Psalm 23 Part 3
November 22, 2020
27:29
Dr. Jack Graham's mission is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ to as Lord to all people.
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Psalm 23 Part 3
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- [Music]
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- This is a very specialedition of PowerPoint in that
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- we're taking some time just inthe studio, a kind of you and me
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- conversation and teaching fromGod's Word. And our subject is
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- Psalm 23. Over the last severalweeks we've been walking with
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- the Shepherd and Psalm 23, ofcourse, is just an incredible
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- psalm, memorized by so many.Talked about more than perhaps
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- any passage of scripture.There's just so much here! It's
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- really a lifetime of learning.And speaking of a lifetime of
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- learning, I brought an old Bibletoday. It is my first Bible. I
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- was looking through someshelves, rearranging some things
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- recently and I came across thisBible. I had a little New
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- Testament that my grandfatherhad given me, but this was given
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- to me in 1958. A lifetime ago. Iwas 8 years of age. No need to
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- take the time to add that allup, but in 1958 I was 8 years of
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- age and I had just become abeliever and was baptized as a
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- child. I'm so grateful that Icame to Jesus early in my
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- childhood. Wonderful Christianhome and heritage, where it is
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- very easy for me to believe andtrust in Jesus. I'm grateful for
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- that opportunity that God gaveme. So I had just come to Christ
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- and my grandfather who was sucha powerful, potent force in my
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- life as a young person. Weactually lived... our family
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- lived with my maternalgrandfather. His name was A. J.
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- Simms. Arthur Judson Simms.Judson... named after a great
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- missionary. But he was a greatman. A horse and buggy doctor
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- originally and then became abanker. But most of all he was a
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- Christian, a Christ follower wholed the way for our family. He
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- was a patriarch, and for me, itwas so important. I would sit in
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- his lap most every evening andhe would read to me the stories
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- of the Bible, talk to me aboutJesus, as did my parents. But my
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- grandfather gave me this Bible,and it's presented to... and
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- you... I don't know if you cansee that or not, but it says to
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- Jackie Graham. I went by Jackie.I had an Uncle by the name of
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- Jack; I was named after him. Andalso we admired Jackie Robinson
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- back in the fifties, a greatbaseball player. So I proudly
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- wore the name Jackie. Dropped itwhen I became a teenager, but...
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- "To Jackie Graham by GrandpaSimms, August 24, 1958". And
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- here's the inscription, sosimple and yet so strong in my
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- life. My grandfather wrote, "Maythe Lord bless you and keep
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- you." It reminds me, of course,of the Bible which says... the
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- promise of God, [Numbers6:24-26] "May the Lord bless you
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- and keep you; may the Lord makeHis face to shine upon you; may
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- the Lord be gracious to you; mayHis countenance be upon you and
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- give you peace." And sothroughout the days of my life,
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- I bring up this Bible and I useit today in the message because
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- what I'm about to talk to youabout has been true in my life.
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- All the days of my life theShepherd has led me. He leads
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- His children along. And we, likesheep, have found a Shepherd.
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- His name is Jesus who is theGood Shepherd. And that's why
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- this Psalm begins in Psalm 23:1) The Lord is my shepherd; I
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- shall not want. Everything weneed is ours in Him. There is no
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- need that you have in your lifebut that He, the Good Shepherd
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- cannot supply and supplyabundantly. This is life in
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- Christ. It is an abundant lifenow and forever. That's what
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- we're going to see in themessage today. Whatever you need
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- in life... when you findyourself even in the deepest of
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- valleys in your life... when youget to the bottom of your life,
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- you will find that Jesus is allyou need. Or if you're on the
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- mountain top. With everything,Jesus is all you need. When you
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- get to the place where youdiscover that Jesus is all you
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- have, you will discover thatJesus is all you need. It's
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- true. And so: 2) ...He leads usbeside still waters. 3) He
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- restores our soul. (In this dayof anxiety, He gives us peace.)
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- He leads us in the paths ofrighteousness for His name's
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- sake. So He leads us. I love theold hymn "He leadeth me, He
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- leadeth me, by His own hand Heleadeth me." And I can give you
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- a testimony from all these yearsof following Jesus that He has
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- led me all the way. And He willlead you as well. This Bible is
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- falling apart pretty much. Iused it on into my teenage years
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- before I (quote) retired thisBible for another one. But it's
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- falling apart... it's comingapart into pieces. I love the
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- old saying which says: A personwho has a Bible that is falling
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- apart has a life that isn't!Because Jesus holds us together,
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- and His Word is our guide, ourcomfort, our strength through
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- the years. And so "He leads usin the paths of righteousness."
