﻿WEBVTT

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<v ->This program is made
possible by the giving</v>

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of the God called partners
of Renner Ministries.

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Get ready for a teaching
that feeds your spirit

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and your mind, where the
word is the anchor in

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uncertain times.

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And doctrine doesn't bend to culture.

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We keep it simple,

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but dive deep revealing a
truth that strengthens us,

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a love that emboldens,

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and a mission that touches the world.

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Let's join Rick Renner.

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<v ->Welcome to today's program.</v>

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My name is Rick Renner

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and my friends, I'm
having such a good time

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with you this week and with Denise.

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<v ->Thanks, Rick. I'm just loving this series.</v>

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<v ->Thank you, Denise. And you look so beautiful.</v>

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<v ->Well, thank you Rick.</v>

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<v ->I'm glad you're with me and
we are glad that you are</v>

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with us and my friends

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we want you to get the whole
series that we're teaching,

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which is called, Prejudice - Me?

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No one thinks they're prejudice.

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That's why in Program No.1, we identified

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so many different kinds of prejudice.

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My friends, prejudice
is something that tries

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to work its way into all of us.

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And we need the Holy Spirit
to help us identify any areas

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of our life where we have
judged people wrongly.

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It's evil. We saw that
in yesterday's program.

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But the subtitle says, Overcoming Prejudice in the Church

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and in your Life: comes with a study guide.

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And we're also offering you
right now my two devotionals

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called Sparkling Gems from the Greek,

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I and II.

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These are remarkable books.

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It's a very deep dive
into the New Testament

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where I extract all kinds
of Greek words in a way

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that you can really easily understand

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and it will help you just
fall in love with your Bible.

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And I want you to order these,

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and you can order all these
things by going online

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or by just giving us a call right now.

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And when you call us

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or reach out to us, let us
know how to pray for you.

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The Bible says in Jeremiah 33:3,

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call unto me, I'll hear you, I'll answer you,

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and I'll show you great and mighty things.

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And if you'll reach out to us, we'll pray

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with you together with you.

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We will call out to God in faith.

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It's not enough just
to cry or to call out.

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You gotta pray in faith, and
you gotta pray scripturally.

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And we know how to do
that. God will hear us.

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God will answer, and God
will show you something great

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and mighty beyond your
wildest imagination.

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He will really do something
wonderful for you.

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And in fact, I wanna share
two testimonies of people

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who reached out for prayer

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and God really moved on their behalf.

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Listen to this one. Sometime ago, a partner sent an email

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to let us know he was in the
hospital with broken bones

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and was physically weak.

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We prayed for him and wrote
back to encourage him.

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Soon he wrote back again to say,

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after receiving your amazing email,

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I gained so much strength.

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And your words were so appreciated.

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I felt God was with me all the way.

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I'm so thankful to God

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and to the whole team at Renner Ministries.

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I was released from the hospital.

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I've made a full recovery

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and I'm pressing on to
get physically in shape.

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I can't thank you enough for your prayers.

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I'm so thankful for Rick's
programs and for the knowledge

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and encouragement I get from them.

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That is marvelous. - That
is the great testimony.

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<v ->But here's another testimony from somebody</v>

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that just got saved.

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Listen to this one. Today we
received a call from a new

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viewer who was watching the program

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for the first time today.

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She was crying as she realized
that she was a sinner.

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She wanted to give her life to
Jesus. So we prayed for her.

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We declared that old
things are passed away

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and all things are now made new.

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And she burst into tears,
rejoicing in her salvation.

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Praise the Lord.

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So just as these people
reached out to us, we want you

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to reach out to us as well,
but reach for your Bible

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because we always use the
Bible in this program,

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and we're believing for
revival of the Bible.

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Amen, Denise. - Amen.

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Well, we're gonna return to James 2:1,

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which is our foundation verse for this series.

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And in James 2:1 in the King James Version, James says,

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my brethren have not the faith
of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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the Lord of Lord, with respect of persons.

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Look at that phrase - with respect of persons.

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Here is the RIV of James 2:1;

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My dearest brothers and comrades whom I cherish

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and treasure, you must not be a respecter of persons.

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That is you must not have hold

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and possess the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ,

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the Lord of glory.

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And at the same time, judge others

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or base your acceptance of them by

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what you see in their external appearance.

