Allen Jackson - Breakthrough... Alone In The Desert (Part 1)

January 7, 2025 | S25:E7

Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Breakthrough... Alone In The Desert (Part 1) | January 7, 2025
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: we've been doing a study on breakthroughs and i
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  • Want to continue that series another session or two.
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  • The title for this session is "alone in the desert," and it's
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  • Really a companion piece with the previous session.
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  • We looked at zechariah and elizabeth and the breakthrough
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  • God brought to their lives, and i want to continue it in this
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  • Session really with the outcome of that.
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  • I think there's a hopeful message there, but for just a
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  • Moment, i've been encouraging you for quite a while now to
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  • Embrace this little paradigm of watch and listen and think
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  • And act.
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  • Not just to live your life, but to pay--do it
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  • With attentiveness.
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  • There's some things that will be essential.
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  • Jesus warned us as we approached the end of the age that
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  • Deception would increase dramatically, and there's some
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  • Things you can do to limit your vulnerability to being deceived.
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  • One is read your bible on a regular basis.
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  • That there's just not a replacement for that, folks.
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  • If you're not doing it, you've almost surrendered completely.
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  • Read your bible on a regular-- but you can join us in our
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  • Reading plan, we'd be delighted.
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  • If you don't want to do that, you can pick one.
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  • But 10 or 15 minutes a day, you can read through your whole
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  • Bible in the course of a year.
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  • It's a worthwhile investment of time.
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  • It will change you.
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  • And if you've read it once, twice will be better.
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  • If you've read it 10 times, the 11th will be better.
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  • Okay, the second thing is community.
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  • You need like-minded people that you spend some time with.
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  • I hate to--it's hard to admit your parents were right when you
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  • Were a kid.
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  • But your friends really do have an enormous impact on your life.
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  • You need a community of people who have a faith in god.
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  • They will help you a great deal.
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  • And the third thing is this little paradigm, you've gotta
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  • Watch and listen.
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  • You actually have to pay attention a bit.
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  • There's a temptation to want to kind of cocoon, go into a cave,
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  • And, you know, it's just distressing.
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  • You don't know who to believe or what to believe, but you have to
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  • Pay a little bit of attention.
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  • Then you have to think a little bit, i know.
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  • And then be willing to act.
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  • You can't just be an observer or a professional critic.
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  • We're not olympic judges, we're in the arena.
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  • And there's a big difference.
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  • I think if you'll do those things, it'll help you avoid
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  • Deception and fulfill god's purposes for your lives, and
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  • Ultimately that's the target.
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  • We are witnesses to a season of tremendous change, unparalleled
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  • Change in my lifetime, and i don't mean because of
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  • This election.
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  • I really think it started in a dramatic way with covid.
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  • God began to shake the earth.
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  • There have been multiple tremors since then.
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  • October the 7th, the attack by hamas on israel and the boiling
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  • Antisemitism in our own nation.
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  • Very unexpected things.
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  • God is shaking the earth and i trust that at the end of it,
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  • We'll be in a place that he has led us to.
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  • So it isn't frightening, it's kind of exciting to me, but it's
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  • A great contest between the values of the kingdom of god and
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  • The values of this present age.
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  • You're gonna have to decide.
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  • You can't stay in the middle much longer.
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  • Tragically in the church we have capitulated for so long.
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  • We've been silent for so long.
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  • We've been timid for so long that now it feels almost
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  • Inappropriate to express our support for a
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  • Judeo-christian worldview.
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  • Should we say that?
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  • Are we allowed to say that?
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  • Is it--what if i offend someone?
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  • Look, the truth is helpful.
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  • Imagine going to a doctor that doesn't want to give you the
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  • Real diagnosis because it might make you feel blue.
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  • We call that malpractice.
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  • In the christian world we call it apostasy.
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  • If you won't align with the truth because you don't know if
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  • It'll be received well, that's not just a personal choice or
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  • Kindness or mercy, it is a false gospel, it's false faith.
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  • And we don't want to be there and we've lived dangerously
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  • Close to that.
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  • It's not inappropriate to agree with god's word.
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  • In fact, it's necessary, it's helpful even if it puts you at
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  • Odds with some rather revered places like harvard or yale or
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  • The purveyors of conventional wisdom.
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  • We live in a world where the truth really isn't so--you
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  • Don't have to be very clever any longer, it's just a little bit
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  • Of awareness.
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  • I mean, lately we see the reports and pictures and videos
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  • Of swarms of drones hanging above us.
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  • Well, government officials say, "nothing there.
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  • It's just a small airplane."
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  • Oh, thank you.
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  • Or they'll tell us that biological sex is confusing.
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  • No, it really isn't.
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  • Not really, it's not that tough.
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  • I grew up on a farm.
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  • It isn't confusing.
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  • I'm not suggesting there aren't people that don't struggle with
  • 00:04:53.408 --> 00:04:56.011
  • Confusion, but if you're confused about something that's
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  • That fundamental, that's not a good place, that's not something
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  • To be celebrated.
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  • And we certainly wouldn't want to abandon our children to be
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  • Mutilated by people that think that kind of confusion
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  • Is helpful.
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  • So this idea of breakthroughs, this notion of when god
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  • Intervenes in our lives, we are a culture in need of
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  • Breakthroughs from the kingdom of god.
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  • We've drifted a long way into places that are confusing and
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  • Where the truth isn't celebrated and integrity is no longer held
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  • In high esteem.
