Return to First Love – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon)

In this sermon, Bill Johnson exhorts us to return to our first love, teaching from Revelation 2 on the church of Ephesus who operated in great spiritual authority, but lost their passion. God is reducing us to the simplicity of devotion to Christ, because that’s where our strength is. Bill leads into an encounter with Jesus by encouraging us to return to our first love.

oh thank you

thank you thank you

yeah yeah they work so hard for us

all the time

there we go

oops

how many of you have been

how many of you

would say the lord has been speaking to

you

in recent days recent weeks

about

first love

making sure that

that you have returned to your first

love that’s been a theme if you raise

your handstand

those who are watching

by bethel tv just join with us in this

one

i feel like the lord is

is going to take us back to some of our

beginnings

and

in some ways

our

teaching

realm has gone has grown bigger than our

heart realm

and the lord wants to

to keep us current and fresh

you can’t discover your significance

until you’ve discovered your

insignificance

nobody came to jesus because they were

powerful

they all came to jesus empty

and it’s it’s vital to maintain that and

the crazy part of this life with christ

is that we give him everything

and then he returns it to us many times

over

that’s not where it’s supposed to stop

we give everything again

and then he returns and we give

everything again it’s a cycle

of of life that we live as believers

we choose where to level off when we

become

consumers only

and not givers does that make sense

chief makes perfect sense to me i’m

saying amen to myself amen

here’s what i want to do i want those of

you that are sitting i want you to lay

hands on these that are standing

i just want you to lay hands on them

and there’s a good chance those of you

that are sitting

need this prayer too so while you’re

praying for them pray for yourself as

well

those of you that are standing together

some of you are standing there’s there’s

many people

that stood that are side by side back to

back just lay hands on each other here’s

what i want you to do i want you to pray

that a spirit of breakthrough would come

upon us as a people

where we would be restored to childhood

we would be restored to the simplicity

of devotion to christ and i’m going to

ask you to lift your voices i’m going to

ask no passive prayers right now those

of you that are standing i usually have

you remain quiet why people pray for you

this time i want you to pray as well

lift up your voices as well

returning to first love

pray those specific words

reignite in us god first love

jesus instructions

were to return to the deeds we did it

first lord i pray for a refreshing of

the heart and mind

to the simple deeds of devotion to

christ

every person to be touched by this truth

by this reality

don’t stop praying

this is not a two-minute prayer

those of you that just received prayer i

want you to lay hands on the people that

prayed for you

i want you to pray the same thing for

them

just pray god ignite in them

first love first love

thank you lord

okay go ahead and sit down

we’re going to pray again in just a

moment so don’t get too cozy

we need to go after this a little bit

and uh i’m just going to kind of try to

feel my way through on this one

um i it’s just uh being really provoked

and stirred up in me

if you could picture you know what a

grain of wheat is like

you have the stem and the wheat grows

and around each

grain of wheat is chaff

all

success

has chaff

which basically means every bit of

progress we make

has something to be discarded

not knowing that

has us actually embrace things

that the lord is wanting to free us from

they’re not evil things they’re just

unnecessary things

and i can i can just

feel it i i wish i had better language

but it won’t leave me alone so i’m not

gonna

i’m gonna keep talking until i say

something that’s what larry randolph

used to tell him

i’m gonna take keep talking until i say

something

i believe that the lord would bring us

into a place of personal intimacy and

personal breakthrough tonight not

someday but actually right now tonight

in in a in a way that’s fresh for us

every one of us there’s a door to

freshness

it doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean where i

was was wrong it just means there’s more

and i have to leave something behind to

get there

see you can only live where you’ve died

and so when he invites us to come

deeper

there’s actually that abandonment that

we come with we come with that

abandonment that surrender

it it doesn’t mean

even necessarily that anything is wrong

it just means that sometimes

we hold to things that are simply

unnecessary in the purpose in the plan

of god in our life

in revelation

chapter 2 is the

passage about first love

and the lord speaks to the church in

ephesus

and he compliments them first for what

they’ve done right

they were a church that understood

spiritual authority

unusually so

they were able to spot false apostles

they were able to

bring adjustment to order and structure

they did it well

but in the structuring of things they

lost the passion

they had good order

they had a good understanding of

government

but there’s this strange thing about

government in the bible

government’s not bad government is is

absolutely righteous and ordained of god

but the the one of the unusual

pictures of government in the bible

is when the book of revelation has

this unusual strange picture

of the bride

coming down out of heaven

four square fifteen hundred by fifteen

hundred by fifteen it’s just the most

unusual picture

and it gets kind of confusing until you

realize that all structure

is supposed to come out of romance

it’s keeping things tender

it’s keeping things

simple

the apostle paul talked about the

