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[ Silence ] [ Music ] [ Music ] [MUSIC - "ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH"]

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(SINGING) Angels we have heard on high, singing, singing through the night. And the mountains in reply echoing their brave delight. ♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪

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♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Shepherds, joy this jubilee ♪ ♪ Why these songs of happy cheer ♪ ♪ What great brightness did you see ♪

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♪ What glad tidings did you hear ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪

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♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Come to Bethlehem and see ♪ ♪ There whose birth the angels sing ♪ ♪ Alma mater of Liberty ♪

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♪ Christ the Lord, the newborn King ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪

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♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ - Amen. ♪ It's me, it's me, oh Lord ♪

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♪ Standing in the need of prayer ♪ ♪ It's me, it's me, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Standing in the need of prayer ♪ It's me, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.

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It's me, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my mother, not my father, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my mother, not my father, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.

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Oh, it's me. It's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. It's me. It's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.

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[music] Any concerns you may have, make them known at this time. [inaudible] Booth Jr. and Monica Cox, are there other prayer requests?

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[inaudible] Let us pray. Gracious God our most heavenly father What a gracious privilege we have one more time to come before your throne of grace

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Lord how we lift up our hearts in praises and thanksgiving To you for this opportunity Lord we thank you for bringing us through one more week We thank you for just your mercy and your grace which comes in abundance

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Lord we can't even thank you enough for your goodness and your kindness So we ask in the name of Jesus that you would take our very very very feeble Thank yous and know that Lord. This is the best that we can do but truly Lord. We thank you for Everything that you have done

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Lord we praise you this morning for you are so worthy to weep to be praised we praise you for your We praise you for your steadfastness. We praise you, dear God, because we know we can trust and depend on you.

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We know, dear God, that everything we need, that if we bring it to you, you will provide. And, Lord, we say thank you. Oh, Lord, we come this morning in the midst of this Advent season

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to praise you for creating a perfect situation for man. Lord, we don't have to be lost. All we have to do is come believing in our hearts that Jesus is the Christ that he is your son that he died He was buried and that he rose and right now

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He sits on the right hand of the father pleading our case. All we have to do is believe Lord, thank you for that. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect situation. Thank you for our salvation And then lord, we thank you that you sealed it with the holy spirit. So master all we can say again is thank you. Jesus Thank you. Lord, there have been names that have been lifted up this morning.

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There have been names that weren't lifted up. There are cares that have not been lifted up. There are situations that have not been lifted up. We have those who are still dealing with bereavement. Dear God, we pray for them this morning. But Lord, we want them to know that all is well. Because it's in your hands. That all they have to do is just wait on you.

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And trust and depend on you because you surely take care of all of your children And lord, we just thank you once again as we come around the altar This is very symbolic lord because one day we won't stand at this altar at ebenezer One day dear god, we'll stand at the altar in heaven and truly there as now we will praise your name

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Master, we ask that you would forgive us of our sins. We know that we have said something We know that we have done something that was not pleasing in your sight But we thank you that you could wash us and make us as white as snow Lord help us to humble ourselves before thee and seek your forgiveness

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Now Lord, we pray for those who are outside the arc of safety We pray that we will live a life that will be worthy of someone coming to say what is it about you? What must I do Lord? That's the job of the church to save this dying world not to join it but to be pulled out to be a light

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Among men so that they may see your good works and truly you will receive the glory Bless now this worship service breast bless the preached word help us to set aside All our concerns and worship you in spirit and in truth. Thank you. Thank you Jesus. Amen Amen.