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  • No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, you could
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  • Say amen to that.
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  • That's just the reality.
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  • And the change for that isn't coming from an election, the
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  • Change for that will come from the heart of god's
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  • People, breakthroughs.
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  • When god intervenes in our lives, most of us--one of the
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  • Reasons i decided to do this series is i engaged with the
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  • Community of faith here sufficiently enough to know that
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  • There are hundreds of us that are in a desperate place.
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  • We need a breakthrough from god.
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  • Physically, emotionally, in our family systems, in our
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  • Businesses, in many, many ways.
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  • There's only a god solution can result in an outcome that will
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  • Be satisfactory, otherwise we're just treading water, holding
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  • Our space.
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  • We need a breakthrough.
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  • And god gratefully does intervene in our lives.
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  • But we have had a little bit, i believe, of a misunderstanding
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  • And preachers like myself have contributed to this.
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  • We like to tell the miracle stories.
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  • We like to talk about the victories that took place and
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  • That's not inappropriate, but it's inappropriate unless we
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  • Tell the larger story.
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  • And the breakthroughs that god presents to us are not just
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  • Victory stories, there's a backstory that go with them.
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  • I started with a verse of scripture in your notes.
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  • There's hope, it's isaiah 40 in verse 3.
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  • It says, "a voice of one calling:
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  • 'in the desert, prepare the way for the lord;
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  • Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our god.'"
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  • That verse from isaiah 40 is quoted in matthew, mark, luke,
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  • And john.
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  • There are very few things recorded in all four of
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  • The gospels.
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  • That verse is.
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  • And each time it's presented, it's presented in conjunction
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  • With john the baptist and his life message.
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  • He was a voice of one calling in the wilderness.
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  • See, i don't really wanna be a voice of one.
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  • I wanna be a voice of a big choir, right?
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  • It's fun to find 12,000 people that are all saying, "jesus is
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  • Lord," and slip in with them and go, "yes."
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  • It's not so much fun to be in a group of 12,000 people that are
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  • Not in favor of that and you're standing there going, "jesus
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  • Is lord."
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  • John was willing to be a voice of one calling in
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  • The wilderness.
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  • I wanna look at that.
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  • He's a breakthrough, he's the one who was to prepare the way
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  • For jesus in his life and his ministry and all he did.
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  • See, when i imagine a breakthrough, apart from doing
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  • Any study of--what i want, i just--what i want out of a
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  • Breakthrough is i want a resolution to my problem.
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  • I got a bad diagnosis, i want it to go away.
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  • I want the doctor to say, "i blew it."
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  • If there's a relational struggle, you want it to be
  • 00:08:09.070 --> 00:08:10.805
  • Resolved, you want everybody to be at peace, whatever you--the
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  • Breakthrough, you just want the problem to evaporate and the
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  • Goodness of god to make it all a big happy point.
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  • Nothing wrong with that imagination, it's just not
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  • Particularly biblical.
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  • Breakthroughs result in transformation.
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  • They change your perspective.
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  • They leave you with insight and understandings different than
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  • You had before the intervention of god so you don't just return
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  • To your old shape.
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  • You walk in a new way, you interact in a new way.
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  • Breakthroughs change everything.
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  • Are you ready for that?
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  • Those of us that need a breakthrough, are you ready for
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  • A different cadence in your life?
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  • Are you ready for a rearrangement of authority?
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  • Are you ready for a transformation of priorities?
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  • Or do you just want god to do what you want him to do so you
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  • Can keep doing what you wanna do?
  • 00:09:03.224 --> 00:09:05.694
  • If i get really honest, that, yeah that's really what i want.
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  • But truthfully, god loves us too much.
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  • Like my bible says that if god loves you, he will
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  • Discipline you.
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  • I don't want to grow up in the lord.
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  • I mean, i've learned to, i've learned to value that, but i
  • 00:09:23.178 --> 00:09:25.580
  • Mean if you just left me to myself, the truth is not--i'd
  • 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:28.383
  • Really like just to have my way.
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  • I remember as a kid, you know, we'd come to these
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  • Life junctures.
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  • And my parents would have these very misshapen ideas.
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  • That at some point in our growth and development and maturing
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  • That my brothers and i should accept responsibilities.
  • 00:09:46.935 --> 00:09:52.140
  • And we were like, "no, really, we're good, irresponsible works
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  • For us.
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  • We don't need a job, don't want to clean a stall."
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  • It'll be good for you.
  • 00:09:59.814 --> 00:10:01.149
  • "no, i tried it.
  • 00:10:01.149 --> 00:10:02.517
  • I got dirty, it smells awful.
  • 00:10:02.517 --> 00:10:03.918
  • Horses are mean, they spew and spit, and they look kind of
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  • Threatening to me.
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  • I'm really good.
  • 00:10:07.989 --> 00:10:09.324
  • Television works for me and air conditioning."
  • 00:10:09.324 --> 00:10:11.393
  • And time after time as i walked through that maturing, they
  • 00:10:11.393 --> 00:10:15.563
  • Would come to these places and say, "oh, this will be good
  • 00:10:15.563 --> 00:10:17.532
  • For you."
  • 00:10:17.532 --> 00:10:18.900
  • I'm like, "nah."
  • 00:10:18.900 --> 00:10:20.468
  • It never felt good for me in the moment.
  • 00:10:20.468 --> 00:10:23.304
  • Yeah, maybe looking back on it, now that i'm into my thirties, i
  • 00:10:23.304 --> 00:10:26.574
  • Can see there was some benefit to those things.
