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Ok, children.
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What have we got here?
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We've got a rock.
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And we've got an anchor.
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We've been talking about the fact
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that God is an anchor for the soul.
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We talked about yesterday
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that His promises are
an anchor for the soul.
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We put a promise up there on that pole.
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That pole's been helping us, hasn't it?
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Because that pole's pretty solid.
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The Bible talks about
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the anchor of the soul.
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Anybody know where it does?
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Where?
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Where in the Bible does it say anchor?
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Hebrews 6.
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Anybody know someplace in the Bible
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where it speaks about a rock?
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Anybody know something that's like a rock?
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Jesus Christ is called a rock.
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We've got an anchor.
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The Bible talks about an anchor.
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We've got a rock.
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The Bible talks about a rock.
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But let me ask you something.
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What's the greatest
emblem of Christianity?
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It's not an anchor.
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It's not a rock.
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Well, I said emblem.
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Like, a symbol or a sign.
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The cross.
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We've got a cross over here.
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This is Mr. Seth's homemade cross
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from a walking stick.
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Some of you saw this today.
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This is a brick.
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The Bible probably says
something about bricks too,
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but I'm going to leave that out right now.
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Our rock, I'm hoping,
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is going to hold our cross.
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The actual cross was a lot bigger,
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because they put a Man on that cross.
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What does that say to us?
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What does it say to us?
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(from the room:) God died on the cross?
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Tim: God can't die.
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Sometimes children say that:
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"God died on the cross."
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God didn't die on the cross.
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God cannot die.
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Only man can die -
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well, animals can die too,
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but man dies.
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There was a Man on that cross.
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Who's got the lights at their disposal?
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Kevin, could you turn
all those lights off?
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Except for maybe the last one.
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You know why I want that to happen?
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Something happened that
some of you might know
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and some of you might not know.
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Roman soldiers nailed Jesus Christ
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to the cross.
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They drove spikes through
His hands and through His feet.
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They hung Him on a cross
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next to two thieves.
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He was in the middle.
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There was one on His right hand
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and one on His left hand.
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Can I tell you something that happened
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while He was on that cross?
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Anybody know how long
He was on that cross?
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He was there for six hours.
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Six hours on the cross.
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Something that happened -
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I had them turn the lights out
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because when Jesus was
hanging on the cross,
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that hot bright sun out there -
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the same sun -
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that same sun that shines
in our sky right now,
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that sun went black at noon
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in the middle of the day
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when the sun is straight up in the sky.
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The sun went out.
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I don't mean it got covered by clouds.
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It went out.
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God caused the sun to go black
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in the middle of the day
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when Jesus hung on that cross.
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Darkness.
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Do you know what was
happening on that cross?
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In that blackness,
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in that darkness,
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Jesus hung on that cross.
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And if you go to your Old Testaments,
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and you listen to the prophet Isaiah,
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do you know what it says?
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It says that God smashed Him.
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Crushed Him.
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Did you know that?
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Did you know that God
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crushed His own Son
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when He was on that cross?
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Did you know that?
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The Bible says that He crushed Him.
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He was stricken.
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That's to hit.
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Smitten.
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He was afflicted.
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It's not funny.
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Why?
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This is God's Son.
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Let me tell you what happened.
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God is a Trinity.
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There is God the Father,
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and there is God the Son,
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and there is God the Holy Spirit.
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And the three are one Being,
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but three Persons.
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Very difficult for us to know exactly
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how that can be, but it is.
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That's what the Bible teaches.
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And do you know what happened?
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God the Father sent God the Son
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from the halls of Heaven;
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from His throne,
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from His glory,
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from His eternal
happiness with the Father.
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And He sent His Son into this world.
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God became man.
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God the Son came into this world.
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You know, Jesus Christ lived
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before He came here.
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He was the Word.
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In the beginning, the Word was with God.
