Allen Jackson - Breakthroughs Rejected (Part 1)

January 18, 2025 | S25:E19

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 - Breakthroughs Rejected (Part 1) | January 18, 2025
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: we've been doing a series on breakthroughs.
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  • I've done several sessions prior to christmas around these ideas
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  • Of breakthroughs and how to open our lives more fully to these
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  • Interventions of god, because i don't understand them to
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  • Be random.
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  • I believe they require participation to find their
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  • Full expression.
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  • Mary had to say "yes," joseph had to participate, and on and
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  • On the list goes.
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  • Moses had to agree to the recruitment session at the
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  • Burning bush.
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  • Well, as i walked through those preparations, it became
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  • Increasingly apparent to me that there are more instances in
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  • Scripture where breakthroughs are rejected than there are
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  • Instances where they've been accepted.
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  • And i don't intend to do as many sessions, but i wanted to do a
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  • Couple just to really try to raise awareness to the fact that
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  • You can choose to say "no" to the lord as certainly as you can
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  • Choose to say "yes."
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  • Although god is sovereign, and he can do what he wants, when he
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  • Wants, and the way he wants, and he needs no one's permission,
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  • He's created us with a free will, and he will respect your
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  • Will to the point that he'll allow you to step out into
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  • Eternity without participating in his eternal kingdom.
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  • That's not his desire.
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  • It's not his intent.
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  • In fact, he's made provision that no human being should have
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  • To, to do that, and in reality, he said the majority will
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  • Choose that.
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  • That's a very unsettling thought.
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  • And i wanna plant a seed.
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  • I really wanna ask you to spend some time reflecting on it,
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  • Allow the spirit of god to make it real to you.
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  • You wanna think consciously about the places where you are
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  • Purposefully, very intentionally saying "yes" to the lord, and i
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  • Would submit to you, you want that list to grow.
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  • You don't want to reflect upon it.
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  • You don't wanna--it's not like a history lesson.
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  • These are the places where i did say "yes" to the lord.
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  • You wanna be able to tell that narrative in the way these are
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  • The places where i am currently engaged with god, because those
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  • Are the places where breakthroughs emerge.
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  • Absent those, i believe you are forfeiting god's interventions.
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  • I want to unpack that in a little bit more.
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  • I wanna--i heard something on social media.
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  • A friend of mine actually made a post, and they were talking
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  • About people saying to them, "don't push your faith on me."
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  • They live in another state where--but it's bugged me.
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  • It stuck in my head for several days.
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  • You know, i find that as in the com--the community of faith,
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  • Sometimes we get captivated by perspectives that are very
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  • Ungodly, and we will concede to them.
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  • When people say, "don't push your faith on me," i'm--what,
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  • What resonates, what rolls out of me is, "you gotta be
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  • Kidding me!"
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  • We live in a culture where they take worldview and bang you over
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  • The head with it until you submit, and then if you have the
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  • Temerity to raise your hand and say, "jesus," somebody says,
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  • "well, you can't force that on me!"
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  • And i'm like, "i'm not trying to force anything on anybody except
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  • My right to give expression to what i believe."
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  • Almost every form of ungodliness, or perversion, or
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  • Wickedness has been endorsed and supported, promoted, and they'll
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  • Bring it into your home.
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  • And if you'll say, "you know, i--would you please be
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  • Respectful of my home and not do that here?"
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  • They say, "well, why are you pushing your faith on me?"
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  • And the push isn't coming from your advocacy for jesus.
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  • And just to help you get the equation dialed in from a
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  • Biblical vantage point, jesus gave us an assignment.
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  • He said, "go into all the world and preach the gospel to
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  • Every creature."
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  • Go into all the world, go find anybody who doesn't know and
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  • Tell them the story.
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  • Not everybody will accept it, not everybody will embrace it,
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  • But i'm not apologizing bein--for being an advocate for
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  • Jesus, and please don't feel that you should either.
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  • Not everyone will accept the message, not everyone you love
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  • Will accept the message.
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  • You can love them in spite of their reluctance to accept
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  • The message.
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  • I will respect your right to say "no," but i need you to
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  • Respect my right to say, "this is important to me," and that
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  • Has nothing to do with forcing our faith on anyone, and
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  • You--that needs to grow in your heart.
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  • We've been timid for too long, we've been bullied,
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  • We've cowered.
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  • In the corner, we've hidden in the shadows, we've been filled
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  • With cowardice.
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  • As you read the gospels over these next few weeks, you will
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  • Find jesus consistently pushing the truth in front of people.
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  • He was not timid.
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  • On multiple occasions, he made the disciples more than just a
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  • Little anxious.
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  • So, having said that, how do we understand the opportunities of
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  • Our lives?
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  • How do we understand the god opportunities?
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  • How do we unpack them?
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  • Well, i would submit to you that breakthroughs in our lives often
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  • Begin as invitations.
