Allen Jackson - Christmas Eve

December 25, 2024 | S24:E5204

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 - Christmas Eve | December 25, 2024
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen jackson: i wanted to take just a moment to wish you
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  • A very merry christmas.
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  • You know, the lord has been good to us.
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  • I know none of our lives are perfect.
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  • There's still challenges and difficulties and things we're
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  • Inviting god into.
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  • But on this christmas morning, it is an honor to stand together
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  • To declare jesus is lord and to open our hearts once again to
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  • God on this very special day.
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  • Thank you for spending a few minutes with us.
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  • I pray that the message is a blessing to you.
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  • But more than that, i pray the joy and the love of almighty god
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  • Fills your heart and your home.
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  • Merry christmas.
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  • Allen: the title i've chosen is "gifts that are given and those
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  • That are not."
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  • A big part of our christmas celebration is about giving and
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  • Receiving gifts.
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  • Now, that didn't begin with our celebration of a holiday.
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  • It began with god's gift of a son.
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  • And isaiah describes it so poetically, so beautifully.
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  • Hundreds of years before jesus's birth, in anticipation of the
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  • Arrival of the messiah and the impact he would have upon the
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  • Earth, isaiah said, "for to us a child is born, to us a son is
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  • Given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
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  • And he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty god,
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  • Everlasting father, prince of peace.
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  • Of the increase of his government and peace there will
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  • Be no end.
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  • And he will reign on david's throne and over his kingdom,
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  • Establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
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  • From that time on and forever.
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  • And the zeal of the lord almighty will accomplish this."
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  • What a beautiful presentation of the messiah and his impact upon
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  • This earth.
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  • Many of us have imagined that our ultimate future is
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  • In heaven.
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  • But the scripture actually suggests to us that the king is
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  • Coming back to the earth and he will reign in righteousness
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  • And justice.
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  • I would submit to you that to the degree to which we
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  • Experience righteousness and justice in the earth, it would
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  • Be because of the presence of the spirit of god.
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  • Those things, they're not the result of governments or the
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  • Organizations of humans.
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  • And when they--when they are extended to us through those
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  • Places, you will know it's because the spirit of god
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  • Is present.
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  • In john chapter 3 and verse 16, maybe the most familiar verse in
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  • All of the new testament, it says that "for god so loved the
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  • World that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes
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  • In him shall not perish but have eternal life."
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  • God's great gift to humanity was the incarnation, asking his son
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  • To put on an earth suit and come to this world and ultimately to
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  • Take the--exhaust the penalty for our rebellion and
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  • Our godlessness.
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  • So the motivation for our giving and receiving of gifts at
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  • Christmastime was really initiated by god's great gift
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  • For us.
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  • And there's nothing we could give or receive that could ever
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  • Match what god has done on our part.
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  • Well, i would suggest that it's a primer, this story of mary and
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  • Joseph and their responses to god.
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  • A primer for understanding how to live as people of faith, that
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  • Our own journey of faith will be strengthened if we will listen
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  • More carefully to their report.
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  • There are some things missing, in my opinion, things i would
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  • Have expected to have been written into the narrative.
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  • If i'd been employed as the screenwriter for this story,
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  • There are some things i would have included that are just
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  • Candidly absent.
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  • There are some things not provided which i would have
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  • Considered appropriate provision.
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  • I'll start in matthew chapter 1 and verse 20.
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  • It's a commentary that matthew provides us about joseph.
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  • It says: "after he," joseph, "had considered this, an angel
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  • Of the lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'joseph, son of
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  • David, do not be afraid to take mary home as your wife, because
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  • What is conceived in her is from the holy spirit.'"
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  • Mary and joseph have been betrothed to be married.
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  • It's a bit more of a binding agreement than our typical
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  • Imagination currently of engagement.
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  • But they've made that commitment for their future together with
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  • All that was implied in that.
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  • And we're not privy to all the details.
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  • The conversation between mary and joseph is not recorded
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  • For us.
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  • But joseph has been informed that mary has been found to be
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  • With child and he knows he wasn't involved.
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  • So he's determined that he will quietly, out of respect for
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  • Mary, dissolve the agreement, minimize the shame, and simply
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  • Move forward with his life, when he has an angelic visit.
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  • It's what we read.
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  • And the angel says to him--the archangel says to him, "don't be
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  • Afraid to take mary home as your wife.
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  • What's conceived in her is from the holy spirit."
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  • Now, we read that as if all the questions were just answered.
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  • Well, it seems to me what is missing in this particular
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  • Narrative is just a bit of advance notice.
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  • Mary is pregnant before joseph is even read into the story.
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  • I mean, candidly, i would have preferred to have had a little
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  • Information earlier in the narrative if i was
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  • Participating, wouldn't you?
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  • I mean, we're told that the archangel gabriel visited mary
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  • And said, "you are highly favored among all, that you're
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  • Going to give birth to the son of god."
