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WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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we'll ask brother chris comedy to come 
forward and read for us isaiah 64. chris

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reading from the living word 
of god isaiah chapter 64.

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oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and their 
word is to come down that the mountains might flow  

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down at thy presence as when the melting fire 
burneth the fire causes the waters to boil  

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to make thy name known to thou on adversaries 
that the nations may tremble at thy presence

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which we looked not for thou camest down 
the mountains flowed down at thy presence  

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for since the beginning of the world men have 
not heard nor perceived by the ear neither  

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hath thee i seen o god beside thee what he 
hath prepared for him that waiteth for him  

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thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh 
righteousness those that remember thee  

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in thy ways behold their wrath for we 
have sinned in in those is continuance  

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and we shall be saved but we are all as an unclean 
thing and all our righteousness is as filthy rags  

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and we all do fade as a leaf and our 
iniquities like the wind have taken us away  

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and there is none that calleth upon thy name 
that stireth up himself to take hold of thee  

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for thou hast hid thy face from us and 
has consumed us because of our iniquities  

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but now o yahweh thou art our father 
we are the clay and thou our potter  

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and we all are the work of thy hand be not 
wroth very sore o yahweh neither resembleth  

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neither remember iniquity forever behold see we 
beseech thee we are all thy people the holy cities  

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are a wilderness zion is a wilderness jerusalem 
a desolation our holy and our beautiful house for  

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our fathers praise thee is burned up with fire 
and all our pleasant things are laid waste will  

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thou refrain thyself for these things o yahweh 
will thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore

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we'll continue then with 
the words of hymn number 165

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in number 165

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teach me thy write for my faithless

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thy way

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teach me

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the skies teams

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teach me thy way

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am i lost  

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teach me my way

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changing lives is the father's 
business and specialty brother nathan

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thanks brother paul and good morning 
brothers and sisters and young people  

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during the height of the american civil 
war abraham lincoln often found himself  

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attending a presbyterian church in washington 
he would attend with his aide and they'll be  

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very discreet in their attendance nobody actually 
knew that the president of the united states was  

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there present at the service the times that he 
went and right at the time when the nation was  

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being torn apart when his soul personally 
was being torn apart as he'd lost his son  

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in the war lincoln had truly reached the bottom 
rung of the latter and he needed solace and he  

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needed sustenance and on this particular sunday 
that he attended as the pastor finished and people  

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stood up to leave and he too stood up to leave and 
grabbed his jacket grabbed his hat and his stick  

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and just as he did so his aide said to him excuse 
me mr president what did you think of the sermon  

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and he replied and said i thought the sermon was 
carefully thought through and eloquently delivered  

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and the aide said so he thought it was a great 
sermon then and the president said no i thought  

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he failed and the aide was completely shocked and 
said he failed how why in what way did he fail  

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and the president replied and said he failed 
because he did not ask of us something great  

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this morning brothers and sisters the father is 
going to ask of us something great and depending  

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on our circumstances depending on where we are 
in our lives maybe a few things that are great  

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when i think about what keeps me going in life 
i think it's fair to say for myself that it is  

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the hope of change when we meet people when 
i certainly meet people who have struggled  

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through battles and valleys and swamps i search 
for reasons that they hang on to keep going what  

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is it that motivates them just to keep going 
and not just to give up and it almost always  

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is the hope of change it's the inner 
conviction that the father is actually  

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at work in their life changing them guiding 
them and making them what he wants them to be  

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a few quotations on change if nothing 
ever changed there'd be no butterflies  

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change is inevitable except from a vending machine 
that's very true things do not change we change  

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and we change whether we like it or not you just 
think about yourself for a moment brothers and  

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sisters go back over the last 10 years you're not 
the same person that you were 10 years ago are you  

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if you're going to be totally honest and go back 
at least 10 15 20 years they may not be even any  

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similarities between the type of person that you 
are today and the person that you were then i can  

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probably go back three or five years and i don't 
think i resemble the same person that i was back  

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then why is that because we are changing 
or maybe even more accurately we are being  

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changed by the father himself and this morning 
we're going to analyze two lives just two lives  

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that the father changed and we're going to see how 
changing lives is the father's specialty how it's  

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so familiar it's all the way through the bible 
the concept of change is of major significance  

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to the father and it's such a familiar thing 
through the whole of the biblical text but  

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before we delve into these two case studies we're 
going to take a brief look at the old testament  

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and just the new testament to trace the idea of 
change and we begin back in jeremiah chapter 18.

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jeremiah chapter 18.

