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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Expressions of God's Power (Part 1)

June 26, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Expressions of God's Power (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Deliverance #Heaven #Generations #Temptation #Wicked #Challenges #Prayer #Future #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Expressions of God's Power (Part 1) | June 26, 2026
  • ...
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  • Female announcer: everywhere we turn, someone is telling us who
  • 00:00:01.750 --> 00:00:03.285
  • We should be, how we should look, and what we
  • 00:00:03.385 --> 00:00:05.954
  • Should believe.
  • 00:00:06.055 --> 00:00:06.321
  • It's no wonder so many of us feel isolated, uncertain,
  • 00:00:07.456 --> 00:00:11.360
  • Confused, and like we're not enough.
  • 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:14.163
  • But god has a different message.
  • 00:00:14.163 --> 00:00:16.565
  • You are chosen, loved, accepted, and redeemed.
  • 00:00:16.565 --> 00:00:21.070
  • And as you more fully understand how god sees you, it will change
  • 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:24.606
  • How you see yourself, how you see god, and how you live
  • 00:00:24.606 --> 00:00:28.210
  • Your life.
  • 00:00:28.210 --> 00:00:29.711
  • In "your identity in christ: 12 truths about who you are,"
  • 00:00:29.711 --> 00:00:33.048
  • Pastor allen jackson shares the unchanging truth of god's word.
  • 00:00:33.048 --> 00:00:37.553
  • From isolation to belonging, from doubt to confidence,
  • 00:00:37.553 --> 00:00:41.990
  • Discover your identity in him.
  • 00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:44.793
  • You or someone you know needs the encouragement, truth, and
  • 00:00:44.793 --> 00:00:48.530
  • Freedom found in this book.
  • 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:52.835
  • Request yours today when you donate any amount at
  • 00:00:52.835 --> 00:00:55.237
  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:00:55.237 --> 00:01:04.446
  • Allen: i did, i really--i felt the lord prompted me, but--to
  • 00:01:08.684 --> 00:01:12.688
  • Take a few weeks and visit some things that are kind
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  • Of foundational.
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  • Not simple, but essential for you and i living in the power
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  • Of god.
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  • So i don't imagine them to be new concepts or brand-new ideas,
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  • But excellence in any arena has everything to do with our
  • 00:01:27.436 --> 00:01:32.074
  • Ability to maintain an awareness of the fundamentals, whether
  • 00:01:32.074 --> 00:01:35.444
  • It's business or athletics or health or relationships,
  • 00:01:35.444 --> 00:01:38.680
  • Whatever it is.
  • 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.048
  • And the same is very much true with our faith.
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  • I don't think we ever move very beyond--very far beyond the
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  • Fundamentals of our faith: who we are in christ, what jesus
  • 00:01:45.454 --> 00:01:48.991
  • Accomplished for us through his redemptive work, how we give
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  • Expression to that, how we overcome the enemy.
  • 00:01:52.161 --> 00:01:55.764
  • Those things really are at the heart of a triumphant life of
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  • A christ follower.
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  • And so i want to spend a few weeks kind of reviewing some of
  • 00:02:00.569 --> 00:02:03.205
  • Those things with you or walking through them again.
  • 00:02:03.205 --> 00:02:06.041
  • This session or this series i've entitled "expressions of god's
  • 00:02:06.041 --> 00:02:09.945
  • Power," but i wanna start with just an observation.
  • 00:02:09.945 --> 00:02:14.116
  • I've encouraged you for a long time to keep a good news list.
  • 00:02:14.116 --> 00:02:17.586
  • And there's some really good news for those of us in
  • 00:02:17.586 --> 00:02:19.488
  • Tennessee and even some other places, but our governor and
  • 00:02:19.488 --> 00:02:22.925
  • State legislature declared that this month is nuclear family
  • 00:02:22.925 --> 00:02:26.995
  • Month in tennessee. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:02:26.995 --> 00:02:34.036
  • And if you haven't been paying attention, don't know what that
  • 00:02:34.036 --> 00:02:36.004
  • Means, that has nothing to do with nuclear bombs.