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And we saw in yesterday's program that when you judge people

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by their external appearance, God says, it is wicked.

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My friends, there's no room

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for this in the life of a believer.

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But today we're gonna move on.

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And I wanna read an absolutely
revolutionary text to you.

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Are you ready for this? Here we have it in James 3:28.

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It's also repeated in Colossians 3:11.

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And it says, in Christ.
Now listen to this.

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In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, male

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nor female, circumcision

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nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian,

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slave or free,

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but Christ is all

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and is in all.

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Now, people read this verse

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and they don't realize

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how absolutely revolutionary
this verse really is.

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But in the time of the New Testament,

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to make a statement like
that was nearly unthinkable.

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And today I'm gonna read to
you from my book, Apostles

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and Prophets and Denise, I gotta read a lot,

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but boy, this is just so good.

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And friends, please forgive
me for reading so much,

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but I want you to hear what
this verse really means.

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Listen to this, Denise.

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It is impossible to convey how
revolutionary it was for Paul

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to write that in Christ
and in the body of Christ.

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There's neither Jew nor Greek.

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There's neither bond nor free.

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There's neither male

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nor female for your all
one in Christ Jesus.

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And then in Colossians 3:11, Paul stated,

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there's neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision

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nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free,

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but Christ is all and is in all.

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And the reason this is amazing is

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because when Paul wrote these verses,

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the Roman world was strictly
divided by ethnicity,

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class, gender, and race.

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These distinctions were clear cut,

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and these societal lines
were rarely crossed.

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To imagine these different
categories of ethnic class,

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gender, and race, sitting together side

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by side was unfathomable

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because these different classifications rarely mingled. In

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the same way oil and water do not mix,

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but in fact repel each other,

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all those various ethnicities, classes, genders

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and races didn't mix well either.

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In fact, they repelled one another.

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And to imagine these various
groups united into a single

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body was completely revolutionary.

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And I want to help you
understand just why this

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declassifying

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of the classes in Christ was
such revolutionary thinking in

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the 1st Century.

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All right, you ready, Denise? - I'm ready.

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He begins by mentioning Jew and Greek.

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Since the list in Colossians 11 begins with Greeks, that's

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where we're going to begin.

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The word Greek pictures,

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anyone from the Greek speaking world,

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but in the New Testament, it's
usually translated Gentile.

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Most readers assume the
word gentile simply means

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non-Jewish.

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And although this is correct,
it is more than that

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as it pictures anyone who is pagan:

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so not just non-Jewish, pagan. It is impossible

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to exaggerate how vastly
different the pagans

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were from the Jews.

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While the Jews grew up
worshiping the one true God,

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pagans were notorious idol worshipers from lands filled

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with drunkenness, debauchery,

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and multiple forms of
unbridled sexual immorality.

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The pagan world loathed Jews; they hated them

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and regarded them as narrow-minded and bigoted

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because they only believed in one true God

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compared to the pagan's open-mindedness

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to believe in a sundry of gods. They generally deemed Jews

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as a people with a disgusting language

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and a bloody religion.

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And although there were rare
instances in which the Greek

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speaking world valued Jews
for their business skills,

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they largely held Jews in contempt

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and mingling them

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with them would not
have been a preference.

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The antagonism, Greek speaking,

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pagans felt toward Jews
was deeply, deeply rooted.

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But hey, then Paul mentions Jews.

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Because of the Greeks, pagan's beliefs and lifestyles,

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Jews similarly found Greek speaking pagans

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to be disgusting.

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They especially felt disdain toward Romans

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who had forcibly occupied
Jews territories.

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And the repugnant Jews felt
toward pagan gentiles was

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so acute that they did all
they could to keep distance

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between themselves

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and pagans, whom they judged
to be sexually deviant,

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perverse, and idle worshipers
with more no moral law.

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For these reasons and many more, Jews tended

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to look upon Gentiles as unclean,

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foul polluted people.

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And in fact, a devout Jew would've found a pagan gentiles

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so reprehensible that he would
not even permit someone in

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that category to cross the
threshold of his house.

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If a Jew felt

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that a particular Gentile
seems better than others, even

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to a devout religious Jew, pagans

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nonetheless were viewed as
impure, contaminated people

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to be avoided if possible at all.