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And He came here,
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and He became a man,
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just like us,
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in every respect,
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just like us.
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Except He never sinned.
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But His Father crushed Him.
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His Father punished Him.
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His Father punished Him for sin
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even though He never commited any sins.
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And the sun went out.
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The sun was black
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because God had forsaken His Son.
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God crushed Him.
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You know what God did?
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While He was on that cross,
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God laid our sin on Him.
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And He became sin.
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Christ became sin on that cross.
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And because He became sin,
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God punished Him for the sins of others.
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We've talked about God being an anchor.
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We've talked about His
promises being an anchor.
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I want to tell you,
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we talked about the anchor.
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The anchor's no good as
long as it slides around.
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It doesn't hold.
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You've got to have it
grab hold of something.
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I'll tell you what you want your anchor
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to grab hold of:
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this right here.
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The cross is only wood.
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The cross is only an emblem.
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But like you said, Christ.
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Christ.
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It's the One Who hung on the cross.
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He's not there.
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He's here.
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He's in our midst.
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There's no Christ on this cross.
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This is only a picture
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so that you can imagine
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what it was like in that day.
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But Jesus Christ -
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He hung there in the darkness.
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The sun did not shine.
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He hung on that cross
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between the ground and the sky.
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Hanging on a cross.
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And you know what?
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While God crushed Him
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for three hours
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He was silent except for one thing.
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He was silent.
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He suffered in silence.
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Do you know something?
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Many of you've got
spankings from your parents.
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You don't suffer in silence.
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You probably scream. You cry.
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Jesus was suffering.
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He was suffering more than
anyone else ever suffered.
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And He didn't say anything.
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He was quiet.
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Except, He said these words:
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My God, My God! Why have You forsaken Me?
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What does it mean to forsake?
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If somebody forsakes you,
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it means they let you go.
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They leave you.
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They don't help you anymore.
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God didn't help His Son anymore.
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God turned on His Son.
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God punished His Son.
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Do you know why?
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Because He became sin.
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And the sun was dark.
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And in the darkness,
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do you know what He did?
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He paid the penalty.
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So that, when He was done;
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when the six hours were over.
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The three hours of darkness were over.
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Jesus said, "It is finished."
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He paid the price for sin.
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Children, let me tell you something.
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Your life - you're alive right now.
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You've been playing;
you've been eating today.
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Can I tell you something about this life?
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The primary purpose for this life
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is it's the period of time
God has given you
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to trust His Son and what
His Son did on that cross.
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This life is not mainly
about getting married.
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This life is not mainly
about making money.
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This life is not mainly about eating candy
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and watching movies.
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This life is not about sports.
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It's not about getting new shoes.
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This life is the only one you've got.
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It's the only opportunity, children,
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that you have
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to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ
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and to trust - to have your anchor
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set fast on the cross.
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That's a solid place.
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Only in this life.
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And if you pass through this life,
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and you don't trust Him,
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your chance is over.
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Because I'll tell you,
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God punished His Son on that cross
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for sin.
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Sin that wasn't His own.
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It was the sin of others.
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And if you don't trust Him
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to suffer in your place,
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to be a sacrifice for you,
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then when you die,
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you will have to suffer for your own sins.
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Children, this is it.
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This life is the allotted time
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that you have to trust Christ.
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This is all you have.
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Children, lots of children die
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before they become adults.
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You know the guy that
ran over all the people
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over there in France?
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Did any of you see it?
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Did you know that a young man
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from Austin, Texas got run over?
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And he was no older than
some of you guys here.
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Gone. Did he think he'd be
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in eternity by now?
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He didn't think so.
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Don't think you'll live to be
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an old man or an old woman.
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You might not.
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You might.
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God might allow that to happen.
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But you have no guarantee.
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You have no guarantee of tomorrow.
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Don't waste time.
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Don't waste time.
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Children, you're not so young
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that you can't call on the Lord.
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Like we talked about yesterday.
