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[ Music ] He'll renew us with the Lord in the light of his Word, For the glory he sets on the way. While we do his good will, he abides with us still,

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And with all who will trust and obey. Stand o'er thee, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey

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Not a shadow can rise Not a cloud in the skies But his smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt nor a fear,

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Not a sigh nor a fear, Can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey, For there's no other way

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♪ To be happy in Jesus ♪ ♪ But to trust and obey ♪ ♪ Not a burden we bear ♪ ♪ Not a sorrow we share ♪

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♪ But a calling of peace we bear ♪ ♪ Not a pain our own loss ♪ ♪ What a proud, moral cause ♪ ♪ Where can it be ♪

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♪ Trust in your faith ♪ ♪ Trust and obey ♪ ♪ For there's no other way ♪ ♪ To live happily in Jesus' ♪

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♪ God's true love ♪ Hear this scripture recorded in the gospel according to Mark the 30th through the 32nd verses in the fourth chapter of that book. And he said, "Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard

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seed which when it is sown in the earth is less than all the seeds that be in the earth, but when it is sown it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs and shooteth out great branches so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. When a little bit is a lot is the subject. When a little bit is a lot. Out of that which

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small comes greatness. A little bit becomes a lot. The magic sequoia of California, that tree which is mammoth in size starts out as a seed weighing one three thousandth of an ounce and often ends up 270 feet tall with a base diameter of 40 feet and weight estimated at 6,200 tons. Its growth is 600 billion times that which is huge, tremendous in size, develops from such a tiny seed.

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from that which is tiny to that which is tremendous in size. A little bit becomes a lot. The blue whale begins life as a barely visible egg, weighing only a fraction of an ounce. Then it grows gaining an average of 200 pounds a day and by the time it reaches maturity, which occurs in about 13 years, the blue whale is serious competition for many of the submarines

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because at that time it may weigh more than 85 tons and exceed 80 feet in length. How strange this is and yet how significant. A little bit becomes a lot. When I was a boy it was quite customary for people who lived in our neighborhood to depend on one another to get this or that. In fact we borrowed almost anything and it wasn't

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anything out of the unusual for mother to send me next door to say that she wanted to borrow a little bit of this and a little bit of that a cup of flour or a cup of this or that and others did likewise but here as Jesus tells this story, this parable, he's talking to people who know what it is to face the

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stress and strain of life, the people who know what it is to be without and to have only a little bit on which to survive. And he uses this story to teach a very important lesson about life. It's a story that is about the kingdom of God. He's saying to us in so many words, "Let us not be confused about size," and that's a word that

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we need to hear today. We need not become confused about size. So often we are impressed by size. We are prone to judge the worth of movements by the size. And we have a tendency many times to underestimate people and to overestimate sometimes because of size. And we underestimate because of the view that we have concerning the size of people, the size of places, and the size of things.

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David was overlooked when Samuel came to his home to anoint the future king of Israel. There were those who were tall, who were robust and handsome, who were large in size, and they were the first that were paraded before Samuel. All of the boys were brought in, and David was not brought before him because David was just a little fellow, just a lad. He was considered too small, too

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insignificant. But to their surprise Samuel said I will not sit down until you bring in the other boy. Don't you have another son? Yes we do, but he's small, he's just a lad, he's insignificant. Well bring him in, I will not sit down until you do. People fail to appreciate Jesus because he came from a small town. They fail to get the message that he was the Messiah sent to save

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the world because he came from a little town. Nathaniel echoes the thinking of so many people when he says can anything good come out of Nazareth? So many people are ashamed of the fact that they came from a small town and instead of saying where they really came from they give a town that's large that people may remember more

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easily or may be more acquainted with. But we can be misled by size. Moses did not really realize the significance of the rod he held in his hand until he received the word from God that directed him to use it, that it would be a powerful instrument in the leadership which he was to provide for the liberation of God's people. Just a rod, yes, but when it's

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used under the direction of God, it becomes a powerful instrument. So life is like a mustard seed. It's a mystery. The size offers no true standard in the measurement of human values. There are many movements that have insignificant beginnings and develop into great movements. Life is like a mustard seed, it's tiny, it is among the smallest of seeds, yet it contains