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(piano music) ♪ O mercy of the king ♪ ♪ Oh, glorious of old ♪ ♪ Ungratefully singing ♪

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♪ His wonderful love ♪ ♪ Our shield and defender ♪ ♪ He entered the place ♪ ♪ Your building's splendor ♪

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♪ And burn it with praise ♪ ♪ I'm now deformed ♪ ♪ O'er death ♪ ♪ What harm can we sight ♪

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♪ If grief in the air ♪ ♪ It shines in the night ♪ ♪ He sleeps from the hills ♪ ♪ He descends to the plain ♪

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♪ And sweetly descends ♪ ♪ In the blue and the rain ♪ ♪ In the blue and the rain ♪ ♪ Children of God ♪

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♪ And people and freedom's name ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Your blood it will ♪ ♪ Thy mercies how tender ♪

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♪ Offer to the air ♪ ♪ Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Prince ♪ ♪ Oh, worship the King ♪ ♪ Oh worship, oh worship ♪

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♪ Oh worship, worship the King ♪ (upbeat music) [ Music ] Go tell it on the mountain,

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All round the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born. Go tell it on the mountain,

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All round the hills and everywhere. ♪ Oh, tell it on the mountain ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ is born ♪ ♪ While shepherds keep their watching ♪

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♪ O'er silent flocks by night ♪ ♪ Behold throughout the heavens ♪ ♪ That shone a holy light ♪ ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪

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♪ Over the hills and everywhere ♪ ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ is born ♪ The shepherds feared and trembled when low above the earth

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rang out the angel chorus that hailed the serpent's birth. Why don't you go? Go tell it on the mountains. ♪ Over the hills and everywhere ♪

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♪ Go tell it on the mountains ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ is born ♪ ♪ Out in a lonesome manger ♪ ♪ The humble Christ was born ♪

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♪ And God sent a salvation ♪ ♪ That blessed Christmas morn ♪ ♪ Why don't you go ♪ ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪

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♪ Over the hills ♪ ♪ Over the hills and everywhere ♪ ♪ Why don't you go ♪ ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪

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♪ That Jesus Christ is born ♪ ♪ Why don't you go ♪ ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪ ♪ Over the hills and everywhere ♪

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♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ is born ♪ - Amen. Hear this word, St. Luke, the first chapter, beginning with the fifth verse.

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"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, the course of Abbi, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were

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now well stricken in years. The subject of the message, when the biological clock stops ticking. Christmas is about new birth, new beginnings. It's about a babe.

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It is about a particular time, certain conditions that may prevail in our lives. in the days of Herod the king, the time when Herod ruled Judea. There was this couple, Zacharias, who was born into a priestly family. His wife, Elizabeth, was also a preacher's daughter.

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There is this statement that attracts our attention. They had no child, no hope for the future, no one to carry on the family name, no meaningful extension of oneself. They had no child, no offering for the eternal, no offering to be made to God because they

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had no child. Elizabeth, the wife, is barren. When that situation prevails, men often have a tendency to blame the woman. So she's singled out here as being barren, as in this particular statement but it doesn't stop there. It seems to include the men because it says that they were both well stricken in years. Biological clock had stopped ticking.

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So, I'm sure they spent a great deal of time recalling youthful days. When a couple grows old, they seem to rely more and more on memories, talk about what they used to do. This is the situation the biological clock had stopped ticking. Oh I'm sure that Zacharias and Elizabeth in the days of their youth, after the

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marriage, in the honeymoon, they expected some sign of assurance that they would be blessed by God with a child. But month after month passed by and they were disappointed each time. Those months stretched into years.

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And now they have passed through the youthful period and they are senior citizens. And they face the reality of their situation. The biological clock has stopped ticking. So life for Zacharias becomes a routine.

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The excitement is gone. He's no longer full of vim, vigor, and vitality. He's lost his zip. He does not have in September what he had in May.

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Time passes on. sand in an hourglass are the days of our lives. They pass on. Zachariah continues to serve God, to officiate as a priest, representing God to the people and the people to God. He He keeps on serving, even when the biological clock stops ticking.

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The priest takes his course. When his time comes, he serves. And now he waits. couples when the biological clock stops ticking, they face a crisis and become anxious and

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depressed in the biological clock. Some have gone to the doctor and they have been told this, they weep. I have known couples to weep and engage in long periods of depression when the biological clock stops ticking.

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Some have said, I usually ask marriage couples before they, when they come for marriage counseling, do you wish to have children? And most of the time the answer is yes.

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But what would you-- how would you feel? How would you react if you could not have any children? And they all say they would accept it and they-- some say they would adopt, seek to adopt.

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And I've known some to whom the doctor has said that they could not have children and they have adopted. And then later to their amazement, they had a child. >> Yeah.