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as soon as i mentioned jeremiah 18 i'm sure 
some of your minds were thinking jeremiah 18  

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what's that all about well some of you i'm 
sure would have thought that's about the potter  

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and yes it is about the potter and in verse one 
god says to jeremiah jeremiah i want you to head  

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down to the potter's house and there i'm going 
to tell you a few things that you need to know  

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and so we know that jeremiah headed down to that 
potter's house and it was there that he saw the  

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potter at work on his machine a lump of clay on 
the machine molding it shaping it changing it  

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maybe he threw it out and started all over again 
who knows but he saw the potter there at work  

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now have a look at verse five to six as he's there 
at the potter's house watching what's taking place  

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the word of yahweh came to him saying o house of 
israel cannot i do with you as this potter saith  

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the lord behold as the clay is in the potter's 
hand so are you in my hand o house of israel  

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you can see change written all over those 
verses brothers and sisters without even  

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finding the actual word israel i want 
you to know you like a lump of clay  

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to me you're simply like a lump of clay i can 
shape you i could holler you out i can thin you at  

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the top i can make you fat down the bottom i can 
thin your walls all over it i can flare the top  

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in fact if i don't like what i'm looking at 
i can just start all over again israel you're  

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simply like a pot of play by the way i could even 
make you decorative or i could make you plain  

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i can do with you whatever i want to do 
because that's my work that's my specialty  

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and you are the object of my attention and you're 
the object of my affection another passage which  

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is what we read this morning isaiah 64 and 
verse 8 but now yahweh thou art our father  

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wear the clay and you are our potter 
and we're all the work of your hand  

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this i this chapter isaiah chapters chapter 64 
is a prayer of the ecclesia it's a prayer of  

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the believers and it's a statement which they make 
and say we know we know that this is truth we know  

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that this is a truism that you are the potter 
you are the one that shapes us you fashion us  

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and we are simply a lump of clay you do with 
us whatever you choose to do it's the idea of  

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god shaping us brothers and sisters and and god 
changing us to be whichever way he wants us to be  

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you know usually change takes some time 
and even some pain and almost always  

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much patience on god's part but the father is 
committed to us being changed no matter how long  

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and no matter how painful the process might happen 
to me never ever forget that brothers and sisters  

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there's times in our life when when we may just 
simply feel like a lump of clay a shapeless lump  

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of clay absolutely useless to anybody and maybe 
even to the father we can't understand what he's  

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doing we can't understand his reasons but we 
must trust the father because he's the potter  

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he's changing us and he knows what he's about when 
god's ready to change your heart it gets changed  

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whether it's a stubborn husband 
whether it's an arrogant child  

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whether it's an impatient mother or whether 
it's you the father changes you and he changes  

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people wherever he wants to change them 
whatever he wishes to do will be done no one  

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absolutely no one is an impossible case to 
the father now the subject of changes a few  

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passages in the new testament that we simply 
just can't bypass and the first is romans 8

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romans chapter 8 some of the 
remarkable words of the apostle paul

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romans chapter 8 and we'll read from verse 27

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and he that searcheth the hearts 
knoweth what is the mind of the  

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spirit because he maketh intercession for 
the saints according to the will of god  

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and we know paul says we know he's 
speaking on behalf of us as believers  

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we know that all things work together for good 
to them that love god to them who are called  

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according to his purpose for whom he did for know 
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the  

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image of his son that he might be the firstborn 
among many brethren again brothers and sisters  

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the word change is all over those verses all 
over those verses yet it doesn't even appear  

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the father is committed to the task of conforming 
me and conforming you to the image of his son not  

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physically we're not talking physically he 
doesn't want us to physically look like his  

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son jesus christ it's not talking physically 
brothers and sisters it's talking inwardly in  

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character in patience in gentleness in goodness in 
faith in meekness in truth in discipline in grace  

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he's committed to conforming our lives to changing 
our lives like the character of his son i think  

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about it in terms of a key cutting machine 
and i don't have a key cutting machine here  

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but i do have a key i'm sure we've all seen a key 
cutting machine you know you go past mr minute or  

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you know whatever they're called and you give 
him the key and he puts it into a little machine  

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and there the original is held in the machine in 
a clamp think of the character of jesus christ  

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as that original key which the father has put 
into that key cutting machine and then next to  

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that is the key which is going to be cut to be an 
exact replica or an exact copy of the character  

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of this key of the shape of this key in goodness 
in faith in meekness in temperance and grace  

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and then we go and the father locks us in there 
and the machine comes along and cuts and sometimes  

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it gets really hot the friction increases because 
the the cutter has dug in really deep to dig that  

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deep hole inside the key and we know about those 
times in our life don't we brothers and sisters  

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when the when the father is working hard on us 
when he's digging deep in our life to change us  

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and to mold us and that key cutting 
machine digs in and we may squirm  

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we may try to get away but he won't let us he'll 
never let us get out just like the key can't get  

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out of the clamp once it's in there so we too 
brothers and sisters will never get out of the  

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clamp that the father has put us in to change 
us and to make us like his son that's his work  

00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:36.240 align:start position:0%
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that's his specialty and it's a work which he 
will always achieve he's committed to changing us  

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and changing us he will let's just look at one 
more passage before we look closely at these  

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two people whose lives were changed 
by the father philippians chapter one

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is the passage we'll look at where 
god's work brothers and sisters  

