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[ Silence ] [Music] [MUSIC] He came to love, kill and forgive.

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He lived and died to find my glory. And if we pray to God to help us take our lives, Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.

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Because I know he holds our future. And life is worth the living just because he lives. ♪ As in the day ♪ ♪ Across the river ♪

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♪ How far it was by ♪ ♪ The falling day ♪ ♪ And in its death ♪ ♪ Its graceful victory ♪

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♪ I'll see the ones who glory have ♪ ♪ I know He lives ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪

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♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ We owe our future ♪

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♪ And life is worth the living just because we live ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living just because we live ♪ [MUSIC] >> I said you would close eyes,

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bowed heads, think of God's goodness to you. All that he has brought us through, how he has blessed us, how he has kept us, and how he has never left us alone.

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We serve a wonderful and mighty God, and he's willing to hear our prayer. Would you bow now as we go to God? Heavenly Father,

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We often look to the hills from which cometh our help, knowing that all of our help lies in you. The strength that we need to face another day comes from you, Father.

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The ability to rise in the morning, placing both feet on the ground, comes from you, dear Master. be in our right mind, that ability comes from you. And Lord we lift up our thanks

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to you this morning that you were just so just and so kind that you've spared us, that you brought us through another week and here we are in your house of pray. Lord we just say thank you. Thank you master for just being so good to us. You've been better to us that we've been to ourselves. Lord there are things that

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we should have done and did not do but still you were good. And things master we may have said that should not have been said but still Lord you are good because you have an eraser a way of blotting out our sins and giving us another chance and we thank you because you are God of second chances and third chances and so

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many chances we can't even count master but we thank you this morning thank you Lord. Lord we come to you knowing that you have the power, that you have the strength to make everything right. And there may be those Lord that are sick, Lord that need you because something is ailing them and you're able to make it

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right. There may be those dear Master that don't even know you and the pardon their own sin, running to and from, looking for help when they can find help in Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, we praise your name because you are in control of this world that we live in. So no matter what happens in our communities, no matter what happens in our state and in our

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nation Lord you're able and that you control it all. So father we remember to look to the hills from which cometh our help. Know that all of our help lies in you. If it's peace this morning it lies in you. If it's joy this morning it lies in you. Father bless and keep every member of this church those that are

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gathered here this morning. Bless our pastor, continue to strengthen and guide him that he might lead us as you lead him. Then Lord, when our trying and our days here on this earth are over, we look forward to a land so bright and fair, a place filled with happiness, love, and peace, comfort, a place where we'll give your

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name the praise. We look forward to that home on high Lord that you have prepared for us. We look forward to seeing your face but until then master we'll keep on pushing on this side. Keep on pushing toward the mark. These and all blessings we ask in thy son's name. Amen.

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(music) [ Music ] [ Music ] [MUSIC]

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Lord, we honor and adore you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you.

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Lord, we honor and adore you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you.

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Lord, we honor and adore you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we worship you.

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♪ Lord we love and adore you ♪ ♪ Lord we worship you ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪

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♪ Lord we lift our hearts in praises ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪

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♪ Lord we lift our hearts in praises ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord we thank you ♪

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♪ Lord, we lift our hearts in praises ♪ ♪ Lord, we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord, we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord, we thank you ♪

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♪ Lord, we lift our hearts in praises ♪ ♪ Lord, we thank you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪

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♪ Lord, we lay our lives before you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪

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♪ Lord, we lay our lives before you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪

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♪ Lord, we lay our lives before you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord, we serve you ♪ ♪ Lord we stand in you ♪

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♪ Lord we lay our lives before you ♪ ♪ Lord we stand in you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪

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♪ Lord we honor and obey you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪ ♪ Lord, we love you ♪ ♪ Lord, we love you ♪

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♪ Lord, we honor and obey you ♪ ♪ Lord, we love you ♪ ♪ Lord, we love you ♪ ♪ Lord, we love you ♪

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♪ Lord, we honor and obey you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪

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♪ Lord we honor and obey you ♪ ♪ Lord we love you ♪ (crowd applauding) (soft music)

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♪ Follow for our ways and by ways of love ♪ ♪ Giddy, oh weary, I'm tired ♪ ♪ Carry the sunshine, my heart is in power ♪ ♪ Taking the sorrow in hand ♪

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♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ The child of my life ♪ ♪ May Jesus shine ♪

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♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ O Savior, I pray ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ To someone today ♪