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- And in His righteousness...right living as we follow Jesus,
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- we then find ourselves always,always in the center of the will
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- of God. And sometimes...sometimes... In fact, many times
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- in our lives we will findourselves moving from
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- mountaintops to valleys. And inPsalm 23 it takes a turn. It
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- says: 4) Even though I walkthrough the valley of the shadow
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- of death, I will fear no evil,for you are with me; So right in
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- the heart of this great psalm,the Shepherd Psalm is this
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- truth. It is the key thatunlocked the meaning of the
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- entire psalm, and that is, "Youare with me." Underscore that in
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- your Bible. "You are with me."Write it on your mind. Believe
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- it in your heart. That there isno situation in our lives as
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- followers of Jesus but that Hispresence is constant. He is ever
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- the same. [Hebrews 13:8] "Jesus,the same yesterday, today and
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- forever." Just as this Bible isthe eternal word of God. This
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- one is falling apart as I noted,but the Word of God isn't!
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- [Isaiah 40:8] "The grasswithers, the flower fades, the
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- word of our God shall standforever." And God's Word and
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- God's presence in our livesthrough His Word, through His
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- Spirit enables us to go throughanything in our lives that we
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- face, including the darkvalleys. One of my favorite
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- places to go in Israel is alittle crevice, a deep, deep
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- valley in the Judean desert.I've been there many, many
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- times. It's a treacherouspathway through the desert, and
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- many believe that it is thespot... the very spot where
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- David, the author of this psalmwould have led his sheep to
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- higher ground or led... to leadhis sheep to still waters, and
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- this magnificent ... it'sbeautiful in its own way... it's
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- like high desert. And you havethese mountains, but this deep
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- valley and it was ... it was amurderous valley. Thieves and
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- predators were in this valley.So the shepherd sometimes leads
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- his sheep in order to get themto high ground through the deep
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- valleys. And that's true inlife, of course. You know, I
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- trust, the application of this.Even though... "Even though I
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- walk through the valley of theshadow..." It is a fact that
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- life is filled with dark valleysand deep shadows. It comes and
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- goes. We've had mountaintops,but in order to get to the next
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- mountaintop, I don't want toinsult your intelligence but
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- [chuckles] you know you have tomove from a mountaintop to a
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- valley to get to the nextmountain. And so, from mountain
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- to mountain there are valleysin-between, and there are
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- valleys in our life. Depressedplaces, dark places, filled with
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- shadows and filled with fears.And the valley in particular
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- here is described as "the valleyof the shadow of death." But I
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- have a question for you: Wouldyou rather be on a mountaintop
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- without Jesus, or in a valleywith Jesus? Well, you know the
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- answer to that question, don'tyou? With Jesus everywhere; we
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- want to be with Him. And Icertainly have experienced the
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- presence of Jesus and maybe youhave... no doubt, you have as
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- well, in the darkest times ofyour life. As a pastor many
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- years, I've seen this inpeople's lives; that we draw
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- closer to God in the dark times,the depressed times, the deep
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- valley times of our lives,perhaps more than any other time
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- in our lives, because we needthe Lord so desperately.
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- Sometimes when you're ridinghigh, we're on the mountaintop,
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- we tend to go it on our own,until we realize when we get to
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- the depths of something... whenwe get to some place where our
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- spirits are low and we can't getup, the fog is in and it won't
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- go away... those down times inour lives, that's when we come
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- back to the Lord and cling tothe Lord like never before.
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- There's something veryinteresting even in the pronouns
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- of Psalm 23. You know, whenDavid opens this passage he's
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- talking about the Lord. It's atremendous testimony of God.
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- "The Lord is my shepherd; Ishall not want. He makes me lie
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- down in green pastures. He leadsme beside the still waters. He
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- restores my soul. He leads me inthe paths of righteousness for
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- his name's sake." It's all aboutthe Lord. The Lord is doing this
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- for me. And it's a beautiful,powerful testimony. But notice
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- when David, and you and I, gothrough the deep valley, he
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- stops talking about the Lord,and he starts talking to the
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- Lord. Now it's: 4) Even though Iwalk through the valley of the
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- shadow of death, I will fear noevil, for you are with me; your
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- rod and your staff, they comfortme.... 5) You make me to lie
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- down in the presence of mineenemy; you anoint my head with
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- oil:... You see the differencefrom talking about the Lord?