  • 00:10:26.574 --> 00:10:31.880
  • Don't mock.
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  • Well, i feel the same way with the lord.
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  • You know, you're born again.
  • 00:10:38.319 --> 00:10:39.654
  • You're an infant, you're a new creation in christ.
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  • It's a wonderful thing.
  • 00:10:43.758 --> 00:10:45.126
  • It's an amazing thing.
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  • It's worth whatever effort, whatever--it
  • 00:10:46.461 --> 00:10:49.698
  • Changes everything.
  • 00:10:49.698 --> 00:10:53.101
  • But the general tendency at that point is to go, "you know, i'm
  • 00:10:53.101 --> 00:10:55.403
  • Good now.
  • 00:10:55.403 --> 00:10:56.738
  • I got my ticket punched.
  • 00:10:56.738 --> 00:10:58.106
  • I'm in.
  • 00:10:58.106 --> 00:10:59.441
  • I've learned the secret handshake."
  • 00:10:59.441 --> 00:11:02.177
  • And god says, "now i'm gonna help you to grow up."
  • 00:11:02.177 --> 00:11:04.045
  • And i'm going, "no, not really, i'm good, thank you.
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  • Feed me, change me, burp me, protect me, provide for me,
  • 00:11:06.181 --> 00:11:11.586
  • Watch over me, care for me.
  • 00:11:11.586 --> 00:11:15.290
  • Except that i don't want you watching so i can do what
  • 00:11:15.290 --> 00:11:17.425
  • Me wants."
  • 00:11:17.425 --> 00:11:19.494
  • And god said, "no, i love you.
  • 00:11:19.494 --> 00:11:21.129
  • I'm gonna help you grow up."
  • 00:11:21.129 --> 00:11:23.998
  • That's really the question on the table today.
  • 00:11:23.998 --> 00:11:26.000
  • Are you--to what extent are you willing to grow in the lord?
  • 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.772
  • I'm gonna suggest that it has an impact not only for you, but for
  • 00:11:30.772 --> 00:11:34.275
  • The generations who follow you.
  • 00:11:34.275 --> 00:11:36.911
  • In fact, if we start with zechariah and elizabeth and i
  • 00:11:36.911 --> 00:11:39.514
  • Have--this couple who were childless, and they're past the
  • 00:11:39.514 --> 00:11:43.017
  • Age where they're gonna bear children, it's just not
  • 00:11:43.017 --> 00:11:45.320
  • Reasonable anymore, nobody has the expectation.
  • 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.289
  • They had those prayers, but they had them a long time ago and
  • 00:11:48.289 --> 00:11:52.127
  • Then the announcement comes.
  • 00:11:52.127 --> 00:11:53.495
  • Gabriel the archangel shows up and says, "you're gonna have a
  • 00:11:53.495 --> 00:11:55.864
  • Child and you're gonna name him john."
  • 00:11:55.864 --> 00:11:57.365
  • And they're like, "what are you talking about?"
  • 00:11:57.365 --> 00:11:59.934
  • I mean, zechariah has enough questions that he gets struck
  • 00:11:59.934 --> 00:12:02.403
  • Mute for nine months.
  • 00:12:02.403 --> 00:12:05.340
  • Teach you to talk back.
  • 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:07.008
  • Aren't you glad we all don't get struck mute when we question
  • 00:12:07.008 --> 00:12:09.144
  • The lord?
  • 00:12:09.144 --> 00:12:11.579
  • And, you know, pastor will be signing the message
  • 00:12:11.579 --> 00:12:13.481
  • This morning.
  • 00:12:13.481 --> 00:12:15.784
  • And john's born.
  • 00:12:19.187 --> 00:12:21.055
  • And zechariah and elizabeth really step out of the scene
  • 00:12:21.055 --> 00:12:24.392
  • Completely after their time in the temple and, taking john,
  • 00:12:24.392 --> 00:12:32.367
  • They step out of the story, but john steps onto the stage.
  • 00:12:32.367 --> 00:12:37.005
  • And that's where i want to start.
  • 00:12:37.005 --> 00:12:38.773
  • It's in luke chapter 3. it's right in the middle of this
  • 00:12:38.773 --> 00:12:41.910
  • Christmas narrative.
  • 00:12:41.910 --> 00:12:44.746
  • Zechariah and elizabeth and john the baptist are very much a part
  • 00:12:44.746 --> 00:12:47.615
  • Of the christmas story.
  • 00:12:47.615 --> 00:12:48.983
  • During the high priesthood of annas and caiaphas, the word of
  • 00:12:48.983 --> 00:12:51.386
  • God came to john, the son of zechariah, in the desert.
  • 00:12:51.386 --> 00:12:56.324
  • Nobody knew why they were calling him john.
  • 00:12:56.324 --> 00:12:58.092
  • Because god said to.
  • 00:12:58.092 --> 00:13:00.595
  • That was the message they got in the temple, when gabriel came to
  • 00:13:00.595 --> 00:13:03.798
  • Zechariah said, "you name him john."
  • 00:13:03.798 --> 00:13:05.366
  • "no, no, no," all the people said when it was time to name
  • 00:13:05.366 --> 00:13:07.669
  • Him, they said "he'll be zechariah.
  • 00:13:07.669 --> 00:13:09.103
  • It's the family--there's nobody named john in your family."