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  • God will present an invitation to us, and it doesn't usually
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  • Come wrapped in a neon package or container that says, "this is
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  • A supernatural breakthrough."
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  • In fact, it typically looks is like something rather
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  • Inauspicious, maybe even something insignificant, maybe
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  • Even looks a bit like an intrusion or a disruption.
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  • In fact, breakthroughs frequently are disruptive.
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  • They can be disruptive to your calendar, they can be disruptive
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  • To relationships, they can be disruptive to the plans you
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  • Have made.
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  • All of those things are consistent with the
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  • Biblical patterns.
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  • We've looked at many of those.
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  • So if there's something in your life right now that's a bit
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  • Disruptive, it's worth taking some time, both thoughtfully
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  • And prayerfully.
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  • Remember our little paradigm-- watch, listen, think--to take a
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  • Little time with those things that are disruptive and say, "is
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  • It possible that this was an invitation from god for
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  • A breakthrough?"
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  • "it couldn't be that, it's encroaching on my calendar!"
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  • "it's gonna cost money!"
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  • "it wasn't on my schedule."
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  • Has all the earmarks.
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  • There's a third component.
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  • Their breakthroughs are typically, at least as the way
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  • They're presented in scripture, they're frequently experienced
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  • Incrementally, bit by bit, step by step.
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  • They aren't usually presented in total.
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  • When you read them, you think, "oh, that was a total
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  • Presentation," but i would submit to you that the
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  • Invitation mary got from gabriel in nazareth with that first
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  • Announcement scenario, you know, "you're gonna have a child," was
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  • Not a complete--it was not the same understanding mary had
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  • Post resurrection.
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  • Would that be fair?
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  • Do you think that was kind of an incremental breakthrough in
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  • Mary's life?
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  • And i can take you to example.
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  • I promise, when moses got recruited on the backside of the
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  • Desert, he had no clue.
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  • He just thought he was going to lead a parade out of egypt.
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  • So they're incremental.
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  • What we have to be willing to do is say "yes" to that step that's
  • 00:07:52.864 --> 00:07:55.300
  • In front of us, and it's not always fun.
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  • I think we're often unaware when we reject breakthroughs.
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  • You know, they come, they're steps of faith, they're--it's
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  • Obedience, it's cooperation.
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  • And we don't recognize it as saying no, we just feel, it's
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  • Like, it's kind of a bother, "i don't wanna do that.
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  • I'm okay, i'm good to go with the lord.
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  • I know him well enough.
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  • I feel pretty comfortable with my relationship.
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  • I don't wanna do that.
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  • I don't want to engage that way.
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  • I don't wanna make time for that.
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  • I don't wanna make a financial sacrifice in that.
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  • I don't wanna do that."
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  • And we don't--we're not processing it in terms of that
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  • Could be an invitation from the lord, so i wanna suggest to you
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  • That you begin to more purposefully learn to say "yes"
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  • To god's invitation.
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  • If we--if you get invited to do ministry around here, you sign a
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  • Commitment sheet for a period of time.
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  • It has a beginning point and an ending point.
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  • You're not signing up until jesus returns.
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  • 'cause years ago, we realized one of the awkward points of
  • 00:09:03.001 --> 00:09:04.736
  • Volunteering is churches.
  • 00:09:04.736 --> 00:09:06.304
  • You can't quit.
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  • You know, you have to have an angelic visit, "well, the lord
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  • Spoke to me and said i should be released from my--" that's
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  • Not good.
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  • You should be able to say, "i'm gonna do this for a year."
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  • And we should be able to say to you, "we don't want you to do
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  • That anymore."
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  • Both sides of that equation have to be in place!
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  • "now he's getting weird."
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  • Hebrews 13 and verse 2 says, "don't forget to entertain
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  • Strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels
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  • Without knowing it."
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  • If we put up a qr code and said, "if you'll submit your name,
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  • You could host an angel this week,"
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  • I bet most of you would have time.
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  • Some of you would wait and see how it worked, but the early
  • 00:10:00.125 --> 00:10:03.128
  • Adopters, you'd be all in!
  • 00:10:03.128 --> 00:10:06.097
  • But the admonition of scripture, the council of scripture is you
  • 00:10:06.097 --> 00:10:10.001
  • Need to entertain people you don't know, people that you're
  • 00:10:10.001 --> 00:10:12.070
  • Not really expecting a return on because, in so doing, you
  • 00:10:12.070 --> 00:10:15.273
  • Will inadvertently, from time to time, entertain an angel.
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  • I think it'd be really unfortunate to make it all the
  • 00:10:21.379 --> 00:10:23.314
  • Way into eternity and meet all the angels that were on your
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  • To-do list that you never made space for.
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  • I heard you were a good cook, never got that opportunity.
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  • I've tried to think about my own journey in times and places
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  • Where i think i was, for whatever reason, i was able to
  • 00:10:40.632 --> 00:10:43.601
  • Say "yes" to an invitation, not understanding the fullness of it
  • 00:10:43.601 --> 00:10:46.571
  • And the times when i've said "no," and i can think of
  • 00:10:46.571 --> 00:10:49.607
  • Components on both sides of the equation.
