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SERMON: Chris McKenzie, First Baptist Church of Elizabethtown, IL
14 Plays3 months ago
"Risen With Christ"
Romans 6:1-14
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Easter Message
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this morning.
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And Father, as we worship you through the reading of your word, help us to put the world aside and the focus truly on what this day is all about.
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And Father, whatever words I speak this morning, let them be yours. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen.
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Well, as we gather on this beautiful Easter morning, i invite you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 6, verse 1 through 14.
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And this passage that we're going to read today speaks of the incredible truth that we are no longer slaves to sin. but Rather, we've been set free by the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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As we read this passage that's written by the Apostle Paul, he reminds us that when we follow Jesus, that we were baptized into him by death, and that just as we died with Christ, we're also going to rise with Christ forever.
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walk in
The Power of Jesus' Name & Faith
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the newness of life and simply what that means as we read this scripture today we're going to understand a truth that the world does not like to hear but that when we follow jesus it's no longer about us but it's all about him and we're going to see that as we open up in the scripture this morning the before we go into the scripture every year i like to read this poem and and i wrote this poem on easter sunday several years ago as i started thinking about the events that happened the things that our savior went through and his victory over death his victory over sin
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and the poem is called the sound of jesus there is a certain sound to the name of jesus i hear it when i say his name i can hear the joyous cry of the blind man healed in the footsteps of the man who was laying I can hear the breath of Lazarus arisen from the dead, and I can hear the gasp of thousands as they eat from a few loaves of bread, and I can hear the demons scream as they flee at the command of our mighty king.
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When you say his name, do you hear the trees start to sway? Do you feel the warmth of day as your sin is washed away? Do you hear the angels sing? Do you hear that heavenly rain?
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This isn't a simple thing. So tell me what you hear when you say. Jesus' name. Jesus, do you hear the mocking tones and the painful moans of Jesus as he's beaten when he should be sitting on a throne? Do you hear his cry as thorns pierce his brow? And do you hear the laughs of the crowd?
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Can you hear the whip that's whipping his flesh or torture that put most men to death? And do you hear those nails that they are hammering through his wrist? All this brought by the betrayal of Judas' kiss.
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Jesus, do you hear his words? Forgive them. They know not what they do. when you hear that, do you realize that they just murdered the truth? But you should keep listening. This is just the beginning of a beautiful sound that was created just for you I'm talking of the sound of a stone rolling away and Jesus conquering the grave.
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I'm talking about Jesus who is calling your name and saying it's time to get saved. Jesus, oh Jesus, there's just something about that name.
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And let me tell you, my friends, today as we gather here on this Easter Sunday, there is just something about that name. There is something about
Dying to Sin & New Life
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that name because he is not just a man, but he's God in the flesh and he did things that no man on this world that has walked this world could ever do.
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He lived the life that we couldn't. He succeeded where we failed. He died the death that we deserved. And death couldn't hold him.
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And he rose from the grave to promise us new life in him. And my friends, today as we open up the word, that's what we're going to see and that's what we're going to find out as we start in verses of chapter 6 in Romans.
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But Paul writes this, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live in it any longer?
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Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into his death? And to understand this passage a little further, we have to back up and remember what Paul was talking about before this. He was talking about God's grace that saves sinners. And let me tell you, my friends today, if you are sitting in here, you are someone that has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
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Every single one of us, from the youngest to the oldest, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But even though we see that, we can praise God because when we read before this passage, Paul writes, where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.
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And so if where sin abounds, grace abounds even more, what shall we do? Shall we continue on in sin so that we can sow how great the grace of God is?
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And Paul says no. No we shouldn't. And he brings up this understanding that we really have got to nail down. And we have really got to understand as we follow Jesus. This understanding that as we follow Jesus that we and our will and our desires have been put to the side and we have died.
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We see in scripture this understanding of us dying. We're not talking necessarily about a physical death, although we know that that is true, that each and every one of us in here will die one day a physical death.
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But we're talking about something spiritual. We're talking about who we were before Christ is going to die, and we are going to be made new. In Colossians 2, verse 20, it says, therefore, you died,
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says therefore if you die with Christ from the basic principles of the world why as though living in the world you subject yourselves to regulations Colossians chapter 3 verse 3 it's written you died and your life is hidden with Christ and God and even in first Peter chapter 2 verse 24 this
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and says He bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we, having died sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.
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And our very first point today, my friends, is this. Faith starts with death to sin and this world.
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Faith starts
Living Righteously & Eternal Life
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with death to sin in this world. And I've been asking this question a lot lately, but recall that moment that you put your faith in Jesus. Recall that moment of when you were outside of Christ and then you realize that and then you put your faith in Christ and now you're in Christ and if you recall that moment you remember that there was a change You remember that man all of a sudden you didn't want to do the things that you used to do Not that you didn't trip up not that you've never failed But I've told y'all before I was an angry little eight-year-old boy that wanted to walk in and was ready to fight when he got to school
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and the first thing I realized when I put my faith in Jesus the first thing that happened I walked in the school and all of a sudden I didn't want to do that anymore faith starts with death to sin and this world in verses 4 through 5 it continues on today
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And you'll hear me quote this verse quite often when we do baptisms, where it therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death.