simplicity of devotion to christ it’s

one of my most favorite phrases that he

uses the simplicity of devotion

the problem with maturity

is you can become

impressed by your own growth

it’s still all by grace

on my best day it’s only by grace

it’s all by grace

and there’s something about remaining

childlike

i’ve been talking i i have a message for

tonight but i may just scrap it

well we’ll see i don’t know no promises

yet

but i’ve been talking a lot

in recent days about longevity

it’s really been on my heart

i’ve been noticing these people in

scripture

that some did well some didn’t

and some of you perhaps were here when i

talked about hezekiah i’ve done it quite

a few times in recent months

and he he did so good he was my favorite

reformer

one perhaps my two most favorite

reformers in all of history

and yet he ended so poorly

and something happened

where he lost the tenderness

he lost the fire

he still maintained the routine

he still i’m sure gave the sacrifices to

the lord

they still had the songs they still had

the worship because he restored davidic

worship

but something happened here

when

he has a history

of when there’s a crisis to cry out to

god

they’re surrounded by enemy nations

absolutely about to be destroyed they

cry out to god god gives them prophetic

direction they take it god delivers them

isaiah told him

you have a disease from which you’re

going to die

he cries out to god

god brings a word to him i’m going to

add 15 years to your life

but when he becomes complacent

he received

he misbehaved

and the lord brought a word

that there was going to be great

difficulty for his own descendants

specifically his own sons

would be carried off to babylon and made

eunuchs

he has a history with god

he cries out to god god meets him and

there’s deliverance he cries out to god

god meets him there’s deliverance

he received the worst possible news in

his life

but it came at a time when he was

complacent

and he failed to respond

with childlike faith to get a

breakthrough

sometimes we

we grow past our passion

sometimes we grow past

that fire

in us

and i’m

saying

most all of this

as a personal

confession of determination

to make sure that i keep

things simple here

we didn’t get to this place we are

because we were intelligent

i believe in intelligence sanctified

intelligence is glorious i i have

friends that i’m so

i admire them so much the brilliance

that god’s given them i look at some of

the teaching gifts that we have in this

house i’m i’m stunned by the brilliance

that comes out of their lips week after

week after week i’m thankful for insight

i’m thankful for intelligence i’m

thankful for revelation knowledge of the

word

but what i can’t afford to do

is to let this

get bigger than this

and i can feel it

i can feel it i can feel it’s like it’s

at hand

it’s at hand for me

it’s at hand for me i can feel it i can

feel

that my heart right now needs to expand

at a faster rate

he’s wanting to give me more insight i

know he is i know he is

i know that his heart

is to satisfy the quest that we have

to perceive his ways

to perceive his

his um

his his his purpose and plan

for why he has brought us together from

the four corners there

there’s many places around the world in

which god is moving and this happens to

be one and i’m so thankful

but none of it

is because

of any of our significance

i remind you the lord spoke to israel

and he said i chose you because you were

the least

run that over in your head a few times

the moment you start becoming impressed

with your success

remember all success has chaff

it has good

but it also has something worth

a burning message huh

but i i i’ll do it again later when i

get my act together but right now

i’m just bumbling through this

i i believe

that tonight we’re to have an altar call

in which all of us come

and to make it work i may just bring the

altar to you

i i do believe i believe we’re supposed

to pray

into

this next

i want to say season

but for me it’s this next moment

i’m not thinking about my potential i’m

not thinking about my goals my vision

i we’re supposed to carry those and

that’s that’s the bulk of what we

emphasize here

we talk mostly about our identity and

where we’re headed the assignment god’s

given us we’re here to shape the course

of world history i believe all that but

in this moment

all i am

is a son

that needs a dad

a father

a wonderful father

and i was thinking earlier today about

this

statement jesus made in matthew 6 33 he

said

seek

first

the kingdom of god

and his righteousness

and all these things will be added to

you say that with me

seek first the kingdom of god

and his righteousness

and all these things will be added unto

you say it again

seek first

the kingdom of god

and his righteousness

and all these things shall be added to

you

let me tell you what that means to me

it means that

every action

every thought

every ambition

every possession

everything about my life

i am to seek first

the absolute dominion

of a perfect loving father

until his own nature

flows in and through me

seeking first his righteousness his very

person his very being his very nature is

evident and seen in and through me

it’s not that we’re to decrease or

disappear

but his significance

is really

the only place

i have found significance

and so

i want us to just pray into some

adjustments i’m not sure how to do it we

may pray five minutes

and

do something else

and then again this may be it

so i want you to stand again

i realize this might be awkward for

those who are watching

on bethel tv but if there’s a group of

you together

i would encourage you to pray into this

i just have this sense i believe the

lord will give us better language

in the weeks and months to come

but i’ve got this sense that jesus is

awakening something in this let me tell

you

let me tell you

let me tell you something else

[Applause]