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Many things happen. It's according to how we react when the biological clock stops ticking. Time runs out. And it runs out on us many times before we achieve our goals.

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Before we know it, the sunrise is turned into a sunset, and our hopes are not realized. The days on the calendar vanish like glittering sparks. We hardly finish the introduction before we find ourselves confronting the conclusion the biological clock stops ticking.

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But Zachariah and Elizabeth continue to carry on even though the clock stops ticking. In my office at home, on the wall, I have what we call "grandfather's clock." It came from my grandparents. I had it repaired by a watch repair service person

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and placed on the wall so I could keep it. But it makes the sound every time it strikes the hour. If it's one, it makes the sound of one. If it's 11, it strikes 11 times.

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And we discovered that we couldn't sleep to the sound of that clock. So I had the watchman, or the watch person, the clock person, in this case, to come back. And even though the clock was in excellent condition, to arrange it, to fix it so that it wouldn't make any sound.

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So he stopped it. on the wall, but it keeps no time, no ticking, no sound comes forth from the clock. Well, sometimes we have jobs on which we must punch the clock, and we have certain duties to perform within a certain period.

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Zachariah continues to perform his duty through the various stages of life. And now they have reached the time which they know with certainty that the biological clock has stopped ticking. What do you do when the biological clock stops ticking?

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Well, Zachariah and Elizabeth have come to the point in their lives where that has occurred. And as you read this story, Zachariah, when he reaches this period in his life, he goes to the temple, just as he had done in prior times, and he continues to perform his duties. Zechariah goes to the temple, Zechariah continues to worship, Zechariah keeps the faith, he

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does not let hope die. Our relationship with what is time bound ends, but Zachariah continues to perform his duty to the Lord. His relationship with God goes on beyond the point where the biological clock stops ticking. The old order passes away. A new order emerges. Zachariah and Mary represent the old order. A child that would be born would be the new

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order. So cheer up, children of faith. The biological clock has stopped ticking, but when you're rightly related to the eternal, you can reset the clock and keep only then. So the writer of Hebrews picks up this theme when he says, "Jesus Christ, The same yesterday, today, and forever.

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So this celebration of the Christmas season is a celebration of the invasion of the eternal to the temporary, God breaks in. Well, beyond all we may know and we may expect, God breaks in. We call it a miracle, a miracle of grace that God invades. He breaks into our lives, he comes to be with us even when the clock stops ticking, biological clock. "Abraham!"

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"Yes, Lord, you shall have a child." "Well, Lord, I'm far beyond the period." "Sarah!" "Yes, biological clock has stopped ticking for us, but you shall have a child. Not only I say you have children, but you shall have many, many children, even though while this word comes to you, the biological clock has stopped ticking.

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God has a way of breaking into our lives and extending them in ways that are surprising to us. Then he enables us to do wonderful things in his name. When the biological clock has stopped ticking, God invades, God breaks in.

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So today is what it is because God helps to make it so. He creates each day. Yesterday is the same. It can't be changed by us.

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But God controls not only yesterday, but today and forever. That's good news. God sends himself. He brings us into relationship with eternity so that when the biological clock stops ticking,

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we can reset the clock and keep on living. We can live always. So Jesus Christ makes that possible. He is the Lord of time.

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That's a wonderful thing. Sometimes it passed us by. We've done some things in the past and we can't go back. We can't turn back the clock like Ali who does in his series, have a time machine and

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go back. But God can relate us not only to today, but he can relate us to yesterday as well as to eternity. That's good news.

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That the things that we've done that are wrong and the mistakes we've made, we can't go back, but God can. He controls time.

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He's in control. He's the Lord of time. And he enables us when the biological clock stops ticking to reset the clock

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and to go on living. That's good news. There are many changes that occur. Stars change in their sockets.

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And we see changes in our society. Governments change. And we've just been surprised this morning that Saddam Hussein has been caught.

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He's apprehended. and noticing changes all over our world. But God is the changeless one. He is that which is constant.