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- There are people who know allabout the Lord, but they don't
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- really know the Lord. But whenyou know the Lord in the deepest
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- shadows of life you find Himdrawing near as we draw near to
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- Him. The Shepherd is alwayspresent. This is the one
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- constant... this is the onecontinual promise in God's Word.
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- He said so many times, "I willnever, no never leave you or
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- forsake you. No never will I dothis." And so it's so very
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- important for us to rememberwhen we go through dark
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- valleys... and some of you arein that place right now. You're
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- going through tough times. Jesussaid, [John 16:33] "In this
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- world you will have tribulation.But be of good cheer; for I have
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- overcome the world." When weknow that the Shepherd is with
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- us and that He never leaves usor forsakes us, no matter what
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- valley you're going through, nomatter what shadow... even the
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- valley of the shadow of death wewill not live in fear; we will
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- live in faith; we will live inexpectant hope and confidence in
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- God because we know that ourgood Shepherd is with us. And
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- when you think about it, shadowscan frighten you but they cannot
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- really harm you. The other day Iwas getting some exercise just
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- in the street, getting a goodwalk in, and I heard a rumbling
- 00:12:06.549 --> 00:12:10.886
- behind me. It was a big truck,and I knew it was coming and
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- then I saw the shadow of thetruck getting closer and closer
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- and it frightened me because itseemed that that truck was
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- coming right up on my backside.And I turned around quickly and
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- the truck went rumbling by, andthe shadow with it. And I
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- laughed to myself just to bereminded that... yeah, the truck
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- could hurt me but the shadow ofthat truck could not hurt me at
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- all. It frightened me, but itcannot hurt me. And that's true
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- of the shadows of life, even theshadow of death. Death can hurt
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- you as a believer and followerof Jesus, but it cannot harm you
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- because we have a victory inJesus that we're going to see in
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- just a moment. And, oh, by theway, there's something about
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- shadows. When we turn our faceto the sun, these shadows fall
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- behind us, don't they? And whenwe turn our faces toward the
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- Lord Jesus Christ and look toHim in the long valleys of life,
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- those shadows fall behind us.You won't be five seconds in
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- heaven through the valley of theshadow of death that when that
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- shadow falls behind you, youwill be in the bright light of
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- eternity, in the presence ofJesus. And in the meantime, we
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- can keep our eyes on Jesus, turnour faces towards the Son...
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- S-o-n, and we will discover thatevery shadow that we face, every
- 00:13:36.872 --> 00:13:40.809
- fear that we face will fallbehind us. "Even though I walk
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- through the valley of the shadowof death, I will fear no evil
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- because you are with me." Hispresence... the presence of the
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- Shepherd secures us, strengthensus and satisfies us. Jesus is in
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- the valley. And there'ssomething else about this valley
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- that ends up a victory for usand that is "even though I walk
- 00:14:04.233 --> 00:14:09.238
- through the valley of theshadow..." It doesn't say just
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- into the valley, but out on theother side. I'm telling you
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- whatever you're going through inyour life... whatever dark
- 00:14:18.681 --> 00:14:21.016
- valley you're experiencing rightnow, you're going to get through
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- this. I prayed after church thispast week with a couple and the
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- wife is facing some severedepression and she was just so
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- troubled and broken in the pain.And if you've ever been
- 00:14:37.499 --> 00:14:42.571
- depressed... really, reallydepressed, you know that one of
- 00:14:42.604 --> 00:14:46.308
- the lies that the enemy tellsyou that the depression itself
- 00:14:46.342 --> 00:14:48.777
- will tell you is: "You're nevergoing to get out of this; you're
- 00:14:48.811 --> 00:14:52.681
- never going to get through this.You're stuck in this; you're
- 00:14:52.715 --> 00:14:56.218
- never going to get better;you're never going to get well."