  • 00:13:09.103 --> 00:13:14.142
  • And elizabeth and zechariah together said, "no, this is a
  • 00:13:14.142 --> 00:13:17.011
  • New thing.
  • 00:13:17.011 --> 00:13:18.513
  • This is a breakthrough.
  • 00:13:18.513 --> 00:13:20.181
  • His name's john."
  • 00:13:20.181 --> 00:13:22.083
  • So john, the son of zechariah, in the desert, "he went into all
  • 00:13:22.083 --> 00:13:25.153
  • The country around the jordan, preaching the baptism of
  • 00:13:25.153 --> 00:13:27.422
  • Repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
  • 00:13:27.422 --> 00:13:29.757
  • As it is written in the book of the words of isaiah the prophet:
  • 00:13:29.757 --> 00:13:32.694
  • 'a voice of one calling in the desert.
  • 00:13:32.694 --> 00:13:35.330
  • Prepare the way for the lord, make straight paths for him.
  • 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:37.832
  • Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill
  • 00:13:37.832 --> 00:13:40.101
  • Made low.
  • 00:13:40.101 --> 00:13:41.436
  • The crooked road shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.
  • 00:13:41.436 --> 00:13:43.838
  • And all mankind will see god's salvation.'"
  • 00:13:43.838 --> 00:13:46.040
  • Gee, that's not a big assignment.
  • 00:13:46.040 --> 00:13:48.910
  • Go prepare the way for the messiah so that all of humankind
  • 00:13:48.910 --> 00:13:53.781
  • Can see the way to salvation.
  • 00:13:53.781 --> 00:13:56.885
  • And "john said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by
  • 00:13:56.885 --> 00:13:59.921
  • Him, 'you bunch of snakes.
  • 00:13:59.921 --> 00:14:02.624
  • Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?'"
  • 00:14:02.624 --> 00:14:05.994
  • Just as a beginning point, i think a simple observation--
  • 00:14:05.994 --> 00:14:08.229
  • We've been trying to stack some ideas, some breakthrough hacks,
  • 00:14:08.229 --> 00:14:12.033
  • If you will.
  • 00:14:12.033 --> 00:14:13.368
  • In this case, the breakthrough begins in the desert.
  • 00:14:13.368 --> 00:14:16.838
  • John is a voice crying in the desert.
  • 00:14:16.838 --> 00:14:18.539
  • He's not a voice crying in the temple, he's not in jerusalem.
  • 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:21.776
  • Isaiah was a prophet of the court, he was comfortable in
  • 00:14:21.776 --> 00:14:24.445
  • The palace.
  • 00:14:24.445 --> 00:14:26.447
  • Jeremiah spoke to heads of state and the leaders of nations.
  • 00:14:26.447 --> 00:14:30.351
  • John is a voice in the desert, a voice crying in the wilderness,
  • 00:14:30.351 --> 00:14:34.522
  • A voice of one crying in the wilderness.
  • 00:14:34.522 --> 00:14:38.393
  • Wearing clothes made of camel's hair and eating locusts, not
  • 00:14:38.393 --> 00:14:41.296
  • Bugs, it's a fruit that grows on a tree.
  • 00:14:41.296 --> 00:14:44.666
  • I know you're disappointed.
  • 00:14:44.666 --> 00:14:50.338
  • Female announcer: if you look,
  • 00:14:54.008 --> 00:14:55.343
  • You'll find good news everywhere.
  • 00:14:55.343 --> 00:14:57.512
  • Female: our baby was born healthy and strong.
  • 00:14:57.512 --> 00:15:01.382
  • Female: we have the groceries we need.
  • 00:15:01.382 --> 00:15:03.952
  • Male: another year cancer free.
  • 00:15:03.952 --> 00:15:07.322
  • Female: we bought our first house this year.
  • 00:15:07.322 --> 00:15:11.259
  • Female: the raise came through when i needed it most.
  • 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:14.896
  • Male: i have a working car.
  • 00:15:14.896 --> 00:15:18.466
  • Female: my husband came home safe.
  • 00:15:18.466 --> 00:15:22.403
  • Announcer: philippians 4 tells us to think about "whatever is
  • 00:15:22.403 --> 00:15:24.939
  • True, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent,
  • 00:15:24.939 --> 00:15:30.411
  • And praiseworthy."
  • 00:15:30.411 --> 00:15:32.080
  • All of these things honor god, and when we take time to notice
  • 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:35.383
  • Them we welcome god's presence and experience his peace.
  • 00:15:35.383 --> 00:15:38.886
  • Allen: you know, the two most critical junctures of any
  • 00:15:41.022 --> 00:15:43.558
  • Enterprise are how we begin and how we conclude, so the
  • 00:15:43.558 --> 00:15:47.395
  • Beginning of a new year is a tremendous opportunity.
  • 00:15:47.395 --> 00:15:50.932
  • We've prepared a tool we want to share with you.
  • 00:15:50.932 --> 00:15:52.734
  • It's a "good news journal."
  • 00:15:52.734 --> 00:15:54.602
  • We wanna help you set a habit this year to do something with a
  • 00:15:54.602 --> 00:15:58.639
  • Bit more intention than perhaps has been our pattern in
  • 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.609
  • The past.
  • 00:16:01.609 --> 00:16:02.944
  • We wanna start our year with an attitude of appreciation and
  • 00:16:02.944 --> 00:16:05.980
  • Gratitude for the blessings of god in our lives.