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tremendous hidden possibilities. It has an immense potential, it has something within it, something mysterious as the seed, yes. Israel you see is a tiny nation among the nations of the world. It's like a mustard seed and yet it is through this seed that we receive the biblical revelation. It is through this tiny nation that we get the

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best glimpse of the greatness of God, the true revelation of what God means and what God is in human history. The divine relation has been given in its fullness through this tiny nation. So never be afraid because of small beginnings. Consider the life process. Consider how life progresses as a seed grows. Consider the hidden potential, that which is mysterious

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in every person. That seed which has within it that which causes it to grow, its intention is to grow. And so the kingdom grows by intention as well as extension. Seed grows by losing itself. We do not grow by keeping ourselves to ourselves, but by losing ourselves. Growth presupposes that there is room for expansion. For you see, growth, one grows by the extension of oneself, not by

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keeping ourselves to ourselves, but we grow according to how much we are able to share of ourselves with others. We grow according to how we can share of ourselves with great causes, how we can give ourselves to that which is greater than we are. A tree grows, tree grows, but a post rots. So one has to decide, you know,

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sometimes some people who just like like trees, they're growing. And you see some people as they get older and older they always somehow have a certain exuberance there's a certain enthusiasm about life and they never really grow old there's always something sort of young about them they're always growing opening

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themselves to new experiences and there are others that are like posts they're just station right where they are and they begin to rot as every post does. So whether one engages in the beautiful romance of becoming or whether one just decides to be put and to try to continue to maintain what we call the status quo. A little bit means a lot, when a little bit becomes a lot.

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Small beginnings. I remember when I was at Bishop College and there was a fellow there who was on the football team we called him skin down and he was in our class and he was just an average student and wasn't on the honor roll anything like that just getting by. He later dropped out to go to the Army and I saw him several years

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later and he had finished his stay in the Army and he had gone back to school and finished college. Not only did he get his bachelor's degree, he'd gotten his master's degree and he'd gotten his PhD. And I said, "Skin down, what happened to you?" I said, "You didn't seem to do anything when you were in college." He said, "Yes, something

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happened along the way and I just decided that I was going to do something in life." And somehow he got turned on and that's really what makes the difference of getting turned on. You know a little seed very very small, very very small, so so small that we are prone to think it's so insignificant and yet somehow when that seed is turned on from that little seed there comes a great plant. plant from that tiny seed something tremendous emerges a little bit becomes a lot a little bit.

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A principal says to a couple you just as well let that boy drop out of school there's nothing much she's gonna do. And 19 years later those parents are in an auditorium not only where this young man has received a PhD but he's being given an award and his opinion is being sought and when asked what really happened he says that

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somewhere along the way I got turned on. And how does one really get turned on? How does how does this really develop that sometimes the opportunities may be so small? Our talents may may appear to be so limited well

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It just takes a little faith a little faith. I'm talking about genuine faith real commitment, real religion of really being honest with ourselves and having ourselves together so that all that we are, as little and as insignificant as we are, say, "Well,

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I may not be much, but all that I've got, I'm going to use it to the best of my ability in a way that will not only make my life better, but will make the lives of others better." A little faith. A little faith.

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And Jesus said a little faith, a little real faith, I'm talking about having that commitment to that which really matters of somehow recognizing the eternal values in life. And when you commit yourself to that, a little faith can change the course of one's history. That's the mystery.

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That's the mystery. That's the mystery of our history, how a little faith can move mountains. Now this woman had a terrible malady, and she had an issue of blood. She'd been troubled by it for many years, and she decided that she would try to make her way to Jesus.

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And she said, "If I can just touch the hymn of his garment." Oh, I don't have much. I can't commend his attention. I'm just a little person in the crowd. But if I can just get close enough to touch the hymn of his garment, I believe that it will make me whole. And she got there. She struggled there and she was able to just touch the hymn of his garment.

