Hello,wellcome to Faith Chapel
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My name is BJ Boles
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Today we're gonna be talking
a little bit about relationships
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Our telephone calls
aren't the same,are they?
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Sometimes we receive calls
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and we
carelessly answer the phone
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thinking this is a regular call,
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but sometimes they
are quite different
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I remember receiving
a call from my mother
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I was very,very busy
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I was pastoring a church
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and it seemed there
were so many things going on
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and I got a call
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and she said that my
papa Oscar had passed away
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All of a sudden,
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all those busy meetings
and schedules didn't matter
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papa Oscar was a
very special person to me
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he was really the only
grand dad I really knew
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coming up as a boy
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as far as spending
time with him and so forth
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so all those busy meetings and
all those commitees and so forth
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were cancelled and put on hold
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and I headed down to [?] beach
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Florida, for the
funeral of my papa Oscar
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[?] beach has a lot
of great memories for me
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my dad's family is there
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and I remember as a
young boy going down and
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spending time with papa
Oscar and grannie Mart[?]
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all are good memories
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there were always huge
gatherings of family there
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and a lot food;we used
to play football outside
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and I remember that no
matter how many people came
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there was always
space at the table
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in fact, sometimes
they put the table outside
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so that
everyone could have space
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my grannie Martha,
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well she always made a separate
dish of vegetables for us
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since we were vegetarians
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my papa Oscar, I remember
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he had this orange lawnmower
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riding lawnmower,and we
used to call this tractor
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and as a little boy I
used to get so excited
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because I was going to
ride papa Oscar's tractor
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and one of my prized
photographs as a child
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was me sitting on
that riding lawnmower
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with my papa Oscar
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whoúd go round, and round,
and round, and round his house
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and he never
looked tired of that
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papa Oscar taught me a
little bit about fishing
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papa Oscar didn't know much
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about the health message
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unfortunately and he had an
expression:if you can bite, it
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can be bitten and he ate all
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kind of stuff I know my papa
Oscar was a special person and
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he taught me so many things
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going down to that funeral I
began to do a lot of thinking
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you know,funerals
do that, don't they?
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they put you to a pensive state
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they put you to a
time of reflection
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of contemplation,of analysis
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of thinking about
various aspects of your life and
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maybe your interaction
with the person who passed away
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and I also went
into a pensive time and
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I began asking questions
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as I began observing the funeral
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and the memorial service
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watching my family
interact with one another
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I began to ask questions
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because I
remembered previous funerals
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I had attended before as well
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and these questions
really probed my mind
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and questions like:
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Why do we wait till
funerals to bury the hatchet?
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There were some people there
that were very upset, because
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they had let some grievance
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some disturbance with
papa Oscar fester all the years
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and never reconciled
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and there they
were,at that funeral
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and there was no
opportunity to reconcile now
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we wait so long
until it's too late
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another question is why do we
wait funerals to have reunions
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it was an incredible
gathering of my family
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I haven't seen as many family
members in one place before
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all kind of cousins,
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cousins I haven't seen for years
and years and years were there
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an incredible amount of people
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I remember
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"Little house on the
prairie" episode so long ago
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this little woman
moves out to the prairie
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she has two young
people, children,adults
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who live back in the east
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and she writes and
she writes and she writes
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and she wants them
to come and visit and
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they are too busy, they
are too busy, they are too busy
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so she gets an idea
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I'm gonna plan
my own funeral, so
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they will come and
visit me, and she does that
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and, as she thought
they cancelled everything
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and come out to the prairie
to attend their motherús funeral
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to their surprise
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she attended her own funeral
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we donút want to
stage our own funeral
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why do we wait to get
together with family members
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until such a time as that?
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why do we wait till
funerals to act like a family?
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holding hands, embracing,
spending time together
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listening, sharing
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why do we wait till
funeral to ask forgiveness
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from people who
canút give forgiveness
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who do we wait till
funerals to appreciate people
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who canút hear the appreciation
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why do we wait till
funerals to send flowers
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to people who canút smell them
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why do we wait till funerals
to ponder what might have been
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I remember I just arrived
in a little church district
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as their pastor
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it was the very week I arrived
and my home was full of boxes
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and there were so
many things going on
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it was just kind of
chaotic that first week
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and I remember
receiving a precious call
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from Kitty Cromley[?], a
dear friend, a dear lady,
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and she wanted to
wellcome the new pastor
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you know, I am so glad the Lord
kind of thumped me on the head
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and I didnút say
what I was going to say
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I was going to say, it
would have been understood
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Listen, Iúm so busy,
just getting here this week
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can I set up a time to
visit with you and your husband
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next week?
