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[Silence] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ ♪

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(dramatic music) (dramatic music) (music) (music)

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[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] ♪ Hallelujah ♪

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♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪

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♪ Oh, I love you ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ God, I love you ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪

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♪ God, I love you ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

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Blessed be the Lord forever and ever. Amen. Dear Lord, we thank you for your presence with us always. We know that you are as old as the ages

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and as young as this morning. And as we celebrate your goodness, we ask your presence with us in this service of worship. We thank you for the youth of our church

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and for the word which you have given us, that a little child shall lead them. Have mercy upon us and grant that all of us may be young at heart in our commitment to you.

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In Jesus name, amen. [ Background Sounds ] [ Music ] (upbeat music)

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♪ I'm so glad I'm safe ♪ ♪ I'm so glad I'm safe ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the blood ♪

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♪ Of the crucified man ♪ ♪ Of the crucified man ♪ ♪ One day he touched me ♪ ♪ One day he touched me ♪

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♪ The Lord gave my life to Him ♪ ♪ Come to Bethlehem today ♪ ♪ Come to Bethlehem today ♪ ♪ Jesus lives in me ♪

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♪ Jesus lives in me ♪ ♪ Praise His holy name ♪ ♪ Praise His holy name ♪ ♪ One day he touched me ♪

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♪ One day he touched me ♪ ♪ And I gave my love to him ♪ ♪ I've got his love ♪ ♪ Deep down in my heart ♪

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♪ I've got his grief ♪ ♪ Deep down in my heart ♪ ♪ Of God, of love, of Christ in my heart ♪ ♪ Of Christ in my heart ♪

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♪ Sweet love, sweet love ♪ ♪ Bring joy, bring joy ♪ ♪ Happiness, happiness ♪ ♪ Sweet peace, sweet peace ♪

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I'm so glad I'm safe, I'm so glad I'm safe, so glad I'm safe in here. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain. And when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

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"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,

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for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall

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be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward

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in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. May the Lord bless to us the reading and hearing of his holy word. Now is our time of prayer,

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time when we as a family come together, unite our hearts in talking with the Heavenly Father. We ought always to pray.

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So as we come now, those of us who feel led to do so, for our time of prayer. [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ]

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Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, that calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and wishes known.

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Now let us pray. Oh God, Father of us all, we come humbly to thank you for

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the multitude of blessings which you have showered upon every one of us. Thank you Lord for not condemning us. When others have pointed a finger of condemnation, you've accepted us.

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You've loved us. You've given us another chance. And our presence here this day is a new expression of your grace, grace, that grace which is new every morning. And so as we come we want to

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ask your guidance because we need you. We can't make it without you. We come weary and worn, bruised and battered by the cruel circumstances of human existence. And we need a word from you. We need the strength that helps us in the midst of our weaknesses. Lord, have mercy upon us.

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Revive our souls and renew us and help us to run the race which you have set before us. We thank you for the gift of youth. We thank you for the challenge of this day, but most of all, we thank you for the presence of Jesus,

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for the sweetness which he gives in the midst of the bitter experiences of life. We pray, O God, for those who are not able to come to this place. They suffer from the infirmities of the flesh. Some of them are in hospitals,

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others in homes. They've been wounded along life's way. Oh bless them we pray. Bless those who witness for you wherever they may be, those who are on distant fields of service and those who are right here at home and help each one of us to stand steadfastly in your name during these critical days. Bless our

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church as we embark upon a crusade for the saving of souls. The business for which you have called us into being. Help us somehow to be able to attract those who are walking in the dismal shatters

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to come into the marvelous light. Oh, guide us, preserve us, sustain us, and be with us always. We ask through Jesus Christ.

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Amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) (dramatic piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] ♪ I love Jesus ♪

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♪ With all my heart and soul ♪ ♪ My heart and soul ♪ ♪ My heart and soul ♪ ♪ Do, do, do, do, do, do ♪

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♪ Because He cares for me ♪ ♪ He got a mouth for me ♪ ♪ For me, for me ♪ ♪ For me ♪

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♪ I should do love ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ I love ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪

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♪ Without my heart and soul ♪ ♪ My heart and soul ♪ ♪ My heart and soul ♪ ♪ Couldn't be through ♪

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♪ Because he has for me ♪ ♪ Without a memory ♪ ♪ For me ♪ ♪ For me ♪

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♪ For me ♪ ♪ I should do love for love ♪ ♪ Oh, the man ♪ ♪ When I was sinking low ♪

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♪ And I have no place to go ♪ ♪ Instead I turn to His love ♪ ♪ Love ♪ ♪ Love ♪

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♪ Love ♪ [MUSIC] I love Jesus with all my heart and soul. My heart and soul.