as long as i’ve got you standing

i have said i

rarely

in the 40-some years of ministry

when i’m going through something i do

personally when i’m having a challenge

or uh um

a trial or an opportunity or whatever it

might be

i i avoid like the plague

assuming that what i’m facing everyone

else is facing

because sometimes the lord just deals

personally i’ve heard people prophesy

stuff and i could tell man they’re in

pain

they’re in pain and they think all of us

are in pain too you know it’s like

they’re trying to share their misery and

and and sometimes we just do that but

i’ve i’ve avoided that like to play

because i i learned early in life that

god deals with this uniquely and

differently but i’ve been talking i’ve

been talking to many friends

and

i’ve come to a conclusion

that at least for me and those i’ve

talked to

the strongest

battle

over thoughts

and over the mind

has been fought

in the last 12 months that i would say

probably any 10-year period of my life

and the answer isn’t greater

intelligence

the answer the answer

is return to first love keep it simple

let the father protect

the others thing to do

what to think about what to dwell on

what to pray for i get all that

but it starts with

just returning to simple devotion to

christ

and not add him

to our agenda

but once again lay all agendas down

and watch what he adds life to

grab a hand

yes we are feely touchy people

some of you aren’t and it’s your cross

to remain here with us

i want you to pray

i want you to pray for yourself

out loud

no wimpy prayers

i want you to pray for the ones on your

right and left

i want you to pray god help us

help us

help us return to simplicity of devotion

help us in every single way

to return to first love

we’re going to do this for a couple

minutes

return to first love in every possible

way

thank you lord god

thank you lord

just keep praying

but get into groups of two three four

people and pray for each other

keep praying but just get into small

groups and pray for each other

just keep praying but just lay hands on

one another pray

pray

two three four people keep it small

but just pray

lay hands on each other

pray god awaken us

awaken us

awaken us to first love first love

simplicity of devotion to christ

terrific

hmm

thank

thank you lord

thank you thank you lord

some of you actually feel the need to

come to the front and just pray and i’m

going to invite you just to come to the

front and pray

you just you felt it earlier when i

mentioned altar call just follow that

not everyone needs to but if it’s in

your heart just come

just come to the front and pray feel

like we’re just supposed to we’re

supposed to go after this tonight more

than anything else

come

let us

adore

him

oh come

let us

adore

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in christ

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let

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for you alone are worthy

for

you

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we give you all the glory

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give you

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cries

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here

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i will give

you all my worship

i’ll give

you all my praise

you know

i want

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i will give

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you are

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i want to ask some of the staff that

