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Allen Jackson Ministries

Alan Jackson - God's Indispensable Word (Part 1)

June 30, 2026 | 27:29

Alan Jackson - God's Indispensable Word (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#WordofGod #Season #Leadership #Community #Healing #Children #Authority #Politics #Nations #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Alan Jackson - God's Indispensable Word (Part 1) | June 30, 2026
  • ...
  • 00:00:00.633 --> 00:00:01.316
  • Allen jackson: we have a new resource for you.
  • 00:00:01.750 --> 00:00:02.985
  • I'm really excited about this.
  • 00:00:03.118 --> 00:00:04.319
  • It's a book. it's a booklet.
  • 00:00:04.420 --> 00:00:05.654
  • It's a small book called "your identity in christ."
  • 00:00:05.788 --> 00:00:06.688
  • It was derived from years of teaching and leading in the
  • 00:00:08.590 --> 00:00:11.427
  • Context of the church.
  • 00:00:11.427 --> 00:00:12.928
  • We're walking through a season, folks, when there's so much
  • 00:00:12.928 --> 00:00:14.630
  • Confusion about our identity.
  • 00:00:14.630 --> 00:00:16.532
  • We put this together to help you understand who you are in
  • 00:00:16.532 --> 00:00:19.268
  • Christ, not just about your salvation, but so that you can
  • 00:00:19.268 --> 00:00:22.204
  • Lead a triumphant, victorious, overcoming life.
  • 00:00:22.204 --> 00:00:25.774
  • We built it for an individual read.
  • 00:00:25.774 --> 00:00:27.209
  • It's great for a small group.
  • 00:00:27.209 --> 00:00:28.677
  • It's a great resource for your kitchen table time as a family
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  • With children or grandchildren.
  • 00:00:31.814 --> 00:00:33.715
  • If you know who you are in christ, it changes everything
  • 00:00:33.715 --> 00:00:36.952
  • About the landscape of your life.
  • 00:00:36.952 --> 00:00:39.054
  • I'm righteous in the sight of god.
  • 00:00:39.054 --> 00:00:41.423
  • I can stand before god without fear, guilt, or condemnation.
  • 00:00:41.423 --> 00:00:45.394
  • Those are such important foundational principles to get
  • 00:00:45.394 --> 00:00:48.564
  • Secure in your heart, around your table with the people you
  • 00:00:48.564 --> 00:00:51.967
  • Care about, in your small groups, with your friends.
  • 00:00:51.967 --> 00:00:54.536
  • Your identity in christ, it's a game changer.
  • 00:00:54.536 --> 00:00:57.172
  • I believe it will add momentum to your spiritual growth in
  • 00:00:57.172 --> 00:01:00.075
  • This season.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 aberdeen.io
  • 00:01:09.318 --> 00:01:18.026
  • Allen: we've been talking about leading with faith, and i really
  • 00:01:22.264 --> 00:01:25.467
  • Chose this as a theme for this year, because it seems to me
  • 00:01:25.467 --> 00:01:27.970
  • That we need a new generation of leaders.
  • 00:01:27.970 --> 00:01:30.072
  • There's a leadership deficit in our nation.
  • 00:01:30.072 --> 00:01:32.975
  • Not a lack of people with titles, or positions, or an
  • 00:01:32.975 --> 00:01:36.912
  • Imagination of authority, but there is a lack of godly
  • 00:01:36.912 --> 00:01:40.349
  • Influence, and for that to increase, we need people who
  • 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:45.154
  • Understand that their lives comes with influence, and
  • 00:01:45.154 --> 00:01:47.956
  • They're willing to use the godliness of their lives as a
  • 00:01:47.956 --> 00:01:50.392
  • Factor in that influence, so that character becomes a key
  • 00:01:50.392 --> 00:01:55.063
  • Component of our leadership.
  • 00:01:55.063 --> 00:01:56.732
  • Not our talent, not our gifts, not our physical skills, or
  • 00:01:56.732 --> 00:02:02.304
  • Abilities, or intellectual acumen, or the resources we can
  • 00:02:02.304 --> 00:02:05.440
  • Accumulate, but the formation of our character.
  • 00:02:05.440 --> 00:02:08.810
  • It will change the people around you.
  • 00:02:08.810 --> 00:02:10.445
  • It will change how you interact with people.
  • 00:02:10.445 --> 00:02:12.481
  • It will change the quality of our homes, our communities, our
  • 00:02:12.481 --> 00:02:15.484
  • Schools, our congregations, and ultimately our nation.
  • 00:02:15.484 --> 00:02:19.955
  • It won't start from the top down, it will start in
  • 00:02:19.955 --> 00:02:22.991
  • Our homes.
  • 00:02:22.991 --> 00:02:24.359
  • So, i'm not encouraging you to learn how to gather stadiums
  • 00:02:24.359 --> 00:02:26.128
  • Filled with people, or hundreds of thousands of followers on
  • 00:02:26.128 --> 00:02:30.432
  • Media platforms, i'm encouraging you to give attention to the
  • 00:02:30.432 --> 00:02:33.735
  • Formation of your character, so that the influence of your life
  • 00:02:33.735 --> 00:02:36.605
  • Reflects a commitment and a devotion to godliness, and
  • 00:02:36.605 --> 00:02:39.308
  • Holiness, and purity that is stable and foundational for the
  • 00:02:39.308 --> 00:02:43.712
  • People who interact with you.
  • 00:02:43.712 --> 00:02:46.381
  • It's a different life goal, and it's one that has for too long
  • 00:02:46.381 --> 00:02:50.085
  • Been pushed aside or relegated to something that is secondary.
  • 00:02:50.085 --> 00:02:53.922
  • It's a slower way.
