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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everyone, I'm glad that you're tuning in. I'd like

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<v Speaker 1>to say a word to you about this icon and death.

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<v Speaker 1>This is one of my favorite icons. It's called the

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<v Speaker 1>Plundering of Hades. It has a picture of Our Savior.

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<v Speaker 1>This is great and holy Saturday, the day after the Crucifixion,

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<v Speaker 1>an icon of our Savior descending with great speed and

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<v Speaker 1>force into the lower regions of the earth into Hades.

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<v Speaker 1>You can see his clothing just blowing in the back.

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<v Speaker 1>He has his hand out. Bless him because these are

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<v Speaker 1>all the righteous who have been waiting for the coming

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<v Speaker 1>of Christ to deliver them from death. And over here

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<v Speaker 1>is this nasty demon who's holding a collection of our

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<v Speaker 1>record of our sins. And notice Christ is tearing it

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<v Speaker 1>in half, the Certificate of Cancelation. Saint Paul describes this

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<v Speaker 1>in his Epistle to the color Aussians, that Jesus tore

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<v Speaker 1>it up atoning for our sins on the cross and

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<v Speaker 1>erasing our debt. He's coming to knock down the doors

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<v Speaker 1>of hell and to pull everyone up and out. He

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<v Speaker 1>is our champion. He's the only one who has gotten

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<v Speaker 1>into the ring with death, and one he crushed it.

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<v Speaker 1>This day is that I'm giving you this reflection. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the day we call the Saturday of Souls. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the Saturday before the Sunday of Pentecost, the outpouring of

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<v Speaker 1>the Holy Spirit, and the Saturday of Souls takes place

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<v Speaker 1>two days in the year, one before the Great Judgment

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<v Speaker 1>Sunday and then one before Pentecost. On this day, we

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<v Speaker 1>gathered together this morning for the liturgy, and we made

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<v Speaker 1>a universal commemoration for all our forefathers in the faith,

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<v Speaker 1>for righteous and pious kings, patriarchs, bishops, priests, hiro monks, deaconshirodeacons, monks, nuns, forbears, parents, grandparents,

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<v Speaker 1>great grandparents, godparents, and all the faithful from the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>unto the end of time. Orthodox Christians all over the

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<v Speaker 1>world turn in the names of their loved ones, their

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<v Speaker 1>friends who have gone to the next life, and they

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<v Speaker 1>give these papers to the priests full of names, and

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<v Speaker 1>the priests spend hours making commemorations by name of all

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<v Speaker 1>of our departed. Death and facing death is something that

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<v Speaker 1>the Church insists that her children do. We don't do

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<v Speaker 1>it except in the context of the conqueror of death.

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<v Speaker 1>I remembered this morning, as I was coming into the

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<v Speaker 1>church to celebrate the service. I was stopped by one

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<v Speaker 1>of our elders in the church, a beautiful woman of

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<v Speaker 1>our parish, dearly loved, and she had tears pouring down

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<v Speaker 1>her face because her beloved sister in law had fallen

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<v Speaker 1>asleep just this morning. We came into the church and

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<v Speaker 1>we liturgized and drew near to the throne of God,

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<v Speaker 1>making commemoration of all our departed loved ones. This is

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<v Speaker 1>our honest Christian life. We follow a principle, a central principle,

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<v Speaker 1>and the principle is this, the way up is down.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus was very clear, if you want to be great,

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<v Speaker 1>become small. If you want to be exalted, humble yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>This is our principle, and of course he modeled it.

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<v Speaker 1>No one is more humble than the Lord Christ, who,

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<v Speaker 1>being in the form of God, did not consider his

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<v Speaker 1>divine stature to be held onto, but humbled himself, taking

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<v Speaker 1>the form of a man and becoming obedient even to

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<v Speaker 1>the death on the cross. He saved us by his

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<v Speaker 1>great descent, his humble descent to save us, and God

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<v Speaker 1>highly exalted him and gave him the name that's above

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<v Speaker 1>every name, that at his name, every niece should bow,

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<v Speaker 1>and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

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<v Speaker 1>to the glory of God, the Father forever. This is

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<v Speaker 1>the future. This is the exaltation He was given by

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<v Speaker 1>the Father for his incredible humility. And that's the pattern

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<v Speaker 1>for us as Christians. The way up is down. If

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<v Speaker 1>you want glory, embrace humility. This is also the case

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<v Speaker 1>with regards to physical life. If you want to inherit

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<v Speaker 1>the kingdom of God. If you want to go up

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<v Speaker 1>in the resurrection, which we believers do and we're confident

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<v Speaker 1>of doing it by being attached to Christ, the conqueror

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<v Speaker 1>of death, first we have to dissolve. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>Christian attitude towards death. Death for us is not what

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<v Speaker 1>it was before the coming of Christ. Death is a

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<v Speaker 1>conquered folk. Death has been dissolved. Death now has become

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<v Speaker 1>a door for us. Every move that we make towards

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<v Speaker 1>death and the providence of God should not be resisted.

