Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Faith
#GiftsoftheHolySpirit
#Marriage
#Provision
#Faithfulness
#Religion
#Christmas
#WordofGod
#Miracles
#Righteousness
#inActive
#AllenJacksonMinistries
#AllenJackson
#VirginBirth
#Isaiah9:6
Closed captions
Show Timecode
Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Christmas Eve | December 25, 2024
- ...
- 00:00:00.633 --> 00:00:01.017
- ♪♪♪
- 00:00:01.651 --> 00:00:07.323
- Allen jackson: i wanted to take just a moment to wish you
- 00:00:07.323 --> 00:00:09.793
- A very merry christmas.
- 00:00:09.793 --> 00:00:11.561
- You know, the lord has been good to us.
- 00:00:11.561 --> 00:00:13.496
- I know none of our lives are perfect.
- 00:00:13.496 --> 00:00:15.065
- There's still challenges and difficulties and things we're
- 00:00:15.065 --> 00:00:17.400
- Inviting god into.
- 00:00:17.400 --> 00:00:19.035
- But on this christmas morning, it is an honor to stand together
- 00:00:19.035 --> 00:00:23.139
- To declare jesus is lord and to open our hearts once again to
- 00:00:23.139 --> 00:00:27.577
- God on this very special day.
- 00:00:27.577 --> 00:00:29.546
- Thank you for spending a few minutes with us.
- 00:00:29.546 --> 00:00:31.748
- I pray that the message is a blessing to you.
- 00:00:31.748 --> 00:00:33.883
- But more than that, i pray the joy and the love of almighty god
- 00:00:33.883 --> 00:00:37.520
- Fills your heart and your home.
- 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.155
- Merry christmas.
- 00:00:39.155 --> 00:00:41.524
- Allen: the title i've chosen is "gifts that are given and those
- 00:00:41.591 --> 00:00:45.295
- That are not."
- 00:00:45.295 --> 00:00:47.163
- A big part of our christmas celebration is about giving and
- 00:00:47.163 --> 00:00:50.066
- Receiving gifts.
- 00:00:50.066 --> 00:00:51.734
- Now, that didn't begin with our celebration of a holiday.
- 00:00:51.734 --> 00:00:55.171
- It began with god's gift of a son.
- 00:00:55.171 --> 00:00:58.908
- And isaiah describes it so poetically, so beautifully.
- 00:00:58.908 --> 00:01:02.345
- Hundreds of years before jesus's birth, in anticipation of the
- 00:01:02.345 --> 00:01:06.082
- Arrival of the messiah and the impact he would have upon the
- 00:01:06.082 --> 00:01:09.486
- Earth, isaiah said, "for to us a child is born, to us a son is
- 00:01:09.486 --> 00:01:13.990
- Given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
- 00:01:13.990 --> 00:01:17.360
- And he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty god,
- 00:01:17.360 --> 00:01:21.164
- Everlasting father, prince of peace.
- 00:01:21.164 --> 00:01:24.901
- Of the increase of his government and peace there will
- 00:01:24.901 --> 00:01:27.203
- Be no end.
- 00:01:27.203 --> 00:01:28.571
- And he will reign on david's throne and over his kingdom,
- 00:01:28.571 --> 00:01:31.508
- Establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
- 00:01:31.508 --> 00:01:35.311
- From that time on and forever.
- 00:01:35.311 --> 00:01:38.348
- And the zeal of the lord almighty will accomplish this."
- 00:01:38.348 --> 00:01:42.418
- What a beautiful presentation of the messiah and his impact upon
- 00:01:42.418 --> 00:01:46.856
- This earth.
- 00:01:46.856 --> 00:01:48.291
- Many of us have imagined that our ultimate future is
- 00:01:48.291 --> 00:01:50.593
- In heaven.
- 00:01:50.593 --> 00:01:51.928
- But the scripture actually suggests to us that the king is
- 00:01:51.928 --> 00:01:54.764
- Coming back to the earth and he will reign in righteousness
- 00:01:54.764 --> 00:01:58.501
- And justice.
- 00:01:58.501 --> 00:02:00.136
- I would submit to you that to the degree to which we
- 00:02:00.136 --> 00:02:02.605
- Experience righteousness and justice in the earth, it would
- 00:02:02.605 --> 00:02:06.042
- Be because of the presence of the spirit of god.