  • 00:02:53.922 --> 00:02:56.825
  • It's easier to grow tomato plants than oak trees.
  • 00:02:56.825 --> 00:03:00.762
  • And if you're going to see to the formation of godly
  • 00:03:00.762 --> 00:03:02.664
  • Character, you'll have to defer some things in your life.
  • 00:03:02.664 --> 00:03:06.001
  • You'll defer gratification.
  • 00:03:06.001 --> 00:03:07.502
  • You'll defer some things, but it's worthwhile.
  • 00:03:07.502 --> 00:03:12.374
  • And so, we're takin' a few weeks to try to understand that a
  • 00:03:12.374 --> 00:03:15.043
  • Little better.
  • 00:03:15.043 --> 00:03:16.378
  • We've talked about the value of remembering the deliverances in
  • 00:03:16.378 --> 00:03:20.682
  • Our lives, maintaining a good-news list, both a personal
  • 00:03:20.682 --> 00:03:26.421
  • List, those times in your life when unquestionably,
  • 00:03:26.421 --> 00:03:28.824
  • Unmistakably, god has shown you grace, and mercy, and kindness.
  • 00:03:28.824 --> 00:03:33.328
  • He brought freedom, or deliverance, or he opened a
  • 00:03:33.328 --> 00:03:35.631
  • Door, or he--in some way you can say that outcome was better
  • 00:03:35.631 --> 00:03:39.401
  • Because something happened beyond myself.
  • 00:03:39.401 --> 00:03:42.371
  • You wanna maintain that list.
  • 00:03:42.371 --> 00:03:43.705
  • You want to give attention to it.
  • 00:03:43.705 --> 00:03:45.073
  • You want to recite it.
  • 00:03:45.073 --> 00:03:46.408
  • You want to live with it.
  • 00:03:46.408 --> 00:03:47.776
  • You want it to become a part of your present, and not just some
  • 00:03:47.776 --> 00:03:50.579
  • Occasional visit with your past.
  • 00:03:50.579 --> 00:03:53.548
  • In addition to that, i've encouraged you to build a
  • 00:03:53.548 --> 00:03:55.417
  • Broader list that includes truth breakthroughs that are beyond
  • 00:03:55.417 --> 00:03:59.187
  • Your life, and your home, and your family.
  • 00:03:59.187 --> 00:04:01.957
  • We're walking through a season of lawlessness and deception
  • 00:04:01.957 --> 00:04:05.927
  • That are certainly unprecedented in recent decades for our lives,
  • 00:04:05.927 --> 00:04:10.465
  • And when deception is rampant, and many people find it in
  • 00:04:10.465 --> 00:04:13.702
  • Broad-scale ways, find it inconvenient to acknowledge god,
  • 00:04:13.702 --> 00:04:17.839
  • It's important to be aware and to acknowledge what god
  • 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.309
  • Is doing.
  • 00:04:20.309 --> 00:04:22.344
  • And don't decry the fact that major outlets aren't doing that,
  • 00:04:22.344 --> 00:04:26.548
  • You just decide to be an outlet for that.
  • 00:04:26.548 --> 00:04:29.117
  • You start to pay attention to what god is doing.
  • 00:04:29.117 --> 00:04:32.254
  • You'll see it in different ways.
  • 00:04:32.254 --> 00:04:34.723
  • You'll see truth break into the public square that has been
  • 00:04:34.723 --> 00:04:38.293
  • Pushed aside, or discredited, or censored in previous weeks
  • 00:04:38.293 --> 00:04:42.931
  • Or months.
  • 00:04:42.931 --> 00:04:44.766
  • This habit will enable us to pray with far greater
  • 00:04:44.766 --> 00:04:47.035
  • Confidence, and it will awaken you on a daily basis, in a
  • 00:04:47.035 --> 00:04:51.106
  • Greater way, to your essential role as a leader in our world.
  • 00:04:51.106 --> 00:04:55.277
  • Not because you have great power, or an important title,
  • 00:04:55.277 --> 00:04:58.280
  • But because the creator of all things knows you.
  • 00:04:58.280 --> 00:05:02.117
  • Our prayers initiate activity in the kingdom of our lord, and
  • 00:05:02.117 --> 00:05:05.253
  • That impacts the kingdoms of this world.
  • 00:05:05.253 --> 00:05:08.623
  • If we don't believe that, don't sit in church.
  • 00:05:08.623 --> 00:05:12.461
  • Now, if you're exploring christianity, by all means, you
  • 00:05:12.461 --> 00:05:14.496
  • Come, but if you're a decades-old church sitter, and
  • 00:05:14.496 --> 00:05:16.832
  • You don't believe that's true, change, it's important.
  • 00:05:16.832 --> 00:05:25.640
  • If we're not aware and we're not involved, we will
  • 00:05:25.640 --> 00:05:29.077
  • Forfeit opportunities.
  • 00:05:29.077 --> 00:05:30.412
  • And i don't intend to be a part of a generation that forfeits
  • 00:05:30.412 --> 00:05:32.681
  • The kingdom opportunities presented to us.
  • 00:05:32.681 --> 00:05:35.917
  • So, start to keep your good-news list, your personal one, your
  • 00:05:35.917 --> 00:05:38.653
  • Broader one.
  • 00:05:38.653 --> 00:05:39.988
  • There's some things we're specifically praying for.
  • 00:05:39.988 --> 00:05:41.690
  • I believe we need to pray for the healing, and the division,
  • 00:05:41.690 --> 00:05:44.393
  • And the hatred in our nation.
  • 00:05:44.393 --> 00:05:46.795
  • We're too divided.
  • 00:05:46.795 --> 00:05:48.130
  • We've been pitted against one another, it's evil.