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but the Lord impressed me
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to go visit her and
her husband Earl Cromley[?]
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so, I was going out
there kind of pompously
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I was going to bless them as
the pastor, and pray with them
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make them feel better
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and it turned out
to be totally opposite
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when I arrived
they just warmed me up
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and wellcomed me in
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there was a
tremendous sharing time
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and they encouraged my heart
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well,Cromley,what a
joy for man fun to be with
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I'm so glad I got
to spend time with them
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at the end he reached out and
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said: we just wanna have a
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prayer for you as you begin your
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ministry they blessed me
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one week later Earl
Cromley went into hospital
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for a simple operation
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and did not come out
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he died in a simple operation
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taken by surprise
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ten days after my
little visit with the Cromleys
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I found myself holding
the funeral for Earl Cromley
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and I'm so glad
that I was able to say:
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I knew Earl Cromley
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and I'm so glad I
didn't have to say:
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you know,I was
scheduled to visit Earl Cromley
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next weeek
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I don't [?] to
funerals sometimes to
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see what might have been
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why wait to a
funeral sometimes to
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regret
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friendships undevelopped
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the saddest thing
that I ever had to do
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the saddest thing
that I ever had to do
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was attend a
funeral that no one came to
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I had just arrived at
another church district
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at the beginning
of a ministry there
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an I got a call from
the funeral home that
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one nof the
members had passed away and
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I began calling aronund and no
one seemed to know this person
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it was a large church,but
no one seemed to connect,
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no one seemed to know
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and so I went with a few friends
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to hold the funeral
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and no one came
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wow!
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what must that have said
about that precious person
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how lonely they must have been,
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you see,sometimes
we can just assume
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that the person seating next
to us is someone else's friend
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someone else's daughter,
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someone else is
spending time with them
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someone else has a
neighbour that's helping them
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and often it's
not the case at all
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the Lord may
actually be calling us
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to answer the
prayers of someone else
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someone may be
praying for a friend
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someone may be
praying for interaction,
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someone may be praying
that someone reaches out to them
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and we may be the answer
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to someone else's prayer
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why do we wait till
funerals to [?] overtize?
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you know,as busy as I was
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as hectic as the schedule was
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when I received the
phone call from my mum
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nothing was more important
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than going and attending
my granfather's funeral
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I learnt a lesson about priority
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a young girl,we
call her name Joane
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a precious girl,young lady
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a beautiful daughter,
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went in for a simple
day out pacient surgery
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and came
home,started feeling ill
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really ill,couldn't get
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at all to the doctor,
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they rushed her
back to the hospital
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that night,she
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was in shock
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she ends up going into a coma
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for a whole month
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due to the complications,
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she loses her
eye-sight during this time
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she had been engaged,but
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but her fiancee
decided he did not wanna be
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married to a blind woman, and
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cancelled the engagement
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certainly,trauma
entered her life
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crisis like they had never seen
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and what I
learnt about priority is
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Joane's mother
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was by her side the whole time
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nothiong was more important than
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being with her daughter
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at those special
times,at those special moments
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why does it take a crisis
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for us realize that
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family is important
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why does it take a crisis
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to realize that
you need to slow down
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we seem to be always in a hurry
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we seem to always be
rushing to get things done
00:10:01.31\00:10:03.14
and sometimes we
rush and rush so much
00:10:03.17\00:10:06.04
that we even
forget why we are rushing
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Have you ever caught yourself
rushing down the Inner State[?]
00:10:08.92\00:10:11.83
and you realize
there was no hurry
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there was no need to rush,but
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we get so caught up
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you know,technology
hasn't helped our life,has it?
