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You're listening to KFI AM six forty
on demand. Well, there's been a

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lot going on the past three years
or so with the pandemic and everything else,

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but there's been some change, and
now for Resurrection Sunday twenty twenty three,

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there's a lot to look back on. Much has changed, Unfortunately,

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it's this particular focus in holiday is
about sacrifice. The world is in a

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weird place, and in the United
States it's not immune to this. It

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may even be the leader of it. And that is selfishness and separating yourself

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from the needs of others, making
you the star of your own movie,

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and separating yourself from everyone else on
the planet that you deal with. And

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selfishness is at the opposite end of
sacrifice, which, of course, in

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this season Resurrection is a focus the
pay for your sins. This all comes

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into focus in a different way.
So on this Resurrection Sunday, I'd like

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to focus on sacrifice, the purpose
of my sacrifice, of course, and

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the sacrifice that I expect from you. And you might be surprised as to

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what that actually is, but see
this all through the lens of a post

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pandemic world, and how a lot
of folks took the pandemic and turned it

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in an opportunity, as an opportunity
to be more selfish, more about what

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you want, what you want in
your life, not need the needs,

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but what you want versus what the
community can do together. What a town,

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what a city, what a state? What a nation can do together

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if it sacrifices, rather than being
selfish. Now, I want to clear

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up a couple of things. When
I went to my death, I went

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to it knowingly Mark eight thirty one, fully understanding that I would suffer on

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a cross, and yes, that
I would be raised from the dead Luke,

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twenty four, forty six. However, some people question whether this was

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a real sacrifice, since I knew
the eventual outcome would be my resurrection.

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And this is a misplaced notion.
I know as a human your thoughts are

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the ultimate sacrifice is your life.
And yes, even Scripture talks about that

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there is no greater love than someone
who would lay down their life for another.

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But I'm a different and special case
because my sacrifice, the things that

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I felt and experienced surpass and transcend
just the flesh and the physical death.

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So when you question, or you
hear people question whether this was a real

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sacrifice because I did know that outcome
would be my resurrection. Think about these

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things a bit. My death on
the was not just about ending the life

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of my physical human body. I
suffered many things. I suffered emotionally and

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physically, and in doing that,
as an omnipotent, perfect God, I

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was tortured and humiliated by my own
creations. That transcends again just losing life,

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just ending a beating heart, ending
the breath. It's different to take

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those things on. My sacrifice was
not made any less significan again, by

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the fact that I knew I would
be raised from the dead. Physical restoration

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does not make prior events, the
things that I went through any less sacrificial

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or traumatic. In any way,
A sacrifice is not less valid because it

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has a good outcome. That's not
the way it works. In John sixteen

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twenty through twenty two, I use
the analogy of a woman in childbirth to

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illustrate the anguish my disciples would experience
upon my death. I reassured them over

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and over that their sorrow, their
pain, their suffering, would be turned

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to joy, and that the ultimate
outcome was worth suffering for. However,

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the joy of childbirth and you can
ask any womanness does not disaffirm, does

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not take away, does not abolish
the pain and suffering involved in the birth

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itself. That'd be silly to think
the mother's agony was real. The pain

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was real, and that reality exists
even for mothers who are entirely confident that

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the birthing process will end in joy
and the health of a child. Even

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with that focus, even knowing all
of that, doesn't change in any way,

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shape or form, the pain set
before someone, the pain that is

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experienced. There's a lot of pain
that comes with growth, a lot of

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sacrifice that comes with growth. And
even though you know on the other end

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of it there will be that growth, that newness, that outcome, it

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still takes place the pain, the
loss of something, the sacrifice, And

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to try and put that in the
category of smoke and mirrors that it because

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the outcome was so great, it's
still felt, still experienced, it's still

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incredibly incredibly real. And you put
on top of that that I'm the one

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and only, true, righteous and
sinless God taking on not only the sins

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of the world, but the humiliation
and the body breaking even psychological effects of

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the relationship that was going on between
the father and me at the time.