  • 00:05:48.130 --> 00:05:52.667
  • We are one nation under god.
  • 00:05:52.667 --> 00:05:54.102
  • We've been saying that as a matter of habit and routine my
  • 00:05:54.102 --> 00:05:56.838
  • Entire life, and i won't yield that.
  • 00:05:56.838 --> 00:06:00.909
  • Monday is a day to honor dr. martin luther king, jr.
  • 00:06:00.909 --> 00:06:03.545
  • It's a good day to pray for healing in our nation.
  • 00:06:03.545 --> 00:06:07.249
  • Dr. king gave his life for the dream that in this nation, we
  • 00:06:07.249 --> 00:06:10.285
  • Would not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content
  • 00:06:10.285 --> 00:06:14.423
  • Of our character.
  • 00:06:14.423 --> 00:06:16.691
  • We cannot relinquish that vision.
  • 00:06:16.691 --> 00:06:18.827
  • I believe it was inspired by god in his heart, and we won't
  • 00:06:18.827 --> 00:06:23.298
  • Yield it.
  • 00:06:23.298 --> 00:06:24.666
  • Because even in the moment, if you think it's trending in your
  • 00:06:24.666 --> 00:06:26.768
  • Direction, if we step away from that, it will bring destructive
  • 00:06:26.768 --> 00:06:31.406
  • Things to all of us.
  • 00:06:31.406 --> 00:06:33.708
  • Pray for the unborn, they need your voice, they can't use their
  • 00:06:33.708 --> 00:06:38.580
  • Own yet, and they're being sacrificed daily for no higher
  • 00:06:38.580 --> 00:06:41.983
  • Purpose than convenience.
  • 00:06:41.983 --> 00:06:45.253
  • Thousands of children, on a daily basis, almost 3,000
  • 00:06:45.253 --> 00:06:48.690
  • Children a day.
  • 00:06:48.690 --> 00:06:51.760
  • Lives are terminated in this nation, and we support it as an
  • 00:06:51.760 --> 00:06:56.665
  • Export factor to the nations of the world.
  • 00:06:56.665 --> 00:06:59.034
  • It's not a uniquely american sin by any means, it's a global
  • 00:06:59.034 --> 00:07:02.537
  • Problem, but this is where god has planted us.
  • 00:07:02.537 --> 00:07:08.276
  • Three-thousand children a day, and yet we continue to support
  • 00:07:08.276 --> 00:07:11.213
  • Politicians and political parties who brazenly advocate
  • 00:07:11.213 --> 00:07:14.683
  • For such a heinous behavior.
  • 00:07:14.683 --> 00:07:16.318
  • It's unthinkable for the christians.
  • 00:07:16.318 --> 00:07:19.821
  • And we have all sorts of dances, well, we have different
  • 00:07:19.821 --> 00:07:21.790
  • Priorities, no, no.
  • 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:30.031
  • Pray for leaders who fear god and protect our country.
  • 00:07:30.031 --> 00:07:34.402
  • It's an important prayer to pray.
  • 00:07:34.402 --> 00:07:35.770
  • It's not about political parties or particular politicians, pray
  • 00:07:35.770 --> 00:07:38.640
  • For those in authority over us.
  • 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:40.008
  • It's a biblical assignment.
  • 00:07:40.008 --> 00:07:42.310
  • But our borders have to be secure, or we will forfeit our
  • 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:46.715
  • Freedoms and liberties.
  • 00:07:46.715 --> 00:07:48.049
  • That's not even a question, it's a reality.
  • 00:07:48.049 --> 00:07:50.485
  • We've become more vulnerable with each day.
  • 00:07:50.485 --> 00:07:53.021
  • We've become more vulnerable in middle tennessee, or wherever
  • 00:07:53.021 --> 00:07:55.524
  • You're listening,
  • 00:07:55.524 --> 00:07:56.892
  • Each day that passes, and our borders remain open, and they
  • 00:07:56.892 --> 00:08:01.630
  • Are open.
  • 00:08:01.630 --> 00:08:03.732
  • As many as two million illegal people flooded into our nation
  • 00:08:03.732 --> 00:08:07.102
  • Last year.
  • 00:08:07.102 --> 00:08:08.470
  • That is reported to us, and we're coming to understand the
  • 00:08:08.470 --> 00:08:10.872
  • Reporting that comes to us is a little fuzzy.
  • 00:08:10.872 --> 00:08:14.576
  • And now it's openly being discussed, not as a part of some
  • 00:08:14.576 --> 00:08:17.412
  • Voting bill, it's being discussed apart from any
  • 00:08:17.412 --> 00:08:20.815
  • Legislative action, just as a fiat of people with authority,
  • 00:08:20.815 --> 00:08:25.420
  • That non-citizens be allowed to vote in our elections,
  • 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:30.492
  • It's unimaginable.
  • 00:08:30.492 --> 00:08:33.295
  • Why wouldn't we just send ballots to china, or south
  • 00:08:33.295 --> 00:08:39.167
  • America, or africa, or wherever else?
  • 00:08:39.167 --> 00:08:44.139
  • And if we're gonna--millions of illegal immigrants and allowing
  • 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:48.043
  • Them to vote will end the rule of law in our nation.
  • 00:08:48.043 --> 00:08:52.881
  • It'll be finished.
  • 00:08:52.881 --> 00:08:54.249
  • Wake up, pray, don't be angry.
  • 00:08:54.249 --> 00:08:57.652
  • Now, on the other side of this equation, there is consistent
  • 00:08:57.652 --> 00:09:00.155
  • Good news, day after day, week after week.
  • 00:09:00.155 --> 00:09:02.324
  • We see it break into the public square.