might be able to just start laying hands

people just pray if you’re having that

moment with the lord you go ahead and

just do that but if you’re

otherwise you’re able to just join us

some of our third year some of our

ministry team if you’re able to join us

just just start praying for people

we just want to pray you know what let’s

do this let’s just pray for a fresh

baptism of the holy spirit a fresh

baptism a fresh

outpouring of the spirit of god

upon people every person

every person in the rose those who have

come up front

every single person

that jesus would give a fresh touch

a fresh touch the lord is giving us

access to a whole new season a whole new

season a whole new season

a whole new period of time

i want to go in like a child i don’t

want to go in like an expert i want to

go in like a child

thank you lord god

thank you thank you lord god

yeah those of you that are able to just

help us and pray

help us and pray for people

we pray for this lord we pray for a

mighty

mighty outpouring

mighty outpouring to begin even here

right now

with us in this moment

bring about the increase for your glory

god

bring about the increase for your glory

show us your ways teach us how you move

teach us how you move lord

especially those who have come to the

front to pray i want to encourage you

lift your voice

lift your voice and ask very

specifically of the lord what you’ve

come forward for

many of you have been touched by the

lord just a prompting to cry out for him

lift your voice up lift your voice up

bold prayers bring bold answers

thank you lord god

wonderful jesus wonderful wonderful god

thank you thank you thank you lord

some of our ministry team can even help

us too

if you’d like to just start laying hands

people around you we

i want us just to be immersed in this

time of prayer before we do anything

else

immersed in this time of prayer

before we do anything else

god help us to be fresh

help us to be current

not just living off of yesterday’s

breakthrough

not just living off of yesterday’s

obedience

but to be current and fresh

in our ongoing surrender to you for the

glory of the name jesus

the glory of the name jesus

thank you lord

wonderful lord jesus

now i want to ask you to do something

that’s somewhat awkward to do but we’re

going to try it anyway

i haven’t asked this in a lot of years

i i want i want everyone

to leave your seat

and to try to come towards the front

we can’t all fit i get it

but i want us to try

and i’ll tell you why in a moment you

can get up on the stairs but not the

stage if you want to move up on those

stairs that’s fine

but i just feel like we’re supposed to

get in close

stand together

just squeeze in close if you’re able to

stand yourself

if you can’t that’s all right stay where

you are

some of you that were in the back rows

can move up into the second third fourth

row we just want to get in close here

there’s no rhyme or reason to it except

sometimes you need to move to have

something happen

it’s the truth

why do you think jesus

told the blind man to go and wash in a

pool

there was no magic in the water

he just needed to leave where he was

and sometimes

i’ve watched for years

sometimes just getting people from where

they’re seated to the aisle is where

their healing is

it’s very simple

but sometimes movement is necessary

you know if you want to crowd around up

here that’s fine

just i don’t i don’t want to get away of

tv and instruments but just moving close

the first time i did this here

was 22 years ago

and a few months

the church was tired

they had been without a pastor for eight

months

penny and i and the kids just showed up

we could tell they were retired i asked

everyone to come to the front like this

they crowded around the front

and i invited the holy spirit to come

and he came in power

upon one person

[Laughter]

right here

what he did

one person

and benny and i looked at each other

and we said we’ve got it

it is now unstoppable

refuse to be impressed

or discouraged by size or amounts

feed from what he’s doing

now

i’ve got you right where i want you

[Laughter]

best best altar call i’ve had all day

never mind i made you come to the front

that’s all right

now listen to this

if you endure chastening

god deals with you as sons

for what son is there whom a father does

not chasten

if you are without chastening

of which all have become partakers

then you are illegitimate and not sons

all

growth

is rewarded with pruning

that’s the chaff

all success

has something that needs to burn

his discipline isn’t punishment

it’s preparation for even greater

breakthrough

now

here’s what i wanted you to hear

jesus said i’m the true vine my father’s

divine dresser

every branch in me that does not bear

fruit he takes away

every branch that bears fruit he prunes

guess what that is

discipline

pruning

smile at me

he prunes it that it may bear more fruit

now if you catch

this next verse and what it means

it can change the rest of your life

jesus then turns to the 12 and he says

you are clean already

the word clean there is the word prune

he says you are clean already

because of the word i’ve spoken to you

pruning does not have to be hard

circumstances

if you’re listening to god

pruning

is listening

pruning is listening

you came forward tonight because you’re

listening

i mean honestly

we’ve been sensing this stirring

first love

making sure that we’re current fresh in

our simple devotion to christ what is

that listening what is he doing he’s

pruning he’s trimming back the parts in

our thinking our values our ambitions

our plans that are just not necessary

he’s reducing us to the simplicity of

devotion to christ because that’s where

our strength is that’s where our

strength is

oh come let us

adore

him

oh come

[Music]

we give you all the glory

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give you

[Music]

thank you lord

thank you

if you can see that the lord is touching

someone close to you just put your hand

on them bless them

i can just see the spirit of god

touching so many

this right here

just touch her yeah

yeah just

just just

just pray

just pray one for another yeah right

just touch it right here

yeah

bless the lord jesus

talk to the lord jesus

yep

yeah

thank you thank you

[Music]

foreign

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day

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

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just lift up a spiritual song to the

lord just lift up a spiritual song

lift up a spiritual song

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foreign

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[Applause]

beautiful

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

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of us

[Music]

[Applause]