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  • And she said, "how can that be?
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  • Well, how could that possibly be?
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  • I haven't been engaged in those behaviors."
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  • And the angel said, "the spirit of the almighty god will come
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  • Upon you."
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  • Well, in my thinking, it wouldn't have been that big of a
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  • Lift for the angel just to have stopped at joseph's house next.
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  • It would have been much less stressful for mary, for joseph,
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  • For the families involved.
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  • Am i alone in that?
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  • Y'all are looking at me kind of--i mean, again, i think that
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  • It would have almost made the narrative more believable.
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  • There's something missing.
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  • There's a gift that i would have been looking for.
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  • You see, i have discovered in my own journey, that god's sense of
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  • Timing has often differed from my preference.
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  • You know, i've talked to the lord and i said, "you know,
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  • You haven't been listening.
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  • I've been giving you an agenda.
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  • Have you not been paying attention?
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  • Have you been someplace where you didn't have good
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  • Wifi reception?
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  • Have you taken a break?
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  • Have you been distracted?
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  • What's up?"
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  • In fact, my most consistent complaint with god through my
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  • Journey to this point has been about his sense of timing.
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  • To be completely fair, i have to tell you, at this point i
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  • Believe god's correct.
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  • I know he's relieved to have my affirmation.
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  • But in all fairness, i'd have to tell you at many junctures along
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  • The way, it seems he's been a bit delayed in his response.
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  • And yet when i read the narrative, it's very clear, the
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  • Urgency for joseph's understanding of what was
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  • Happening didn't seem to be as significant in heaven as it
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  • Would have been in my heart.
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  • There's another gift that seems to be missing to me.
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  • In luke chapter 2, in verse 7, it says: "mary gave birth to her
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  • Firstborn, a son.
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  • She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because
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  • There was no room for them in the inn."
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  • Luke tells us the birth narrative from mary's vantage
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  • Point and he points out that mary gave birth in a barn.
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  • Now, by this point in the story, they're 9 months into the
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  • Journey, they're a long way past those angelic visits
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  • In nazareth.
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  • Mary's been great with child.
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  • She has stretch marks.
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  • Mary and joseph have both said yes, they have walked through
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  • The months of gossip, of prying eyes, of whispered innuendo, of
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  • All the awkwardness that would have come with being pregnant
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  • And the timeline wasn't just quite right.
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  • Nazareth was a small village at that point, maybe 1500 people.
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  • It's been a difficult season at best.
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  • And on top of that, there's simply been the wonder of what's
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  • Happening for two teenagers to be in the midst of these
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  • Supernatural circumstances.
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  • We can't explain it 2 millennium later; i assure you it would
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  • Have been a bit unnerving to have walked it out in real time.
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  • Allen: 2024 has almost slipped past us.
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  • Thank you for your partnership this year.
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  • It's been the most remarkable season we've ever known together
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  • And i thank you for your faithful investment of time,
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  • Energy, and prayers in our ministry.
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  • Change is taking place in the earth.
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  • We're seeing in our own nation, god responded to us with
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  • Tremendous mercy and grace.
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  • We have leaders that are headed to washington d.c., to enact
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  • Changes to restore a set of values that have brought
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  • Strength to our nation.
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  • It's a time of great optimism and hope and anticipation and i
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  • Believe that's true in the church as well.
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  • Folks, we can't stand on the sidelines and expect somebody
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  • Else to be the change.
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  • We need the presence of god to emerge in our schools, on our
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  • College campuses, back in our churches.
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  • And so i think it's a critical time that we bring the message
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  • Of the truth of jesus christ.
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  • It's a hopeful message.
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  • It's a message of wholeness and healing and deliverance and
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  • Freedom that we desperately need in our cities, in our
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  • Communities, wherever god's people gather.
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  • Join us.
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  • Let's be a part of what god is doing in the earth and we will
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  • Celebrate his faithfulness to the people of our generation.
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  • Thank you for being a part.
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  • Female announcer: god has uniquely blessed us.
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  • The best is yet to come.
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  • God has heard our prayers.
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  • God has delivered us from oppression.
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  • We live in a season of shaking, but together we stand, united in
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  • Heart and purpose, to accomplish the will of god in
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  • Our generation.
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  • We will not stop.
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  • Allen: i wanna ask you to make a sacrificial investment in
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  • Our ministry.
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  • We have a generous partner who'll match every gift between
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  • Now and the end of the year.
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  • We're making plans for the year ahead with a boldness and a
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  • Courage unlike anything we've done in the past.
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  • We wanna make as clear a statement for the gospel of
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  • Jesus christ.
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  • We wanna strengthen the church.
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  • We want to tell the truth in a way that people can rally
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  • Around it.
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  • God is moving in the earth, and we intend to participate
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  • With him.
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  • I hope you'll join us as we look forward to the new year.