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he's gone to work on us unless you ever think 
that he's going to give up lest you ever think  

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that he's going to back off he never will even 
though you may beg him and beg him and beg him  

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he won't give up philippians chapter 1 and verse 
6 being confident of this very thing that he which  

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hath begun a good work in you will finish it he 
will perform it until the day of jesus christ  

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what god starts he finishes he's never been known 
to walk away from an individual and say look he's  

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just too stubborn for me she's way too much work 
he's far too arrogant for me kind of like the sort  

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of things that we sometimes say about each other 
you know he's never met a teenager that's his  

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match he's never met a 40 year old whose mid-life 
crisis is just too hard never met a senior citizen  

00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:58.080 align:start position:0%
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or someone in their 70s or 80s who's just 
to stayed in their ways and can't be changed  

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god will complete the work that he 
starts including you early every year  

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early every january the father knows 
what what the year will hold for you  

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and during that year he's working on his project 
shaping moulding tweaking it thinning it flaring  

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it making it decorative making it plain doing 
with it whatever he wants to do and it may seem  

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unfair brothers and sisters it may actually be 
painful it may involve changes that cause you to  

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question his goodness and his love but just 
as on the key cutting machine reality bites

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he knows what's best he knows what's best he 
is the potter and he knows what's necessary to  

00:18:49.120 --> 00:18:56.000 align:start position:0%
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make us look like that original to look like 
the original character of his beloved son

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now i find in the gospel of john two gripping 
illustrations i've talked about these two grouping  

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illustrations so let's finally get on to it two 
grouping illustrations of change that the father  

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brought about and these two people that we're 
going to have a look at it's fair to say are as  

00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:21.760 align:start position:0%
x
different as snowflakes totally different but both 
of them were like pieces of clay on the potter's  

00:19:21.760 --> 00:19:30.640 align:start position:0%
x
wheel will will a little bit of difference both 
of them were like pieces of clay and in each  

00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:36.240 align:start position:0%
x
slice of life which john reveals we witness 
an absolutely remarkable change both of them  

00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:41.360 align:start position:0%
x
brought about by the father and it's in these 
two illustrations that we see hope because  

00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:46.560 align:start position:0%
x
if the father could change them if god could 
change those people then he can change us today  

00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:53.680 align:start position:0%
x
well who are they well the first is a wayward 
woman and the second is a doubting disciple and  

00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:59.920 align:start position:0%
x
there's differences in sex in age in education 
and occupation they're not the same at all one's  

00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:05.840 align:start position:0%
x
an unbeliever and one is a believer and it's in 
john chapter four that we meet the wayward woman

00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:12.080 align:start position:0%
x
and it's a scene that we would 
well know and it occurs by well

00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:21.120 align:start position:0%
x
the two people who meet in john chapter 4 
they've never ever ever met before one's a woman  

00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:27.280 align:start position:0%
x
and one's a man the woman is never named in 
this story and nor is she named anywhere else  

00:20:27.280 --> 00:20:32.960 align:start position:0%
x
in the bible it happens at lunchtime and the 
sun is burning down and christ is hot from  

00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:40.240 align:start position:0%
x
his journey and he sits down alone by well and a 
woman walks up to draw water she's in for change  

00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:48.160 align:start position:0%
x
and she doesn't even know it or not and by the 
way brothers and sisters that's the way it happens  

00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:53.280 align:start position:0%
x
that's what makes life exciting we're probably all 
sitting here now and if we thought about tomorrow  

00:20:53.280 --> 00:20:59.040 align:start position:0%
x
we think well it's just going to be a dull bland 
tomorrow and then we wake up in the morning and we  

00:20:59.040 --> 00:21:04.160 align:start position:0%
x
find out that it's anything but something happened 
change happens something happens in our life  

00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.720 align:start position:0%
x
and tomorrow never ends up being quite what we 
may have thought that it would be and he's a  

00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:16.080 align:start position:0%
x
woman who has absolutely no idea who or what is in 
front of her and she simply walks up to the well  

00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:21.600 align:start position:0%
x
and he's a jew a jew mind you speaking to 
her a samaritan and saying give me a drink  

00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:28.960 align:start position:0%
x
now you can't appreciate that brothers and sisters 
because we're not jewish and we're certainly not a  

00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:36.240 align:start position:0%
x
samaritan but we can't just just can't appreciate 
the prejudice that they experienced living in the  

00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:43.280 align:start position:0%
x
days of john chapter four they say us aussies are 
racist but honestly we don't know the prejudice  

00:21:43.280 --> 00:21:49.520 align:start position:0%
x
like these people experienced if a jew was to go 
from jerusalem all the way up to let's say galilee  

00:21:50.560 --> 00:21:54.800 align:start position:0%
x
they would not travel directly north through 
samaria no no they'd go all the way around  

00:21:54.800 --> 00:22:00.320 align:start position:0%
x
samara right out to the coast and then back up to 
galilee sort of like us going from perth to broome  

