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In the name of the Father, and of

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the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one

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God, Amen.

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Our beloved fathers, deacons, and our beloved nuns,

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and congregation, for all of you who are

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watching us through live streaming, I pray that

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you are always in good health and in

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good spirit.

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We thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

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forever and evermore, for he is always the

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loving Heavenly Father, for he's always the Lamb

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of the God that carries away the sins

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of the world, for he's always the ever

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-enlightenment, the wisdom, the source of wisdom, and

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the truth that stands forever, and for giving

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us always this opportunity to be in his

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holy house, celebrating the true body and the

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true blood on the holy altar of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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We thank our Lord for his body and

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blood that was shed on Calvary.

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We receive his body and the truth, and

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we receive his blood and the truth.

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It is the true presence of Christ in

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the body and the flesh.

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It is not symbolic, but it is the

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truth, and the Lord Jesus gave us his

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body and blood in the last supper, when

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he stood up and he broke that bread,

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and he gave to his disciples and said,

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this bread is my body.

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It has been broken for the forgiveness of

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sins, and he took the cup and blessed

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and thanked and gave it to the disciples

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and said, this is my blood that has

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been shed for the remission of the sins

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of the world.

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We thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

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our Beloved.

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In the Gospel of today, from the Gospel

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of Saint Luke Chapter 17 and verses 5

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to 19.

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Luke 17 verses 5 to 19.

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The Lord Jesus was talking to his apostles,

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and then they came to him and they

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said, Lord, increase our faith, strengthen our faith.

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The Lord Jesus said, if you had a

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faith like a mustard seed, you would say

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to this sycamine tree to be uprooted and

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thrown into the ocean and it will happen.

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My beloved, a mustard seed, it is one

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of the tiniest seeds out of all seeds.

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In size, it is the smallest.

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The Lord is saying, if you had faith

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as small as the mustard seed, you can

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say to this particular tree to be uprooted

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and cast into the ocean.

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This particular tree, my beloved, it is symbolically

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here representing the trials we go through, the

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obstacles we have in our life, the challenges

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we face on a day-to-day basis.

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The sycamine tree, the roots are extremely deep

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underground.

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They go very deep and they go very

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far as well, so the tree is actually

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strongly rooted into the ground.

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It is so hard to uproot this particular

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tree because of the strong roots this tree

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has.

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This represents the challenges we face in our

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life.

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What are the things that are so deeply

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rooted in the crevices of our being?

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What are the things that are deeply rooted

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in our souls, our minds, our hearts, and

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our spirits?

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What are the things that when we face

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them, we cannot overcome them?

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They are like the giants in our life.

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We need to slay the giants in order

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to make it to the promised land, Jerusalem.

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Whatever our challenges are, whatever our obstacles are,

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and whatever the stumbling stones in our way

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are, whether it be people, whether it be

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money, whether it be lusts, whether it be

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fame, whatever the challenges are, the Lord is

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saying to all of us, if you have

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faith as the size of this mustard little

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tiny seed, you will say to the most

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difficult things in your life, you'll order them

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and they will perish from your life.

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Faith, my beloveds, faith.

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Then the Lord Jesus goes on and he

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said, what do you think?

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Do you think when a master servant comes

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from the field working all day long and

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coming after a very long day of hard

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labor, do you think the master is going

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to say to that servant, go, wash up,

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you know, have something to eat and then

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when you finish, come and then look after

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your master?

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He said, I don't think so.

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When that servant comes back from the field

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after a hard long day of work, the

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master will say to the servant, gird yourself

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up and come and put food before me

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until I eat, then wash all the dishes

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and after you finish of washing everything and

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packing everything, then you can go and have

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something to eat.

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Do you think when the servant does this

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to his master, i.e. serving his master,

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do you think the servant will be commended

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for serving his master?

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He said, of course not, because he had

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just done what was expected of him doing.

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The Lord is trying to teach us all

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on how to serve in his church, on

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how to serve in his holy house.

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The Lord is saying to all of us,

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whether you are a clergyman or just a

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faithful in the church, a layman without a

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rank, the Lord is saying, when you come

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to serve your master, Jesus Christ, whatever you

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do, don't ever be boastful of what you

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do, because whatever you are going to do

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in the master's house, you are just doing

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what was expected of you.

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This is the least you could do is

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to serve your master, Jesus Christ.

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You will not be commended for serving the

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Lord, so do not wait for being applauded,

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do not wait for being recognized and acknowledged,

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do not wait to be paid for it,

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to be awarded something big for it in

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return, expect absolutely nothing.

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Whatever we do, we need to come back

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and say, we are nothing but the hopeless,

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useless servants in the house of our master,

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Jesus Christ, for everything we were able to

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do, it was through the Lord's grace, was

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made possible only.