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When everything else seems to be falling apart, God remains constant. He is the eternal. And so, the best celebration of this,

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is this Christ event is to be hooked up with the eternal. So that whatever changes may occur in our lives, that somehow we are prepared that in the midst of all of the discontinuities of our existence,

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we have that continuity which is in Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, that's good news. That's good news. That the Christ of Christmas is with us always.

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So He is the one that is a part of me and a part of you that is eternal. It goes on. Oh, there's a part of us that we will put in some cemetery somewhere or have some other way of our barrel as a part of us that is applicable to that passage that says dust

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to dust, ashes to ashes, part of us will go back to the dust. But there is the Spirit of God, that spark of divinity that he has put in every creature that will live on. That part will go on.

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we sing about it when we say, "Thou, thou my everlasting potion, more than friend or life to me all along this pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with thee." Close to thee. Close to thee. All along this pilgrim journey, Savior, let me

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walk with thee. So, when the biological clock stops ticking, hold hands with the eternal. Hold on. And so you may be able to say in the language of another hymn, "When this feeble life is o'er, time for me won't be no more; guide me gently, safely o'er to thy kingdom shore, to thy shore.

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And the biological clock stops ticking, reset the clock, and keep on dipping. We come now to extend the invitation for Christian discipleship. Brothers and sisters, time is running out. It runs out on all of us.

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always lose the race with time down here. That's why it's necessary to be hooked up with the eternal. So that time, the time we talk about gets swallowed up in eternity. So as we sing we extend the privilege for you to come while you have time, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and into the relationship with the family of

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God here at Ebenezer. We invite you to come. We invite you to come. By letter, by Christian experience, on professional faith. Come. (piano playing)

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Come, while you have time. While the clock is ticking, come. ♪ Come, come to Jesus ♪ ♪ Love you and I ♪

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♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ Make up your mind ♪ ♪ Make up your mind ♪

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♪ He will make your life brand new ♪ ♪ He will make your life brand new ♪ ♪ Oh, he will take care of you ♪ ♪ If you take care of you ♪

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♪ Come to Jesus ♪ ♪ Come to Jesus ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪

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♪ Oh, we need to say it again ♪ ♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪

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♪ While you have time ♪ ♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ Make up your mind ♪

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♪ Make up your mind ♪ ♪ He will make your life brand new ♪ ♪ He will make your life brand new ♪ ♪ Oh, he will take care of you ♪

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♪ If you take care of you ♪ ♪ Come to Jesus ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪ ♪ Just knowin' Jesus ♪

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♪ Sure has paid off ♪ ♪ Paid off in my life ♪ ♪ Home to Jesus ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪

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♪ You have time ♪ ♪ Though you may not have a friend ♪ ♪ Though you may not have a friend ♪ ♪ He'll go with you ♪

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♪ Go with you right on to the end ♪ ♪ Just come to Jesus ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪ ♪ Oh, just knowing Jesus ♪

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♪ Jewel has paid off in my life ♪ ♪ In my life ♪ ♪ Come to Jesus ♪ ♪ Come to Jesus ♪

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♪ You have time ♪ ♪ Although you may not have a friend ♪ ♪ May not have a friend ♪ ♪ He'll go with you ♪

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♪ Right on to the end ♪ ♪ Just come to Jesus ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪ ♪ Oh, come to Jesus ♪

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♪ Come, come to Jesus ♪ ♪ While you have time ♪ ♪ Come unto Jesus ♪ ♪ Make off your mind ♪

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♪ He will make your life brand new ♪ ♪ For He will take care of you ♪ ♪ Come to Jesus ♪ ♪ Come to Jesus ♪

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♪ While you have time ♪ - Amen. - Amen. - When the biological clock stopped ticking

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for Elizabeth and Zacharias. God sent his angel, Gabriel, to announce to them that they would have a child by the name of John, to give them the good news and the comfort of His presence. May we bow as we ask God's leadership with us during this week. Along the roads you travel, may the miles be a thousand times more lovely than lonely. And may you

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You have rainbows after every storm and hopes to keep you warm. And may there always be an angel at your side. Amen. Those who stood celebrating birthdays, will you join me in the rear of the sanctuary?

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] Amen, Amen, Amen.

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[ Music ] [ Music ] [Music] [ Silence ]