  • 00:10:49.607 --> 00:10:51.476
  • Years ago, my brother and i went to hebrew university.
  • 00:10:51.476 --> 00:10:54.579
  • It was before the internet.
  • 00:10:54.579 --> 00:10:56.481
  • It wasn't easy to get information.
  • 00:10:56.481 --> 00:10:57.849
  • I had to do it in the old-fashioned way in a library
  • 00:10:57.849 --> 00:11:00.018
  • With a card catalog and snail mail and, you know, you forget
  • 00:11:00.018 --> 00:11:04.889
  • How much more difficult it was to secure information once upon
  • 00:11:04.889 --> 00:11:07.459
  • A time.
  • 00:11:07.459 --> 00:11:08.960
  • And with really limited information, we raised our hands
  • 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:11.896
  • And said, "yeah, we'll go study."
  • 00:11:11.896 --> 00:11:14.733
  • And i knew very little about what i was going into, and it
  • 00:11:14.733 --> 00:11:19.771
  • Wasn't always fun.
  • 00:11:19.771 --> 00:11:22.173
  • We were required for more than two months to go to language
  • 00:11:22.173 --> 00:11:25.643
  • School before we could even start classes at the university,
  • 00:11:25.643 --> 00:11:27.912
  • Six days a week, eight hours a day, immersed in hebrew.
  • 00:11:27.912 --> 00:11:32.884
  • And i've been to a lot--by that time, i'd been in a lot of
  • 00:11:32.884 --> 00:11:34.953
  • University settings, and if they invite you to go to school, they
  • 00:11:34.953 --> 00:11:37.222
  • Usually had a way to feed you.
  • 00:11:37.222 --> 00:11:39.591
  • Well, they didn't open any of the food service at hebrew
  • 00:11:39.591 --> 00:11:41.793
  • University until we were through language school, so they sent
  • 00:11:41.793 --> 00:11:45.864
  • You to the grocery store to buy groceries, and i couldn't
  • 00:11:45.864 --> 00:11:47.866
  • Read them.
  • 00:11:47.866 --> 00:11:50.335
  • We bought dog food.
  • 00:11:50.335 --> 00:11:53.805
  • It looked like ground beef.
  • 00:11:53.805 --> 00:11:56.875
  • We had it in the skillet before an israeli friend walked in and
  • 00:11:56.875 --> 00:12:04.682
  • Started laughing at us.
  • 00:12:04.682 --> 00:12:07.519
  • Thank god the timing on it was good.
  • 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:13.124
  • But those--that season in israel has born fruit for all the years
  • 00:12:13.124 --> 00:12:19.330
  • Since then.
  • 00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:21.299
  • I really didn't understand it at the time that it was an
  • 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:24.135
  • Invitation from the lord, didn't feel like a breakthrough to me,
  • 00:12:24.135 --> 00:12:28.540
  • Felt expensive, and disruptive, and against the flow of what my
  • 00:12:28.540 --> 00:12:32.744
  • Peer group was doing, and i mean, it just, it didn't have
  • 00:12:32.744 --> 00:12:36.548
  • Earmarks of--you know, after the fact, it sounds really fun, and
  • 00:12:36.548 --> 00:12:39.584
  • People say, "i'd like to do that," but there's not like a
  • 00:12:39.584 --> 00:12:41.519
  • Big line.
  • 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:42.854
  • It wasn't any safer to do it then than it is now.
  • 00:12:42.854 --> 00:12:47.892
  • And then i think of the places where i missed it.
  • 00:12:47.892 --> 00:12:50.161
  • Sometimes they seem more--in retrospect, i go, "how could you
  • 00:12:50.161 --> 00:12:52.297
  • Have missed that, knucklehead?"
  • 00:12:52.297 --> 00:12:59.437
  • Female announcer: if you look, you'll find good
  • 00:13:03.441 --> 00:13:05.076
  • News everywhere.
  • 00:13:05.076 --> 00:13:06.945
  • Female: our baby was born healthy and strong.
  • 00:13:06.945 --> 00:13:10.815
  • Female: we have the groceries we need.
  • 00:13:10.815 --> 00:13:13.384
  • Male: another year cancer-free.
  • 00:13:13.384 --> 00:13:16.754
  • Female: we bought our first house this year.
  • 00:13:16.754 --> 00:13:20.692
  • Female: the raise came through when i needed it most.
  • 00:13:20.692 --> 00:13:24.329
  • Male: i have a working car.
  • 00:13:24.329 --> 00:13:27.932
  • Female: my husband came home safe.
  • 00:13:27.932 --> 00:13:31.803
  • Female announcer: philippians 4 tells us to, "think about
  • 00:13:31.803 --> 00:13:33.638
  • Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable,
  • 00:13:33.638 --> 00:13:39.244
  • Excellent and praiseworthy."