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we think that
technology will help,but
00:10:19.63\00:10:22.08
we think that
technology will slow things down
00:10:22.11\00:10:25.23
but really PDAs and
cell phones and pagers
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and blackberries and all
this kind of things really have
00:10:28.38\00:10:31.32
done as complicate our lives
00:10:31.35\00:10:33.73
time hasn't extended itself
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there are still
24 hours in a day
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but we try to create 48 into 24
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we try to
micro-manage every second
00:10:42.41\00:10:45.20
until we are
micro-managed to death
00:10:45.23\00:10:47.95
and we are so busy that we have
no time to spend with people
00:10:47.99\00:10:52.43
you see, Satan has a great lie
00:10:52.46\00:10:54.80
Satan's lie is that we
need this and we need that
00:10:54.84\00:10:58.79
we need to get this
thing and get that thing
00:10:58.82\00:11:01.66
we need power,we
need prestige, we need
00:11:01.69\00:11:04.10
monetary gain, and so we
00:11:04.13\00:11:05.75
spend our life in a
vicious cycle getting
00:11:05.79\00:11:08.08
getting,getting
00:11:08.11\00:11:09.71
we ignore people as we
learn that vicious cycle
00:11:09.75\00:11:13.32
and we are
wrapped up in that cycle
00:11:13.35\00:11:15.82
he knows that we
have no time for God
00:11:15.85\00:11:18.29
we have no time for family
00:11:18.32\00:11:20.47
and we are very self-absorbed
00:11:20.51\00:11:22.59
we take life for
granted, don't we?
00:11:22.63\00:11:25.34
we assume that
tomorrow will be here for us
00:11:25.38\00:11:27.90
we assume that tomorrow life
will be the same as it was today
00:11:27.94\00:11:31.84
we forget that every
breadth is a gift from God
00:11:31.87\00:11:35.93
well,one thing that I
want us to understand today
00:11:35.96\00:11:39.99
is the most important thing in
00:11:40.02\00:11:42.71
life the most important thing:
00:11:42.74\00:11:44.86
our relationships
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absolutely
everything else will fade
00:11:47.03\00:11:49.82
number one is our
relationship with God
00:11:49.85\00:11:52.57
and number two is our
relationships with others
00:11:52.61\00:11:55.20
those are the significant things
00:11:55.23\00:11:58.35
everything else
pales in comparison
00:11:58.39\00:12:01.44
the old song" Cats in
the criddle" tells a story
00:12:01.48\00:12:05.17
a story of a young boy wanting
to spend time with his dad
00:12:05.21\00:12:09.86
but dad's too busy
00:12:09.89\00:12:11.48
perhaps even
"providing" for his family
00:12:11.52\00:12:13.83
to spend time with the boy
00:12:13.86\00:12:15.39
he
says:dad,spend some time with me
00:12:15.43\00:12:17.09
he says:we'll
get together soon,son
00:12:17.12\00:12:18.75
we'll get together soon
00:12:18.78\00:12:19.95
this story twists at the end and
00:12:19.99\00:12:22.74
the father now has ended
his career and now has time
00:12:22.78\00:12:25.82
but the son is now
caught up in that cycle
00:12:25.85\00:12:29.24
and the dad wants to
spend time with his boy,but now
00:12:29.28\00:12:32.11
the boy says:sorry,dad,
00:12:32.14\00:12:33.94
I'm too busy
00:12:33.97\00:12:35.14
we'll get together soon
00:12:35.18\00:12:36.86
when we look at the cycle
of life it's quite interesting
00:12:36.90\00:12:41.24
when we compare where
we begin with where we end
00:12:41.27\00:12:44.77
we come into this
world with nothing
00:12:44.80\00:12:47.78
and people taking care of us
00:12:47.81\00:12:49.72
somewhere in between we
aquire all kind of stuff
00:12:49.76\00:12:53.77
but as we get to the
latter years often we downsize
00:12:53.81\00:12:57.49
we move into smaller
homes, get rid of all the stuff
00:12:57.52\00:13:01.17
we've acquired
00:13:01.20\00:13:02.32
and in fact many
times we end life
00:13:02.36\00:13:05.85
with nothing
00:13:05.88\00:13:07.33
and someone taking care of us
00:13:07.37\00:13:09.49
here the question will remain:
00:13:09.52\00:13:11.57
what do we do in
the in between time
00:13:11.61\00:13:15.63
what do we do with
relationships during those times
00:13:15.67\00:13:17.98
I mean,we are so
busy doing things and at
00:13:18.01\00:13:19.47
the end of our lives we'll
be by ourselves enjoying them
00:13:19.51\00:13:24.52
well,why do we wait till
00:13:24.55\00:13:26.96
funerals to see the good in
00:13:26.99\00:13:29.03
people that's an amazing
00:13:29.07\00:13:31.04
question why can't we see
the good in people right away
00:13:31.08\00:13:34.18
papa Oscar,the truth was,
00:13:34.21\00:13:39.06
was kind of an
ordinary can tankrist[?]