  • 00:02:36.004 --> 00:02:40.642
  • You know, it's not about some violent threat.
  • 00:02:40.642 --> 00:02:44.313
  • A nuclear family is a sociological term to define one
  • 00:02:44.313 --> 00:02:48.550
  • Husband and one wife and their biological children or adopted
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  • Or fostered children.
  • 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:53.255
  • So, a home with a man and a woman, a husband and a wife,
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  • Their biological children, or if they have adopted or are
  • 00:02:55.991 --> 00:02:58.193
  • Fostering kids.
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  • It's not a new idea.
  • 00:03:00.329 --> 00:03:02.664
  • And to be completely honest, it seems a little bizarre that we
  • 00:03:02.664 --> 00:03:04.800
  • Should celebrate it.
  • 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.135
  • It has been the building block of our society for far longer
  • 00:03:07.135 --> 00:03:11.540
  • Than we've been a nation, and it's been celebrated for--
  • 00:03:11.540 --> 00:03:16.511
  • Across the world, across all sorts of different constructs.
  • 00:03:16.511 --> 00:03:20.182
  • But we find ourselves in a place where if you're affirming of
  • 00:03:20.182 --> 00:03:22.784
  • That, you can find yourself sometimes on the outside of
  • 00:03:22.784 --> 00:03:27.122
  • A larger number of people.
  • 00:03:27.122 --> 00:03:28.557
  • And i'm grateful to say it's not just tennessee.
  • 00:03:28.557 --> 00:03:31.460
  • There are other states.
  • 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:32.828
  • Governor bill lee certainly signed what the legislature gave
  • 00:03:32.828 --> 00:03:35.230
  • Him, but in indiana, governor mike braun has done the same.
  • 00:03:35.230 --> 00:03:38.267
  • In alabama, governor kay ivey; in arkansas, governor
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  • Sarah huckabee. [congregation applauding]
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  • If you're not aware, june typically for a while now in our
  • 00:03:47.609 --> 00:03:51.280
  • Nation has been alphabet month.
  • 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:54.449
  • You know, celebration of the alphabet, lgbtq2+i.
  • 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:59.554
  • I don't know, the list becomes absurd.
  • 00:03:59.554 --> 00:04:02.591
  • And it was a celebration of something other than a biblical
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  • Worldview, and i think for those of us who are christians,
  • 00:04:04.993 --> 00:04:07.562
  • Somebody will no doubt ask me before the weekend's out if it's
  • 00:04:07.562 --> 00:04:09.665
  • Appropriate to say that at church.
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  • I always think it's appropriate to affirm biblical values
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  • At church. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:04:14.036 --> 00:04:20.509
  • And when we see our broader culture celebrating biblical
  • 00:04:20.509 --> 00:04:23.278
  • Values, i think we should use our voices in affirmation
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  • And encouragement.
  • 00:04:26.648 --> 00:04:28.583
  • And i don't think that is a reflection of a lack
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  • Of compassion.
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  • I think it's an expression of affirming god's direction for
  • 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:36.224
  • Our lives, and i don't believe you can be a christ follower
  • 00:04:36.224 --> 00:04:39.361
  • Unless you're willing to publicly affirm god's direction
  • 00:04:39.361 --> 00:04:42.631
  • For your life.
  • 00:04:42.631 --> 00:04:46.168
  • So i don't think it's a denigration of anyone else, or
  • 00:04:46.168 --> 00:04:49.571
  • It's certainly not an expression of hate, any more than if we
  • 00:04:49.571 --> 00:04:52.874
  • Had, "let's not steal month."
  • 00:04:52.874 --> 00:04:57.779
  • I don't think that's a month where we hate thieves.
  • 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:00.916
  • We'd just be affirming that it's better if we would stop.
  • 00:05:00.916 --> 00:05:05.554
  • Or maybe let's have, "we won't commit adultery month."
  • 00:05:05.554 --> 00:05:10.859
  • You seem a little awkward, folks.
  • 00:05:10.859 --> 00:05:12.227
  • Those are all biblical ideas.