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So here we find what Jews

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and Gentiles felt about each other.

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But then Paul mentioned circumcision and uncircumcision.

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Alright, listen to this. Then

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Paul added circumcision and uncircumcision to his list.

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One might think this is simply another way

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of describing Jews and gentiles,

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but the word circumcision

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as used in Colossians 3:11 could also

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depict - are you ready for this -

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strict religious Jews as compared

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to non-religious Jews

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whom the strictly religious
Jew considered to be shameful

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because those non-religious
Jews often were uncircumcised.

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So the word uncircumcised
in this verse likely refers

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to those non-religious Jews
whom religious Jews regarded

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as shameful.

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And in this verse, it seems
Paul was depicting a religious

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war that existed inside
a single religious group.

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Deeply religious Jews who
faithfully followed the rules,

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saw themselves as
superior Jews who did not.

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And the deeply religious
had little tolerance

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for the non-religious

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and extreme hostility
between religious Jews

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and non-religious Jews was so cold-blooded

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that these groups seldom
got along together

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in a civil manner.

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Alright, that's circumcision
and uncircumcision,

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but now we have bond and free.

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Okay, ready for this one?

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In Colossians 3:28, Paul then mentioned bond and free.

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The word, bond, is a translation of a Greek word,

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which is the most abject term for a slave

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and pictures one born into slavery.

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The system of slavery was so
entrenched in society that

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as far back as the classical
period, Aristotle wrote

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that those born as slaves
had inferior intellects

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and were biologically
designed to be slaves.

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He even said that they should be contented

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00:12:51.040 --> 00:12:54.160
to live in a subservient condition the rest of their life.

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And while this mindset is
outrageous to us today,

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and it's disgusting to us to think

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that slavery is acceptable,
Aristotle actually expressed

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that from the hour of their
birth, some are marked out

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for subjugation, others for rule. Those born

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to rule were the free. A word that refers

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to one born free and who possesses rights

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and privileges only belonging to the free.

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And the demarcation between bond

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and free was so stark

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that even if a slave was
later granted freedom, he

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or she was still considered
inferior to others.

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Wow! But then Paul mentions male

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and female.

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Okay, now we've already seen Jew

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and Gentile, circumcision,
uncircumcision, bond and free.

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But now we come to male and female.

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Paul adds male and female to the list.

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And the Greek is so strong that it emphatically means male

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and female distinctions simply do not exist in Christ in

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terms of partiality.

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But a mere suggestion by Paul
that there was no distinction

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00:14:07.810 --> 00:14:10.060
between male and female was one

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of the most revolutionary statements ever written in history

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up until that time.

286
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It makes it all together stranges,

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when modern critics charge
Paul of being anti-women.

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When in truth, Paul inspired

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by the Holy Spirit wrote
the most liberating words

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00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:29.920
that had ever been written about women.

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00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:31.630
But in the 1st Century,

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there were simply societal
restrictions that were applied

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00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:36.970
to women but not to men.

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For example, men could
vote, women could not vote:

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00:14:40.540 --> 00:14:42.550
men could hold a political office,

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00:14:42.550 --> 00:14:45.490
women could not hold any political office.

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00:14:45.490 --> 00:14:49.660
This absence of women in key
public positions explains

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00:14:49.660 --> 00:14:51.110
why men are referred to

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00:14:51.110 --> 00:14:53.900
by historical writers more than women.

300
00:14:53.900 --> 00:14:56.570
Men were allowed, education,
women were not allowed,

301
00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:58.550
but just a little education.

302
00:14:58.550 --> 00:15:01.550
But generally less than
what was provided to men.

303
00:15:01.550 --> 00:15:04.520
Women's public lives was so restricted,

304
00:15:04.520 --> 00:15:07.820
they were not even permitted
to shop in a public market.

305
00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:11.000
And in fact, if a woman was
seen in a public market,

306
00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.340
it was likely she was a prostitute

307
00:15:13.340 --> 00:15:16.670
because decent women were
not allowed to shop there.

308
00:15:16.670 --> 00:15:20.990
Men had many legal rights,
women had few legal rights.

309
00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:24.680
Men freely attended public
meetings and forums.

