Beneath the Surface with Pastor Ben Carruthers

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Glad to be worse with you.
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I'm the associate pastor here at Central.
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And uh this morning, we eventually here are diving into 1 John.
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Avery just read it for us.
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We just wrapped up our sermon series on the Gospel of Mark, and now we're moving into 1 John.
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And 1 John, 2nd John, 3rd John, there in the very back of your Bible, they're really these gems of some people call them letters or maybe even sermons.
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But this beautiful small portion of the Bible that speaks about behaviors and beliefs, whether or not our beliefs are equaling our behaviors.
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And that's what this sermon series is called: beliefs equals behaviors.
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And what's interesting, what I found interesting about this, in his very first opening four verses, uh, he doesn't speak about the culture at the time.
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He speaks about community and fellowship.
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He speaks about relationships and how important they are.
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And we understand community and fellowship.
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At least we have an idea.
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But when you hear those words, fellowship and community, what comes to your mind?
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What comes to your forefought, your thoughts, your memories, your friends, your family, stuff like that.
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I know just a couple weeks ago, my son Arlo came running in the house.
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And we have this group of boys and girls that get together for school and they play every day at the park.
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They go and play football.
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And he came running in the house one day, two weeks ago, and he's like, I have a best friend.
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His name is Leo.
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And we're like, that's awesome.
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That's great, man.
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What where does Leo go to school?
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I don't know.
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Okay, all right.
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Does he have any brothers and sisters?
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I don't know.
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What do you know about Leo?
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I know he's my best friend.
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That's all it took, man.
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That was it.
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Sometimes relationships, connections can kind of look like that.
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Other times it can look a little bit larger scale.
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I want to take you back to September of 2009, a day that changed my life.
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I, with 66,000 other people, were gathered together at the Metrodome.
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And it was the 3-0 Packers versus the 3-0 San Francisco 49ers.
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It was an incredible game where we were down with 16 seconds left.
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Brett Favre, first year as a Vikings quarterback, was at the 35-yard line, 16 seconds on the clock.
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He says, Hutt, we have time for one play.
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This is it.
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And if you remember, Brett Favre rolls to his right, throws a laser.
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This 40-year-old quarterback throws a laser to Lewis in the end zone.
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Anyone remember this?
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Yeah.
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I was at that game.
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And let me tell you, I have never been in a place that was louder in my life when that touchdown was scored.
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The place erupted.
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It was crazy.
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And then all of a sudden came the challenge flag.
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The red challenge flag, this is a long time ago.
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This is 2009.
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This is before all the fancy stuff they got now.
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The challenge flag came out and the place went silent.
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And all we thought was we should pray for the rest.
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Because if they come back and overturn this thing, they ain't getting home alive, man.
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And they came back and they said, touchdown, and the place went off.
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And I am not a hugger, but grown men turned to me and grabbed me and embraced me.
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Strangers were handering me their children in celebration.
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There was a San Francisco 49er fan who we were been ribbing the whole time.
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He turns around and he shakes my hand, he says, Good job.
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Like I had anything to do with the win whatsoever.
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But I accepted that very much.
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It was this crazy moment where we were complete strangers, but in one moment we were together in community.
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Maybe that's what you think about community and fellowship.
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Maybe you think of sporting events or concerts, friends or family.
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Maybe you think of social media.
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Maybe you think of church.
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And all of those things are good.
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But all of those things, I don't think what John is saying here.
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Because John uses this Greek word, says konania.
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Everyone say konania.
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This is not just fellowship like we read there.
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It says fellowship.
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Oh, yeah, we have that.
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We have donuts and coffee.
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We understand that.
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The meaning of this word is deep-rooted fellowship, an active participation in each other's life.
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There's a purpose there, there's participation there.
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It goes beneath the surface.
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It's a partnership.
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And this is how John starts off his letter.
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And it's really important to understand that because the context of what is going on when he's writing this will make this seem, it will make this more sense to us in today's culture as in back then.
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This idea of Koheniah going beneath the surface of not just friends, not just fellowship, not just coffee and donuts, but a deep connection.
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And so we want to dive into why exactly John would start his letters this way.
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But before we do, will you pray with me?
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God, we give you thanks and praise for this day, this morning.
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We thank you for those who are here today to light a candle for someone they lost.
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We think of them this morning as we talk about this word koinania and fellowship and community.
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We think about this as a place where they should be.
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We ask that you lead and guard our time.
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In your name we pray.
