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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Anxious, Worried, and Hopeless (Part 2)

January 18, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Anxious, Worried, and Hopeless (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Anxiety #Worry #Hopelessness #Faith #Believe #TrustGod #Hope #Disappointed #Visions/Dreams #Interpretation #Trials-HardTimes #Faithfulness #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Anxious, Worried, and Hopeless (Part 2) | January 18, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world, people are searching
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  • For truth, and, together we're doing our very best to help them
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  • Find it.
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  • When you become a ministry partner with allen jackson
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  • Ministries, you're joining a growing community of believers
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  • Who are committed to strengthening the church and
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  • Sharing god's word through every available channel: television,
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  • Your monthly partnership helps us equip believers to reach new
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  • Audiences, to take the hope of jesus to people who may never
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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • Together, we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Known, right here at home and around the earth wherever god
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  • Opens the door.
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • [music]
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  • [music]
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  • Allen: and so almost a third of the book of genesis deals
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  • With joseph.
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  • Now, it's a rather elaborate story, but i think it's a
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  • Powerful instructional message for all of us, so i'm gonna take
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  • Just a minute.
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  • I suspect you know a good deal about joseph.
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  • In genesis 39, it says, "joseph's master took him and
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  • Put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners
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  • Were confined.
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  • So, while joseph was there, the lord was with him; and he showed
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  • Him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the
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  • Prison warden."
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  • We read that, "well, duh."
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  • Well, i mean, he gave him favor with potiphar, i guess.
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  • The house he was put in was-- he flourished in that place.
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  • I mean, there was somebody wicked in the house, but he
  • 00:02:02.405 --> 00:02:04.707
  • Flourished in that house.
  • 00:02:04.707 --> 00:02:06.576
  • God had been faithful so far.
  • 00:02:06.576 --> 00:02:11.414
  • And then that woman, you know, and i'm like, "god, why does
  • 00:02:11.414 --> 00:02:13.816
  • There have to be that person here?
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  • I like everybody else in the house."
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  • If you have to be in egypt, it's not such a bad place.
  • 00:02:19.689 --> 00:02:23.459
  • And now he's in prison, and it says, "the lord," once again,
  • 00:02:23.459 --> 00:02:25.929
  • "showed him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
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  • "so the warden put joseph in charge of all those held in
  • 00:02:28.831 --> 00:02:31.935
  • Prison, and he was made responsible for all that was
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  • Done there."
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  • Seems like to me, everywhere he goes, he has to work hard.
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  • "and the warden paid no attention to anything under
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  • Joseph's care, because the lord was with joseph and gave him
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  • Success in whatever he did."
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  • In prison.
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  • I mean, nobody wants to be in prison.
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  • We read that, and it says, "oh, it sounds pretty good."
  • 00:02:52.755 --> 00:02:56.025
  • It's like it's a really cool summer camp.
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  • No, he's in prison, he has no autonomy.
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  • You can't go out and, you know,
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  • Get in the car and go for a drive.
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  • He didn't get to go on spring break.
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  • He's in prison, in a foreign country, and god gives
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  • Him favor.
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  • That--we have to walk around with that for just a minute
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  • Because i'm pretty sure, when joseph was--we meet him at 17--
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  • When he was 15, his life ambition was, "i wonder if i
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  • Could be 25 in an egyptian prison."
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  • I don't think that was on his to-do list.
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  • I don't think he had any ambition pointed in that
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  • Direction whatsoever.
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  • God gave him a dream, and he imagined his brothers would bow
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  • Down before him, and he was introduced into that idea, but
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  • He didn't imagine the pathway that was in front of him.
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  • And to a significant extent, i suspect that's true of all
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  • Of us.
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  • It's not that we give up our dreams and our aspirations, it's
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  • Just they unfold differently than we typically imagine.
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  • And i'm inviting you to not allow the disappointment or the
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  • Disruption or the detour to rob you of the joy and the hope and
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  • The confidence that god is on your side, so far.
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  • You know what happens in the prison.
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  • There's two of the prisoners who have dreams, the cupbearer and
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  • The baker.
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  • And joseph tells them that he will interpret their dreams if
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  • They will remember him, because one of them is going to be
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  • Released from prison.
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  • "he restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once
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  • Again put the cup into pharaoh's hand, but he hanged the chief
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  • Baker, just as joseph had said.
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  • And the chief cupbearer did not remember joseph."
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  • There's a theme emerging here.
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  • God's blessing, god's opportunity, in very difficult
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  • Circumstances, and then another obstacle, another barrier,
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  • Another disappointment, another heartache, another delay.
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  • It just seems--and i will choose--in some of the other
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  • Sessions, we're gonna choose some other characters.
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  • You see, i think we have had the wrong imagination.
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  • Do you ever say to yourself, "this should be easier.
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  • This should not be this difficult."
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  • Who said?
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  • The little voice inside of you?
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  • Was that voice god?
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  • "well, i don't like it."
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  • Ah, that's different.