00:13:39.10\00:13:41.61
he was kind of
stubborn sometimes
00:13:41.64\00:13:43.98
and some people didn't like
his abrasive kind of talking
00:13:44.02\00:13:47.58
but why didn't I see that,
00:13:47.61\00:13:49.54
why did I overlook that
00:13:49.58\00:13:51.44
why to me was that insignificant
00:13:51.48\00:13:54.33
I think it is
important to realize why
00:13:54.37\00:13:57.19
because to me papa
Oscar was my papa Oscar
00:13:57.22\00:13:59.49
and he was the
greatest thing in the world
00:13:59.52\00:14:01.76
I ignored all that other stuff
00:14:01.79\00:14:03.69
and you know why I ignored it?
00:14:03.73\00:14:05.56
because I was seeing
papa Oscar not with adult eyes
00:14:05.60\00:14:09.43
not with critical
eyes,not with judgemental eyes,
00:14:09.47\00:14:13.27
not with comparative eyes,
00:14:13.30\00:14:14.87
I was looking at papa
Oscar with child's eyes
00:14:14.91\00:14:19.71
the simple honesty of a child,
00:14:19.74\00:14:23.19
no bias,no prejudice,
00:14:23.22\00:14:25.79
no tendency to discriminate,
00:14:25.83\00:14:28.20
in fact just looking strait
at the person for who they are
00:14:28.24\00:14:32.03
that's what
children do, isn't it?
00:14:32.06\00:14:34.70
a little child
sees another child
00:14:34.74\00:14:37.31
they don't come up and say:
you know,how much do you make
00:14:37.35\00:14:40.27
where are you from?
00:14:40.30\00:14:41.50
they don't look
what colour they are
00:14:41.54\00:14:42.51
they don't look at
the car they are driving
00:14:42.52\00:14:44.60
they in fact see
simply another person
00:14:44.63\00:14:47.65
to play with
00:14:47.68\00:14:49.06
somehow in the
process of getting older
00:14:49.10\00:14:51.67
we learn how to discriminate
very professionally,don't we?
00:14:51.71\00:14:55.45
the Bible talks
about this type of insight
00:14:55.48\00:14:59.82
it talks about this type of
perspective,the child's eyes
00:14:59.86\00:15:03.49
becoming as little children
00:15:03.52\00:15:05.41
if you go to the Bible
00:15:05.44\00:15:07.87
Matthew 18,verse 3
00:15:07.91\00:15:10.27
Jesus tells us to
be as little children
00:15:10.31\00:15:13.82
wouldn't life be brighter
if we had children's eyes
00:15:31.07\00:15:35.31
wouldn't the
world be a better place
00:15:35.34\00:15:38.26
if we were gonna look
with children's perspective
00:15:38.30\00:15:41.14
that innocent perspective,
00:15:41.17\00:15:42.86
that non-condemning perspective,
00:15:42.90\00:15:45.12
the less critical
nature perspective
00:15:45.16\00:15:48.10
to have godly insight
00:15:48.13\00:15:49.93
you see,when God looks at us
00:15:49.97\00:15:52.53
there is a lot of
bad that he can see
00:15:52.57\00:15:55.00
it's so easy to see
the bad in people,isn't it?