- 00:02:06.042 --> 00:02:09.078
- Those things, they're not the result of governments or the
- 00:02:09.078 --> 00:02:12.115
- Organizations of humans.
- 00:02:12.115 --> 00:02:14.150
- And when they--when they are extended to us through those
- 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:17.720
- Places, you will know it's because the spirit of god
- 00:02:17.720 --> 00:02:20.523
- Is present.
- 00:02:20.523 --> 00:02:22.358
- In john chapter 3 and verse 16, maybe the most familiar verse in
- 00:02:22.358 --> 00:02:25.261
- All of the new testament, it says that "for god so loved the
- 00:02:25.261 --> 00:02:28.932
- World that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes
- 00:02:28.932 --> 00:02:33.136
- In him shall not perish but have eternal life."
- 00:02:33.136 --> 00:02:36.306
- God's great gift to humanity was the incarnation, asking his son
- 00:02:36.306 --> 00:02:40.843
- To put on an earth suit and come to this world and ultimately to
- 00:02:40.843 --> 00:02:44.614
- Take the--exhaust the penalty for our rebellion and
- 00:02:44.614 --> 00:02:48.051
- Our godlessness.
- 00:02:48.051 --> 00:02:49.786
- So the motivation for our giving and receiving of gifts at
- 00:02:49.786 --> 00:02:52.589
- Christmastime was really initiated by god's great gift
- 00:02:52.589 --> 00:02:56.092
- For us.
- 00:02:56.092 --> 00:02:57.427
- And there's nothing we could give or receive that could ever
- 00:02:57.427 --> 00:02:59.696
- Match what god has done on our part.
- 00:02:59.696 --> 00:03:02.565
- Well, i would suggest that it's a primer, this story of mary and
- 00:03:02.565 --> 00:03:06.636
- Joseph and their responses to god.
- 00:03:06.636 --> 00:03:08.938
- A primer for understanding how to live as people of faith, that
- 00:03:08.938 --> 00:03:13.009
- Our own journey of faith will be strengthened if we will listen
- 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:16.312
- More carefully to their report.
- 00:03:16.312 --> 00:03:19.115
- There are some things missing, in my opinion, things i would
- 00:03:19.115 --> 00:03:23.086
- Have expected to have been written into the narrative.
- 00:03:23.086 --> 00:03:25.455
- If i'd been employed as the screenwriter for this story,
- 00:03:25.455 --> 00:03:28.558
- There are some things i would have included that are just
- 00:03:28.558 --> 00:03:30.493
- Candidly absent.
- 00:03:30.493 --> 00:03:32.428
- There are some things not provided which i would have
- 00:03:32.428 --> 00:03:34.397
- Considered appropriate provision.
- 00:03:34.397 --> 00:03:37.800
- I'll start in matthew chapter 1 and verse 20.
- 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:40.837
- It's a commentary that matthew provides us about joseph.
- 00:03:40.837 --> 00:03:45.408
- It says: "after he," joseph, "had considered this, an angel
- 00:03:45.408 --> 00:03:49.245
- Of the lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'joseph, son of
- 00:03:49.245 --> 00:03:52.382
- David, do not be afraid to take mary home as your wife, because
- 00:03:52.382 --> 00:03:56.185
- What is conceived in her is from the holy spirit.'"
- 00:03:56.185 --> 00:04:00.556
- Mary and joseph have been betrothed to be married.
- 00:04:00.556 --> 00:04:03.926
- It's a bit more of a binding agreement than our typical
- 00:04:03.926 --> 00:04:06.829
- Imagination currently of engagement.
- 00:04:06.829 --> 00:04:09.565
- But they've made that commitment for their future together with
- 00:04:09.565 --> 00:04:12.669
- All that was implied in that.
- 00:04:12.669 --> 00:04:15.071
- And we're not privy to all the details.
- 00:04:15.071 --> 00:04:16.806
- The conversation between mary and joseph is not recorded
- 00:04:16.806 --> 00:04:19.942
- For us.
- 00:04:19.942 --> 00:04:21.277
- But joseph has been informed that mary has been found to be
- 00:04:21.277 --> 00:04:23.913
- With child and he knows he wasn't involved.