  • 00:13:39.244 --> 00:13:41.512
  • All of these things honor god and when we take time to notice
  • 00:13:41.512 --> 00:13:44.816
  • Them, we welcome god's presence and experience his peace.
  • 00:13:44.816 --> 00:13:48.686
  • Allen: you know, the two most critical junctures of any
  • 00:13:50.455 --> 00:13:52.991
  • Enterprise are how we begin and how we conclude.
  • 00:13:52.991 --> 00:13:56.427
  • So, the beginning of a new year is a tremendous opportunity.
  • 00:13:56.427 --> 00:14:00.365
  • We've prepared a tool we want to share with you.
  • 00:14:00.365 --> 00:14:02.166
  • It's a good news journal.
  • 00:14:02.166 --> 00:14:04.035
  • We wanna help you set a habit this year to do something with a
  • 00:14:04.035 --> 00:14:08.072
  • Bit more intention than perhaps has been our pattern in
  • 00:14:08.072 --> 00:14:11.042
  • The past.
  • 00:14:11.042 --> 00:14:12.377
  • We wanna start our year with an attitude of appreciation and
  • 00:14:12.377 --> 00:14:15.413
  • Gratitude for the blessings of god in our lives.
  • 00:14:15.413 --> 00:14:18.650
  • So, we've designed this journal so that you can use it as a part
  • 00:14:18.650 --> 00:14:21.653
  • Of your devotional.
  • 00:14:21.653 --> 00:14:22.987
  • It's something you could include the children, the grandchildren.
  • 00:14:22.987 --> 00:14:25.223
  • You could take it to work and create a good news journal for
  • 00:14:25.223 --> 00:14:27.659
  • The people you work with.
  • 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:29.260
  • Wherever that may be, let's start our year out purposefully,
  • 00:14:29.260 --> 00:14:33.031
  • Intentionally saying, "thank you," to the lord for his
  • 00:14:33.031 --> 00:14:36.034
  • Goodness to us.
  • 00:14:36.034 --> 00:14:37.502
  • I know there's challenges and we have places where we need god's
  • 00:14:37.502 --> 00:14:40.238
  • Help, but we're gonna begin with gratitude and walk into the
  • 00:14:40.238 --> 00:14:44.142
  • Blessings of god in this year.
  • 00:14:44.142 --> 00:14:46.511
  • I think you'll enjoy the journal.
  • 00:14:46.511 --> 00:14:48.246
  • God bless.
  • 00:14:48.246 --> 00:14:49.580
  • Female announcer: when you keep a good news list, you'll notice
  • 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:51.683
  • How god is constantly at work all around you.
  • 00:14:51.683 --> 00:14:54.953
  • Our new 52-week, good news notebook gives you a place to
  • 00:14:54.953 --> 00:14:58.890
  • Record your good news, prayers you saw god answer, and your
  • 00:14:58.890 --> 00:15:02.493
  • Current prayer requests.
  • 00:15:02.493 --> 00:15:04.262
  • As you look back on your lists over the weeks and months to
  • 00:15:04.262 --> 00:15:07.131
  • Come, you'll find a personal record of god's faithfulness
  • 00:15:07.131 --> 00:15:10.068
  • To you.
  • 00:15:10.068 --> 00:15:11.402
  • Allen: we are trusting god for a year like no other for his
  • 00:15:11.402 --> 00:15:13.805
  • Breakthroughs this year.
  • 00:15:13.805 --> 00:15:15.173
  • I believe the good news journal can be a part of our journey in
  • 00:15:15.173 --> 00:15:18.142
  • Each of our lives.
  • 00:15:18.142 --> 00:15:19.477
  • Female announcer: request your good news notebook when you
  • 00:15:19.477 --> 00:15:21.079
  • Donate $20 or more today at allenjackson.com or by
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  • Calling...
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  • Female announcer: we are committed to helping you grow in
  • 00:15:32.123 --> 00:15:33.992
  • Your faith and have tools for your journey
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  • No matter your schedule.
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  • Here with allen jackson ministries.
  • 00:15:57.281 --> 00:16:01.319
  • Allen: a few years ago, it was before covid, but a few years
  • 00:16:03.021 --> 00:16:05.089
  • Ago, a friend of mine, angus buchan, decided to have a prayer
  • 00:16:05.089 --> 00:16:11.162
  • Event in south africa, and he only had like eight weeks
  • 00:16:11.162 --> 00:16:13.731
  • Lead time.
  • 00:16:13.731 --> 00:16:15.833
  • And the week he announced it, he called, and he said, "allen, i
  • 00:16:15.833 --> 00:16:18.236
  • Want you to be there, i need you to be there, it's important."
  • 00:16:18.236 --> 00:16:25.810
  • "it's not a good time, angus, a lot going on at the church,
  • 00:16:25.810 --> 00:16:29.547
  • And i'm busy, and south africa's, that's a ways.
  • 00:16:29.547 --> 00:16:36.187
  • Not sure i can do that. let me work on that."