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Amen.
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So here we are.
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First John says this.
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Now, who wrote this thing?
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We obviously John, but there's a couple different trains of thought here.
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One is John, the writer of the gospel and of Revelation as well.
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Other people seem to think it was a guy named John the Elder.
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But what it doesn't really matter in the sense of what's important is that if whether it's John the gospel writer or John the Elder, they're giving you a firsthand account of Jesus.
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Let's go back.
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He gives you his basically his authority or his uh qualifications in this passage here.
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That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, we have looked at and our hands have touched.
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This we proclaim concerning the word of life.
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The life happened uh the life appeared, we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was appeared to us.
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This is important because this letter takes place about 50 years after the death of Christ.
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And John, whether it be John the Elder or John the writer of the gospel, is believed to be around 75, 80 years old.
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Pretty, pretty old.
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I'm just kidding, pretty young, they won't offend anybody, pretty young.
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And he's writing this because now he's writing to people who may not have walked with Jesus, who may not have seen his miracles, who may not have heard firsthand his teachings.
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So he's telling you, listen, I was there.
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I heard him, I saw him, I lived with him, I walked with him, I saw the miracles, I heard the teachings, I saw him raised from the dead.
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This is a firsthand account.
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He's given you his qualifications as an old man.
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He's given you his resume as he knows what he is talking about.
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And he is writing, we're not quite sure, it's not to a specific church or a specific pastor like a lot of the other letters are in the New Testament.
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We believe it's just writing to believers, to followers of Jesus in and around the area of Ephesus at the time.
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He's just writing to people who are following Jesus.
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And the why is incredibly important.
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Because, again, this is about 50 years after the death of Jesus, and this kind of new age faith movement called Gnosticism is starting to creep in.
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Gnosticism is this spiritual belief that comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge.
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And at the time there was this gentleman named Serinthius, who was a very well-educated Egyptian Jew, and he made his way around Asia and other parts, spreading this new spiritual belief with amongst many other teachings that went against the teachings of Jesus.
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One central one was salvation was not by faith in Christ, but by knowledge.
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And so he was taking bits and pieces of the Old Testament, bits and pieces of Christianity and of other faith practices of the day and rolling them into one and going out and spreading this new spiritual movement.
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And followers of Jesus must have been buying it.
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Because this is why John writes his letter.
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This is why he's calling us back as followers of Jesus to live how Jesus taught, to not give in to these false teachings that are coming in and around wherever the believers are.
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So John writes this letter.
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Does this sound a little familiar?
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That believers are giving in to false doctrine, that believers are being pulled away from the truth of God because of what the world is speaking and teaching.
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Matter of fact, this is pretty crazy.
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About 30 years before John writes this letter, a guy named Paul was in prison in Rome.
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And he writes a letter to a young man named Timothy.
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Timothy is a young pastor in a brand new Christian church, which is like a house church, in a place called Ephesus.
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And Paul writes this to young Timothy, 30 years before this Gnostic movement happens.
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Paul writes this.
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Fast forward 30 years, John is writing this letter because believers and followers of Christ are starting to turn away from the truth of God and go where their itching ears will be heard.
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Go to what makes them feel right, maybe holds them less accountable.
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Maybe it's easier to live that way.
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They're leaving the truth.
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John is calling them back.
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And in the middle of, or in the beginning of this, in the beginning of the first letter, he doesn't start off this way.
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He doesn't say, listen, there's false teachings out there.
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You gotta watch out.
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Don't go down this path, don't go down this path.
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Which he could have.
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That's the culture.
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But instead, he calls believers back to koinania.
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He says it's the fellowship that you have with one another and the fellowship that you have with God.
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This is what you need to focus on.
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This is your starting point.
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Before we even get into the culture around you, before we even get into the ways the world is trying to pull you away, understand the importance of being together in koinania and koinania with God.
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You're going to wake up in the morning and be like, Kunania.
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He said it enough times.
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First John 1 through 3 says this we've proclaimed to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may also have fellowship with us, koinanea with each other.
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What does that look like?
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What does quininea as a group of believers look like?
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I had something happen in my life that, you know, it was a picture that I, when I was preparing this, I was like, this is what it is, and I didn't know if I wanted to share it.
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And I didn't share it the first one, but I asked some feedback and they're like, you should share it.
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Many of you know my story.
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I'm not gonna go into it, but if you don't know my story, please grab me anytime and I'd love to share it with you.