- 00:04:23.913 --> 00:04:28.951
- So he's determined that he will quietly, out of respect for
- 00:04:28.951 --> 00:04:31.754
- Mary, dissolve the agreement, minimize the shame, and simply
- 00:04:31.754 --> 00:04:35.992
- Move forward with his life, when he has an angelic visit.
- 00:04:35.992 --> 00:04:39.128
- It's what we read.
- 00:04:39.128 --> 00:04:40.697
- And the angel says to him--the archangel says to him, "don't be
- 00:04:40.697 --> 00:04:44.467
- Afraid to take mary home as your wife.
- 00:04:44.467 --> 00:04:47.303
- What's conceived in her is from the holy spirit."
- 00:04:47.303 --> 00:04:51.007
- Now, we read that as if all the questions were just answered.
- 00:04:51.007 --> 00:04:56.112
- Well, it seems to me what is missing in this particular
- 00:04:56.112 --> 00:04:59.315
- Narrative is just a bit of advance notice.
- 00:04:59.315 --> 00:05:03.486
- Mary is pregnant before joseph is even read into the story.
- 00:05:03.486 --> 00:05:09.058
- I mean, candidly, i would have preferred to have had a little
- 00:05:09.058 --> 00:05:11.961
- Information earlier in the narrative if i was
- 00:05:11.961 --> 00:05:14.997
- Participating, wouldn't you?
- 00:05:14.997 --> 00:05:18.101
- I mean, we're told that the archangel gabriel visited mary
- 00:05:18.101 --> 00:05:21.971
- And said, "you are highly favored among all, that you're
- 00:05:21.971 --> 00:05:26.342
- Going to give birth to the son of god."
- 00:05:26.342 --> 00:05:29.345
- And she said, "how can that be?
- 00:05:29.345 --> 00:05:30.713
- Well, how could that possibly be?
- 00:05:30.713 --> 00:05:33.416
- I haven't been engaged in those behaviors."
- 00:05:33.416 --> 00:05:35.418
- And the angel said, "the spirit of the almighty god will come
- 00:05:35.418 --> 00:05:38.654
- Upon you."
- 00:05:38.654 --> 00:05:41.357
- Well, in my thinking, it wouldn't have been that big of a
- 00:05:41.357 --> 00:05:43.593
- Lift for the angel just to have stopped at joseph's house next.
- 00:05:43.593 --> 00:05:48.498
- It would have been much less stressful for mary, for joseph,
- 00:05:48.498 --> 00:05:51.234
- For the families involved.
- 00:05:51.234 --> 00:05:54.904
- Am i alone in that?
- 00:05:54.904 --> 00:05:56.239
- Y'all are looking at me kind of--i mean, again, i think that
- 00:05:56.239 --> 00:06:00.276
- It would have almost made the narrative more believable.
- 00:06:00.276 --> 00:06:03.546
- There's something missing.
- 00:06:03.546 --> 00:06:04.881
- There's a gift that i would have been looking for.
- 00:06:04.881 --> 00:06:08.284
- You see, i have discovered in my own journey, that god's sense of
- 00:06:08.284 --> 00:06:11.053
- Timing has often differed from my preference.
- 00:06:11.053 --> 00:06:16.392
- You know, i've talked to the lord and i said, "you know,
- 00:06:16.392 --> 00:06:17.994
- You haven't been listening.
- 00:06:17.994 --> 00:06:19.362
- I've been giving you an agenda.
- 00:06:19.362 --> 00:06:20.696
- Have you not been paying attention?
- 00:06:20.696 --> 00:06:22.331
- Have you been someplace where you didn't have good
- 00:06:22.331 --> 00:06:23.933
- Wifi reception?
- 00:06:23.933 --> 00:06:26.736
- Have you taken a break?
- 00:06:26.736 --> 00:06:28.070
- Have you been distracted?
- 00:06:28.070 --> 00:06:29.439
- What's up?"
- 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:31.040
- In fact, my most consistent complaint with god through my
- 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:34.510
- Journey to this point has been about his sense of timing.
- 00:06:34.510 --> 00:06:38.648
- To be completely fair, i have to tell you, at this point i
- 00:06:38.648 --> 00:06:42.785
- Believe god's correct.
