The Headless Chicken's Guide to Church Wisdom

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What does a headless chicken, the body of Christ and me, rick, from Renewed Mindsets, have in common?

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I'll answer that question right now.

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Let's go, boys.

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Hey, welcome to Renewed Mindsets, where we study the basics of the faith through the lens of our middle-aged experiences.

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I'm Rick.

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Welcome to the show where I help you, Gen Xers and Millennials, navigate spiritually through a world that looks nothing like we expected back, when cars were square and mullets were totally awesome.

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I am so glad you're here.

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Awesome, I am so glad you're here.

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As I was flipping around on Facebook this week, I saw a story about the world's most famous chicken.

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Some of you may have seen it, others may not.

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I'd heard the story before, but it really caught my attention this time.

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The story of the world's most famous chicken took place in 1945 in the wacky world of a family farm in Colorado, and on that farm there lived a chicken E-I-O named Mike.

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Now, mike wasn't just any ordinary chicken.

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He had a crazy, bizarre, extraordinary life, but the most peculiar part of his life was his stint, where he was known as Mike the Headless Chicken.

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And we're not talking about some kind of farmer superhero, but a chicken who defied all the odds and captured the hearts of the country, and it started with Mike's owner.

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Mike's owner was a farmer named Lloyd Olson.

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He was a chicken farmer and he would raise chickens for the market and, just like any dedicated farmer, he'd behead these chickens when it came time to sell them.

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So one day he's out chopping heads and near the end of the day he's picking up all these chickens and putting them in boxes for the morning.

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Now you know, you've heard running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

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So quite a few of these chickens were still moving and flapping and maybe some of them were even running, but that usually lasts just a minute or so and then they calm down and of course they're dead.

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But farmer Olson went to bed and got up the next morning to get these boxes ready to be shipped and there was a chicken in the box that was still kicking and flapping around the next morning, who didn't have a head.

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Now, farmer olsen well, I'd have probably screamed and ran, but but that old farmer Olson, he was just confused, like what in the world is wrong with Mike?

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I guess by this time he'd already named him Mike.

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Was he possessed by some demonic chicken spirit, a poultry geist?

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Did he somehow become infected with some type of zombie virus.

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A Night of the chicken dead scenario?

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Nope, none of these stupid ludicrous possibilities were true.

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Science stepped in and provided an explanation.

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Turns out that after Mike's beheading, a tiny part of his brainstem, responsible for controlling his vital functions, remained intact.

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And it's just the way that the positioning of the brain in a chicken's head is, and the chopping off was just perfect.

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And instead of bleeding to death, there was a blood clot and it kept him alive.

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Now, he didn't have a face, he couldn't peck, he couldn't buck buck, buck, buck, but what he could do is travel the country with Farmer Olson, who had him strutting his headless stuff all over town, just like Wilbur the Pig from Charlotte's Web Now, that headless chicken movie would have been a great cartoon as a kid.

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Pig from Charlotte's Web Now that Headless Chicken movie would have been a great cartoon as a kid.

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But he took Mike to different shows and people took photographs of him and I'm guessing they sold t-shirts and Yeti cups.

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I don't know, this was in the 40s.

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What did I say?

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It was the 40s, yeah, 1945.

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They didn't have Yeti cups then.

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So, just like all stories, this one had a bittersweet ending.

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They were out traveling the country and they were in Arizona and Farmer Olson woke up here and here I promise I'm not laughing he heard he heard old Mike choking.

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So in a panic he jumped up and he was looking for the syringe that they used to have to use to, uh, to kind of clear his, clear his throat.

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You know, kind of like, uh, you do a baby when they get all stopped up.

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But he couldn't find it so he just had to sit there and watch old Mike die.

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And I bet it was sad for a lot of reasons, because former Olson was making money and he wouldn't have him to get up at four o'clock in the morning and tend to his field.

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So I'm sure it was horror to him in more ways than one in a tacky motel room in Phoenix, arizona.

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I mean, how many lives does a headless chicken have anyway?

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I mean, in the wild world of farms in Colorado, where extraordinary becomes the everyday, strange tales of headless chickens capture our imaginations and keep us clucking with laughter.

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But Mike's survival is a testament to the resilience and the adaptability that's found in nature and another way of looking at it.

