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[ Silence ] [Music] ♪ What happened to my baby ♪ ♪ And did my father cry ♪

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♪ The evil man left me dead ♪ ♪ For the power of God ♪ ♪ And the prophet of heaven ♪ ♪ And the man of the hour ♪

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♪ Oh, say does he ♪ ♪ Is the man I came ♪ ♪ Where he died ♪ ♪ And the now I'm happy of him ♪

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♪ On him upon the high ♪ ♪ And on the low ♪ ♪ Of the sea ♪ ♪ On him he's risen ♪

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♪ Who has no fear in me ♪ ♪ And the prophet of heaven ♪ [Music] [Music]

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[Chorus singing] ♪ I'm a kid, I'm a boy ♪ ♪ I'm a dog, here's how it is ♪ ♪ I am a child, a boy ♪

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♪ I'm being raised in love ♪ ♪ So I'm a dog, here's how it is ♪ ♪ I'm a frog, I'm a frog ♪ ♪ Where's the rest of the way ♪

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♪ Where's the rest of the way ♪ ♪ It's a sad life, hey ♪ ♪ I see my son ♪ ♪ And now I can be okay ♪

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♪ But promise me ♪ ♪ That everything ♪ ♪ That's left of my old ♪ ♪ Is all I need ♪

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♪ I'll give away ♪ ♪ If all that I can do ♪ ♪ And the process ♪ ♪ Process of life ♪

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♪ Can turn a heart from gray ♪ [ Music ] To you alone, Lord, to you alone and not to us, must glory be given. [Audience responds]

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Trust in the Lord, all who fear him. He helps you and protects you. [Audience responds] Let us pray as Deacon Harris leads us. Our heavenly Father, we come this morning with bowed heads and thankful hearts.

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You bless our name, dear Master, that has allowed us a few of our servants to meet again at the House of Prayer. We come recognizing and realizing, Master, that we need thee in our lives. We come as if depicted before full family. We ask, dear Master, that we're sanctified with our hearts and minds at this hour. We may be ready to receive the word that's come from thy service, lip

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And our heart may be filled in our lives may be changed as we go from this place in Jesus name We ask all these things of the best. Amen [inaudible] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [Music] [Music] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Choir singing]

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[Singing] [Music] ♪ The convoys in the round ♪ ♪ With one title in mind ♪

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♪ No sacred end or story ♪ ♪ For this is our home ground ♪ ♪ Let all this life and glory ♪ ♪ Hide for you of me now ♪

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♪ Here I will gladly die ♪ ♪ Here ♪ ♪ A plea I will not call ♪ ♪ O Savior do not die ♪

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♪ Here ♪ ♪ Embrace my loving heart ♪ ♪ With golden bodies languish ♪ ♪ In that golden room of pride ♪

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♪ In Him my weakness ♪ ♪ And grace ♪ ♪ He is my hope and gladness ♪ ♪ He's all my consolation ♪

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My children, I must die. Rewind me of my passion. With my last hour of life, my God, ♪ And shall fear behold thee ♪

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♪ Upon thy throne shall rest ♪ ♪ My heart thy faith behold thee ♪ ♪ To thy infants welcome ♪ ♪ Hmm hmm hmm hmm ♪

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♪ Hmm hmm hmm hmm ♪ [Music] [Music] [Music]

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♪ Oh ♪ ♪ He is the King ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ The Lord is with thee ♪

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♪ And with thy people ♪ [music] [music] [music]

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[music] [music] [music] Our responsive reading is found on the back of your hand,

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little number 561, Christian Living. May we stand for the responsive reading. [Music] [Singing]

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I am thy God. Let your day to walk in the word of the Lord be performed. (Church singing) Will a man rob God?

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Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. [All] You are the first of the first, so give your heart to me, even in the cold of day.

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[Priest] Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,

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and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. [All] And I will not open the windows of heaven, [Congregation] And I am the adorned of the Church of the Living, the evil soul of the beating.

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[Priest] Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him. That there be no gathering when I come. [Congregation] And when I come, from whose earth he shall prove and her desert, the same will I bring to bring you the liberality in which you used to be.

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Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. I am in great pride and conviction, in the fullness of that joy, to have these properties of knowledge, of vision, and of morality. I will keep thy word in my heart,

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♪ Ye heavenly king ♪ ♪ Come in my heart ♪ - For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves.

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(crowd murmuring) And this they did. not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God.

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(crowd reciting) Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver.

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[ Music ] ♪ By where you have come to my feet ♪ ♪ By where you have come to my feet ♪ ♪ By where you have come to my feet ♪

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♪ And O life, come to my rest ♪ ♪ Pray, O praise ♪ All the children in the congregation from the kindergarten level through the fifth grade are asked to come forward at this time.

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[Music] Good morning. How are you this morning? Look, my voice is going up and down this morning. Boys and girls, what I want us to think about this morning is a subject, the subject is what the children gave to God.

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What the children gave to God. Would you repeat that after me? What the children gave to God. Once more.

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what the children gave to God. All right. Once a boy and a girl were playing together after they had been to Sunday school.