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♪ Tell us the story of Christ and his love ♪ ♪ Tell all his brothers for he ♪ ♪ Has the trust in the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Through every moment you live ♪

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♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Now, now, now, now ♪ ♪ May Jesus shine ♪

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♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Our Savior, our friend ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ 'Til some other day ♪

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♪ Give that good gift to you in your meek ♪ ♪ The Master will be ♪ ♪ He will help you to help her in thee ♪ ♪ Until your wish shall be true ♪

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♪ May thee have mercy ♪ ♪ May thee have mercy ♪ ♪ On all that are ♪ ♪ May tears not shy ♪

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May thee, O bless me, O Savior, I pray. May thee, O bless me, to stand by me today. Amen. Speak to our hearts, O God.

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In the strong and perfect name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. Hear this word recorded in the epistle to the Romans, the twelfth chapter, first and second verses. "I beseech you therefore, brethren,

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by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing

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of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The subject, the sacrifice of a transformed life, the sacrifice of a transformed life. The renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung says, "It is only through the mystery of self-sacrifice

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that a man may find himself anew." It is only through the mystery of self-sacrifice that a man may find himself anew. In what is regarded as the most profound theological treatise

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of all his epistles, the Apostle Paul comes to the close of his epistle to the Romans by giving his readers an exhortation. He describes the kind of life the Christian ought to live.

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After he has mentioned how the remnant of Israel remains, after he has explained how Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree, He gives a doxology praising God for his marvelous gift of salvation.

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Then begins chapter 12. He uses the word "therefore" in the opening words of that chapter, "such being the case." there follows an exhortation to Christian living. The Apostle gives his readers some what we may consider unsolicited advice. We don't know how the

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Romans will receive what Paul has to say. Some people have built in resistance to exhortations and are quick to respond. Don't tell me how to live my life. If I want advice I'll ask for it. Well this is a word of advice from the senior pastor. This is counsel from a seasoned general on the battlefield. This

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is the word of a veteran who has considerable experience to support what he has to say. Listen again to his words. In other words, he's saying, "Since you have been accepted to walk in wisdom's way since you have chosen to follow the straight and narrow path, such being the case I urge you by the mercies of God

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that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. We've just passed through a bruising national election in which candidates have tried to present themselves in an acceptable manner. Paul urges the Christian community in Rome to be presentable is anxious that they present themselves in a manner that

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honors Christ. The Christian task is to represent Christ. Let me say that again. The Christian task is to represent Christ. In other words we say represent which really means represent we present Christ to others over and over and over again if we are truly his disciples in word and deed. Now how do we fulfill this task? Paul tells us how he says

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present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Now this is a rather radical viewpoint for such priority to be given to the human body. The Greeks gave primacy to the spirit. Paul's words are addressed to persons influenced by the Greek way of thinking. He lived in the Greco-Roman world and to

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the Greek mind what mattered most was the spirit. The body was regarded as only a shackle, a prison house, and I have a suspicion that there's some who've been influenced by a Greek way of thinking among us because so often when someone doesn't show up they say well Reverend my body wasn't there but my spirit was there.

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This is how the Greeks placed far more importance upon the spirit than upon the The body but Paul begins. This is why I say it's radically. He begins by saying present your bodies Now this is visible confirmation Some focus on the body to the neglect of the spirit

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They buy the best food They take all the proper exercises. They wear the best clothes. They secure the best health care available They care for the body but neglect the spirit. The Christian belief is the body belongs to God

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as well as the soul. Christian worship is the offering of bodily existence. The Christian view emphasizes regulation moderation in the care of the body. For the Christian the body is not something

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to be despised or ashamed of. The body is the temple in which the Spirit dwells. The body is the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works. According to the media more young people are smoking which means there will be more smoking related diseases and more cancer deaths due to smoking and a disproportionate

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number of those people so affected will be us and if if there is a group that that needs to take seriously what it really means to properly care for the body, it ought to be us. Because we are dying at a disproportionate rate.

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And here is Paul dealing with the body. And he says, just as a church or a cathedral may be built for the worship of God so our bodies are to be the dwelling place of God. The doctrine of the incarnation brings together body and spirit.

