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Marcel: My name is Marcel Hall,
and I have the honor and privilege

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of being able to speak today.

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So grateful for the
opportunity, humbled by that.

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We wanna thank all those who have
helped lead our worship service,

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from the AV, the ushers- … the,
welcome table, the singers.

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Thank you so much.

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We appreciate that.

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And, I just wanna share something.

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You know, the other day it hit me in a
profound way just how grateful, well,

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it led to me being grateful, but how
blessed we are for our church family.

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Yeah.

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We are truly blessed.

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Amen.

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You can go ahead

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We are blessed and highly favored.

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We don't realize how good
it is that we have it.

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We have, and those of us who've been
around for a while, even if you've been

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around for just a little while, the
opportunities that we have to have not

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just a church community, but to have
a church family in which we are known

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by people, and we know people, and we
strengthen one another, we encourage

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one another, we support one another,
we help one another, and when needed,

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we challenge one another to grow.

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That is very unique.

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That's not happening all over the place.

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And as I got home the other
night, as I had a, a time with

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the winds and the barbers, I just
thought, "Man, I am so grateful."

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I wouldn't be the husband that I am,
I wouldn't be the father nor have the

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family that I have if it wasn't for God
blessing me with this church family.

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Amen.

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I wouldn't have the character
that I have if it weren't for the

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relationships that I've been able
to have for the last 25 years.

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And so you, I just wanna
encourage you, you are a treasure.

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You are a blessing, and you are blessed
and highly favored by God Almighty.

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So look personally to your right and to
your left and tell them, "You're blessed."

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And then tell them thank you

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Because we are so blessed.

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And I just wanna encourage you,
church, we've been a part of this

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now church family, we were part
of our church family in LA, and

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I am just so in awe of how God…

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And yes, we've had highs, and we've had
some lows, and we've had some challenging

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times, but what we have is special.

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Amen.

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And may we never forget what we
have in Christ in the church.

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Amen.

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And so I wanna encourage
you, you are awesome.

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Sometimes we can hear
how much we need to grow.

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Yes, you might need to
grow, but you're awesome.

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Yeah.

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And keep being awesome.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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You know, speaking of family, I just,
uh, we just had a family vacation where

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we had a family reunion on my mom's
side, and it was out in New Orleans.

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Whoo.

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And we drove to New Orleans.

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Whoo.

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Yeah, exactly.

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What were we thinking?

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But my mom, my mom came, and
we had a California contingent.

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We came in a couple different cars, but
my mom convinced me somehow, and she

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has this way where I say no, and then
all of a sudden I'm doing what she says.

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And she says, "Let's go on a road trip."

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Whoo.

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So we went on a road trip.

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That's about, I don't know how, I, I
checked, it's supposed to be 27 hours.

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Uh, we drove about 30 hours.

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I don't know what we were doing,
but we did stop in New Mexico, and

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we stopped in Houston, had a blast.

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And then we got a chance to see family.

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It was about 70 or so members of the fam-
at least 70 members of our family that

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showed up from all across the country.

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Such a rich time.

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I had such a joy and such an
experience that I just feel like,

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wow, I am, I, I, I'm just blessed.

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I got a chance to meet family
members I had never met before, some

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I haven't seen in 13 or 30 years.

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That's right, your boy is that old.

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And we just had a blast, and I
thought, man, and then I got home,

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and I started getting the receipts.

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I'm doing my finances, and I
thought, "This was a costly trip."

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I started looking like,
"Karina, how much did we spend?

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I didn't think we were
spending that much."

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You know what I'm saying?

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And I started wondering, I said, "Man,
we had a good time, but was it worth it?"

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You know what I'm saying?

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And then I realized it was worth it.

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And we ask that question, is it
worth it, a whole lot, don't we?

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We ask it at least a couple times a day.

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Is that outfit worth that price?

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Is that vacation worth saving up for?

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Is it worth my time to
stop at the Starbucks?

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Yes, I'm late.

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Yeah, of course, it's always worth it.

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Is it worth that exper- is the experience
worth the time and the convenience?

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The question that me and Karina
and the kids have to go back and

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forth with, is the AC worth it?

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Kids are getting excited.

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They want to have the AC on 24/7
because they don't pay for it.

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You know what I'm saying?

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And I'm like, "Look, I want to
be cool, but I don't know if I

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want to spend that extra $2.37

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on that AC."

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Come on.

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Because it's get, it gets costly.

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And so we constantly ask
ourselves, "Is it worth it?"