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  • Thank you in advance for your generous
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  • Investments in what god is doing.
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  • God bless you.
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  • Announcer: as we step into this new season, let's be faithful to
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  • Seek god.
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  • Let's make room for him to refine our hearts so we can join
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  • Him in what he's doing.
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  • Pastor allen's new 90-day devotional journal called, "set
  • 00:10:53.803 --> 00:10:57.807
  • Apart for his purposes," can help.
  • 00:10:57.807 --> 00:11:00.576
  • Each day brings a new scripture, teaching, prayer, and a
  • 00:11:00.576 --> 00:11:04.346
  • Journaling prompt.
  • 00:11:04.346 --> 00:11:05.681
  • We'll also send custom page markers so you can flag anything
  • 00:11:05.681 --> 00:11:09.118
  • You want to revisit.
  • 00:11:09.118 --> 00:11:10.653
  • Request your copy of "set apart for his purposes," when you
  • 00:11:10.653 --> 00:11:13.355
  • Donate $50 or more today at allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:11:13.355 --> 00:11:25.601
  • Allen: there's a third gift that seems to be missing in this
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  • Story to me.
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  • In matthew's gospel, in chapter 2, it describes the scene at the
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  • Stable in bethlehem.
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  • They've had some visitors.
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  • There was a group of rather excited shepherds and they were
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  • Babbling something about the skies being filled with the
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  • Heavenly host and good news of great joy which shall be to
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  • All people.
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  • Most of us have learned the christmas story but not from
  • 00:11:50.426 --> 00:11:52.528
  • The bible.
  • 00:11:52.528 --> 00:11:53.896
  • We've learned it from charlie brown.
  • 00:11:53.896 --> 00:11:55.397
  • Linus has read it to us for years, and this cast of
  • 00:11:55.397 --> 00:11:59.969
  • Characters shows up at the stable.
  • 00:11:59.969 --> 00:12:01.704
  • And then there's these wise men, these rather enigmatic nameless
  • 00:12:01.704 --> 00:12:04.807
  • Figures from the east, and they come with treasure and they
  • 00:12:04.807 --> 00:12:08.310
  • Worship the child.
  • 00:12:08.310 --> 00:12:09.745
  • When all the guests are gone-- says, "when they had gone," in
  • 00:12:09.745 --> 00:12:13.582
  • Matthew 2:13, "an angel of the lord appeared to joseph in
  • 00:12:13.582 --> 00:12:16.385
  • A dream.
  • 00:12:16.385 --> 00:12:17.720
  • 'get up,' he said, 'and take the child and his mother and escape
  • 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:20.156
  • To egypt.
  • 00:12:20.156 --> 00:12:21.490
  • Stay there until i tell you, for herod is going to search for the
  • 00:12:21.490 --> 00:12:24.593
  • Child to kill him.'"
  • 00:12:24.593 --> 00:12:28.430
  • Okay, anger directed at the purposes of god is not new.
  • 00:12:28.430 --> 00:12:33.269
  • We find that in the opening chapters of genesis and it
  • 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:36.005
  • Tracks with us all the way through the hebrew bible.
  • 00:12:36.005 --> 00:12:39.875
  • But in this particular case, i'm having a--i have a
  • 00:12:39.875 --> 00:12:42.678
  • Different expectation.
  • 00:12:42.678 --> 00:12:44.046
  • If you'd asked me to draft the first edition of this, i would
  • 00:12:44.046 --> 00:12:47.516
  • Have written this differently.
  • 00:12:47.516 --> 00:12:48.851
  • Mary and joseph have been--have been asked to parent god's son
  • 00:12:48.851 --> 00:12:53.856
  • And they've walked this through now for quite a season: an
  • 00:12:53.856 --> 00:12:56.659
  • Immaculate conception, there have been angelic visits;
  • 00:12:56.659 --> 00:13:00.129
  • Elizabeth and zechariah, family members, have conceived at an
  • 00:13:00.129 --> 00:13:03.699
  • Improbable time in their lives.
  • 00:13:03.699 --> 00:13:06.969
  • There's been a great deal of dramatic
  • 00:13:06.969 --> 00:13:08.704
  • Supernatural participation.
  • 00:13:08.704 --> 00:13:11.073
  • And now joseph has a dream and it says, "herod, the king
  • 00:13:11.073 --> 00:13:14.977
  • Intends to kill the child.
  • 00:13:14.977 --> 00:13:17.279
  • You need to run, you need to run."
  • 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:22.785
  • It's not easy for me to process.
  • 00:13:22.785 --> 00:13:24.386
  • I can't imagine what it felt like for joseph.
  • 00:13:24.386 --> 00:13:27.857
  • I mean, after all, the theme of our bible is that god can do
  • 00:13:27.857 --> 00:13:31.727
  • What he wants when he wants, any way he wants.