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know

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

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and i’m

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you know

[Music]

sing that song with me turn your eyes

upon jesus

it’s an old old hymn

turn

your eyes

upon jesus

look for

in his wonder

full faith

and the

things of

earth

will grow strains

[Music]

sing it again

turn

[Music]

his wonder

face

and the things

[Music]

we’re going to sing that song again i

don’t think it’s possible

for anyone to write a song like that

except out of an encounter

i don’t think you can have an idea and

sit down and write a song like that

this is written by somebody who saw him

and nothing else mattered

it’s hard to explain but nothing else

matters

and that’s why

we’re here tonight

is so that nothing else matters

that’s what seek first the kingdom is

all the other stuff he deals with

because it no longer matters

turn

your

eyes

upon jesus

[Music]

look holy

in his

wonderful face

and the things

earth

[Music]

one last time

turn

your

eyes upon jesus

look for

in his

wonderful face

and the things

on earth

[Music]

and the things

[Music]

and

grace

and the

things

earth

will grow strength

[Music]

his glory

one of the most favorite quotes

i heard in this past year

was if you want to know how popular

church is

look at the attendance sunday morning

if you want to know how popular the

pastor is

look at the attendance sunday night

if you want to know how popular god is

look at the attendance in a prayer

meeting

it’s for that reason

all that is in my heart for tonight is

just

simplify

everything

and all the

anxious stuff set aside

because of the one thing

so lift your voices again

just began to pray

god

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painful

[Applause]

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[Applause]

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okay

we have

fires

burning

in that

direction turn and face in that

direction

and ask god in his mercy

to stop the fires

to protect the firemen

protect the property

i want you to ask the lord in his mercy

to do what is naturally impossible

in the same way that jesus spoke peace

to a storm

i want you to peace speak peace

to this firestorm

that is

decimating

this part of the country

jesus spoke peace to a storm

speak peace to this storm

we speak peace to you in jesus name

peace to you in jesus name

thank you lord

peace to you in jesus name

take just a moment longer i feel like

we’re supposed to

kind of wrap things up with this i want

you to pray

concerning this firestorm

just peace

just peace peace

pray in the spirit if you can

just peace

peace

thank you lord

all right you did good go ahead and turn

around face me we’ll wrap this up in

just a moment

um it’d be appropriate for me to find

out if there’s anyone here

that would just say uh bill i need to

get right with god

you either have never

committed your life to christ before

or you’ve been doing your own thing for

so long you know that you just need to

renew

your confession of faith to christ

if that’s anyone here

put a hand up

because we’re just going to make an

agreement right here

just right over here another one right

there

those of you that are around them

i want you to pray very specifically

those of you that are around these

i want you to pray very specifically

lead them into a prayer of repentance i

want us to glass

to gloss over this

was there anyone else there’s three here

that i could see

if i miss somebody then you that are

around them it’s your job

pray them through right now

thank you now the rest of you

i want you to put a hand on somebody’s

shoulder

and i want you to pray

that in their heart of hearts

listen carefully because you’re going to

pray a scary prayer

in their heart of hearts

god would become popular

by their hunger for prayer meetings

i’m very serious

listen to me carefully sometimes it’s

our own vision that makes us restless

when it’s time to pray

sometimes it’s our own ambition

that makes us restless when it’s time

for corporate prayer

dial it down return to the ambition of

the lord return to the heart of the lord

i want you to pray that for one another

take a couple minutes for this then

we’ll wrap it

the ambition of god

to be our ambition

the rest of god to be our rest

wonderful wonderful jesus

wonderful jesus

now just ask the lord to double the

anointing on their lives

double portion time for double portion

time for double push

go for it

double double double

thank you lord

all right

that’s the best message i never preached

that’s right

sometimes it’s just time to pray

i really i am thankful that that you’re

willing just to to move with the lord in

that because sometimes it’s just time to

pray

sometimes all i want to do is lay on the

floor and just cry

you know sometimes

yeah

enough said

and uh so we’re we’re gonna do a fire

tunnel tonight and that’ll be very

powerful because it is so thick up here

right now

uh i can hardly wait to do this

so here’s what i’m going to do

somebody’s in charge from this point on

and i’m going to have them come up here

let me ask you to do this if you need to

go obviously you’ve been free to go all

night

but if you can

return to your seats

and gabe is going to come up here and

give instructions

ministry team come to the front and

we’re going to start setting it up for

we want to lay hands on people i i

really feel there’s a breakthrough

anointing here i i would just dismiss

you except

it’s tangible it’s tangible right here

let’s go for it all right

[Music]

you

Return to First Love – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

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ONLINE SERMONS BY FAMOUS PREACHERS

WHAT DO WE DO?

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION STATEMENT

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ONLINE SERMONS BY FAMOUS PREACHERS

WHAT DO WE DO?

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

HOW TO USE SERMON ONLINE

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION STATEMENT

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