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  • "it's not the way i wanted it," oh.
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  • My wife had the most beautiful christmas tree this year, it
  • 00:06:01.944 --> 00:06:05.148
  • Was spectacular.
  • 00:06:05.148 --> 00:06:07.016
  • There was just one problem, the lights didn't want to cooperate,
  • 00:06:07.016 --> 00:06:12.688
  • They just didn't.
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  • So, you know, she started out, she put some new strands of
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  • Lights on.
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  • "see, i got it.
  • 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:19.429
  • One of them wasn't working, but i got another one, and i
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  • Fixed it."
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  • Three days later, another one went out, and whatever was
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  • Making them go out was contagious.
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  • You know, life just does not unfold the way we want.
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  • We can make fun of the simple things because the real
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  • Disappointments are too heavy to make fun of.
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  • But it's the truth, and if we don't guard our hearts and
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  • Invite god into the midst of that, we become overwhelmed.
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  • Joseph languishes in prison because the chief cupbearer
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  • Forgot his promise, until pharaoh has a dream, and he
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  • Needs an interpretation for his dream, and the cupbearer
  • 00:07:03.072 --> 00:07:05.708
  • Suddenly remembers that he had a friend in prison.
  • 00:07:05.708 --> 00:07:08.478
  • In fact, he says, "i haven't done right by him.
  • 00:07:08.478 --> 00:07:10.713
  • I was supposed to commend him to you long before now."
  • 00:07:10.713 --> 00:07:14.917
  • And so joseph is brought from prison to pharaoh to see if he
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  • Can interpret pharaoh's dream.
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  • It's in your notes, it's genesis 41, "so pharaoh sent for joseph,
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  • And he was quickly brought from the dungeon.
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  • And when he'd shaved and changed his clothes,
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  • He came before pharaoh.
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  • And pharaoh said to him, 'i have a dream,
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  • And no one can interpret it.
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  • But i've heard that it's said of you that when you have a dream
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  • You can interpret it.'
  • 00:07:32.969 --> 00:07:34.871
  • And joseph said, 'i can't, but god will give pharaoh the answer
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  • He desires.'"
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  • Unbelievable, if there was ever a time you might wanna have a
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  • Little swagger, "yeah, i've been having dreams since i was 17."
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  • "no, sir, i really can't, but there's a god in heaven, and i
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  • Believe he will, because in my life, he's been really faithful,
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  • So far."
  • 00:08:05.801 --> 00:08:09.138
  • And god gave joseph the interpretation to
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  • Pharaoh's dream.
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  • And pharaoh made him the governor of egypt.
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  • The prime minister gave him a very elevated position.
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  • So he went from being a slave to falsely accused to imprisoned to
  • 00:08:23.119 --> 00:08:30.826
  • Forgotten to put in a very stressful place.
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  • You know, if you were given to fits of anxiety, being called
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  • Before pharaoh and told to interpret a dream that none of
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  • The magicians or wise men of egypt could interpret, we might
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  • Call that a stressful evening, right?
  • 00:08:43.973 --> 00:08:49.278
  • Most of us get a little tense if the place we work
  • 00:08:49.278 --> 00:08:51.581
  • Is not overly--overtly friendly to christianity.
  • 00:08:51.581 --> 00:08:54.417
  • "well, it's a very difficult environment, just very,
  • 00:08:54.417 --> 00:08:57.920
  • Very stressful."
  • 00:08:57.920 --> 00:09:00.690
  • And i agree, it can be very stressful, or the schools
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  • Don't welcome--
  • 00:09:04.427 --> 00:09:05.761
  • I mean, all the things that describe our lives and the
  • 00:09:05.761 --> 00:09:08.197
  • Anxiety in the world, "what will i do?"
  • 00:09:08.197 --> 00:09:10.132
  • Well, i think i'm gonna go and be an advocate for jesus.
  • 00:09:10.132 --> 00:09:12.668
  • "well, what if i pray and nothing happens?"
  • 00:09:15.938 --> 00:09:17.473
  • Well, i'm probably gonna pray again.
  • 00:09:17.473 --> 00:09:20.843
  • I mean, joseph prayed his way all the way from home
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  • Into prison.
  • 00:09:23.012 --> 00:09:25.081
  • It's a--there's an adjustment that we've got to find, church.
  • 00:09:28.584 --> 00:09:33.222
  • We've been so geared towards a whole different set of
  • 00:09:33.222 --> 00:09:36.692
  • Calibrations and imaginations and difficulties and resistance
  • 00:09:36.692 --> 00:09:42.531
  • And expressions of evil and hatred, i mean, they're hunting
  • 00:09:42.531 --> 00:09:46.836
  • People of god on the earth these days.
  • 00:09:46.836 --> 00:09:50.606
  • That's very awkward, we don't like to talk about it.
  • 00:09:50.606 --> 00:09:53.042
  • People say, "well, you shouldn't say that, it's polit--"
  • 00:09:53.042 --> 00:09:55.211
  • No, it's not political, that's just a reality.