  • 00:13:31.727 --> 00:13:34.363
  • God is sovereign.
  • 00:13:34.363 --> 00:13:35.731
  • That's what sovereign means.
  • 00:13:35.731 --> 00:13:37.933
  • When it was time for the hebrew slaves to leave egypt, god
  • 00:13:37.933 --> 00:13:41.003
  • Didn't go to pharaoh for a vote.
  • 00:13:41.003 --> 00:13:43.873
  • He said, "let my people go."
  • 00:13:43.873 --> 00:13:46.542
  • And pharaoh's reluctance to do so resulted in the total
  • 00:13:46.542 --> 00:13:49.879
  • Devastation of his nation.
  • 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.548
  • Before those slaves left, not only was egypt completely
  • 00:13:52.548 --> 00:13:55.951
  • Devastated, they plundered the nation when they left.
  • 00:13:55.951 --> 00:14:00.556
  • Trapped against a rebellious pharaoh by the red sea, god
  • 00:14:00.556 --> 00:14:04.126
  • Parted the red sea.
  • 00:14:04.126 --> 00:14:06.228
  • God provided manna in the wilderness, water from a rock,
  • 00:14:06.228 --> 00:14:10.366
  • Shade when it was necessary, defense against their enemies.
  • 00:14:10.366 --> 00:14:15.104
  • When people grumbled against moses, the earth swallowed them
  • 00:14:15.104 --> 00:14:18.240
  • Up, thousands at a time.
  • 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.809
  • When those closer to him complained, they came down with
  • 00:14:20.809 --> 00:14:23.979
  • Significant diseases.
  • 00:14:23.979 --> 00:14:26.282
  • God can do what he wants.
  • 00:14:26.282 --> 00:14:28.851
  • So when i'm reading this narrative, my expectation is
  • 00:14:28.851 --> 00:14:32.187
  • Herod better back up.
  • 00:14:32.187 --> 00:14:34.790
  • There's a plague coming to the palace, at least a little
  • 00:14:34.790 --> 00:14:38.994
  • Micro hailstorm.
  • 00:14:38.994 --> 00:14:41.764
  • Maybe god wants to just be a bit more personal: he'll get
  • 00:14:41.764 --> 00:14:44.333
  • The botch.
  • 00:14:44.333 --> 00:14:47.236
  • I expect god to do something, almost anything.
  • 00:14:47.236 --> 00:14:51.307
  • Do we really have to run for our lives?
  • 00:14:51.307 --> 00:14:55.678
  • Now again, if you read it from a removed place, as if you have no
  • 00:14:55.678 --> 00:14:59.281
  • Imagination, what that might be like, i suppose you could make
  • 00:14:59.281 --> 00:15:02.384
  • Some sense out of it.
  • 00:15:02.384 --> 00:15:05.220
  • But if you've chosen to honor god with your life and you've
  • 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:09.892
  • Really tried to put some focused effort into that, maybe you said
  • 00:15:09.892 --> 00:15:15.331
  • Yes to the lord, like mary and joseph did, maybe you were
  • 00:15:15.331 --> 00:15:18.367
  • Mocked or made fun of or ridiculed or humiliated.
  • 00:15:18.367 --> 00:15:21.804
  • Maybe you made sacrifices.
  • 00:15:21.804 --> 00:15:24.239
  • Maybe you took your dreams and you put them in the shredder
  • 00:15:24.239 --> 00:15:26.608
  • Like they did, because the purposes and the plans for their
  • 00:15:26.608 --> 00:15:30.279
  • Lives haven't unfolded in the way they imagined.
  • 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:34.616
  • And they've made it all the way to the delivery of the child and
  • 00:15:34.616 --> 00:15:38.988
  • The angels and the shepherds and the wise men and the
  • 00:15:38.988 --> 00:15:41.890
  • Entire narrative.
  • 00:15:41.890 --> 00:15:43.225
  • And now the message is, "run for your life."
  • 00:15:43.225 --> 00:15:45.761
  • Wait a minute, maybe i've invested in the wrong thing.
  • 00:15:45.761 --> 00:15:55.304
  • You see, my imagination is that a godly assignment comes with
  • 00:15:55.304 --> 00:16:01.343
  • Total and complete provision.
  • 00:16:01.343 --> 00:16:04.446
  • Maybe that's because the favorite verses for us to
  • 00:16:04.446 --> 00:16:06.715
  • Memorize are the verses of triumph.
  • 00:16:06.715 --> 00:16:09.585
  • "i can do all things through my god who strengthens me."
  • 00:16:09.585 --> 00:16:13.756
  • "if god is for me, who can be against me."
  • 00:16:13.756 --> 00:16:17.526
  • Maybe it's because professional christians like me teach us
  • 00:16:17.526 --> 00:16:19.995
  • Those verses first.
  • 00:16:19.995 --> 00:16:22.898
  • There's many explanations, but it's not the whole story
  • 00:16:22.898 --> 00:16:26.568
  • Of scripture.
