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Unbreakable Joy: Why Living a Connected Life Brings Joy
January 7, 2025 · 32 min
John Mark stresses the power of community and the need to deepen our love for God and others in this talk, reinforcing that true joy comes from serving and connecting with others.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton January 7, 2025 · 32 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
John Mark stresses the power of community and the need to deepen our love for God and others in this talk, reinforcing that true joy comes from serving and connecting with others. ...more Show the full description Show less John Mark stresses the power of community and the need to deepen our love for God and others in this talk, reinforcing that true joy comes from serving and connecting with others.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Unbreakable Joy: Building a Connected Life 0:00 We, on this brand new weekend of a brand new year, we kicked off a brand new sermon series entitled Unbreakable Joy. We're gonna be studying through the book of Philippians and look at some key elements, 7 of them, that0:12 will allow us to build within our lives an unbreakable joy and today we talk about this reality. That if you and I are gonna have true joy in our life, we have to learn to live a life0:23 of connectedness. That we have to say, you know what? I need to be around people, I need to be with people, I need to develop relationships, I need to improve relationships, I need to do a lot of things. And0:33 interestingly enough, a lot of times those become part of our New Year's resolutions. Let me ask you a question, just show of hands. How many of you actually write down and make out new year's resolutions?0:45 Okay, that's about 8 people. The rest of us have done that before and failed, right? We don't like failure. I did think it was interesting that people do actually go online and they'll0:57 mark out, what their New Year's resolutions. If you look at 20 25, I just did a little research, used artificial intelligence. I said, coalesce all of the New Year's1:09 resolutions that you see out there and give me the top 7, 8, 9, 10. And here's what they were, interestingly enough as I was looking through this series, I just got this this week, I was like they just need to show up to1:20 church. They just need to come to church. Here's number 1, alright? Maybe I can help you with this 1, is the number 1 New Year's resolution that is made by people this1:32 year when they put it online somewhere somehow is to improve their health. Health and well. How many of you would love to be healthier in 20 25 than you? Okay. Way more of y'all want that than actually made New Year's1:44 resolutions. So Taste of Cottonwood is not gonna help you out there. It starts tomorrow, right? As you go out. Out. But interestingly enough, I also saw another article, maybe you saw this, that there1:56 are several gyms. How many of you know if you're a part of a gym, here's what happens in January, the gym fills up and it empties out in February? There are a couple of gym owners that are not taking new members in2:07 January. And they say they're going to focus on the members that they have. That sounds neat, I think it's just for popularity's sake, But here is reality, when it comes to the2:19 gospel, the opportunity and open door for someone else to come and to grow in their faith is always open. So number 1 is health and wellness goals. Number 2, relationship2:31 goals. That people wanna establish new relationships or improve the relationships that we have with their with their spouse, their husband, wife, their kids, their family, those at work, wherever it is. Number 3,2:43 financial goals. How many of you would like to be a little more financially healthy in 20 25 than you were in 20 24? Absolutely. That's why if you saw our mid week, we have a financial health class that will help you get2:55 there that people are finally beginning to look back and they're realizing, man, a couple of years ago we had 2 and a half percent, 3 percent interest, inflation was under control, and now today it's out of control,3:05 interest rates are up, gas is up, everything. And then they all of a sudden look up and they've got credit card debt. So number third, the number 3 resolution people make is to get financially healthy this year. Here's3:16 number 4, this year. They wanna give back more. They wanna serve others. In other words, people are looking back and reflecting and they've realized that they've become more receivers than3:28 givers. They expect someone else to do something for them and what instead they want to do is start being 1 that gives. And we're gonna see this over the next couple of weeks. The more we serve, the more we focus on3:39 others, the more joyful we become. Here's number 5. Some people just want to get happier. Personal happiness. They they just want to improve their joy in3:51 life. That's what Paul's gonna talk. Here's number 6, and this is not a Christian, resource. People want to get spiritually healthy.4:04 They want to grow in their faith. And I just think that's so awesome, Cause this whole series, everything that