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And their lesson that Sunday morning was about Noah and the ark. And so since they were brother and sister, one decided to be Noah,

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and the other one decided to be Mrs. Noah. So they decided that they would take a cardboard box and use it as the ark. and they would use the bathroom tub as the place where they would put the ark in the waters.

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So they did. They turned off the light, which meant that they could not see the sun. Then they turned on the shower, which meant that the rain began to fall. And then, of course, as the waters began to come higher and higher,

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and the ark floated upon the waters, they had put inside the ark the different animals that they wanted to put there. And then after a while, they let the water subside. They let the water out of the tub.

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And then they turned the light on again. And the flood was over, as is in the story of Noah. And then they said, "Well, now what must we have as a sacrifice?" because when it was all over, Noah offered a sacrifice to God.

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So they began to think about what they would give as a sacrifice. The girl thought about her toys that she had, but she said, "No, I don't want to do that because I want to keep my toys for myself." The boy thought about what he had, but he didn't want to give any of that. He wanted to keep it for himself. Then finally the little girl thought about something that she had.

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It was a battered old doll. The face was caved in, and it was all dirty and broken. And she said, "I don't want this anymore. Let's give this to God." And that's what they did. They gave that to God. That is what sometimes is done.

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We ought to give the best to God because God gives the best to us. We should not give to him that which we do not want for ourselves, but we should give him the best. The best of our service, we should give him ourselves the best that we have to give. And what we can do, we ought to do it all to his glory.

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Give God the best. God bless you and keep you. [MUSIC PLAYING] [Music]

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[ Music ] [Music] ♪ Jesus hung on Calvary ♪ ♪ People came from miles to see ♪

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They said, "If you be the Christ, Oh, come down and save your life." But Jesus never answered them. He knew that Satan was tempting him.

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If he had come down from the cross, Oh, my soul would still be lost. When Jesus comes into your life, people come to criticize. But I am convinced you will find

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Oh, he'll give you peace of mind Just like Jesus when Satan tempted him. Don't waste time trying to answer them. Oh, if he had come down from the cross, oh, oh, my soul would

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still be lost. ♪ He would not come down from the cross just to save himself ♪ ♪ No, no, no, no ♪ ♪ He decided ♪

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♪ He decided ♪ ♪ Not just to save himself ♪ ♪ He would not come down from the cross just to save me ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, he would not come down from the cross ♪

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♪ Just to save me ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, he would not come down from the cross ♪ ♪ All from the cross just to save you ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, we would ♪

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♪ Do right just to save you ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, we would not ♪ ♪ That would not ♪ ♪ From the cross just to save himself ♪

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♪ Oh, he decided to die just to save ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord, he would not come down ♪ ♪ From the cross just to save himself ♪ ♪ He saved him, oh ♪

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♪ He decided to die just to save the Lord ♪ ♪ He would not come down from the cross ♪ ♪ Just to save the Lord ♪ ♪ He decided ♪

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♪ He decided, he decided ♪ ♪ He decided, he decided ♪ ♪ He decided ♪ ♪ In the silence ♪

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♪ In the silence ♪ ♪ Just to let me ♪ [music] [applause]

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We worship the Lord now in our giving. Our church is supported through tithes and offerings. Let everyone give according to how the Lord has prospered you. Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase.

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So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses burst out with new wine. [music] You will notice in your bulletin a report on the stewardship of our church, where we should be, the budget that we adopted, which was the same as last year.

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We are behind some $5,000, which we were behind last year just about like this. We need to catch up and that catch up is dependent upon every person doing his or her duty, giving according to how the Lord has blessed you. Let us pray.

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Bless us, O Lord, in this time of sharing, that we may remember that the things that we have are not really ours. They are already yours. We are but your trustees, managers of your estate.

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Help us, O God, to be possessed by your spirit of love, your spirit of concern, that we may freely give of ourselves and substance in Jesus name amen [ Music ] [Music]

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[ Music ] [singing] ♪ The world for me ♪ ♪ Though there's a cost ♪

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♪ For everyone ♪ ♪ And there's a cost for me ♪ ♪ The Lord's glory to you ♪ ♪ Your times be great ♪

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♪ In all of heaven ♪ ♪ Till death ♪ ♪ Till death ♪ [music]

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[music] ♪ To wear a man's crown ♪ ♪ For me ♪ ♪ Upon the grave ♪

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♪ The day came down ♪ ♪ And in the wind let me ♪ ♪ Like all I have ♪ ♪ I'll hold her crown ♪

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♪ And in it reveal ♪ ♪ May it be ♪ ♪ O praise the Lord ♪ ♪ O glorious God ♪

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♪ O praise the sun ♪ ♪ The day ♪ ♪ The angel from the stars ♪ ♪ Come down and carry us home ♪

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♪ Away ♪ May we bow our heads and close our eyes as we pray together. Speak now, O God, to our hearts, we pray. Open unto us

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your divine word, grant that we may, through the eyes of faith, see ourselves and our relationship to you more clearly, as well as our relationship to others. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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In the gospel according to St. Matthew, the 16th chapter and the 24th verse are these words Jesus said unto his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." The subject of the message, the cross, an offering of sacrifice.