  • 00:16:36.187 --> 00:16:38.823
  • He said, "well, there's gonna be a crowd, allen."
  • 00:16:38.823 --> 00:16:41.526
  • "yeah, i know."
  • 00:16:41.526 --> 00:16:43.361
  • And i didn't think we could--i just decided i couldn't make
  • 00:16:43.361 --> 00:16:46.297
  • It work.
  • 00:16:46.297 --> 00:16:47.665
  • The calendar was too crowded and i couldn't.
  • 00:16:47.665 --> 00:16:49.000
  • And i don't even remember why, but charlie
  • 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:53.004
  • Daniels was here one weekend.
  • 00:16:53.004 --> 00:16:54.772
  • Before he went to heaven, he was in church.
  • 00:16:54.772 --> 00:16:57.041
  • But it wasn't typical for me to visit with charlie, and i just
  • 00:16:57.041 --> 00:17:00.044
  • Remember, we were backstage, and he said, "allen, are you going
  • 00:17:00.044 --> 00:17:02.447
  • To see angus?"
  • 00:17:02.447 --> 00:17:03.815
  • I don't know how he knew about it.
  • 00:17:03.815 --> 00:17:06.350
  • I said, "no, sir, i don't think so."
  • 00:17:06.350 --> 00:17:07.819
  • And he said, "allen, you're wrong, you should go."
  • 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:12.023
  • And charlie didn't give me direction.
  • 00:17:12.023 --> 00:17:14.692
  • I mean, he wanted me to sing with him a lot on albums, but.
  • 00:17:14.692 --> 00:17:20.198
  • That's a lie.
  • 00:17:20.198 --> 00:17:23.701
  • But i remember it really clearly.
  • 00:17:23.701 --> 00:17:26.204
  • He stopped, and he looked at me, and he said, "allen, you won't
  • 00:17:26.204 --> 00:17:28.306
  • Have an opportunity like that.
  • 00:17:28.306 --> 00:17:30.708
  • You need to go."
  • 00:17:30.708 --> 00:17:34.412
  • He said, "you won't see a gathering of people like that
  • 00:17:34.412 --> 00:17:36.914
  • Anywhere in the world.
  • 00:17:36.914 --> 00:17:38.783
  • You need to be there."
  • 00:17:38.783 --> 00:17:43.454
  • And i didn't go.
  • 00:17:43.454 --> 00:17:46.290
  • Oh, yeah, i know. it seems obvious now.
  • 00:17:46.290 --> 00:17:50.795
  • I mean, after the fact, yeah, there were four million people
  • 00:17:50.795 --> 00:17:53.331
  • There, and they--i mean, i understand god did something
  • 00:17:53.331 --> 00:17:56.000
  • Remarkable and, but what i could see is i was busy, and it was
  • 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.438
  • Expensive, and i missed it.
  • 00:18:00.438 --> 00:18:09.514
  • It's more fun to tell the stories when you get it.
  • 00:18:09.514 --> 00:18:13.518
  • So i'm living with this these days, 'cause god's moving in the
  • 00:18:13.518 --> 00:18:15.987
  • Earth, and i don't wanna miss it.
  • 00:18:15.987 --> 00:18:19.290
  • I don't wanna say "i'm born again," or "spirit-filled," or
  • 00:18:19.290 --> 00:18:23.161
  • "i read my bible," or "i've been here," or "done that," or
  • 00:18:23.161 --> 00:18:28.533
  • "experienced this," or all the junk we do to give ourselves a
  • 00:18:28.533 --> 00:18:32.904
  • Pass for these invitations to breakthroughs.
  • 00:18:32.904 --> 00:18:37.108
  • 'cause in my life, they typically feel like kind of
  • 00:18:37.108 --> 00:18:40.511
  • A nuisance.
  • 00:18:40.511 --> 00:18:43.948
  • I mean, i'm alre--life's already had--anybody here, like, just
  • 00:18:43.948 --> 00:18:46.284
  • Bored to tears, can't think of anything to do?
  • 00:18:46.284 --> 00:18:49.921
  • Yeah, i didn't think so.
  • 00:18:49.921 --> 00:18:52.456
  • So let's--we're gonna look at some people that don't get it
  • 00:18:52.456 --> 00:18:54.825
  • Right and maybe it'll help us gain some momentum in
  • 00:18:54.825 --> 00:18:57.395
  • Saying "yes."
  • 00:18:57.395 --> 00:18:58.763
  • Acts chapter 13, that the church is just trying to get their legs
  • 00:18:58.763 --> 00:19:03.534
  • Underneath them, the pressure in jerusalem has grown to the point
  • 00:19:03.534 --> 00:19:06.070
  • That they're beginning to spread a bit, saul of tarsus has been
  • 00:19:06.070 --> 00:19:09.540
  • Recruited by the lord himself, jesus stepped back in time.