  • 00:09:55.211 --> 00:09:58.481
  • Gunmen set up on a beach in australia hunting jews at the
  • 00:09:58.481 --> 00:10:01.984
  • Beginning of hanukkah.
  • 00:10:01.984 --> 00:10:04.053
  • Some man went hunting charlie kirk because he didn't like his
  • 00:10:08.224 --> 00:10:10.660
  • Biblical worldview.
  • 00:10:10.660 --> 00:10:12.695
  • And far too many amongst us have been angry at charlie and his
  • 00:10:15.364 --> 00:10:19.235
  • Family since then, as if they did something to cause it.
  • 00:10:19.235 --> 00:10:21.570
  • That's absurd, patently absurd.
  • 00:10:21.570 --> 00:10:27.510
  • But it's caused us to be timid.
  • 00:10:27.510 --> 00:10:35.885
  • But i believe god is inviting us towards a different season, that
  • 00:10:35.885 --> 00:10:39.021
  • We can face challenging things and challenging circumstances,
  • 00:10:39.021 --> 00:10:42.725
  • And we don't have to be overwhelmed with worry, anxiety,
  • 00:10:42.725 --> 00:10:46.262
  • And despair, that we can have a confidence that the god who has
  • 00:10:46.262 --> 00:10:50.633
  • Been faithful to us will be faithful in the future, and we
  • 00:10:50.633 --> 00:10:54.370
  • Don't have to keep saying "so far."
  • 00:10:54.370 --> 00:10:56.405
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:10:58.507 --> 00:11:01.644
  • In genesis 42, "joseph was the governor of the land, the one
  • 00:11:05.281 --> 00:11:09.051
  • Who sold grain to all its people."
  • 00:11:09.051 --> 00:11:10.619
  • So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with
  • 00:11:10.619 --> 00:11:14.757
  • Their faces to the ground.
  • 00:11:14.757 --> 00:11:16.092
  • Gee, that sounds familiar.
  • 00:11:16.092 --> 00:11:18.127
  • And, "as soon as joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them,
  • 00:11:18.127 --> 00:11:20.830
  • But he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly
  • 00:11:20.830 --> 00:11:23.132
  • To them.
  • 00:11:23.132 --> 00:11:24.500
  • 'where did you come from?'
  • 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:26.469
  • 'from canaan.'"
  • 00:11:26.469 --> 00:11:27.837
  • Why didn't they recognize joseph?
  • 00:11:27.837 --> 00:11:30.272
  • Because he looks like an egyptian.
  • 00:11:30.272 --> 00:11:33.642
  • He's dressed in egyptian costume, he's got egyptian
  • 00:11:33.642 --> 00:11:36.045
  • Haircut, he's got on egyptian cologne.
  • 00:11:36.045 --> 00:11:39.715
  • He's been eating egyptian food.
  • 00:11:39.715 --> 00:11:42.752
  • He's speaking egyptian.
  • 00:11:42.752 --> 00:11:44.086
  • He doesn't look like the kid they sold to the ishmaelites.
  • 00:11:44.086 --> 00:11:49.325
  • Doesn't look like one of them.
  • 00:11:49.325 --> 00:11:52.161
  • He doesn't smell like one of them.
  • 00:11:52.161 --> 00:11:55.331
  • They don't recognize him.
  • 00:11:55.331 --> 00:11:56.665
  • The last thing they're thinking about is the chance of seeing
  • 00:11:56.665 --> 00:11:59.635
  • Him in a position of power and authority.
  • 00:11:59.635 --> 00:12:01.771
  • They sold him to a bunch of ishmaelite slave traders.
  • 00:12:01.771 --> 00:12:05.841
  • And here he is intact.
  • 00:12:05.841 --> 00:12:10.412
  • Now, he's a bit ornery, but he's intact.
  • 00:12:10.412 --> 00:12:14.617
  • He's gonna monkey with them a little bit before they finish
  • 00:12:14.617 --> 00:12:18.053
  • The scenario.
  • 00:12:18.053 --> 00:12:20.089
  • [music]
  • 00:12:20.689 --> 00:12:23.325
  • Allen: welcome to 2026.
  • 00:12:26.595 --> 00:12:28.230
  • Happy new year.
  • 00:12:28.230 --> 00:12:29.598
  • We've created a new book to help you, it's called, "turn up
  • 00:12:29.598 --> 00:12:31.767
  • The light."
  • 00:12:31.767 --> 00:12:33.102
  • It's a devotional for the whole year.
  • 00:12:33.102 --> 00:12:34.470
  • It's a really simple idea.
  • 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:35.805
  • I can join you for a cup of coffee in the morning.
  • 00:12:35.805 --> 00:12:38.240
  • We'll have a brief conversation with a spiritual principal to
  • 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.076
  • Start our day, a scripture verse, a prayer, and then, when
  • 00:12:41.076 --> 00:12:44.079
  • You're tired of me, you can close the book, it's perfect.