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Cross, an offering of sacrifice. This is the first in a series of messages during the season of Lent. We as Baptists have not historically given very much attention to what we call the Lenten season. It is that period of 40 days embracing Easter, covering the last part of the ministry

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of Jesus the last 40 days. It is a period which is identified with his passion, his suffering, and sacrifice for humankind. I can remember the first time I heard of this particular observance. It was the life of another branch of Christendom. A young lady in whom I was interested during my high school days and she said to me I

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won't be able to go to the movies, not have any phone calls, anything like that. For this is the season of Lent, and we are to make a sacrifice. And this is what the priest has told us we must give up. I talked with a young man a few days ago, and he was speaking of the fact that

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that during this particular period when he was a boy, that they had to make certain sacrifices. They only had just the bare necessities as far as the meals were concerned

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to remind them of the sacrifice that had been made for our salvation by Jesus Christ. But the cross is a symbol of sacrifice. It is a symbol of our faith. It stands at the center of human history. And how strange it is that two pieces of wood which intersect

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stand as a symbol of our faith. It's altogether fitting that we consider the cross an offering of sacrifice during this particular season when we focus our attention upon the cross of our Lord. The cross is a symbol of life.

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For if we would live life and live it abundantly, we must bear the cross. All through life I see a cross. sons of God give up their breath, there is no gain except through loss, there is no life except by death. So life is expressed through the cross. It's a cross

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that stands at the center of our history. The cross is formed when the human will encounters the divine will. We find ourselves in our daily existence caught up in cross currents. So we need to listen again to this word which was spoken in the long ago by our Master which is addressed to us in the here and now.

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If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. The cross is a sign of contradiction. We face contrary winds. We encounter contradictions in life.

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Paul says, "When I would do good, evil is always present. "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the bondage of this death?" So the sign of the cross is a sign of contradiction. We confront contradictions in the midst of human existence, light against darkness, goodness

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against evil, truth against falsehood, the divine against the human. Humanly we would like to do this, but we find that there is that divine call to do something else. We find ourselves, if we would follow the sign of the cross, we find ourselves embracing

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contradictions in human existence. Sign of the cross is expressed in conflict. There is struggle. There is conflict.

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If anyone would come after me, saith the Master, let him take up his cross." In other words, we cannot follow Jesus if we would try to escape bearing the cross. Of course, not only involves contradiction and conflict, it involves controversy. From the very beginning to the end of Jesus' public career, we see that he is a subject

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of conflict, controversy, contradiction. And if we would follow Jesus we must embrace the contradictions of life, we must embrace conflict, we must embrace controversy. He who would save his life must lose it. We must die in order to live. What we save we lose, what is given away is kept. So to embrace the cross is

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to embrace the contradictions, the conflicts, and the controversies of human existence. To embrace the cross is to make one's life an offering of sacrifice. It's often said that what is concealed in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. And for some time I have been giving messages in the services based on the book of Numbers.

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And in this particular book there is mention of sacrificial offerings. are numerous sacrificial offerings that are presented to the Lord. Some are animal sacrifices, some are the sacrifices from the harvest of the land. But you see a sacrifice is something that is offered up. It is something that

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is surrendered. In the case of a burnt offering, a sacrifice is something of value, something highly prized, something we would like to have for ourselves but but we sacrifice it. We surrender it up.

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We offer it up. We burn it up in dedicating it to another, something desirable which is offered for the sake of something considered as having higher value,

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a sacrifice. And we really cannot live our lives in the truest sense. really cannot be ourselves and I mean by that we really cannot be the kind of person that God designed us to be apart from sacrifice. It was early in their pilgrimage

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that the Hebrew people came to know this. They came to understand something of the significance of sacrifice in their worship and in their daily life. While they were nomads, while they were just desert wanderers, while they were just drifting so to speak or wandering from place to place as shepherds with their

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flocks. They recognized that even in that existence, that style of life, there was need of sacrifice. That sacrifice was essential to their well-being. So sacrifices were offered of animals, sometimes the lamb, sometimes a goat, and then as they became an agrarian people, they began to make sacrifices. If they

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had a good crop, whatever it was, whether it was a fruit of the vine, whether it was corn or oil, whatever it was, they made their sacrifices. And so whatever may be our political philosophy, wherever one may live and whatever may be the kind of economic order, there is a place for sacrifice. The law of their worship as far as sacrifice was concerned

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is that the firstborn was God, the firstborn to be given to God, the firstborn. You know how we think about first things. You know, you know the kind of pride that you have when the first child is born, how you look forward to having the child and the certain pride and delight that's there for the firstborn. There's

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always something special about the first. But God here had the people to understand that the firstborn belongs to me, and the firstfruits belong to me. The tithe of the land and they were to make the sacrifice taking the firstborn of the flock a lamb without blemish and to offer that as a sacrifice.

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[ Silence ]