00:22:00.320 --> 00:22:08.080 align:start position:0%
x
via adelaide that's what it was like they just 
couldn't stand to even think of the option  

00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:12.640 align:start position:0%
x
of going through samaria we drive through halls 
creek we drive through fitzroy crossing just to  

00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:17.200 align:start position:0%
x
have a look just to see what it's like no 
way in the world they wouldn't go there at  

00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:23.120 align:start position:0%
x
all couldn't stand them a jew in samaria was 
like a black member of the klu klux klan just  

00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:27.280 align:start position:0%
x
wouldn't want to go there wouldn't be near them 
would stand out like a sore thumb and this woman  

00:22:27.280 --> 00:22:32.240 align:start position:0%
x
says you a jew what are you doing you're a 
man which is unbelievable for a start you're  

00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:37.360 align:start position:0%
x
a man talking to me just a woman on the street 
and then more than that you're actually a jew

00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:43.680 align:start position:0%
x
it's like kevin rudd holidaying on christmas 
island with the refugees what are you doing  

00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:50.000 align:start position:0%
x
here it's just so out of place i can't believe 
that you're here let alone that you actually  

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:56.320 align:start position:0%
x
are talking to me this is just just ridiculous 
and of all things you're asking me for a drink  

00:22:57.360 --> 00:23:02.960 align:start position:0%
x
so verse 10 jesus answered and said to her if you 
knew the gift of god and who it is that saith unto  

00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:07.600 align:start position:0%
x
you give me to drink you would have asked of 
him and he would have given you living water  

00:23:07.600 --> 00:23:12.000 align:start position:0%
x
and the woman said sir you've got nothing to 
drink and we know down in verse 15 she said  

00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:17.200 align:start position:0%
x
sir give me this water but i thirst not sounds 
great i'm really interested in this water i'll  

00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:22.480 align:start position:0%
x
take it pipe it to my house walking here every 
day a couple of kilometers it wears me out  

00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.080 align:start position:0%
x
i'd much prefer to have this water in my 
house please can i have your water bring it on  

00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:33.360 align:start position:0%
x
completely misses the point of what jesus was 
saying and so jesus says to her in verse 16 go  

00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:42.080 align:start position:0%
x
and call your husband the woman answered in verse 
17 i have no husband and jesus said unto her  

00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:49.200 align:start position:0%
x
you've well said i have no husband. now this is 
in the day brothers and sisters when having five  

00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:55.040 align:start position:0%
x
husbands was considered scandalous and when living 
outside of marriage as this woman obviously was  

00:23:55.040 --> 00:24:03.840 align:start position:0%
x
was considered shameful and in one sentence jesus 
unveils the truth and exposes this woman's life  

00:24:04.560 --> 00:24:11.760 align:start position:0%
x
christ had a way of penetrating the veneer and he 
does that with this wayward woman and obviously  

00:24:11.760 --> 00:24:17.200 align:start position:0%
x
she's pretty uneasy christ says in verse 18 
you were well said because you've had five  

00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:22.560 align:start position:0%
x
husbands and he whom thou now has is not their 
husband in that they'll set us truly and the  

00:24:22.560 --> 00:24:26.640 align:start position:0%
x
woman she's obviously uneasy she doesn't want 
to talk about husbands and suddenly she wants  

00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:31.440 align:start position:0%
x
to talk about religious issues and she says hey 
you see that mountain over there yeah that one  

00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:35.920 align:start position:0%
x
that one over there our people say that that's 
where we should worship but apparently you do  

00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:40.720 align:start position:0%
x
say that we should worship in jerusalem come on 
great prophet let's talk about theology let's  

00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:44.000 align:start position:0%
x
talk about religion i don't want to talk about 
my life i don't want to talk about things that  

00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:50.400 align:start position:0%
x
are uneasy for me a bit like us isn't it sometimes 
brothers and sisters don't want to talk about the  

00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:57.040 align:start position:0%
x
finer parts of our life don't want to talk about 
the bits that actually really hurt let's just talk  

00:24:57.040 --> 00:25:03.440 align:start position:0%
x
greek words and hebrew words and all this theolo 
theological stuff talk about a deep relationship  

00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:08.640 align:start position:0%
x
with the father talk about changing your life 
as a result of the father working in your life  

00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:17.040 align:start position:0%
x
nice day nice weather let's talk about mountains 
that was this woman it was all too hard for her  

00:25:18.320 --> 00:25:23.200 align:start position:0%
x
too hard didn't want to get down to the 
personal issues of her life that was  

00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:32.720 align:start position:0%
x
just way too confronting verse 21 brothers and 
sisters jesus said to her woman believe me the  

00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:38.240 align:start position:0%
x
hours coming when you're neither in this mountain 
nor yet at jerusalem worship the father because  

00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:47.520 align:start position:0%
x
salvation is of the jews and the father must 
be worshipped in spirit and in truth do you  