we do here at Cottonwood Creek is designed to help you grow spiritually. Number 7, this 1 made the list, it4:16 was not in the top 10 last year, but it is this year. Change or improve their digital habits. In other words, control social media because social media has been4:27 controlling them, right? And there's a direct correlation between how much time you spend online and not actually with people and depression, Anxiety and worry.4:40 Here's number 8. Personal growth. Learn a new skill. Improve your career. Interestingly enough, over the last couple of years, that personal growth and career goal skill,4:52 it's beginning to drop. Used to be number 2, then it became 3, now it's all the way down to number 8. Now I don't know where you are in that, but here here's what we know. If you think about all the5:03 spiritual resolutions you can make, the 1 that relates to your spiritual health and spiritual growth. If you look in God's word, here's what we are told we can do if we want to5:15 grow spiritually. Number 1, commit to be involved in worship. Worship each and every week. Number 2, you want to read your Bible daily.5:27 Alright? That's why we have a daily reading plan. We encourage everybody to be a part of. Number 3, get in a group. You don't want to do life alone, you don't want to do Christianity alone. That's why we have Taste of5:38 Cottonwood. Number 4, Bible tells us we need to serve others. Where are you serving? Who are you serving? Are you serving in the church? Man, you want to experience true joy, do it.5:50 Fine. And then number 5 is is become a good steward. Become a faithful steward. When you look back at your 20 24 or 20 23, were you faithful in giving?6:02 Were you faithful in tithing? Did you have your finances in control? And if you'll do those 5 things, if 1 of your desires this year is become more spiritually healthy and to grow spiritually,6:14 it will happen. See, here's the reality. Change doesn't happen with a 1 time commitment. How many of you know that? You and I can sit here6:26 today all we want and we can say we are 100 percent in, we're gonna change some things in our lives. See change doesn't happen 1 commitment at a time.6:38 Change happens with 1 commitment followed with daily habits that support that commitment. Does that make sense? So we can say I want to grow in God's word. Let's say you want to grow in your knowledge of God's word this6:50 year. How does that happen? Not just committing, but by saying I'm gonna read some of God's word every day. Does that make sense? I wanna I wanna focus more on others. I'll make that commitment. Well then I wanna learn7:00 to serve, I wanna put myself in a position to serve. I wanna be more financially healthy, then I need to make some decisions tomorrow about how I spend my money or how to develop a budget. Man, that's what we want. And7:11 so as we journey forward, man as we look at this series talking about an unbreakable joy, we want to develop those spiritual habits that enable us to become everything that God wants us to be.7:23 Let's look at Philippians chapter 1. Let me just look at these first 2 verses, talk to you a little bit about this book. I won't spend much time today because I want to get you out to taste the cottonwood. But here's7:34 what it says, Philippians chapter 1 verse 1 to 11 and just so you'll know I'll share this. This is about 12 years after Paul planted this church. So he's now writing to them from a Roman prison, here's what he said. He7:46 said Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all of God's holy people. Everybody say that's all of us. That's all of us. Because I truly believe that when you and I read God's word, it wasn't7:57 just written to them, it was written to us. Wasn't just written then, it speaks now. So when he says, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all of God's holy people in Christ Jesus at the8:09 church at Philippi. He's talking to the people and the church. He says in Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, remember he plants this church, we're gonna look at it here in a second.8:21 This church had developed, it had grown, it had developed a leadership structure, It had developed pastors and overseers and also deacons along the way. So Paul's writing to the people as well as the8:33 leadership. He says grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, so 12 years before he wrote this book or so, Paul planted this church8:45 on his second missionary journey. We'll put an image up there for you, the second missionary journey. First missionary journey that he had with Barnabas, they had a little disagreement. They went their separate ways.8:56 Paul went 1 way, picked up some new guys. Barnabas and others went the other way. And so here's what happened. Paul left Jerusalem, then he went up north to Antioch, then he turned to Tarshish, then he moved over to9:08 Derby, then he went to Lystra, then he got to Troas, and when he got to Troas, he then gets on a boat. Now this is significant. He goes on a boat over to9:20 a city or a place called Philippi. You might want to just make a mental note. This is the first time that the gospel is now in Europe. Does that make sense?9:32 