310
00:15:24.680 --> 00:15:28.010
Women were usually prohibited
from these meetings.

311
00:15:28.010 --> 00:15:31.130
And in fact, a lack

312
00:15:31.130 --> 00:15:34.220
of women's experience in public
meetings was why Paul found

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00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:38.270
it necessary to instruct women
in his epistles about what

314
00:15:38.270 --> 00:15:40.280
to do when something was said in a service

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00:15:40.280 --> 00:15:42.860
that needed explanation.

316
00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.560
That is not the focus of
what we're talking about,

317
00:15:45.560 --> 00:15:47.330
but it's important to note.

318
00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:51.200
As many have not deeply
studied the subject of male

319
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:52.490
and female in the church

320
00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:55.730
and have wrongly concluded
that Paul was against women,

321
00:15:55.730 --> 00:15:57.050
but quite the contrary,

322
00:15:57.050 --> 00:16:00.920
he, for one, liberated them so
much that they were allowed

323
00:16:00.920 --> 00:16:03.080
for the first time to sit side by side

324
00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.080
with men in public meetings.

325
00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.510
This was an unthinkable development

326
00:16:08.510 --> 00:16:13.510
that occurred only in Christ. Prior to Christ,

327
00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:17.000
sitting in a meeting with men would have never happened

328
00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.220
because the boundary lines between male

329
00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:21.110
and females in both the Jewish

330
00:16:21.110 --> 00:16:24.200
and Greek speaking worlds generally did not permit it.

331
00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:28.400
But in Christ, those restrictive distinctions were

332
00:16:28.400 --> 00:16:30.620
and are obliterated.

333
00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:32.930
All right, now we're gonna move to the next one;

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00:16:32.930 --> 00:16:36.530
get ready for this, Barbarian and Scythian.

335
00:16:36.530 --> 00:16:38.240
The word barbarian is a translation

336
00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.970
of the word barbaros, which describes anyone

337
00:16:40.970 --> 00:16:42.650
that didn't speak Greek or Latin,

338
00:16:42.650 --> 00:16:45.230
or one who spoke it very poorly.

339
00:16:45.230 --> 00:16:49.220
And according to the educated
people of the time, those

340
00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:50.750
who didn't speak these languages

341
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:53.210
and speak them well regard were regarded

342
00:16:53.210 --> 00:16:55.970
as lacking in culture
being uncivilized, and

343
00:16:55.970 --> 00:16:59.660
therefore were viewed as
a lower class than others.

344
00:16:59.660 --> 00:17:04.310
Hmm. But Paul also listed Scythians in this astonishing

345
00:17:04.310 --> 00:17:05.990
list of people groups.

346
00:17:05.990 --> 00:17:08.840
And Scythian were a nomadic type of people

347
00:17:08.840 --> 00:17:11.150
who originally lived in the steeps north

348
00:17:11.150 --> 00:17:13.250
and east of the black seas.

349
00:17:13.250 --> 00:17:15.860
And they were divided
into a multiple group

350
00:17:15.860 --> 00:17:17.690
of tribes over time.

351
00:17:17.690 --> 00:17:22.520
And they were viewed to be the
barbarians of the barbarians.

352
00:17:22.520 --> 00:17:25.520
While common barbarians
were deemed uncouth,

353
00:17:25.520 --> 00:17:29.300
even common barbarians deemed Scythians

354
00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:31.850
as the lowest of all barbarians

355
00:17:31.850 --> 00:17:35.360
and the scum of the barbarian world.

356
00:17:35.360 --> 00:17:38.990
You could say the general feeling towards Scythian of those

357
00:17:38.990 --> 00:17:42.440
who were simply barbarians went something like this:

358
00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:44.480
Well, we might be barbarians,

359
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.080
but at least we're not Scythians.

360
00:17:48.080 --> 00:17:51.090
So even barbarians considered Scythians

361
00:17:51.090 --> 00:17:53.580
to be the lowest rung on
the ladder in the world

362
00:17:53.580 --> 00:17:54.720
of barbarians.

363
00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.790
And it would've been absurd

364
00:17:56.790 --> 00:18:00.660
to envision these various barbarian groups sitting together

365
00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:03.720
peacefully in a social setting.