  • 00:05:12.227 --> 00:05:16.031
  • So you have to--it feels a little bizarre to me that we
  • 00:05:16.031 --> 00:05:18.600
  • Have a special celebration to say let's celebrate a biblical
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  • Family month.
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  • The tragedy of that is the church has been deafeningly
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  • Silent in the face of the alternative.
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  • And i want to encourage you to use your voice, have
  • 00:05:30.645 --> 00:05:34.850
  • A conversation.
  • 00:05:34.850 --> 00:05:36.184
  • Don't be angry, don't be belligerent or certainly not
  • 00:05:36.184 --> 00:05:38.320
  • Violent, but in your kitchen table time every week with your
  • 00:05:38.320 --> 00:05:41.523
  • Family or with your friends, your hospitality gatherings, in
  • 00:05:41.523 --> 00:05:44.893
  • Your small groups, in your groups where you gather, when
  • 00:05:44.893 --> 00:05:47.162
  • You're at the ball fields, use your voice.
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  • I'm grateful for tennessee.
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  • I'm grateful for the leadership that's been expressed on
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  • That point.
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  • I'm grateful for the protection that it brings to families
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  • And children.
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  • As christ followers, we are called to those things.
  • 00:06:00.375 --> 00:06:08.650
  • I mean, let's just get like really crazy and we will have,
  • 00:06:08.650 --> 00:06:11.052
  • "we won't lie month."
  • 00:06:11.052 --> 00:06:13.688
  • Wouldn't that be good?
  • 00:06:13.688 --> 00:06:15.724
  • How about "no fornication month"?
  • 00:06:15.724 --> 00:06:18.994
  • Y'all still act a little like you're a little uncomfortable.
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  • Those are all very, very biblical principles.
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  • If you're doing any of the above, you should stop, because
  • 00:06:25.133 --> 00:06:29.905
  • You will not participate in the kingdom of god if you're
  • 00:06:29.905 --> 00:06:33.008
  • A regular practitioner of ungodly things.
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  • That has nothing to do with pastor.
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  • That has nothing to do with my opinion.
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  • That's a reflection from the word of god, and if the bible is
  • 00:06:43.385 --> 00:06:45.887
  • Not our rule of faith and practice, we're not christ
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  • Followers, no matter what the sign says or when we convene or
  • 00:06:48.723 --> 00:06:53.695
  • How religious our language.
  • 00:06:53.695 --> 00:06:56.031
  • Recognizing the uniqueness of jesus of nazareth, the efficacy
  • 00:06:56.031 --> 00:07:00.035
  • Of his redemptive work, what he did for us through his death,
  • 00:07:00.035 --> 00:07:02.637
  • Burial, and resurrection, and the authority of scripture are
  • 00:07:02.637 --> 00:07:06.775
  • Essential components for us being christ followers.
  • 00:07:06.775 --> 00:07:11.680
  • And while it's nothing new to have those ideas debated in the
  • 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.517
  • Public square or even to be in a minority position in the public
  • 00:07:15.517 --> 00:07:18.353
  • Square, it is something rather dramatically new to have people
  • 00:07:18.353 --> 00:07:23.158
  • Assert themselves to be christian and reject
  • 00:07:23.158 --> 00:07:26.595
  • Those tenets.
  • 00:07:26.595 --> 00:07:29.831
  • Those ideas have not been a part of the historic christian faith.
  • 00:07:29.831 --> 00:07:34.336
  • And we're going to have to be more discerning consumers in
  • 00:07:34.336 --> 00:07:39.674
  • An age where unbelief is celebrated, oftentimes with
  • 00:07:39.674 --> 00:07:42.377
  • More enthusiasm.
  • 00:07:42.377 --> 00:07:44.746
  • The biblical worldview, a christian worldview,
  • 00:07:44.746 --> 00:07:47.782
  • A judeo-christian worldview, has every right to exist in
  • 00:07:47.782 --> 00:07:51.219
  • The public square.
  • 00:07:51.219 --> 00:07:58.760
  • And to affirm those biblical values is in no way an
  • 00:07:58.760 --> 00:08:02.831
  • Expression of disrespect or hatred for someone who holds
  • 00:08:02.831 --> 00:08:07.536
  • Another opinion, any more than we would imagine someone who
  • 00:08:07.536 --> 00:08:11.006
  • Disagrees with us hates us.