00:15:55.04\00:15:57.85
that's really the
lazy way out ,actually
00:15:57.88\00:15:59.62
but when God sees us
00:15:59.65\00:16:01.59
yes,he sees a sinner
00:16:01.62\00:16:03.49
when he looks at
me,but he sees through the sin
00:16:03.53\00:16:07.11
and he sees the potential
00:16:07.14\00:16:09.04
of what I can be
00:16:09.07\00:16:10.88
once washed in His grace
00:16:10.92\00:16:12.75
and once given a new start
00:16:12.78\00:16:14.58
in a Christian walk
00:16:14.61\00:16:16.30
God sees potential
00:16:16.34\00:16:17.96
we also shall look
around and understand
00:16:18.00\00:16:20.97
that every person
00:16:21.00\00:16:22.57
is a potential child of God
00:16:22.61\00:16:25.08
every person is a potential
person to hear the Gospel
00:16:25.12\00:16:29.19
to have their life transformed
00:16:29.22\00:16:31.25
to have their life restored
00:16:31.29\00:16:33.29
and given a new start
00:16:33.32\00:16:34.97
in Jesus Christ
00:16:35.00\00:16:36.22
Jesus asked two things:
00:16:36.26\00:16:39.11
to love and to not judge
00:16:39.14\00:16:41.92
we need to have
that godly insight
00:16:41.96\00:16:45.14
that child's perspective
00:16:45.17\00:16:47.50
all you need is love
00:16:47.54\00:16:49.80
that's what the Bible says
00:16:49.84\00:16:52.38
we go to John 13,verse34 and 35
00:16:52.42\00:17:00.56
what's very, very
important is to understand
00:17:15.73\00:17:20.42
that Jesus wants to say:listen,
if you love one another,
00:17:20.46\00:17:24.62
if you have love
for one another that's
00:17:24.65\00:17:26.75
how they will know
that you are my disciples
00:17:26.79\00:17:28.90
that's odd, isn't it?
00:17:28.93\00:17:31.33
it's not just a sign
00:17:31.36\00:17:33.69
out front to let people
know that we are Christians
00:17:33.73\00:17:36.50
we don't wear badges or hats
00:17:36.53\00:17:38.68
but in fact Jesus
says a very simple test:
00:17:38.72\00:17:41.61
if you love as I have loved,
00:17:41.64\00:17:43.68
love other people that same way
00:17:43.71\00:17:45.75
but how you treat each other
00:17:45.78\00:17:47.79
will distinguish you
00:17:47.82\00:17:50.06
as my people
00:17:50.09\00:17:51.06
and if you love one another
00:17:51.09\00:17:53.41
that will let people know
00:17:53.45\00:17:55.40
that you are my disciples
00:17:55.43\00:17:57.31
so,how do people know
that we are Christians?
00:17:57.35\00:18:00.66
not by how many
verses we memorize,
00:18:00.69\00:18:04.21
not by how nice we look,not by
how our perfect attendance is,
00:18:04.25\00:18:08.21
not by where our membership is,
00:18:08.24\00:18:09.96
but in fact they will
know that we know Jesus
00:18:10.00\00:18:13.69
if we love one another
00:18:13.72\00:18:15.51
they will know that we
are connected to the Saviour
00:18:15.55\00:18:18.87
by how we treat other people
00:18:18.90\00:18:20.80
in fact,those relationships
are very,very important
00:18:20.84\00:18:24.15
for they are a tell tale sign
00:18:24.18\00:18:26.65
if we are a child of God or not
00:18:26.68\00:18:29.04
how do we treat each other?
00:18:29.08\00:18:31.16
how do we care for each other?
00:18:31.20\00:18:33.25
how do we love each other?
00:18:33.28\00:18:34.94
wouldn't it be wonderful
00:18:34.97\00:18:36.60
to be known
00:18:36.63\00:18:38.88
for loving Jesus?
00:18:38.92\00:18:39.89
if someone came into your church
00:18:39.93\00:18:41.95
would they leave saying:
00:18:41.98\00:18:43.95
ah, it's a pretty church,
it's a comfortable church
00:18:43.99\00:18:46.46
they had a good fellowship meal
00:18:46.49\00:18:47.84
or would they leave saying:
00:18:47.88\00:18:49.67
those people love Jesus
00:18:49.70\00:18:51.46
if we love Jesus,
00:18:51.49\00:18:52.92
if we uplift Jesus,people
will want to come back