00:25:47.520 --> 00:25:53.840 align:start position:0%
x
think this woman was changed well come to 
verse 39 and many of the samaritans of that  

00:25:53.840 --> 00:26:00.400 align:start position:0%
x
city believed on him for the saying of the woman 
which testified he told me everything that i did  

00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.160 align:start position:0%
x
let's just read that again many of the 
samaritans of that city believed on him  

00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:12.400 align:start position:0%
x
for the saying of the woman which 
testified he told me all that i ever did  

00:26:14.080 --> 00:26:20.960 align:start position:0%
x
do you know she doesn't mention his teaching she 
doesn't say his teaching absolutely blew me away  

00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:27.280 align:start position:0%
x
no no she says what changed me was the fact that 
he opened me up like a tin of peaches just open  

00:26:27.280 --> 00:26:34.400 align:start position:0%
x
up my life and that brothers and sisters is one of 
the primary methods which the father's father uses  

00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:43.520 align:start position:0%
x
to change us he forces us to face the truth forces 
us he confronts us with the truth the whole truth  

00:26:43.520 --> 00:26:47.360 align:start position:0%
x
and nothing but the truth we can't say to the 
father i take the fifth i don't need to answer  

00:26:47.360 --> 00:26:54.240 align:start position:0%
x
that one no no he's someone who knows everything 
about our life every single thing he knows about  

00:26:54.240 --> 00:27:00.240 align:start position:0%
x
it and it's somebody that we can open up to and 
express the truth unveil the truth of our life  

00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:07.600 align:start position:0%
x
without ever being afraid verse 41 to 42 she 
was changed and so were others and many more  

00:27:07.600 --> 00:27:12.800 align:start position:0%
x
believed because of his own word and said unto 
the woman now we believe not because of thy saying  

00:27:13.600 --> 00:27:18.160 align:start position:0%
x
for we have heard him ourselves and 
know that this is indeed the christ  

00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:26.080 align:start position:0%
x
the savior of the world she was changed and 
so were others she was a different woman from  

00:27:26.080 --> 00:27:31.120 align:start position:0%
x
woman from visiting that world that time on 
a day that just seemed like any other day  

00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:39.680 align:start position:0%
x
a dull bland visit to the world but she was 
changed she believed and so did many others  

00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:46.000 align:start position:0%
x
i want to mention something that you may not 
actually agree with initially but before you  

00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:52.160 align:start position:0%
x
throw rocks at me please just think about the text 
and what we know from this story you know brothers  

00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:58.320 align:start position:0%
x
and sisters jesus never told her to leave that man 
that she was living with her living with that man  

00:27:58.320 --> 00:28:04.800 align:start position:0%
x
wasn't crosst's primary concern that wasn't the 
major issue he didn't rebuke her because of her  

00:28:04.800 --> 00:28:08.800 align:start position:0%
x
situation he didn't say hey look you really need 
to clean up your life and then you're qualified  

00:28:09.520 --> 00:28:16.320 align:start position:0%
x
now he didn't do that he said i'm the messiah 
and i'll tell you all the things that you've done  

00:28:16.320 --> 00:28:21.360 align:start position:0%
x
and then he went on to express the need to 
worship the father in spirit and in truth  

00:28:22.800 --> 00:28:27.520 align:start position:0%
x
and you know brothers and sisters in the process 
of coming to know the messiah it's absolutely  

00:28:27.520 --> 00:28:33.600 align:start position:0%
x
remarkable how the father is able to clean up 
a life how the father can do that christ didn't  

00:28:33.600 --> 00:28:42.160 align:start position:0%
x
read a long list of rules of spirituality on route 
to salvation no no he let the father change her he  

00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:48.560 align:start position:0%
x
let the father do that work we present christ to 
them we hand them over to the father we press the  

00:28:48.560 --> 00:28:53.920 align:start position:0%
x
issue of a close relationship with god and what 
it means to live in a close relationship with god  

00:28:54.560 --> 00:29:02.080 align:start position:0%
x
and leave the rest of the father our job is to 
fish not clean the fish bowl well at least for  

00:29:02.080 --> 00:29:09.520 align:start position:0%
x
a good while i rather imagine brothers and sisters 
that as time passed that woman that changed woman  

00:29:09.520 --> 00:29:15.600 align:start position:0%
x
became uncomfortable with her lifestyle as the 
father worked inside her to bring about change

00:29:18.080 --> 00:29:21.920 align:start position:0%
x
now john chapter 20 tells 
an equally interesting story

00:29:24.080 --> 00:29:30.240 align:start position:0%
x
john chapter 20. it's brief but perhaps it's the 
most powerful for us as believers the the woman of  

00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:35.920 align:start position:0%
x
samaria in john chapter 4 was an unbeliever 
but here in john chapter 20 we have a story  

00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:43.360 align:start position:0%
x
of a believer and he's a man named thomas 
he's a follower of jesus and before we go  

00:29:43.360 --> 00:29:47.440 align:start position:0%
x
any further brothers and sisters a warning 
is probably in order because i think we can  