  • 00:16:26.568 --> 00:16:29.571
  • And if we don't have the whole story, at least an awareness of
  • 00:16:29.571 --> 00:16:33.142
  • It, we'll stumble in our own journey.
  • 00:16:33.142 --> 00:16:37.346
  • See, i would submit to you that a godly assignment based upon
  • 00:16:37.346 --> 00:16:40.315
  • This particular narrative, even with supernatural assistance,
  • 00:16:40.315 --> 00:16:44.086
  • Will not remove us from the challenges of this present age.
  • 00:16:44.086 --> 00:16:49.625
  • We're not removed from the arena.
  • 00:16:49.625 --> 00:16:52.861
  • We still have opposition and resistance.
  • 00:16:52.861 --> 00:16:56.098
  • And as much as i would prefer to say that if god is involved with
  • 00:16:56.098 --> 00:16:59.001
  • Me, it'll be a journey that's totally divine by comfort
  • 00:16:59.001 --> 00:17:01.970
  • And convenience.
  • 00:17:01.970 --> 00:17:03.338
  • The reality of scripture suggests something else to me,
  • 00:17:03.338 --> 00:17:07.376
  • That at times i'll have to be willing to follow the lord when
  • 00:17:07.376 --> 00:17:10.145
  • It is both uncomfortable and inconvenient, but still say yes.
  • 00:17:10.145 --> 00:17:16.685
  • We have to adjust our thinking a little bit.
  • 00:17:16.685 --> 00:17:19.655
  • Some of you imagine that god has forgotten you or maybe even
  • 00:17:19.655 --> 00:17:23.792
  • Abandoned you or perhaps that you have followed him errantly
  • 00:17:23.792 --> 00:17:28.730
  • In some way, you misunderstood the assignment or the message or
  • 00:17:28.730 --> 00:17:33.402
  • The invitation because it's more difficult than you would like.
  • 00:17:33.402 --> 00:17:37.473
  • And there have been adversaries and opposition and resistance
  • 00:17:37.473 --> 00:17:40.242
  • And everything didn't come as easily as you thought it should
  • 00:17:40.242 --> 00:17:42.845
  • Have come if god were really involved.
  • 00:17:42.845 --> 00:17:47.416
  • Parents, you know exactly what i mean.
  • 00:17:47.416 --> 00:17:48.984
  • You believe god gave you those little blessings, but there are
  • 00:17:48.984 --> 00:17:54.056
  • Days you check the fine print to see if there's a return clause.
  • 00:17:54.056 --> 00:18:02.631
  • There's another gift that it seems to me is missing in
  • 00:18:02.631 --> 00:18:04.967
  • This story.
  • 00:18:04.967 --> 00:18:06.335
  • In luke chapter 2 and verse 42.
  • 00:18:06.335 --> 00:18:09.238
  • Jesus is a bit older now.
  • 00:18:09.238 --> 00:18:10.606
  • It says: "when he was twelve years old, they went up to
  • 00:18:10.606 --> 00:18:12.574
  • The feast."
  • 00:18:12.574 --> 00:18:13.942
  • From nazareth to jerusalem, three times a year, they were
  • 00:18:13.942 --> 00:18:16.378
  • Commanded to do so.
  • 00:18:16.378 --> 00:18:17.746
  • Jesus is old enough now to make the trip with the family.
  • 00:18:17.746 --> 00:18:20.816
  • It's a difficult trip, several days.
  • 00:18:20.816 --> 00:18:24.052
  • "according to the custom.
  • 00:18:24.052 --> 00:18:25.387
  • And after the feast was over, while his parents were returning
  • 00:18:25.387 --> 00:18:27.556
  • Home, the boy jesus stayed behind in jerusalem, but they
  • 00:18:27.556 --> 00:18:32.494
  • Were unaware of it."
  • 00:18:32.494 --> 00:18:34.963
  • Now again, you can read it pretty quickly and if you hurry,
  • 00:18:34.963 --> 00:18:37.166
  • It'll kind of slip past you.
  • 00:18:37.166 --> 00:18:38.534
  • But mary and joseph have been entrusted with the assignment of
  • 00:18:38.534 --> 00:18:41.537
  • Parenting the son of god.
  • 00:18:41.537 --> 00:18:44.406
  • I'm thinking that could be awkward.
  • 00:18:44.406 --> 00:18:46.008
  • Can you put him in time out?
  • 00:18:46.008 --> 00:18:49.444
  • And what if, when you do, he stops time?
  • 00:18:49.444 --> 00:18:54.383
  • I mean, there could be some awkward, at least some anxious,
  • 00:18:54.383 --> 00:18:58.053
  • Moments in the midst of that.