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In a similar manner, the unity of the church showcases human beings' ability to come together, despite their differences, for a common purpose.

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The church is described as the body of Christ, with Christ being the head.

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Just as the different parts of a physical body have functions and have to work together, the individuals in church possess different gifts and abilities that contribute to the overall mission of the church.

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The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, emphasizes the importance of unity within the church.

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The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, emphasizes the importance of unity within the church and he wrote for just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

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That's 1 Corinthians 12.12.

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And Paul uses the analogy of the body to symbolize the church.

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He highlights the interconnectedness and the interdependence of all its members.

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Each person's contribution, no matter how small or how different, is valuable and necessary for the church to fulfill its mission.

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Now, one part of maintaining unity in the church is humility.

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Just like no part of the body can claim that it's more important than any other part of the body, no individual in the church should consider themselves more important than other people, individual in the church should consider themselves more important than other people.

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Humility allows for the recognition of people's gifts and talents while acknowledging the significance of someone else's.

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You know the different roles in the church, whether it's apostle or prophet or evangelist or pastor or teacher.

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They're all designed to work together for the growth and edification of the body in Christ's name, and unity in church implies that the members share each other's joy and suffering.

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You know just like the body feels pain when I smash my hand with a hammer it hurts.

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The church is called to empathize and support each other when things get difficult.

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It's kind of an interconnectedness and it creates a sense of community and solidarity where the individuals can rely on each other for encouragement and accountability and support.

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You know, as the body of Christ, the church represents God's love and mercy to the world, and the unity that's displayed among its members is powerful.

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It's a witness to the transforming power of Christ's love.

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It's a witness to the transforming power of Christ's love.

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So this story of Mike the Headless Chicken it just serves as a reminder of the incredible power of unity.

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Despite the absence of a head, mike survived and thrived due to the cooperation and resilience of his remaining body.

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And just like that, the church can overcome obstacles and thrive and impact the lives when its members come together and function as one body under Christ's headship, sometimes even without a pastor.

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Now the story of Mike encourages us to recognize the legacy that's created through Unity.

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You know that little town in Colorado.

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They still celebrate Mike's memory every year.

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I mean that's an impact of a unified community.

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After all, this time 1945, I'm pretty sure just about everybody that remembers Mike is dead or close to it.

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I mean, you know, I guess if you were born, if you were an adult, then you were in World War II, right?

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So there's not many of them left Now.

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A little kid, maybe born in 46, 47, might have heard about Mike, but I don't think he only lived 18 months, so I don't know.

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But they're still celebrating him in Colorado.

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In the same way, when the church operates with unity, it leaves a lasting impact on the individuals and the families and communities and through all the combined efforts the church can spread the message of love and hope and redemption to a broken world and that contributes to the building of God's kingdom.

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Now it's important to remember that the unity in the church requires effort and commitment from every member of the church.

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There's going to be disagreements and conflicts, but the goal of bringing glory to God and expanding his kingdom should always be the priority.

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And when we recognize the gifts and the abilities that are present in each individual in the church, and encourage humility and support each other, the church can exemplify the unity that Christ desires for his followers.

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Ephesians 4, 11, and 12 says and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, for building up the body of Christ.

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And we need to acknowledge the role of pastor as shepherds and teachers within the community.

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But this verse also highlights that their purpose is to equip the saints for ministry rather than being the ultimate authority.

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Sadly, in today's society it's become an unfortunate reality that some churches tend to overlook the teachings of Christ and instead follow their pastors without question.

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Now, this is a dangerous shift in focus and it can, over time, erode the essence of the church and it leads to spiritual stagnancy and division and the demise of the church's mission or, just like Mike the Headless Chicken, it'll result in death.

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A church starts with a core focus on Christ and his teachings and the Bible, but over time the influence and the charisma of the pastor can overshadow the true message of Christ and the people in the church may become enamored with their preacher's personality or their eloquence or his persuasiveness, and it gradually shifts their attention from Christ over to the pastor.

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Now, this happens over time.

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I mean very rarely does it happen quickly, but it's very subtle and it can occur without the members even realizing it and as they become more and more loyal to the leader, rather to the teachings of Christ.

