WEBVTT - This file was automatically generated by VIMEO

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Five men are in a van going for a drive in the

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country. They figure that's okay because there's five of them and there

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is safety in numbers. Their car breaks

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down - go figure. Stranded in the middle of

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nowhere, they have no choice but to walk to

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the road to safety.

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They each agree to carry something.

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One man brings a jug of water in case they get

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thirsty.

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Another man brings a blanket in case

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they need to camp for the night the third man brings

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food in case they get hungry.

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The fourth man brings a map in case they get

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lost.

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The fifth man brings a car door. Hmm.

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That seems a very strange choice.

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The others ask "why".  He says

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" Well if we get hot we can just

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roll the window down".

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Now, I wonder if there really is safety in

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numbers.

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So here is the story of these five men and how

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they handle a particular situation. Four of

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them seem pretty logical. The fifth one

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seems pretty silly and yet he probably thinks

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that all is okay and perhaps

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that's the problem - thinking that all is okay.

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Everything is going to work out. It doesn't matter

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what the situation is all will be good. Just wind

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down the window.

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That's it.

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Today we read a story from Luke the story of one man

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and what his thoughts and actions are.

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How he felt about things. A  little later in Luke 17,

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we see the parable of the master and the servants about

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staying humble and serving Jesus.

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And today we look at Luke 16.

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This is a fascinating,

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perhaps disturbing parable. We learn something about

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the afterlife,

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and that's a topic many religions talk about.

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Many believe that there's something after the life we have

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here.

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Many believe this is not - no more - when you

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are gone, you are gone.

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So here is this man,  this rich man.

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He's got all the good stuff , lives in a great mansion, clothes

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himself in fine linen, feasted, best wines

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a great life.

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But outside his gate is a destitute man Lazarus, reduced

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to begging.

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His condition is so bad that the dogs come

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to lick his sore. Man - that is bad. I

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mean we probably all have had dogs lick us.

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But that's a whole other story.

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This man was in the pits of life begging outside

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this rich man's home waiting for left - overs,

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throwaways - whatever he could get.

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And the man the rich man did not care

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not one bit.

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After he's got it all what more does he

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need? Perhaps being a bit richer'd be good. That'd be nice.

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And then something happens -  something that he didn't think

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about.

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He finds out that life does eventually come to

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an end. And so he dies.

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There's an old saying - quite a common saying "you

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can't take it with you."

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And in this story we see that's exactly right.

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And what's worse is this man this

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rich man, this terrible, terrible man

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is now in hell and what's even more

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worse is that he can apparently see heaven.

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So he becomes painfully aware of what is missing.

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Never thought about it before.

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His life, his lifestyle were

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all that mattered.

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Now he's in hell and he's thirsty

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probably the first time in his whole

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life.

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He can't ring a bell and have a servant bring him a

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drink. He's on his own.

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And he asks God to send Lazarus to put

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a drop of water on his tongue.

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This man who had totally ignored Lazarus outside

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the gate, this thirsty and hungry man.

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And I wonder if just for a moment this

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rich man now dead remembers the

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beggar outside his door and how he treated him.

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It's kind of like us. We have the

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belief that there is something better waiting for

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us at the end of our life.

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We hope and believe that it is true.

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But this rich man actually sees what's

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happening what he is missing.

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It feels like something that this is what life is

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like.

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the rich get richer

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the poor get poorer-  only the Good die young

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And the bad people live a long long life and that's

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how it seems to be.

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Look around the world today.

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Look at all the rich people.

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And look at all the poor people this vast disparity of

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numbers.

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But the central theme of this parable is not only about hell

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and about being rich or poor

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but about a fundamental difference between people.

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It's how certain people hear and handle the

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truth.

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How will they respond?

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We as followers of Jesus believe in

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an Afterlife with God.

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But do we really believe that - there's no proof?

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In this story we have just read he saw the proof, but

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it was too late.

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Some will respond and find life and breath.

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Will find Hope and salvation.

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And I guess the biggest part of our belief is Hope.

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If our belief is strong then our hope

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is strong because there will be no evidence of Salvation except

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at the end of our lives.

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There are some people who simply don't believe .They will

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find a way to fault your belief.

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" I mean seriously when you die you

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go to heaven. Oh, yeah. Sure". So there's Peter

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standing at the gate smiling and his hand is

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a book with your name on the top and his

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other hand. He's got a pen and he's ticking off the list of all

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the good things and the bad things in your life what you did

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and what you didn't do and then he tallies up the

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list.

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And when he's finished.

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He points either up.

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or either down

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How can you possibly believe that?

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These folks just smile off.

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nodding their heads.

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Yesterday is a memory,  today is in your hands.

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The breath in you and I is God's breath.

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Our life is in God's hands. The story of the

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rich man illustrates the life we live today and determines

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our life tomorrow.

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If you wake up tomorrow yesterday is gone

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end of story everything you did yesterday has

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been done and you can't redo it.

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If you don't give God the praise yesterday that it's

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too bad.

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Tomorrow is another day. And that's all we have is today.

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simple as that

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this rich man treated Lazarus without any

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regard for him or for God. He was looking after

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himself yesterday and today.

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And boy, was he having a great time? No regard

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for anyone else just himself.

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But then there was no today and certainly

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no tomorrow.

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What happens? You can't go back to yesterday? And if

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there is no today, there will be no tomorrow.

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That's the end of the story.

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Everything we do has consequences. We live

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in this wonderful world. This world that God has created and sometimes

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sometimes we just

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take it for granted.

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Are we like the fifth man in the car? What do

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we take out of our life   just to wind that window?

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What we do today is what it is all about

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when we wake up every morning. We have opportunities to

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be what God wants us to be. Not yesterday

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not tomorrow but today.

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This parable is commonly called the rich man and

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Lazarus.

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And it's all about the rewards at the end of our lives.

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Neither person's financial status or their health conditions

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determines his righteousness. Righteousness is

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about the heart.

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This parable is not just about going to

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heaven for good works or going to hell for bad

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works. It's not about works at all.

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What we do in our lives reflects where our heart

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is .If we truly believe that God is part

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of our life that Jesus died for us then

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we know

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where we stand in this world.

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We see this parable.

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as the only way we can be worthy of entering

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God's kingdom and that's through Jesus.

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Because you have many material blessings that means nothing.

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If you have nothing, that means nothing if we are rich and

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have many possessions.

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but not rich towards God,

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We have nothing.

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And if we are poor and poor towards

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God, we also have nothing.

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So perhaps we might be like the rich man or like

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the poor begger. It's not the richness or the

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poorness that determines who we are.

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In Ephesians 2 it says you are

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saved through faith and not of yourself.

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It is a gift from God.

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Our five men in the car had to go back to town to be saved if

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they stayed where the car was they would

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die and so in their discussions, they

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took something that was vital to their survival.

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Each one was carrying something that was important. They all

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agreed to that.

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They needed food water blankets and

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maps. If they didn't have that,

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they would be lost forever. The fifth man carried

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a car door just about the silliest thing

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ever.

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But on a hot day he would open the window.

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And let the breath come in.

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And perhaps for us.

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That's a silly story but reminds us

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that the Breath of God is important for us.

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The rich man thought his wealth was important to him, but

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it wasn't what was important was God's

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breath.

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And that's the Breath of Life.

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the breath of Hope

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Every morning when we wake up, let us roll

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that window down from our car door that we're carrying.

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And allow God's breath.

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To be part of our life.

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Amen