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and that changed her life. A little faith, a little bit, a little commitment, a little commitment that's made that somehow recognizes that God is over all and as little and as insignificant as we are. We're just like a raindrop, just like a drop, a raindrop in the ocean. May not mean very much but still we are

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significant in God's sight and as important as we are in God's sight so important that he gave his son to save us and how a little bit becomes a lot well when there is authentic faith when there is real commitment real commitment Thomas Edison had a teacher to say that he couldn't amount to

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anything and advised his mother to take him out of school like the boy I talked about earlier and later he became one of the great inventors of all times. Just commitment. Winston Churchill somehow was in the lowest group in his class as he attended Harrah School and he never did get out of the low group but he became

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one of the great leaders of the world. Not so much in the things that we think of in the world, we think we have to have a lot of this and a lot of that. And so often I hear people say, "Well, you know, this group, you come from the lower socioeconomic group." In fact, America came from that group. You know, we all came here poor, you see, and somehow the

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resources that can make us better, that the opportunities that somehow can turn us on to life, they're all about us. They're here for every one of us. A little bit, a little faith, and a little bit becomes a lot when there is a commitment, a genuine commitment to fulfill the divine design our limited resources our small talents become great when they are

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given to God. That little bit becomes a lot when somehow we put it in God's hands and we say Lord I'm gonna let you direct it I don't know what to do with it I don't know how it ought to be used but I'm gonna let you direct it. Here is a widow and she just has a little meal in the barrel and she says well I was gonna

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eat that and that's all it's a time of a famine and I plan to eat that and die just have my my son here that's all we have and the Prophet comes on the scene and says well make the first cake for me the Prophet of God and she's led of the spirit to do that and when she goes back she finds more meal in that barrel and

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and they continue to eat for many days. Well that's how God somehow blesses our resources. Limited though they are, that somehow when we open the door, when we open our hearts to God and say Lord come in, use it. Somehow God magnifies it, blesses it over and over again. When we decide that we're going to let God

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direct our lives when we give what little we've got to God and let him determine the course we are to take. We find that the widow who has two mites drops in all that she has in the collection plate and Jesus who stands by seeing this says that she has given more than all who dropped in coins that were

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valued far more, but somehow she has given all that she has. A lad with his lunch, he gives everything that he has and Jesus takes it and multiplies it and feeds a multitude of five thousand. A little bit becomes a lot when it's used in the way that fulfills the divine command or the divine design. Kingdom of God, says Jesus, is like a mustard seed.

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Small, insignificant, and yet it grows and becomes a great tree. Twelve feet in height, so great that birds come and lodge under it. It's not our relationship to things that really relationship to things that really somehow makes our lives so significant. It's our relationship to God. That's really what makes it. So often we feel so insignificant and we really wonder

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whether our life is worth living sometimes. But what really makes the difference is whether or not our lives are rightly related to God. In Japan, they've learned how to raise what we call "dwarfed trees," trees that are dwarfed. But how they do that, they take a tree that would be a large tree. They take that plant and they cut the tap root and as a

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result of cutting that tap root the tree is forced to live on the small surface roots only so that what otherwise would be a great oak or great pine becomes a little tree of 12 or 18 inches in height because the taproot has been cut. So often the reason we don't develop the way we ought to develop is our taproot has been cut.

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And a tree that starts as a small tender plant that has the great possibility of becoming a mammoth tree is dwarfed and relies just on the surface roots and doesn't have that deep relationship, that root which goes into the depths of the earth and draws from the rivers of water. that tree that does not really rely upon the eternal because the taproot is cut. And whenever we find ourselves relying upon those things that can pass away that are of such fleeting nature, we are depending upon surface roots. But God

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wants us to depend upon that relationship which gives us life. That relationship with ourselves and though little and insignificant we may appear we become a lot in the sight of God and in the sight of others because of our relationship with him. As we sing now our hymn of invitation, Savior more than

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life to me, hymn number 242 we invite you to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. The doors of the church are open. A little bit. [music]

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Our life is in Him, Savior, more than life to me. Bind me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee. And as we sing, we invite you to come. For the one who says that life is like a mustard seed

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is able, through the mystery of His Spirit, to bless us and to cause our lives to be extended. [music] Give me a service.