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The consequences of that are not only stagnancy, like when a church becomes too pastor-dependent.

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There's a risk of spiritual growth coming to a standstill and instead of seeking a personal relationship with Christ, people in the church rely solely on the pastor's interpretations and teachings and they miss out on the transformative power of faith of an individual.

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And there's a lot of people that'll say well, those churches are spirit-filled and I'm telling you, people, of that I do not dispute there is definitely a spirit in those churches, but it ain't Holy Spirit.

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A spirit in those churches, but it ain't Holy Spirit.

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Matthew 6 24 says no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he'll be devoted to one and despise the other.

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You cannot serve God and money.

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And this verse emphasizes the importance of not idolizing or becoming devoted to any other figure or entity apart from God, and it warns people that serving two masters including the danger of placing too much emphasis on leaders in the church, and it says you cannot serve God and money.

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A lot of times that's the reason that the pastor is so flamboyantly attractive.

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It's money, but that's a whole other podcast.

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The other problem with a church that does that is loss of accountability.

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I mean, when a preacher becomes the central authority figure, the church is going to become susceptible to the pastor's personal views and biases and without a strong foundations in Christ's teachings there's no objective reference point for evaluating the pastor's words or actions to misguided decision-making and moral misconduct within the church by appointed leaders or so-called leaders.

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You know, division in the congregation is another problem.

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In a pastor-centered church, dissenting voices are going to be silenced.

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Healthy discussions concerning doctrines or practices are going to be discouraged.

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There's usually a small little circle of people that are making decisions and the rest of the people are just kind of along for the ride.

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For the ride, and that can lead to a lack of varying perspectives and can harm the unity and the vitality of a group of people.

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You start hearing things like if you don't like it, here, there's the door.

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Well, I mean, that's not helpful.

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Where's the door?

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Well, I mean, that's not helpful.

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Eventually the church is just going to go away and over time these pastor-centered churches become deeply ingrained in that church's culture.

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The original mission and purpose of the church can become diluted or even just forgotten.

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The church is ultimately going to lose its relevance and it's going to ineffectively spread the message of Christ.

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It's just going to be irrelevant or, at worst, the church is just going to die off.

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And what happens to the people in that church?

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So it's natural for people in a church to admire and respect their pastors.

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It's important.

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It's important for them to remember that the ultimate source of authority and guidance in the church is in Jesus Christ.

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A pastor-centered approach can gradually erode the church's mission and hinder spiritual growth, and it just creates divisions.

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If we want vibrant and spirit-filled churches, it's crucial for both pastors and the body of the church to consistently align their focus with Christ's teaching and then promote a community centered on his love and grace and truth.

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You know, the story of Mike the Headless Chicken is just a thought-provoking parallel to the unity of the church.

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And just like Mike's, resilience and adaptability allowed him to survive without a head, the church can thrive and impact lives when its members come together, selflessly utilizing gifts and embracing humility, because they function as one body under Christ's leadership.

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And the church can spread a message of love and hope and redemption to the world, ultimately fulfilling its purpose and building a kingdom of God.

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But it's also a cautionary tale, mike the chicken.

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We got so much to learn from old Mike.

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It highlights the importance of remaining connected to the head of the church, jesus Christ, because without Jesus, without his guidance and his leadership, the church is like a body without a head, doomed to decay and death.

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Right, it'll live for a little while, just like Mike's did, and somebody's going to make some money off of it, but eventually that body's going to die.

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It's through unity with Christ and with one another that the church can truly flourish and then fulfill its divine mission.

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I want to leave you with one last thing here the importance of community.

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It comes from 1 Corinthians, 12, 27.

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Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it, and this verse just emphasizes that the church is a collective body of believers with Christ at its center.

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It highlights the importance of all its members playing their part.

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Each has their own gifts and contributions to offer for the growth and the edification of the church.

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Hebrews 10, 24, and 25 says and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

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Community is so important, near Community is so important, and meeting together every week as believers it encourages you and supportive church community.

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Find you a church.

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You think you don't need it but, man, when you find the right one, it's the best thing ever.

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Well, that's all for this week's show.

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You know, the name of this show speaks my hope for you.

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It's taken from the words of Romans, chapter 12, verse 2.

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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