Dr. Tony Evans

Tony Evans - The Motivation For Ministry

August 10, 2025 | 28:40

Dr. Tony Evans is known as a relevant expositor and is a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.

#Ministry #Passion #Pastors #Encouragement #RelationshipwithGod #WalkwithGod #Love

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Dr. Tony Evans | Tony Evans - The Motivation For Ministry | August 10, 2025

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Tony evans: christ did not only come to save us.
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He didn't come merely to take you to heaven.
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He also came to bring heaven to you.
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Every person here who has come to jesus christ
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Has got a butterfly inside of you.
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But unless he is developed,
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You will be crawling a caterpillar life
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When you meant to have a butterfly flight.
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Tony: paul, in colossians 1, states the motivation
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For his ministry,
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And he calls that ministry the ministry to the church.
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It is the ministry for which you have gathered today,
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Whether you know it or not.
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If you have accepted jesus christ as your savior,
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You're on the team.
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If you have trusted christ for the forgiveness of your sins
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And the gift of eternal life, you're on the team.
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And you're gathered here today.
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So you're in the stadium-- but why?
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Paul says that his goal-- and it should be my goal
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And the goal of every church and every church member--
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Is that "i might present every man complete in christ."
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That's the goal.
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If you wanna know what the spiritual super bowl is--
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If i can use that analogy--
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Is that when your life is over and earth is done,
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That you and i will stand before the lord,
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Complete in christ.
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When does this presentation occur?
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It occurs at the judgment seat of christ.
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When you stand before the lord,
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You will stand complete or incomplete.
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You will stand a spiritual failure
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Or a spiritual success.
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You will stand a victor or a victim.
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You will stand before the lord.
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It is the job of the church to make sure
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You get the trophy.
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It is our job to stand with you so that you hear,
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When you meet the savior,
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"well done, my good and faithful servant,"
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As opposed to "i'm so ashamed of you."
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For the bible says that both will occur.
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Our role--and your role in it-- is to be presented, on that day,
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Complete in christ.
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Now, what does it mean to be presented complete?
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The word "complete" means mature.
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It means grown-up.
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The word means to have reached a mature stage
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In your christian experience.
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God didn't save you and me to stay babies.
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We all know it's possible that your chronological age
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Doesn't necessarily equal your maturity.
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Many of us know grown folk who are still babies
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In terms of how they live and the decisions
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That they make.
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They are--they have not matured with their ages.
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Maturity is the process of growing up spiritually.
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It is the process of going deeper spiritually.
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It is the process of becoming more like christ in character
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And conduct, attitudes and actions.
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And it's called maturity.
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Paul, on a number of occasions,
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Had to chide the church for their lack of growth.
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In 1 corinthians, chapter 2, verses 14,
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All the way through chapter 3, verse 3,
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He talks about the fact that there were spiritual people,
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But many were carnal and they were still carnal.
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Let me explain.
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It takes five years to move from infancy
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To spiritual maturity if it's a priority.
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Now, where did i get five years from?
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Because paul told 'em in 1 corinthians
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He had gone to them.
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Five years later, he wrote 1 corinthians,
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And he's shocked that they're still carnal.
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So, there was a five-year gap
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From their conversion to their maturity
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That was supposed to take place,
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But they were still drinking from bottles five years later.
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They hadn't grown to solid food.
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In the book of hebrews, chapter 5, verses 11 through 15,
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One of the premier passages in the scripture
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On the process of maturity,
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Some of those christians had been saved for 30 years.
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They'd gotten saved 30 years later,
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And the author of hebrews-- well, let me read to you
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What he says to them in hebrews, chapter 5.
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Let me begin reading in verse 12:
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"for though by this time you ought to be teachers,
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You have need again for someone to teach you
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The elementary principles of the oracles of god,
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And you have come to need milk and not solid food.
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For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed
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To the word of righteousness, and he is an infant,
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But solid food is for the mature who, because of practice,
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Have their senses trained to discern good and evil."