  • 00:18:58.053 --> 00:18:59.521
  • But in this particular circumstance, mary and joseph
  • 00:18:59.521 --> 00:19:02.357
  • Left the kid at the mall and they didn't notice for at least
  • 00:19:02.357 --> 00:19:10.832
  • A day and then they're a day away and there's a day back and
  • 00:19:10.832 --> 00:19:13.302
  • It says they looked for 3 days.
  • 00:19:13.302 --> 00:19:15.037
  • So for several days, they lost jesus.
  • 00:19:15.037 --> 00:19:20.209
  • I mean, grandparents, imagine you accepted the babysitting
  • 00:19:20.209 --> 00:19:23.679
  • Assignment or, parents, maybe you had somebody to watch over
  • 00:19:23.679 --> 00:19:26.381
  • Your children.
  • 00:19:26.381 --> 00:19:27.716
  • And when you had to give a report, you said, "well, we
  • 00:19:27.716 --> 00:19:29.384
  • Decided to go out for ice cream.
  • 00:19:29.384 --> 00:19:31.920
  • It was so wonderful.
  • 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:33.288
  • It was so delicious.
  • 00:19:33.288 --> 00:19:34.623
  • I got so excited about my ice cream that i got in the car and
  • 00:19:34.623 --> 00:19:36.625
  • Drove home.
  • 00:19:36.625 --> 00:19:39.528
  • Well, i was so contented from the ice cream, i took a nap and
  • 00:19:39.528 --> 00:19:42.197
  • When i woke up i realized the kids didn't come home with me,
  • 00:19:42.197 --> 00:19:48.136
  • And that was several days ago."
  • 00:19:48.136 --> 00:19:52.474
  • Yeah, we kind of giggle nervously, hoping we never have
  • 00:19:52.474 --> 00:19:54.943
  • To answer such a question.
  • 00:19:54.943 --> 00:19:56.278
  • But mary and joseph did.
  • 00:19:56.278 --> 00:19:59.248
  • It's not what i would have imagined because, in my
  • 00:19:59.248 --> 00:20:02.017
  • Imagination, if god recruits someone for an assignment, and i
  • 00:20:02.017 --> 00:20:07.322
  • Think we could all agree, he recruited mary and joseph in
  • 00:20:07.322 --> 00:20:09.625
  • This narrative.
  • 00:20:09.625 --> 00:20:11.159
  • And he recruited them for something of primary importance,
  • 00:20:11.159 --> 00:20:14.263
  • A frontline assignment, that if those things were all true, then
  • 00:20:14.263 --> 00:20:18.834
  • God would give you everything you needed, all the unique
  • 00:20:18.834 --> 00:20:21.770
  • Abilities necessary to breeze through the project.
  • 00:20:21.770 --> 00:20:25.073
  • That's why you were recruited.
  • 00:20:25.073 --> 00:20:31.947
  • There's one more piece that's missing.
  • 00:20:31.947 --> 00:20:34.383
  • I know you're out of scriptures, but they'll put it on
  • 00:20:34.383 --> 00:20:38.253
  • The screen.
  • 00:20:38.253 --> 00:20:39.688
  • I have friends.
  • 00:20:39.688 --> 00:20:42.357
  • In john 19, we're gonna step forward a few more years.
  • 00:20:42.357 --> 00:20:46.395
  • Jesus is actually on the cross, very near the end of his
  • 00:20:46.395 --> 00:20:50.332
  • Physical life.
  • 00:20:50.332 --> 00:20:53.235
  • And from the cross, it says, "jesus saw his mother and the
  • 00:20:53.235 --> 00:20:55.804
  • Disciple whom he loved standing nearby, and he said to his
  • 00:20:55.804 --> 00:20:59.007
  • Mother, dear woman, 'here is your son,' and to the disciple,
  • 00:20:59.007 --> 00:21:02.811
  • 'here is your mother.'
  • 00:21:02.811 --> 00:21:04.179
  • And from that time on the disciple took her into
  • 00:21:04.179 --> 00:21:06.448
  • His home."
  • 00:21:06.448 --> 00:21:09.985
  • It's not what i expect of the narrative.
  • 00:21:09.985 --> 00:21:12.921
  • We started this story with mary and joseph and angelic visits
  • 00:21:12.921 --> 00:21:15.924
  • And an immaculate conception and the wonder of being selected to
  • 00:21:15.924 --> 00:21:20.195
  • Give birth to the messiah, the long awaited, the promise of
  • 00:21:20.195 --> 00:21:24.599
  • The people.
  • 00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:27.069
  • And i'm quite certain that mary and joseph did what i would have
  • 00:21:27.069 --> 00:21:29.738
  • Done or what most or many of us would have done.
  • 00:21:29.738 --> 00:21:32.574
  • They began to imagine the storybook ending of how this
  • 00:21:32.574 --> 00:21:35.577
  • Might play out, what it would look like.