  • 00:09:02.324 --> 00:09:06.161
  • You know, for two years now, we have been enthralled with the
  • 00:09:06.161 --> 00:09:09.497
  • Discussions around covid-19.
  • 00:09:09.497 --> 00:09:11.199
  • It's real, i've done enough funerals, it's real.
  • 00:09:11.199 --> 00:09:13.568
  • I'm not suggesting it isn't, but covid-19 information is far more
  • 00:09:13.568 --> 00:09:17.572
  • Available, and misinformation is slowly being revealed, day after
  • 00:09:17.572 --> 00:09:20.609
  • Day, and week after week.
  • 00:09:20.609 --> 00:09:22.677
  • That's good news, because it gives us better tools to
  • 00:09:22.677 --> 00:09:26.114
  • Navigate with, to make decisions with.
  • 00:09:26.114 --> 00:09:29.250
  • The hospitalization and death rates have been over-reported.
  • 00:09:29.250 --> 00:09:32.887
  • That's very good news.
  • 00:09:32.887 --> 00:09:34.222
  • Again, not to be reckless, or calloused, or casual, we need to
  • 00:09:34.222 --> 00:09:38.493
  • Be prudent and wise, but it's good to know.
  • 00:09:38.493 --> 00:09:42.097
  • The cdc this past week said that the cloth masks that have been
  • 00:09:42.097 --> 00:09:47.969
  • So much advocated are not helpful with the virus.
  • 00:09:47.969 --> 00:09:52.440
  • That's good news to have back in the public square.
  • 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:56.344
  • Not very many weeks ago, you'd be censored for such
  • 00:09:56.344 --> 00:09:59.114
  • Reckless statements.
  • 00:09:59.114 --> 00:10:03.118
  • I would submit we need to pray.
  • 00:10:03.118 --> 00:10:05.253
  • There's too much government money in healthcare.
  • 00:10:05.253 --> 00:10:10.625
  • Oh, i understand the advantages, the cost advantages.
  • 00:10:10.625 --> 00:10:14.963
  • We'd prefer it to be free, but if our healthcare is
  • 00:10:14.963 --> 00:10:18.266
  • Predominantly supported by government money, there is
  • 00:10:18.266 --> 00:10:21.503
  • Tremendous temptation to manipulate the truth in order to
  • 00:10:21.503 --> 00:10:24.339
  • Keep the money, and the pressure's too great.
  • 00:10:24.339 --> 00:10:31.713
  • I'm not indicting anybody, i'm tellin' you, folks, it's a
  • 00:10:31.713 --> 00:10:33.948
  • Slippery slope.
  • 00:10:33.948 --> 00:10:35.283
  • Let's accept responsibility for our wellbeing.
  • 00:10:35.283 --> 00:10:37.852
  • The government is not god, it's an idol.
  • 00:10:37.852 --> 00:10:41.923
  • They cannot secure our future.
  • 00:10:41.923 --> 00:10:47.529
  • The notion that we would all have the same thing is not a
  • 00:10:47.529 --> 00:10:49.964
  • Good promise from the government, it's a
  • 00:10:49.964 --> 00:10:51.766
  • Diminished life.
  • 00:10:51.766 --> 00:10:54.202
  • If the government were in charge of flowers, we would have
  • 00:10:54.202 --> 00:10:56.604
  • One color.
  • 00:10:56.604 --> 00:10:59.207
  • God made them and we have an infinite variety, you can
  • 00:10:59.207 --> 00:11:01.843
  • Trust him.
  • 00:11:01.843 --> 00:11:03.678
  • We haven't known him.
  • 00:11:03.678 --> 00:11:05.814
  • We have stood at a distance from him.
  • 00:11:05.814 --> 00:11:07.482
  • He's moving in the earth.
  • 00:11:07.482 --> 00:11:08.817
  • He's awakening his people.
  • 00:11:08.817 --> 00:11:10.819
  • It's an exciting time.
  • 00:11:10.819 --> 00:11:12.187
  • It's a time filled with opportunity.
  • 00:11:12.187 --> 00:11:15.190
  • Begin to maintain your lists.
  • 00:11:15.190 --> 00:11:16.858
  • Pay attention, learn to think.
  • 00:11:16.858 --> 00:11:25.500
  • Female announcer: everywhere we turn, someone is telling us who
  • 00:11:25.567 --> 00:11:27.669
  • We should be, how we should look, and what we
  • 00:11:27.769 --> 00:11:30.338
  • Should believe.
  • 00:11:30.438 --> 00:11:30.705
  • It's no wonder so many of us feel isolated, uncertain,
  • 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.744
  • Confused, and like we're not enough.
  • 00:11:35.744 --> 00:11:38.546
  • But god has a different message.
  • 00:11:38.546 --> 00:11:40.949
  • You are chosen, loved, accepted, and redeemed.
  • 00:11:40.949 --> 00:11:45.453
  • And as you more fully understand how god sees you, it will change
  • 00:11:45.453 --> 00:11:48.990
  • How you see yourself, how you see god, and how you live
  • 00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:52.594
  • Your life.
  • 00:11:52.594 --> 00:11:54.095
  • In "your identity in christ: 12 truths about who you are,"
  • 00:11:54.095 --> 00:11:57.432
  • Pastor allen jackson shares the unchanging truth of god's word.
  • 00:11:57.432 --> 00:12:01.936
  • From isolation to belonging, from doubt to confidence,
  • 00:12:01.936 --> 00:12:06.374
  • Discover your identity in him.
  • 00:12:06.374 --> 00:12:09.177
  • You or someone you know needs the encouragement, truth, and
  • 00:12:09.177 --> 00:12:12.914
  • Freedom found in this book.