  • 00:12:44.079 --> 00:12:48.117
  • In all seriousness, we do wanna turn up the light.
  • 00:12:48.117 --> 00:12:50.719
  • Let's not rage against the darkness.
  • 00:12:50.719 --> 00:12:52.154
  • Let's invite god into the midst of this year and then just see
  • 00:12:52.154 --> 00:12:55.024
  • What he will do.
  • 00:12:55.024 --> 00:12:56.392
  • Female announcer: pastor allen's new devotional, "turn up the
  • 00:12:56.392 --> 00:12:58.494
  • Light," is designed to equip you every single day of the year.
  • 00:12:58.494 --> 00:13:02.064
  • Inside, you'll find 365 short devotionals, each with a
  • 00:13:02.064 --> 00:13:06.101
  • Scripture, teaching, and a prayer.
  • 00:13:06.101 --> 00:13:08.771
  • As you begin this new year, don't rage against the darkness.
  • 00:13:08.771 --> 00:13:12.007
  • Instead, choose to turn up the light.
  • 00:13:12.007 --> 00:13:14.243
  • You can request this book when you donate $25 or more today at
  • 00:13:14.243 --> 00:13:18.347
  • Allenjackson.com or by calling...
  • 00:13:18.347 --> 00:13:22.184
  • Allen: you won't just overcome rejection one time in your life,
  • 00:13:26.388 --> 00:13:31.360
  • That isn't the way this happens.
  • 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.997
  • You know, it's like, probably like my experience with weight.
  • 00:13:34.997 --> 00:13:39.468
  • I've lost several hundred pounds,
  • 00:13:39.468 --> 00:13:43.405
  • But it's that same stinking 5 or 7 pounds
  • 00:13:43.405 --> 00:13:45.474
  • That keeps showing back up, gotta run it off again.
  • 00:13:45.474 --> 00:13:51.714
  • Then rejection and forgiveness, life continues to deliver those
  • 00:13:51.714 --> 00:13:57.720
  • Things, and we have to take the tools we've learned and the
  • 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.056
  • Faithfulness of god in those places, and say, "no, i will
  • 00:14:01.056 --> 00:14:04.693
  • Rejoice that i've been accepted by god.
  • 00:14:04.693 --> 00:14:09.298
  • And the rejection i feel, the rejection i've experienced, it's
  • 00:14:09.298 --> 00:14:12.568
  • Legitimate, but he doesn't have the power to define my future.
  • 00:14:12.568 --> 00:14:16.872
  • I would have preferred to have been accepted, but that wasn't
  • 00:14:16.872 --> 00:14:19.141
  • My circumstance, so, god, i trust you once again and your
  • 00:14:19.141 --> 00:14:23.245
  • Faithfulness in my life."
  • 00:14:23.245 --> 00:14:25.314
  • Joseph had to execute his old carnal nature, that earthly part
  • 00:14:28.217 --> 00:14:34.290
  • Of us, that part of us that is hardwired towards ungodliness,
  • 00:14:34.290 --> 00:14:37.526
  • We all have it.
  • 00:14:37.526 --> 00:14:40.029
  • And it doesn't go away with conversion or the new birth,
  • 00:14:40.029 --> 00:14:44.400
  • Experience salvation.
  • 00:14:44.400 --> 00:14:45.734
  • You're not just automatically delivered from that.
  • 00:14:45.734 --> 00:14:49.538
  • The biblical prescription is that we have to put to death our
  • 00:14:49.538 --> 00:14:52.741
  • Old man, that adamic nature, that carnal part of us.
  • 00:14:52.741 --> 00:14:57.780
  • And we have some glimpses that suggest joseph was able to
  • 00:14:57.780 --> 00:15:00.883
  • Do that.
  • 00:15:00.883 --> 00:15:03.786
  • And we make too many--you know, "well, i can't deny how i feel."
  • 00:15:03.786 --> 00:15:06.889
  • No, you can't deny that you have the feelings, but you don't have
  • 00:15:06.889 --> 00:15:09.124
  • To act on them.
  • 00:15:09.124 --> 00:15:11.193
  • We are--there is so much lawlessness amongst us.
  • 00:15:14.396 --> 00:15:19.034
  • We can see it at the highest levels of our nation.
  • 00:15:19.034 --> 00:15:22.771
  • Billions of dollars being defrauded and stolen, and when
  • 00:15:22.771 --> 00:15:28.310
  • It's exposed, there's really not much regret.
  • 00:15:28.310 --> 00:15:30.546
  • There's a little regret that it's being exposed, but there's
  • 00:15:30.546 --> 00:15:34.183
  • Not like shame or embarrassment or sorrow that billions of
  • 00:15:34.183 --> 00:15:38.420
  • Dollars of taxpayer dollars are being--
  • 00:15:38.420 --> 00:15:41.123
  • "no, it doesn't, you know, it's just why would you say something
  • 00:15:41.123 --> 00:15:46.128
  • To us about that?"