  • 00:21:35.577 --> 00:21:39.381
  • Mary and joseph said yes to god when they were young, most
  • 00:21:39.381 --> 00:21:42.150
  • Likely teenagers.
  • 00:21:42.150 --> 00:21:43.485
  • They accepted god's invitation to this very unique role.
  • 00:21:43.485 --> 00:21:47.689
  • And i feel pretty comfortable in suggesting to you that they
  • 00:21:47.689 --> 00:21:50.525
  • Dreamt a bit about the outcomes.
  • 00:21:50.525 --> 00:21:53.195
  • They talked about it together.
  • 00:21:53.195 --> 00:21:54.596
  • That would be normal for two young people that are pledged to
  • 00:21:54.596 --> 00:21:58.367
  • Be married.
  • 00:21:58.367 --> 00:21:59.935
  • It would be helpful to talk about their anticipation of how
  • 00:21:59.935 --> 00:22:04.506
  • Their lives together will unfold and what they imagine the
  • 00:22:04.506 --> 00:22:07.576
  • Journey will look like and feel like.
  • 00:22:07.576 --> 00:22:10.846
  • In mary and joseph case, they had to talk to one another, no
  • 00:22:10.846 --> 00:22:13.815
  • One else would have believed them.
  • 00:22:13.815 --> 00:22:16.618
  • It wasn't like they had a peer group who understood, but they
  • 00:22:16.618 --> 00:22:20.722
  • Didn't have a storybook ending.
  • 00:22:20.722 --> 00:22:24.059
  • They said yes to the lord.
  • 00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:26.595
  • They raised their hands, they put their plans aside, they
  • 00:22:26.595 --> 00:22:30.932
  • Faced humiliation and shame and a whole host of other things and
  • 00:22:30.932 --> 00:22:34.936
  • They still didn't get a storybook ending.
  • 00:22:34.936 --> 00:22:37.706
  • Is that as surprising to you as it is to me?
  • 00:22:37.706 --> 00:22:40.842
  • Because in my imagination, when i say yes to the lord, and even
  • 00:22:40.842 --> 00:22:44.346
  • If--particularly, if there's something awkward or unwelcome
  • 00:22:44.346 --> 00:22:49.484
  • That comes along with that journey, then i'm expecting god
  • 00:22:49.484 --> 00:22:52.454
  • To cause what's next to be so remarkable that any discomfort
  • 00:22:52.454 --> 00:22:58.493
  • Or disillusionment will fade very quickly.
  • 00:22:58.493 --> 00:23:03.865
  • I'm quite confident mary and joseph imagined what it would be
  • 00:23:03.865 --> 00:23:06.401
  • Like to see their son when he was grown to adulthood and he
  • 00:23:06.401 --> 00:23:09.771
  • Began to minister and the people recognized him for who he was.
  • 00:23:09.771 --> 00:23:14.910
  • We see little glimpses of that when they're at a wedding in
  • 00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:17.345
  • Cana and they run out of wine and the bride and groom and the
  • 00:23:17.345 --> 00:23:20.482
  • Families are to be humiliated.
  • 00:23:20.482 --> 00:23:21.850
  • And mary takes the servants aside and says, "listen,
  • 00:23:21.850 --> 00:23:24.486
  • Whatever he tells you to do, you do it."
  • 00:23:24.486 --> 00:23:29.224
  • Jesus makes wine that day.
  • 00:23:29.224 --> 00:23:32.527
  • But in this scenario, joseph's gone, the record is quiet.
  • 00:23:32.527 --> 00:23:37.365
  • We don't know what happened to him.
  • 00:23:37.365 --> 00:23:38.733
  • Scholars suggest he died somewhere along the way between
  • 00:23:38.733 --> 00:23:42.137
  • Jesus at 12 and jesus's public ministry.
  • 00:23:42.137 --> 00:23:45.941
  • So they're not--mary is at the end of jesus's public ministry
  • 00:23:45.941 --> 00:23:49.377
  • And the pressure has begun.
  • 00:23:49.377 --> 00:23:50.846
  • They've stood in the streets of jerusalem and screamed, "crucify
  • 00:23:50.846 --> 00:23:53.582
  • Him," her son.
  • 00:23:53.582 --> 00:23:56.985
  • And now she's standing at the foot of the cross.
  • 00:23:56.985 --> 00:23:59.087
  • He's been tortured almost to death, barely recognizable.
  • 00:23:59.087 --> 00:24:04.025
  • And jesus from the cross says, "behold, your caretaker.
  • 00:24:04.025 --> 00:24:09.397
  • There's john."
  • 00:24:09.397 --> 00:24:11.867
  • That's not the storybook ending mary dreamt about.
  • 00:24:11.867 --> 00:24:16.371
  • No less god-inspired, no less supernatural, no
  • 00:24:16.371 --> 00:24:19.307
  • Less significant.
  • 00:24:19.307 --> 00:24:20.675
  • It's just not a storybook ending.