  • 00:19:09.540 --> 00:19:13.477
  • How would that make you feel if you're part of that original
  • 00:19:13.477 --> 00:19:15.813
  • Group that he recruited and spent three years training and
  • 00:19:15.813 --> 00:19:19.050
  • Before you've gone very far, the pressure's grown, you're
  • 00:19:19.050 --> 00:19:22.787
  • Fragmenting a little bit, and jesus comes back and recruits
  • 00:19:22.787 --> 00:19:27.325
  • A rabbi?
  • 00:19:27.325 --> 00:19:29.727
  • Jesus comes back and recruits a pharisee and says, "here's the
  • 00:19:29.727 --> 00:19:34.165
  • Help you need."
  • 00:19:34.165 --> 00:19:35.499
  • "no, we're doing quite well, thank you."
  • 00:19:35.499 --> 00:19:38.035
  • They didn't want anything to do with saul of tarsus.
  • 00:19:38.035 --> 00:19:39.971
  • He's an angry, violent, murderous--
  • 00:19:39.971 --> 00:19:41.806
  • He's the opposition.
  • 00:19:41.806 --> 00:19:43.174
  • Why did you have to recruit the opposition?
  • 00:19:43.174 --> 00:19:48.479
  • It took an intermediary to get the--paul, and james, and john,
  • 00:19:48.479 --> 00:19:52.683
  • And the crew in jerusalem to even let saul to the table.
  • 00:19:52.683 --> 00:20:00.858
  • And now paul, saul, and barnabas are gonna, their first trip,
  • 00:20:00.858 --> 00:20:04.428
  • Their first--they're turning the gospel outward, which is blowing
  • 00:20:04.428 --> 00:20:08.566
  • The minds of the jewish community.
  • 00:20:08.566 --> 00:20:11.402
  • When i was at hebrew university, one of my most engaging classes
  • 00:20:11.402 --> 00:20:14.672
  • Was an orthodox, and he was--all the professors were jewish, but
  • 00:20:14.672 --> 00:20:22.413
  • When i say orthodox, he kept the rules.
  • 00:20:22.413 --> 00:20:25.249
  • There's as much diversity within the jewish community as there is
  • 00:20:25.249 --> 00:20:27.785
  • Diversity within the christian community.
  • 00:20:27.785 --> 00:20:30.588
  • You understand?
  • 00:20:30.588 --> 00:20:32.456
  • Some christians have dress codes, and jewelry codes, and
  • 00:20:32.456 --> 00:20:35.493
  • Beverage codes, and some christians don't even
  • 00:20:35.493 --> 00:20:38.696
  • Acknowledge the authority of scripture or people that wear
  • 00:20:38.696 --> 00:20:40.931
  • The label "christian," right?
  • 00:20:40.931 --> 00:20:42.900
  • The diversity--same diversity in the jewish community.
  • 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:45.836
  • This faculty member was orthodox.
  • 00:20:45.836 --> 00:20:47.972
  • He kept the rules, he wore his prayer shawl, he washed his
  • 00:20:47.972 --> 00:20:51.542
  • Hands so frequently as a part of--that they were
  • 00:20:51.542 --> 00:20:53.744
  • Constantly chapped.
  • 00:20:53.744 --> 00:20:55.646
  • He was brilliant, just a brilliant guy.
  • 00:20:55.646 --> 00:21:04.155
  • We could turn our papers in in eight different languages.
  • 00:21:04.155 --> 00:21:08.326
  • I chose english.
  • 00:21:08.326 --> 00:21:15.232
  • But he did two lectures on jesus, and i'll never
  • 00:21:15.232 --> 00:21:21.539
  • Forget it, 'cause he had the sharpest wit.
  • 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:24.542
  • Nobody would say anything in class 'cause he would cut you to
  • 00:21:24.542 --> 00:21:26.544
  • Ribbons, he was good.
  • 00:21:26.544 --> 00:21:29.013
  • And when--the only time i ever saw him at a loss for words or
  • 00:21:29.013 --> 00:21:31.882
  • Awkward was when he talked about jesus.
  • 00:21:31.882 --> 00:21:35.453
  • And he said, "there's no question."
  • 00:21:35.453 --> 00:21:36.854
  • He said, "it's just absolutely clear in scripture that that
  • 00:21:36.854 --> 00:21:40.925
  • Early group of believers in jerusalem believed that jesus
  • 00:21:40.925 --> 00:21:44.161
  • Had died on a cross and been raised to life again."
  • 00:21:44.161 --> 00:21:48.632
  • And i remember, he kinda hung his head for a moment, and he
  • 00:21:48.632 --> 00:21:50.534
  • Said, "if i believed that, i would be a christian too."
  • 00:21:50.534 --> 00:21:56.040
  • Well, that--jesus recruited an orthodox keeper of the rules.