  • 00:12:12.914 --> 00:12:17.218
  • Request yours today when you donate any amount at
  • 00:12:17.218 --> 00:12:19.621
  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:12:19.621 --> 00:12:25.393
  • Allen: i've suggested some spiritual disciplines at the
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  • Beginning of this year.
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  • I've invited you towards a 40-day window of time, 40 days
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  • Of fasting, not a 40-day fast, but 40 days of fasting.
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  • You choose a schedule or a regimen that is suitable for
  • 00:12:37.872 --> 00:12:40.508
  • Your lifestyle and your health and those concerns.
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  • If you can fast for 2 or 3 days a week, by all means, engage.
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  • Don't just do what's simple.
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  • Make a sacrifice.
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  • If that's not prudent for you, maybe you'll fast a meal a day,
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  • Maybe you'll adjust some part of your diet to reflect
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  • A sacrifice.
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  • Don't sacrifice something that is not a sacrifice.
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  • God's not naive.
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  • You're not trying to impress someone else.
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  • If you choose to join us in a fast, please tell us you're
  • 00:13:07.802 --> 00:13:10.405
  • Doing so.
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  • You can go to the website or even through the apps and just--
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  • We just want your name and your contact information.
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  • We wanna celebrate with you.
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  • We're not gonna publish it or post it.
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  • But if you're fasting--so anybody across the nation or
  • 00:13:19.314 --> 00:13:21.382
  • Around the world can join us.
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  • Church isn't limited to the people who squeeze into
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  • Our building.
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  • Thank god we could squeeze in this morning.
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  • I've also invited you to 40 days of bible reading.
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  • Now, i know many of us, thousands of us are on a routine
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  • Schedule of reading our bible together.
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  • I've asked you to consider something beyond that, not in
  • 00:13:39.400 --> 00:13:42.937
  • The absence of that but beyond that.
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  • Take 40 minutes a day and read your bible.
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  • Let's focus on the gospels for these 40 days.
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  • That's about your own pace of reading.
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  • So i'm not giving you a certain amount to read.
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  • I would imagine in a 40-day window, if you make a commitment
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  • Of 40 days, 40 minutes a day, several days a week, you'll read
  • 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:03.124
  • Through the gospels multiple times,
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  • They'll become more familiar to you.
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  • The jesus story will come much closer to your story.
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  • It's a powerful thing.
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  • If you have younger children in the house, take some portion of
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  • That and read with them.
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  • Invite them into that.
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  • If 40 minutes is too much, maybe you take 14.
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  • Or maybe 4 is your limit, but begin to invite them, let them
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  • Understand, don't leave them apart from it.
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  • The spiritual formation of your children doesn't res--the
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  • Responsibility doesn't reside someplace else.
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  • "they won't like it."
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  • No kidding.
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  • They probably don't like bathing or brushing their teeth too much
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  • Either, but you're probably advocates for that, i hope.
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  • And then 40 days of prayer.
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  • You know, a couple of years ago, i recruited 130 people and asked
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  • Them if they would memorize two chapters.
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  • 130 people in a 3-week window memorized the new testament.
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  • It's not beyond us.
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  • We're just really lazy or casual or busy or distracted, or you
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  • Can choose a word, but 130 people had the new testament,
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  • And the stories that came from that, the breakthroughs that
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  • Came from that, the life change that came from that.
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  • Maybe you wanna take 40 days and memorize a verse a day.
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  • Just--but take those gospels and begin to make them your own.
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  • Then 40 days of prayer, we're trying to make prayer a more
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  • Prominent part of our interactions together.
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  • So at the end of every service, there are people at the altars
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  • In every sanctuary that will pray with you.
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  • We've opened the prayer center that's adjacent to the light
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  • Lobby before saturday and sunday services or afterwards.
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  • If you have issues that you would like us to agree with you
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  • In or if you've got guests that you bring, we'll pray with you.
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  • And we'll be talking about some evenings of prayer.
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  • We're gonna continue to expand that 40 days of intentional
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  • Spiritual development, of a fasting, of sacrifice, of
  • 00:15:54.369 --> 00:15:59.307
  • Humbling ourselves, of reading the gospels, and of praying, and
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  • Let's just see what god will do.
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  • Let's just see what he will do.
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  • I wanna take the minutes we have left in this session, and we're
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  • Somewhat limited today, and talk a little bit about god's word.
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  • We're gonna read the gospels.
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  • We worked on the gospels specifically in a
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  • Previous session.
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  • And i simply want you to understand that god's word in
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  • Your life is indispensable.
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  • If you don't spend routine, regular, systematic time in the
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  • Word of god, your spiritual life is diminishing.
  • 00:16:25.166 --> 00:16:29.704
  • Attending worship services is not adequate.
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  • It'd be roughly the equivalent to having a meal a week, or a
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  • Workout a week.
  • 00:16:37.378 --> 00:16:38.713
  • It's certainly better than not having the meal, and it's better
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  • Than skipping that one workout.
  • 00:16:40.281 --> 00:16:42.150
  • But to imagine that the one meal or the one workout are going to
  • 00:16:42.150 --> 00:16:44.986
  • Generate health and strength would be deceptive.
  • 00:16:44.986 --> 00:16:49.724
  • And we need regular investments in the word of god.
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  • You won't understand it all.
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  • I don't understand everything i watch on the evening news.
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  • I'm quite confident if i watch a sporting event that i don't
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  • Understand everything i see, but i take the benefit from the part
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  • I do understand.
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  • I've never played professional sports, i don't know what's
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  • Involved in preparing to compete at that level, or the sacrifices
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  • That are made, or the nuance, or the subtlety, or the scheming
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  • That's involved in the effective orchestration of those intricate
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  • Activities, but i can enjoy it and appreciate it nonetheless.
