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[Silence] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] ♪ It's wonderful to live for Jesus ♪

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♪ To be my Savior ♪ ♪ Talk with Jesus each and every day ♪ ♪ Talk with Jesus all the way ♪ ♪ Talk with Jesus in every way ♪

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♪ It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ♪ ♪ These lives we see ♪ ♪ It's wonderful to live in His service ♪ ♪ We enjoy every day ♪

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♪ It's wonderful to sing His praises ♪ ♪ All along the way ♪ ♪ There's one Lord who will forgive us ♪ ♪ For every little thing ♪

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♪ There's one Lord who will forgive us ♪ ♪ His life is sweet ♪ ♪ What good can he do for me ♪ ♪ Walk with Jesus all the long way ♪

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♪ Walk with Jesus, miraculously ♪ ♪ Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ♪ ♪ He's our Savior ♪ ♪ Walk with Jesus each and every day ♪

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♪ Walk with Jesus all the long way ♪ ♪ Trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ He'll make your life complete ♪ ♪ It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ♪

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♪ He's mighty sweet ♪ ♪ Shout to the King Hosanna ♪ ♪ Shout to the King Hosanna ♪ ♪ Shout to the King, Hosanna ♪

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♪ Let him rise with you ♪ ♪ Let him rule the land ♪ ♪ Light it on and don't be afraid ♪ ♪ Shout to the King, Hosanna ♪

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♪ King of kingdoms, higher love for sure ♪ ♪ Shout to the King, Hosanna ♪ ♪ Music to our love before our youth ♪ ♪ Shall be our song now ♪

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♪ Blessed is he who comes ♪ ♪ Let's play ♪ (soft piano music) [ Music ]

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[MUSIC] ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪

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♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪ [ Music ] [ Music ]

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♪ Shout to the King, Osana ♪ ♪ Shout to the King, Osana ♪ ♪ Shout to the King, Osana ♪ ♪ Blessed is he who comes this way ♪

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♪ Blessed is he who comes ♪ ♪ In the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed is he who comes this way ♪ ♪ Shout to the name of Zion ♪

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

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(audience applauding) (soft piano music) (gentle piano music) [Music]

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[ Music ] [Singing] There is a bond in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a bond in Gilead to give the sins they've sworn. There is a bond in Gilead to make the broken whole.

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[Music] ♪ In giving up to hear a sin-sick soul ♪ ♪ Sometimes I feel despair ♪ ♪ And in my heart in pain ♪

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♪ But then the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Revived my soul again ♪ ♪ There is a power in every heart ♪ ♪ To make the wounded whole ♪

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♪ There is a power in every man ♪ ♪ To heal the sin-sick soul ♪ If you cannot sing like angels, if you cannot preach like men, you can tell the Lord of Jesus. ♪ God save the dark, poor, poor ♪

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♪ There is a bomb ♪ ♪ In Bilyai ♪ ♪ To make the wounded whole ♪ ♪ There is a power in giving life ♪

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♪ To heal the sin-sick soul ♪ ♪ There is a poem in Gilead ♪ ♪ To make the wounded whole ♪ ♪ There is a poem in Gilead ♪

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[MUSIC] >> This day Lord that you have blessed with Lord, this day, my God. Thank you, my God, for allowing us this morning, my God. Thank you my God that when you last night,

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for the rest of last night, thank you my God for putting us to sleep, oh my God. Thank you my God for having your holy angels to watch over us, oh my God,

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while we're sleeping slumber, oh my God. Thank you my God for you see fit this morning to wake us up, oh my God. It wasn't that alarm clock that others may wake up by,

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they seem to wake up by, but it's you, oh my God, who touched them to hear the alarm clock this morning, oh my God. Thank you my God for allowing us to realize, oh my God,

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that it is you, oh my God, who have provided us for us to stay to work for our heads, Lord. Thank you my God for giving us minds to realize that it is you, oh my God, who bless us

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to have clothes on our backs, oh my God. Thank you my God for blessing us to realize that you are my God to have food on our tables, oh my God. Thank you my God for blessing us to realize, oh my God,

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that we have money in our pockets, oh my God. Thank you my God for blessing us to realize that all the needs and necessities in our lives that we have deed is from you, oh my God.

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Promised God, let us know not to get beside ourselves, my God, for we are nothing without you, oh my God. Thank you, my God, for giving us a mind that does not be wrapped this morning,

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and not only to eat this morning, but to come to your house, oh my God, to lift you up, oh my God. I promise God, let us know to move ourself

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out of the way, oh my God, and to serve you in your Holy Spirit and the Holy Truth, oh my God. Promised God, you may touch the pastor here, oh my God.