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My heart and soul. Do, do, do. Because He cares for me. We are a memory for me, for me, for me.

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I should do, I should do, I should do. Oh, oh, oh. Amen. We worship the Lord now and our giving, let every one of us give according to how the Lord has prospered us.

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Our giving is an expression of our Christian faith. We have adopted a budget which is the largest in our church history, and we are running a little behind, some $5,000 behind, as you notice over here. this budget we have the ability to catch up and that will depend upon each one of us doing our best giving according to how God has given to us so let us give

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today. Let us pray. Almighty God our Father, giver and preserver of our lives thou who does send down from above every good and perfect gift bless us now as as we worship you in the sharing of our gifts. Help each one of us to open ourselves unto you,

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that we may offer ourselves as a thank offering, that we will freely dedicate our substance for the furtherance of the gospel through Jesus Christ. Amen.

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(piano music) (snoring) (gentle music) (sniffling)

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(gentle music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (piano music)

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(piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music)

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(piano music) (piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) [MUSIC] (gentle piano music)

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(piano music) (piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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[MUSIC PLAYING] We're asking that you please read your bulletin for announcements of events throughout this upcoming week. And pay particular attention to this afternoon's program

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at 3 PM, where the children's choir-- well, the apparel choir will present a special program, Seeing Children Sing. That's today at 3 PM.

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I have one visitor's card. And as I call your name, would you stand and remain standing until words of welcome have been extended? Donna Miller of Mariposa Street here in Austin

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is visiting here with Tamara Hill. Do we have any other visitors who might not have had a chance to sign a card? If so, would you stand at this time?

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On behalf of the pastor and Ebenezer Church family, we'd like to say to you, Donna, that we're indeed glad you came to worship with us this morning. And feel free to come back any time that you can.

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Thank you. [Silence] We want everyone who possibly can to be here this afternoon. Our children's choir rendered a most significant service.

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And the musical ministry of our church, they have prepared a very good program, and I'm sure that we will be delighted to worship the Lord in song with them. The workers, the leaders, the adult leaders have done a tremendous job in connection with the preparation that has gone into this program. And let us encourage their hearts as well as enrich our own lives

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by supporting this particular part of today's program as we are in the midst of our Youth Week observance by being here today at 3 o'clock.

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Then on tomorrow we will begin in the evening worship at 730. Our series of services in connection with our revival, we invite you to

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bring persons who that are not rightly related to Christ and his church that you may know. Our evangelist is the Reverend Floyd N. Williams, who was the pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. And let's have a great time

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in the Lord these five nights as we shall be engaged in focusing our attention on the saving of souls. If it is impossible for you to be here, if you're going to be out of town,

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we would like for you to express your support of this service by taking one of the revival envelopes and placing a contribution in it. We primarily want that you will be here and that you will not only bring others, but that we will be engaged in the saving of souls.

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If you can't, we would like for you to take one of these envelopes if you're going to be out of town this week. But we want all of the choirs present all of the nights. We don't want to have this sort of shift in, "I'm on this night, and then I'll come tonight, and we'll be out." We want the choirs to be here. This is a church-wide revival.

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We don't want services held at conflict with the revival. We are focusing attention on those services this week The brotherhood is to give the devotional we want to start on time Brothers to do that on Monday night the WMU on Tuesday night the Sunday school on Wednesday night

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Thursday night the BTU and Friday night the youth don't wait until your night Let's be here to support all the nights and have a great service of worship a glorious time in the Lord

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Our congregational hymn is "Near the Cross" number 94. And as we turn to this hymn, let us stand now to sing "Near the Cross." number 94. We want to sing the first, second, and last stanzas. As we stand now, everyone. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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(dramatic music) (dramatic music) [MUSIC PLAYING] Jesus, we read the prophecy, hear the prayer, show some care.

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Free to all her healing stream, Ghosts of her resounding In the cross, in the cross, in Thy glory ever. ♪ 'Til my ranger's soul shall find ♪

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♪ Rest beyond the river ♪ ♪ 'Til across the tributary ♪ ♪ A trembling soul ♪ ♪ Love and mercy ♪

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♪ Come be ♪ ♪ Medi-pride ♪ ♪ And morning star ♪ ♪ Chest is filled ♪

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♪ With the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the cross ♪ ♪ In the cross ♪ ♪ In the holy ♪

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♪ Ever ♪ ♪ 'Til my rapture ♪ ♪ So shall come ♪ ♪ West beyond the river ♪

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♪ Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory ♪ - Listen to this word recorded in Matthew, the fifth chapter, the 10th through the 12th verses. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you The subject of the message