  • 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:09.217
  • So we've designed this journal so that you can use it as a part
  • 00:16:09.217 --> 00:16:12.220
  • Of your devotional.
  • 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:13.554
  • It's something you could include the children, the grandchildren,
  • 00:16:13.554 --> 00:16:15.623
  • You could take it to work and create a "good news journal" for
  • 00:16:15.623 --> 00:16:18.226
  • The people you work with.
  • 00:16:18.226 --> 00:16:19.827
  • Wherever that may be, let's start our year out purposefully,
  • 00:16:19.827 --> 00:16:23.598
  • Intentionally, saying thank you to the lord for his goodness
  • 00:16:23.598 --> 00:16:27.035
  • To us.
  • 00:16:27.035 --> 00:16:28.403
  • I know there's challenges and we have places where we need god's
  • 00:16:28.403 --> 00:16:30.805
  • Help, but we're gonna begin with gratitude and walk into the
  • 00:16:30.805 --> 00:16:34.709
  • Blessings of god in this year.
  • 00:16:34.709 --> 00:16:37.078
  • I think you'll enjoy the journal.
  • 00:16:37.078 --> 00:16:38.813
  • God bless.
  • 00:16:38.813 --> 00:16:40.148
  • Announcer: when you keep a good news list, you'll notice how god
  • 00:16:40.148 --> 00:16:42.650
  • Is constantly at work all around you.
  • 00:16:42.650 --> 00:16:45.520
  • Our new 52 week "good news notebook" gives you a place to
  • 00:16:45.520 --> 00:16:49.457
  • Record your good news, prayers you saw god answer, and your
  • 00:16:49.457 --> 00:16:53.061
  • Current prayer requests.
  • 00:16:53.061 --> 00:16:54.829
  • As you look back on your lists over the weeks and months to
  • 00:16:54.829 --> 00:16:57.698
  • Come, you'll find a personal record of god's faithfulness
  • 00:16:57.698 --> 00:17:00.635
  • To you.
  • 00:17:00.635 --> 00:17:01.969
  • Allen: we are trusting god for a year like no other.
  • 00:17:01.969 --> 00:17:03.938
  • For his breakthroughs this year, i believe the "good news
  • 00:17:03.938 --> 00:17:06.707
  • Journal" can be a part of our journey in each of our lives.
  • 00:17:06.707 --> 00:17:09.911
  • Announcer: request your "good news notebook" when you donate
  • 00:17:09.911 --> 00:17:11.979
  • $20 or more today at allenjackson.com or by
  • 00:17:11.979 --> 00:17:15.783
  • Calling ...
  • 00:17:15.783 --> 00:17:20.988
  • Allen: breakthroughs often emerge in the desert.
  • 00:17:25.026 --> 00:17:28.029
  • Seems odd to us, the desert's a remote part for most of us in
  • 00:17:28.029 --> 00:17:31.399
  • Our nation.
  • 00:17:31.399 --> 00:17:33.167
  • If you live in israel or the middle east, i can tell you from
  • 00:17:33.167 --> 00:17:35.369
  • My jewish friends, the desert is not a place of punishment, it's
  • 00:17:35.369 --> 00:17:37.905
  • A place of renewal, it's a place of place of refreshing, it's a
  • 00:17:37.905 --> 00:17:41.542
  • Place where god meets you.
  • 00:17:41.542 --> 00:17:43.344
  • If they have a day off, they go into the desert.
  • 00:17:43.344 --> 00:17:48.116
  • And from the biblical perspective, the desert is a
  • 00:17:48.116 --> 00:17:50.251
  • Place of renewal.
  • 00:17:50.251 --> 00:17:51.586
  • I tell you that because if you're in a desert season, it
  • 00:17:51.586 --> 00:17:56.557
  • Doesn't feel so feel so fruitful.
  • 00:17:56.557 --> 00:17:59.494
  • It doesn't feel quite as opulent as you had hoped it might, if
  • 00:17:59.494 --> 00:18:05.733
  • It's a lean time.
  • 00:18:05.733 --> 00:18:08.035
  • I would submit to you that's a very--there's a very high
  • 00:18:08.035 --> 00:18:13.708
  • Degree of probability that that's a breakthrough season.
  • 00:18:13.708 --> 00:18:17.512
  • God hasn't abandoned you.
  • 00:18:17.512 --> 00:18:20.181
  • In the desert there's a stillness, in the desert there's
  • 00:18:20.181 --> 00:18:22.583
  • A quietness, in the desert it's much easier to hear.
  • 00:18:22.583 --> 00:18:28.289
  • I don't believe god has left you.
  • 00:18:28.289 --> 00:18:31.292
  • There's a component of john the baptist that i don't want us
  • 00:18:31.292 --> 00:18:33.394
  • To miss.
  • 00:18:33.394 --> 00:18:34.962
  • Jesus said he was the greatest of those born among women.
  • 00:18:34.962 --> 00:18:39.734
  • A very revered character.
  • 00:18:39.734 --> 00:18:42.570
  • But john the baptist is an impossibility without the
  • 00:18:42.570 --> 00:18:44.939
  • Faithfulness of zechariah and elizabeth.
  • 00:18:44.939 --> 00:18:48.910
  • What made john the baptist ministry possible, his life
  • 00:18:48.910 --> 00:18:51.913
  • Story possible, his impact possible, were the decisions
  • 00:18:51.913 --> 00:18:55.183
  • That were made by his parents, by zechariah and elizabeth.
