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Unknown: just

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with one plea. But for me,

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Steve Webb: This is in the word
with Mel Bennett, a study of

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Scripture passages from the Word
of God. Thank you so much for

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being with us today. Pastor
Bennett has had a few health

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issues since our last episode,
and I've been on a bit of a

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hiatus myself since season 12 of
the Lifespring family Audio

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Bible wrapped up at the end of
August. For today's episode,

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Pastor Bennett is again in
chapter one of the Gospel of

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John, and why not, John, chapter
one is one of the most beautiful

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and important chapters in the
Bible that speaks of the

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divinity of Christ. Pastor
Bennett talks about that. And at

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the end of His message today, he
has a timely exhortation for

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those of us who call Jesus Lord.
So if you have your Bible with

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you, let's read along with our
pastor, Pastor Bennett, welcome

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back.

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Mel Bennett: We're going to
begin a series of Bible studies

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on the Gospel of John today. And
trust that they will be a rich

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blessing to you, as we bring
them we're studying in John

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chapter number one, verses seven
through nine. And ask you to get

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your Bible out and follow along
with this as we study today. In

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the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the

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Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God, all things

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were made through Him. And
without him get that without

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him. Nothing was made that was
made, In Him was life, and the

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life was the light of men. And
the light shines in darkness.

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And the darkness did not
overcome it. There was a man

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sent from God whose name was
John, This man came for a

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witness to bear witness of the
light that all through him my

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believe. Now notice, again, what
is said is that all through him,

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my believe, he was not that
light, but was sent to bear

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witness of the light. That was
the true light, which gives

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light to every man coming into
the world.

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And so Jesus Christ came as a
light. John wrote his gospel in

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approximately 58 ad. At this
time, John was the only one left

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of the all the apostles, all the
others had been killed for their

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preaching of the gospel. For
John the Revelator, to declare

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that Jesus was God, and with
God, in the beginning, was

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blasphemy of the worst kind
among Jews in his day. So John

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had great courage in presenting
his gospel. I can only say, Wow,

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what boldness but John boldly
proclaims that Jesus is God's

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incarnate man. He not only is
with God, but in fact is God and

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he is a great Creator of all
things. He is the one who

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brought him into existence. What
an act of boldness and courage,

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this must have taken again to
state that Jesus was equal with

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God. And in fact was God was the
worst kind of blasphemy they

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could have been given in John's
day, Blasphemy That was worthy

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of death. But for the believer,
it was a matter of simply

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stating a fact. Jesus was truly
alive and was God. So John makes

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a bold statement. Jesus was with
God from the beginning. And as

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such he was God, and the creator
of all things. Wow, what a

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powerful statement. May God give
us men and women of this kind of

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courage. People who will stand
up for Jesus, even if it means

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their very lives. Someone has
said in America, we have become

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soft. May God put it back bone
in us today that will stand firm

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and straight and uphold the
principles of truth of the

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gospel of Jesus Christ. As
believers, we must go back to

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the beginning, and be willing to
state our belief that Jesus is

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truly God. When we have settled
that issue, then we can move on

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in our minds. We can

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And then move on in our hearts
and move to other issues in the

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Word of God. But until we accept
the fact that he is God, we

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cannot truly believe. How can we
believe for anything if Jesus is

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not truly God, he can do nothing
for us. But John then makes

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another bold statement, verses
four and five, In Him was life.

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And the light shined in
darkness, In Him was life, and

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that life was the light of men.
And the light shined in

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darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it. I love that. I

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like the term overcome in this
passage, Jesus is life, and that

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life is light, not the light of
the sun. In Genesis, the Bible

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says that God spoke light into
existence on the first day in

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Genesis three one in Revelation
2123, and 24. The City of God

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needs no light, or sun, or moon,
or stars, for the Lamb is the

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light. So Jesus is our life and
our light. He is our life. And

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we accept him. He gives us life
and light revelation of truth,

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and that more abundantly, praise
God.