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♪ I am near ♪ ♪ He is close to me ♪ ♪ And I pray for him ♪ [Music]

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[Music] ♪ Shall fall the night ♪ ♪ He will rise ♪ ♪ And the heart ♪

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♪ Will rise ♪ ♪ Every day ♪ ♪ Every hour ♪ ♪ That He is ♪

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♪ My living power ♪ ♪ May thy peace ♪ ♪ Come to me ♪ ♪ I need no debt ♪

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♪ No debt ♪ ♪ Glory to thee ♪ - We continue now, we celebrate at the Lord's table

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observance of Holy Communion on that memorable night when Jesus was betrayed. He observed this meal with his disciples. And he has said that in as often as you do it, you show forth my death and my suffering

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until I come. [Piano Еще тот хорPH»л\PH> [""" targets and missiles are driven into the atmosphere of passing memory." Gentlemen, this full session is over.

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So the same sources, still supporting model missions, making use of technology. This is a symbol of our relationship to Jesus Christ as disciples in his kingdom. He is the Lord of our lives. He's our master.

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He guides us in all that we say and all that we do. He is the authority. He rules. And so we come as sinners, saved by grace.

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So we do not come to this table because of any rights of our own. It's a time of soul searching. Jesus says before anyone should eat and drink at this table, first let him or her examine himself or herself.

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And so let us in the spirit of penitence, in the spirit of humility, in the spirit of gratitude, bow our heads in prayer as Brother Dunlap leads us. As we graciously this morning bow our heads humbly in deep humility, as we come forth to observe this what man has set forth in his observance that we may partake, let us

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thank and praise those silent ones who think of him and show some type of gratitude in his namesake. us pray speak out for him then go forth and not be deceived by their thoughts and degrade him and their actions for sure Christian like things toward him as

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we observe this table before us today we like to recognize those that do not know him that they may come forth to observe him and partake of him as we pray this morning we wish to thank thee and the audience for their presence and remember that people are the ministers as you go forth hope that you may partake this

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with you in your Christian endeavors and your daily life these blessings we ask in his name's sake amen [Silence] Jesus took the bread,

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blessed it, and break it, and gave to his disciples. In ministering in his name, I give you this bread, representing the broken body of our Lord.

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Take and divide it among yourselves. Likewise also he took the cup and gave to his disciples. In ministering in his name, I give you this cup, representing the shed blood of our Lord.

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Drink ye all of it. (gentle music) (soft music) (soft music)

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(gentle music) [Music] [Music] [inaudible]

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[ Music ] [music] ♪ The potter saw a vessel ♪ ♪ Oh, yes he did ♪

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♪ That was broken by the wind and rain ♪ And he sought with so much compassion to make it over again. But I want that vessel that no one thought was any good. ♪ You are the potter and I am the clay ♪

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♪ Make me over again today ♪ ♪ Make me over again today ♪ ♪ Today ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪

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♪ Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ He picked up ♪ ♪ The pieces ♪ ♪ Of my broken heart ♪

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♪ My broken heart ♪ ♪ For the day ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ That made me ♪

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♪ A new vessel ♪ ♪ And refined my soul ♪ ♪ Again ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪

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♪ Picked up ♪ ♪ The pieces ♪ ♪ Of my broken heart ♪ ♪ My broken heart ♪

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♪ And make ♪ ♪ And make ♪ ♪ Me a new person ♪ ♪ And revive ♪

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♪ My soul ♪ ♪ Again ♪ ♪ And revive ♪ ♪ My soul ♪

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♪ Again ♪ [Music] There is one who should be served who has not been served in the audience other than the deacons. Would you raise your hand? [ Music ]

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Let us pray, pray together on our knees. Let us praise and give thanks to God our King. ♪ With my cross on my knee ♪ ♪ With my faith in the rising sun ♪

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♪ Oh Lord have mercy on me ♪ ♪ Ever see ♪ ♪ Holy ♪ ♪ Ever see ♪

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♪ One together ♪ ♪ On our knees ♪ [Music] ♪ Forever we ♪

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♪ Lie together ♪ ♪ On our knees ♪ ♪ Till I'm home ♪ ♪ On my knees ♪

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♪ Give my praise to the rising sun ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, I'll ever sing ♪ ♪ Oh, sing ♪ Amen.

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[ Background noise ] [Music] [ Silence ]