Now the gospel is in Europe, and Paul shows up and he plants this little church. And then he goes on down to Thessalonica and to Berea and Athens and Corinth, gets on another boat, goes to a9:43 little town called Ephesus. After planting a church there in Ephesus, then he boards a boat and goes back to Jerusalem. Took about 2 and a half to 3 years to plant all these churches and do all9:56 this. Second missionary journey, he plants this church. You say what happened when he got off the boat in Philippi? Look at it, Acts chapter 16. Let me show it to you. I'm gonna show you the first members10:07 of this church. Says verse 13, on the sabbath we went outside the city gate, the city gate of Philippi, to the river where we expected to find just a place of prayer. Instead we sat down10:20 and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. The gospel always starts with a conversation. Just be open to have a dialogue with the people that God puts in your life,10:31 wherever they are. He said we began to speak to the women who were there. 1 of those listening was a woman from Thyatira, her name was Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. Now let me just stop you10:43 right there. It's interesting as you think about what's about to happen, she's about to accept Christ as savior and be baptized. What does it say Lydia did? She dealt in purple10:55 garments. How do you make purple garments in that day? Same way you do it in this day, except for a little more sophisticated, is you take a garment and if you want it to be blue or yellow or red, or in her11:07 case purple, they would take the garment and they would dunk it under the water. What was the Greek word for that? Baptizo. The same Greek word we get our11:18 English word baptism from. She was great at baptizing garments and it would change the garment's color. So now notice what happens. So you look forward, she was a worshiper of11:30 God, then the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. Look at verse 15. When she and the members of her household had accepted Christ, they were baptized. Baptizo, they were dumped.11:42 That's why every time we baptize someone, you are buried with Christ in the likeness of his death, raised to walk in the newness of life. And so they were baptized and she invited11:54 them into her home. That's the church. It started with that lady and her family in Philippi. Back in October, we had the opportunity to take a group12:06 from our church on Paul's journeys, and we went to Ephesus and we went to another place. This is us in Philippi right there. Right outside of Philippi, even to this day, among the rubbles that they've12:17 under- uncovered, they they found a jail that they think Paul might have been in. We don't know that it was that specific 1, but right outside the city gate is this river. And this12:29 is where they believed that over 2000 years ago, Paul baptized Lydia and her family, and as others came to faith, they would go right out here and we'd be baptized. And we just12:41 sat there and celebrated and thought about this amazing book, and I was looking forward to preaching this book in January, and I was just ready to go. I was ready to start preaching right then, but others said no.12:53 All of the other ones said no. So it just talks about baptism. Alright and what an incredible thought. So, if we are going to live life, what13:06 does that look like? First of all, we have to cultivate gratitude for the people God places in your life. I love that Paul has made this journey,13:18 he made this travel, lands at Philippi, goes out to sit down for a time of relaxation and prayer, and all of a sudden people show up. And there are other people there and Paul has a conversation with13:30 them and ultimately ends up leading them to faith and planting this church. So if you and I are gonna live a connected life, we need to cultivate, listen, a gratitude for the people that God13:42 has brought in our life. Notice what Paul says, pick it up in verse 3. Now again, this is 12 years later. Alright? He's writing 12 years after the experience with Lydia. Here's what it says in verse 3.13:54 He says, I thank my God every time I remember you. That's gratitude. He's sitting there thinking, man I'm so grateful that I had that encounter in that river outside the city gate,14:06 with Lydia and her family and then other people who came to faith. Look at verse 4. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. I want to14:18 underline that, word joy. Title of this series is Unbreakable Joy. Paul is writing this epistle from a Roman prison 12 years after he planted this church.14:30 16 times he will use that word joy in this little epistle. If you want to add in other words, other Greek words that mean rejoice and celebrate and be happy, it's over 20 times.14:42 And so if we're gonna understand what it really means to have an unbreakable joy regardless of what we're going through, we have to glean an insight from Paul who's in prison, who has joy, but how?14:54 First of all, he lived a connected life. He loved these people, he cared for these people. Continue to read. I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel,15:06 listen to