  • 00:15:46.128 --> 00:15:48.530
  • But, i mean, from the highest level all the way down through
  • 00:15:48.530 --> 00:15:51.100
  • The systems to where we live, we're--
  • 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:55.170
  • "we just don't wanna be held by any law.
  • 00:15:55.170 --> 00:15:56.939
  • Well, you can't tell me how to feel."
  • 00:15:56.939 --> 00:15:59.074
  • No, but i can tell you some feelings will lead to behaviors
  • 00:15:59.074 --> 00:16:01.276
  • That will bring god's judgment on you.
  • 00:16:01.276 --> 00:16:03.912
  • "well, you're being very judgy."
  • 00:16:03.912 --> 00:16:07.282
  • About the worst thing that can be said of a human being these
  • 00:16:07.282 --> 00:16:09.418
  • Days is to be judgy.
  • 00:16:09.418 --> 00:16:11.587
  • You can be as ungodly, as dark, as perverse, you'll be
  • 00:16:11.587 --> 00:16:15.958
  • Celebrated, you're courageous.
  • 00:16:15.958 --> 00:16:18.861
  • But, if you try to embrace a biblical worldview, "well,
  • 00:16:18.861 --> 00:16:20.863
  • You're just being a little harsh."
  • 00:16:20.863 --> 00:16:26.535
  • No, i have compassion on people.
  • 00:16:26.535 --> 00:16:29.371
  • I need--i learned in my own life about brokenness and the
  • 00:16:29.371 --> 00:16:32.775
  • Need for compassion.
  • 00:16:32.775 --> 00:16:35.277
  • Church is not the hall of fame of--church is a triage unit.
  • 00:16:35.277 --> 00:16:42.217
  • But, hopefully, if we're in the hospital doing triage, we're not
  • 00:16:42.217 --> 00:16:46.655
  • Continuing to inflict damage.
  • 00:16:46.655 --> 00:16:49.758
  • And the lawlessness has pervaded the church until we have set
  • 00:16:53.929 --> 00:16:58.333
  • Aside the authority of scripture, and apostasy is
  • 00:16:58.333 --> 00:17:02.538
  • Rampant amongst us.
  • 00:17:02.538 --> 00:17:05.174
  • We're even offended now by the notion of hell.
  • 00:17:05.174 --> 00:17:08.277
  • "well, you know, i just can't believe a loving god would--"
  • 00:17:12.514 --> 00:17:15.984
  • Have you read the book?
  • 00:17:15.984 --> 00:17:18.053
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:17:19.822 --> 00:17:23.358
  • It's important, joseph had some emotional integrity that will
  • 00:17:26.562 --> 00:17:30.332
  • Help us.
  • 00:17:30.332 --> 00:17:32.101
  • He executed that old carnal nature, he was hopeful even when
  • 00:17:32.101 --> 00:17:35.204
  • He was under duress.
  • 00:17:35.204 --> 00:17:36.572
  • That is not easy to do.
  • 00:17:36.572 --> 00:17:39.241
  • That isn't easy to do.
  • 00:17:39.241 --> 00:17:40.576
  • That takes real discipline.
  • 00:17:40.576 --> 00:17:42.377
  • Self-discipline is one of the fruit of the spirit.
  • 00:17:42.377 --> 00:17:45.380
  • We have to cultivate that.
  • 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:47.449
  • And then joseph demonstrates this effort of faith.
  • 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.155
  • He keeps doing what he could.
  • 00:17:53.155 --> 00:17:56.525
  • It's amazing to me, he didn't quit, he didn't just stop
  • 00:17:56.525 --> 00:18:02.564
  • There's an emotional integrity in him.
  • 00:18:02.564 --> 00:18:04.466
  • And i'm not saying that, every day in every circumstance, we're
  • 00:18:04.466 --> 00:18:08.437
  • Gonna respond in the right way.
  • 00:18:08.437 --> 00:18:10.305
  • But i can tell you that it can be our objective, and we can ask
  • 00:18:10.305 --> 00:18:12.708
  • The spirit of god to help us, and we can refuse to make
  • 00:18:12.708 --> 00:18:15.511
  • Excuses for ourselves and to cooperate with the demonic
  • 00:18:15.511 --> 00:18:19.214
  • Prompts that come to us.
  • 00:18:19.214 --> 00:18:21.650
  • And then it seems to me there was one more piece about joseph
  • 00:18:25.854 --> 00:18:28.323
  • That we should acknowledge, and that's that he has an awareness
  • 00:18:28.323 --> 00:18:30.959
  • Of god's purposes.
  • 00:18:30.959 --> 00:18:33.762
  • When we meet him at 17, he's having these dreams.
  • 00:18:33.762 --> 00:18:36.431
  • I don't think he ever lost that.
  • 00:18:36.431 --> 00:18:39.334
  • Now, i can't prove that from the text, but i believe that those
  • 00:18:39.334 --> 00:18:43.038
  • Dreams that brought the--added certainly to the ire that he
  • 00:18:43.038 --> 00:18:46.341
  • Felt from his brothers.