  • 00:08:11.006 --> 00:08:14.109
  • The choice to hate is a totally separate decision.
  • 00:08:14.109 --> 00:08:18.713
  • And so it's time for the church to find its voice.
  • 00:08:18.713 --> 00:08:21.716
  • It's embarrassing to me; to be quite honest, i think it's
  • 00:08:21.716 --> 00:08:25.420
  • Shameful, that something like nuclear family month has to be
  • 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:30.325
  • Initiated by politicians.
  • 00:08:30.325 --> 00:08:32.394
  • I believe it should be initiated by the people of faith.
  • 00:08:32.394 --> 00:08:40.635
  • 'cause it's not--it's truly not a political issue, it's
  • 00:08:40.635 --> 00:08:44.873
  • A biblical issue.
  • 00:08:44.873 --> 00:08:46.575
  • And every christ follower should be able to affirm those things.
  • 00:08:46.575 --> 00:08:50.912
  • We understand we live in a broken world, in a fallen world,
  • 00:08:50.912 --> 00:08:54.015
  • And we can show grace and mercy to people, invite them towards
  • 00:08:54.015 --> 00:08:57.619
  • Obedience to god.
  • 00:08:57.619 --> 00:08:58.954
  • It's the path that we've embraced as christ followers.
  • 00:08:58.954 --> 00:09:02.023
  • We don't have to respond with condemnation and hatred.
  • 00:09:02.023 --> 00:09:05.727
  • But we can't capitulate the principles.
  • 00:09:05.727 --> 00:09:09.965
  • You can't negotiate with the devil.
  • 00:09:09.965 --> 00:09:13.234
  • We have to maintain the biblical principles and the biblical
  • 00:09:13.234 --> 00:09:15.770
  • Standards and then invite people to repent.
  • 00:09:15.770 --> 00:09:18.173
  • We used to call that evangelism.
  • 00:09:18.173 --> 00:09:21.443
  • That's no longer fashionable.
  • 00:09:21.443 --> 00:09:24.813
  • So there's some powerful voices, influential voices, redefining
  • 00:09:24.813 --> 00:09:28.783
  • The christian faith and trying to incorporate into it all sorts
  • 00:09:28.783 --> 00:09:31.820
  • Of ungodly practices and beliefs.
  • 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:34.656
  • It's wicked.
  • 00:09:34.656 --> 00:09:36.758
  • It's apostasy.
  • 00:09:36.758 --> 00:09:38.560
  • It's a false church.
  • 00:09:38.560 --> 00:09:40.562
  • And it's motivated by the spirit of antichrist.
  • 00:09:40.562 --> 00:09:44.366
  • Please don't be deceived.
  • 00:09:44.366 --> 00:09:46.401
  • So let's celebrate that we have a legislature and a governor
  • 00:09:46.401 --> 00:09:49.738
  • That were willing to take those steps, that they're not alone in
  • 00:09:49.738 --> 00:09:52.641
  • Our nation, and may it grow.
  • 00:09:52.641 --> 00:09:55.477
  • May it be multiplied.
  • 00:09:55.477 --> 00:10:01.182
  • Allen: hey, i wanna ask you a question.
  • 00:10:05.086 --> 00:10:06.755
  • How do you identify: male, female, southerner,
  • 00:10:06.755 --> 00:10:09.557
  • Educated, housewife?
  • 00:10:09.557 --> 00:10:11.559
  • How do you identify?
  • 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:13.161
  • Well, i wanna suggest knowing your identity in christ is the
  • 00:10:13.161 --> 00:10:16.197
  • Most significant component of your person for both
  • 00:10:16.197 --> 00:10:19.367
  • Time and eternity.
  • 00:10:19.367 --> 00:10:20.835
  • We put together a resource. it's a new booklet.
  • 00:10:20.835 --> 00:10:22.604
  • It'll help you understand who you are in christ, your identity
  • 00:10:22.604 --> 00:10:26.207
  • In the kingdom of god, and what the implications of that are for
  • 00:10:26.207 --> 00:10:29.110
  • Your life today.