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John in states, the light shines
in darkness, and the darkness

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could not overcome it. John here
points to the resurrection of

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Jesus. Think of it, they tried
to put the light out, but they

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could not. The devil thought
that he won, he had put the Son

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of God to death. But on the
third day, Jesus arose triumph

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and over hell over death, and
the grave, praise God. He was

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triumph and he was victorious.
And so it is today. Light will

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always prevail in the end. Many
times we as Christians think

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that it is oh, so dark, and the
darkness has won. And we need

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but look up, and we will see the
light still shining. We live in

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a sin darkened world, and it is
very dark at times. But thanks

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be unto God, the truth will win
in the end, Keep Looking Up,

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praise God. If you will check it
out, you will find that the

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light always wins, open the door
to a dark room. And you will see

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the light penetrates the
darkness and not the reverse. In

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verse six, John the Revelator
introduces the other John, this

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is John the Baptist, John the
Revelator then tells us that God

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said for him, John the Baptist
was a man who was set for a

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specific purpose. And his
purpose was very clear and very

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true to the gospel. He was not
that light, it is important that

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we understand that it is stated
very clearly that he was not

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that light. It is important that
we understand that John the

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Baptist never claimed to be the
light, but was her way, always

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pointing in to look unto the
light through light, which was

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Jesus Praise God. He said, Look
to the light, look to the Lamb

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of God, and you will see the
light. I have attempted to

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follow a pattern my life and
ministry of not saying anything

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about a ministry of that
ministry was doing more than I

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was. Nevertheless, I do feel
that it is important that I

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speak to the issue at hand and
speak out on the issue at hand.

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I realize no one have any sense
at all claims to be equal with

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Christ. But there are some who
seem to promote themselves above

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Christ. All I'm saying is, be
careful who you follow. If

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anyone could have laid claim to
some of the praise of people. It

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was John the Baptist. I loved
the words of John the Baptist,

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when he said plainly, He must
increase but I must decrease.

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May God help us to have the same
kind of an attitude in our lives

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that John the Baptist had in his
life. He must increase but I

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must decrease. John the Baptist
had a specific ministry to

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accomplish. He wanted to prepare
a way for the Messiah, the crew

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iced, and that he did. When
Jesus Christ came, he declared

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and was willing to step aside.
His was a message of repentance

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and God's forgiveness of sin. He
was not that light, but was a

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testimony to witness of the
coming light. I believe virus is

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similar in message today. It is
one of repentance. It is one

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that everyone who believes, can
receive that marvelous gift of

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God and be forgiven of their
sins. If you are listening

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today, and will accept Him Jesus
as Lord and Savior, He is ready

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to forgive you in your sins, and
make your life a life worth

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living and a testimony of his
power. There is a beautiful hymn

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that says it well. It was
written by Isaac Watts, who was

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born 78th of July 16 74, and
died November 25 1748. And yes,

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it is so many times today. It's
called the cross. Isaac Watts

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was a prolific speaker of words
and a popular hymn writer. He is

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credited with some 750 hymns.
His works include when I survey

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the wondrous cross, Joy to the
world, and our God our help in

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ages past and the him I want to
use today at the cross, He is

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recognized as the godfather of
English him that he many of the

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hymns remain in use today and
have been translated into

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numerous languages. Listen, as I
quote to you some of the

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beautiful hymns that he wrote,
alas, and did my savior bleed,

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and did my sovereign die. Would
he devote at Sacred brow for

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such a worm as I at the cross at
the cross where I first saw the

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light, and the burden of my
heart rolled away. It was there

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by faith I received my sight.
And now I am happy all the day.