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  • Why do you think there's an excuse in saying i don't
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  • Understand it all, or i don't understand it as fully as
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  • Someone else might understand it, and therefore i don't have
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  • To engage?
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  • That is a mistake, and it robs you of a great deal.
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  • I brought you a list of scriptures, i'm not gonna look
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  • At all of them with you, but i wanted you to see the
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  • Significance throughout the breadth of scripture where we
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  • Are encouraged to engage with god's word.
  • 00:17:48.616 --> 00:17:52.587
  • In joshua chapter 1, joshua was the leader who replaces moses,
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  • One of the more difficult job descriptions in the bible.
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  • Who wants to be moses's successor?
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  • I mean, come on, plagues, red sea parting, manna, ten
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  • Commandments, what are you gonna--if you're moses's
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  • Successor, are you gonna get twelve?
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  • I mean, it's a tough job description.
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  • You're gonna come in somewhere less than moses, and
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  • That's joshua.
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  • Joshua 1 verse 8, he says, "do not let this book, this book of
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  • The law, depart from your mouth.
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  • Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
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  • Everything written in it, and you'll be prosperous
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  • And successful."
  • 00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:37.465
  • I like that, that's a conditional promise.
  • 00:18:37.465 --> 00:18:39.133
  • How many of you would prefer to be prosperous and successful?
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  • About a third of you, what are the rest of you
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  • Hoping for?
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  • Failure, poverty, it says that if we will meditate on it, if we
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  • Will think about it consistently, and be careful to
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  • Be obedient to it, that it will have an outcome in our journey
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  • Through time.
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  • I believe that.
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  • I have lived that out in the most--in fact, i have
  • 00:19:02.657 --> 00:19:07.128
  • Consistently chosen improbable paths, and yet i have seen the
  • 00:19:07.128 --> 00:19:11.899
  • Goodness of god continue to come to my life.
  • 00:19:11.899 --> 00:19:14.268
  • And it's not because i'm clever, or uniquely righteous, or holy,
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  • Or good, because it's not, i'm a product of the grace and the
  • 00:19:18.272 --> 00:19:21.375
  • Mercy of god and the redemptive work of the cross of jesus.
  • 00:19:21.375 --> 00:19:24.612
  • But god will honor his word if you will give it a place in
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  • Your life.
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  • So, i'm not sure i believe that that's the point.
  • 00:19:29.584 --> 00:19:34.155
  • "i have commanded you," he said.
  • 00:19:34.155 --> 00:19:35.656
  • "be strong and courageous.
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  • Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the lord your
  • 00:19:38.192 --> 00:19:41.095
  • God will be with you wherever you go."
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  • The second--verse 9 is as important as verse 8.
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  • He said i've commanded you to be strong and courageous.
  • 00:19:47.001 --> 00:19:50.104
  • The church is going to need strength and courage.
  • 00:19:50.104 --> 00:19:53.975
  • If your faith is not affiliated in your thought process with
  • 00:19:53.975 --> 00:19:57.311
  • Strength and courage, begin to implement a change.
  • 00:19:57.311 --> 00:20:02.250
  • And then he gives us some warnings.
  • 00:20:02.250 --> 00:20:03.584
  • He says don't be terrified, don't be discouraged.
  • 00:20:03.584 --> 00:20:05.786
  • If he's warning us against that, in the context of your faith,
  • 00:20:05.786 --> 00:20:08.923
  • There will be terrifying things and discouraging things.
  • 00:20:08.923 --> 00:20:12.593
  • And if you don't understand that your faith fits into the
  • 00:20:12.593 --> 00:20:14.929
  • Portfolio of terrifying things and discouraging things, when
  • 00:20:14.929 --> 00:20:18.065
  • You're terrified or discouraged, you won't have faith as
  • 00:20:18.065 --> 00:20:20.668
  • An asset.
  • 00:20:20.668 --> 00:20:22.036
  • It won't be a resource available to you.
  • 00:20:22.036 --> 00:20:23.971
  • But if you've begun to think about it, and prepare yourself
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  • For it, and understand this is what my faith was built for,
  • 00:20:26.507 --> 00:20:29.543
  • When goliath is bellowing his challenge at me and threatening
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  • My future, i have an answer for him.
  • 00:20:33.447 --> 00:20:37.585
  • And it's not about a javelin, or my sword skills, or the armor
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  • That i put on that was fashioned by the armor bearer, it's
  • 00:20:42.123 --> 00:20:45.559
  • Because of the covenant i have with almighty god, and goliath
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  • Is going to come down.
  • 00:20:48.996 --> 00:20:51.232
  • But you build that before you hear goliath.
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  • It's what joshua is telling us.
  • 00:20:55.569 --> 00:20:58.072
  • "don't be terrified, don't be discouraged, for the lord your
  • 00:20:58.072 --> 00:21:01.075
  • God will be with you wherever you go."
  • 00:21:01.075 --> 00:21:03.711
  • So, begin to build a good-news list.
  • 00:21:03.711 --> 00:21:06.981
  • He's been with me here, and here, and here, and here.
  • 00:21:06.981 --> 00:21:10.151
  • I have known him in all of those places and i trust him today.
  • 00:21:10.151 --> 00:21:15.156
  • It starts with thinking about god's word.
  • 00:21:15.156 --> 00:21:19.427
  • Look at hebrews chapter 4, this is new testament.
  • 00:21:19.427 --> 00:21:21.696
  • "the word of god is living and active."
  • 00:21:21.696 --> 00:21:25.032
  • It's not dead history.
  • 00:21:25.032 --> 00:21:28.336
  • It's a living thing inspired by the spirit of god, "sharper than
  • 00:21:28.336 --> 00:21:31.839
  • Any double-edged sword.