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Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Body and spirit are the work of God. Scripture tells us that in the beginning God took the dust of the earth and he molded it into Adam and then he breathed into it and he made Adam's body

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out of the dust of the earth God did that then God also breathed into that body the breath of life and Adam became a living soul so both body and spirit are gifts of God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, body and spirit, the world and the church. So we ought to have worldly concerns. God knows that we need

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these things, something to eat, something to wear, to care for the body. He knows we We should have these worldly concerns. We also have concerns of the spirit church. The body has to do with the outward form,

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which differs from year to year. We don't look the way we looked when we were babes. You know, we've made a number of changes since that time. So it differs.

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The body form changes. Someone, as I heard one friend of mine say that he had a friend that when he knew her, she had a figure like an eight, you know,

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and then that eight, after a period of time, turned into a zero. (audience laughing) Our bodies change.

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Body changes. So our outward form varies from year to year. Our worship is not limited to going to church, but our worship is in what we do.

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In the workaday world, the jobs we work on, the issues that we are concerned about. And then Paul moves on to say, don't, be not conformed to this world.

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He talks about really the, he brings before us issue of the peril of conformity, peril of conformity. In other words, J.B. Phillips translates that, "Do not let the world squeeze you into its own mold." Do not let And that can so easily happen.

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When I was a lad in Dallas, I went over to play with Sonny Boy. And while we were playing, Sonny Boy says, you know, Uncle Willie has this truck here

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and it has something in it, let's open it up. I said, no, I don't wanna do that. Well, he said, I will. So he opened the trunk and there was a tin can in there

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Uncle Willie had about five dollars met in that day that was a great deal of money So Sunday boy said we'll take a dollar So we took a dollar And we got on the trolley. I think it was about either three cents a nickel in those days to ride the trolley and

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We went down to the theater to the Harlem Theater on Central Track in Dallas and And we saw a movie. I never will forget it.

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It was Gene Harlow in The Reckless. We saw this movie. I can't remember anything that really happened in the movie. I just remember the sight because all the time I was on edge.

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You know, I know I shouldn't be here. Mother told me not to leave home and I'm down here and all this. Would I get back before she gets back and all of that?

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But we came back and Uncle Willie noticed that the lock on his trunk was broken. And he asked Sonny Boy what happened and he said Marvin did it. [Laughter]

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He did it. And of course they sent for me and mother came over there and she she said, "Oh, no, I know Marvin did not do that." He wouldn't do a thing like that. "Marvin, did you do that?" "Yes, ma'am." "Oh,

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I got a good threshing about that." But it all started because I was trying to conform to what Sonny boy Wanted me to do

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Paul says to us be not conformed. Don't worry about How the world is going around you dare to be different Christians are called peculiar people People who dare to be different who are willing to blaze a new trail to do things a different way So he goes on to say that the world is not to be permitted to mold us in the way that

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the world would desire. There is a danger in conforming to the world. Be not conformed, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds. Now he speaks of this transformation all in the context of sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice.

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being willing to surrender, being willing to do without. As I look at my own pilgrimage in life it has been how I'm willing to sacrifice and if you look at yours it ought to be measured by the sacrifices that you have made and are willing to make, sacrifice. Bishop College was playing Langston in

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Texarkana and I had Laverne as my date and when we got there we had to leave early we missed meal that after that evening at school so you had to have something to buy food for yourself and I only had a dime. That's all I had and so as the game went on I became hungry and so I asked Laverne to excuse me and I

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went down and and I bought a hamburger and left her there and by the time by the time I took a good bite of that hamburger Laverne had gotten a little disturbed about the time I'd been away I guess and so I looked around and there she was and I tried to offer her something she said oh no but I was

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avoiding the sacrifice that should be made. Sacrifice. Sacrifice. And it's a long, long, long journey toward, you know, we have this feeling, you know, satisfy yourself. Look out for number one. That's natural, but when you take that pill, later as I got married and we were living in Cleveland and I was working on

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a job making just $50 a week and we had there were three of us I was the only one working and my wife loves beautiful things and there's nothing that motivates a man up like having a wife who has expensive taste and I went to work every day and we tried we had to save and we wanted to get her something

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I remember we saved, I don't know how many months it took us to save, almost a hundred dollars to get what was in that new look. You know, that long dress that came down to your ankles. But that was sacrifice. And in your family, the family grows and is transformed

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in the way that we are willing to make sacrifices. You know some some people never succeed in giving their children the kind of education that they ought to get because They're not willing to sacrifice One wants to have they want to go to go to almost go to college in a Rolls-Royce

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You know not willing to make sacrifice But Paul says here that we are to present ourselves a living that our lives ought to bear testimony to our sacrifice. Sacrifice. So do not be conformed but be ye transformed by a life of sacrifice. In Ebony magazine