this, from the first day until now. Paul is sitting in a prison, and he's reflecting on their partnership that they had15:18 with the gospel. Now think about the partnership that they had. That the gospel started when Jesus came out of that tomb that first Easter. Wasn't15:30 many days later that Pentecost took place, The gospel began to spread, the people and the believers began to get persecuted. Paul begins to go on his missionary journeys. About 50 AD,15:42 he gets on that boat in Troas, goes over to Philippi, introduces the gospel to Lydia, and that is the first convert in Europe. Over the next couple of years, the15:54 gospel continues to spread, not only in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, even the remotest parts of the earth, but it's doing so while being persecuted. It wasn't until 3 13 that16:06 Constantine came along in the Roman Empire and legalized Christianity. Up until that point, Christians were persecuted, but they still loved God and they still shared the gospel. Fast forward to16:18 about 3 80 AD, 80 AD is Christianity legalized. All of a sudden, not until 3 80 AD is Christianity legalized as opposed to paganism in the16:30 Roman state. Then from the fifth century and fourth century, fifth century to the fifteenth century, the gospel explodes all over Europe.16:41 And then then something happens in 14 92. Remember some guy sailed the ocean blue.16:54 He brought the gospel to the natives here, part of the partnership that went all the way back to Philippi from the beginning until17:05 now. Then we had the first great awakening, and the second great awakening, God begins to explode, and then guess what? The Mayflower shows up, and they come with the Mayflower17:17 Compact all about Christianity, and then remember what happens in 17 76? Something called the Declaration of Independence, which, read it,17:29 is laced with biblical and Christian principles. And over and over we see that God is blessing in a powerful way, and then not long after that, this17:40 place called America started sending more missionaries overseas to share the gospel than we were receiving missionaries from overseas to share the gospel. And17:52 fast forward to about 18 82, In McKinney there was a little group of people that gathered together that became the seeds of what is now18:04 Cottonwood Creek church. And so as you think about the partnership and the gospel that they's heartbeat as a child of God, our greatest18:16 heartbeat as a church, our greatest desire as a people of the church, is we want to be people that continue to partner with the gospel. To now send the gospel around our18:28 country to North and South America, all around the world, to carry on what God had already done. So thought number 1, if you and I are gonna have a breakable, unbreakable joy, we've gotta live a connected life.18:40 It starts with cultivating a gratitude for the people in your life. Here's number 2. You have to have confidence in the ongoing work of God.18:54 When you think about your own life and you reflect back over your 20 24, would you say you're more spiritually put together than you were a year ago or less? When you think about those that19:06 are in your family, or those that are your friends, or those you hang out with, Are they more spiritually put together today than they were a year ago or less? Notice what Paul says in Philippians chapter19:18 1 verse 6. I I love these words. He says, I'm being confident of this, that he, everybody say God. He who began a good work in you will carry it19:30 on to completion. What is Paul saying? You're not the perfect church, you haven't arrived, you're not always there, but you need to have confidence that when God is working, he will complete19:41 it. You say, I don't get that pastor when I when I think about my own life. There are times that that that that man, I look pretty good and then I seem to slow down or I fall back or someone else around me19:53 or my kids or or my parents. Can I just tell you, I believe that it's a spiritual growth and spiritual walk of any individual and any people? It's much like a construction project. It's much like a construction project.20:04 A couple of weeks ago, we'll put some pictures up there, we called in. We had what was called a topping out part of party for our new student building and and atrium. Topping out means the roof was on. Now you can see20:15 the walls were on. We brought them in, fed them all. Then we walked around and toured the facilities. I I took pictures of this. Let me tell you, here's what we know about a construction project. Is that you break20:25 ground, everybody's excited, then it looks like a mess for a long, long time. How do you know what I'm talking about? And and you know you say, man what are you doing? It's like you're just playing in the dirt, they're20:36 digging holes, they're putting in pipes, they're laying cord, they're laying cable, and you're like, we need something to go up, right? And then all of a sudden the weather comes in and things stop. You have weather20:46 delays. Then they start putting stuff up and all of a sudden trash is everywhere and it looks messy and you're like, what is about to happen here? You ever walk