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All of this plays in. All
of this plays a part of the sacrifice,

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And to say that the sacrifice was
only about the physical is to miss

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the entirety of what took place on
that cross over two thousand years ago.

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It's resurrection Sunday, we're focusing on
sacrifice and the meaning of it, the

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purpose of my sacrifice, and this
sacrifice I expect from you. And in

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a time when the world is incredibly
selfish, in a time where the world

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is focused only on themselves, and
I saw this even grow throughout the pandemic,

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and now on the other side of
the pandemic, the lasting unfortunately selfishness,

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strangely enough, that came through it
all. Instead of bringing people together

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with the desire to help one another
and partake in the care of one another,

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people grew very selfish, which is
the exact opposite of sacrifice. So

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we got into a bit of the
question about my sacrifice was it real?

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Because I knew ultimately my body would
resurrect, And when it comes to that,

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knowing that me enduring the pain,
the humiliation of these things is different

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than the way you would be experiencing
that. So even enduring momentary insults in

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dignity, disrespect. It's a sacrifice
in and of itself. And this is

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true when the victims are humans,
are finite, sinful humans. Even you

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taking that on would be a sacrifice
and a pain. And then when you

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look at it and you pull back, that sacrifice is amplified when the victim

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is the perfect and sinless son of
God. Now added to the emotional pain

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caused by the injustice, along with
the physical pain, something that can be

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overcome, yes, but not undone. It's not a race. It doesn't

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go away. When I came to
Earth, I experienced everything that human beings

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normally do. As human beings,
you have physical, spiritual, emotional pain,

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and so did I. The brutality
of my death absolutely was not an

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easy thing, even though I knew
I was going to be resurrected. But

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my death was about atonement for sin, and the infinite sacrifice of me lowering

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myself accomplished that atonement. It couldn't
be done without it. But the significance

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of taking that on when I wasn't, when I didn't have to, never

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having to have any of that pain, humility, any of that that changes

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the sacrifice, and I think it's
very easy for humans to look at it

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from a strictly human standpoint, because
to you, the worst thing is just

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death, so you think. But
truly the biggest pain is when innocence,

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when perfection, unmarked and marred,
takes on those things, takes on the

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sin. I never would have needed
to feel any of those things or have

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any of those experiences if not for
the importance of the day you celebrate today

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on Resurrection Sunday. Maybe you're new
to the program today. What better way

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to be introduced on a Resurrection Sunday
as Christians all over the world celebrate what

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is often referred to as Easter.
And that's not to nod to our Orthodox

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family members who celebrate on a different
day, but I will tell you that

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if you're new to the program,
it is something worth spending the time to

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listen to before you jump to any
conclusions. Of course, I love hearing

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from you, and we give you
an opportunity to do that. The number

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is eight hundred five to zero one
five three four. That's eight hundred five

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to zero one five three four.
And you can call with theology questions dealing

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with God, religion, spirituality,
world views, the Bible, of course,

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or if you're going through something in
life. We refer to them on

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the program as life situations. And
we use the term situation because it's deeply

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human for people to go from good
to bad situations or things in life and

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think they will never ever go back. But if things can go from good

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to bad, I assure you they
can go from bad to good. And

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that's one of the things that we
celebrate on the program as well. So

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Christians around the world today celebrate Resurrection
Sunday. It's important to remember that My

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sacrifice on the Cross covered the sins
of the world. However, as believers,

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you're called to a different kind of
sacrifice, one that requires you to

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deny yourself and take up your cross
daily to follow me. You go back

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to our Jewish brothers and sisters in
the beginning, and you'll see talk of

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animal sacrifices or burnt offerings, and
those had a purpose too, pointing towards

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the payment that would come later when
the Mashiekh would arrive. And it was

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looking differently at the impact, whereas
now, as a Christian believer, you're

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looking back at the payment. But
sacrifice is involved it's just different than the

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sacrifice I gave. You may find
stories from places throughout the world where during

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this time there are believers that are
doing things that may not make sense,

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and I assure you they don't make
sense to the faith and what's taught in

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scripture either. They nail themselves to
crosses to sacrifice, not to die,

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but to be up there and sacrifice
the lack of pain, now consuming the

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pain of that to show the devotion. And I don't ask for that nowhere.