  • 00:18:55.183 --> 00:18:58.119
  • Upright people, godly people, people who overcame
  • 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:01.055
  • Disappointment, people who had to have their life plans
  • 00:19:01.055 --> 00:19:04.425
  • Rewritten, their life schedule didn't emerge in the way they
  • 00:19:04.425 --> 00:19:07.628
  • Had hoped it would.
  • 00:19:07.628 --> 00:19:08.963
  • While their friends were building nurseries and welcoming
  • 00:19:08.963 --> 00:19:11.866
  • Children, they weren't.
  • 00:19:11.866 --> 00:19:15.269
  • And so they prayed and they sought god and they
  • 00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:18.072
  • Still didn't.
  • 00:19:18.072 --> 00:19:20.208
  • And it became very obvious that that wasn't gonna happen, it
  • 00:19:20.208 --> 00:19:22.977
  • Wasn't in their future, that just wasn't a part of
  • 00:19:22.977 --> 00:19:26.447
  • Their journey.
  • 00:19:26.447 --> 00:19:27.815
  • And they managed to overcome that disappointment and not be
  • 00:19:27.815 --> 00:19:30.184
  • Defined by it.
  • 00:19:30.184 --> 00:19:32.587
  • Zechariah is still serving in the temple.
  • 00:19:32.587 --> 00:19:34.522
  • Elizabeth is still honoring the lord, listening to the spirit
  • 00:19:34.522 --> 00:19:37.491
  • Of god.
  • 00:19:37.491 --> 00:19:38.826
  • And then gabriel shows up and said, "hey, i got some news
  • 00:19:38.826 --> 00:19:41.529
  • For you.
  • 00:19:41.529 --> 00:19:43.497
  • You're gonna have a son."
  • 00:19:43.497 --> 00:19:46.734
  • Except now it's, like, disruptive.
  • 00:19:46.734 --> 00:19:48.769
  • Zechariah, i mean, he says in the--he says, "i am old.
  • 00:19:48.769 --> 00:19:53.341
  • And elizabeth?"
  • 00:19:53.341 --> 00:19:57.178
  • He was gracious.
  • 00:19:57.178 --> 00:19:58.512
  • He said, "she's well along in years."
  • 00:19:58.512 --> 00:20:02.416
  • Gabriel, have you seen lizzie?
  • 00:20:02.416 --> 00:20:05.052
  • In fact, it's a little bit of a moment, you know, gabriel's
  • 00:20:09.223 --> 00:20:11.325
  • Delivering this message with some rather lofty language about
  • 00:20:11.325 --> 00:20:14.095
  • John and zechariah says, "hang on a minute.
  • 00:20:14.095 --> 00:20:19.834
  • I'm old."
  • 00:20:19.834 --> 00:20:22.570
  • And gabriel says, "and you're gonna be quiet for nine months."
  • 00:20:22.570 --> 00:20:27.675
  • Again, i'm very grateful god has not responded to me that way.
  • 00:20:27.675 --> 00:20:31.045
  • How many times have you held up your hand to the lord?
  • 00:20:31.045 --> 00:20:34.315
  • Well, not me.
  • 00:20:34.315 --> 00:20:35.916
  • No, thank you.
  • 00:20:35.916 --> 00:20:37.318
  • I don't even like church.
  • 00:20:37.318 --> 00:20:41.489
  • So john the baptist and his ministry emerges from the
  • 00:20:41.489 --> 00:20:45.593
  • Faithfulness of zechariah and elizabeth, are willing to
  • 00:20:45.593 --> 00:20:48.362
  • Embrace their breakthrough, to reorder their lives, to be
  • 00:20:48.362 --> 00:20:53.067
  • Unique, to overcome disappointment.
  • 00:20:53.067 --> 00:20:54.869
  • If they had not made those choices, john doesn't have a
  • 00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:57.772
  • Story to tell.
  • 00:20:57.772 --> 00:21:00.474
  • There's a biblical principle here.
  • 00:21:00.474 --> 00:21:02.009
  • I'm taking a moment with it because it's very important and
  • 00:21:02.009 --> 00:21:04.211
  • It's essential, i believe, for the place that we find ourselves
  • 00:21:04.211 --> 00:21:07.348
  • As a people right now.
  • 00:21:07.348 --> 00:21:09.283
  • We need a generational story of godliness.
  • 00:21:09.283 --> 00:21:13.354
  • We need a generational tale of a desire for righteousness and
  • 00:21:13.354 --> 00:21:18.426
  • Holiness and purity.
  • 00:21:18.426 --> 00:21:22.129
  • We want a legacy of faith to be reestablished among us.
  • 00:21:22.129 --> 00:21:27.668
  • Does that sound right?
  • 00:21:27.668 --> 00:21:29.970
  • Why not let it begin with us and the aspirations that we have for
  • 00:21:29.970 --> 00:21:33.874
  • Our children and our grandchildren?
  • 00:21:33.874 --> 00:21:36.477
  • I know we're in church and the answer to every question is
  • 00:21:36.477 --> 00:21:38.679
  • Typically jesus, but in the quiet places of your life, when
  • 00:21:38.679 --> 00:21:42.583
  • You're not in a church building and you're not sitting in the
  • 00:21:42.583 --> 00:21:45.052
  • Midst of a group of people that have raised their hands to
  • 00:21:45.052 --> 00:21:47.288
  • Identify as christ followers, what aspirations do you truly
  • 00:21:47.288 --> 00:21:51.125
  • Hold for your children and your grandchildren?