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But part of my story has me standing in front of a judge in a courtroom for things that I have done wrong in my life.
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And I had to stand in front of that courtroom, but before that even happened, I had to go and tell people what I did.
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I had to go tell family, I had to go tell friends, and I had to deal with whatever came from doing that.
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And that whole process took about a year or so before I ended up in front of a judge.
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But I can tell you it was one of the worst moments of my life to be standing up there.
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But when I looked behind me in the courtroom, I saw two things.
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I saw one side of the courtroom where the prosecution was with empty seats.
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And I looked behind me and I saw the seats were full.
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With family and friends.
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And it wasn't easy for them.
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I'm sure they were, you know, there was a bit of like they were associated with me, the person who was standing up there, who'd done wrong, who deserved to be standing up there.
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And I'm there was probably guilt and shame that came with being associated with me, but they were still there.
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Family and friends who walked with me through the darkest part of my life.
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And they stood with me.
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They held me accountable.
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They walked with me.
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To me, that's what the image of Koinonia looks like.
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Is to have people in your corner that no matter what comes your way, the mistakes that you make, they're back there.
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And that's that squad behind me, they weren't there saying, Ben did no wrong, this is a travesty of justice.
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That was not it at all.
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They were there to show the judge that he has accountability.
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We know what he did.
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It's wrong.
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And we're here supporting him as he moves forward.
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See, koin and nea isn't having a rah-rah section behind you just saying, Go, everything you're doing is great.
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It's people who are willing to walk alongside of you in the muck, in the mire, and say, Man, this is not the right way.
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This is not the way you should live your life.
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Turn back from that.
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Repent.
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Shoove.
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Turn away from that.
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That's what koinonia looks like in a community like this.
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That's the koinonia that I think what Acts 2 church was all about, right?
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We hear about Acts 2 church all the time.
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After the Holy Spirit comes into the believers, they go and spread this new gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to wherever they can go, to whoever will hear it.
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And their path wasn't easy.
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Their path led to prison, to persecution, to death.
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But they didn't go alone.
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They had this koinonia fellowship, this community that they could rely on.
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That when things got tough, they kept going.
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When they had to be accountable, like Paul was to Peter, they were.
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That's what koinonia in this fellowship looks like.
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Central, do you have that?
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Someone caught me after the first service, and I think this person was absolutely right.
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He said, I think Central does have that.
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And I think this person was right.
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But as you sit here today, when you leave this place, do you still feel that you have that?
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That deep connection with someone, with a group of people that are in your corner, that you're in life participating in with each other, walk in this life together, partners in life.
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As John is writing to the church, that's about to be pulled away or being tried to be pulled away from the truth, this is the fellowship that he writes about.
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But then he goes on to say, koinania with God, koinonia with Christ.
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Again, John 1, 1 through 3 says this we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.
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And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
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So if fellowship with each other looks like going to bat for each other, accountability for one another, what does fellowship, this deep koinania, look like with God?
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Scripture is packed full of it.
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Look at Romans chapter 6.
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Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
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We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too live a new life.
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This is a partnership.
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We're in this thing with him.
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For if we have been united together with him in death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection life like his.
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We are partnership with Christ in this new life, this resurrection life, this forgiveness of sins.
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We're in it with God.
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How about this from Matthew?
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This is Jesus speaking.
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Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
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For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
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Do you guys know what a yoke is, not the egg version, right?
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This yoke that they'd put on cattle in the farms.
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There's one bull or creature of whatever farming thing.
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I'm obviously not a farmer, right?
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And there's another one, and they're together.
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The yoke binds them together to share the load.
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When this ox, cattle, whatever it might be, is tired, this one can keep going.
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When this one's tired, this one keeps going.
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They're connected together.
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What does koin and nea look like with God?
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The good news of the gospel is that we're connected to our Creator.
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That this new life is given to us because of who you are, not because of what you do.
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This is koinanea with God.
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That when you need rest, he gives you rest.
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When you need resurrection life, he gives you resurrection life.
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When you need forgiveness of sins, he's there.
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And it's not he's there, he's here with you.
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Because you're in it together.
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Our God is not some God who's distant and far away.
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He's right here next to you.
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That's what koinonia with God looks like.
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Now, this is good news, right?
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I mean, this sounds great.
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New life, resurrection life, rest for our weariness, rest for all of the stuff that goes on and the hits that we take.
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This sounds great.
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So then how come we don't run to this?
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How come we don't run to this koinanea relationship with God?
