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Friends, in today’s Gospel<b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">, Jesus identifies his disciples as his family</span></b>. <b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">I want
to say something about our becoming disciples in his family</span></b>.<b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> Once <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">we
</span>make the decision to follow Jesus, then <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">every other claimant to</span>
supremacy must fall away.</span></b><br>As I’ve argued many times before,
<b><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">every one of us has something or some set of values that we consider
greatest</span></b>. <b><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Perhaps it is money, material things, power, or the esteem of
others. Perhaps it is your family, your kids, your wife, your husband.</span></b><br><b><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">None
</span>of this is <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">false, </span>and <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">none</span> of these things are <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">bad</span></span></b>. <b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">But when you place
any of them in the absolute center of gravity,
things go awry. When you make any of them your ultimate or final good,
your spiritual life goes haywire. When you attach yourself to any of
them with an absolute tenacity, you will fall apart.</span></b><br><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Only when we
make Christ the cornerstone of our lives are we truly ready for
mission</span></b>. Keep in mind that <b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">every encounter with God in the Bible
conduces to mission, to being sent to do the work of the Lord</span></b>.<b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> If we try
to do<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> this work</span> while we are stuck to any number of attachments, we
will fail.Period.
</span></b></div><div id="DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><br><table style="border-top:1px solid #d3d4de"><tr><td style="width:55px;padding-top:13px"><a href="http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail" target="_blank"><img src="https://s-install.avcdn.net/ipm/preview/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png" alt="" width="46" height="29" style="width: 46px; height: 29px;"></a></td><td style="width:470px;padding-top:12px;color:#41424e;font-size:13px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:18px">Vírusmentes.<a href="http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail" target="_blank" style="color:#4453ea">www.avg.com</a></td></tr></table><a href="#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2" width="1" height="1"></a></div>