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First thing we learn about God in Genesis and chapter one is that what he says happens.

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God says let there be light and there was light.

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Because God speaks with power and what God says happens.

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And jesus is everything that God is in the flesh.

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Welcome to Open the bible with Pastor Colin Smith.

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I’m David Pick.

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Glad you could be with us today.

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And Colin, today we continue to look at the authority of Jesus’ work.

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Yeah, this marvellous truth that when Jesus speaks, what he says actually happens.

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So, He commands evil spirits and then all these religious people come out and they say

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well now, what is this?

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a new teaching with authority?

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Well, of course because all these religious teachers were living in the world of words.

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Just talk.

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And there’s so much of that, isn’t there?

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There is so much of that, isn’t there in religion.

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God talk was a phrase from many years ago.

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People wanted to push religion away.

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Because it’s just talk about God, it’s only words.

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It never was with Jesus.

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Here’s someone who speaks with power and I think of what that means for us.

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When Jesus Christ says, you are forgiven.

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And if god be for us who can be against?

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And, when Jesus Christ says to his enemies, condemned.

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There is nothing beyond that.

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He has all power and that’s why he’s able to be a saviour.

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There’s no such thing as being a saviour unless you have power to deliver and that’s what

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we see right from the beginning of the gospel.

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And we see that today in Mark’s gospel chapter 1, so I hope you’ll be able to join us in

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your bible.

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As we continue the message, Jesus speaks with power.

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Here’s Colin

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Now I want us to see what happens where the word of God is proclaimed.

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And I don’t just mean from a pulpit in this kind of setting, I mean whenever God’s truth

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is communicated whether it be one to one or in a small group environment, in a brief conversation

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or whatever, what happens when God’s word penetrates a person’s life?

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And Mark shows us two things that happen.

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The first is when Jesus speaks, ordinary people follow him.

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Now you’ll see that in verses 16 to 20, when Jesus speaks, ordinary people follow him.

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It’s a wonderful story.

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As Jesus walked, verse 16, by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting

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a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

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So here’s two guys running a small business.

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Ordinary people, ordinary lives.

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And Jesus speaks to them.

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The word comes to them, the word of Christ.

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And Jesus says, come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

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It’s a wonderful promise.

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You follow me, says Jesus, I will make something of your life.

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And notice the response.

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At once, verse 18, they left their nets and they followed him.

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See, this isn’t just words.

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When Jesus speaks, something happens, and when he calls Simon and Andrew to follow him,

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at once they left their nets and followed him.

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When Jesus speaks, ordinary people follow him.

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Now, here’s the second thing that happens.

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When Jesus speaks, ordinary people follow him.

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Second, when Jesus speaks, troubled people are set free, and you find this in the second

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story in verses 21 through 28.

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Mark tells us that Jesus went to the synagogue at Capernaum and he began to teach.

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And verse 23 tells us what happened as the word of God was being spoken.

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A man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit, cried out.

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Now, think about this, think about that phrase.

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A man in the synagogue possessed by an evil spirit.

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Here is a man, in other words, who comes to worship.

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And yet he finds that there is a kind of dark power lurking within him, and coming to the

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synagogue hasn’t changed that.

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We could put it in these terms, there was a man in the church whose life was in the

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grip of a dark power that he could not overcome.

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He heard the teaching, he sang the songs but his life never changed because there was a

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compulsion within him that was too strong for him to overcome.

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Sound familiar?

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No, when Jesus came to Capernaum something quite extraordinary happened and very wonderful

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too.

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Jesus confronted the dark power that was binding this man, come out of him, Jesus said, and

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Mark tells us that the evil spirit came out of him.

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Verse 26, people were absolutely astonished, nothing like this had ever happened in their

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synagogue before.

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They were amazed, in verse 27 they say, what is this, a new teaching and with authority

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He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.

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In other words, this isn’t just talk.

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The word from this man, Jesus, is bringing change in people’s lives.

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Ordinary people follow him when he speaks, and troubled people are set free when he

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speaks.

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You see, Jesus speaks with power and Mark wants us to know that, when he speaks, by

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his word, ordinary people follow him, and, by his word, troubled people are set free.

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Now, let’s try and think about this just one level deeper for a moment.

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As we go through the Gospels, we’re going to find that there are lots of people who

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heard Jesus speak and didn’t follow him, right?

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And we’re going to come across some people who even had a personal encounter with Jesus

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and were not set free.