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And when we think it is, what will we do?

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We'll spend.

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We'll spend the money, we'll spend the
gas, we'll spend the time, we'll spend

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the energy, we'll spend the attention,
the comfort, and the opportunity.

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We'll sacrifice.

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Why?

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Because we deem it to be what?

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Valuable.

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We deem it to be what?

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Worth it.

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And so now let's think about our faith.

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Let's think about Jesus.

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Is Jesus worth it?

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The title of the sermon
today is He Is Worth It.

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He's worth it.

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Let's go to the Father in prayer.

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Father in heaven, thank you so much
for already the chance to, be able

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to have communion, the chance to give
to you, the chance to sing to you.

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And Father, just as we sang a couple
of minutes ago, you are worthy,

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and God, we're grateful that you
are a God who is worthy of our

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time, our energy, our everything.

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And Father, I'm excited
about your Word here today.

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I pray that you will touch every soul,
meet every soul where they are, allow

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them to see you for who you are, and
be able to respond to who you are.

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We pray this in the name of Jesus.

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Amen.

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All right, let's go on
over to Matthew chapter 26.

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Brothers and sisters, are
you with me this morning?

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Yeah.

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Matthew chapter 26, we're gonna read here.

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We're gonna see, uh, a couple of examples.

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We're gonna walk through Matthew
26, and we're gonna walk through,

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uh, some scenarios, some characters,
and we're gonna see their view

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of Jesus and see whether they
think Jesus is worth it or not.

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And so we're coming up on the last week of
Jesus's life here before his crucifixion,

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and we come here in Matthew chapter 26.

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The Book of Matthew, or what we call the
Book of Matthew, is a letter written by

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the Apostle Matthew, who was a follower
of Jesus, and he's really giving a

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breakdown of Jesus's life and ministry.

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And so we take it up in verse six.

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It says, "While Jesus was in Bethany
in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman

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came to him with an alabaster jar of very
expensive perfume, which she poured on

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his head as he was reclining at the table.

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When the disciples saw
this, they were indignant.

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'Why this waste?'

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they asked.

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'This perfume could have been
sold at a high price and the

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money given to the poor.'"

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Verse 10, "Aware of this, Jesus said to
them, 'Why are you bothering this woman?

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She has done a beautiful thing to me.

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The poor you will always have with
you, but you will not always have me.

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When she poured this perfume on my body,
she did it to prepare me for burial.

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Truly I tell you, wherever this
gospel is preached throughout

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the world, what she has done will
also be told, in memory of her.'"

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Let's stop right there for a second.

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And so here's the scenario.

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Jesus is about to have the
Last Supper with his disciples.

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This woman is there, and the Gospel
of John gives us an indicator

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that this woman is actually,
uh, Mary, the sister of Martha.

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And so she comes in, and she pours this
expensive jar of perfume on his head.

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And so what we learn from the other
Gospels that, that this jar, what

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she had spent or what the amount
and value was, was at least a year's

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wages that she just poured on Jesus.

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Now, think about this for a second.

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Here you are for your whole
year, your salary, your wages.

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You put that in a jar, and
you pour that whole thing out.

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Would you do that?

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Some of y'all, "If I did it,
I wouldn't pay my light bill."

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I understand.

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And so we see here what she was
doing was this extravagant offering.

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She goes and she says, "I don't care.

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I'm going to do what I
think He is worthy of."

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Now, we continue in the
story right after this.

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Oh, let's go back here.

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Here we go.

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Matthew 26:14, it says, "Then one
of the 12, the one called Judas

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Iscariot, went to the chief priest
and asked, 'What are you willing to

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give me if I deliver Him over to you?'

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So they counted out for
him 30 pieces of silver.

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From then on, Judas watched for
an opportunity to hand Him over."

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Compare and contrast.

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Do you see a difference there?

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Yeah.

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Did you catch the difference
between this woman and Judas?

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Judas now is one of the apostles.

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He's one of the chosen 12 by Jesus
to learn from Jesus, to be taught

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by Jesus, to walk with Jesus, to be
sent out by Jesus, and he betrays

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Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

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What can we learn from this?

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I believe the main thing here that
we want to talk about today and that

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we can see is how you view Jesus will
determine how you respond to Jesus.

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Right.

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How you view Jesus will determine
how you respond to Jesus.

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That's good.

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You see, the woman recognized
Jesus's worth, however

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Judas reduced Jesus's worth.

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The woman saw Jesus as the true
treasure, however Ju- Judas saw

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Jesus as a means to a treasure.