  • 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:33.207
  • It penetrates even to dividing of soul and spirit, joints and
  • 00:21:33.207 --> 00:21:36.610
  • Marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
  • 00:21:36.610 --> 00:21:40.114
  • One of the most difficult things to know is your heart.
  • 00:21:40.114 --> 00:21:44.385
  • So many competing factors and different influences, and we
  • 00:21:44.385 --> 00:21:48.923
  • Need god's word to help us understand our own hearts.
  • 00:21:48.923 --> 00:21:53.094
  • Look at 1 peter chapter 1. "you've been born again, not of
  • 00:21:53.094 --> 00:21:55.730
  • Perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living
  • 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:59.433
  • And enduring word of god."
  • 00:21:59.433 --> 00:22:02.703
  • There is something about god's word that will reach into your
  • 00:22:02.703 --> 00:22:05.840
  • Life beyond time.
  • 00:22:05.840 --> 00:22:07.608
  • Peter makes the comparison in the next sentence.
  • 00:22:07.608 --> 00:22:09.643
  • He says, "men are like grass, and their glory is like the
  • 00:22:09.643 --> 00:22:12.380
  • Flowers of the field," it's just here for a moment and gone.
  • 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:17.184
  • Subject to temperature, precipitation, or humidity, "but
  • 00:22:17.184 --> 00:22:22.156
  • The word of god," he said, "is living and endures."
  • 00:22:22.156 --> 00:22:24.959
  • Spend some time.
  • 00:22:24.959 --> 00:22:26.327
  • What are you giving yourself to?
  • 00:22:26.327 --> 00:22:28.195
  • "i don't have 40 minutes to read."
  • 00:22:28.195 --> 00:22:29.630
  • Really, really, i bet if you turned off the social media, or
  • 00:22:29.630 --> 00:22:38.773
  • The broadcast material that you watch, you could find a
  • 00:22:38.773 --> 00:22:41.308
  • Few minutes.
  • 00:22:41.308 --> 00:22:42.643
  • Not forever, just for a little window of time.
  • 00:22:42.643 --> 00:22:47.314
  • God's word has a value that we struggle to attach to it.
  • 00:22:47.314 --> 00:22:51.919
  • We think of it as intrusive and cumbersome, maybe
  • 00:22:51.919 --> 00:22:56.290
  • Even loathsome.
  • 00:22:56.290 --> 00:22:59.326
  • I want to skip down to the passage in matthew 13.
  • 00:22:59.326 --> 00:23:03.397
  • Jesus is teaching the parable of the sower, remember that?
  • 00:23:03.397 --> 00:23:05.966
  • It's the man who went out to sow seed, a farmer or somebody that
  • 00:23:05.966 --> 00:23:09.036
  • Went to sow seed in their garden, and they sowed
  • 00:23:09.036 --> 00:23:11.005
  • It indiscriminately.
  • 00:23:11.005 --> 00:23:12.339
  • They didn't till a patch of ground, they just cast the seed
  • 00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:16.944
  • About, kinda like you're hiding easter eggs for toddlers.
  • 00:23:16.944 --> 00:23:22.149
  • There's not really any hiding, you're just gonna throw 'em
  • 00:23:22.149 --> 00:23:24.452
  • Across the yard and there's gonna be a human vacuum
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  • Cleaner coming.
  • 00:23:26.821 --> 00:23:28.923
  • Well, that's kinda the imagery of this farmer.
  • 00:23:28.923 --> 00:23:30.724
  • He's just gonna randomly sow the seed, and there's four different
  • 00:23:30.724 --> 00:23:34.128
  • Locations identified in the story, and now jesus is gonna
  • 00:23:34.128 --> 00:23:37.865
  • Explain it to us.
  • 00:23:37.865 --> 00:23:39.233
  • And what i want to draw your attention to is the antagonism
  • 00:23:39.233 --> 00:23:42.837
  • Towards the word of god, the adversarial nature that exists
  • 00:23:42.837 --> 00:23:48.709
  • Between you benefiting from it.
  • 00:23:48.709 --> 00:23:51.345
  • Listen to what the parable of the sower means.
  • 00:23:51.345 --> 00:23:53.380
  • "when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and doesn't
  • 00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:55.783
  • Understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was
  • 00:23:55.783 --> 00:23:59.687
  • Sown in his heart."
  • 00:23:59.687 --> 00:24:01.755
  • Can you imagine that evil would come to take from you, to
  • 00:24:01.755 --> 00:24:05.993
  • Diminish your awareness, your memory, your attention, your
  • 00:24:05.993 --> 00:24:10.331
  • Focus, your thoughts on what you have heard about the kingdom
  • 00:24:10.331 --> 00:24:14.101
  • Of god.
  • 00:24:14.101 --> 00:24:15.436
  • There's an adversarial nature in this.
  • 00:24:15.436 --> 00:24:18.606
  • People say, "well, you know, i open my bible to read it and i
  • 00:24:18.606 --> 00:24:20.474
  • Get sleepy."
  • 00:24:20.474 --> 00:24:21.809
  • Stand up, you don't get sleepy when you're pursuing your
  • 00:24:21.809 --> 00:24:26.547
  • Favorite hobbies.
  • 00:24:26.547 --> 00:24:31.919
  • There's an enemy.
  • 00:24:31.919 --> 00:24:33.287
  • It just doesn't stop there.
  • 00:24:33.287 --> 00:24:34.622
  • Look in verse 20.
  • 00:24:34.622 --> 00:24:35.990
  • "the one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the
  • 00:24:35.990 --> 00:24:37.725
  • Man who hears it and receives it with joy, but he lasts only a
  • 00:24:37.725 --> 00:24:41.896
  • Short time, 'cause trouble or persecution comes because of
  • 00:24:41.896 --> 00:24:45.399
  • The word."