366
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:08.070
So when Paul listed all these groups which were on the

367
00:18:08.070 --> 00:18:10.230
farthest opposite spectrum

368
00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:12.570
and would've never naturally find commonality

369
00:18:12.570 --> 00:18:14.850
with each other, he astonishingly stated

370
00:18:14.850 --> 00:18:18.570
that now they were all one in Christ Jesus.

371
00:18:18.570 --> 00:18:21.390
And Christ is all and in all,

372
00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:23.550
and against all odds

373
00:18:23.550 --> 00:18:25.830
and societal norms of that age:

374
00:18:25.830 --> 00:18:30.630
a single unified body now
existed that was comprised

375
00:18:30.630 --> 00:18:33.870
of all these various conflicting parts.

376
00:18:33.870 --> 00:18:37.230
After each part was baptized
by one spirit into the body

377
00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:41.190
of Christ, they each became
supernaturally, mysteriously,

378
00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:43.590
blended, joined fuse intermingled,

379
00:18:43.590 --> 00:18:48.330
and divinely melded into one
single body of believers.

380
00:18:48.330 --> 00:18:51.060
Think of the magnificent, supernatural,

381
00:18:51.060 --> 00:18:54.630
unifying word God performed
by his spirit at the moment

382
00:18:54.630 --> 00:18:58.110
of the new birth in which
in one instant classes

383
00:18:58.110 --> 00:19:00.750
and distinctions vanished

384
00:19:00.750 --> 00:19:04.830
inside this one new body, the church.

385
00:19:04.830 --> 00:19:05.940
Now that's a lot of reading,

386
00:19:06.840 --> 00:19:09.870
but Denise, when you put all
that together, it is amazing

387
00:19:09.870 --> 00:19:13.890
that in Christ all these ethnic race,

388
00:19:13.890 --> 00:19:17.250
gender distinctions, class distinctions,

389
00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:19.560
they just evaporate.

390
00:19:19.560 --> 00:19:22.020
And now we're all members of one body.

391
00:19:22.020 --> 00:19:26.460
And in Christ, there are no distinctions.

392
00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:30.090
Is that amazing? I love
it. It's truly amazing.

393
00:19:30.090 --> 00:19:32.430
All that's in my book,
Apostles and Prophets.

394
00:19:32.430 --> 00:19:35.940
But what I want you to understand is that in Christ, all

395
00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:39.600
of these distinctions have vanished.

396
00:19:39.600 --> 00:19:42.960
God does not see a church
of different colors.

397
00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.230
He doesn't even see a church
of different nationalities.

398
00:19:46.230 --> 00:19:51.090
He sees that Christ is in all - that's amazing. Amen.

399
00:19:51.090 --> 00:19:54.930
And Christ is in all.
That's who the church is.

400
00:19:54.930 --> 00:19:59.250
And that's why in the church,
there is no room for any form

401
00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:00.900
of prejudice at all.

402
00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:02.640
We need to throw our arms open

403
00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:06.600
and embrace anybody that
is washed in the blood

404
00:20:06.600 --> 00:20:08.340
and born by the spirit of God.

405
00:20:08.340 --> 00:20:10.080
They are our brothers and sisters.

406
00:20:10.080 --> 00:20:13.620
And by the way, they
have to embrace us too.

407
00:20:13.620 --> 00:20:16.170
That's Christ and that's who we are.

408
00:20:17.310 --> 00:20:18.750
We'll be back in just a moment

409
00:20:18.750 --> 00:20:20.130
and I've got more to share with you.

410
00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:30.510
This is Rick Renner and someone has asked,

411
00:20:30.510 --> 00:20:34.110
How do I overcome the fear of death?

412
00:20:34.110 --> 00:20:37.020
Well, if you are a child
of God, you have no reason

413
00:20:37.020 --> 00:20:40.950
to be afraid because the
day you made Jesus the Lord

414
00:20:40.950 --> 00:20:44.730
of your life, you received eternal life.

415
00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:47.650
Eternal life is not what you're going to have in the future,

416
00:20:47.650 --> 00:20:51.670
you already have it. You've already begun your eternal life.

417
00:20:51.670 --> 00:20:54.850
And when you physically die, you simply step out

418
00:20:54.850 --> 00:20:57.880
of this body into the next glorious phase.