- 00:06:42.785 --> 00:06:44.854
- I know he's relieved to have my affirmation.
- 00:06:44.854 --> 00:06:49.192
- But in all fairness, i'd have to tell you at many junctures along
- 00:06:49.192 --> 00:06:52.528
- The way, it seems he's been a bit delayed in his response.
- 00:06:52.528 --> 00:06:56.766
- And yet when i read the narrative, it's very clear, the
- 00:06:56.766 --> 00:07:00.603
- Urgency for joseph's understanding of what was
- 00:07:00.603 --> 00:07:03.506
- Happening didn't seem to be as significant in heaven as it
- 00:07:03.506 --> 00:07:07.810
- Would have been in my heart.
- 00:07:07.810 --> 00:07:10.646
- There's another gift that seems to be missing to me.
- 00:07:10.646 --> 00:07:12.415
- In luke chapter 2, in verse 7, it says: "mary gave birth to her
- 00:07:12.415 --> 00:07:16.919
- Firstborn, a son.
- 00:07:16.919 --> 00:07:18.254
- She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because
- 00:07:18.254 --> 00:07:20.556
- There was no room for them in the inn."
- 00:07:20.556 --> 00:07:23.459
- Luke tells us the birth narrative from mary's vantage
- 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:25.828
- Point and he points out that mary gave birth in a barn.
- 00:07:25.828 --> 00:07:30.733
- Now, by this point in the story, they're 9 months into the
- 00:07:30.733 --> 00:07:33.469
- Journey, they're a long way past those angelic visits
- 00:07:33.469 --> 00:07:36.906
- In nazareth.
- 00:07:36.906 --> 00:07:38.274
- Mary's been great with child.
- 00:07:38.274 --> 00:07:39.775
- She has stretch marks.
- 00:07:39.775 --> 00:07:42.211
- Mary and joseph have both said yes, they have walked through
- 00:07:42.211 --> 00:07:45.882
- The months of gossip, of prying eyes, of whispered innuendo, of
- 00:07:45.882 --> 00:07:52.088
- All the awkwardness that would have come with being pregnant
- 00:07:52.088 --> 00:07:54.924
- And the timeline wasn't just quite right.
- 00:07:54.924 --> 00:07:57.860
- Nazareth was a small village at that point, maybe 1500 people.
- 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:03.099
- It's been a difficult season at best.
- 00:08:03.099 --> 00:08:05.968
- And on top of that, there's simply been the wonder of what's
- 00:08:05.968 --> 00:08:08.638
- Happening for two teenagers to be in the midst of these
- 00:08:08.638 --> 00:08:11.407
- Supernatural circumstances.
- 00:08:11.407 --> 00:08:13.543
- We can't explain it 2 millennium later; i assure you it would
- 00:08:13.543 --> 00:08:17.246
- Have been a bit unnerving to have walked it out in real time.
- 00:08:17.246 --> 00:08:24.687
- Allen: 2024 has almost slipped past us.
- 00:08:28.558 --> 00:08:31.827
- Thank you for your partnership this year.
- 00:08:31.827 --> 00:08:33.930
- It's been the most remarkable season we've ever known together
- 00:08:33.930 --> 00:08:37.199
- And i thank you for your faithful investment of time,
- 00:08:37.199 --> 00:08:40.069
- Energy, and prayers in our ministry.
- 00:08:40.069 --> 00:08:42.204
- Change is taking place in the earth.
- 00:08:42.204 --> 00:08:44.507
- We're seeing in our own nation, god responded to us with
- 00:08:44.507 --> 00:08:47.376
- Tremendous mercy and grace.
- 00:08:47.376 --> 00:08:49.946
- We have leaders that are headed to washington d.c., to enact
- 00:08:49.946 --> 00:08:52.982
- Changes to restore a set of values that have brought
- 00:08:52.982 --> 00:08:55.451
- Strength to our nation.
- 00:08:55.451 --> 00:08:56.919
- It's a time of great optimism and hope and anticipation and i
- 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:00.890
- Believe that's true in the church as well.
- 00:09:00.890 --> 00:09:02.925
- Folks, we can't stand on the sidelines and expect somebody
- 00:09:02.925 --> 00:09:05.695
- Else to be the change.