00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:53.840 align:start position:0%
x
sometimes be very hard on this man i certainly 
have spent many many hours shooting at thomas  

00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:58.160 align:start position:0%
x
and hearing others do exactly 
the same and then i realized that  

00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:04.320 align:start position:0%
x
i'm actually just like him that i've had 
doubts not too different from thomas himself  

00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:12.160 align:start position:0%
x
and thankfully i now see him in somewhat of a 
different light verse 24 and 25 thomas one of  

00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:18.320 align:start position:0%
x
the twelve called didymus was not with them when 
jesus came the other disciples therefore said unto  

00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:23.040 align:start position:0%
x
him we've seen jesus we've seen the lord and he 
said except i shall see in his hands the print  

00:30:23.040 --> 00:30:28.000 align:start position:0%
x
of the nails and put my finger into the print 
of the nails and thrust my hand into his side i  

00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:34.000 align:start position:0%
x
will not believe now this was the man brothers and 
sisters who had earlier in the record demonstrated  

00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:40.720 align:start position:0%
x
an incredibly strong faith he was committed he was 
ready to die for christ let's go let's go with the  

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:46.160 align:start position:0%
x
lord john chapter 11 and if we die we die he's the 
kind of guy who when he gives himself to someone  

00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:51.840 align:start position:0%
x
just unloads the truck gives everything lock 
stock and barrel he was a heart and soul disciple  

00:30:53.040 --> 00:30:58.400 align:start position:0%
x
and the difficulty for a man or a woman like 
that is when they become disillusioned the  

00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:04.640 align:start position:0%
x
response creates a drastic swing in the other 
direction when they back off they really  

00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:09.680 align:start position:0%
x
back off they fall a long way back 
no i'm not going to get burned again  

00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:16.720 align:start position:0%
x
that's thomas i believe once i was ready to die 
for him i was ready to give my whole life for him  

00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:21.680 align:start position:0%
x
but then everything suddenly collapsed around 
him everything suddenly collapsed in my life  

00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:27.760 align:start position:0%
x
i saw him go to the cross i watched all my dreams 
nailed to his hands and to his feet i saw him die  

00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:34.080 align:start position:0%
x
i saw them bury him i've seen the tomb and then 
everyone around him starts talking resurrection  

00:31:35.360 --> 00:31:40.560 align:start position:0%
x
he hadn't been in the room when jesus showed them 
his hands he hadn't been in the room when christ  

00:31:40.560 --> 00:31:44.720 align:start position:0%
x
showed them his side and all his friends are 
all of a sudden hey thomas we've seen the lord  

00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:49.040 align:start position:0%
x
he's resurrected and thomas is holding back 
and he's saying wait a minute wait a minute  

00:31:49.040 --> 00:31:56.400 align:start position:0%
x
unless i actually see this unless i actually 
see have seen what you've seen there's no way  

00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:02.640 align:start position:0%
x
that i'm going to believe it i think christ 
understood the man's reluctance and reservations  

00:32:03.520 --> 00:32:07.840 align:start position:0%
x
if it were anything other our lord would have 
been far more severe with thomas you have a  

00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:13.920 align:start position:0%
x
look at it for yourself you won't find a strong 
rebuke from jesus you look in vain to find it  

00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:20.320 align:start position:0%
x
you see christ helps people who struggle i think 
it's right to say that there's a lot of people  

00:32:20.320 --> 00:32:26.480 align:start position:0%
x
like thomas not everybody finds it easy to 
believe have a look at verse 26 to verse 27  

00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:31.360 align:start position:0%
x
and after eight days again his disciples were 
with them and thomas this time was with them as  

00:32:31.360 --> 00:32:37.520 align:start position:0%
x
well and then came jesus the doors being shut 
and he stood in the midst and said unto them  

00:32:37.520 --> 00:32:43.840 align:start position:0%
x
peace be unto you and then he said to thomas reach 
him to thy finger and behold my hands reach hither  

00:32:43.840 --> 00:32:51.600 align:start position:0%
x
thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not 
faithless but believing do you know jesus hadn't  

00:32:51.600 --> 00:32:58.000 align:start position:0%
x
actually been present when thomas had expressed 
his reluctance to believe but cross knew all about  

00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:04.640 align:start position:0%
x
it and he said in effect to thomas thomas you 
asked for this earlier this is what you asked for  

00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:11.920 align:start position:0%
x
here's my hands put your fingers in them here's 
my side put your finger in my thought in my side  

00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:18.400 align:start position:0%
x
and you know thomas doesn't wrestle he doesn't 
argue with christ he doesn't stomp out of the room  

00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:22.160 align:start position:0%
x
in fact he doesn't even touch jesus 
he doesn't even put his finger in  

00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:28.240 align:start position:0%
x
his side or his finger in his hands he 
says my lord and my god and his doubts  

00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:35.440 align:start position:0%
x
instantly vanish and this doubting 
disciple is a changed man changing lives  