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The rich young ruler would be an example of that.

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He came and had a private conversation with Jesus and did not follow him, and went away

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still bound by the power of materialism that was really grippling and even throttling his

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own inner life.

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So not everyone who hears Jesus’ voice follows him, not everyone who hears Jesus’ voice is

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set free, just as here today.

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Not everyone who hears the Word of God is a follower of Jesus.

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Not everyone who hears the Word of God on Sunday mornings or in any other environment

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where you might hear the Word of God, not everyone is set free.

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So, how are we to think about this?

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Well, let me try and point you in a direction that I think you’ll find helpful.

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Here is what you will find in the Gospels, and we’ll try and pick it up as we go through

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over these next weeks.

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Whenever Jesus calls someone directly, they respond, and whenever Jesus rebukes or dark

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power directly, it moves.

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You won’t find an occasion in the Gospels where Jesus gave a specific command that was

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not accomplished.

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You never find Jesus rebuking a demon and then being frustrated that he couldn’t get

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it to move.

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You find the disciples facing that frustration, as we may sometimes face that frustration,

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but you never find Jesus in that position.

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You never find Jesus attempting to heal someone and somehow it not working.

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What you find in the gospels, is that what Jesus determines gets done.

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And what he decrees gets accomplished.

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Now if you think about it, this is exactly what we would expect if Jesus is indeed God

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in the flesh, which is what Mark has told us and what we as Christian believers confess.

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What is the first thing that we learn about God in the Bible?

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The first thing we learn about God in Genesis chapter 1 is that what he says, happens.

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God says, let there be light, and there was light.

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And not a flickering kind of light, you know, when the power is just coming back on after

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it’s been off for too long.

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No, when God says let there be light, there is light!

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Because God speaks with power and what God says happens.

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And Jesus is everything that God is in the flesh.

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So when Jesus gives a direct command, when Jesus gives a direct decree, when Jesus determines

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that something should be, it happens!

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It’s not just words that fall to the ground, as so many of our words fall to the ground.

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Now, let me use a very, very simple illustration from home that might help us to grasp the

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point that we’re driving at here this morning.

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Thinking about this, I found my mind going back to the good days when our two boys were

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in middle school.

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So all of you who are around middle school age who are in this service this morning,

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this is a good time for you to listen up.

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Let me paint a picture that certainly happened on a number of occasions for you.

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In our house, the kitchen is upstairs and the family room is downstairs.

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So when Carl was making the dinner, the boys would usually be down in the family room.

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When the meal was ready, you know, the scene was like this.

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I guess it may be fairly similar in your home as well.

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The meal’s ready, Carl’s in the kitchen, the kids are downstairs, so she shouts,

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Dinner’s ready!

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Now, it’s the pastor’s house.

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So, you know what happens.

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The boys immediately leave the television and the computer and come up smiling and saying,

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oh mother, how grateful we are for all this work that you have done.

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We are ready to partake of all that you have prepared for us.

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Just got a bit of it.

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Do you know what happened when she shouted?

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Absolutely nothing.

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So, she would shout again, dinner’s ready.

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And then a third shout, still no response.

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Then she would say to me, you go get them.

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So, I’d march down the stairs and say, hey, dinner’s ready, didn’t you hear your

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mum shout?

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Yeah, yeah, we’re just coming.

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No, we’re going now and up we would go.

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Now, think about that picture.

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You see all the way through the Old Testament, God’s Word has been going out, speaking

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through the prophets.

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People have heard the Word.

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But now God the Father says to God the Son, you go get him.

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You go get him.

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So, Jesus comes and he preaches the good news, but he does more than preach the good news.

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Christ speaks the Word, but he goes to get him.

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How was it that you heard the Word of God many, many, many times and it kind of didn’t

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make any real difference in your life?

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And then, on one occasion or over a period of time, suddenly it did have penetration

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into you, and you realized that things were beginning to change!

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What was happening?

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God was getting you!

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The Spirit of God was causing a word that you had heard before to penetrate into your

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life in a new way, and it brought change!

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You followed Him.

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If you’re a real Christian, you discovered what it is to be set free.

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See, let’s ask this question.

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How can we hope for people to be converted today?

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In this post-modern world, in this society where so many people have less regard for

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the authority of the Bible than at one time in our culture in the past, what hope is there

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for people really being converted today?

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How is that going to happen?

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Here’s how it’s going to happen.