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Prayer of God, you may continue to guide him, direct him, my God, touch his sister also, his wife, oh my God, touch them also, oh my God. Give him the strength of the need, oh my God,

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to carry on your work, oh my God. Prayer of God, touch the pastor to give him the endurance, oh my God, to hold on to the unchanging things that's going along around him, oh my God.

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Prayer of God, you may touch this congregation, oh my God. Press them, hold them tight, oh my God. Give him the strength, oh my God, that they so earn the need, oh my God,

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to carry on your work, oh my God. I pray my God you may touch everyone in the world, those that are bereaved of my God, who have lost loved ones of my God.

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Let them know that you are in charge of my God. Let them know, oh my God, you have the answer to say yes. You have the answer to say no, my God. Let them know to put all their hope,

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all their trust in you, my God. Pray my God you may have your mercy and bless all those who seek the Lord. Those that are in hospitals,

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those that are in nursing homes, those that are at home, oh my God. (mumbles) Oh my God.

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I pray to God, you may let know that it's not the doctor, oh my God, that heals them, it's not the medicine, but it's you, oh my God, that do the healing, oh my God. It's you, oh my God, that work through the doctors.

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It's you, oh my God, that work through the nurses. It's you, oh my God, that work through the medication, oh my God. Let know, oh my God, that you are the doctor, oh my God.

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The true doctor, oh my God, that can heal any kind of sickness, oh my God. AIDS, no matter what it can be, oh my God. Ebola, whatever it can be, that you are the healer,

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oh my God. I pray to God, oh my God, you bless the quiet God. Let us pray that you may see more blessings, say more

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praise to you. Oh my god. Bless us. Oh my god. To let us give you the praise of my god and singing. Oh my god. In praying

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and giving. Oh my god. And you not set for others to help others out. Oh my god. Let us know the meaning of joy. Oh my

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god. That you first. Oh my god. The other second and our step last. Oh my god. Let us not keep what we hear in these four

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walls. Oh my god. Let us go out and share. Oh my god. With others. Oh my god. Who don't and a part of the sins of my God.

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Pray, Lord, you may continue my God to be with us this day, my God. Continue to watch over us, my God. Continue, my God, to let us know

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to move ourselves out of the way. Continue, Lord, my God. To let us know, my God, that we are here for one thing, to live with you in your name, my God.

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Not for us to look good, not for us to look what we got on, but to live with you, my God. And let those who love Jesus say in Jesus' name, amen. - Amen.

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- Amen. - Amen. Amen. Amen.

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Amen. For those of you with Bibles, if you turn to the Gospel according to Luke, the eighth chapter and the first three verses. And it came to pass afterward that Jesus went throughout every city and village, preaching

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showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him. In certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils. and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others which ministered

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unto him out of their substance. This is the basis of our morning message, and the subject, "Mary Magdalene and the Da Vinci Code." Mary Magdalene in the Da Vinci Code. One of my high school teachers in his speeches would often say, "Life is not a problem to

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to be solved, but a picture to be painted. In this particular instance, I'd like to change that to say that life is not a picture to be painted, but a puzzle to be solved. These words might well apply to the Da Vinci Code, which is at this time regarded as a

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bestseller on the New York Times list. It's a historical novel that has to do with the life of Jesus Christ. In the painting by Leonardo da Vinci of the Lord's Supper, there is a puzzle which is considered as being the solution, the holy grail.

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And it begins by talking about the fact that there is one person in that picture of the Lord's Supper that when one observes closely has the features of a man behind that feminine face, and so this puzzle that many people overlook is regarded as the solution to one's quest for the good life, the sumum bonum, the highest happiness.

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Mary Magdalene is listed in this historical novel as possibly the thirteenth apostle when They were surrounded by a man's world and commonly regarded as only men as apostles of Jesus Christ. So that begins the quest for the Holy Grail, for the solution to this problem.

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Mary Magdalene gets her name from a place in Galilee called Magdala. She is listed in the Gospels time and time again. You'll find her name in all four Gospels. The interesting thing is that Mary Magdalene's name always appears first.

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Where there's a list of women, her name appears first. And for many years as a boy, I thought Mary Magdalene was the mother of Jesus because she was so prominent, but after a while I discovered that she was just a prominent woman in the early life of the church.

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And the scripture here says that this particular woman, Mary Magdalene, is a woman out of whom Jesus cast seven devils. Now that's a lot of devils. (audience laughing)

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Seven is the number for completeness. Seven is the number for wholeness. And to say that Jesus cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene is to put it mildly to say that she was full of the devil.

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So there was no room for anything else other than the devil. So she was as bad as a woman could get. In slang language our young people speak of an individual as being bad, he's really bad, when they mean that they're good. But when the person is exceptionally good, the person is referred to as "bad, bad."

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So Mary Magdalene was really bad, and I really mean bad. Not bad in the sense of dirty words written on the wall of the restroom. Not bad in the sense of foul language, but bad at the very core of her being. Bad in her thoughts.