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He says there are milk christians
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And there are meat christians,
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And some of these are 30-year-old saints
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Who are still drinking milk.
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So what's a milk christian versus a meat christian?
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"a milk christian," he says,
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"is not accustomed to the word of righteousness."
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What does he mean?
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A milk christian is a christian
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Who does not and has not developed the habit
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Of going to the word to answer the issues of life.
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They're not used to, accustomed to,
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It's not their habit to appeal to the word
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To address life's realities.
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That's a milk christian.
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Milk christians go to their friends first.
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Milk christian go to their posse first.
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They go maybe to family first.
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They look at what the secular world
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Has to say first because they're not used to it.
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They haven't developed the habit of appealing
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To what god has to say
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To address the realities of life.
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It says they're not used to using it,
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And so they stay on milk.
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He says, "they don't use it."
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That's why a milk christian can hear 52 sermons on sunday,
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52 sermons and teachings on wednesday
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And never change, never improve, never have victory
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Because they weren't used to using it.
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A milk christian is a defeated christian
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Because they're not growing, as opposed to a meat christian.
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A meat christian is a christian
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Who, he says, has learned to discern good and evil
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By their practice of the use of the word.
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Here's how you know if you're meat christian:
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The ability to discern.
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In other words, the ability to see things as they really are
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And not merely as they appear to be.
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Many of us have gotten duped, tricked, shellacked,
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Because we went by how it looked and not by how it really was,
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Because we did not have spiritual discernment
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Informed by the truth of scripture.
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If you put a baby on the floor with a shiny marble,
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It's gonna gravitate to that marble
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'cause it's gonna see the shine.
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If you put, next to that baby, a diamond that is less shiny
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Than the marble,
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The baby will gravitate to the marble
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And skip the diamond
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'cause it has not yet learned to discern
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That just 'cause it's shiny don't mean it's valuable.
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Many of us have gravitated to shiny circumstances.
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Many of us have gravitated to shiny opportunities.
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A lot of folk go to shiny churches
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Because "it looks good, and i see the shine."
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But like babies, they appeal and gravitate to the shine
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Instead of that which has the value.
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May not be as shiny,
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Oh, but it's worth a lot more than a shiny marble.
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He says that the spiritual christian,
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Or the mature christian, is one who by--watch this--
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Practice has learned to discern.
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In order for you to become mature,
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God sends you and me into practice sessions.
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Those practice sessions are the challenges in life
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That he allows to come your way in order for you to use
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The word to get through them.
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Some of us resent the word.
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"we don't want anybody bringing no bible up right now.
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I'm dealing with this. i don't need no bible."
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That's 'cause you are a milk christian.
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'cause meat christians welcome it.
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Meat christians embrace it.
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Meat christians want to know on the front end
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"tell me what god says about this situation
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So that i can apply divine truth to my scenario
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So that i can be matured and grow."
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Milk christians say, "oh, that's too hard to chew.
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That's meat. that's meat.
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I ain't into meat."
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Milk christians only want you to make 'em feel good.
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Milk christians will talk a lot about what jesus did on earth.
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Milk christians will know bible stories.
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They can tell you what the bible says
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'cause a lot of milk christians will memorize the bible
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And will study the bible and go to church
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And hear the bible,
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But that's not where the difference
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Between milk and meat is.
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Milk and meat is the use that enables you to discern.
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Milk christians will tell you what jesus did
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When he was on earth;
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Meat christians can tell you what he's doing now--
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[congregation applauding]
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--because this thing is real now,
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And the word has shown itself to be real now,
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And the motivation to become a meat-mature christian is that,
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One day, you and i will stand before him
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And have to give an account relative to our maturity.
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So our job, paul says, is to prepare you for that day.
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He refers to it again back in colossians, chapter 1.
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He refers to that day in verse 22:
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"yet he has now reconciled you into his fleshly body
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Through death in order to present you
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Before him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach."
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On that day, when you stand before the lord
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And he stands before you, he wants to be proud of you.
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And that eternal perspective influences choices, decisions,
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Confession, reversals, corrections, clarifications,
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And it all affects like a football player
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Who's living for that day all he does today.