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The woman asked, "What can I give
because of how valuable Jesus is?"

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Judas asked, "What can I
get in exchange for Jesus?"

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Right.

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You see, how you view Jesus will
determine how you respond to Jesus.

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Right.

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And so now the question for me and you
is this: What is Jesus worth to you?

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Wow.

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What is Jesus worth to you?

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How do you view Jesus?

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Is He worth everything?

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Is He worth your offering and your
devotion, or is He negotiable?

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Is he something that you can easily
exchange if you find something you

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deem to be better, more entertaining,
more fulfilling, more to your liking?

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Or is he priceless, worthy of devotion?

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You see, all of this comes
back to how we see Jesus.

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Yeah.

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How we view him.

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Who is he and what's
his relationship to me?

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This would answer the question of
what Jesus is worth to you and I.

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Brothers and sisters, are you
still with me this morning?

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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So now let's continue, and
let's look a little bit more.

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Again, we're gonna keep Judas in this
story, and we're gonna also have some

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other characters come involved now.

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And we're gonna see some more
about how our view of Jesus will

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determine how we respond to Jesus.

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Matthew chapter 26, we're gonna jump
on down now, uh, to verse, uh, 20 here.

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Uh, here we go.

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Here we go.

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Uh, sorry about that.

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Very, there we go.

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All right, it says Matthew
chapter sc- 26 verse 20.

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00:12:31,409 --> 00:12:35,779
They've had the Last Supper, and so
Jesus here with his guys, and now we

238
00:12:35,779 --> 00:12:40,039
get to the end of the, uh, uh, uh,
um, we, we, we get here to the, to the

239
00:12:40,039 --> 00:12:42,069
Last Supper, and a discussion happens.

240
00:12:42,069 --> 00:12:46,530
It says, "When evening came, Jesus was
reclining at the table with the 12.

241
00:12:46,979 --> 00:12:49,329
And while they were eating,
he said, 'Truly I tell you,

242
00:12:49,509 --> 00:12:51,069
one of you will betray me.'

243
00:12:51,529 --> 00:12:54,619
They were very sad and began to
say to him one after the other,

244
00:12:54,829 --> 00:12:57,809
'Surely you don't mean me, Lord?'"

245
00:12:58,239 --> 00:13:00,709
We're gonna jump on down to verse 25.

246
00:13:00,969 --> 00:13:04,279
"Then Judas, one of the 12
who would betray him, said,

247
00:13:04,459 --> 00:13:06,219
'Surely you don't mean me?'

248
00:13:06,269 --> 00:13:10,349
'Rabbi,' Jesus answered,
'you have said so.'"

249
00:13:13,493 --> 00:13:14,683
Did you notice something there?

250
00:13:17,119 --> 00:13:18,999
Let's go on over to verse 47.

251
00:13:19,039 --> 00:13:20,339
Church, are you still with me here?

252
00:13:20,819 --> 00:13:24,789
So now we go to the garden,
and so now Jesus, uh, they've

253
00:13:24,789 --> 00:13:26,319
already finished the Last Supper.

254
00:13:26,609 --> 00:13:28,989
Judas has already agreed to betray him.

255
00:13:29,099 --> 00:13:32,589
He's already given the indication
of where he's gonna be, and so now

256
00:13:32,649 --> 00:13:37,069
we're gonna have Judas and his crew
come where Jesus is to arrest him.

257
00:13:37,069 --> 00:13:37,599
And let's read.

258
00:13:37,599 --> 00:13:41,459
It says, "While he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the 12, arrived.

259
00:13:41,779 --> 00:13:46,289
With him was a large crowd armed with
swords and clubs, sent from the chief

260
00:13:46,299 --> 00:13:47,879
priests and the elders of the people.

261
00:13:48,089 --> 00:13:51,099
Now the betrayer had
arranged a signal with them.

262
00:13:51,099 --> 00:13:52,259
'The one I kiss is the man.

263
00:13:52,269 --> 00:13:52,829
Arrest him.'

264
00:13:53,129 --> 00:13:56,239
Going at once to Jesus, Judas
said, 'Greetings, Rabbi.'

265
00:13:56,489 --> 00:13:57,219
And kissed him.

266
00:13:57,689 --> 00:14:00,409
Jesus replied, 'Do what
you came for, friend.'

267
00:14:00,729 --> 00:14:04,049
Then the men stepped forward,
seized Jesus and arrested him."

