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[Silence] [Music] [ Music ] Thought I'd want to see him look upon his grave, dare to speak forever of his sacred place.

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On the streets of North Greenland, We live like orphans. Little pets, old and lost, Never to be found.

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Oh, I want to see him, ♪ Look upon His face ♪ ♪ Then to sing forever of His shame and grace ♪ ♪ On the streets of glory let me lift my voice ♪

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♪ Get up and come and ask Him to hear you ♪ ♪ Ever to rejoice ♪ ♪ As I journey through the land ♪ ♪ Singing as I go ♪

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♪ Pointing souls to Calvary ♪ ♪ To the crimson glow ♪ ♪ Many arrows pierce my soul ♪ ♪ Come without within ♪

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♪ But my Lord leads me on ♪ ♪ And through Him I must win ♪ ♪ And oh, how I want to ♪ ♪ Just look upon His face ♪

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♪ So glad to sing forever ♪ ♪ Father, save and grace ♪ ♪ On the streets of glory ♪ ♪ Each man, he lifts my voice ♪

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♪ In my cares ♪ ♪ And I'm home at last ♪ ♪ Ever to rejoice ♪ ♪ When in service for my Lord ♪

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♪ The dark may be the night ♪ ♪ But I'll cling more close to Him ♪ ♪ He will give me light ♪ ♪ Satan's snares may vex my soul ♪

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♪ Turn my thoughts aside ♪ ♪ But my Lord, He goes ahead ♪ ♪ And leads whate'er be tide ♪ ♪ And oh, I want to see Him ♪

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♪ Just look upon His face ♪ ♪ And to see forever ♪ ♪ All His saving grace ♪ ♪ On the streets of glory ♪

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♪ Let me lift my voice and my cares ♪ ♪ And I'm home at last ever to rejoice ♪ ♪ Said oh I want to see Him ♪ ♪ Just look upon His face ♪

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♪ There to sing forever of His saving grace ♪ ♪ On the streets of glory ♪ ♪ He lets me lift my voice in my cares ♪ ♪ And I'm home at last ever to rejoice ♪

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- Amen, amen, amen. Hear this word, God in the gospel according to Mark, the sixth chapter and the eleventh verse.

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And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them.

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Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. The subject, learning to let go, learning to let go.

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It seems natural for us to grasp things, to reach and hold on to things that we cherish. Like a baby that holds on to a toy, we seek to achieve, to acquire, to possess.

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And we would like to possess our possessions. We have a tendency to worship success. More we get, the more we want. In economics, this is called

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the insatiability of human wants. Success, however, does not mean that we are assured of human satisfaction. We strive for self-sufficiency

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only to discover that we cannot be fully satisfied all by ourselves. Our satisfaction is related to others.

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We seek power, that which enables us to hold onto, that which enables us to enforce or to coerce. Our message today is about learning to let go. Not as a sign of weakness,

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specificity or resignation, but as a manifestation of faith, commitment, and unfailing loyalty to God. When Jesus sent the 12 disciples on a specific mission, they were to preach, teach, heal, cast out demons.

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They were to do what Jesus did. They were to imitate his example. They were given authority to do his work. Jesus gave them power over unclean spirits.

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He commanded them to take nothing for their journey, except a staff, no script, no bread, no money in their purse. Take nothing, no extras, no additional supplies,

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no bread, no bag, no money in your girdle. They were not to have a begging bag, which itinerant preachers used in that day. No money was to be carried in their belts,

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no extra provisions, no surplus commodities on which to rely. Take nothing for your journey. Oh, how unusual this is

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when you're getting ready to take a journey. You notice when you get ready to go how much you want to take. You watch some of these people who attend our conventions look like they're going to stay forever. You know, the bags they carry.

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I remember the first trip that we took overseas. We had weighed our bags on the scales that we have in the bathroom, and we got to the airport. They weighed all of your bags, even your carry-ons.

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And we were given a limited number of pounds. And for all of the pounds overweight we had to pay at that time, that's been a long time ago, we had to pay $7 per pound. Well, that taught me a lesson.

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how to travel light. And sometimes you forget it. The highest taxi cab fare that I paid was in London a few years ago, about three or four years ago. That I had a large bag and I had to get a cab to go from the train station to the airport. And I think it ended up I paid $60 for that trip.

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Now I could have taken a train, a local train, if I hadn't had such a big bag, which would have been far, far less. And all the burdens that we try to carry,

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you know, that weigh us down on our journey. But then Jesus sends out these disciples and he gives a rather radical command. Take nothing, don't carry anything.