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Some time ago there was a story of a couple where the man needed a kidney and his wife was willing to give him one of her kidneys and she tells a story of how she went through this experience. There were so many people who asked her why would she do this? Why would you risk your life to do this? But she was joyful

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about it all. It enriched her life. It brought them closer together. She risked her life and shared what she had in order to make it possible for her husband to live his life. Sacrifice. Sacrifice has a way of transforming our lives. It has a way of lifting us to a higher level when we are willing to

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sacrifice. My mother's sacrifice had a powerful influence upon my life because when I saw how she was going to work from early in the morning to late in the evening and how she was doing everything for me then I gave up a lot of things because I figured I would make the best marks in school, I ought to be the best

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possible person I ought to be as a student because of the sacrifice that mother was making for me to be there. And there is one, there is one who has made even a greater sacrifice, there is one who went to that hill called Calvary and and gave his life in order that we may live more abundantly.

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Who made the supreme sacrifice? And because of his sacrifice, we ought to live a life that is transformed by the renewing of our minds

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so that in Christ we are new, new beings, new creatures. And we can say, "Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, "by the power of grace divine.

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"Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, "and my will be lost in thine." So if any person has this changed way of life, if any person has been so transformed,

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And that, brothers and sisters, is what we're all about. We are a congregation in the business of transforming people, of changing lives. That's what Jesus went about doing,

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and that's our task, that's our mission. So we can say, I want to live above the world, though Satan's darts at me are hurled, for faith has caught the joyful sound,

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the song of saints on high ground. As we sing now the invitation, Jesus paid it all, we extend the privilege for those who would-- [MUSIC PLAYING]

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Go in the church this over. [ Music ] I hear the Savior say, "Thy trinity is small; Turn of me, there's much in vain;

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I give Thee Thine all at all." Jesus played it all, all to him I owe; Said, "Has not the Prince of Spain?" He watched him by his toe.

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♪ For now indeed I find ♪ ♪ That Thou and Thine alone ♪ ♪ Can change the limpest heart ♪ ♪ And melt the heart of stone ♪

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♪ Jesus, say it all ♪ ♪ Oh, do you my own ♪ ♪ Skin has left the princess' face ♪ ♪ It was as white as snow ♪

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♪ For nothing good have I ♪ ♪ Where I've had grace to thank ♪ ♪ I've washed my garments white ♪ ♪ In the blood of Calvary's Lamb ♪

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♪ Jesus came in all ♪ ♪ All to Him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin has dealt the prince no slave ♪ ♪ He washed it for his stone ♪

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I've been before the throne, I stand in Him complete. Jesus died, my soul to save, my death shall still repeat. Jesus lay in awe, all to the idol; Still as that no prince of Spain

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He was in white as snow. (music) [ Music ] (gentle music)

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(upbeat music) [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [ Music ]

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♪ You can lead by giving ♪ ♪ No matter how you try ♪ ♪ Just as you know ♪ ♪ As you are giving ♪

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♪ The Lord is in heaven ♪ ♪ Sometimes ♪ ♪ The more you give ♪ ♪ The more it gives to you ♪

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♪ Because people are giving ♪ ♪ Because it's really true ♪ ♪ And you can't ♪ ♪ Keep on giving ♪

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♪ No matter how you try ♪ ♪ You can't keep on giving ♪ ♪ No matter how you try ♪ ♪ And just as true ♪

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♪ As you are living ♪ ♪ If the voice in heaven ♪ ♪ Are loud ♪ ♪ The more you give ♪

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♪ The more he hears you ♪ ♪ 'Tis a giving ♪ ♪ Because it's really true ♪ ♪ That you can keep on giving ♪

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♪ No matter how you try ♪ ♪ Should we receive ♪ ♪ And never give ♪ ♪ The same ♪

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♪ You died ♪ ♪ And we might live ♪ ♪ His life ♪ ♪ On Calvary ♪

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♪ He gladly gave ♪ ♪ Our sinful souls ♪ ♪ To save ♪ You can be God-giving, no matter how you try.

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And just as sure as you are giving, ♪ And the Lord is in heaven on high ♪ ♪ All you give ♪ ♪ All you give to you ♪

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♪ But keep on giving ♪ ♪ Because it's really true ♪ ♪ You can't ♪ ♪ Because you are ♪

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[BLANK_AUDIO]