268
00:14:06,229 --> 00:14:07,609
Did you see the difference?

269
00:14:08,509 --> 00:14:15,339
Did you catch the difference between
how Judas and the others viewed Jesus?

270
00:14:16,199 --> 00:14:19,329
You see, we'll go ahead and we'll
go back here, and we'll see it.

271
00:14:19,629 --> 00:14:23,369
The apostles go and say,
"Hey, it's not gonna be me,

272
00:14:23,379 --> 00:14:25,039
Lord, who betrays you, right?"

273
00:14:25,439 --> 00:14:26,839
And what did Judas say?

274
00:14:27,039 --> 00:14:29,769
"Hey, it's not me, Rabbi."

275
00:14:30,849 --> 00:14:31,709
Did you catch that?

276
00:14:32,219 --> 00:14:36,889
And even when Judas come to betray,
he says, "Greetings, Rabbi."

277
00:14:38,609 --> 00:14:41,949
There's a difference between
what the apostles were saying

278
00:14:42,459 --> 00:14:45,129
and what Judas was saying.

279
00:14:45,139 --> 00:14:45,189
Right.

280
00:14:46,479 --> 00:14:48,399
You see, Rabbi means teacher.

281
00:14:48,429 --> 00:14:49,159
That's a good thing.

282
00:14:49,179 --> 00:14:50,499
Jesus was a rabbi.

283
00:14:50,669 --> 00:14:53,029
There's nothing incorrect
in that statement.

284
00:14:53,369 --> 00:14:59,609
However, it's interesting to note the
one who betrayed him said Rabbi, while

285
00:14:59,609 --> 00:15:02,299
the ones who stayed faithful said Lord.

286
00:15:02,309 --> 00:15:02,329
Yeah.

287
00:15:03,769 --> 00:15:05,669
Is there a difference
between Lord and Rabbi?

288
00:15:05,859 --> 00:15:06,759
Yes, there is.

289
00:15:06,769 --> 00:15:06,789
Yeah.

290
00:15:07,949 --> 00:15:09,519
You see, a rabbi is a teacher.

291
00:15:10,019 --> 00:15:12,939
However, a lo- the Lord meant master.

292
00:15:12,939 --> 00:15:14,019
It meant status.

293
00:15:14,019 --> 00:15:17,439
It, it, it showed to his
authority and to his divinity.

294
00:15:19,049 --> 00:15:19,069
Yeah.

295
00:15:19,079 --> 00:15:23,569
You see, I view my teachers
different than I view my mom.

296
00:15:24,719 --> 00:15:25,259
Don't you?

297
00:15:25,399 --> 00:15:25,419
Yeah.

298
00:15:26,129 --> 00:15:27,189
I hope you do.

299
00:15:28,779 --> 00:15:32,979
I don't view my teachers the
same way I view Karina, my wife.

300
00:15:33,329 --> 00:15:34,669
There's a different understanding.

301
00:15:34,669 --> 00:15:36,129
I view them differently.

302
00:15:36,129 --> 00:15:40,089
What they say, that's cool, but what my
wife and my mom say, as you can tell, will

303
00:15:40,089 --> 00:15:42,079
lead me on a 30-hour trip to New Orleans.

304
00:15:43,919 --> 00:15:44,879
We didn't fly back though.

305
00:15:44,879 --> 00:15:46,969
We drove in and we flew back, so
we got the best of both worlds.

306
00:15:46,969 --> 00:15:47,299
Amen?

307
00:15:49,589 --> 00:15:54,729
You see, when someone's lord of your
life, that's a big difference from

308
00:15:54,739 --> 00:15:56,869
someone being the teacher in your life

309
00:15:59,477 --> 00:16:02,737
You see, the apostles at this point,
and they didn't even understand

310
00:16:02,737 --> 00:16:07,277
fully, but what they did get was that
Jesus is special and he's unique.

311
00:16:08,547 --> 00:16:10,547
And they said, "Lord."

312
00:16:11,217 --> 00:16:18,467
At this time, Judas no longer sees
Jesus as Lord, he sees him as Rabbi.

313
00:16:19,777 --> 00:16:23,217
Judas quits on Jesus, but the
disciples remain faithful.

314
00:16:23,317 --> 00:16:24,427
Now, they're a hot mess.

315
00:16:24,437 --> 00:16:25,267
We all know that.

316
00:16:25,907 --> 00:16:28,637
It only takes a couple more
sentences and we see the type of

317
00:16:28,657 --> 00:16:30,007
mess they get themselves into.