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Travel lightly. And don't carry two tonics. This is such a radical command. Don't carry two shirts.

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You know, we like to have changes of shirts. And I can remember when I was growing up, I had one pair of pants at one time and my mother would wash those at night and I'd have to wait until she hired them the next morning.

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Sometimes they were a little damp and I'd be a little late getting to school because I had to wait until they were in condition for me to wear. We like to have extras and I looked at those who were able to change and have a different pair of pants on every day and all of that.

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We like to have changes, we like to be sure, and we sort of pride ourselves on how much we have in our wardrobe. But here comes a command from the master himself, "Don't carry two shirts." They're rather radical instructions, revolutionary for sending out disciples without a change

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of garments. So that's extremely radical because most of us live in a world where we spend a great deal of our time thinking about what we're going to wear. Think about how much time we spend thinking about what we're going to wear this morning.

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What we're going to wear and what we're going to eat. And Jesus recognized that when he was here. to his disciples, he said, "Don't concern yourself. "Don't be all wrapped up in what you're going to wear

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"or what you're going to eat, "because after all these things do the heathen seek. "But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven "and its righteousness, and all these other things

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"will be added unto you." It brings home the instruction which my mother gave during those days when I had one pair of pants. He said, Marvin, don't worry about the clothes.

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You can always get those later, but get something in your head. So the disciples of Jesus are not to depend on what they have to wear.

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Some people stay away from church because they don't feel they have the right kind of outfit that they'd like to have. Jesus says to his disciples,

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take nothing for your journey, no thought about what you're going to eat or wear. Then he says a word about learning to let go. You know, people who never learn to let go

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do not advance to the place that they need to go. Learning to let go is essential to living. The mother in a normal birth keeps the child nine months, then she releases the child from the womb.

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She must let go. In rearing a child, there comes a time when parents must cut the apron string, when the child must stretch out on his or her own.

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The bird nurtures a young and then teaches them to fly the boundless skies. There comes a time to let go. There are things we grasp, things we hold on to,

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things that we need to let go. And we need to let go of worldly cares in order to be free to do God's work. Sometimes we get so bogged down

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in mundane responsibilities, worldly cares, that we are not free to engage in the Lord's work. We spent all our time fishing on the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus calls his disciples and sends them forth.

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He calls them and they come from the sea. They let go of their boats. They leave the sea, they let go. So my brothers and sisters,

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Learning to let go is about how to handle rejection when we are not accepted, when we are not received by those we seek to help. We must learn how to let go, how to accept rejection.

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Now when you notice this chapter, earlier in this chapter, the sixth chapter of Mark, Jesus is at home, he's in Nazareth. And he comes to the synagogue and he's teaching there

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and they're very astonished at his teaching. And they said, they began to raise some questions. They said, "Where did this fellow get his education? "What schools did he attend?

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"What degrees does he have?" So don't we know this guy? Somebody said, "Oh yeah." I said, "You know that's that carpenter.

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We know his family. We know his background. We know his brothers and sisters. They're right here among us.

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They're members of this church." He comes back here and he's going to tell us how to live our lives. And they rejected him. Jesus said in one's own homeland that he is without honor. They rejected him. They would not

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accept him. They would not accept him. They rejected him. And Jesus, in the same chapter, sends forth his disciples, two by two, to preach, teach, heal, cast out demons, as I said. And he tells them now, "Don't care anything for your journey."

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In other words, I want you to depend wholly and solely on God. And God will work. He will work in the lives of the people. They will give you some hospitality. Enough to keep you going.

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He said, but if and when you enter into a house or city And you tell them what I told you to tell them and do what I told you to do. And if they reject you, he said just shake the dust off your feet and move on.

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That's the key, brothers and sisters. How to face rejection. All of us have some places in our lives where you got some rejection. And here Jesus gives us the answer on how to face it. And the Spirit of God, do what you ought to do.

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Do the best you can. And if it doesn't happen the way it ought to happen in your mind, don't frustrate yourself. Don't go to pieces.

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Some people say, "Well, I did all I could "and it didn't work out." Well, no it didn't. It didn't work out for Jesus the way he would have preferred.

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He was at home and here he is preaching at his own home church and they're rejecting him. Nobody loves that. But he says to us He said now when you go out You do the best you can and the people reject you

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shake the dust off your feet and move on And that's what we have.

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I remember a young lady, back early in my ministry in Waco, I married her to her husband. I performed a marriage ceremony, and the marriage didn't work out. And she just went to pieces.

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She did all she could, but you're just one person. It takes two. And there are some situations in which you find yourself that you just have to shake the dust off your feet and move on. That's what Jesus is saying here to his disciples.