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Bad in seeking to carry out those actions that are contrary to the good life. Many people have, through the years, considered her as a bad woman, and so they have attached a lot of things to her that are not in the scripture. Most of the time they're saying that she was a prostitute. Scripture doesn't say she was a prostitute anywhere. It just says she was full of the devil. And somehow we have come to associate certain things with being bad, and prostitution is one of them.

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So in the Da Vinci Code, Mary is depicted as being closer to Jesus than the others. She is portrayed as an apostle that is extraordinary. So that within itself is revolutionary. According to the cultural practice of the time,

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women were not exalted above men. In fact, they were not considered equal to men. They were just considered as a step lower. Mary Magdalene let us consider this,

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Consider this, dear lady, from three vantage points, from that of fact, what are the facts, and from that of fantasy and faith. Facts, fantasy, and faith. What are the facts?

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Let us distinguish Mary Magdalene from Mary the mother of Jesus, from Mary the mother of John Mark, from Mary the wife of Cleophas. The fact is, Mary is identified as one who was from Galilee. Jesus is from Galilee, and so were most of the apostles.

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They were from Galilee. But Mary gets the name that we associate with her from a town which she came, Magdala. The fact that Mary Magdalene is a woman from whom Jesus casts seven devils shows that she She had a sickness and a disease that was prevalent during her time when it comes to

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being possessed of demons. The fact is Mary Magdalene was a disciple as far as following is concerned, even though she was not one of the twelve, she was one who followed Jesus. And Luke focuses a great deal of attention on women, and he tells us of this list of

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women who followed Jesus in his ministry, and ministered to him out of their substance. Mary Magdalene evidently was a woman of means. She had money, and she shared that money with Jesus. This enabled the apostles to go about teaching, preaching, and healing, because they were

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receiving funds from such women as Mary Magdalene and her associates. So the fact of history is that Mary Magdalene, while being labeled as a prostitute, is a woman that was close to Jesus and followed him where he went. Here, there, and everywhere, here is this band of women that follow Jesus Christ.

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Now the Da Vinci Code makes Mary Magdalene the 13th apostle, whose identity is hidden and is only revealed as one who is skillful in being able to interpret the meanings of paintings. The truth is, Mary Magdalene is a woman among women, and so we do well to single her out on this Palm Sunday celebration as one of the distinguished personalities that we find in this group of persons who shared our Lord's love. She well deserves a place in our Lord's triumphal march into the holy city. We need not cover her with coats of paint and peel them off so that we might see her.

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Let's see her as she is. This is a historical novel, you know, which means that some of it's true and some of it may not be true. It makes a little history with a little truth.

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And they do that, not only with Mary Magdalene, they do it every day. They do it with us. But Mary Magdalene had a change in her life. She met Jesus and accepted him as Lord and Savior.

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He changed her life. He cast out all the devils that held her in bondage. And Mary became a devout and faithful follower of Jesus Christ. She was not some person who carried on a secret love affair with Jesus.

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That's what the Da Vinci Code says, that Mary Magdalene had a secret romance with Jesus. That's why they claim you see her all the time around the master. And we always have an interpretation whenever we see two people together, frequently. So the Da Vinci Code is just following what is human when it comes to the way we act and

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the way we talk about people. They said, you know, you can hear them, you know, there must be something to Mary Magdalene and Jesus. They're always together. Must be something. Do you notice how she looks at him? And how he looks at her? I know it must be something.

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So this is what the Da Vinci Code deals with, this kind of opinion, these kinds of accusations that cannot be justified. Because, just because you see two people at the same place at the same time doesn't mean that something has to be going on. So her presence was so constant and so consistent that we come to the point that we make these assertions.

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But Mary Magdalene was the one who, in the midst of all of the rumors, in the midst of all of the gossip that was going on, she continued to follow Jesus. And we find her with the Master all through his ministry. She's there, there was this group of women

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and she's the head of the list. You may call her the chairperson for the mission committee. Because she's always there. Whatever you need, we'll try to supply it Lord.

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This is the faithful Mary Magdalene. So let us not permit the rumor mills of history to mutilate the body of this precious woman. Her pilgrimage was one in which she went from the bottom of low hell to the top of high heaven. She completed the Christian pilgrimage with honor, with dignity, and with glory.

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So, no code, no legend, no allegory can change that. Nor can any tale take the place of the truth that is eternal. So let me say again that the presence of Mary in the life of Jesus is that experience that we may regard as significant. It's not necessarily to hide her in the Da Vinci Code to compensate for gender practice.

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There is no question about it, Mary is one of Jesus outstanding converts. Mary Magdalene is a follower who came early and stayed late. She came at six o'clock in the morning and stayed through the midnight hour. where Jesus went and what he taught, she was there.