around and you go, I don't get what that is?20:58 Or that looks like it's in the wrong place? And so here's the reality, a construction project can look like a mess all the way through to completion. But here's what you trust and believe,21:10 that behind that mess we call construction is an architect that had a plan. And as long as we follow that plan, even through weather delays and setbacks21:22 and struggles and even mess ups, if we get to the intended plan, it's going to be good. And so child of God, if you look around at others or even at yourself,21:35 and there's some yellow tape around you, or your others, some of us. We need yellow tape around our mouth, how many of us know? Or our fingers today on social media, you need some yellow tape around21:46 that. Right? Because you're a mess. Because we are not where God wants us to be yet, we are under construction along the way. And I love what Paul says, he says we have confidence in21:58 this, that the God who began a good work in you, even though the progress might be slow, even though the progress might be messy, even though the progress might experience delays, the22:10 architect who is God ultimately has a very clear vision for your life and my life. And a very clear plan for your life and my life. Do you know that? God's got a plan22:22 and a vision for your life. If you're online, God's got a plan and a vision for your life. Now sometimes I don't follow the plan. And that means that from time to time when I don't22:34 follow the plan, then God has to reroute me. It's kind of interesting that that there were there was a day, you younger folks won't know this, that when you would go somewhere, sometimes people would write down22:46 directions on a piece of paper. Go 3 miles here, take a left, go to or you would have a map scope. Today we have a phone. I can't make it to 7 11 without punching in on GPS. And I22:58 still make mistakes. Anybody ever had it? You're driving to a place and all of a sudden you're not paying attention, you get talking, whatever, and then all of a sudden you look up and the GPS is rerouting. See there23:10 are some of you, 20 24 was a rerouting year for you. That you got off course. You went in the wrong direction. Or maybe some of you it was your husband or wife or a son or a23:22 daughter. And you wonder, can God still get me there? Can I tell you? The architect of your life still has23:34 a vision for your life. He still has a plan for your life. The architect of your life, that God has a vision for your life. And if you've gotten off course, you're23:46 just in a season of rerouting. And if you'll make a commitment today to get on course, follow with daily disciplined habits, you'll find yourself looking more and23:57 more like what God wants you to look like. You see and so that's the call on our lives. If we're going to have an unbreakable joy, we have to cultivate what we have to cultivate an appreciation for the people in24:09 our life. We have to believe that God can finish the ongoing work in your life or in the lives of those around us. Here's number 3, we have to embrace the power of24:21 community. See that's what this whole taste of Cottonwood is about. Yeah we've got you a bible plan. We're gonna come in here and worship, but we also understand the power of community. What it means to24:33 truly walk together with other people. Look at Philippians chapter 1 verse 7, this is what Paul talks about. Here you see it in verse verse 1 verse 7, he says he says it is right for me to24:45 feel this way about you, joyful, believing that God's gonna complete the plan. He says it is right for me to feel this way about all of you. Guess what, everybody in the church at Philippi were not spiritual24:56 giants. Some of them looked like a mess. Some of them had drifted back. Some of them had gone off course. But he says, listen, here's what I know, you're someone God brought in my life, I'm gonna pray for you, I'm gonna25:08 love for you, I'm gonna have joy for you. He says, so it's right for me to feel this way about all of you. Since I have you in my heart, that's his love, his cultivating gratitude, and whether I am25:20 in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. I love that. He says every 1 of you. He says whether you're most25:31 spiritually fit or spiritually unfit, you all share in God's grace. Once you've trusted Christ as savior and lord, you've received the gospel. He said, that's community. See, the power of community is not that25:43 we are all spiritual giants. That's called a monastery. See, a church is where people at all different levels, all different levels of brokenness, some who are25:55 really coming back, they've found the path back, they can lead others back, and that's the power of community. Power of community is not that we all walk in here like we have it all together.26:07 The power of community is not that we walk in here acting like God's lucky to have us. The power of community is that we are all at different broken levels. There are some of you that26:19 are absolute spiritual giants today, but when we have a cup of coffee you tell me where you were 20 years ago. How many of us understand that story? I26:31 do. And