  • 00:18:46.341 --> 00:18:48.777
  • I don't believe he ever lost that.
  • 00:18:48.777 --> 00:18:50.779
  • I think, when they're telling him, "pharaoh wants to see you,
  • 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:52.915
  • You gotta get cleaned up, you smell like the prison," i think
  • 00:18:52.915 --> 00:18:57.252
  • Somewhere in the back of his head he thought, "oh."
  • 00:18:57.252 --> 00:19:00.055
  • Genesis 50, "joseph said to his brothers--"
  • 00:19:03.926 --> 00:19:06.962
  • His family has been moved to egypt, they've settled in,
  • 00:19:06.962 --> 00:19:09.598
  • They're flourishing.
  • 00:19:09.598 --> 00:19:11.500
  • He's seen his father and his youngest brother.
  • 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:14.770
  • He said, "'i'm about to die.
  • 00:19:14.770 --> 00:19:17.439
  • But god will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this
  • 00:19:17.439 --> 00:19:20.542
  • Land to the land he promised on oath to abraham, isaac,
  • 00:19:20.542 --> 00:19:23.278
  • And jacob.'
  • 00:19:23.278 --> 00:19:25.180
  • And joseph made the sons of israel swear on oath, 'god will
  • 00:19:25.180 --> 00:19:29.484
  • Surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up
  • 00:19:29.484 --> 00:19:33.121
  • From this place.'"
  • 00:19:33.121 --> 00:19:35.924
  • Joseph understood, even though he had prospered there and
  • 00:19:35.924 --> 00:19:38.594
  • Flourished there and was powerful there, that his future
  • 00:19:38.594 --> 00:19:42.998
  • Was elsewhere.
  • 00:19:42.998 --> 00:19:46.802
  • Even success and prosperity and power didn't divert him from an
  • 00:19:46.802 --> 00:19:51.840
  • Awareness of god's unfolding purposes in their lives.
  • 00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:56.144
  • And i honestly think those are probably greater challenges than
  • 00:19:56.144 --> 00:19:58.847
  • Despair and poverty and punishment.
  • 00:19:58.847 --> 00:20:01.416
  • And, if you and i can live with an awareness that god's purposes
  • 00:20:04.453 --> 00:20:08.156
  • Shepherd our lives, it may be that the current season is
  • 00:20:08.156 --> 00:20:12.828
  • Unpleasant or there's a detour, but i wanna invite you away from
  • 00:20:12.828 --> 00:20:19.234
  • Your "so far" faith.
  • 00:20:19.234 --> 00:20:22.738
  • "god's been really good to me so far."
  • 00:20:22.738 --> 00:20:27.976
  • "i just love this church, we've been here for almost 2
  • 00:20:27.976 --> 00:20:30.045
  • Years now.
  • 00:20:30.045 --> 00:20:31.380
  • It's the best church we've ever been in, so far."
  • 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:34.783
  • And i think we tend to measure our faith by expressions of
  • 00:20:38.987 --> 00:20:43.125
  • Uncertainty about the future, and if we could begin to say
  • 00:20:43.125 --> 00:20:45.727
  • With david, "i've been young, and i've been old,
  • 00:20:45.727 --> 00:20:48.063
  • And god's amazing."
  • 00:20:48.063 --> 00:20:50.098
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:20:51.066 --> 00:20:54.336
  • And as this year comes to a conclusion, unless you're coming
  • 00:20:55.637 --> 00:20:59.374
  • Back tomorrow, next time we'll be together will be next year.
  • 00:20:59.374 --> 00:21:03.879
  • And i wonder if we could thank the lord for his faithfulness
  • 00:21:03.879 --> 00:21:06.982
  • To us.
  • 00:21:06.982 --> 00:21:08.817
  • In the midst of all the stuff, in the midst of all the stuff,
  • 00:21:08.817 --> 00:21:13.855
  • God, you're so good to us.
  • 00:21:13.855 --> 00:21:16.591
  • You've been so good to us, you've been faithful to us.
  • 00:21:16.591 --> 00:21:19.494
  • We live in a broken world, a fallen world, we're broken.
  • 00:21:19.494 --> 00:21:23.665
  • We don't always do our part, we don't always get our part right.
  • 00:21:23.665 --> 00:21:26.168
  • It's not an excuse, it's not-- if you are intentionally living
  • 00:21:26.168 --> 00:21:30.672
  • In disobedience, it will destroy you.
  • 00:21:30.672 --> 00:21:36.178
  • It will destroy you.
  • 00:21:36.178 --> 00:21:37.512
  • You're not getting away with it.
  • 00:21:37.512 --> 00:21:38.880
  • God, in his mercy and his grace, you know, it may--destruction
  • 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:42.651
  • May not be immediate, thank god.
  • 00:21:42.651 --> 00:21:45.921
  • You know, ananias and sapphira, they lied to peter, and they
  • 00:21:45.921 --> 00:21:48.156
  • Dropped dead, and--aren't you glad everybody that lies at
  • 00:21:48.156 --> 00:21:51.259
  • Church doesn't drop dead?