- 00:14:56.251 --> 00:14:59.221
- It may not be depression; it maybe something else. The devil
- 00:14:59.254 --> 00:15:01.523
- lies and says "You're nevergoing to have a great marriage;
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- you're going to be stuck in thisterrible relationship." "You're
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- never going to have a purpose inyour life. God's finished with
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- you in some way." Never, nonever! No, the Bible says He is
- 00:15:11.133 --> 00:15:18.474
- going to bring you through it.There's never been a sunset but
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- that there has been a sunrise.And don't let the lies of the
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- enemy tell you that you're notgoing to get through this. I
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- believe God put me here today inyour life to say you're going to
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- make it. You're going to getthrough. The shadows are
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- frightening, the darkness andthe depressing places of the
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- deep valley still hurtful, butyou're going to get through to
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- the other side!
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- [Music]
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- I'mstanding by this beautiful river
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- in the Colorado Rockies andreflecting on the goodness of
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- God. As we are learning in the23rd Psalm about the Good
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- Shepherd I hope you begin torealize in order for you to
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- truly break free from fear,anxiety, you must admit
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- something that is very humblingfor all of us and that is, we
- 00:16:11.727 --> 00:16:15.697
- are sheep. You know, if a sheepwere dying of thirst and arrived
- 00:16:15.731 --> 00:16:19.902
- at this river it would not evendrink from these pure, beautiful
- 00:16:19.935 --> 00:16:23.238
- refreshing rivers due to thefear of moving water. But if the
- 00:16:23.272 --> 00:16:27.242
- sheep were in the care of a goodshepherd that shepherd would use
- 00:16:27.276 --> 00:16:31.180
- his bare hands or stones, acrook to divert some of the
- 00:16:31.213 --> 00:16:34.550
- rushing river into a pool ofstill waters and this is the
- 00:16:34.583 --> 00:16:38.720
- lesson for all of us: We'redying of spiritual and emotional
- 00:16:38.754 --> 00:16:42.891
- thirst but if fear, so manyanxieties keep us from drinking
- 00:16:42.925 --> 00:16:47.229
- what we so desperately need. So,if you are fearful and thirst,
- 00:16:47.262 --> 00:16:51.600
- call on the Good Shepherd and Hewill quiet your fears and create
- 00:16:51.633 --> 00:16:56.171
- for you still waters. Thanks forthe amazing support that you
- 00:16:56.205 --> 00:16:59.808
- give us at PowerPoint. It'sgenerous friends like you that
- 00:16:59.842 --> 00:17:03.378
- enable us to boldly broadcastthe gospel on air and online at
- 00:17:03.412 --> 00:17:07.616
- a time when our world is well,filled with so much anxiety and
- 00:17:07.649 --> 00:17:11.353
- fear. There is a solution to thefears you face and that is the
- 00:17:11.386 --> 00:17:15.791
- power of God's word and the HolySpirit who comforts us from
- 00:17:15.824 --> 00:17:20.062
- within. So, today I want to sendyou a resource to help you
- 00:17:20.095 --> 00:17:23.732
- overcome your fears andanxieties, the things that
- 00:17:23.765 --> 00:17:26.802
- you're facing in your lifetoday. It's my latest book
- 00:17:26.835 --> 00:17:29.938
- called "Breaking Free fromFear." This book is a great
- 00:17:29.972 --> 00:17:33.809
- resource to help you live yourlife and live out your life with
- 00:17:33.842 --> 00:17:37.980
- faith and hope and courage. Socall the number on the screen or
- 00:17:38.013 --> 00:17:42.818
- visit us online atJackGraham.org to donate to our
- 00:17:42.851 --> 00:17:45.687
- ministry and receive "BreakingFree from Fear" today.
- 00:17:45.721 --> 00:17:51.059
- The rest of your life can be thevery
- 00:17:51.093 --> 00:17:53.262
- best of your life as you follow
- 00:17:53.295 --> 00:17:55.564
- the Shepherd. How do you knowthat? Because the scripture says
- 00:17:55.597 --> 00:17:59.368
- that "Surely goodness andmercy..." See that confidence?
- 00:17:59.401 --> 00:18:04.940
- 6) Surely... (confidently!)...surely goodness and mercy will
- 00:18:04.973 --> 00:18:10.445
- follow me all the days of mylife. (There ... there it is:
- 00:18:10.479 --> 00:18:14.783
- "all the days of my life.") Andthen: I will dwell in the house
- 00:18:14.816 --> 00:18:20.923
- of the Lord forever.Goodness and mercy.
- 00:18:20.956 --> 00:18:25.661
- On... on the great days, thedays when the sun is shining and
- 00:18:25.694 --> 00:18:31.433
- we get up and we say, "God is sogood!" He is good, isn't He?