318
00:16:30,147 --> 00:16:31,087
But what do they do?

319
00:16:31,187 --> 00:16:32,767
They return to Jesus.

320
00:16:32,777 --> 00:16:33,067
Why?

321
00:16:33,207 --> 00:16:35,907
Because he was their Lord
and not just their Rabbi

322
00:16:38,335 --> 00:16:43,985
How you view Jesus will determine
how you respond to Jesus

323
00:16:46,293 --> 00:16:51,763
This helps us to see that we must
be in close relationship with Jesus.

324
00:16:53,263 --> 00:16:58,163
Close relationship, and what I mean
here is intimacy, not proximity.

325
00:16:59,443 --> 00:17:03,523
What I mean is in, i- i- i- uh,
uh, um, uh, um, excuse me, uh, a

326
00:17:03,523 --> 00:17:09,693
relational intim- int- relational
intimacy and not physical proximity.

327
00:17:09,703 --> 00:17:09,723
Yeah.

328
00:17:10,683 --> 00:17:11,723
We've all had that.

329
00:17:12,233 --> 00:17:16,573
You've been around somebody, but that
doesn't mean you are close to that person

330
00:17:18,429 --> 00:17:24,868
Now you can be away from your best friend
for years but still feel what to them?

331
00:17:25,729 --> 00:17:26,699
A deep connection.

332
00:17:27,098 --> 00:17:27,398
Why?

333
00:17:27,398 --> 00:17:30,209
Because it wasn't about the
physical proximity, it was

334
00:17:30,209 --> 00:17:32,479
about the relational intimacy.

335
00:17:33,309 --> 00:17:38,649
And what we see here is that we need to
ensure, we need to make sure that you and

336
00:17:38,649 --> 00:17:45,199
I have relational intimacy with Jesus and
not just physical proximity toward Jesus.

337
00:17:45,839 --> 00:17:50,699
Not just being at a church gathering,
not just being at a small group

338
00:17:50,709 --> 00:17:56,989
gathering, but I am walking with
the Lord- Amen … daily in my life.

339
00:17:58,439 --> 00:18:02,839
You see, Judas, here's the
thing, Judas was one of the 12.

340
00:18:02,889 --> 00:18:03,679
Did you catch that?

341
00:18:03,689 --> 00:18:03,699
12.

342
00:18:05,099 --> 00:18:05,839
He was there.

343
00:18:06,869 --> 00:18:08,059
He was chosen.

344
00:18:08,059 --> 00:18:09,389
He was there from the beginning.

345
00:18:09,409 --> 00:18:11,689
He saw the miracles, he saw the teaching.

346
00:18:11,909 --> 00:18:16,109
Jesus not only had him witness
it, he had him participate in it.

347
00:18:16,699 --> 00:18:20,269
The gospel teaches and tell us that
the apostles went out, preached

348
00:18:20,269 --> 00:18:22,259
themselves, and casted out demons.

349
00:18:22,439 --> 00:18:25,029
So Judas was a part of the mission.

350
00:18:25,389 --> 00:18:30,809
However, at this point in time, Jesus
was no longer Lord, he was just rabbi.

351
00:18:32,379 --> 00:18:35,369
The relational intimacy had faded.

352
00:18:35,540 --> 00:18:42,119
Now he was physically there, but he wasn't
really there with Christ in relationship.

353
00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,189
Do you understand what I'm
saying, brothers and sisters?

354
00:18:45,319 --> 00:18:49,649
And so this means that a relationship
with Jesus, we can have a relationship

355
00:18:49,649 --> 00:18:53,119
with Jesus, but it doesn't mean that
we have a good relationship with Jesus.

356
00:18:53,129 --> 00:18:53,149
Yeah.

357
00:18:54,229 --> 00:18:57,729
You see, Jesus had a relationship,
if you saw from the outside, if

358
00:18:57,729 --> 00:19:00,079
you were somebody else, you'd be
like, "Oh yeah, he's one of the 12.

359
00:19:00,109 --> 00:19:00,689
He's with them.

360
00:19:00,689 --> 00:19:02,209
Oh yeah, he's good to go."

361
00:19:02,219 --> 00:19:02,239
Yeah.

362
00:19:03,289 --> 00:19:06,029
However, he wasn't.

363
00:19:07,649 --> 00:19:09,259
And so that should be a warning.

364
00:19:09,259 --> 00:19:10,329
That should humble us.

365
00:19:10,869 --> 00:19:14,919
I can't just be there,
I need to be with Jesus.