00:18:52.96\00:18:56.75
to see people who love Jesus
00:18:56.78\00:18:59.42
it's an amazing thing
00:18:59.45\00:19:01.79
a dream church,I'm sure
that those churches exist
00:19:01.83\00:19:05.20
a church where people
love without prejudice
00:19:05.23\00:19:08.32
without criticism
00:19:08.35\00:19:09.66
a church where there are
no, strangers,because everyone
00:19:09.70\00:19:11.97
is treated as a family,
00:19:12.00\00:19:13.58
everyone is treated as a friend
00:19:13.62\00:19:15.39
they are warmly wellcomed
00:19:15.42\00:19:16.93
love covers a multitude of sins
00:19:16.97\00:19:21.13
God tells us to love
00:19:21.16\00:19:22.81
he tells us not to criticize
00:19:22.85\00:19:25.43
Jesus in fact tells us
00:19:25.46\00:19:27.49
a couple of verses explain
00:19:27.53\00:19:29.49
what a model
church would be like
00:19:29.53\00:19:31.79
and certainly love is one
of the central ingredients
00:19:31.83\00:19:35.24
that we look at
00:19:35.27\00:19:36.51
go to first Peter 4 and verse 8
00:19:36.55\00:19:54.66
Jesus says:above all things
00:19:54.69\00:19:57.35
we don't need a new programme
00:19:57.38\00:19:59.84
we don't need a new theology
00:19:59.88\00:20:02.27
it's not gonna
be a new cathedral
00:20:02.31\00:20:04.39
that's gonna bring
people to the church
00:20:04.43\00:20:06.31
it's not gonna
be a new lesson plan
00:20:06.34\00:20:08.15
that's gonna bring
people into a Bible study
00:20:08.19\00:20:10.63
the Bible says:above all things
00:20:10.66\00:20:13.49
if you have love
00:20:13.52\00:20:15.30
and it covers up a lot
of errors if you have love
00:20:15.34\00:20:18.16
love is kind of the oil
00:20:18.19\00:20:20.86
that covers up all the mistakes
00:20:20.90\00:20:23.63
that we all make
00:20:23.66\00:20:25.55
number one priority
00:20:25.59\00:20:27.45
is love
00:20:27.48\00:20:28.45
another verse is
found in the book of Romans
00:20:28.48\00:20:31.29
Romans chapter 12 and verse 10
00:20:31.32\00:20:34.31
that's awesome,isn't it?
00:20:46.15\00:20:47.49
not a selfish
place, not a selfish church
00:20:47.53\00:20:50.31
it's a place where
we honour one another
00:20:50.35\00:20:53.10
we respect one another
00:20:53.13\00:20:54.59
and "me" philosophy doesn't
fit in with Christ philosophy
00:20:54.63\00:20:58.92
of what a church is
00:20:58.95\00:21:00.40
because it's about
reflecting what he gave to us
00:21:00.44\00:21:04.11
we are to be of one mind
00:21:04.14\00:21:07.75
first Peter 3 and verse 8
00:21:07.79\00:21:11.37
compassionate,tender-hearted
00:21:27.96\00:21:31.22
courteous;that's
awesome, isn't it?
00:21:31.26\00:21:34.74
that's what we wanna be about
00:21:34.77\00:21:37.48
that's what this is all about,
that's what life is all about
00:21:37.52\00:21:41.78
I received another call
00:21:41.81\00:21:45.29
a call from my mother again
00:21:45.33\00:21:48.74
a call about my other
grandfather,her father
00:21:48.78\00:21:52.86
he was sick
00:21:52.89\00:21:54.31
again it came at a time
when I was extremely busy
00:21:54.35\00:21:58.15
it came at a time when so
much was pressing in on me
00:21:58.18\00:22:01.95
he was in a hospital,my mum said
00:22:01.98\00:22:04.60
it would be great if
I could give him a call
00:22:04.64\00:22:07.12
I said ok,this
had happened before,
00:22:07.15\00:22:09.63
he'd been in the hospital before
00:22:09.66\00:22:12.07
I'd received
calls from my mum before
00:22:12.11\00:22:14.27
mums do that kind of thing
00:22:14.30\00:22:15.61
they are given permission
00:22:15.64\00:22:16.88
to negace a little bit
about calling our loved ones
00:22:16.92\00:22:20.05
and so I excepted her
number,I said:I'll call
00:22:20.08\00:22:22.90
the truth was,I was so busy
00:22:22.93\00:22:25.11
I said:you know,I'm not