00:33:36.320 --> 00:33:42.560 align:start position:0%
x
is the father's business that's his work 
and it's his specialty and he achieved it  

00:33:43.360 --> 00:33:49.440 align:start position:0%
x
not just with the woman to samaria woman of 
samaria but also here with his doubting disciple  

00:33:51.280 --> 00:33:55.520 align:start position:0%
x
brothers and sisters how the father 
is working in your life is probably  

00:33:55.520 --> 00:34:02.080 align:start position:0%
x
all together different to how he's working in my 
life and how he's working in anybody else's life  

00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:10.960 align:start position:0%
x
god has different objectives in mind with you than 
he does with me or anybody else and what god is  

00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:17.200 align:start position:0%
x
working on in your life is unique to you he's 
not about making cookie cutter christadelphians  

00:34:17.200 --> 00:34:20.400 align:start position:0%
x
he's not about making those little dolls you 
know the little dolls in the back of a car  

00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:25.040 align:start position:0%
x
that when the car drives forward it just nods the 
father's not about doing that brothers and sisters  

00:34:25.600 --> 00:34:30.720 align:start position:0%
x
that's not his plan we're all different we'll 
have different experiences and we all have  

00:34:30.720 --> 00:34:38.320 align:start position:0%
x
different lives and the father has a different 
plan in mind for every clay pot that he makes  

00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:45.040 align:start position:0%
x
and that's one reason that we should be cautious 
about suggesting or maybe even forcing others  

00:34:45.680 --> 00:34:52.800 align:start position:0%
x
to follow agree without follow or agree with 
our personal opinion or conscience god's plan  

00:34:52.800 --> 00:35:01.440 align:start position:0%
x
for each of his pots is all together different and 
if we're clay pots then we should be clay pots and  

00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:08.880 align:start position:0%
x
clay pots don't shape each other they watch each 
other getting shaped by the potter the father you  

00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:13.760 align:start position:0%
x
know maybe the thought of letting go and no longer 
interfering in other people's lives and managing  

00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:19.440 align:start position:0%
x
other people's lives and manipulating events in 
other people's lives is overwhelming for you but  

00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:25.520 align:start position:0%
x
if we all brothers and sisters genuinely believe 
that in a change and transformation is god's work  

00:35:26.640 --> 00:35:33.600 align:start position:0%
x
and not ours then we'll put to rest our passion 
to change others to be what we want them to be  

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i don't know about you but sometimes it seems 
that we can spend more time thinking about how  

00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:45.440 align:start position:0%
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we can change others how we can change the world 
than actually letting the father change ourselves  

00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:52.720 align:start position:0%
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change is the father's business and he will 
bring about the change that he wants to see  

00:35:53.920 --> 00:36:01.120 align:start position:0%
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it's his work and it's his specialty now let's 
try and understand thomas just a little bit more  

00:36:01.120 --> 00:36:06.720 align:start position:0%
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and understand his mind at this point in time i 
think it's fair to say that without any warrant  

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whatsoever thomas has been called the rationalist 
almost like the skeptic of the disciples band  

00:36:13.200 --> 00:36:17.840 align:start position:0%
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it's almost like he was searching for some 
inconsistency in christ's teaching in christ's  

00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:22.640 align:start position:0%
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way of life so that he could magnify it like a 
mountain and say see i knew it wasn't correct i  

00:36:22.640 --> 00:36:28.240 align:start position:0%
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knew he was a fraud none of it was true well it 
is true brothers and sisters that thomas did ask  

00:36:28.240 --> 00:36:34.640 align:start position:0%
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for signs and it's true that he asked for evidence 
but to liken him to a rationalist or to a skeptic  

00:36:34.640 --> 00:36:40.560 align:start position:0%
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is to do him an incredible disservice 
skeptics don't want to believe  

00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:51.840 align:start position:0%
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thomas did the doubt of thomas was the doubt 
born of sorrow and it's the deepest doubt of all  

00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:58.880 align:start position:0%
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the doubt that's born of sorrow the doubt 
which arises out of the experience of our lives  

00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:03.840 align:start position:0%
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not the doubts that are born in the study 
of a critic or in the debate of religions  

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nor are they born meditating over rocks and stars 
and planets they're born in the library and the  

00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:17.200 align:start position:0%
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laboratory of our soul the dark interrogations of 
our heart cast by the experiences that we have in  

00:37:17.200 --> 00:37:23.440 align:start position:0%
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in what we sometimes call the adventure of life 
that brothers and sisters is the doubt of thomas  

00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:31.520 align:start position:0%
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the doubt of a man who talks of the impossibility 
of there being a god is one thing but the doubts  

00:37:31.520 --> 00:37:39.600 align:start position:0%
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of a mother whose first child was tragically 
killed and wonders if there is a god is  

00:37:39.600 --> 00:37:47.040 align:start position:0%
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completely different the doubt of a man who 
questions the record of creation is one thing but  