366
00:19:15,419 --> 00:19:19,329
I need to be lock in step with
Jesus, and Jesus can't be my

367
00:19:19,329 --> 00:19:22,059
rabbi, he needs to be my Lord.

368
00:19:23,059 --> 00:19:24,299
It's a different relationship.

369
00:19:25,459 --> 00:19:29,659
I know before I became a true
Christian, Jesus, he was my rabbi.

370
00:19:30,869 --> 00:19:32,039
I went to church.

371
00:19:32,830 --> 00:19:35,349
I, I, you know, at first I used to
sleep in the back of the church,

372
00:19:35,349 --> 00:19:36,639
but then I started paying attention.

373
00:19:37,949 --> 00:19:40,469
And I would go to church and,
and I would, I would even…

374
00:19:40,469 --> 00:19:43,859
I even got religious at one point,
and I decided I'm gonna stop doing

375
00:19:43,859 --> 00:19:47,419
all the certain bad things that I
was doing even though I was still,

376
00:19:47,609 --> 00:19:51,029
uh, I wasn't maybe knee-deep in
sin, but I was calf-deep in sin.

377
00:19:52,339 --> 00:19:52,959
And I was…

378
00:19:53,489 --> 00:20:00,729
Jesus was a good idea, Jesus was a
good influencer in my life, but when

379
00:20:00,729 --> 00:20:03,359
it came to submission, he was not Lord.

380
00:20:03,369 --> 00:20:03,389
Yeah.

381
00:20:04,669 --> 00:20:05,510
I was lord.

382
00:20:07,101 --> 00:20:11,161
When there was a tug of war, there
was a wrestle, or there was a conflict

383
00:20:11,171 --> 00:20:13,721
in views, guess who was reduced?

384
00:20:13,971 --> 00:20:14,991
Jesus.

385
00:20:15,601 --> 00:20:16,681
That's who I was.

386
00:20:16,691 --> 00:20:21,431
That's my relationship in the
past with Jesus before people

387
00:20:21,431 --> 00:20:25,241
studied the Bible with me and God
showed me, "I can't be your rabbi.

388
00:20:25,371 --> 00:20:26,341
I need to be more than that.

389
00:20:26,381 --> 00:20:28,181
I need to be your Lord."

390
00:20:29,431 --> 00:20:33,081
And I praise God for that
happening 25 years ago.

391
00:20:33,971 --> 00:20:38,331
But I have to be careful now
not to reduce Jesus to a job.

392
00:20:39,621 --> 00:20:43,591
You see, I'm in a full-time ministry,
so everything I do is, quote unquote,

393
00:20:43,591 --> 00:20:44,901
"spiritual," at least in theory.

394
00:20:48,291 --> 00:20:56,791
And so what Jesus can become is
my boss, my employer, my routine.

395
00:20:58,281 --> 00:21:03,281
He can be part of my
tradition or my culture.

396
00:21:03,571 --> 00:21:04,581
Do you get what I'm saying?

397
00:21:04,591 --> 00:21:04,611
Yeah.

398
00:21:05,911 --> 00:21:06,991
And so I have to be careful of this.

399
00:21:07,011 --> 00:21:09,351
What do you need to be careful of as well?

400
00:21:10,641 --> 00:21:13,381
Can Jesus be reduced to
a rabbi in your life?

401
00:21:15,933 --> 00:21:19,693
As I studied this out, I was like, man,
I, I, I, I can't let Jesus be reduced

402
00:21:20,193 --> 00:21:21,803
even though this temptation is there.

403
00:21:22,153 --> 00:21:25,683
But Jesus must remain my life.

404
00:21:26,763 --> 00:21:29,243
Jesus must remain my hero.

405
00:21:29,773 --> 00:21:32,603
Jesus must remain my best friend.

406
00:21:33,013 --> 00:21:37,893
Jesus must remain my
inspiration and my destination.

407
00:21:38,613 --> 00:21:40,953
Jesus must be my everything.

408
00:21:41,013 --> 00:21:43,843
Jesus must be my Lord

409
00:21:49,879 --> 00:21:52,489
He can't be a mere rabbi,
'cause that's not who He is.

410
00:21:53,389 --> 00:21:55,779
That means I have a
incorrect view of Jesus.

411
00:21:56,089 --> 00:21:59,159
If He's a religious figure,
then my view is totally off.

412
00:21:59,599 --> 00:22:02,079
If He's just a good
teacher, then I'm incorrect.