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God says, "well, i'mma help you get there,
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And i'mma help you get there with a mystery."
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He calls it a mystery.
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He calls it a mystery in verse 26:
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"that is the mystery which has been hidden
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In past generations."
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He calls it a mystery in verse 27:
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"the glory of this mystery."
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[whispering] so i'mma tell you a secret.
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[whispering] this is a secret:
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A mystery in the bible
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Is something that was not taught in the old testament
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That's clarified and explained in the new testament--
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End of verse 27, "which is christ in you,
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The hope of glory."
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Whoa.
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"christ in you, the hope of glory."
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You see, here's what's missing:
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Christ did not only come to save us;
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He also came to indwell us.
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If you are only satisfied
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That you're going to heaven one day,
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You will not stand before him complete,
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'cause that's not the only reason he came.
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He didn't come merely to take you to heaven;
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He also came to bring heaven to you, the hope of glory.
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And in order to do that, guess what he did.
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He took up residence in you.
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So you're going to meet somebody in the future
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Who you also have with you in the present,
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And he's in you.
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Your change comes from the inside out,
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Not the outside in-- christ in you.
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Have you ever noticed all these things out there
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That tell you, "five ways to do this, ten ways to do that,
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Eight ways to do that"?
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Shucks, you get lost just with the counting.
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It just--they got all these different ways
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To make you better.
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Let me explain what that is: that's some life management.
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They're trying to manage you a better life.
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And by following a lot of those things,
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You can be managed to a better life--okay?--
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For a while.
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Some of you know what i'm talking about.
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How many of you have tried every diet under the sun?
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And it worked for a while.
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Then you went back
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Because that was managing exterior to the interior.
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But he says, "the secret of this maturity is christ in you."
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Jesus doesn't wanna just be in your life;
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He wants to be your life.
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[congregation cheering]
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A lot of times, they'll put new motors in old cars.
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Your body is an old car.
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[congregation laughing]
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And you know it 'cause it keeps breaking down.
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It's an old car.
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The older you get, the older the car gets.
00:17:41.212 --> 00:17:43.647
The more broke up and tore up from the floor up it becomes.
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You keep going to the mechanic called the doctor.
00:17:47.284 --> 00:17:49.787
Fix it up, fix it up, fix it up, break down,
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Fix it up, fix it up, okay?
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'cause you're an old car.
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Jesus said, "i indwell you. i'm a new motor."
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That's why paul could say,
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"though my outward man perishes,
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My inward man is being renewed day by day.
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I'm getting older physically
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While i'm getting younger spiritually."
00:18:12.676 --> 00:18:15.312
That's what he said.
00:18:15.312 --> 00:18:16.714
Because this new-- this christ in me
00:18:16.714 --> 00:18:22.486
Is providing freshness and newness as i get older.
00:18:22.486 --> 00:18:29.226
So the older i get, the younger i should be becoming
00:18:29.226 --> 00:18:35.666
Because of the indwelling christ.
00:18:35.666 --> 00:18:41.839
Now, you have to understand that the enemy knows this,
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:47.077
And he does not want you living from the inside out
00:18:47.077 --> 00:18:50.047
'cause then you done beat him.
00:18:50.047 --> 00:18:52.783
He wants you taking all the outside in.
00:18:52.783 --> 00:18:55.519
It's like my trash masher. i got a trash masher.
00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.522
You get the trash in, you force it down,
00:18:58.522 --> 00:19:01.258
The motor comes on, and it pushes it down.
00:19:01.258 --> 00:19:03.727
All you doing is making room for more trash.
00:19:03.727 --> 00:19:06.530
It smell the same.
00:19:06.530 --> 00:19:07.865
You just packing it with more trash...trash mashing.
00:19:07.865 --> 00:19:12.369
So we try to manage stuff,
00:19:12.369 --> 00:19:15.806
Only creating room for more of the same.
00:19:15.806 --> 00:19:20.344
So that raises a question, doesn't it?