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Then just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness.
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of his resurrection and our next point today my friends is after death to the world things lead us to resurrection And we're talking more again on a spiritual sense, but I praise God that he doesn't just say that we are going to live spiritually here in this world, but even after this world, he even promises us a physical resurrection.
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But we know this as we read the scripture, that Jesus died, so we too must die. That Jesus lives, and we too will live.
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We follow the steps of our Savior.
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And we see in Romans chapter 5, verse 10, how we have life in him, for if we were enemies, or if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.
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Much more having been reconciled, ah very big part there, we shall be saved by his life and let me tell you my friends I heard someone say on on an Easter Sunday years ago don't leave Jesus up on the cross yes he died for your sins He paid the debt he he took on the debt that you owed for your sins But he didn't just do that he rose from the grave to promise you new Life in him and that is our very next point is that faith in Christ leads us to new life My friends think about it like this if someone has a great debt
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If I go up to my buddy Dylan back there and he owes $100,000 to some company and I just go up to him and say, hey, I'm going to pay that. Well, that's wonderful, right?
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He's going to get that $100,000. Well, if y'all have $100,000, y'all let me know. I need to help Dylan out back there.
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But if I pay that debt, that's a wonderful thing. He's relieved of that debt.
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But if I don't teach him how to live, if I don't teach them how to save, if I don't teach them how to spend, if I just hand that money over and walk away, what's likely to happen again?
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Yeah, buy more fire trucks, right? And here's the thing about what Jesus did. He died and he paid our debt, but he rose to promise us new life, to guide us.
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in his righteousness. Not to just say, hey guys, I paid the debt for your sin, but I rose and I'm a living savior that can teach you. I'm a living savior that has compassion.
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I'm a living savior that has experienced what you have experienced. I've been tempted and where you failed, i succeeded and I am able to lead you through all of the trials and the tribulations of life. I'm not just going to pay your debt, but I am going to teach you how to walk in my footsteps.
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And so that's why we need to look at that. He paid our debt by dying on the cross, but he also promises us new life in him and guidance in him because he rose from the grave.
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In Colossians chapter 2, verse 11 through 12, it says, In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.
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by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
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Jesus died for your sins, not just to pay for your sins, but he rose from the grave so that you could live him.
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One
Becoming a New Creation
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time fella, he asked me the question, well, why did Jesus die for you? Why did Jesus rise from the grave for you? And I said, well, he loves me. And isn't that true?
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That is true. That's biblical. that's That's the biggest part of it. And he says, yes, but everybody knows that, right? Now, at that time, it seemed like everybody did. Maybe and times are getting little bit different.
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I said why did Jesus die on the cross for you and why did he rise from the grave well he loves me yes you know that but why else could he do it and the simple answer is this so that you can live for him Jesus loves you and he died for your sins and he rose from the grave to promise you new life because he loves you And because he wants you to live for him.
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We go on now in verse 6 through 7.
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Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him. There we see again this understanding of death. That the body of sin might be done away with and that we would no longer be slaves of sin.
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For he who has died has been freed from
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And again, we see that understanding that we are dying with Christ and for a very specific reason. and Another verse that I like to read that goes along with this, one of my favorite verses, and I know that a pastor has a million favorite verses, but here's one of them.
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Galatians 2.20 says, I have been crucified. with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
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And there you see that point coming to fruition right there in the scripture, that he loves me. That's why he died, but I have been crucified with Christ and I don't live anymore.
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And what that means, it's not that I'm i'm not breathing right now. It's not that I don't have a mind and that I don't think and that I don't walk. It's that I have put myself aside. And remember what Jesus says.
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if you want to follow him, he says, take up your cross.
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What's the next part of that?
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Deny yourself and follow me.
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I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who lives, but who lives through me now? Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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Jesus died and rose again to make you into a new creation. And that's what scripture tells us when we turn over to 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
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all things have passed away and behold all things have become new and I praise God for that because outside of Christ outside of salvation there wasn't much good about me I've heard people talk about the inerrant good of of mankind but time and time again we open up the history books and what do we see mankind doing I know Sister Wendy got to go to Rome and she got to see a lot of the things that went were very brutal about history too there.
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ah war The horrible things to death.
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And so when I look at scripture, I don't see much that's good about mankind in the sense that we're just going to eventually come together and sing Kumbaya one day.
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But in Christ, he makes us into a new creation. He takes the bad stuff. He takes the evil desires that we have here in this world, and he gives us a new desire to follow him.