  • 00:24:20.675 --> 00:24:24.412
  • Now, i point that out because very few of our lives look like
  • 00:24:24.412 --> 00:24:28.717
  • Storybooks and it's very easy to become disillusioned or
  • 00:24:28.717 --> 00:24:35.323
  • Disappointed or angry or resentful or a whole host of
  • 00:24:35.323 --> 00:24:40.495
  • Other things that push you towards the sidelines.
  • 00:24:40.495 --> 00:24:44.499
  • Some of you have completely stepped out of the journey and
  • 00:24:44.499 --> 00:24:47.802
  • Said, "i won't follow a god that treats his friends that way."
  • 00:24:47.802 --> 00:24:53.174
  • Others of you have been frozen in place, reluctant to go
  • 00:24:53.174 --> 00:24:56.211
  • Forward anymore because of the painfulness of the journey.
  • 00:24:56.211 --> 00:25:01.716
  • And i'd just like to submit to you that from the story of our
  • 00:25:01.716 --> 00:25:04.986
  • Heroes, there's no question god is in the midst of this.
  • 00:25:04.986 --> 00:25:07.856
  • There's a remarkable resurrection coming, but it
  • 00:25:07.856 --> 00:25:13.194
  • Doesn't sweep away the sadness of joseph's absence and the
  • 00:25:13.194 --> 00:25:17.666
  • Rearrangements of dreams that have been rearranged so
  • 00:25:17.666 --> 00:25:20.035
  • Many times.
  • 00:25:20.035 --> 00:25:21.403
  • From the first time that angel visited in nazareth until
  • 00:25:21.403 --> 00:25:23.638
  • Standing at the foot of the cross, it's a consistent
  • 00:25:23.638 --> 00:25:26.174
  • Repetitive pattern of rearranging dreams.
  • 00:25:26.174 --> 00:25:29.177
  • Are you willing to allow god to write your story?
  • 00:25:29.177 --> 00:25:34.983
  • Or we've imagined--have we wrongly imagined that the
  • 00:25:34.983 --> 00:25:38.086
  • Objective of our faith is for god to do what we want, when
  • 00:25:38.086 --> 00:25:41.022
  • We want?
  • 00:25:41.022 --> 00:25:42.390
  • We've just found a power greater than ourselves
  • 00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:43.725
  • To help us get our way.
  • 00:25:43.725 --> 00:25:46.461
  • I don't believe that idea is informed by scripture, and i
  • 00:25:46.461 --> 00:25:50.699
  • Wanna invite you this christmas eve to simply begin to quietly,
  • 00:25:50.699 --> 00:25:56.204
  • But with determination, say yes to the lord.
  • 00:25:56.204 --> 00:26:00.275
  • Would you bow with me in prayer?
  • 00:26:00.275 --> 00:26:03.411
  • Father, i thank you that in your great love for us, you sent
  • 00:26:03.411 --> 00:26:07.215
  • Your son.
  • 00:26:07.215 --> 00:26:08.917
  • And lord jesus, i thank you for your provision in our lives that
  • 00:26:08.917 --> 00:26:12.721
  • You were willing to face the cross, to take the punishment
  • 00:26:12.721 --> 00:26:16.491
  • That we deserved, that we might have the blessings that you
  • 00:26:16.491 --> 00:26:20.261
  • Had earned.
  • 00:26:20.261 --> 00:26:21.963
  • And we come tonight in humility to recognize our own frailty, to
  • 00:26:21.963 --> 00:26:26.801
  • Ask for your forgiveness in our lives, for our own stubbornness
  • 00:26:26.801 --> 00:26:30.572
  • And self-absorption and rebellion against you.
  • 00:26:30.572 --> 00:26:35.110
  • And we ask for your grace to forgive those who have
  • 00:26:35.110 --> 00:26:37.345
  • Mistreated us.
  • 00:26:37.345 --> 00:26:39.214
  • We invite your power into our lives where we have great needs,
  • 00:26:39.214 --> 00:26:43.351
  • Physical needs, emotional needs, where we are weary and tired,
  • 00:26:43.351 --> 00:26:47.656
  • That you would bring life and health and strength.
  • 00:26:47.656 --> 00:26:51.192
  • We pray for the world around us.
  • 00:26:51.192 --> 00:26:53.828
  • You had promised that you delight in showing mercy even to
  • 00:26:53.828 --> 00:26:56.631
  • The wicked.
  • 00:26:56.631 --> 00:26:58.033
  • May our world be filled with the love and the majesty of a
  • 00:26:58.033 --> 00:27:01.936
  • Living god.
  • 00:27:01.936 --> 00:27:03.705
  • We thank you for what you've done for us,
  • 00:27:03.705 --> 00:27:06.307
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:06.307 --> 00:27:08.576
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:10.879 --> 00:27:20.155
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:20.155 --> 00:27:27.362