  • 00:21:56.040 --> 00:22:03.514
  • And that professor one day said, he read in acts 1, where jesus
  • 00:22:03.514 --> 00:22:07.885
  • Said, "the holy spirit will empower you to be my witnesses
  • 00:22:07.885 --> 00:22:10.187
  • In jerusalem, judea, and samaria,
  • 00:22:10.187 --> 00:22:12.256
  • And to the ends of the earth."
  • 00:22:12.256 --> 00:22:13.891
  • Well, jerusalem's the city, judea is the region,
  • 00:22:13.891 --> 00:22:15.860
  • Samaria is the next region.
  • 00:22:15.860 --> 00:22:17.561
  • And he looked at the class, and he said, "i promise you, to that
  • 00:22:17.561 --> 00:22:21.532
  • Audience, they thought samaria was the end of the earth."
  • 00:22:21.532 --> 00:22:26.170
  • They didn't think the story was going past the mediterranean--
  • 00:22:26.170 --> 00:22:29.573
  • The edge of the mediterranean.
  • 00:22:29.573 --> 00:22:34.211
  • And now here's saul in acts 13, and they've turned the--they're
  • 00:22:34.211 --> 00:22:38.983
  • Facing out.
  • 00:22:38.983 --> 00:22:41.619
  • Now, that's where we're gonna step in.
  • 00:22:41.619 --> 00:22:42.953
  • "in the church of antioch there was a prophet.
  • 00:22:42.953 --> 00:22:44.889
  • There were prophets and teachers: barnabas, simeon,
  • 00:22:44.889 --> 00:22:48.092
  • Lucius, manaen.
  • 00:22:48.092 --> 00:22:50.528
  • And while they were worshiping the lord and fasting, the holy
  • 00:22:50.528 --> 00:22:52.963
  • Spirit said, "set apart from me barnabas and saul for the work
  • 00:22:52.963 --> 00:22:55.866
  • To which i've called them.
  • 00:22:55.866 --> 00:22:57.701
  • So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands
  • 00:22:57.701 --> 00:23:00.104
  • On them and they sent them off."
  • 00:23:00.104 --> 00:23:01.906
  • They had to get sent off to do the work.
  • 00:23:01.906 --> 00:23:03.507
  • Can you imagine having the imagination god's called you
  • 00:23:03.507 --> 00:23:05.476
  • To something?
  • 00:23:05.476 --> 00:23:08.512
  • Please don't use that as an excuse.
  • 00:23:08.512 --> 00:23:10.047
  • I cannot tell you how many conversations with peo--i've had
  • 00:23:10.047 --> 00:23:12.016
  • With people, "if i just knew what god wanted me--" i can help
  • 00:23:12.016 --> 00:23:13.918
  • You, you've been empowered to be a witness for him in your home,
  • 00:23:13.918 --> 00:23:20.224
  • On your block, in your community.
  • 00:23:20.224 --> 00:23:23.761
  • "until we do that, we've got--" no, that's the assignment.
  • 00:23:23.761 --> 00:23:27.598
  • "well, i'm an introvert."
  • 00:23:27.598 --> 00:23:28.933
  • Good, he'll use introverts.
  • 00:23:28.933 --> 00:23:30.801
  • "i'm not good with words."
  • 00:23:30.801 --> 00:23:32.136
  • He recruited moses.
  • 00:23:32.136 --> 00:23:36.574
  • "well, i've been an angry anti-christian."
  • 00:23:36.574 --> 00:23:38.409
  • He chose saul.
  • 00:23:38.409 --> 00:23:40.377
  • All my excuses, he's got one of 'em in the hall of fame.
  • 00:23:40.377 --> 00:23:45.316
  • So they've sent off barnabas and saul, and in verse 4, "the two
  • 00:23:45.316 --> 00:23:47.952
  • Of them, sent on their way by the holy spirit, went down to
  • 00:23:47.952 --> 00:23:50.521
  • Seleucia and they sailed there to cyprus," it's an island just
  • 00:23:50.521 --> 00:23:54.825
  • Off the coast of israel, still there, "when they arrived at
  • 00:23:54.825 --> 00:23:59.830
  • Salamis, they proclaimed the word of god in the
  • 00:23:59.830 --> 00:24:02.666
  • Jewish synagogues.
  • 00:24:02.666 --> 00:24:04.602
  • John was with them as a helper," john mark, not...
  • 00:24:04.602 --> 00:24:08.472
  • "and they traveled through the whole island until they came
  • 00:24:08.472 --> 00:24:10.608
  • To paphos.
  • 00:24:10.608 --> 00:24:11.942
  • And there they met a jewish sorcerer and a false prophet
  • 00:24:11.942 --> 00:24:14.778
  • Named bar-jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul,
  • 00:24:14.778 --> 00:24:18.849
  • Sergius paulus.
  • 00:24:18.849 --> 00:24:20.184
  • And the proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for
  • 00:24:20.184 --> 00:24:21.652
  • Barnabas and saul because he wanted to hear the word of god.
  • 00:24:21.652 --> 00:24:26.023
  • But the sorcerer opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul
  • 00:24:26.023 --> 00:24:30.628
  • From the faith.
