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By becoming bitter, by refusing to forgive those

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that have wronged them and the enemy gets

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a foothold in people's lives.

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And you know, here's what happens.

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Somebody offends us, somebody hurts us, somebody does

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something to us that's wrong.

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And the Holy Spirit reminds us that God

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has forgiven us and he's been merciful to

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us.

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And the Holy Spirit then urges us to

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treat them in the same way, that we're

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to forgive, we're to let it go, we're

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to leave it with the Lord.

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But you know, the enemy comes in quickly

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and he comes with a list of reasons

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why we shouldn't do that.

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And just like with these other things that

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we're talking about, how they can become sometimes

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sort of a plague upon our minds, the

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enemy will come back with this stuff over

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and over and over and over again.

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You know, we talk today in our culture

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about people who, they have OCD, obsessive compulsive

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disorder.

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And people talk about, you know, this condition

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where there's an obsessive thought pattern, you just

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think the same thing over and over and

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over again.

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You know, a lot of OCD is satanically

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inspired.

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Satan will come along and he will keep

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pounding on that, he will keep putting that

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thought in your mind.

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He'll just drill it in there over and

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over and over and over again.

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And he'll wear you down and you'll start

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to buy into it.

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And you'll start to agree that, yes, that's

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true, I have a reason for my bitterness.

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I am justified in my hatred of that

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person.

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And through these kinds of things, the enemy

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is destroying marriages, he's destroying families, he's wreaking

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havoc in churches, and he's devastating people's lives.

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And in some cases, it's directly against God.

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Some people feel that, well, God has let

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me down, he's disappointed me, he hasn't done

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what I expected him to do, and now

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I'm mad at God.

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And I'm never going to church again, and

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I hate Christians, and you know, this kind

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of thing happens.

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What are we talking about?

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We're talking about a demonic stronghold that develops

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in a person's life.

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These are very real things, and many are

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succumbing to these things today.

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These are the devices of satan.

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We've got to be aware that this is

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what the enemy does, this is his work,

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and we have got to resist it.

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We've got to resist it.

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You know, you might say, but you don't

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know, I'm right.

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They're wrong.

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You might be right, but guess what?

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You can be so right that you become

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wrong.

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And you know how you become wrong?

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When you're so right that you take it

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into your own hands and you don't let

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God deal with it, that's when you become

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wrong.

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And there are people today who, their cause,

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they started out right, it was legitimate, they

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had a, you know, a genuine basis for

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their perspective, their take, their feelings, or whatever,

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but they came to a point of not

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being able to let it go.

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I often think of David's son Absalom.

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David's son Absalom, if you read the story,

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David's son Absalom, he had a lot of

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reason.

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In a lot of ways, he was right.

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David had failed miserably.

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He failed in his adulterous situation.

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He failed when Absalom's sister Tamar was raped

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by Amnon.

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David did not properly deal with that situation.

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He failed in so many ways.

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And in a sense, Absalom was right, but

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Absalom was so right that he became wrong

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because he didn't let God deal with it.

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He tried to take it into his own

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hands, and it ended up destroying him.

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And I see people today who are right,

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but they're wrong.

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They're wrong because they're not turning it over

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to the Lord, and the enemy keeps getting

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his claws deeper and deeper into their life

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through these issues.

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And so we don't want to let this

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stuff happen to us.

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We can't be ignorant of the enemy's schemes.

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How do we deal with this?

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Well, in the passage we read in Ephesians

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6, what did we read there?

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To take up the sword of the Spirit,

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which is the Word of God.

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We've got to combat all of these things

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with the Word of God.

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Whether it's condemnation, doubt, fear, the evil thoughts,

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we need to come back with the Word.

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That's why it's so important that we have

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a strong foundation in God's Word.

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That's why we teach it.

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That's why we encourage you to study it,

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to read it, to get to know it,

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so when the enemy comes, you can hold

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up that shield of faith.

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But then Paul said, praying always.

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And so we've got these weapons, the Word

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of God in prayer.

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In the 10th chapter of the 2nd epistle

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to the Corinthians, Paul says that the weapons

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of our warfare are not carnal.

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They're not merely human, but they're mighty in

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God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments,

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and every high thing that exalts itself against

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the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into

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captivity to the obedience of Christ.

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And he's telling us right there our weapons

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are powerful, but they're spiritual weapons.

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They're not carnal weapons.

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We've got to bring the Word of God

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to bear against all of these things, and

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we've got to resist the devil, but we've

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got to do so prayerfully.

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We've got to pray.

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Pray against these things.

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And when these things bombard us, when these

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temptations come our way, when these suggestions come

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to be bitter, to hold on to that

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hatred, we've got to say, no, I'm turning

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it over to Jesus.

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I'm trusting Him with the outcome.

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I'm leaving it in His hands.

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And so we prayerfully resist the enemy.

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We stand on the Word of God.

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And finally, remember this.

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Here's the great news.

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The God of peace will crush Satan under

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our feet shortly.

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That is great news right there.

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Jesus already has dealt the death blow to

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the enemy on the cross, and it's just

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a matter of time before that becomes universally

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apparent.

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And so we follow the Lord.

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And in this spiritual battle, we've got to

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have spiritual strength.

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We're no match for the enemy, but he's

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no match for the Lord.

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And that's why Paul said, finally, my brethren,

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be strong in the Lord and in the

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power of His might.

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God will give us the strength.

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We can't afford to be ignorant, lest the

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enemy get an advantage over us.

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But as we know his tactics, as we

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know his strategy, as we know the way

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he works, God will give us the grace

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and the strength to have a victory over

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those things.

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Let's pray.

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And Lord, how we thank you that we

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have the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

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And Lord, that you have defeated the devil,

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and you will publicly display that in the

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future.

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And so Lord, help us today as your

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servants.

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Help us, Lord, not to be ensnared.

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Help us not to be caught in the

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enemy's trap.

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Help us, Lord, to be aware of his

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wiles.

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Help us, Lord, to take the sword of

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the Spirit, the word of God, and help

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us to pray always.

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Strengthen us.

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And Lord, I pray for any this morning

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that are under any of these things that

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we've mentioned, that you would just lift these

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things from them.

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Anyone that has allowed Satan to have a

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foothold through unforgiveness or bitterness or anything like

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that.

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Lord, may they just be freed from that

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today as they would turn it over to

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you.

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So work in our hearts, we pray, your

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grace.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Let's stand together.

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If you need some prayer this morning, maybe

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a cord has been struck in your own

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life with some of these things.

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And you'd like to get some prayer, the

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pastors are up front.

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They would love to pray with you.

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Come on up and give them the opportunity

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to do that.

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If you're here this morning, maybe for the

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first time, and you've never heard any of

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this before, you don't know Christ personally, come

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on up to the front here and let

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the pastors talk with you.

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They can tell you more about the Lord

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and how you can have a relationship with

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him.

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May God bless you and fill you with

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his strength this week.

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May we go forth in victory as we

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serve our great, great God and Savior, Jesus

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Christ.

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And let's just close this morning.