- 00:09:05.695 --> 00:09:07.463
- We need the presence of god to emerge in our schools, on our
- 00:09:07.463 --> 00:09:10.566
- College campuses, back in our churches.
- 00:09:10.566 --> 00:09:13.736
- And so i think it's a critical time that we bring the message
- 00:09:13.736 --> 00:09:16.572
- Of the truth of jesus christ.
- 00:09:16.572 --> 00:09:18.240
- It's a hopeful message.
- 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:19.609
- It's a message of wholeness and healing and deliverance and
- 00:09:19.609 --> 00:09:22.511
- Freedom that we desperately need in our cities, in our
- 00:09:22.511 --> 00:09:26.015
- Communities, wherever god's people gather.
- 00:09:26.015 --> 00:09:28.551
- Join us.
- 00:09:28.551 --> 00:09:29.885
- Let's be a part of what god is doing in the earth and we will
- 00:09:29.885 --> 00:09:32.555
- Celebrate his faithfulness to the people of our generation.
- 00:09:32.555 --> 00:09:36.225
- Thank you for being a part.
- 00:09:36.225 --> 00:09:37.593
- Female announcer: god has uniquely blessed us.
- 00:09:39.495 --> 00:09:41.998
- The best is yet to come.
- 00:09:41.998 --> 00:09:44.800
- God has heard our prayers.
- 00:09:44.800 --> 00:09:47.370
- God has delivered us from oppression.
- 00:09:47.370 --> 00:09:51.240
- We live in a season of shaking, but together we stand, united in
- 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:57.613
- Heart and purpose, to accomplish the will of god in
- 00:09:57.613 --> 00:10:00.916
- Our generation.
- 00:10:00.916 --> 00:10:03.419
- We will not stop.
- 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:05.488
- Allen: i wanna ask you to make a sacrificial investment in
- 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:10.259
- Our ministry.
- 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:11.627
- We have a generous partner who'll match every gift between
- 00:10:11.627 --> 00:10:13.696
- Now and the end of the year.
- 00:10:13.696 --> 00:10:15.064
- We're making plans for the year ahead with a boldness and a
- 00:10:15.064 --> 00:10:18.034
- Courage unlike anything we've done in the past.
- 00:10:18.034 --> 00:10:21.037
- We wanna make as clear a statement for the gospel of
- 00:10:21.037 --> 00:10:23.639
- Jesus christ.
- 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:25.007
- We wanna strengthen the church.
- 00:10:25.007 --> 00:10:26.642
- We want to tell the truth in a way that people can rally
- 00:10:26.642 --> 00:10:29.645
- Around it.
- 00:10:29.645 --> 00:10:31.013
- God is moving in the earth, and we intend to participate
- 00:10:31.013 --> 00:10:33.649
- With him.
- 00:10:33.649 --> 00:10:34.984
- I hope you'll join us as we look forward to the new year.
- 00:10:34.984 --> 00:10:37.953
- Thank you in advance for your generous
- 00:10:37.953 --> 00:10:39.955
- Investments in what god is doing.
- 00:10:39.955 --> 00:10:41.624
- God bless you.
- 00:10:41.624 --> 00:10:43.259
- Announcer: as we step into this new season, let's be faithful to
- 00:10:43.325 --> 00:10:46.796
- Seek god.
- 00:10:46.796 --> 00:10:48.364
- Let's make room for him to refine our hearts so we can join
- 00:10:48.364 --> 00:10:51.801
- Him in what he's doing.
- 00:10:51.801 --> 00:10:53.803
- 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
- 00:11:29.772 --> 00:11:31.841
- Story to me.
- 00:11:31.841 --> 00:11:33.175
- In matthew's gospel, in chapter 2, it describes the scene at the
- 00:11:33.175 --> 00:11:36.946
- Stable in bethlehem.
- 00:11:36.946 --> 00:11:38.280
- They've had some visitors.
- 00:11:38.280 --> 00:11:39.749
- There was a group of rather excited shepherds and they were
- 00:11:39.749 --> 00:11:42.084
- Babbling something about the skies being filled with the
- 00:11:42.084 --> 00:11:45.154
- Heavenly host and good news of great joy which shall be to
- 00:11:45.154 --> 00:11:48.657
- All people.
- 00:11:48.657 --> 00:11:50.426
- 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