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I did that. That was my
sacrifice. But in Luke nine twenty

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three, you see that there's a
different type, says Then he said to

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them all, whoever wants to be
my disciple must deny themselves and take up

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their cross daily and follow me.
Now you can read that and say,

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okay, well, that's a physical
cross that I've got to take up and

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I've got to do that daily.
No, it's not the context, it's

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not the meaning the purpose of that, to have a physical cross on your

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back, or to certainly not have
the need to nail yourself to one.

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Don't need to duplicate what I did
in any way, shape or form,

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Otherwise I wouldn't have had I wouldn't
have needed to do it for you.

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So Luke nine twenty three, when
it talks about to deny yourself, to

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take up your cross daily and follow
me, this means that God calls you

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to a daily sacrifice, not to
lay down your life, not to die,

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but to take up your cross.
You're called to make tough decisions,

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not to take the easy path in
life, not to stand for what is

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bad, what is ungodly, but
to stand up for what is righteous and

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godly and just, rather than what
is self serving. And that's become quite

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odd in today's world because people are
focused on being self serving. They're focused

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selfishly on their own wants, not
even their needs, their own wants,

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and you need to break that.
As a person of faith, you need

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to break from that that is a
worldly thing. Romans twelve one says,

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Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to

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present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice except to God, which is your

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spiritual service of worship, really letting
you know, reminding you that it's not

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about some grand gesture, it's not
about one big thing that God needs from

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you. It's about a daily progression
of dying to yourself and giving in to

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the will of God every day.
We've talked about on the program many times

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how it's human nature to want to
do a grandiose gesture. How many times

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do you hear people say things like, oh my gosh, I would die

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for my children, or children saying
I would die for my parents. Those

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are grandiose gestures. And indeed it
is said in scripture that there's no great

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your love than being willing to give
your life for another. Let's hope that

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that's never a need in your world. Let's hope that in your life you

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won't have to make that decision.
But what about the day to day To

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hear a kid say, you know, I would die for my parents if

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they were ever in jeopardy is a
wonderful thing in the arena of selflessness.

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But what about mowing the lawn,
what about taking out the trash, doing

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the dishes? Will you do the
daily stuff? Will you do the things

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each day to show your love,
dedication, and willing to sacrifice. And

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that's what where I think humans get
lost in. You know, there's day

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to day stuff that may seem boring
and not as important or powerful as a

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grand gesture. But God doesn't want
your grand gestures. All I want is

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your daily devotion, waking up each
day and putting Me first, and in

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your head saying I am going to
in all things try and glorify God today.

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And that doesn't mean some weird spiritual
regimen or dropping down to your knees

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in prayer in the mini you know, in the middle of a zoom meeting

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or something. This is about.
This is about dying to self, putting

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others first, putting God first.
Your sacrifice to God is not just a

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physical one. It's a spiritual one
as well. You're called to give yourself

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fully to God, offering your bodies
as a living sacrifice, pleasing and acceptable

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to God. And how much more
powerful is that than the grandest of gestures.

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My job, my job, my
calling was to do that. My

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calling was to die for the sins
of the world. Mine is the grand

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gesture. What I call you two
is to the day to day. Yes,

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it may seem like more of a
grind, and it is, but

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it's a different type of sacrifice.
It's a sacrifice of pushing forward, moving

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forward, but constantly in that state
of giving. It is very easy to

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get lost and think like the world
does. The world is so much about

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I believe this. I believe that
look what good I'm doing. Look at

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these charity works that really they are
trying to tell you something about who they

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are rather than really living it in
a pattern, when someone lives something not

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just for a quick selfie or moment
to say, look what I've done,

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but to live it on a daily
basi, how powerful is that? You