  • 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.829
  • We'd have to have church in a parking lot because there will
  • 00:21:53.829 --> 00:21:56.698
  • Be nobody coming in the building.
  • 00:21:56.698 --> 00:22:00.135
  • I mean, everybody doesn't lie every week, but somebody does.
  • 00:22:00.135 --> 00:22:02.938
  • I mean, it'd be like a pile of bodies, nobody would come in
  • 00:22:02.938 --> 00:22:04.873
  • Here, it's an unhealthy place.
  • 00:22:04.873 --> 00:22:08.276
  • That was an exemplary judgment.
  • 00:22:08.276 --> 00:22:10.045
  • He was establishing a line.
  • 00:22:10.045 --> 00:22:11.380
  • The church was brand new, it was just emerging.
  • 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:15.083
  • And they were establishing something of the character of
  • 00:22:15.083 --> 00:22:18.086
  • God, but the reality is god works through our lives, but
  • 00:22:18.086 --> 00:22:21.890
  • It's not an excuse for sloppiness, and if you think
  • 00:22:21.890 --> 00:22:24.159
  • You're getting away with it, you're deceived.
  • 00:22:24.159 --> 00:22:28.563
  • So tell the lord the truth, humble yourself, repent.
  • 00:22:28.563 --> 00:22:33.668
  • Now, we make mistakes, or we don't understand, or our insight
  • 00:22:33.668 --> 00:22:36.638
  • Is incomplete.
  • 00:22:36.638 --> 00:22:38.306
  • The other things that god puts in front of you is biblical
  • 00:22:38.306 --> 00:22:40.709
  • Truth, and you go, "well, i don't know how i feel
  • 00:22:40.709 --> 00:22:42.377
  • About that."
  • 00:22:42.377 --> 00:22:43.745
  • You should feel obedient.
  • 00:22:43.745 --> 00:22:47.883
  • This is not like some smorgasbord.
  • 00:22:47.883 --> 00:22:50.585
  • I'll take commandments 1, 3, and 5 for 1,000, alex.
  • 00:22:50.585 --> 00:22:55.991
  • I don't understand.
  • 00:22:59.494 --> 00:23:02.831
  • We're not in the part of this narrative in the earth any
  • 00:23:02.831 --> 00:23:05.967
  • Longer where i think you can afford to step into the arena
  • 00:23:05.967 --> 00:23:10.405
  • Without all the tools and opportunities that god's made
  • 00:23:10.405 --> 00:23:13.008
  • Available to you.
  • 00:23:13.008 --> 00:23:17.078
  • And, if we're going to flourish, i think we'll have to--
  • 00:23:17.078 --> 00:23:19.247
  • Joseph couldn't be sloppy.
  • 00:23:19.247 --> 00:23:21.283
  • Marginally moral would not have gotten joseph where he needed to
  • 00:23:24.252 --> 00:23:26.922
  • Be, and it won't get you or i there either.
  • 00:23:26.922 --> 00:23:33.962
  • Let's stand together.
  • 00:23:33.962 --> 00:23:41.736
  • "father, i thank you for your word, for its truth and its
  • 00:23:45.941 --> 00:23:48.510
  • Authority, that you love us and you care for us, that you've
  • 00:23:48.510 --> 00:23:52.781
  • Written a story for us, that you're the author and the
  • 00:23:52.781 --> 00:23:55.784
  • Completer of our story.
  • 00:23:55.784 --> 00:23:57.619
  • Nothing's too difficult for you.
  • 00:23:57.619 --> 00:24:00.121
  • You can overcome the brokenness of our lives and our families
  • 00:24:00.121 --> 00:24:03.758
  • And the world in which we live.
  • 00:24:03.758 --> 00:24:06.461
  • We can overcome evil with the goodness of god that's made
  • 00:24:06.461 --> 00:24:09.364
  • Available to us.
  • 00:24:09.364 --> 00:24:10.732
  • Through the blood of jesus, we can be delivered out of the hand
  • 00:24:10.732 --> 00:24:12.667
  • Of the enemy.
  • 00:24:12.667 --> 00:24:14.169
  • Our sins can be forgiven.
  • 00:24:14.169 --> 00:24:16.505
  • We can be made righteous and justified and sanctified,
  • 00:24:16.505 --> 00:24:20.742
  • Declared useful for the purposes of god.
  • 00:24:20.742 --> 00:24:22.944
  • We praise you for it tonight.
  • 00:24:22.944 --> 00:24:24.479
  • We give you thanks and glory and honor, that you didn't abandon
  • 00:24:24.479 --> 00:24:28.483
  • Us, that you didn't grant us what we deserve, but you looked
  • 00:24:28.483 --> 00:24:32.287
  • Upon our lives with mercy and kindness, and we praise you for
  • 00:24:32.287 --> 00:24:36.291
  • It tonight, when we pause as this year is coming to a
  • 00:24:36.291 --> 00:24:39.995
  • Conclusion to say thank you for your goodness to us.