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I was telling you yesterday,
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cry out to the Lord.
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And I was telling you
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trust Him for everything.
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But you know what the primary thing is
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you need to trust Him for?
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Not to give you food on your table.
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Not to give you a bed to sleep on tonight.
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But to give you forgiveness for your sins.
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Children, Jesus Christ -
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listen to me.
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This is the last thing I
want to say to you.
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You do not want to die
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and be punished for your sin
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when God provided you with a Savior.
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Can you imagine?
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Can you imagine
waking up in hell, children,
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and knowing that you had
a Savior provided for you
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and you didn't want it.
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You didn't want Him.
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And way back there in
Vacation Bible School -
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let me tell you, I know,
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some of you children,
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your parents don't take
you to church all the time.
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You may not hear about Christ again.
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Don't let any time go.
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You trust Him.
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You say how do you do that?
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Confess your sins to Him
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and ask Him to save you.
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Ask Him to save you from the penalty
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that your sins deserve.
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Ask Him to show you mercy.
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Ask Him to forgive you.
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Confess your sins.
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And children, you have sins.
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The Bible says that we're born liars.
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And you know it's true.
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Children, you know you've lied.
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And you know what God says?
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Liars have their part in the lake of fire.
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How can liars like all of us be saved?
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Because of what Jesus Christ
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did on that cross.
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You want to plant your
anchor on something solid?
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Don't let it slide all around in life.
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Plant it here.
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What Jesus Christ did on that cross -
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this may seem foolish.
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The Bible says so.
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Paul talks that way - the Apostle Paul.
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He speaks about the foolishness.
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The world thinks this is foolish.
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But it's not foolish.
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It's the greatest wisdom of all,
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that you'd believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ
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and you trust what He did
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in giving His life 2,000 years ago.
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And listen to those last
words that He said,
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before He gave up [His spirit.]
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He said, "It is finished."
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And He committed His spirit
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into His Father's hands.
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What does that mean "it's finished"?
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It means He did everything
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that God requires of you.
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He did everything
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so that you don't have to work out
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how to save yourself.
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He did everything to save you.
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Everything.
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And you know what He does now?
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He offers it to you as a gift.
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If you say, "I want that,"
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You can talk to Him.
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He's close to every one of us.
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He's here.
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He can hear you if you talk to Him.
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Like that - bowing down and praying.
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You don't have to speak out loud.
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Even if you just think it in your mind,
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He knows.
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We have a great God.
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He can hear every thought.
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He knows.
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Ask Him to show you mercy.
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You need mercy.
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I know you're children.
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You don't have a big, long record
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like some of us adults here,
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but still,
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you've got enough bad -
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you've got a lot of bad.
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You fight with your brothers and sisters.
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That's bad.
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You lie. That's bad.
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Some of you have stolen.
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That's bad.
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Some of you have dishonored your mom,
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dishonored your father.
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That's bad.
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This is really bad.
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And it's sin.
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And the wage of sin is death.
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The wage of sin is hell.
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And Jesus came and died on the cross
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so that you don't have to suffer hell.
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And if you go there,
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it will be because you denied and rejected
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what Christ did on the cross.
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Because He offers you a way of escape.
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That's where you want
to plant your anchor.
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Twenty-six years ago
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that's where I planted my anchor.
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And I'll tell you this, it's held fast.
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And it will never let me go.
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Let's pray.
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Father, I pray again,
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Lord, I pray the same,
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Lord, may the scales fall off the eyes
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of the children.
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Lord, You are the God Who says,
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"Let there be light."
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You are the God Who can reveal
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the glory of Yourself in
the face of Jesus Christ.
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You can cause the scales to fall off
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the eyes of the children,
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and even at their young ages,
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to behold wonder and glory,
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to behold a great Savior,
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and to trust Him.
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Lord, have mercy upon our children,
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I pray in Christ's name.
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Amen.