  • 00:24:45.399 --> 00:24:46.734
  • There'll be challenges to the word of god in your heart.
  • 00:24:46.734 --> 00:24:49.537
  • People say, "i don't believe that," or you'll hear other
  • 00:24:49.537 --> 00:24:53.073
  • Information that stands in opposition to it, or someone
  • 00:24:53.073 --> 00:24:55.643
  • Will question it.
  • 00:24:55.643 --> 00:24:57.011
  • And you at this point, you have a decision to make.
  • 00:24:57.011 --> 00:24:58.979
  • Am i gonna believe, am i gonna be an advocate, or am i
  • 00:24:58.979 --> 00:25:01.849
  • Gonna yield?
  • 00:25:01.849 --> 00:25:05.419
  • Many, many times, i've been in many academic settings, i love
  • 00:25:05.419 --> 00:25:08.222
  • To learn.
  • 00:25:08.222 --> 00:25:09.557
  • I like universities, i like secular settings where they
  • 00:25:09.557 --> 00:25:11.258
  • Don't believe about god.
  • 00:25:11.258 --> 00:25:12.593
  • It's like i get to listen to their game plan.
  • 00:25:12.593 --> 00:25:16.530
  • It doesn't cause me to panic, it's easier to believe god, but
  • 00:25:16.530 --> 00:25:20.734
  • You've gotta be prepared.
  • 00:25:20.734 --> 00:25:22.069
  • There's gonna be challenges that come.
  • 00:25:22.069 --> 00:25:23.804
  • Verse 22, "the one who received the seed that fell amongst the
  • 00:25:23.804 --> 00:25:26.407
  • Thorns is the man who hears the word of god, but the worries of
  • 00:25:26.407 --> 00:25:30.511
  • This life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it and they make
  • 00:25:30.511 --> 00:25:33.814
  • It unfruitful."
  • 00:25:33.814 --> 00:25:35.149
  • These are internal, these are self-inflicted wounds.
  • 00:25:35.149 --> 00:25:39.453
  • God's word in your heart is not fruitful because of the worries
  • 00:25:39.453 --> 00:25:42.456
  • You carry, the anxieties you carry, the things that you give
  • 00:25:42.456 --> 00:25:46.026
  • Preference to in your thoughts and your emotions above
  • 00:25:46.026 --> 00:25:49.096
  • God's word.
  • 00:25:49.096 --> 00:25:51.065
  • The deceitfulness of wealth.
  • 00:25:51.065 --> 00:25:52.533
  • Deception is a portion of the truth, but it promises something
  • 00:25:52.533 --> 00:25:56.704
  • That can't be delivered.
  • 00:25:56.704 --> 00:25:58.038
  • That's what it means to be deceived.
  • 00:25:58.038 --> 00:25:59.673
  • And wealth is deceitful, wealth makes you think you can secure
  • 00:25:59.673 --> 00:26:02.643
  • Your future.
  • 00:26:02.643 --> 00:26:03.978
  • I have stood in too many hospital rooms with people with
  • 00:26:03.978 --> 00:26:06.013
  • Significant resources and there was no amount of resource that
  • 00:26:06.013 --> 00:26:09.283
  • Could solve the problem.
  • 00:26:09.283 --> 00:26:12.786
  • Allen: hey, i'm really excited about our newest publication,
  • 00:26:17.024 --> 00:26:19.593
  • "your identity in christ."
  • 00:26:19.593 --> 00:26:21.428
  • Far too often in christiandom, we major on the minors.
  • 00:26:21.428 --> 00:26:24.331
  • We get way heated up about which church we attend, which
  • 00:26:24.331 --> 00:26:26.467
  • Denomination we belong to, which translation of the bible
  • 00:26:26.467 --> 00:26:28.936
  • We read.
  • 00:26:28.936 --> 00:26:30.304
  • Most those things are all okay, but knowing who you are in
  • 00:26:30.304 --> 00:26:32.940
  • Christ, it will mean freedom, or it will put you in a place
  • 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:36.343
  • Of bondage.
  • 00:26:36.343 --> 00:26:37.678
  • When i help people through the steps of spiritual freedom, the
  • 00:26:37.678 --> 00:26:40.047
  • Foundation of that is understanding who we are
  • 00:26:40.047 --> 00:26:42.783
  • In christ.
  • 00:26:42.783 --> 00:26:44.118
  • We put together this little booklet as a tool.
  • 00:26:44.118 --> 00:26:45.886
  • It'll help you individually.
  • 00:26:45.886 --> 00:26:47.354
  • You can do it as a small group.
  • 00:26:47.354 --> 00:26:48.689
  • It's a great resource to share with your children or your
  • 00:26:48.689 --> 00:26:51.091
  • Grandchildren at your kitchen table time.
  • 00:26:51.091 --> 00:26:53.527
  • It'll make a difference in your life knowing who you are in
  • 00:26:53.527 --> 00:26:56.430
  • Christ first and foremost as a part of your
  • 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:59.033
  • Spiritual formation.
  • 00:26:59.033 --> 00:27:00.367
  • In fact, i wanna pray with you before we go that god will bring
  • 00:27:00.367 --> 00:27:02.870
  • New freedom to you in this season.
  • 00:27:02.870 --> 00:27:05.239
  • Father, thank you for--you have established, you have paid the
  • 00:27:05.239 --> 00:27:08.609
  • Price that we can participate in your kingdom.
  • 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:10.978
  • By your spirit, awaken us to who we are in christ
  • 00:27:10.978 --> 00:27:14.715
  • First and foremost.
  • 00:27:14.715 --> 00:27:16.083
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:16.083 --> 00:27:26.927