419
00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:00.820
And my friends, that's not the end either

420
00:21:00.820 --> 00:21:03.370
because one day Jesus will return

421
00:21:03.370 --> 00:21:05.770
and he will bring all the
saints with him who've gone

422
00:21:05.770 --> 00:21:08.140
to heaven, and they will be reconnected

423
00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:09.940
to their resurrected bodies.

424
00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:14.050
And 2 Timothy 1:7 says,

425
00:21:14.050 --> 00:21:16.600
God's not given us the spirit of fear.

426
00:21:16.600 --> 00:21:18.520
Rebuke the spirit of fear.

427
00:21:18.520 --> 00:21:22.750
Embrace the fact that you're
already living in eternal life

428
00:21:22.750 --> 00:21:26.290
and death has no grip on you.

429
00:21:27.610 --> 00:21:29.950
<v ->We are to be imitators of Christ.</v>

430
00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:32.590
Following closely in his footsteps,

431
00:21:32.590 --> 00:21:34.420
Jesus walked in unconditional

432
00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:36.580
and unbiased love for others

433
00:21:36.580 --> 00:21:39.490
as believers we should do the same.

434
00:21:39.490 --> 00:21:42.400
Joined by his wife Denise
Rick Renner addresses the

435
00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:45.280
hindrance of prejudiced
heart can bring to the church

436
00:21:45.280 --> 00:21:48.250
and why it has no place
in the body of Christ.

437
00:21:48.250 --> 00:21:51.550
The Lord has crafted each and
every one of us in his image.

438
00:21:51.550 --> 00:21:54.820
In this 5-part series, Prejudiced - Me? Rick

439
00:21:54.820 --> 00:21:58.090
and Denise, cover: what it means to be prejudiced, the cause

440
00:21:58.090 --> 00:22:00.940
and effect of prejudice in scripture, our oneness

441
00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.940
with the Lord as believers, how to change the posture

442
00:22:03.940 --> 00:22:05.890
of your heart - available in digital

443
00:22:05.890 --> 00:22:08.890
or physical formats, starting at just $11.

444
00:22:08.890 --> 00:22:11.710
Overcome the negative connotations you may have placed on

445
00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:15.160
others and lead a life of
love pleasing to the Lord.

446
00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:17.080
In addition to this teaching series,

447
00:22:17.080 --> 00:22:19.630
we are also offering you the guided devotionals,

448
00:22:19.630 --> 00:22:21.670
Sparkling Gems I &amp; II.

449
00:22:21.670 --> 00:22:24.940
Rick Renner offers a masterful
blend of personal memories,

450
00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:26.980
intriguing historical perspective,

451
00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:30.010
and valuable insights into the believer's role in this

452
00:22:30.010 --> 00:22:34.330
present hour with more than 1000 in-depth Greek word studies

453
00:22:34.330 --> 00:22:38.890
crafted into 365 daily devotions that are sure to inspire

454
00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:40.990
and provoke you to plunge deeper into your own

455
00:22:40.990 --> 00:22:43.690
search for more hidden treasures from God's Word.

456
00:22:43.690 --> 00:22:47.620
Order Sparkling Gems I &amp; II for just $45 each.

457
00:22:47.620 --> 00:22:50.980
Don't miss this special offer of the bundle: Prejudiced-Me?

458
00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:53.170
and Sparkling Gems I &amp; II.

459
00:22:53.170 --> 00:22:55.060
Call the number on your screen now

460
00:22:55.060 --> 00:22:57.220
or go to renner.org to order.

461
00:22:57.220 --> 00:22:58.840
Call or go online now.

462
00:23:03.310 --> 00:23:06.310
<v ->Hey friends, this is Rick
Renner, and guess where I am.</v>

463
00:23:06.310 --> 00:23:10.330
I'm seated in the foyer of the Tulsa Ministry Headquarters,

464
00:23:10.330 --> 00:23:12.040
and I love this foyer.

465
00:23:12.040 --> 00:23:14.410
First of all, when you come
in here immediately you

466
00:23:14.410 --> 00:23:16.000
feel excellence.

467
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:17.260
We wanted it to be beautiful,

468
00:23:17.260 --> 00:23:18.880
but we didn't spend a
lot of money to do it

469
00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:21.940
because we're very careful with the funds that we receive.