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And our next point is this, a genuine relationship with Jesus leaves the old man behind in death and lets Christ live through
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in verse 8 through 9 we continue now if we died with christ we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that christ having been raised from the dead dies no more death no longer has dominion over him and that's the same promise that we have in jesus that when we put our faith in him and we died to sin and we died to this world and we died to ourselves
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that us dying and being raised again with him we die no more there's something i read at funerals quite often where paul uh quotes hosea 13 14 and he quotes it when he when he's writing in first corinthians 15 55 58
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And I love reading this passage, especially when I'm going to a funeral of a brother or sister in Christ that has died, because even though their body is there, even though the flesh and bones are there, I know one truth that gives us hope, that gives us a way to stand when we read this and we say, oh death, where is your sting?
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Oh Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain.
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We get to look at death and say, death, you don't have a sting anymore. You know how? Because you tried to take my savior and he just couldn't do it. And I followed him.
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He gives me the same victory over death because he rose and I follow him by faith. I can say, oh, death, where is your sting? You can't kill my savior and you can't kill me
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Oh Hades or oh hell where is your victory that was the path that we were heading on but when we put our faith in Jesus repented of our sins and followed him no longer are we on a path to hell but we become citizens of heaven for those that are born again let's put their faith in Jesus and you won't feel the sting of death.
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You've been given life, a new life, and life more abundant, as scripture would say, in victory through the blood of Jesus and the resurrection of our Lord.
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And then verse 10 and 11, for the death that he died, he died sin once for all But the life that he lives, he lives to God.
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Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God and Christ Jesus our Lord. And so he died once and for all to sin.
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This means he doesn't have to go to the cross again. This means that he doesn't have to go through all of that again. He did it. His his sacrifice was perfect. His resurrection was glorious.
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But it says we also die once to sin. And therein
Freedom from Sin & Living Under Grace
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lies a promise, my friends, too, that by faith when we follow Jesus, that no one can take those promises away from us, that sin can't ensnare us again. Don't get me wrong, every once in a while it'll stick out its leg and try and trip you up, but no longer does it have dominion over you because you have died to it and you have risen with Christ.
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And you go from death to life. I remember what Paul writes in Ephesians 2, verse four through five about this.
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But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trece trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
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By grace you have been saved.
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and finally in verses 12 to 14 therefore as we read all of this and bring it together do not let sin rain in your mortal body that you should obey it and its lusts do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being lied from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.
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My friends, sin found strength in the law. And what does that mean?
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When you look at the law, when you look at the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not lie. Has anyone in here lied before? Every single one of us, probably. Let's start telling them that now.
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Thou shalt not kill well a lot of us will say yeah, I did get on that one But Jesus says if you have hate in your heart You've committed murder
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There are so many things that shall not come in and let's you know we can look at the Ten Commandments and there's ten commandments right there, but there's over six hundred and thirteen roles and And those laws were not put into place so that we could look at them, live by them, and be holy. Those laws were put into place to show us that we are guilty and unholy and that we need a savior and that we need to put our faith in Jesus and follow him because the law cannot save you.
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But you want to know what can save you? Jesus. the grace of God through Jesus, by faith, we can be made whole. We can be forgiven.
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And where the law shows guilt, Jesus says, I'll wipe away their lawless deeds and their transgressions and remember them no more.
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And when we realize that, that we are no longer under the law, that we are no longer held back by guilt, were able to stand up and live life as people that have been set free by the blood and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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And our last point is this, we should live as if we have been saved by grace.
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Letting
Conclusion & Call to Faith
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the righteousness of Christ be evident in our lives. And simply what that means is that you follow him.
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you go where he calls you to go. You do what he tells you to do. You put yourself aside and listen to him.
00:27:09
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and Galatians 5.1 it says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty, that freedom by which Christ has made us free. And do not be entangled again.
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with the yoke of bondage. My friends, today on this Easter Sunday, remember this. Jesus died for you to wipe away your sins, and he rose for you so that you can live for him.
00:27:41
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you didn't get anything else from the message today, remember that. And if you're a Christian, your call has simply To go back to Galatians, I think Galatians 2.20 really sums up the whole message there.
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I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives through me. In the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave him himself for me. If you're born-again believer today, go out of here and let Jesus live through you. Let his light shine on this dark and dying world.
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And if you're not a Christian today, want you to hear this as well. Jesus died for you too. Jesus rose from the grave for you too.
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He wants to save you. He wants to make you into a new creation, but he gives you choice to make.
00:28:46
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Today, if you have not put your faith in Jesus, he offers you life. everlasting life abundant life not in the ways that this world expects like with material wealth and possessions but joy and peace that surpasses all understanding and a promise that when we take our last breath that we get to be with him
00:29:15
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Jesus offers you that life today But you must make the choice to turn away from this world, to die to the world, to die to yourself, to die to sin, and let Jesus live through you.
00:29:32
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And then he's going raise you up, just like he raised was raised up, to walk in the meanness of life.
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So, you heard the word today. Now the choice is yours. What you do with it?
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Let's pray.