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Foreign.

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Thank you for engaging with
the homily by Pastor Chill Will from

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Chapel Hill.

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I hope this message encourages
you, challenges you and moves you

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to go deeper in your faith and
enrich how you love God and love

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your neighbor in your day to
day life.

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Just a reminder.

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Like the Scriptures and
Gospels themselves, this homily was

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written for a particular
community in a particular, particular

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context, time in history and
yet, like our sacred texts, I hope

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that these words hold timeless
truths about God's unconditional

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love and grace.

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We hope these words speak to
you in a meaningful way.

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The Holy Gospel According to
John the next day he saw Jesus coming

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toward him and declared, here
is the Lamb of God who takes away

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the sin of the world.

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This is he of whom I said,
after me comes a man who ranks ahead

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of me because he was before me.

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I myself did not know him, but
I came.

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But I came baptizing with
water for this reason that he might

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be revealed to Israel.

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John testified, I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven like

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a dove, and it remained on him.

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I myself did not know him, but
the one who sent me to baptize with

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water said to me, he on whom
you see the Spirit descending and

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remain is the one who baptized
with the Holy Spirit.

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And I myself have seen and
have testified that this is the Chosen.

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The next day John again was
standing with two of his disciples,

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and as he watched Jesus walk
by, he exclaimed, look, here is the

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Lamb of God.

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The two disciples heard him
say this, and they followed Jesus.

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When Jesus turned and saw them
following him, he said to them, what

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are you looking for?

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Said to him, rabbi, which
translated means teacher, where are

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you staying?

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He said to them, come and see.

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They came and saw where he was
staying and they remained with him

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that day.

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It was about 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

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One of the two who heard John
speak and followed Jesus was Andrew

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Simon, Peter's brother.

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He first found his brother
Simon and said to him, we have found

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the Messiah, which is
translated anointed.

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He brought Simon to Jesus, who
looked at him and said, you are Simon,

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son of John.

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You are to be called the which
is translated Peter.

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This is the Gospel of the
Lord, the name of the Father and

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the Son of the Holy Spirit.

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He's back.

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By by he I mean John the Baptist.

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This time he's back, not
situated in the season of Advent.

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He's not shouting in the
wilderness, causing a scene and yelling

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at the onlookers to prepare
the way of the Lord.

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And this week he's not even
baptizing Anyone?

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This time we see what could be
compared in college sports as a transfer

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portal.

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Dumb disciples switching teams
there any nil money involved?

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I don't know.

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Probably not so far.

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In the season of epiphany, we
began traveling with foreigners,

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following a star that leads to
the Christ child going by another

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road.

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We are then led to a body of water.

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As God speaks and the spirit
descends and hovers, the identity

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of beloved is formed.

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New life emerges out of that
new life.

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This morning we get some call stories.

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The calling of the first disciples.

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The Gospel of John is
different from the other synoptic

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gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

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John does tell some similar
stories and he never loses the plot

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thread of who Jesus is and the
overall climactic build to Holy Week

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and the cross into Easter morning.

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But he does use a lot of
creative images, imagery when he

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shapes his Christology.

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It's a fancy word of who we
understand the Christ to be.

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And that is why we read from
the Gospel of John here in Epiphany,

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situated right here today, the
Gospel of John is filled with references

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to light and awakening,
seeing, looking, revelation.

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John's gospel doesn't have a
traditional Christmas story.

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Rather he chooses to go
further back and starts with this

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cosmic call back to Genesis by
starting with in the beginning was

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the Word and with him all
things came into being.

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In him was life and light to
the people.

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The light shines in the
darkness and it did not overcome

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it.

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This word became flesh bided
among us.

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In the Gospel of John, we
don't see John the Baptist baptizing

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anyone.

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Rather we hear from him
describing Jesus's baptism and what

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he witnessed and experienced.

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He's witnessing and testifying
the epiphany he had when he baptized

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Jesus.

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And then we get this.

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I yeah, it's a strange and
mysterious story of John and his

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disciples just kind of hanging
out together in town where they are,

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I don't know.

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And they see Jesus in the wild twice.

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They are hanging out and I
assume minding their own business

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and Jesus comes walking by.

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John the Baptist is like, you
see that guy right there?

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Remember the one that I was
talking about, who I baptized?

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And there was this voice and
dove and yeah, well, that's him.

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That's the chosen one.

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What?

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You serious?

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John?

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I'm sure they had lots and
lots of questions.

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The next day the same thing
happens again.

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Jesus walks by, he's like,
there he is.

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That's the guy that John was
talking about.

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John is like, yep, that's him.

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The Lamb of God.

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The Lamb of God.

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The two of John's disciples
start following Jesus.

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John's disciples switching
teams seems kind of abrupt and maybe

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like they betrayed or left him
or broke up with him or whatever.

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Yet if John's students are
paying attention in class, John has

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been talking about and calling
for people to get ready for the chosen

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One.

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Why wouldn't they start
following Jesus?