- 00:18:31.466 --> 00:18:36.371
- He's there on the great days,the good days. God is so good.
- 00:18:36.405 --> 00:18:39.775
- And then we have Him on the downdays when it's raining and the
- 00:18:39.808 --> 00:18:44.046
- sun... you can't see it. Youwonder if it's ever coming out
- 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:48.150
- again... we have His mercy. Gooddays we have His goodness; bad
- 00:18:48.183 --> 00:18:53.956
- days we have His mercy, but alldays... all the days of our
- 00:18:53.989 --> 00:18:58.660
- lives we have the goodness andthe mercy of God. God has been
- 00:18:58.694 --> 00:19:04.566
- so, so good to me. And I knowyou would say the same thing.
- 00:19:04.600 --> 00:19:10.639
- [Psalm 136] "His mercy enduresforever." His goodness meets us
- 00:19:10.672 --> 00:19:14.910
- every morning. His faithfulnessis so beautiful and wonderful in
- 00:19:14.943 --> 00:19:20.682
- our lives. It is... it's a greatlife to live your life with the
- 00:19:20.716 --> 00:19:26.488
- Shepherd, and as a humble sheepdependent upon Him, to walk with
- 00:19:26.521 --> 00:19:31.893
- Him, to enjoy His presence. Heleads us; He feeds us; He takes
- 00:19:31.927 --> 00:19:37.366
- care of us. He ministers Hishelp to us. When we fall into a
- 00:19:37.399 --> 00:19:43.138
- deep crevice and we findourselves hurt, He picks us up
- 00:19:43.171 --> 00:19:45.707
- and puts us on His shoulders andcarries us. You know, there's
- 00:19:45.741 --> 00:19:50.545
- no... no sheep too far away butthat Jesus will come and get
- 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:53.782
- you. Maybe you've fallen, maybeyou're broken. When a shepherd
- 00:19:53.815 --> 00:19:58.086
- would find a lamb that hadfallen. Perhaps he had been
- 00:19:58.120 --> 00:20:01.423
- wounded in some way, he wouldleave, Jesus said, the flock...
- 00:20:01.456 --> 00:20:05.394
- the ninety and nine and go findthat one lost sheep, the one
- 00:20:05.427 --> 00:20:09.031
- little lost last lamb. And whatwould He do? He would bring that
- 00:20:09.064 --> 00:20:13.101
- sheep back to the sheep fold.And that's what Christ does for
- 00:20:13.135 --> 00:20:17.239
- us. If you find yourself faraway or lost, like a little lost
- 00:20:17.272 --> 00:20:22.577
- lamb right now, the goodShepherd is searching for you,
- 00:20:22.611 --> 00:20:27.316
- He's coming for you. And justwait. He's going to pick you up
- 00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:31.553
- and He's going to carry you backinto the presence of the Father.
- 00:20:31.586 --> 00:20:36.258
- It's a great life "all the daysof my life." And then, what does
- 00:20:36.291 --> 00:20:43.465
- He say? Mercy, goodness all thedays, and then "I will dwell in
- 00:20:43.498 --> 00:20:51.573
- the house of the Lord forever."It's all this... all these
- 00:20:51.606 --> 00:20:59.081
- blessings, all this good lifethat we enjoy every day in
- 00:20:59.114 --> 00:21:04.853
- Christ, and then, it's heaven.All this I say and heaven, too!