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When the gospel is proclaimed, the father and the son say to the Spirit,

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You go get Him.

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You go get Him.

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And the Spirit of God has tied Himself particularly to the word of God.

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However that is communicated, one on one or whatever setting that is.

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So that when the word goes out, we may have this confidence there will be a particular

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work of the Holy Spirit to take that word into the inner life of some people in a special

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way, so that they follow Him and are set free.

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And I wanted to ask the question, then, has that happened to you?

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Do you see that in your own life?

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You’ve heard the word of God many, many times.

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Has it got hold of you?

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What change has it brought in you?

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Are you following Christ?

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Can you say that Christ has set you free?

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That is what happened to Simon and Andrew.

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That is what happened to the Troubled Man in the synagogue.

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This is the experience of every true Christian, that where the gospel is proclaimed, and it

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is believed, and it is obeyed, ordinary people become followers of Jesus, and troubled people

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are set free.

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We are listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called Jesus Speaks

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with Power.

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It’s part of our series, the Gospel According to Jesus, and if you ever miss one of our

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series, you can always catch up or go back and listen again, online.

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Come to our website openthebible.org.uk and there you can hear any of the messages which

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have already gone out on air.

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You can also find us as a podcast, go to your regular podcast site, search for Open The

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and there you’ll find all of the messages that have already gone out.

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Back to the message now, we’re in Mark in chapter one, here’s Colin.

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from faith in Jesus Christ

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and the life of obedience to Jesus Christ

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that you could possibly imagine

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and as resistant as it could be as well.

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And what hope do you have,

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what hope can I have that their lives

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will ever really be changed?

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I mean, they’ve heard it all before, a hundred times.

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Well, here’s my hope.

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God who goes and gets.

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Thank God for that that’s at the heart of the gospel.

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Now, let’s try and just apply that for a moment

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to our own thinking about ministry here

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because if we believe these things

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as we’re finding them in the Bible here,

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surely they should shape our expectation

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of ministry in the church.

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What would you expect to see in the life of a church

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that follows the example of Jesus

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in giving priority to the word of God?

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Well, in a church that gives priority

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to the word of God throughout its ministries,

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what we should surely expect to see

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is a work of the Holy Spirit

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in which people are beginning to follow Christ

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and in which people are increasingly set free.

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That’s wonderful fruit to look for

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and to pray for as we launch out

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into a new season of ministry together this year.

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Do you have that kind of vision?

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Do you have that kind of expectation?

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That through the word, by the spirit,

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in the mercy of God, we will see people

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following Jesus Christ and wonderfully being set free?

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See, this is the fruit of Jesus’s kind of ministry.

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And remember that the Jesus is not particularly impressed

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with large crowds.

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There’s this big crowd outside of

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the door of Simon and Andrew,

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but they’re looking for the wrong things.

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And if there’s a big crowd looking for the wrong things,

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what does Jesus do?

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He goes somewhere else.

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That’s what Mark tells us.

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But where the word of God is made central,

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we may have this expectation, that through the word

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and by the Spirit, ordinary people will follow Jesus

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and troubled people will be set free.

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Here’s the very last thing this morning,

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and I want simply to draw your attention

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to verses 29 through 34,

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the little section we haven’t touched on yet.

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And I want you to notice here the wonderful pattern

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of how one changed life affects many other people.

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Verse 29.

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As soon as they left the synagogue,

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they went with James and John

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to the home of Simon and Andrew.

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Now remember, Simon and Andrew

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are the very first disciples to follow Jesus.

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And the significance of this here is that as these two men,

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the two brothers, have begun to follow Jesus,

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so Jesus now comes to their home.

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When they come to this home,

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they find that Simon’s mother-in-law there

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is in bed with a fever.

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Now nothing unusual about this.

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There’s nothing life-threatening or unusual

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about this lady being in bed with a fever.

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But Jesus heals her.

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Now, reading the commentaries,

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the question that always seems to come up on this

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is why would Jesus do this?

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Of all the things that he could do in his divine power,

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why would he choose to do this very small miracle

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to heal someone from something that really

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was not life-threatening

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or particularly significant in any long term kind of a way?

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Surely, the answer is this,

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that the importance of this miracle is who it happens to,

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that this miracle happens to the mother-in-law

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of Simon and Andrew in whose house Jesus is

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because they are his followers.