gonna get around this right away
00:22:25.15\00:22:27.94
but I put it on my deck and
I said:I'll call on Thursday
00:22:27.98\00:22:30.74
my mum called back
00:22:30.77\00:22:33.93
the next day
00:22:33.96\00:22:35.09
and I again was kind of busy
00:22:35.13\00:22:38.44
and I said:
00:22:38.47\00:22:39.65
you know,mum,I'm gonna give
him a call,I'm gonna call him
00:22:39.69\00:22:43.75
the next time my mother
called I got a little perturbed
00:22:43.79\00:22:47.78
I couldn't believe that my mum
didn't understand my schedule
00:22:47.82\00:22:51.18
"I'm an important
person",so I thought
00:22:51.21\00:22:53.48
I'm very busy
00:22:53.51\00:22:55.35
but this time the
phone call was different
00:22:55.39\00:22:58.09
this time the
call was very different
00:22:58.12\00:23:00.81
because my mum said:
00:23:00.84\00:23:03.56
papa died
00:23:03.59\00:23:05.88
and I said to myself:wait
a second,that can't be
00:23:05.92\00:23:11.30
papa can't die
00:23:11.33\00:23:12.55
I haven't gold[?] it yet
00:23:12.59\00:23:16.16
the very sad moment
when I realized that
00:23:16.20\00:23:20.41
I've been so
caught up in busy-ness
00:23:20.44\00:23:22.96
that I had not taken the time
00:23:22.99\00:23:25.88
to do what mattered
00:23:25.91\00:23:27.37
so,though all the busy-ness
00:23:27.41\00:23:29.52
with all the hectic schedule
00:23:29.56\00:23:31.60
with all the
crazy things going on
00:23:31.64\00:23:33.70
I cancelled everything
00:23:33.73\00:23:37.06
what had been
too important to call
00:23:37.10\00:23:40.66
now was insignificant
00:23:40.69\00:23:42.16
and I cancelled everything
and went to papa's funersl
00:23:42.20\00:23:46.11
and I finally got to tell
papa what I wanted to tell him
00:23:46.15\00:23:50.03
but papa didn't hear
00:23:50.06\00:23:52.80
why do we wait?
00:23:52.83\00:23:56.02
I wonder also
00:23:56.05\00:23:59.17
I had always thought there
would be the other opportunities
00:23:59.21\00:24:02.15
to talk to my papa
00:24:02.18\00:24:03.91
about Jesus
00:24:03.94\00:24:05.20
I always assumed there
would be other opportunities
00:24:05.24\00:24:07.59
to sit down and
make sure he knew about
00:24:07.62\00:24:09.85
the love of Christ
00:24:09.88\00:24:11.82
I always assumed
there'd be another day
00:24:11.86\00:24:14.34
now,I was
overwhelmed with the funeral
00:24:14.38\00:24:16.83
wondering:did papa know Jesus?
00:24:16.86\00:24:20.25
why didn't I talk
to him about Jesus
00:24:20.29\00:24:23.02
why did I put it
off, why do we wait?
00:24:23.06\00:24:25.72
why do we put off all these
things that we need to do today
00:24:25.76\00:24:30.47
till other times?
00:24:30.50\00:24:32.45
why?
00:24:32.48\00:24:34.87
at the funeral I realized
00:24:34.91\00:24:38.35
that life was too short
00:24:38.39\00:24:41.80
to let it go on
00:24:41.83\00:24:43.28
without
concentrating on every day
00:24:43.32\00:24:45.98
someone once
gave an illustration
00:24:46.01\00:24:48.77
he accounted as
the Bible accounts,
00:24:48.80\00:24:50.99
seventy years
for a person to live
00:24:51.03\00:24:53.19
and multiplied that by
00:24:53.22\00:24:54.48
52 weeks
00:24:54.51\00:24:55.48
and it came up with
the number of Sabbaths
00:24:55.49\00:24:57.15
that a person
was estimated to live
00:24:57.18\00:24:59.05
of course, people
live longer than that
00:24:59.09\00:25:00.93
but that's our goal
00:25:00.96\00:25:02.34
and it put marbles
00:25:02.38\00:25:03.58
in a container
00:25:03.62\00:25:04.75
for the number of weeks
00:25:04.79\00:25:06.12
that he had remaining
until he reached seventy years
00:25:06.16\00:25:09.57
every week he would
reach in and [?] marble out
00:25:09.60\00:25:13.27
indicating that
that week had gone
00:25:13.30\00:25:15.87
what had he done
for Christ that week?