you say golly if I could just get there. You want to know how you get there to wherever that spiritual giant is? It's 1 commitment followed by a daily habit of26:42 spiritual disciplines, of worship, getting in a group, reading God's word, serving others, being faithful steward. Now let's continue to read them. He says, you share in the gospel26:54 with me, God can testify how long, how I long for all of you, that's friendship, with the affection of Christ Jesus. What I see right here is the power of community and the power27:06 of the church is this. Paul says, here's some things I did for y'all. I taught you, I prayed for you, I loved you, I led you, I planted you. And then he says, but here's what you did for me. He says,27:18 you supported my ministry, you prayed for me, you loved for me, you sent provisions, you cared for me. See church and community, it is about a give and a take. Paul says listen, I gave to you and y'all27:30 gave to me. See what church is all about, church is not a place where I receive, receive, receive. It is a place where I receive and then I give. Let me tell you what, being a pastor, being on27:42 staff, it's not a place that we just give or just receive, it's we receive and we give. We give and we receive. And that's the power of community, that you want to say alright, man, I'm gonna be a part of27:54 worship, and where is my my gifts get and skill set? I'm not a skill set. I'm gonna read God's word. I'm gonna study God's word. I'm gonna go get in a group so we can do life together, because there's a power in28:04 community. I'm gonna serve others. Man, my children's or or singles or life group or whatever. I'm just gonna work in the parking lot. Not a good day to work in the parking lot. Be nice to those28:16 people. Alright? Be nice to those people that that find out a place to serve and then get financially fit and say, you know what God? It's all yours. I'm gonna be faithful in 20 25 to give back to28:27 you. So there's a power in community. Here's number 4. An unbreakable joy always deepens its love for God and others.28:40 You will never be joyful. You will never be happy if you are selfish. If everything's about you, you will never28:52 experience all that God has for you. Because it's not until we really take our eyes off our own selves and focus on others that we truly29:03 see an opportunity for ministry. To me, have a real act impact on someone else's life. Say, where do you see this? Verse 9. He says, this is my prayer. What is his prayer?29:16 That your love may abound more and more. Church, we want to be a church that loves God more in 20 25 than we did in 20 24.29:28 Church, we want to be a church that loves people more in 20 25 than we did in 20 24. Notice, he says, and this is my prayer, that you love your love29:40 may abound more and more in knowledge. They're studying God's word. We want to be a part of reading God's word daily. We want to be a part of worship. We want to sing. We want to study God's word. Knowledge and29:52 depth of insight. 1 of your goals this year is I'm gonna grow in my faith. I'm gonna grow in my Bible knowledge so that you may be able to discern what is best and30:04 may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Now notice what he says in verse 11. Filled with the fruit of righteousness. But notice, follow it up.30:16 It's not a pharisaical righteousness. He says a fruit of righteousness that is cultivated by God's word and God's people to the glory of God.30:29 See the difference between someone who has a pharisaical righteousness and a fruit of righteousness is the pharisaical righteousness wants all the glory to come to30:41 them. A true fruit of righteousness wants all the glory to go to him. Church, we want to be that kind of church.30:53 We want to live a life of connectedness. Let's cultivate a joy for the people God put in our lives. Let's do everything we can to trust the process that he who began31:05 a good work in me and you will be faithful and completed. Understanding we're all at different levels. Some of us are experiencing delays, weather, spiritual weather problems, different things.31:17 That we would also understand there is a power in community that comes nowhere else, and there's no more power in any community than there is in God's community. And then finally,31:30 we want to develop a greater love for God and others. 1 like we've never experienced before. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for this day. God, you31:41 know my heartbeat for this series. So we have so many people that are rolling into a new year broken and feeling forgotten or hurting. Maybe it's a lost loved 1 or a lost relationship or a31:53 financial struggle or a job. Maybe they're going through some stuff. God, I pray that we as a community would look at them and extend to them exactly what Paul says the32:05 Philippian believers did, that their love for God abounds, and the love for others abounds more and more. God, let us be that church32:17 filled with those kind of people. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen and Amen.In this video 0:00 Unbreakable Joy: Building a Connected Life
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