're talking about people who have gone through the conversion. Yeah. Who have gone through the conversion. He knew that we would be part of that love.

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I can't even tell you. And it's simply because we don't have time. And this still applies.

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Yeah. It still applies to us. Zephaniah 3 .17 still applies to us, even then, before.

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Because we were going to be. Little did we know. We just didn't know it yet. Right. That's failing.

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It's just. Yeah. I can't even begin to tell you the nights or the days, the hours of driving in the car.

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Oh, he was about to come in. He was. Does he want to come in? Does he want to be on?

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Are they done? Probably. I'm sorry.

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Got distracted there. But the days and the nights that I have been driving, or just driving in my car and just thinking and taking a little memory lapse of who

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I was. Where I was at. What I was doing.

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And that's one thing that I've really, really, really tried to focus on a lot, especially with.

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Well, with all the ladies, the younger ladies in the church, or I'll say the generation below me.

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I think you're two generations. Anyways. Of the fears that they have now and the worries that they have because of the things that they have done.

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When the things that you have done in the past that were not of God, and that they don't matter now.

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No, they don't. They don't matter anymore because he was with you then. And he continues to be with you now.

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And he won't ever leave you. Nor forsaken. He will go before you.

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He will be with you. And he will follow behind you. And honestly, there are days

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I don't want any of that. Yeah. Yeah.

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I don't want any of that. I don't want nothing to do with it. Got it. Let me do it on my own. But. You can't do it on your own.

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He actually ends up showing you. Because he'll flat out push you down in the mud.

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That's what I've noticed. Have you ever heard irresistible grace?

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You ever heard that be said? No. Okay. So still on the same thing

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I'm listening to today. They said something about irresistible grace.

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And you're like, you know, the guy's like, but you're sitting there, you're thinking there's times and time again throughout the

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Bible where people have resisted the Holy Spirit. I've done it.

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Oh, yeah. You've done it. Yeah. But it's still irresistible because at some point in time,

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I mean, God's going to let you do it for a minute. And then he's going to slam you into the mud, drag you around, and then you can no longer resist it.

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And I'm going to tell you what's really, really beautiful. And it's not for the person. But it was beautiful watching you go through yours.

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It was painful to go through mine. But it was so beautiful. It was beautiful because I was watching

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God's grace smother you, and you were steadily trying to fight it.

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It was, sorry, but it was beautiful. It really was.

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I'm going to cry. Don't do that. Anyway, leave them. So anyway, God's among you.

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Yeah. He is our warrior who saves. Amen. He rejoices over you with gladness.

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He brings you quietness with his love. He delights in you with shouts of joy.

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Rejoice in that. Take comfort in that. Peace from that.

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And above all, with everything going on right now, with the election, with COVID, with everything, just remember, with his love, he will calm all your fears.

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Just keep that in mind. No matter what, he's in charge.

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He's in control. He's got it. He's got us. He's got us. Mercedes and I had

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COVID. I gave it to her. Yeah, I've had worse colds than that.

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Right. So, you know, and I'm not saying take it lightly. I'm not saying any of that.

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Because everybody's health determines how it affects them. That's not at all what

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I'm saying. But I'm saying that the Lord has you, and he has you right there in the palm of his hand.

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And he's not going to let anything happen to you that he hasn't already decided.

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Thank you. What's going to happen? So, just keep that in mind when you go out through the days, in the next few days, in the next couple of months, with, they say

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COVID's on the rise. Okay. But my God's on the throne. He's already risen.

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So, what you going to say? So, anyways,

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I think, do you have something else you want to read? No, I was just reiterating.

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Tomorrow will be the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it. No matter the circumstances.

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Yeah. Doesn't matter. Y 'all have a fantastic evening.

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Yeah, I'm sorry we were kind of scattered tonight. But that's just who we are.

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Yep. We're those scrambled eggs. No, not scrambled eggs.

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Yes, very scrambled. We're the hash browns with the diced onions, bell peppers, and all that stuff in it, all together.

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Hash brown casserole. That sounds delicious. You know, and then they go, and then they flip them.

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Like we get flipped around a lot? No, but that's us. We're all kind of. But we hold each other together.

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That's right. And then we end up being so good. Hey. Just call us the hash brown queens.

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No, don't. Let's not. Let's not. Yeah. Thanks for coming and joining us tonight.

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Again, I do apologize for being a little scattered at the beginning. But, you know, it is what it is.

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You're entering our Bible study. Yep, you're coming into our Bible study. It's normal for us. And honestly, sometimes they get a little bit worse than that.

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Sometimes we are all over the place. But, hey, it was fun. I hope you all enjoyed it.

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Thanks, and thank you so much for stopping in. And where do we have this week?

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Next week? No, this Saturday is the Q &A. Is there going to be

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Q &A Saturday? I think so. Q &A at what, 2 o 'clock? Usually.

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Yeah. And then Sunday morning sermon. Sunday morning sermon. And then

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Sunday night Bible study. And then Pastor Ben's time out on Monday at 1030.

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And then Pastor Jeff's on Tuesdays. Yeah. There will be a

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Tuesday night Bible study. It's been different people here lately. They've all been fantastic.

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So definitely go watch those. Then Wednesday night, well, that'll be. Is there a

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Wednesday night Bible study that's posted? I can't remember anymore. There's something every night. Somebody's sneezing there.

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Oh, okay. Thanks for coming, y 'all. Appreciate it. And again, you know, hash browns scattered.