413
00:22:02,969 --> 00:22:07,349
If He's just a, a person that's only
a landline, then I have failed the

414
00:22:07,349 --> 00:22:10,589
tests, because Jesus is more than that.

415
00:22:10,619 --> 00:22:13,089
He is Lord of all.

416
00:22:13,099 --> 00:22:13,119
Yeah.

417
00:22:13,459 --> 00:22:13,499
Amen.

418
00:22:14,209 --> 00:22:18,369
You see, the disciples, they gained and
they maintained the right view of Jesus.

419
00:22:18,369 --> 00:22:19,949
That's why, why we even have the Gospels.

420
00:22:20,129 --> 00:22:21,769
That's why we have the New Testament.

421
00:22:22,009 --> 00:22:26,139
It's because they were able, by God's
grace, to see Jesus clearly, and

422
00:22:26,139 --> 00:22:28,309
then respond to Jesus accordingly.

423
00:22:28,469 --> 00:22:31,779
And I believe that's the same
response me and you should have from

424
00:22:31,779 --> 00:22:37,229
this reality, is this: To see Jesus
clearly and respond accordingly.

425
00:22:37,929 --> 00:22:43,999
See Jesus for who He is, and
then respond to Him as Lord.

426
00:22:44,769 --> 00:22:48,859
And so whether you're young or, or maybe
you're coming now and you're, you're,

427
00:22:48,989 --> 00:22:52,269
you're studying the Bible, you're,
you're seeking this whole religion

428
00:22:52,269 --> 00:22:56,659
thing, this Christianity thing here,
I wanna encourage you to continue

429
00:22:57,249 --> 00:23:01,589
to discover who Jesus is, but then
also what that means for your life.

430
00:23:01,599 --> 00:23:01,619
Yeah.

431
00:23:02,789 --> 00:23:08,289
For those of us who have been around, the
call for us is to have and to hold on to

432
00:23:08,289 --> 00:23:13,469
this truth of Jesus and who He is, to grow
in our relationship and appreciation, but

433
00:23:13,469 --> 00:23:17,669
to continually, daily respond accordingly.

434
00:23:18,539 --> 00:23:25,739
Because again, I will respond differently
if Jesus is Lord than if He is my rabbi.

435
00:23:26,939 --> 00:23:27,459
And how?

436
00:23:27,469 --> 00:23:32,609
We build up to intimacy with Jesus
through the scriptures, understanding who

437
00:23:32,609 --> 00:23:37,069
He is, what He's like, through prayer,
praying to Him, connecting with Him.

438
00:23:37,149 --> 00:23:39,559
And not just, "Jesus,
can you help me today?"

439
00:23:40,019 --> 00:23:42,949
There's a song I like: I need
just a little bit more Jesus.

440
00:23:43,479 --> 00:23:45,959
I like that song, but I'm like, "I
don't need just a little bit more Jesus.

441
00:23:46,079 --> 00:23:47,809
I need a whole lot more Jesus."

442
00:23:48,519 --> 00:23:49,709
I wanna know you.

443
00:23:49,709 --> 00:23:52,419
I wanna be close to you, and
most, I wanna be like you in

444
00:23:52,419 --> 00:23:54,469
my character and in my nature.

445
00:23:56,053 --> 00:23:59,003
You see, we also need
other disciples of Jesus.

446
00:24:00,063 --> 00:24:01,023
We need each other.

447
00:24:02,133 --> 00:24:04,923
I don't know how much I've grown,
I've shared a little bit earlier,

448
00:24:05,063 --> 00:24:08,973
because of others' relationship
with Jesus that helped me,

449
00:24:09,023 --> 00:24:11,083
shaped me, mold me, and teach me.

450
00:24:11,143 --> 00:24:15,463
So this is why we need to gather
as often as we can, share all that

451
00:24:15,463 --> 00:24:18,953
we can, and spiritually strengthen
and encourage one another.

452
00:24:19,373 --> 00:24:19,473
Yeah.

453
00:24:19,503 --> 00:24:21,833
Model for one another what it looks like.

454
00:24:21,833 --> 00:24:23,783
Support one another when we get down.

455
00:24:24,463 --> 00:24:28,803
You see, this is how we're gonna build
this intimacy and respond accordingly.