00:19:20.344 --> 00:19:26.083
How do you get the indwelling christ
00:19:26.083 --> 00:19:27.985
To be activated for the purpose of transformation?
00:19:27.985 --> 00:19:31.388
That becomes the question.
00:19:31.388 --> 00:19:36.026
Well, paul has not left us to wonder about that.
00:19:36.026 --> 00:19:38.996
Verse 28, he uses three words:
00:19:38.996 --> 00:19:43.801
"we proclaim him, admonishing every man
00:19:43.801 --> 00:19:49.039
And teaching every man with all wisdom."
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:53.711
Three words: "preaching," "teaching," "admonishing."
00:19:53.711 --> 00:19:55.913
Let me deal with preaching, teaching,
00:19:55.913 --> 00:19:57.481
And then i'll deal with admonishing
00:19:57.481 --> 00:19:59.583
As we come to our last point.
00:19:59.583 --> 00:20:01.752
Preaching--we proclaim him. that word means preaching.
00:20:01.752 --> 00:20:07.891
The proclamation of jesus christ
00:20:07.891 --> 00:20:10.561
Is to be the centerpiece of your focus.
00:20:10.561 --> 00:20:14.865
Everything is to be brought back to him.
00:20:14.865 --> 00:20:19.203
Jesus even told the disciples on the emmaus road--
00:20:19.203 --> 00:20:22.473
Who only had an old testament.
00:20:22.473 --> 00:20:24.308
It says he read to them from moses and the prophets
00:20:24.308 --> 00:20:27.278
And said, "moses and the prophets
00:20:27.278 --> 00:20:29.179
Talked about me."
00:20:29.179 --> 00:20:31.448
'cause even in the old testament,
00:20:31.448 --> 00:20:33.050
When jesus hadn't been born yet,
00:20:33.050 --> 00:20:35.019
It was all written with anticipation of him.
00:20:35.019 --> 00:20:37.755
So jesus christ is to be the linking point,
00:20:37.755 --> 00:20:41.191
The hub in the wheel of every spoke of your life
00:20:41.191 --> 00:20:44.862
Taken back to him.
00:20:44.862 --> 00:20:46.196
We proclaim him.
00:20:46.196 --> 00:20:50.734
My job, from a pulpiteering standpoint,
00:20:50.734 --> 00:20:53.504
Is to keep jesus christ in front of you,
00:20:53.504 --> 00:20:56.307
To beat you up with the savior.
00:20:56.307 --> 00:20:59.109
We proclaim him.
00:20:59.109 --> 00:21:01.211
Preaching means to declare with authority a truth
00:21:01.211 --> 00:21:06.984
In order to invoke a response from the hearer.
00:21:06.984 --> 00:21:11.422
Preaching is to declare, with authority,
00:21:11.422 --> 00:21:14.825
A truth in order to invoke a response from the hearer.
00:21:14.825 --> 00:21:19.363
It is to motivate you to respond.
00:21:19.363 --> 00:21:23.934
That's why sometimes you grew up in churches
00:21:23.934 --> 00:21:26.770
Where the preacher would say, "can i get a witness?"
00:21:26.770 --> 00:21:30.040
He's calling for a response because preaching was driving
00:21:30.040 --> 00:21:35.979
A motivation to a response.
00:21:35.979 --> 00:21:39.917
Teaching is a little different.
00:21:39.917 --> 00:21:42.920
Teaching has its focus deepening your understanding.
00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:47.758
So teaching is more content-driven
00:21:47.758 --> 00:21:51.628
Because it's more understanding-oriented,
00:21:51.628 --> 00:21:55.733
Whether or not there is a call for a response.
00:21:55.733 --> 00:21:59.770
Preaching is a call for a response.
00:21:59.770 --> 00:22:02.873
Some people say, "well, i like teaching.
00:22:02.873 --> 00:22:06.176
I like digging into the greek and the hebrew
00:22:06.176 --> 00:22:08.512
And the exegesis and the exposition
00:22:08.512 --> 00:22:11.014
And getting deeper into it, and i--i like teaching."