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So we need to give back the glory

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to Jesus, we need to give every glory

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and praise to the Lord Jesus, no matter

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what we do, even if we raise the

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dead, we need to say, it was the

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Lord who raised the dead through me, I

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am nothing, I am a hopeless, useless servant

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of the Lord Jesus.

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Whatever we do, we should never expect a

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reward.

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Now why?

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Because our reward is not on earth, it

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is in heaven.

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And secondly, no matter what we do for

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the Lord Jesus, can we ever pay Him

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back for what He has done for us

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on the cross?

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Can we?

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Never my beloved, for what the Lord has

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done for us on the cross, on Calvary,

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all the beautiful things we could ever think

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of doing for the Lord Jesus, it is

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nothing compared to what Jesus had done for

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us on the cross, it is nothing.

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We fight in the church for position, we

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fight in the church for recognition, we fight

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in the church to be acknowledged, we get

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upset and offended, why wasn't my name mentioned,

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why was not applauded, why was not recognized,

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I did this and I built this and

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this is my doing and this is my

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genius of work.

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The Lord is saying, when you have faith

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as the mustard seed, when you have true

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faith, even if it's as tiny as the

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mustard seed, you will plug those deep roots

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that have been embedded in your spiritual life,

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in your soul, in your spirit, in your

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mind, in your heart.

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Get rid of those boastful things, get rid

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of that fame, get rid of that name,

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get rid of those stars that were on

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your shoulder, humble yourself before your Lord, because

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if you do not plug those vanity of

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all vanities out of your life, you cannot

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serve the Lord Jesus in his house.

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If you do not get rid of your

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pride, self-pride, you cannot serve the Lord.

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If you cannot get rid of and plug

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out of you, your own dignity, you cannot

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serve the Lord, because serving the Lord, it

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requires humility.

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Serving the Lord, it requires self-denial.

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How can you serve the Lord when you

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are boastful?

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How can you serve the Lord when you

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are searching for your own name and your

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own fame?

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How can you give glory to Christ when

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you are seeking your own glory from people?

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You are working in the church because you

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want to be applauded by people.

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Well, you are in the wrong place, my

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beloved.

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You are in the wrong place.

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You are in the wrong place.

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A true servant of Christ is the one

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that never reveals Him and herself.

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I beg you, when you serve in the

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church, don't ever show yourself.

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Don't ever reveal yourself.

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Don't ever seek to be applauded and acknowledged

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by others.

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Seek your Master.

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Seek your Lord Jesus.

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Seek His reward for you.

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Do everything in hiding, in secret.

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Sit at the back, and I'm saying not

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literally sit at the back, but sit at

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the back even when you talk to your

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own self from within.

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Because it is being boastful, it is not

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just when you show up physically.

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You can be boastful internally as well when

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wrong thoughts come in your head and gives

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you a big head.

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You have to be very careful.

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Don't let any thought give you false glory.

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Don't, my beloved.

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It requires self-denial humility in order to

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be able to serve the Master.

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I'll tell you this true story.

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This is a true story, my beloved.

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It happened not long ago.

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There was this preacher who was extremely famous

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in that particular country.

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It's a true story.

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He was extremely famous in that particular country.

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They used to invite him to all the

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churches in that country for being so powerful

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in his preaching.

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This preacher was accompanied without knowing, without knowing,

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he was being accompanied by this man who

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used to sit at the front, but he

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was so silent.

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He never made a move, he never made

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a whisper.

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He was unknown all these many years.

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He used to sit in absolute silence.

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No one knew who this man ever was.

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One day, the preacher and that man, they

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pass away, they move on from this world.

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One of the monks in a particular monastery,

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and I love monastic life, my beloved, it's

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stunning, amazing.

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One of the monks in this particular monastery

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had a vision.

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The angel came to him and he said,

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come, I'm going to show you a place

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in paradise.

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So he says, it's a true story, he

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says, he took me to this, to paradise,

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and he brought me to this magnificent mansion

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in paradise.

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And then I was a bit quick, I

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was a bit quick to speak, and I

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said to the angel, wait a minute, this

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mansion, I definitely know who it belongs to.

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This mansion definitely belongs to that famous preacher

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who had just passed away a few days

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ago.

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The angel said to him, you are wrong.

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This mansion is not for that famous preacher.

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The monk was shocked.

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He said, well, whose is it then?

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He said, this mansion belongs to that poor,

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that poor man that was sitting at the

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front on the floor, silent all his life.

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He said, you know why that preacher was

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so powerful in his preaching?

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He said, because the Lord Jesus looked at

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that man whose life was all about self

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-denial and non-existent.

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He never boosted about himself, he never showed

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himself, he never seeked no glory from no

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one.