- 00:21:04.886 --> 00:21:12.594
- Heaven is the Father's house.Jesus told us this in John
- 00:21:12.627 --> 00:21:17.165
- chapter 14. He said, [John14:1-3] "Don't let your heart be
- 00:21:17.199 --> 00:21:20.369
- troubled; you believe in God;believe also in Me. In My
- 00:21:20.402 --> 00:21:23.739
- Father's house are manymansions, if it weren't so I
- 00:21:23.772 --> 00:21:27.609
- would have told you. I go toprepare a place for you. And if
- 00:21:27.642 --> 00:21:31.813
- I go, I will come again andreceive you to Myself that where
- 00:21:31.847 --> 00:21:35.417
- I am there you will be also."Now Thomas, one of the disciples
- 00:21:35.450 --> 00:21:40.889
- always willing to raise his handand ask a question. He wasn't
- 00:21:40.922 --> 00:21:45.060
- really so much a doubter,seeking to not believe, but he
- 00:21:45.093 --> 00:21:48.130
- was a doubter seeking always tobelieve Thomas. Don't call him
- 00:21:48.163 --> 00:21:51.299
- doubting Thomas. He became oneof the greatest believers of all
- 00:21:51.333 --> 00:21:54.236
- time. But he raised his hand andsaid, "Lord," I'm so glad he
- 00:21:54.269 --> 00:21:57.939
- asked this question. [John 14:5]"Lord, we don't know where
- 00:21:57.973 --> 00:22:00.675
- you're going and how can we knowthe way?" It was dark, it was
- 00:22:00.709 --> 00:22:03.311
- the upper room, it was hoursbefore the cross. The disciples
- 00:22:03.345 --> 00:22:06.114
- were disturbed and confused andJesus had been talking about His
- 00:22:06.148 --> 00:22:10.218
- death. So he said, "We don'tknow what's going on. We don't
- 00:22:10.252 --> 00:22:14.689
- know where you're going and howcan we know the way?" And John
- 00:22:14.723 --> 00:22:18.460
- 14:6, that's when Jesus said, "Iam the way, the truth and the
- 00:22:18.493 --> 00:22:22.164
- life. And no one comes to theFather except by Me." One of the
- 00:22:22.197 --> 00:22:27.936
- greatest statements in all ofthe Bible. Jesus is the
- 00:22:27.969 --> 00:22:32.441
- pathway... the pathway, not away but the way to heaven. And
- 00:22:32.474 --> 00:22:37.612
- if you will trust in Him andbelieve Him and give your life
- 00:22:37.646 --> 00:22:41.483
- to follow Him by repenting ofyour sin, receiving Christ into
- 00:22:41.516 --> 00:22:45.821
- your life, that is the pathwayto heaven. And your... your
- 00:22:45.854 --> 00:22:48.790
- future if you are a believer isforever with Him. In the
- 00:22:48.824 --> 00:22:53.595
- Father's house. There's a lot oftalk about heaven... who's going
- 00:22:53.628 --> 00:22:57.899
- to go there, the Bible tells usthat those who trust in Jesus is
- 00:22:57.933 --> 00:23:01.803
- going... that we are going toheaven. What's heaven going to
- 00:23:01.837 --> 00:23:06.274
- be like? That's another day,another message. In fact, I've
- 00:23:06.308 --> 00:23:09.377
- got an entire message series onheaven. You might want to check
- 00:23:09.411 --> 00:23:12.447
- that out. But heaven ultimatelyis the Father's house, it's
- 00:23:12.481 --> 00:23:16.685
- home. We're going home. Theshepherd would take the sheep
- 00:23:16.718 --> 00:23:21.523
- all the way home, and ourheavenly Shepherd... he is
- 00:23:21.556 --> 00:23:25.327
- guiding us, He is taking us intohis presences, and one day we
- 00:23:25.360 --> 00:23:29.297
- will be with Him forever. It'snot going to be boring. Just as
- 00:23:29.331 --> 00:23:32.868
- life in Jesus is not boring...People say, "Well, heaven's
- 00:23:32.901 --> 00:23:35.570
- going to be... is that going tobe boring? Are we just gonna,
- 00:23:35.604 --> 00:23:38.073
- you know, sit on a cloudthroughout all eternity and
- 00:23:38.106 --> 00:23:41.543
- waste our forever?" No, theBible says we're going to be
- 00:23:41.576 --> 00:23:45.847
- serving God, we're going to beworshipping God, we're going to
- 00:23:45.881 --> 00:23:49.117
- be experiencing His presence.We're going to be in heaven with
- 00:23:49.150 --> 00:23:53.655
- Him forever and ever! You can'timagine how good that's going to
- 00:23:53.688 --> 00:23:59.528
- be. But I promise you accordingto God's Word that I have been
- 00:23:59.561 --> 00:24:03.732
- believing all of my life...according to this Book that
- 00:24:03.765 --> 00:24:07.836
- heaven is a wonderful place. Itis filled with glory and grace.