00:37:47.040 --> 00:37:52.640 align:start position:0%
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don't let that be confused brothers and sisters 
with the doubt of a man who sees war famine terror  

00:37:52.640 --> 00:37:58.640 align:start position:0%
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suffering personal tragedy all around him and 
wonders if god has actually forsaken the world  

00:38:00.240 --> 00:38:08.080 align:start position:0%
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the doubt of thomas was the death of a man who'd 
lost his lord and his master and his doubts  

00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:15.760 align:start position:0%
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are the same as the doubts that you and 
i have is there really a god out there  

00:38:17.600 --> 00:38:23.600 align:start position:0%
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and we've all thought that at some time point 
haven't we is there really a god out there can't  

00:38:23.600 --> 00:38:32.080 align:start position:0%
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see him can't touch him i can't believe that 
somebody's just always been there i mean 100  

00:38:32.080 --> 00:38:36.640 align:start position:0%
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years is a good life to live in our days how can 
there be someone who's at least six thousand years  

00:38:36.640 --> 00:38:43.040 align:start position:0%
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old i know beginning i know end i know that this 
has a start this has a finish how can there be  

00:38:43.040 --> 00:38:47.760 align:start position:0%
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this somebody out there who's always been there 
and we have this doubt sometimes in our mind is  

00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:54.240 align:start position:0%
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there really a god out there is it seriously 
possible that the world as we now know it  

00:38:54.240 --> 00:39:00.240 align:start position:0%
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the world as we now live in and now understand 
is it seriously possible that in not too long a  

00:39:00.240 --> 00:39:06.160 align:start position:0%
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distant future it will no longer be the same that 
it will fundamentally be changed and wiped out  

00:39:07.600 --> 00:39:12.000 align:start position:0%
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is this religion thing really really true 
i mean look at the people who say they're  

00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:15.440 align:start position:0%
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believers look at the way they live look at 
their behavior look at the way they talk the  

00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:23.200 align:start position:0%
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gossip the slander is it really really true 
the doubts that confronts us when things just  

00:39:23.200 --> 00:39:28.320 align:start position:0%
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aren't happening as we plan them to the 
doubt that arises from confronting tragedy  

00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:34.000 align:start position:0%
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and personal disaster in our life yes brothers 
and sisters that is the doubt of thomas  

00:39:35.440 --> 00:39:40.880 align:start position:0%
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and don't tell me brothers and sisters that you 
haven't had doubts like that because i can assure  

00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:46.480 align:start position:0%
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you i have and i think we all have and it's 
in those doubting moments when the lights are  

00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:52.720 align:start position:0%
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out and the valley is deep and the wall is high 
and our troubles seem absolutely insurmountable  

00:39:52.720 --> 00:39:58.880 align:start position:0%
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and tomorrow looks so incredibly bleak that we 
also say he'll have to prove it to me next time  

00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:04.960 align:start position:0%
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and the remarkable thing is as the 
father stepped into thomas's life  

00:40:05.760 --> 00:40:13.360 align:start position:0%
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and as christ held up his hands and said touch 
me as the father stepped into thomas's life and  

00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:20.880 align:start position:0%
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thomas was changed when you say it brothers and 
sisters he steps into your life and change happens  

00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:28.480 align:start position:0%
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and all that change that has happened and that 
is happening in your life right now and that will  

00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:35.040 align:start position:0%
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happen until our lord comes is made possible by 
jesus christ the man that we remember this morning  

00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:38.400 align:start position:0%
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praise and thanks be to him brothers and sisters  

00:40:39.040 --> 00:40:46.480 align:start position:0%
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for allowing his father unfettered access to 
his heart and life it was all made possible  

00:40:47.200 --> 00:40:51.840 align:start position:0%
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by his willingness to let the father 
change him and work in his life

00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:57.200 align:start position:0%
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i don't know where you find yourself 
in these stories brothers and sisters  

00:40:57.200 --> 00:41:03.760 align:start position:0%
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and to be honest i don't really need to know but 
i do care that you know where you are and that you  

00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:10.080 align:start position:0%
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see the application for your life it's impossible 
to be too far gone it's impossible to be  

00:41:10.080 --> 00:41:17.680 align:start position:0%
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beyond change we're all smart enough to figure 
that out the work that the father has begun he  

00:41:17.680 --> 00:41:25.040 align:start position:0%
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will also finish the father is absolutely 
committed to changing you as much as he was  

00:41:25.040 --> 00:41:31.360 align:start position:0%
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committed to changing that woman by the world and 
that doubting disciple he won't give up he will  

00:41:31.360 --> 00:41:37.760 align:start position:0%
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change you you're like soft clean his hands he's 
going to change you it's just a matter of time  

00:41:39.200 --> 00:41:45.360 align:start position:0%
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why don't you let him do so with less resistance 
why don't you make the trip a little bit easier  

00:41:46.560 --> 00:41:55.760 align:start position:0%
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why don't you relax and let 
him have his way in your life