  • 00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:30.578
  • It's a game changer.
  • 00:10:30.578 --> 00:10:32.047
  • I believe it'll be a blessing to you and to your family.
  • 00:10:32.047 --> 00:10:35.617
  • Female announcer: every day the world tries to define who we
  • 00:10:35.617 --> 00:10:38.086
  • Are, what we should believe, and whether we're enough, but god's
  • 00:10:38.086 --> 00:10:41.690
  • Word tells a different story.
  • 00:10:41.690 --> 00:10:43.558
  • In pastor allen's new book, "your identity in christ: 12
  • 00:10:43.558 --> 00:10:47.195
  • Truths about who you are," he shares biblical truths that will
  • 00:10:47.195 --> 00:10:50.465
  • Help you recognize who you are in christ.
  • 00:10:50.465 --> 00:10:53.134
  • Request your book and free companion card today with your
  • 00:10:53.134 --> 00:10:55.970
  • Gift of any amount at allenjackson.com or call ...
  • 00:10:55.970 --> 00:11:02.644
  • Allen: and what i want to invite you to with me over the next
  • 00:11:06.681 --> 00:11:09.184
  • Session or three, is perhaps a little different imagination of
  • 00:11:09.184 --> 00:11:13.688
  • The role of prayer in your life.
  • 00:11:13.688 --> 00:11:16.324
  • And if you are like i was for too long, that prayer is kind of
  • 00:11:16.324 --> 00:11:19.894
  • A passive response.
  • 00:11:19.894 --> 00:11:22.030
  • You know, i hear people say, "well, after you've done
  • 00:11:22.030 --> 00:11:23.631
  • Everything you know to do, maybe we should pray."
  • 00:11:23.631 --> 00:11:29.504
  • Imagine if somebody came to you and said, "you know, i've asked
  • 00:11:29.504 --> 00:11:32.841
  • Everybody i could think of for help and nobody could help, and
  • 00:11:32.841 --> 00:11:36.444
  • Then i remembered you, so i thought, 'well, maybe.'"
  • 00:11:36.444 --> 00:11:40.749
  • Not particularly affirming.
  • 00:11:40.749 --> 00:11:43.518
  • "i asked all the smart people i knew for an answer, but nobody
  • 00:11:43.518 --> 00:11:45.820
  • Could help me, so i thought i might as well call you."
  • 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:52.093
  • I think that's a little bit the way that the attitude that we've
  • 00:11:52.093 --> 00:11:54.095
  • Held about prayer that we do everything we could do and try
  • 00:11:54.095 --> 00:11:57.799
  • Everything we know to try and then when we're out of options,
  • 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:01.803
  • "well, you know, i guess we could pray."
  • 00:12:01.803 --> 00:12:04.372
  • I'd like to reverse that completely.
  • 00:12:04.372 --> 00:12:07.175
  • That the greatest expression of opportunity in your life begins
  • 00:12:07.175 --> 00:12:09.811
  • With prayer.
  • 00:12:09.811 --> 00:12:12.647
  • And i know, particularly, i think we have problems.
  • 00:12:12.647 --> 00:12:14.949
  • Religious people, "yeah, well, i don't pray."
  • 00:12:14.949 --> 00:12:17.152
  • And rather than say, "i don't pray," just say, "i'm not
  • 00:12:17.152 --> 00:12:19.487
  • Interested in the power of god."
  • 00:12:19.487 --> 00:12:23.024
  • Because without prayer, i think you will live mostly void of the
  • 00:12:23.024 --> 00:12:25.794
  • Power of god.
  • 00:12:25.794 --> 00:12:27.395
  • So i wanna walk through this with you and see what we
  • 00:12:27.395 --> 00:12:29.030
  • Can learn and what we can gain.
  • 00:12:29.030 --> 00:12:30.598
  • It's really an attempt to try to enable our christianity to be
  • 00:12:30.598 --> 00:12:33.401
  • A bit more assertive.
  • 00:12:33.401 --> 00:12:36.237
  • Not aggressive; assertive.