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And so we’re being reminded of this very simple thing

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that as you become a follower of Jesus,

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your following of Jesus will be a means of Christ’s blessing

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in some way touching those who God has placed around you.

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And Mark seems to be making this point

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particularly because in verse 32,

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he makes the point that it isn’t just in the home

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that this blessing spreads,

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but it’s also indeed in the whole town

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as we’ve seen verse 32.

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That evening, the people brought to Jesus

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all the sick and all the demon possessed

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and the whole town gathered at the door.

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Now, which town is this?

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Which town?

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The town where Simon and Andrew lived

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because they become followers of Jesus.

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Blessing now comes to their home in a wonderful way

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and, in a wider way, the benefit of Christ’s presence

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comes to their whole community.

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This pouring out of God’s mercy

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begins in two lives, two brothers,

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spreads to a family, touches a community.

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And the effects of this kind of ministry then

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will be that ordinary people will come to follow Christ

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and troubled people will be set free.

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And every time that happens,

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there will be a new circle of influence

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opened for the gospel

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because the blessing that has come to you

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as you become a follower of Jesus Christ

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will spread around you and touch those

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who God has placed around you in your life.

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And in this way, others will hear

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and a whole community will be touched and will be blessed.

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Pastor Colin there with an uplifting and inspiring message

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about how the gospel spreads in our community

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as our lives are affected by Jesus’s life.

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The message is called Jesus Speaks with Power

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and it’s part of our series The Gospel According to Jesus.

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Don’t forget, if you ever miss one of the messages

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or if you want to go back and listen again,

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come online to our website, openthebible.org.uk

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They you’ll find all of the messages

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which have already gone out on air.

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You can also find Pastor Colin’s teaching as a podcast

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and those are available on all the regular podcast sites.

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Search for Open The Bible UK

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and subscribe to receive regular updates.

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Also available as a podcast and online at our website,

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you’ll find Open The Bible Daily

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and we’d love you to come and find out

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about this Daily Reflection series

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based on Pastor Colin’s teaching

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of Pastor Colin’s teaching

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and read in the UK by Sue MacLeish.

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There’s a new one every day

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and many Christians listen every day

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as a way to start their day with God.

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If you find Pastor Colin’s teaching

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inspiring and helpful in your life,

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why not tell your friends and family about it?

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They can listen in to the radio broadcast

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or find us online at openthebible.org.uk

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Open the Bible is supported by our listeners

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and it’s your financial support

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00:23:29,359 –> 00:23:32,339

that keep Pastor Colin’s teaching on the air

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So thank you if you already give

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00:23:34,459 –> 00:23:36,680

to support Open the Bible.

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00:23:36,680 –> 00:23:38,280

If you don’t already give,

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but that’s something you’d like to do,

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this month we have an offer for you.

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If you are able to set up a new direct debit

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to the work of Open the Bible this month

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00:23:46,760 –> 00:23:49,520

in the amount of five pounds per month or more

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00:23:49,520 –> 00:23:52,540

or a one-off gift to 50 pounds or more,

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00:23:52,540 –> 00:23:55,140

we’d love to say thank you but sending you a copy

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00:23:55,140 –> 00:23:57,000

of Pastor Colin’s new booklet,

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What Jesus Says to Skeptics.

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Colin, there may be someone who’s listening today

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who is a skeptic when it comes to the Christian faith.

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How would this booklet be helpful to them?

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Well, I think the first thing is

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that a skeptic might think,

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well, because I don’t yet believe,

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Jesus Christ is not gonna have very much time for me

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but what we find in the gospels

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is that Jesus cared very, very deeply about skeptics.

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He spent time with people who had honest questions

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and engaged with them at a very deep level

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and he offered them a pathway to faith.

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So if you or someone you know is a skeptic,

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this is an opportunity for you to hear

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what Jesus has to say to you.

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We want to send you a copy of Pastor Colin’s booklet

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What Jesus Says to Skeptics

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00:24:45,420 –> 00:24:48,579

as our way of saying thank you for your financial support.

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You can find out more,

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00:24:49,579 –> 00:24:52,959

including full terms and conditions and give online

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00:24:52,959 –> 00:24:56,500

at openthebible.org.uk.

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For Open The Bible and Pastor Colin Smith,

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00:24:58,959 –> 00:24:59,939

I’m David Pick

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and I hope you’ll be able to join us again, next time.

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When we sin, Jesus has the authority to forgive us our sins.

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Find out why next time on Open The Bible.