  • 00:24:39.995 --> 00:24:45.333
  • Lord, as we look forward, we're not discouraged, we don't have
  • 00:24:45.333 --> 00:24:49.004
  • To be anxious, we don't have to be worried, because the one who
  • 00:24:49.004 --> 00:24:51.940
  • Called us is faithful.
  • 00:24:51.940 --> 00:24:54.976
  • I thank you that jesus is the head of the church, that your
  • 00:24:54.976 --> 00:24:58.914
  • Spirit dwells within us, that you lead and guide and direct,
  • 00:24:58.914 --> 00:25:03.351
  • That you've been called alongside to help us, that we're
  • 00:25:03.351 --> 00:25:06.321
  • Not left as orphans, we haven't been abandoned.
  • 00:25:06.321 --> 00:25:10.392
  • I praise you for it.
  • 00:25:10.392 --> 00:25:12.494
  • I thank you that greater is the spirit in us than the spirit in
  • 00:25:12.494 --> 00:25:15.630
  • This world that opposes the purposes of god.
  • 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:19.200
  • We praise you for it tonight, that the faithfulness of god has
  • 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:23.471
  • Delivered us to this point and that the faithfulness of god
  • 00:25:23.471 --> 00:25:27.008
  • Will take us forward.
  • 00:25:27.008 --> 00:25:29.811
  • We give you glory tonight and honor and praise.
  • 00:25:29.811 --> 00:25:32.480
  • We thank you for it, that we meet the new year with hearts
  • 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.818
  • Filled with expectation and confidence in the god we serve,
  • 00:25:36.818 --> 00:25:41.890
  • That your faithfulness is a reality, that a god in heaven is
  • 00:25:41.890 --> 00:25:47.829
  • A certainty, and that he knows our names, and we can know him.
  • 00:25:47.829 --> 00:25:52.167
  • We praise you for that.
  • 00:25:52.167 --> 00:25:54.736
  • We thank you for it in jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:25:54.736 --> 00:26:00.375
  • Hallelujah, god bless you."
  • 00:26:00.375 --> 00:26:02.377
  • [music]
  • 00:26:02.377 --> 00:26:09.551
  • Allen: how we begin our year, it matters.
  • 00:26:10.986 --> 00:26:13.488
  • So we've created a tool to help you get the year off on the
  • 00:26:13.488 --> 00:26:15.991
  • Right foot.
  • 00:26:15.991 --> 00:26:17.359
  • It's a devotional for this year.
  • 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:18.693
  • We've taken our email devotionals that you're
  • 00:26:18.693 --> 00:26:20.795
  • Familiar with, and we've edited it into a book, 365-day
  • 00:26:20.795 --> 00:26:25.066
  • Devotional with a little short thought for the day, a scripture
  • 00:26:25.066 --> 00:26:28.036
  • Verse, a prayer, just a little momentum for every day.
  • 00:26:28.036 --> 00:26:31.506
  • Let's start this year on purpose, inviting god's best
  • 00:26:31.506 --> 00:26:35.243
  • Into our lives.
  • 00:26:35.243 --> 00:26:36.745
  • Many of you are familiar with those devotionals, you get them
  • 00:26:36.745 --> 00:26:38.780
  • In your inbox.
  • 00:26:38.780 --> 00:26:40.115
  • We want to give you a hardcopy.
  • 00:26:40.115 --> 00:26:41.483
  • Maybe you get a second copy, share it with a friend, use it
  • 00:26:41.483 --> 00:26:43.652
  • As a mission project this year.
  • 00:26:43.652 --> 00:26:45.654
  • Maybe take it to work, recruit somebody that you're
  • 00:26:45.654 --> 00:26:47.622
  • Working with.
  • 00:26:47.622 --> 00:26:48.957
  • It's a simple way to invite god into the beginning of your day
  • 00:26:48.957 --> 00:26:52.427
  • On purpose.
  • 00:26:52.427 --> 00:26:53.762
  • And, if we do that, i believe the outcome will be
  • 00:26:53.762 --> 00:26:56.331
  • Truly significant.
  • 00:26:56.331 --> 00:26:57.899
  • God in the midst of whatever we're doing makes the
  • 00:26:57.899 --> 00:26:59.868
  • Outcomes better.
  • 00:26:59.868 --> 00:27:01.336
  • It's an exciting time.
  • 00:27:01.336 --> 00:27:02.671
  • I like the beginning of a new year, all the promise and the
  • 00:27:02.671 --> 00:27:04.639
  • Hope that that brings.
  • 00:27:04.639 --> 00:27:06.007
  • Let's put god in the center of it.
  • 00:27:06.007 --> 00:27:07.842
  • "turn up the lights," the name of the devotional, and i believe
  • 00:27:07.842 --> 00:27:09.878
  • It'll do just that in your life.
  • 00:27:09.878 --> 00:27:11.980
  • [music]
  • 00:27:13.615 --> 00:27:13.615