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Welcome back to 5 Minutes in Church

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History as we continue in a holiday

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season. Coming up soon is New

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Year's Day, and you might be

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setting about making for yourselves New

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Year's resolutions. Well, let's

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return to someone we have talked about many

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times, our friend Jonathan

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Edwards and his

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resolutions and pull

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out five of Edwards's

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resolutions for us to be

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thinking about as we look forward to

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this new year ahead. So

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let's put these into context. Edwards was born

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in 1703, and

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from the years 1716 to 1720, he was

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working on his bachelor's degree at what

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would come to be

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called Yale University. Yes,

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go ahead and do the math, and

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you'll see he's a teenager getting his

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college degree, but don't let that hold

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you back because he's

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also a teenager pursuing his master's degree. So from

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1720 to 1723, his final teen years before he

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becomes 20, he is getting his master's

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from Yale. After he does his

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sort of coursework and in

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between writing his thesis, Edwards

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actually leaves his beloved colony

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of Connecticut and heads down

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to New York, actually to

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New York City to a

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home right along the docks, and

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he pastors for a brief moment

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a Presbyterian church, as I like

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to remind folks Edwards, who was

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a Congregationalist nearly all of his

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life, began his career

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as a Presbyterian in New York City

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and ended his career as a Presbyterian

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at Princeton. Nevertheless,

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Let's go back to 1722-1723. Edwards

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is in New York City, long

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way from home and far away

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from the sleepy town of East

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Windsor, Connecticut. He is a

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young man with a whole life ahead of

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him, and he has no idea what God

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has in store for him or what he

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will be doing. And

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in that moment, he sits down and

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writes for himself, not simply resolutions for

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a new year ahead, but

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resolutions for his life. Well,

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I'm going to pull out five of them

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from the 30s of his resolutions. So

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let's start with number 30, resolved,

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Edwards writes, to strive

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to my utmost every week to

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be brought higher in religion and

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to a higher exercise of grace than

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I was the week before.

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Edwards longs for himself to

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be making spiritual progress, and

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so he wants to work

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at it every week, every

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week, continual improvement as

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a resolution. And to

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number 33, resolved, always to

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do what I can towards

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making, maintaining, and preserving peace,

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when it can be

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without overbalancing detriment in

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other respects. Usually

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he's thinking of other respects such as

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the truth or such as acting

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on one's convictions or doing what needs to

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be done. But within that context, he

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wants to again strive towards

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making and maintaining and preserving

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peace. So as with

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many of the resolutions in his resolutions,

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he's thinking about his interpersonal relationships and

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the people he's interacting with and

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wants to live in such a way as at peace,

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as Paul says, with all men,

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right? Well, let's try

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on resolution number 34, resolved,

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in narratives, never to speak

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anything but the pure in simple

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verity. stories,

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retelling moments, not editorializing, not trying

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to jump to conclusions, but as

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the old Dragnet TV series would

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have it, just the facts, please.

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How about number 36, resolved, never

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to speak evil of any,

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except I have

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some particular good call for it.

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Well, I'll let you use wisdom

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to sort that one out, and

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that takes us to resolution number

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37, our fifth and

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final resolution for consideration resolved,

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to inquire every night as I am

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going to bed wherein I have been

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negligent, what sin I have committed, and

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where I have denied myself also to

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inquire so at the end of every

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week, at the end of every month,

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and at the end of every year. So

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that's some resolutions from Jonathan Edwards, and

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let me wish you all an early

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happy new year. I'm Steve Nichols, and

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thanks for listening to Five Minutes. In

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Church History.