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Don't holler if it hurts don't holler if it hurts One of the things as I think about my childhood, which I received from my parents during those days,

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was a whipping. My parents strongly believed in the biblical admonition in the book of Proverbs, Which says he that spares the rod hateth the child So when I did something that merited punishment I

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Was greeted with the words boy, I'm going to give you a good whipping Now I couldn't think that there was anything good about a whipping And the weapon was usually administered with a switch or with a belt. And when it was announced And while the switch of the belt was being secured, I would begin yelling, screaming,

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hollering to the top of my voice. And the words would come, "Shut up, boy. I haven't even touched you yet. I was hollering in anticipation of the pain I was to receive. And then when the actual thing happened, pow, pow, then there would be the loud cries of anguish and while the licks would be coming pow pow and I'd be hollering the

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word would be shut up boy shut up and while the pain was being inflicted I was expected not to holler don't holler even if it hurts and some of the worst quippings of those that you would receive while there would be a sort of a sermon going along with it. Didn't I tell you not to do this? You will learn to

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obey me yet and if you keep on doing this you are going to get this this and this and that was awful. I could never understand that I was not expected to to holler if it hurts. So I usually began hollering before it hurt and kept on hollering while it was hurting. What it seems to me as I look back upon that

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experience that learning how not to holler when it hurts is a sign of maturity, to be able to suffer silently, to be hurt without hollering. And so that's why I want to talk with you today about this idea of don't holler if it hurts. The Christian way is the way of the cross. It's a way of life in which

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one receives a great deal of hurt. Many people have the idea that the Christian way ought to be easy, it ought to be altogether smooth and pleasant, a way in which one travels without a storm, no rough sailing, but instead the Christian way involves persecution. To be persecuted is to be mistreated. It is to be hurt and persistently

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harassed. It's to be oppressed and annoyed when one believes and does that which is right. That's That's the story of the cross. Jesus, the righteous one, the person who is without fault, who went about doing good was persecuted.

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People hurt him because of what he said and did. He was persecuted for righteousness. He was hurt because he helped people. Now, we expect to be punished when we've done wrong.

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We know we have a whipping coming, and we sort of brace ourselves to receive it. We know that it's on its way. But when we're good, when we are doing what is right, that's a different matter. We expect people to appreciate us.

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We expect them to sing our praises. We expect them to give us awards. If we would follow the way of the cross, if we would be like Jesus, we must endure persecution. are you when men persecute you. Blessed are you when you are being mistreated.

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Blessed are you when you are being harassed. Blessed are you when you are being oppressed. Blessed are you when you are being hurt, when you are being whipped by the circumstances of life for the cause of right. Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody

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seas. Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God. Then comes the answer, "Sure I must fight if I must win. Increase my courage Lord, I'll bear the toil, endure the pain supported by thy word." Some time ago I watched a nurse as she was giving a

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blood test and she took the needle and she stuck it in the arm of a little child and the child immediately began to utter cries of anguish. Then a little later I saw that nurse as she placed the needle in to the arm of an adult and the adult flinched for a moment and smiled and then said thank you. Don't holler if

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it hurts. Be able to accept the whipping that life gives you without hollering and to be able to do this is a mark of a Christian. Blessed are you when men persecute you, when people are oppressing you, harassing you, and ridiculing you. Blessed are you when you are being persecuted for righteousness sake. It's like saying that

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the whipping is good and the whipping is good when it serves a good purpose. Very early in his life Buddha was shielded from suffering so he avoided suffering. Human suffering was kept out of his sight. He was surprised one day when he came face to face with suffering. Jesus teaches us how to accept suffering, not how to run away from it. He really

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teaches us how to accept it and how to be happy in the midst of suffering, how to be content when things aren't going our way. Blessed are you when you are persecuted. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Now this blessing that Jesus is talking about is one that comes in accepting the

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worse that life brings. The blessing is not in suffering punishment for the wrong that we do. When we do wrong, we expect to receive punishment for it. That's not the kind of blessing that Jesus is talking about where one is getting his just desserts for doing wrong and punishment is inflicted because of it. But this is the kind of blessing he's talking about where one does what

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is right, where one is really putting his best foot forward and doing the best that he knows and somehow it is not appreciated and there is suffering that is inflicted upon that person because of it. Jesus said, "Blessed are you.

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Salvation is yours, that you can be happy, yes, even in the midst of it there is a blessing for you. are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Well my friends we are really talking about a kind of inner satisfaction, the kind of inner satisfaction that one has of really feeling good

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about yourself even when you are surrounded by circumstances that altogether contrary to what you'd like, and to somehow recognize that even in the midst of a circumstance like that, that there is a state of blessedness. It's a kind of inner relationship which one has with the eternal. It's a kind of blessedness, a kind of happiness, a kind of inner feeling, a kind of satisfaction

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that one has that enables a person to rejoice and be glad in the midst of suffering. Well, when I look back on those whippings that I received, I look back across the years, I can see that I needed them. I can see that they helped me. I can see that they somehow guided me in the way and helped molded me in the way that I needed to go.