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Amidst the scribes and Pharisees, the publicans and sinners, and even the prostitutes who gathered, Mary was there right near the Master's side. So when the master suffered from the perverted Roman judicial system, Mary and other women were there, but Mary heads the list. So Mary Magdalene experienced something of his passion, the passion of Jesus Christ, which is being depicted now in our city and other cities,

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to give people an understanding of the suffering that he went through. One of the criticisms given by some who view it is that it was too much brutality, too much violence. But you know what? That's the way our world is. When we really look at it and see the violence that's occurring in war, the violence on our streets,

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violence in our neighborhood we are identifying with the passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because it's this kind of violence that crucifies Christ so that next Sunday in the message I want to deal with who killed Jesus Christ. Because it's the violence of the cross. And all of us are somewhat subject to this violence.

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If we would live today, it is to be exposed to violence. So we really aren't safe in our homes. We aren't safe in our schools. We aren't safe in our streets. It is this kind of violence that Jesus came came to change. The example of his life is one of peace. And so the cross, the cross, the last words that we hear of him prior to Easter are words

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from the cross, seven words from the cross. So, John tells us that on that day when the word went out, that he arose, that Mary was dead. But somehow we find ourselves always on a chase

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of the rumor, this historical novel picks up rumors that are about, you know how the rumor can get out? And how it can circulate? And how it can gather more attention

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than the truth many times? Just the rumor? And so the writer of this novel is deciphering the Da Vinci code.

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And he leads us on a long, widening search for the Holy Grail, for the highest happiness. And he concludes by saying that the quest for the Holy Grail is the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene, a journey to pray at the feet of the outcasts. So if we follow the rumor, they say,

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well, Jesus really didn't go to the cross. That what he did was to go quietly away to some secluded place in France. And there he married and he had children.

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And they lived happily ever after. That's the kind of historical information and talk and conclusion that we get from this novel. But the truth of the matter is,

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Mary's life was radically changed by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. And every one of us can identify with that radical happening in our lives. What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my life. I have joy in my soul which long I have sought since Jesus came into my heart.

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Since Jesus came into my heart, since Jesus came into my heart, I have joy, joy, joy in my soul like the sea below's roll. Since Jesus came into my heart. He changes.

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I can imagine people who knew her, she would run around with him, so to speak, and she said, "No, I've changed." Well, what happened to you, Mayor?

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Well, I met the Master. And the words that he spoke and the actions that he took in regard to my life brought about a radical change. And we can identify with Mary.

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No wonder she became sort of the head person, closer to Jesus because she had more to be thankful for. Jesus tells this story when he says, What about a person who had a debt and owed 5,000 or more talents and that person was forgiven and then another had only 50 and that person was forgiven.

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Which one would he love more, one that was forgiven most or more? So she had so much to be forgiven for. But that is what Jesus is able to do. So during this Passion Week, as we look on to Easter, let's take an inward look at ourselves.

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And how many of us may have some grudge against someone else? A long standing. Go to church every Sunday, read the Bible, come to prayer meetings, but still have it. It's like that man who had grudges against a farmer nearby and the doctor had told him that he was going to die.

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He only had a short time to live and he had this man to come to his bedside and he said, "John, you know that little something that was between us all these years? I think I'm about to die and I want you to know that I'm forgiving you." He said, "But if I live, things are just like they was." Mary is an example of forgiveness.

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The Lord forgives and He is willing to accept us as if it never happened. So the highest happiness, if you really want to be happy, the highest happiness is that quest where you are able to accept the person who is guilty of the most terrible sin. It disturbs me when I read in the paper that some person who is guilty of some crime

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and the family wants to be there, be sure that they get their justice. And they want to be there so they can say, "I'm so glad." Like the song says, "I'll be standing on the corner high when they bring your body by. I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal."

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I get disturbed when I see that people have that kind of attitude. Because it does more to destroy them. And destroy the right spirit. So Mary is one who represents forgiveness and we can thank God that she did have a love affair with Jesus, but it was a love affair of the Spirit.

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And all of us ought to have a love affair with Him. If she were here today, no doubt she could say, "I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, but Jesus came along and he lifted me. And love lifted me from the waters lifted me, now safe am I. So thanks be to God, He lifts us from the lowest level.

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Thanks be to God, He brings us to the highest heights. Thanks be to God. And we can sing together. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

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"Saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see." So we come now to extend the invitation to those who would accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Maybe you're living in Austin without a church home.

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We invite you to come to be a part of the family of God here in Ebenezer. He takes us just as we are, just as I am, without one plea. Before the church is open, come. (gentle music)

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Come. Come. (gentle music) ♪ Forever ♪

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♪ Goodbye ♪ [ Silence ]