  • 00:24:30.628 --> 00:24:33.163
  • Then saul, who was called paul, filled with the holy spirit,
  • 00:24:33.163 --> 00:24:36.000
  • Looked straight at him and said, 'you're a child of the devil and
  • 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:39.603
  • An enemy of everything that is right!'"
  • 00:24:39.603 --> 00:24:42.339
  • For all of you that think kindness,
  • 00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:44.141
  • "thou shalt be kind," is the 11th commandment,
  • 00:24:44.141 --> 00:24:46.377
  • Please hear what paul said.
  • 00:24:46.377 --> 00:24:50.314
  • He looked at a very powerful man on the island of cyprus, and he
  • 00:24:50.314 --> 00:24:53.350
  • Said, "you are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything
  • 00:24:53.350 --> 00:24:56.320
  • That is right!"
  • 00:24:56.320 --> 00:24:58.622
  • Jesus loves you, "'you are full of all kinds of deceit
  • 00:24:58.622 --> 00:25:04.161
  • And trickery.
  • 00:25:04.161 --> 00:25:05.496
  • Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the lord?
  • 00:25:05.496 --> 00:25:09.533
  • Now the hand of the lord is against you.
  • 00:25:09.533 --> 00:25:11.468
  • And you're gonna be blind, and for a time you'll be unable to
  • 00:25:11.468 --> 00:25:14.305
  • See the light of the sun.'
  • 00:25:14.305 --> 00:25:15.873
  • And immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he
  • 00:25:15.873 --> 00:25:18.342
  • Groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
  • 00:25:18.342 --> 00:25:22.079
  • When the governor saw what had happened, he believed, for he
  • 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:27.418
  • Was amazed at the teaching about the lord."
  • 00:25:27.418 --> 00:25:30.821
  • Now we've got a little narrative here before you turn your page.
  • 00:25:30.821 --> 00:25:33.724
  • Maybe you wanna circle some names, 'cause you've got some
  • 00:25:33.724 --> 00:25:36.994
  • Characters being introduced and you need to think about their
  • 00:25:36.994 --> 00:25:39.496
  • Roles, their assignments, how many--who's gonna cooperate
  • 00:25:39.496 --> 00:25:43.033
  • With the lord?
  • 00:25:43.033 --> 00:25:44.401
  • There's a breakthrough happening, revival's breaking
  • 00:25:44.401 --> 00:25:45.736
  • Out, the spirit of god is moving in the world in a way it had
  • 00:25:45.736 --> 00:25:49.173
  • Never moved before, barnabas and saul are on board, the community
  • 00:25:49.173 --> 00:25:55.045
  • Of faith that they have been a part of had enough clarity from
  • 00:25:55.045 --> 00:25:59.984
  • The lord that they said, "we think you should go."
  • 00:25:59.984 --> 00:26:03.454
  • And they were in enough unity that they said, "we will go."
  • 00:26:03.454 --> 00:26:06.857
  • And they get to cyprus.
  • 00:26:06.857 --> 00:26:09.660
  • It says, "they were sent on their way," in verse 4,
  • 00:26:09.660 --> 00:26:12.262
  • "by the holy spirit."
  • 00:26:12.262 --> 00:26:14.398
  • You're not just recruiting somebody to read your bible
  • 00:26:14.398 --> 00:26:16.767
  • In the new year because it's an assignment from pastor.
  • 00:26:16.767 --> 00:26:20.437
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:26:20.437 --> 00:26:23.073
  • So you will never believe there's a supernatural component
  • 00:26:23.073 --> 00:26:25.943
  • To what you're doing until you're willing to believe
  • 00:26:25.943 --> 00:26:28.512
  • There's a supernatural component to what you're doing.
  • 00:26:28.512 --> 00:26:32.182
  • Allen: i wanna pray with you before we go, but i just wanna
  • 00:26:32.249 --> 00:26:34.451
  • Remind you, we don't have to outthink evil or outwork evil.
  • 00:26:34.451 --> 00:26:37.755
  • We don't have to be louder than evil.
  • 00:26:37.755 --> 00:26:39.356
  • We need to understand the authority that is ours in
  • 00:26:39.356 --> 00:26:42.926
  • Jesus's name and the power of his shed blood.
  • 00:26:42.926 --> 00:26:46.330
  • It changes everything. i wanna pray with you.
  • 00:26:46.330 --> 00:26:48.866
  • Father, i thank you that, through the name of jesus, we
  • 00:26:48.866 --> 00:26:51.402
  • Have been delivered out of the hand of the devil, that he has
  • 00:26:51.402 --> 00:26:53.971
  • No power over us, no authority over us, in jesus's name.
  • 00:26:53.971 --> 00:26:58.142
  • And i pray that that truth would take root in our hearts and
  • 00:26:58.142 --> 00:27:01.278
  • Enable us to live with great boldness, in jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:01.278 --> 00:27:26.503