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And when life caves in, when things go wrong, when we're doing right and somehow we find ourselves up against hostile forces and many times we suffer pain because we do it, don't Don't holler if it hurts. Learn how to take it on the chin, how to smile.

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Learn how to smile at hard times. Learn what Shakespeare calls the sweet uses of adversities. Well when we're able to do that, we're in a great company. We're not alone.

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You know that's one of the things about when we are suffering for righteousness sake. Whenever you're really being mistreated and being misunderstood, when you're being ridiculed, when you're being harassed, so often you think you're alone. So often we think that nobody else is having that kind of experience.

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So often we think that we're just isolated and forsaken and left out there alone that somehow there isn't anybody really concerned about my situation. We attempted to feel like that in such circumstances, but what Jesus is saying, "You are in great company." That you really are walking with the great saints, that somehow the prophets that were before you, those who walked with God,

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those who somehow lived the godly, righteous, and sober life, they too walked that way. So when you suffer think not that you suffer alone but that you have a great company with which you are identified. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Well it's always been that those who really work for

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righteousness sake are misunderstood. If one really takes a stand, if one really goes forth and puts his best foot forward and is the first many times to do what's right, many times that person is misunderstood, many times that person is an oddball and you find yourselves going against what the common herd expects and Jesus says well you are participating in what he calls salvation what may be called salvation history. That you are really somehow identified with the kind of history that your life ought to be creating if you want to have that wholeness and that

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happiness and that contentment that comes in being rightly related to God. We are traveling the highway of holiness. You know that's the secret of happiness. Some people never find it because we are expecting always to feel good in our bodies and to have things going the way we'd like for them to go and when they

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aren't going that way we can't be happy. That's why some people never discover the secret road to happiness and Jesus is really pointing it out. When we really have ourselves together, when we really know that we are rightly related to the eternal no matter what happens around us and what we have to suffer for what we say and what we do

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when we know that we speak for God, when we witness for truth and for that which is good and beautiful. When we do that, Jesus says that you can be happy. Sometimes you may be on a bed of affliction,

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but you can be happy. That song we sang, "It pays to serve Jesus, it pays every day, it pays every step of the way, and sometimes the way may be dreary, and sometimes it may be sad, but you'll be happy, you'll be happy each step of the way." Well, don't holler if life seems to hurt you. Don't holler.

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Don't holler. God is providing us an opportunity to be like Jesus. That's the way he traveled. That's really what it means when we wear the name of Christian.

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really what it means when we take up the cross, take up a way of life where we're able to say to ourselves and to others don't holler if it hurts. That was a man We had a rather hard time. Circumstances that surrounded his life were constantly going against him. He had a fortune but he lost it. He had a good wife but he

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lost her. He had a beautiful home but that was destroyed. It looked like everything went wrong. Then he was walking one day along the street and he noticed a man chiseling on on a stone and they were working on a cathedral.

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And he said to the man, what are you doing? And he says, I'm working on this and shaping it so that it can fit in the crack up there. And then he thought about his own situation

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and the hardships and the chiseling that had occurred in his life. He said to himself, that God is working on me down here

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so I can fit up there. So when these difficulties come, when the hardships come, when the burden gets heavy

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and all of the cruel circumstances of life Crowded against you, remember that God is working on us down here in order to fit us for up there. And rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, yes, rejoice and be exceedingly glad.

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God is equipping his saints, equipping his saints for that great and glorious reunion. So blessed are you, don't worry about it. Wear the world as a loose garment. They're going to talk about you.

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They'll mistreat you. Life will really hurt you, but rejoice, rejoice and say yes. I know that life will hurt you. Life will really hurt you, but rejoice, rejoice, and say yes.

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I know that's coming. That's what Jesus told us about. He said we'd be persecuted. But I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided in my heart of hearts to walk the way of the cross.

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I've decided to follow Jesus. [President George W. Bush] When we are being harassed by the enemies, when we are being ridiculed by our foes,

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that we can have such a relationship with you, that we can say to ourselves and to others, "Don't holler when it hurts." But that we can be able to smile

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To be able to rejoice To be exceedingly glad Knowing full well that great is our reward in heaven Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before his glorious presence with exceeding joy

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To the only wise God our Father be glory and majesty to men and in power now and always Amen [ Silence ] [BLANK_AUDIO]