00:22:11.014 --> 00:22:15.052
They got notebooks and, you know...
00:22:15.052 --> 00:22:19.289
At least pretending on their iphone
00:22:19.289 --> 00:22:21.024
That they taking notes.
00:22:21.024 --> 00:22:26.330
They love the content. they love the content.
00:22:26.330 --> 00:22:29.533
But between the preaching and the teaching,
00:22:29.533 --> 00:22:33.137
He throws in another word, a key word:
00:22:33.137 --> 00:22:38.008
"admonishing every man."
00:22:38.008 --> 00:22:42.513
To admonish is to guide someone in their use of the information.
00:22:42.513 --> 00:22:50.721
Okay? watch this now.
00:22:50.721 --> 00:22:53.157
Between the proclamation and the teaching,
00:22:53.157 --> 00:22:57.961
He says there must be the admonishing--
00:22:57.961 --> 00:23:01.398
That is, to come alongside and help somebody
00:23:01.398 --> 00:23:10.441
To use the word that they heard, preached, or taught, why?
00:23:10.441 --> 00:23:16.980
'cause it's easy to hear somebody else preach it,
00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:20.484
And it's easy to hear somebody else teach it.
00:23:20.484 --> 00:23:23.720
But for you to use it, you need somebody on the ground with you
00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:28.325
Who's encouraging you, motivating you, inspiring you,
00:23:28.325 --> 00:23:32.362
Challenging you, correcting you, to admonish every man.
00:23:32.362 --> 00:23:39.570
Our gap is not that we don't, in most cases,
00:23:39.570 --> 00:23:42.973
Believe what we heard.
00:23:42.973 --> 00:23:44.641
It's just--when we get to the real world,
00:23:44.641 --> 00:23:48.345
We forget it, don't know how to use it.
00:23:48.345 --> 00:23:50.814
That's why he says you do it with all wisdom,
00:23:50.814 --> 00:23:52.583
'cause everybody's different.
00:23:52.583 --> 00:23:54.985
A single is different from a married person.
00:23:54.985 --> 00:23:56.320
A man is different from a woman.
00:23:56.320 --> 00:23:57.654
A person who has this set of circumstances
00:23:57.654 --> 00:24:00.591
Is different from somebody else.
00:24:00.591 --> 00:24:01.925
So it has to be wisely applied.
00:24:01.925 --> 00:24:05.395
That's why god did not create this church or any church
00:24:05.395 --> 00:24:09.366
Just so you could hear sermons.
00:24:09.366 --> 00:24:12.402
You don't need the church to hear sermons.
00:24:12.402 --> 00:24:13.937
You can go on television, you can go on radio,
00:24:13.937 --> 00:24:16.740
And you can get all the sermons that you wanna get.
00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:20.043
He didn't just create the church so you could get teaching.
00:24:20.043 --> 00:24:22.446
You can go on radio and television
00:24:22.446 --> 00:24:24.882
And look at cds and dvds.
00:24:24.882 --> 00:24:27.417
You can get teaching.
00:24:27.417 --> 00:24:29.052
He didn't create the church just so you can get music.
00:24:29.052 --> 00:24:31.355
You can get cds. you can listen to music.
00:24:31.355 --> 00:24:34.558
You can turn on a radio and get christian music.
00:24:34.558 --> 00:24:37.528
So you actually-- you don't need the church
00:24:37.528 --> 00:24:38.996
For any of those things.
00:24:38.996 --> 00:24:41.231
The reason you need the church
00:24:41.231 --> 00:24:42.933
Is to be in a context of admonishment
00:24:42.933 --> 00:24:46.937
Where somebody is coming alongside you and say,
00:24:46.937 --> 00:24:50.040
"you know we shouldn't be going that way.
00:24:50.040 --> 00:24:51.675
You know that's not the right decision
00:24:51.675 --> 00:24:53.010
Based on the word of god."
00:24:53.010 --> 00:24:54.611
See, but the problem is we don't want that.
00:24:54.611 --> 00:24:58.348
"church all up in my business and all up in my--uh-uh, no."