  • 00:21:51.125 --> 00:21:54.695
  • Fame, success, wealth, none of those things are inappropriate
  • 00:21:54.695 --> 00:21:57.631
  • In and of themselves, but they'll be empty apart from a
  • 00:21:57.631 --> 00:22:00.234
  • Vibrant faith.
  • 00:22:00.234 --> 00:22:03.938
  • You see, we've almost been totally co-opted by a
  • 00:22:03.938 --> 00:22:06.774
  • Secular culture.
  • 00:22:06.774 --> 00:22:08.175
  • Our aspirations have become secular aspirations, our dreams
  • 00:22:08.175 --> 00:22:11.011
  • Secular aspirations, our priorities secular priorities.
  • 00:22:11.011 --> 00:22:14.682
  • And again, i'm not trying to remove us from the world, we're
  • 00:22:14.682 --> 00:22:16.951
  • In it, but the bible says we shouldn't be of it.
  • 00:22:16.951 --> 00:22:18.953
  • There's a difference.
  • 00:22:18.953 --> 00:22:21.455
  • We have a different allegiance, a different set of objectives.
  • 00:22:21.455 --> 00:22:24.925
  • It really is biblical, i can point to it.
  • 00:22:24.925 --> 00:22:26.927
  • In 2 timothy chapter 1 in verse 5, paul is writing.
  • 00:22:26.927 --> 00:22:31.165
  • Paul wrote the letter to a young man named timothy, that's why it
  • 00:22:31.165 --> 00:22:33.801
  • Bears his name.
  • 00:22:33.801 --> 00:22:36.003
  • But he's reminding him of what paul knows of his life.
  • 00:22:36.003 --> 00:22:38.172
  • He said, "i've been reminded of your sincere faith, which first
  • 00:22:38.172 --> 00:22:41.976
  • Lived in your grandmother lois and in your mother eunice and,
  • 00:22:41.976 --> 00:22:44.311
  • I'm persuaded, now lives in you also."
  • 00:22:44.311 --> 00:22:46.313
  • You're third generation, timothy, i know the stock from
  • 00:22:46.313 --> 00:22:49.383
  • Which you come.
  • 00:22:49.383 --> 00:22:51.285
  • You say, "well, pastor, i don't come from a family where there's
  • 00:22:51.285 --> 00:22:54.555
  • Generations of faithful people to the lord."
  • 00:22:54.555 --> 00:22:57.625
  • Good, let's start a new trend.
  • 00:22:57.625 --> 00:23:02.530
  • Pastor, my story is a little more broken.
  • 00:23:02.530 --> 00:23:04.865
  • Most of ours are, most of ours are.
  • 00:23:04.865 --> 00:23:09.403
  • That's why in the previous session we spent a great deal of
  • 00:23:09.403 --> 00:23:11.539
  • Time talking about a new name.
  • 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:14.241
  • Establishing a new heritage, a new legacy.
  • 00:23:14.241 --> 00:23:17.912
  • John's life isn't gonna fit the normal pattern either.
  • 00:23:17.912 --> 00:23:21.515
  • I don't believe any parent has an aspiration that their child
  • 00:23:21.515 --> 00:23:24.251
  • Would walk the path that john walked.
  • 00:23:24.251 --> 00:23:27.154
  • Forget his impact.
  • 00:23:27.154 --> 00:23:29.623
  • I just can't--it's hard to imagine any parent raising their
  • 00:23:29.623 --> 00:23:32.426
  • Hand and saying, "that would be my aspiration."
  • 00:23:32.426 --> 00:23:35.596
  • We'll get to it in a moment, a generational legacy.
  • 00:23:35.596 --> 00:23:38.699
  • Look at 1 samuel chapter 1. this is hannah, she's the mother
  • 00:23:38.699 --> 00:23:43.871
  • Of samuel.
  • 00:23:43.871 --> 00:23:45.239
  • At the point we're stepping into the narrative, she is childless
  • 00:23:45.239 --> 00:23:47.842
  • As well.
  • 00:23:47.842 --> 00:23:49.176
  • "she said, 'i made a vow,' saying, 'o lord almighty, if
  • 00:23:49.176 --> 00:23:51.745
  • You'll only look upon your servant's misery and remember
  • 00:23:51.745 --> 00:23:54.415
  • Me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then i will
  • 00:23:54.415 --> 00:23:58.018
  • Give him to the lord for all the days of his life, no razor will
  • 00:23:58.018 --> 00:24:01.922
  • Ever be used on his head.'"
  • 00:24:01.922 --> 00:24:04.959
  • That last phrase could be a little blind to you.
  • 00:24:04.959 --> 00:24:07.094
  • It's a commitment within judaism.
  • 00:24:07.094 --> 00:24:09.363
  • There was a sect of people, they're called nazarites.
  • 00:24:09.363 --> 00:24:13.133
  • Not nazarenes, nazarenes are people that come from the
  • 00:24:13.133 --> 00:24:15.669
  • Village of nazareth.
  • 00:24:15.669 --> 00:24:17.371
  • It's a little community in the northern part of israel
  • 00:24:17.371 --> 00:24:19.573
  • In galilee.
  • 00:24:19.573 --> 00:24:20.908
  • Jesus was a nazarene.
  • 00:24:20.908 --> 00:24:22.610
  • Nazarites are a group of people who take a vow.