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Verse two says, was it for
crimes that I had done? He

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groaned upon the tree, amazing
pity, Grace, unknown, and love

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beyond degree. And then goes the
course again at the Grace at the

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grace, where I first saw the
light and the burden of my heart

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roll away. It was there by faith
I received my sight. And now I

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am happy all the day. Verse
three reads, well might the sun

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in darkness hide and shed His
glories in when Christ the

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mighty maker died? For man, the
creature sin and follow us the

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course. Verse four says these
words so beautifully. Thus might

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Hi hide my blushing face, while
he is dear across appears,

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dissolve my heart in
thankfulness and melt my eyes to

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tears. Verse number five says as
we agreed, but depths of grief

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can never repay the depths of
love I owe here, Lord, I give

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myself to the Tissa haul that I
can do at the cross at the

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cross, where I first saw the
light and the burden of my heart

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rolled away. It was there by
faith, I received my sight. And

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now I'm happy all the day. There
are a couple of questions I want

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to leave you with today. As a
believer, it is essential that

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you have courage. Listen,
friend, it is essential if

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you're going to believe in Jesus
Christ today, that you have the

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courage to stand up for God,
irregardless of the blowing

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winds of time, and the change
that comes in our world. We're

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live in a world full of as they
call it, woke speaking, and the

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language is changing rapidly.
And what once was meant is no

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longer meant. And so you have to
have the courage to stand

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against the evil in the world.
Secondly, if you're not trusting

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in Christ, were your salvation.
I urge you to accept Him today

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to believe on the Lord and they
accept Jesus as your personal

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Savior and receive him right
now.

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Now, follow with me as we pray,
Dear Jesus, come into my life.

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Come into my heart today.
Humbly, oh, God helped me that I

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might have my sins forgiven, and
know the joy of my salvation. In

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Jesus name I pray, and for the
glory of God. Amen. And Amen.

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Steve Webb: If you prayed that
prayer with Pastor Bennett and

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gave your life to the Lord, I
would love to send you a copy of

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the New Believers Bible. It's a
very special edition of the New

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Testament with hundreds of notes
written by Pastor Greg Laurie

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00:15:41,140 --> 00:15:44,080
that are meant to help you get
into God's word and start

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growing in your faith. It's
free, and it is Lifespring

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00:15:47,530 --> 00:15:50,980
media's gift to you. All you
need to do is send me an email

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00:15:50,980 --> 00:15:54,700
at steve@lifespringmedia.com,
and tell me that you prayed that

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00:15:54,700 --> 00:15:57,700
prayer with Pastor Bennett. And
let me know where to send your

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copy of the New Believers Bible.
I won't share or sell your

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00:16:01,420 --> 00:16:05,080
information to anyone. That's a
promise, I just want to help you

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00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,410
get a firm foundation. Again,
that email address is

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00:16:08,470 --> 00:16:12,970
steve@lifespringmedia.com And in
the subject line of your email,

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00:16:12,970 --> 00:16:16,780
please put "I prayed with Pastor
Bennett." And thank you pastor

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Bennett for bringing us once
more to look at scripture that

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encourages us to meet the real
and the living Messiah. And

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beloved listener, I know for a
fact that Pastor Bennett would

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00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:28,750
love to hear from you. You can
email him at

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00:16:28,810 --> 00:16:32,890
pastorb@lifespringmedia.com.
Take a moment out of your day

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00:16:32,890 --> 00:16:35,890
and drop him a line. I hope
you'll join us next time. The

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00:16:35,890 --> 00:16:38,530
best way to get all of Pastor
Bennett's podcast is to

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00:16:38,530 --> 00:16:42,220
subscribe of course it's free.
If you have a podcast app, just

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00:16:42,220 --> 00:16:45,400
search in your app for in the
word with Mel Bennett. Or you

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00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,400
can subscribe at
subscribe.lifespringmedia.com.

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00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,000
There's even a way there for you
to receive an email whenever a

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new episode is published. Until
next time, may the Lord bless

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you and keep you May he make his
face to shine upon you and be

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gracious to you. May the Lord
lift up His countenance upon you

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and give you peace. My name is
Steve Webb