00:24:58.348 --> 00:25:01.752
We don't want admonishment.
00:25:01.752 --> 00:25:03.921
And without admonishment, it won't stick.
00:25:03.921 --> 00:25:07.558
The bible says, "snatches the word."
00:25:07.558 --> 00:25:10.694
He keeps the word from getting down in your gizzard.
00:25:10.694 --> 00:25:14.197
He keeps the word from sticking with you.
00:25:14.197 --> 00:25:17.000
So unless somebody else outside of you
00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:20.203
Stronger than you is able to keep you tethered
00:25:20.203 --> 00:25:24.942
To the truth of god's word, you will drift from it.
00:25:24.942 --> 00:25:29.313
You need the church for community
00:25:29.313 --> 00:25:32.149
Because everybody in here knows what it is to drift.
00:25:32.149 --> 00:25:36.420
Everybody in here knows what it is to say amen on sunday
00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:38.655
And drift on monday because reality set in.
00:25:38.655 --> 00:25:42.225
Guess what. you sitting here is not reality.
00:25:42.225 --> 00:25:46.730
I mean, it's real 'cause you're here,
00:25:46.730 --> 00:25:48.365
But it ain't where you live.
00:25:48.365 --> 00:25:50.867
It's not your job tomorrow.
00:25:50.867 --> 00:25:53.036
It's not, you know-- your mate's behaving right now.
00:25:53.036 --> 00:25:56.907
[congregation laughing]
00:25:56.907 --> 00:25:59.676
Okay? 'cause you in church.
00:25:59.676 --> 00:26:02.779
Folks--in fact, folk will say that.
00:26:02.779 --> 00:26:04.114
"you can't do that. you in church."
00:26:04.114 --> 00:26:06.817
'cause your--this ain't the real deal of everyday life,
00:26:06.817 --> 00:26:10.988
But it's only in the real deal that growth takes place.
00:26:10.988 --> 00:26:15.325
And unless you have a posse,
00:26:15.325 --> 00:26:16.793
Unless you have somebody or somebodies
00:26:16.793 --> 00:26:19.529
Who are influencing you,
00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:21.298
Then christ is not growing inside of you
00:26:21.298 --> 00:26:24.401
And you're not changing.
00:26:24.401 --> 00:26:26.737
Oh, but when the indwelling christ
00:26:26.737 --> 00:26:29.673
Is allowed to be set loose
00:26:29.673 --> 00:26:31.875
Because everything is being related to him
00:26:31.875 --> 00:26:34.077
And people are force-feeding you,
00:26:34.077 --> 00:26:35.646
Force-feeding you,
00:26:35.646 --> 00:26:36.980
Force-feeding you the jesus thing,
00:26:36.980 --> 00:26:38.782
Force-feeding you what--
00:26:38.782 --> 00:26:40.484
How jesus relates to everything--
00:26:40.484 --> 00:26:42.653
'cause it's not only the written word;
00:26:42.653 --> 00:26:44.788
It is the living word that brings transformation
00:26:44.788 --> 00:26:48.325
Into the life.
00:26:48.325 --> 00:26:49.660
And whenever the written word gets connected
00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:52.329
To the living word, you will change
00:26:52.329 --> 00:26:56.800
Because the only way you know you maturing is
00:26:56.800 --> 00:27:00.137
If you are changing.
00:27:00.137 --> 00:27:02.906
If you're not changing, you're not maturing.
00:27:02.906 --> 00:27:07.744
When you discover christ in you, the hope of glory--
00:27:07.744 --> 00:27:11.882
Because the written word and the living word
00:27:11.882 --> 00:27:13.917
Have been dynamically preached, taught, and admonished--
00:27:13.917 --> 00:27:18.722
Not only will you be ready for that day,
00:27:18.722 --> 00:27:20.957
You'll do better today
00:27:20.957 --> 00:27:23.326
Because christ will be active in your experience.
00:27:23.326 --> 00:27:23.326

Tony Evans - The Motivation For Ministry

August 10, 2025 | 28:40

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