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There are a lot of titles and
labels and Christology attached to

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Jesus just in these verses
that we see today in our Gospel reading.

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We hear of the Lamb of God,
the chosen one, rabbi, anointed Messiah

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teacher.

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During the season of Epiphany
and the Sundays that follow, we will

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build on this and we will see
how Jesus fulfills these titles and

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how he lives and how he loves.

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But notice Jesus doesn't say,
yep, I'm him, and then explain once

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and for all the mystery, all
the mysteries of God and what magic

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prayers to pray to reach enlightenment.

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Rather the first words out of
Jesus's mouth in the Gospel of John.

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Question, what are you looking for?

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What a question, huh?

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This is a question we should
ask and ponder and meditate and pray

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on each every day.

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What are you looking for?

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Are you searching for?

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Are you hungry for?

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Are you longing for?

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I love it that the disciples
also don't give an answer right away,

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like duh, the Messiah.

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That's why we're following you
either they ask a question back.

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Remember, they are students of
John the Baptist.

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Most likely they've learned
that there isn't a quick and easy

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answer to the important things
of life.

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And so they ask, where are you staying?

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Where are you abiding?

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How about Jesus?

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In order to have a thoughtful
answer of what you're looking for,

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they know that they need to
spend some time with Jesus, who Jesus

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extends to them an invitation
on thee.

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So this morning I hope that
you'll hear that question and take

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it to heart.

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What are you looking for then?

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How are you spending time with
Jesus, Abiding with him and looking

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and seeing where he abides,
where he is staying?

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Then where is Jesus asking you
to come see?

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On this Sunday in this season
of epiphany, we begin to see some

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call stories of how God calls
people to come and learn, to come

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and see, to come and follow
and and to learn from Rabbi Jesus,

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Teacher Jesus have a calling
or to search for.

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A calling is a pretty
religious and spiritual and churchy

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word and yet that is where we
get our word vocation from.

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Voco in Latin means call or a
call in your work and life and vocation

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where Is God calling you?

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Where do you feel called?

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And the hope and prayer is
that your gifts meet up with the

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world's needs.

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I don't have time this morning
to go in depth of my own personal

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call story.

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I'd be happy to share a coffee
or meal with you, to share with you

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my call story to seminary and
what I'm doing with my life and how

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I've grown over the years.

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But there have been lots of
people in my life who invited me,

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come see to come and see the
love and grace and mercy of God discovered

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in the person.

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Life, death, the resurrection
of Jesus and youth directors and

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Sunday school teachers and
pastors and friends and family who

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brought me to church, who are
patient with me when I was a rowdy,

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couldn't sit still, Little William.

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And along the way, seminary
professors and other colleagues and

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friends and people who I work
with who have invited me over and

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over and over again to come
and see who this Jesus is and how

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we can learn from him together.

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And there are so many call
stories among us here and around

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us in our lives.

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When I think of call stories,
I think of Mandy, our new church

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council vice president, who is
hearing a call to go to seminary.

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I think of my friend Joshua, a
member here at Holy Trinity, who

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mostly worships online, who is
also wrestling with the call to go

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to seminary or not.

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And there are call stories all
around us that are not just wrestling

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whether to go to seminary or not.

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Perhaps God is calling you to
into the sciences to help make the

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world a better place, to
understand it deeper.

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Perhaps God is calling you
into social work to help our neighbors

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who are in our midst.

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Perhaps God is calling you
into finance who seek economic prosperity

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and justice.

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Perhaps God is calling you to
advocate, to advocate work, to help

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speak up for those whose
voices are silenced or drowned out

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amidst the noise of this world.

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And although these call
stories and experience and discernments

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through them, God is calling
our community of faith to discern

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and use our gifts for a world
hungry and longing for belonging,

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for safety, for grace.

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Indeed, there is a lot going
on in our world right now, along

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with you.

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I feel overwhelmed and scared
and sometimes frozen by it all.

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And yet, as Isaiah calls us
to, as we pay attention, we listen.

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There are still people in our
midst and beyond these walls who

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invite us to come and and see
what God is up to in our world.

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At this table, at that font,
and within our collective voices,

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I hope and pray that we can
still love up close and have real

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and honest conversations and
the relationships that are entrusted

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to us as we walk together as a
community of faith.

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There are so many call stories
around us.

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I hope that we can pay attention.

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I hope that we can listen.

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I hope that we can continue to
share these with one another and

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our show and tell of what God
is doing in our lives and where we

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see Jesus abiding today.

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Taking our lead from John and
from those first disciples, let us

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continue to ask, what are you
looking for where we see Jesus?

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To invite people to come and
see body and blood waters of grace.

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God's unconditional love and
grace for all.

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Amen.

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Foreign.

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Thank you for listening.

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If there is anything that
stood out for you, or if you have

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a question or you just want to
have a conversation, you are always

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free to reach out and contact us.

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And remember you are not alone and.

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That you are loved with a love
stronger than death.