470
00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:24.520
But the reason I love this foyer is

471
00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:26.800
because of what's on the walls

472
00:23:26.800 --> 00:23:28.810
and on the wall behind the camera,

473
00:23:28.810 --> 00:23:31.390
and right over here, there are big displays

474
00:23:31.390 --> 00:23:34.180
of letters which we receive from Russian viewers

475
00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:38.860
in the early years when we were getting so much mail,

476
00:23:38.860 --> 00:23:42.040
we stopped counting the mail by the pieces

477
00:23:42.040 --> 00:23:45.050
and started counting the mail by the tons.

478
00:23:45.050 --> 00:23:48.830
I am not exaggerating when
I tell you that we received

479
00:23:48.830 --> 00:23:52.760
between 80 and 100 tons

480
00:23:52.760 --> 00:23:56.690
of mail from people that
were reaching out to us

481
00:23:56.690 --> 00:23:58.915
and we answered every single letter.

482
00:23:58.915 --> 00:24:00.530
And you know, to answer every letter, you gotta pay

483
00:24:00.530 --> 00:24:03.500
for stationary, you
gotta pay for envelopes,

484
00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:04.580
you gotta pay for stamps.

485
00:24:04.580 --> 00:24:07.010
People don't think about
what it costs to answer

486
00:24:07.010 --> 00:24:08.360
that kind of mail.

487
00:24:08.360 --> 00:24:10.850
But my friends, it was a
massive amount of money just

488
00:24:10.850 --> 00:24:12.350
to respond to that mail.

489
00:24:12.350 --> 00:24:15.350
But we did it because of our partners.

490
00:24:15.350 --> 00:24:17.390
And now from this facility,

491
00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:19.280
we've taken ministry to the next level.

492
00:24:19.280 --> 00:24:21.920
We're not just reaching
Russia, we're reaching

493
00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:26.180
around the planet with television and all kinds of media.

494
00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:29.630
And this office in Tulsa responds to people

495
00:24:29.630 --> 00:24:32.930
that are reaching out to us from around the world.

496
00:24:32.930 --> 00:24:35.210
And because we have this facility, we're able

497
00:24:35.210 --> 00:24:38.780
to do this professionally and excellently.

498
00:24:38.780 --> 00:24:41.510
And I want to say thank you for helping us

499
00:24:41.510 --> 00:24:43.550
to purchase this facility.

500
00:24:43.550 --> 00:24:45.710
And if you're not already a
member of our giving team,

501
00:24:45.710 --> 00:24:48.140
please pray about being a part

502
00:24:48.140 --> 00:24:50.150
of the Ministry Expansion Project.

503
00:24:53.810 --> 00:24:56.600
Well, today we have
covered so much material.

504
00:24:56.600 --> 00:24:58.760
Forgive me that I read so much,

505
00:24:58.760 --> 00:25:00.140
but I want you to really understand

506
00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:03.890
that all these distinctions in Jesus Christ

507
00:25:03.890 --> 00:25:05.840
have vanished.

508
00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:09.500
They have disappeared in Christ and my friends,

509
00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:11.630
we do not need to have any form

510
00:25:11.630 --> 00:25:14.540
of prejudice against anybody.

511
00:25:14.540 --> 00:25:16.550
And that's why I want you to order this series called,

512
00:25:16.550 --> 00:25:20.300
Prejudiced-Me? Overcoming Prejudice in the Church

513
00:25:20.300 --> 00:25:21.500
and in your Life.

514
00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:23.150
And it comes with a study guide.

515
00:25:23.150 --> 00:25:24.470
And we want you to be sure

516
00:25:24.470 --> 00:25:28.340
to order the daily devotionals called Sparkling Gems from

517
00:25:28.340 --> 00:25:30.920
the Greek Vol.I or Vol. II.

518
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:33.710
The front says 300 Greek
word studies for every day

519
00:25:33.710 --> 00:25:37.340
of the year to sharpen your
understanding of God's word.

520
00:25:37.340 --> 00:25:39.470
And that's what it really will do.

521
00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:42.530
But you can order all these
things by just going online

522
00:25:42.530 --> 00:25:43.970
or call the number on the screen.

523
00:25:43.970 --> 00:25:44.960
We're waiting to hear from you

524
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:46.820
because we wanna pray for you.