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<v Speaker 1>It should be interpreted, it should be understood. Saint John

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<v Speaker 1>Chrososten puts it this way. He says, every new gray hair,

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<v Speaker 1>I can pull one on, every new gray hair that

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<v Speaker 1>you see, receive it. Dance for joy and leap because

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<v Speaker 1>it is a witness that you are one step closer

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<v Speaker 1>to the resurrection from the dead. Dear ones, Spiritually we

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<v Speaker 1>go up by going down. Salvation is the same way

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<v Speaker 1>the resurrectional body is given to us when we embrace

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<v Speaker 1>its dissolution, when we cooperate with God in the medicine

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<v Speaker 1>of decomposition and death. We don't resist it. We trust

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<v Speaker 1>God about it. We embrace God's will, knowing that we

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<v Speaker 1>first must be dissolved so that we can be remade

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<v Speaker 1>gloriously resurrected in what's coming. And keeping this in your mind,

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<v Speaker 1>keeping the reality of death, instead of being a typical

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<v Speaker 1>person of the secular falling West that tries to run

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<v Speaker 1>from death, pretend it doesn't exist, spend a fortune on

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<v Speaker 1>trying to keep your skin from getting wrinkled or your

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<v Speaker 1>hair from turning gray. Give it up. Die to that nonsense,

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<v Speaker 1>all born of the fear of death, with no gospel

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<v Speaker 1>in it at all. Instead, we believers, We trust God.

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<v Speaker 1>We trust God. Embrace humility as the path of glorification.

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<v Speaker 1>Embrace God's providence in your life. He's numbered your days.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't have to fear. Death has been conquered. We

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<v Speaker 1>can live in the light of the Resurrection. This last week,

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<v Speaker 1>a dear friend of mine and a dear friend to

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<v Speaker 1>many believers and unbelievers all over America passed away. He

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<v Speaker 1>was an incredible person and a devoted Orthodox Christian who

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<v Speaker 1>helped so many people become Orthodox Christians. I was very

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<v Speaker 1>touched to read a number of eulogies and articles written

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<v Speaker 1>about his life. And in one of the articles it

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<v Speaker 1>had a touching word in which his son, who was

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<v Speaker 1>speaking to him about whether he was ready to die

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<v Speaker 1>and what did he think about dying. He had received

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<v Speaker 1>a diagnosis is only about a week previous, a very

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<v Speaker 1>serious diagnosis, and his son wanted to know what his

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<v Speaker 1>father thought about dying. And he said to him, son,

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<v Speaker 1>I have lived my whole life in the light of

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<v Speaker 1>the Resurrection, for the Resurrection, and I'm not going to

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<v Speaker 1>stop now. This is the Christian mentality. This is why

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<v Speaker 1>if you read the Ladder of Divine Ascent, you'll see

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<v Speaker 1>that the very seventh step is the remembrance of death.

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<v Speaker 1>It's impossible to live the Christian life a single day

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<v Speaker 1>if you don't consider that it may be your last.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the teaching of the church. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>teaching of Saint John of Sinai in the ladder of

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<v Speaker 1>divin ascent. This is how we live, dear ones, So

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<v Speaker 1>don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Instead, trust God with

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<v Speaker 1>your life. Recognize that the way up is the way down.

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<v Speaker 1>Live by the principle of your faith. I'll end with

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<v Speaker 1>just the word about the epistle Lesson today Today in

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<v Speaker 1>the church was the last reading from the Acts of

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<v Speaker 1>the Apostles, all through Poscletide from Pasca until today, the

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<v Speaker 1>Saturday of Souls before Pentecost. For fifty days we've been

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<v Speaker 1>reading lesson after lesson from the Acts of the Apostles,

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<v Speaker 1>because the Acts of the Apostles show us the impact

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<v Speaker 1>that Jesus's death and resurrection had on the community of believers.

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<v Speaker 1>His disciples were completely changed by his death and his resurrection,

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<v Speaker 1>and you see the life of the Christian Church laid

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<v Speaker 1>out very clearly, and it's very potent the witness of

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<v Speaker 1>the Christians towards death. The reading today was Saint Paul

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<v Speaker 1>on his way in a boat to Rome, where he

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<v Speaker 1>would stand trial and ultimately give his life. The boat

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<v Speaker 1>ran aground. Everyone was frightened because they thought they were

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<v Speaker 1>all going to die by shipwreck, but Paul was very

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<v Speaker 1>calm and he prayed, and God sent an angel to

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<v Speaker 1>tell him that they were going to be completely fine.

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<v Speaker 1>Paul was untraumatized by death. When they got out on

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<v Speaker 1>the island, Paul was making a fire and a serpent

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<v Speaker 1>came and bit his hand, wrapped itself around his hand,

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<v Speaker 1>and everyone thought that he was a murderer, that he

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<v Speaker 1>was going to die, and he just shook off the serpent.

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<v Speaker 1>And then people who were on the edge of death

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<v Speaker 1>brought their sick and dying people, and Paul laid his

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<v Speaker 1>hands on them and cured them. God was using an

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<v Speaker 1>apostle to proclaim the reality of a new relationship to

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<v Speaker 1>death in the church. And then the account ends with

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<v Speaker 1>Paul fearlessly in prison awaiting his trial in Rome, and

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<v Speaker 1>we know how it ended with his own martyrdom and beheading.

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<v Speaker 1>He wrote just before he died, he wrote from prison

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<v Speaker 1>to his spiritual son, and he said that the time

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<v Speaker 1>had come and that there was laid up for him

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<v Speaker 1>by the Lord a crown of righteousness which he was

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<v Speaker 1>going to award him. He had no fear. He trusted

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<v Speaker 1>in the Lord God. This is the way up, dear ones,

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<v Speaker 1>the way up is now. God be with you. Hey everyone,

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you've downloaded the Patristic Nectar app on your phone.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a treasure trove of soul nourishing content, and

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you'll consider becoming a regular donor to patristic

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<v Speaker 1>Nectar today