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Letting go, let go, let go of worldly cares. Disciples are to utterly depend upon the hospitality of others. Do what you are commanded to do on earth and leave the rest to heaven. Let go and let God.

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Oh, I know, I know that that's such a difficult thing. And it becomes such a burden many times. You know, there are those people who carry old grudges, who carry hostilities, who carry resentments

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because they will not let go. There are those who are weighted down by the dead bones of yesterday because they will not let go. Yes, there are those who will never, never enter the wonderful future that is prepared for them because they will not let go. go. Lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt, petrified by the

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past because she would not let go. The rich young ruler refused the gracious invitation to enter into the vast wealth of the kingdom of God because he would not let go. So let go. Shake the dust off your feet and move on.

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Don't think that we can change the ultimate status of people. That's in God's hands. Leave it to heaven. Oh, there was a pastor that was reading the story who was

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going to work with an alcoholic. Oh, he said, oh, others had tried it, but he felt that he had certain gifts. He was gonna change this man.

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And that was his problem. He thought he was gonna change it. We can't change people. We can tell 'em what's right,

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but somehow that has to do with a person's relationship with God. Our own children may not wanna do what we tell 'em to do. We just can't.

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He thought he could change. And so finally, the message got over to him that he couldn't change this man. An alcoholic came in and said, that's just the problem.

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He said to this preacher, you're the problem. He said, this man and others have been looking to you to change him, and you can't do that. This man has to recognize that he

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has to throw himself upon the mercy of God. that God is the power that has to work in his life and that he can't do this by himself. So,

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shake the dust off your feet. Preach, teach, cast out evil spirits in the name of God. Do the best you can,

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but remember that you need to know how to let go. So this is a testimony concerning our faithfulness to God,

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learning how to let go. The farmer clears the field, plows the land, and then plants the seed,

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then he just has to wait. He has to wait on God. He has to wait on the work of the sunshine and the rain. He has to wait for the seed to grow.

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He has to wait. So he learns how to let go and to wait on heaven. So Jesus says to us, shake the dust off your feet and let go. There's a story of a woman who was carrying a heavy bag and she was able to barely make it, get on the train, almost out of breath.

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She was standing there in the aisle as the train was pulling off, holding her bag. And the porter said to her, he said, "Lady, you can set your bag down. The train will carry it now." Well, the burdens, many of the frustrations that we have, you can set them down.

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Let the train carry them. Take them to God, leave them there. We sing the song, take your burden to the Lord, leave it there. If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out. take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. I'm so glad that there is a place. There is a place where we can carry our burdens and let go and let God take over. We can carry all our guilt and leave it there. We can carry all of our fears to Him and leave them there. We can carry the absurdities

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of human existence, all those silly things that happen in our lives that we can never never understand. Take them to God and leave them there. All of the ambiguities of human existence, yes, take them there to God and leave them there. And if you trust Him, if you really trust Him, if you commit yourself to God, if you

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You trust and never, never doubt. He will surely bring you out. Because you have learned. What Jesus was teaching his disciples,

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how to let go. Shake, oh yes, shake the dust off your feet and move on. Door of the church is open now. to accept those who may be living in the city of Austin without a church home, to

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unite with the family of Christians here at Ebenezer. We invite you to come. Just stand and move out of the aisle and just come down this morning. Make a decision for Jesus Christ. ♪ From a UFO ♪

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♪ Or a silver lining stone ♪ ♪ And you have to get along ♪ ♪ With the bigger fan ♪ ♪ Just remember in his word ♪

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♪ How he feeds the little bird ♪ ♪ Take your burden to the Lord ♪ ♪ And leave it there ♪ ♪ Leave it there ♪

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♪ Leave it there ♪ ♪ Let your blood up through the Lord ♪ ♪ And leave it there ♪ ♪ If you trust that love of God ♪

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♪ We will surely bring you up ♪ ♪ Take your battle to the Lord ♪ ♪ And leave you there ♪ ♪ If your body suffers pain ♪

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♪ And your health you can regain ♪ ♪ And your soul is all seen in His face ♪ Jesus knows the pain you feel He can save, I believe in Him Take your burden to the Lord And leave it there

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[MUSIC] Take your burden to the Lord and give His hand. If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord and give His hand.

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When your head is aslid and your heart begins to fail, don't forget that God in heaven has a plan. He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

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Leave it there. Leave it there. Leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

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If you trust and have a doubt, we will surely bring you out. Take a word to the Lord and he will help you. [BLANK_AUDIO]