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Why do we run from it?
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Why do we want to keep it surface level with God?
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Why do we say, I'll just come to church and I'll hear a little bit and then I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna live my life.
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But that's you know, that's good enough.
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And God, that's great, that's great, man.
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We're so glad you're here.
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Don't think of anything bad.
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We're glad you're here, that's good.
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But we are called for more than that: a deeper relationship.
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So why don't we run to it if this is good news?
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And I think it has to do with our perception of who God is.
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The picture of who we have as God.
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What is God like for you?
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What's the picture that you have of God?
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Because I learned this a long time ago, and as a young man, I just hated, I rebelled against the statement, and it bothered me even more because it's true, and I've learned to accept it and understand it.
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It says perception is reality.
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Perception is reality, which means your perception of who God is is your reality.
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Perception is reality.
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When I turned 20, I had an opportunity to go to Australia for a year and work in youth ministry down there.
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And you know, when I was 20, that was a long time ago, like 25 years ago, we didn't, you just couldn't hop on your phone and Google what's Australia like, or things you should know about Australia.
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We just had to take it from people who had been there.
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And so we would meet some people and they'd say, Yeah, you know, kangaroos are all over the place and the toilets go backwards, all of which is true.
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It's pretty crazy, blow your mind.
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But the one thing that they said that we really took to heart was that in Australia they didn't have deodorant.
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Yeah.
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20-year-old man, I believe that because I'm a 20-year-old guy who you know might have a sweating problem, right?
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And like, I don't want to be down there for a whole year stinking.
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I went to Walmart that day, I bought 12 sticks of deodorant.
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12 sticks of deodorant.
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I'm not kidding.
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I go, fly down to Australia, and I'm unpacking my bag at this house that I'm staying at.
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This family put me up, and they're in there, we're talking, having a good time.
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I'm putting my clothes away, and all of a sudden I start deodorant stick, deodorant stick, like Mary Poppins, like right here, just one thing after another.
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12 of them, I line them up on the dresser and they look at me and they're like, What is going on?
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Well, we heard you guys didn't have deodorant down here, and I didn't want to be the stinky one.
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He's like, You are a moron.
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Of course we have deodorant down here.
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Did you get off the plane and were you hit with a what is that, right?
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Of course you had deodorant.
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But my perception of the place was my reality.
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And that perception drove my actions.
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You see, how you perceive God is gonna drive how you have a relationship with God.
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And maybe you're here today and you perceive God to just be angry and wrathful, just waiting for you to screw up.
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Maybe that's your perception of God.
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Maybe your perception of God is a God who doesn't care.
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Because there's too much ugliness in the world, there's too much hurt in the world, there's too much pain in the world.
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If there was a God and He truly did love us, why is this happening?
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So your picture of God is a God who doesn't care.
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Maybe your picture of God is a God who's just anything goes.
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Love, man.
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God is love, everything.
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You're fine.
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Do whatever you want.
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God is love.
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Because that version's out there.
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And maybe you see that version or hear that version.
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I don't want to follow that.
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You see, the reason why we just don't run to quininea with God is the way that we perceive him.
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And the truth about who God is is right there on the cross.
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That's the truth about who God is.
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That God loves you so much that he sent his son to die for you.
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A God that loves you so much that wants to be in this life with you, wants to be yoked with you, wants to go through the hurt with you, wants to celebrate with you.
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That's the good news of the gospel, and that's the truth of who God is.
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That's the true picture of who he is, and that's why we run to him for Koinania.
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So, Central, who is God to you?
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Who is God to you?
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I'm gonna leave you with this, and I'm gonna go back to September 2009, because I live in the past.
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It was a pretty cool game, it was a pretty cool thing, but what I realized was this is that there were 66,000 plus people in there.
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There was 30 or 40 people around me, people who I had never met before, people of different backgrounds, people who had different spiritual backgrounds, they looked different than me, they voted different than me, I'm sure of it.
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They had we were on different different teams, supported different teams.
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All of these people from different backgrounds were still able to celebrate with one another.
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They were still able to be in that moment together.
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Why?
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Because they had one thing at the center, and man, we just loved good football.
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Imagine what your life would be, is if at the center was koinanea.
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Koinanea with God.
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And that was it.
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The most important thing.
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How would your life be different?
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How would your relationships be different?
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Because Central, we are called to be in relationship with others and relationship with God, and koinanea is so much deeper than the surface.
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So, what is your relationship with God and others look like today?
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Amen.