00:25:15.90\00:25:18.44
I was to do the same thing
00:25:18.47\00:25:21.05
so I did the same thing
00:25:21.08\00:25:22.96
I was getting used MNMs
00:25:23.00\00:25:24.85
and I decided not
00:25:24.88\00:25:26.66
to eat my years
before that happened
00:25:26.70\00:25:28.83
so I used beans
00:25:28.86\00:25:30.45
and I counted the
number of years that I had
00:25:30.49\00:25:32.49
and every week I
pulled out a bean
00:25:32.52\00:25:34.85
and I said to myself:
00:25:34.88\00:25:36.14
what have I done with this week
00:25:36.18\00:25:37.46
that God has given me
00:25:37.49\00:25:38.55
what have I done with this time
00:25:38.59\00:25:40.33
that it's been given
00:25:40.36\00:25:41.79
and granted to me?
00:25:41.83\00:25:43.19
sometimes I find myself
reaching in and realizing that
00:25:43.23\00:25:46.64
the last week has drifted by
00:25:46.67\00:25:48.54
and I haven't
spent any time with God
00:25:48.58\00:25:50.77
haven't spent
any time with family
00:25:50.81\00:25:52.97
and it's a gentle reminder
00:25:53.00\00:25:54.95
now,some people say:
00:25:54.98\00:25:55.95
what happens if
you get past seventy?
00:25:55.96\00:25:57.31
praise God!
00:25:57.34\00:25:58.31
praise the
Lord,people live to 110
00:25:58.32\00:26:00.83
the gentleman that
told the illustration
00:26:00.87\00:26:03.09
he started putting
the marbles back in
00:26:03.12\00:26:05.31
after each week
00:26:05.34\00:26:06.39
as a special reminder
00:26:06.43\00:26:08.18
that that was a special gift
00:26:08.22\00:26:09.97
given to him by God
00:26:10.00\00:26:12.12
what would be our legacy
00:26:12.16\00:26:14.27
what will they remember
00:26:14.30\00:26:16.34
when our days on life are gone?
00:26:16.38\00:26:19.62
will they remember
you drove a big car?
00:26:19.66\00:26:21.73
will they
remember what job you had?
00:26:21.77\00:26:23.77
will they remember
how much money you had?
00:26:23.81\00:26:25.80
will they
remember how you looked?
00:26:25.83\00:26:27.56
what is the legacy
that we want to live
00:26:27.60\00:26:31.29
for Christ?
00:26:31.32\00:26:32.31
I pray that
it's a legacy of love
00:26:32.35\00:26:35.05
of loving other people
00:26:35.08\00:26:37.10
of caring
00:26:37.13\00:26:38.39
there's a precious song
00:26:38.43\00:26:40.29
that's
entitled:"what would be said
00:26:40.33\00:26:43.49
when it's all said and done?"
00:26:43.52\00:26:45.30
reading the words
00:26:45.33\00:26:47.41
"when the music fades
00:26:47.45\00:26:49.50
into the past
00:26:49.53\00:26:51.05
when my days of life are through
00:26:51.09\00:26:53.81
what will be remembered
00:26:53.84\00:26:55.67
of where I've come
00:26:55.70\00:26:57.02
when all is said and done
00:26:57.06\00:26:58.88
will they say I loved my family?
00:26:58.92\00:27:01.63
that I was a faithful friend?
00:27:01.67\00:27:04.31
that I lived to
tell of God's own son?
00:27:04.35\00:27:08.27
when all is said and done?
00:27:08.30\00:27:11.88
how I long to see the hour
00:27:11.91\00:27:15.42
when I will hear
the trumpet sound
00:27:15.46\00:27:17.27
and rise to see
my Saviour's face
00:27:17.30\00:27:19.08
and see his smile
00:27:19.11\00:27:20.66
and hear him say:
00:27:20.69\00:27:22.21
well done!
00:27:22.24\00:27:23.48
you can forget my names
00:27:23.52\00:27:25.21
and all the songs I've sung
00:27:25.24\00:27:26.86
every rhyme and every tune
00:27:26.90\00:27:28.72
but remember the truth
00:27:28.76\00:27:30.55
of Jesus' love
00:27:30.58\00:27:32.40
when all is said and done"
00:27:32.44\00:27:36.59
friends,what's most important:
00:27:36.63\00:27:40.75
our relationships
00:27:40.78\00:27:42.75
loving God with all your heart
00:27:42.79\00:27:45.02
with all your soul
and loving others for him
00:27:45.06\00:27:47.00
thank you for watching
00:27:47.03\00:27:48.83
and may we put people first
00:27:48.87\00:27:50.87
in all things
00:27:50.90\00:27:53.78
and love for ourself
00:27:53.82\00:27:54.93