525
00:25:46.820 --> 00:25:48.590
So if you've got a need, reach out to us.

526
00:25:48.590 --> 00:25:51.350
I know you can pray by yourself,

527
00:25:51.350 --> 00:25:54.290
but sometimes it helps to
hear another voice praying

528
00:25:54.290 --> 00:25:56.210
with you or to know that you've written

529
00:25:56.210 --> 00:25:57.380
and you've requested prayer

530
00:25:57.380 --> 00:25:59.360
and that people are
getting into agreement.

531
00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:02.090
And that's us. We're
waiting to pray with you.

532
00:26:02.090 --> 00:26:05.720
So please call us or go
online and send us your email.

533
00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:08.390
And the moment we hear
from you, we're gonna pray.

534
00:26:08.390 --> 00:26:11.270
And Denise, God is gonna
really do something wonderful.

535
00:26:11.270 --> 00:26:12.680
Amen. But we wanna pray for you right now.

536
00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:14.600
So put your hand on your heart.

537
00:26:14.600 --> 00:26:17.960
Father, we thank in the name
of Jesus that in Christ, all

538
00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:20.060
of these distinctions have disappeared.

539
00:26:20.060 --> 00:26:23.960
And forgive us if we still
have distinctions in our head

540
00:26:23.960 --> 00:26:27.230
that are totally unacceptable in Christ. Help us

541
00:26:27.230 --> 00:26:30.740
to become freed in our thinking and to love your church

542
00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:32.510
and see your church and every member

543
00:26:32.510 --> 00:26:35.210
of your church the way that you see it,

544
00:26:35.210 --> 00:26:38.150
that Christ is in all - wow.

545
00:26:38.150 --> 00:26:40.233
We think you that includes us

546
00:26:40.233 --> 00:26:43.980
in Jesus wonderful name we pray.

547
00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:46.650
Amen. Well, when we come back tomorrow,

548
00:26:46.650 --> 00:26:48.840
we're gonna see something totally amazing.

549
00:26:48.840 --> 00:26:52.890
Don't miss it. But until then, remember Ecclesiastes 8:

550
00:26:52.890 --> 00:26:57.000
4 says, "Where the word of the king is, there is power."

551
00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.280
If you've never received Jesus as your Savior

552
00:26:59.280 --> 00:27:03.660
and Lord, now is the time for you to experience a new life.

553
00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:05.850
Jesus has to give you.

554
00:27:05.850 --> 00:27:10.470
Pray this prayer with me right now; Lord, I repent

555
00:27:10.470 --> 00:27:13.920
of my sin and receive you as my Savior

556
00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.890
and Lord. Wash away my sin

557
00:27:16.890 --> 00:27:19.920
and make me completely new.

558
00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:23.670
I thank you that my sin is removed

559
00:27:23.670 --> 00:27:28.670
and Satan no longer has any
right to lay claim on me.

560
00:27:29.280 --> 00:27:33.240
I faithfully promise that I will serve you as my Lord

561
00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:34.920
for the rest of my life.

562
00:27:35.790 --> 00:27:36.790
Amen.

563
00:27:39.990 --> 00:27:42.750
<v ->If you just prayed the
prayer of salvation with us,</v>

564
00:27:42.750 --> 00:27:44.700
would you please let us know by going

565
00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:47.700
to renner.org/salvation?

566
00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:49.380
We would love to connect with you.

567
00:27:52.080 --> 00:27:55.410
Renner Ministries is proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ

568
00:27:55.410 --> 00:27:57.600
through every available media avenue

569
00:27:57.600 --> 00:27:59.610
to the uttermost parts of the earth.

570
00:27:59.610 --> 00:28:02.640
Discover the many ways you can
help us make a difference in

571
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:05.610
lives around the world
with the word of God.

572
00:28:05.610 --> 00:28:09.750
We invite you to partner with
us in teaching, strengthening

573
00:28:10.800 --> 00:28:14.220
and rescuing lives for the glory of God.

574
00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:16.380
Together we can make a difference

575
00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:18.270
that will last throughout eternity.

576
00:28:23.850 --> 00:28:26.400
This program was made
possible by the giving

577
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.870
of the God called partners of Renner Ministries.