  • 00:24:22.610 --> 00:24:28.315
  • A special effort at setting themselves apart for the
  • 00:24:28.315 --> 00:24:33.821
  • Purposes of the lord.
  • 00:24:33.821 --> 00:24:36.290
  • They won't eat or drink anything that comes from the vine.
  • 00:24:36.290 --> 00:24:39.927
  • They won't drink wine, they won't eat a grape, they won't
  • 00:24:39.927 --> 00:24:41.996
  • Even eat a raisin, and they don't cut their hair.
  • 00:24:41.996 --> 00:24:47.801
  • Samuel, before he's born, before he's conceived, his mother said,
  • 00:24:47.801 --> 00:24:53.574
  • "i will rear him as a young man set apart for the purposes
  • 00:24:53.574 --> 00:24:58.045
  • Of god.
  • 00:24:58.045 --> 00:24:59.380
  • I will give him to serve the lord."
  • 00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:02.116
  • Two books in the bible bear the name of samuel.
  • 00:25:02.116 --> 00:25:03.984
  • He's one of the most--even more so in judaism than christianity.
  • 00:25:03.984 --> 00:25:07.121
  • He's a very, very significant character, a very pivotal figure
  • 00:25:07.121 --> 00:25:12.026
  • In the unfolding purposes of god.
  • 00:25:12.026 --> 00:25:15.029
  • The last of the judges of israel, he anoints the first
  • 00:25:15.029 --> 00:25:18.566
  • Kings of israel.
  • 00:25:18.566 --> 00:25:22.169
  • And it all begins, samuel's story begins with a prayer of
  • 00:25:22.169 --> 00:25:25.439
  • Hannah, his mother, a generational faith, timothy's
  • 00:25:25.439 --> 00:25:29.643
  • Third generation.
  • 00:25:29.643 --> 00:25:31.111
  • Paul said, "listen, i know your family."
  • 00:25:31.111 --> 00:25:34.181
  • I'll give you one more example.
  • 00:25:37.851 --> 00:25:39.186
  • Hebrews 11 is the hall of fame.
  • 00:25:39.186 --> 00:25:42.056
  • That's the listing of all these remarkable people of faith and
  • 00:25:42.056 --> 00:25:44.325
  • What they've accomplished.
  • 00:25:44.325 --> 00:25:45.826
  • Many of you know that god's identified to us in the opening
  • 00:25:45.826 --> 00:25:48.462
  • Chapters of the bible as the god of abraham, isaac, and jacob.
  • 00:25:48.462 --> 00:25:52.566
  • Imagine, you know, we read that kind of casually, like, "oh, so
  • 00:25:52.566 --> 00:25:54.868
  • What's the big deal?"
  • 00:25:54.868 --> 00:25:56.236
  • Well, just imagine he was the god of allen,
  • 00:25:56.236 --> 00:25:57.571
  • And fred, and frank.
  • 00:25:57.571 --> 00:25:59.907
  • We'd go, "wow, god borrowed us."
  • 00:25:59.907 --> 00:26:05.646
  • The god of abraham, isaac, and jacob.
  • 00:26:05.646 --> 00:26:10.517
  • Just take a half a beat and think of the implications.
  • 00:26:10.517 --> 00:26:13.654
  • It's hebrews 11 in verse 17, "by faith abraham, when god
  • 00:26:13.654 --> 00:26:17.958
  • Tested him, offered isaac as a sacrifice."
  • 00:26:17.958 --> 00:26:22.796
  • Abraham didn't have a son.
  • 00:26:22.796 --> 00:26:25.065
  • God had promised him he would make him into a mighty nation,
  • 00:26:25.065 --> 00:26:28.302
  • And he didn't have a son.
  • 00:26:28.302 --> 00:26:29.637
  • Abraham complained bitterly about it.
  • 00:26:29.637 --> 00:26:31.005
  • He said, "god, you made me this promise and i pushed all the
  • 00:26:31.005 --> 00:26:33.040
  • Chips into the middle of the table and here i am and
  • 00:26:33.040 --> 00:26:35.909
  • Everything i have is gonna go to a servant in my house and then
  • 00:26:35.909 --> 00:26:38.278
  • He finally," sarah conceives and gives birth to isaac.
  • 00:26:38.278 --> 00:26:43.651
  • And god said, "how about offering him to me?"
  • 00:26:43.651 --> 00:26:48.355
  • And really inexplicably, abraham says, "all right."
  • 00:26:48.355 --> 00:26:52.126
  • Allen: through the cross, you and i are given access to all
  • 00:26:52.192 --> 00:26:54.995
  • The blessings in christ jesus, and through the cross we're
  • 00:26:54.995 --> 00:26:59.333
  • Delivered from every curse, but we have to receive it.
  • 00:26:59.333 --> 00:27:02.469
  • We have to come to the cross with our humility and accept
  • 00:27:02.469 --> 00:27:06.006
  • What god has done for us.
  • 00:27:06.006 --> 00:27:07.374
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:27:07.374 --> 00:27:08.709
  • Father, i thank you that through the blood of jesus i have been
  • 00:27:08.709 --> 00:27:10.911
  • Delivered out of the hand of the enemy.
  • 00:27:10.911 --> 00:27:12.980
  • And that, in jesus's name, all the promises of god are yay and
  • 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:16.283
  • Amen to me.
  • 00:27:16.283 --> 00:27:17.651
  • I receive them, amen.
  • 00:27:17.651 --> 00:27:19.019
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:20.688 --> 00:27:29.029