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must also remember that there's a price
for everything, but never take anything for

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granted. Never. Sacrifice is important
because all of your sacrifices point to your

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appreciation for the important things in life. Praise and worship to God is one

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of those as well. You folks
calling in have been very patient. We

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will take your calls shortly, I
promise. Right now we are discussing appropriately

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for resurrection Sunday. That as you
continue to experience the changes that many were

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brought on because of the pandemic and
three years of dealing with all of that

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and every other hoops that came that
made you were made to jump through,

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a lot of people turned to being
selfish, really not worrying about their job

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and other people around them, sort
of becoming hermits and not connecting, and

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with that became this new kind of
attitude of selfishness. No, it happened

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a lot with work, but it
happened with other things too. People were

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like, you know what, I
spend a lot of time with people that

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I don't want to you know,
sort of half friends but not real friends.

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Or I spend a lot of time
doing this. Nothing wrong with work

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life balance, Nothing wrong with building
parameters boundaries in your life, or looking

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to see if the people in your
life for the ones you want to be

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around. Nothing wrong with any of
that. But on this resurrection Sunday,

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I want to talk about the opposite
of selfishness, and that is sacrifice.

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We talked about my sacrifice, the
meaning of it, the misnomer that it

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wasn't really a sacrifice because I knew
I was going to resurrect, and therefore

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the thought is, well, it
can't be a sacrifice because you're just going

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to come back to life. Well
that's very human perspective, because you think

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death is the biggest sacrifice, and
if you were brought back to life,

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it's not one. That's a pretty
huge misunderstanding. But understanding going through my

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sacrifice is one part of it.
The second has to do with your calling,

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what you're called to do, and
that is a different kind of sacrifice.

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It's not the big grand gesture,
it's the little things. It's the

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daily things. Your sacrifice to God
isn't physical, It isn't death in that

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way. It's spiritual. To give
yourselves fully to God. Yes that means

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your body too, but your spirit. You're offering yourself as a living sacrifice,

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pleasing and acceptable to God, says
Scripture. To be focused on God,

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to worship God in all things that
you do. That is power.

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You know, your spouse, your
partner, your friends, your parents,

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your children, aren't looking just for
the grand gestures their work, looking for

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the day to day. Not using
like I love you as a greeting type

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of thing, you know, where
you use it so much every day that

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it becomes weak and watered down,
but using it every day by connecting,

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by looking into someone's eyes and telling
them you know, I love you and

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these are the things I love.
The way you smile could be one day.

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I love your eyes, and how
honest they are could be another day.

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It's not just I love you,
but these are things that I love

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that daily embracing God calls you to
that as well. Hebrews thirteen fifteen says,

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through him, then let us continually
offer up a sacrifice of praise to

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God. That is the fruit of
the lips that give thanks to His name.

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How lovely and how powerful is that, the fruit of your lips.

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To put God's name on your lips, to praise that, to thank God

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for the things that you receive,
and even more importantly, most of the

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time, the things that are taken
from you, the removal of the things

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that shouldn't be in your life.
To thank God for those things, to

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have appreciation to God on the daily. The practicality of that, the reality

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of that, more than the grand
gestures, is powerful unto itself, and

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it's very easy to get wrapped up
in these big, big gestures. But

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sometimes those gestures aren't for good at
all. They're for you, or they're

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for the people seeing. You've heard
me talk in scripture about those spiritual leaders

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that would stand on the hilltops to
pray, and I said, that's about

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them. You're to go in your
prayer closet. It doesn't have to be

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a closet, but it means you're
to pray in a way that glorifies God

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and separates those things. Not for
the glory of yourself or look, I'm

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praying, but when you can to
do them in a place that's private,

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and as you strive to do the
hard thing in life, the right thing,

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sacrificing what you may want to do
for what you should do, then

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you're glorifying God. So push yourselves
each day to follow in Christ's footsteps,

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denying yourself, taking up your cross, and sacrificing in all things to the

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glory of God. KFI six on
demand