456
00:24:29,273 --> 00:24:31,823
And as a church, we're gonna start,
I believe we're starting next week,

457
00:24:31,943 --> 00:24:35,533
we're gonna start a sermon series out
of the Gospel of John called Come and

458
00:24:35,543 --> 00:24:41,523
See, where we can all collectively be
reminded and have a fresh view or renewed

459
00:24:41,533 --> 00:24:47,693
view of who Jesus is, but also how to
respond to the Jesus that you and I see.

460
00:24:47,733 --> 00:24:47,773
Amen.

461
00:24:49,103 --> 00:24:50,743
You know, Jesus lifted up the woman.

462
00:24:50,743 --> 00:24:51,383
Did you see that?

463
00:24:52,123 --> 00:24:57,203
Wherever the gospel is preached,
so for thousands of years all

464
00:24:57,203 --> 00:25:02,253
across the globe, Jesus honors
this woman because she honored him

465
00:25:04,415 --> 00:25:05,345
And what does she have?

466
00:25:05,355 --> 00:25:08,775
She builds an everlasting
connection to the Son of God.

467
00:25:08,785 --> 00:25:12,995
Brothers and sisters, that is
available for you and me today.

468
00:25:13,505 --> 00:25:17,225
We too can be like that woman,
honoring Jesus, and Jesus going,

469
00:25:17,255 --> 00:25:20,135
"I'm gonna honor you for eternity.

470
00:25:21,155 --> 00:25:23,735
You're gonna build with me,
or you're gonna stay connected

471
00:25:23,735 --> 00:25:26,785
with me for all of eternity."

472
00:25:27,335 --> 00:25:33,025
And so this week, I want you to answer
that question: What is Jesus worth to you?

473
00:25:34,445 --> 00:25:39,485
What is the Jesus that you are seeing and
building, what does He deserve from you?

474
00:25:40,705 --> 00:25:45,925
And others, is Jesus still
Lord, or has He become a rabbi?

475
00:25:47,035 --> 00:25:51,785
And whatever the answer is, answer
honestly, because God can work with that.

476
00:25:51,785 --> 00:25:55,485
God's not mad, because God's calling
you back into deep fellowship with Him.

477
00:25:56,275 --> 00:26:01,675
And so now we have an opportunity
to grow and grow and grow in Christ,

478
00:26:01,855 --> 00:26:08,745
where He's not just a mere rabbi, He
is the Lord God Almighty in the flesh

479
00:26:11,807 --> 00:26:16,197
How we view Jesus will determine
how we respond to Jesus.

480
00:26:16,827 --> 00:26:18,737
Jesus is more than a rabbi.

481
00:26:19,457 --> 00:26:25,237
Jesus is the Son of God- Amen … the
exact representation of God the Father.

482
00:26:25,677 --> 00:26:28,457
He's the Word of God in the flesh.

483
00:26:28,677 --> 00:26:31,767
He is the author and
perfecter of our faith.

484
00:26:31,777 --> 00:26:33,587
He is the word of life.

485
00:26:33,597 --> 00:26:38,117
He is Lord, and he is Savior,
and he's all that and then some.

486
00:26:38,127 --> 00:26:38,147
Yeah.

487
00:26:38,857 --> 00:26:40,337
That's who Jesus is.

488
00:26:41,047 --> 00:26:42,507
Jesus is not negotiable.

489
00:26:43,317 --> 00:26:49,987
He is the treasure, priceless
and worthy of our devotion.

490
00:26:49,997 --> 00:26:50,037
Amen.

491
00:26:51,587 --> 00:26:53,107
Let's close out in Matthew 26.

492
00:26:53,127 --> 00:26:55,067
Brothers and sisters, are you
still with me this morning?

493
00:26:55,077 --> 00:26:55,097
Yeah.

494
00:26:55,097 --> 00:26:56,147
Yeah.

495
00:26:56,147 --> 00:26:58,017
We go back to Matthew 26.

496
00:26:58,687 --> 00:27:03,927
In verse 13, Jesus says, "Truly I tell
you, wherever this gospel is preached

497
00:27:03,927 --> 00:27:08,687
throughout the world, what she has done
will also be told in memory of her."

498
00:27:09,567 --> 00:27:14,737
Judas exchanged Jesus for 30 pieces
of silver while she gave extravagantly

499
00:27:14,737 --> 00:27:21,877
because she saw Jesus as priceless,
worthy of devotion, and Jesus honored her.

500
00:27:22,907 --> 00:27:27,017
May we see Jesus as she did,
and may our lives reflect

501
00:27:27,357 --> 00:27:29,367
that Jesus is worth it to us.

502
00:27:29,467 --> 00:27:30,537
Brothers and sisters, amen.