- 00:24:07.869 --> 00:24:12.407
- I want to see my Savior's facebecause heaven is wonderful
- 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:18.346
- place. The reason that heaven isso wonderful is because our
- 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:22.918
- Father is there, Jesus is there.Our loved ones and friends will
- 00:24:22.951 --> 00:24:28.557
- gather, fellow believers fromevery age and throughout the
- 00:24:28.590 --> 00:24:34.029
- history of mankind will be therein the presence of God because
- 00:24:34.062 --> 00:24:37.899
- of the cross and theresurrection. Are you ready? Are
- 00:24:37.933 --> 00:24:42.604
- you ready to die? Maybe I shouldask you first of all are you
- 00:24:42.637 --> 00:24:46.107
- ready to live, because you'renot to live until you're ready
- 00:24:46.141 --> 00:24:49.778
- to die. When you make peace withGod and you know that you know
- 00:24:49.811 --> 00:24:54.583
- that you know that you're goingto heaven when you die or when
- 00:24:54.616 --> 00:24:58.486
- Christ comes again, then you canlive with hope and confidence
- 00:24:58.520 --> 00:25:02.691
- and peace. You can live with thecertainty that life matters now
- 00:25:02.724 --> 00:25:06.595
- because eternity is before us.And here's one last thing I want
- 00:25:06.628 --> 00:25:10.432
- to... I want to mention beforewe go and that is our goal as
- 00:25:10.465 --> 00:25:14.002
- believers is to glorify God, tomagnify Jesus in our lives. And
- 00:25:14.035 --> 00:25:19.040
- one of the best ways we can dothat is by introducing Jesus as
- 00:25:19.074 --> 00:25:23.678
- Savior and Lord to as manypeople as possible on our way to
- 00:25:23.712 --> 00:25:28.350
- heaven. We want to take as manypeople as possible with us on
- 00:25:28.383 --> 00:25:33.388
- our way to heaven. We ought tobe spending our lives sharing
- 00:25:33.421 --> 00:25:37.859
- the love of Christ, servingpeople, loving people, inviting
- 00:25:37.892 --> 00:25:41.029
- people. Being involved in ourchurches, praying that lost
- 00:25:41.062 --> 00:25:44.666
- people will come to faith inChrist, witnessing to our family
- 00:25:44.699 --> 00:25:49.771
- and friends because there is aheaven and, yes, there is a
- 00:25:49.804 --> 00:25:53.541
- hell. And you will spend aconscious eternity either in
- 00:25:53.575 --> 00:25:58.880
- heaven with Him forever in theFather's house, or apart from
- 00:25:58.913 --> 00:26:03.518
- Him forever and ever in hell.It's a decision that every
- 00:26:03.551 --> 00:26:07.656
- person must make. Will youbelieve and trust in Jesus? Will
- 00:26:07.689 --> 00:26:11.292
- you follow Him? Will you tell asmany of your friends as possible
- 00:26:11.326 --> 00:26:14.996
- who Jesus is and what He's donefor you? You may not know all
- 00:26:15.030 --> 00:26:19.601
- the answers to the questionsthat people have about life,
- 00:26:19.634 --> 00:26:22.537
- about death, about... about thethings of God, but you know
- 00:26:22.570 --> 00:26:25.907
- Jesus. And if you know Jesus,you can't help but speak as the
- 00:26:25.940 --> 00:26:30.111
- Apostles did of the things thatyou've seen and the things that
- 00:26:30.145 --> 00:26:33.982
- you have heard. Since I was achild, I've been telling people
- 00:26:34.015 --> 00:26:38.353
- about Jesus. The one that I metin this Book so long ago through
- 00:26:38.386 --> 00:26:44.292
- the testimony of my grandfather.Now we've got grandparents
- 00:26:44.325 --> 00:26:48.229
- watching PowerPoint regularly.Do your grandchildren know
- 00:26:48.263 --> 00:26:51.599
- Jesus? Write them a letter orsend them a text. Encourage them
- 00:26:51.633 --> 00:26:56.805
- to go to church, take them ifit's at all possible. Be an
- 00:26:56.838 --> 00:27:00.241
- influence in your children's andyour children's children's life.
- 00:27:00.275 --> 00:27:04.345
- I'm so glad that I found faithin Christ so soon in my life.
- 00:27:04.379 --> 00:27:10.485
- And I'm excited about the daysahead. The days following Jesus,
- 00:27:10.518 --> 00:27:14.322
- knowing that goodness and mercywill be with me all the days of
- 00:27:14.355 --> 00:27:17.492
- my life and then... and thenit's the Father's house forever
- 00:27:17.525 --> 00:27:22.430
- and ever. Amen
- 00:27:22.464 --> 00:27:29.010