  • 00:12:36.237 --> 00:12:38.072
  • An expression of the authority that god intends us to be in
  • 00:12:38.072 --> 00:12:40.942
  • The earth.
  • 00:12:40.942 --> 00:12:42.610
  • I don't find jesus to be passive.
  • 00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:46.681
  • I don't find jesus's closest friends to be
  • 00:12:46.681 --> 00:12:48.716
  • Passive characters.
  • 00:12:48.716 --> 00:12:50.585
  • I don't find the initiative of god through the pages of our
  • 00:12:50.585 --> 00:12:53.221
  • Bible to be a passive thing at all, and i don't believe that
  • 00:12:53.221 --> 00:12:57.225
  • We'll fulfill god's purposes for us in the 21st century with
  • 00:12:57.225 --> 00:13:01.029
  • A passive attitude.
  • 00:13:01.029 --> 00:13:02.997
  • So i want to start in isaiah 36.
  • 00:13:02.997 --> 00:13:04.766
  • There's an event in israelite history.
  • 00:13:04.766 --> 00:13:07.235
  • The assyrian army, who was the dominant military force in that
  • 00:13:07.235 --> 00:13:12.173
  • Season in the region, in the ancient near east.
  • 00:13:12.173 --> 00:13:15.710
  • They have ransacked the northern kingdom of israel.
  • 00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:18.346
  • They've attacked judah.
  • 00:13:18.346 --> 00:13:19.714
  • They've destroyed the major fortified cities.
  • 00:13:19.714 --> 00:13:21.783
  • The only real city left is jerusalem.
  • 00:13:21.783 --> 00:13:24.919
  • And they've turned their army's attention to jerusalem.
  • 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.890
  • And they've made some rather menacing statements.
  • 00:13:28.890 --> 00:13:31.192
  • I just put a small portion in your notes.
  • 00:13:31.192 --> 00:13:33.728
  • "the commander," and he's the commander of the assyrian army,
  • 00:13:33.728 --> 00:13:36.030
  • "stood and called out in hebrew."
  • 00:13:36.030 --> 00:13:38.166
  • He wanted the people who lived in the city of jerusalem to
  • 00:13:38.166 --> 00:13:40.735
  • Understand in their language.
  • 00:13:40.735 --> 00:13:42.570
  • So it's a very arrogant challenge he's about to make.
  • 00:13:42.570 --> 00:13:48.810
  • "hear the words of the great king, the king of assyria!
  • 00:13:48.810 --> 00:13:52.780
  • This is what the king says: do not let hezekiah deceive you."
  • 00:13:52.780 --> 00:13:56.651
  • Hezekiah is king in jerusalem.
  • 00:13:56.651 --> 00:13:59.787
  • "he cannot deliver you!
  • 00:13:59.787 --> 00:14:01.823
  • Don't let hezekiah persuade you to trust in the lord when he
  • 00:14:01.823 --> 00:14:05.894
  • Says, 'the lord will surely deliver us; the city will not be
  • 00:14:05.894 --> 00:14:08.196
  • Given into the hand of the king of assyria.'
  • 00:14:08.196 --> 00:14:11.099
  • Do not listen to hezekiah.
  • 00:14:11.099 --> 00:14:13.401
  • This is what the king of assyria says: make peace with me and
  • 00:14:13.401 --> 00:14:16.070
  • Come out to me.
  • 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:17.639
  • Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree
  • 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.742
  • And drink water from his own cistern, until i come and take
  • 00:14:20.742 --> 00:14:23.044
  • You to a land like your own--a land of grain and new wine,
  • 00:14:23.044 --> 00:14:26.948
  • A land of bread and vineyards.
  • 00:14:26.948 --> 00:14:29.017
  • Do not let hezekiah mislead you when he says, 'the lord will
  • 00:14:29.017 --> 00:14:32.453
  • Deliver us.'
  • 00:14:32.453 --> 00:14:34.088
  • Has the god of any nation ever delivered us from the hand of
  • 00:14:34.088 --> 00:14:37.392
  • The king of assyria?"
  • 00:14:37.392 --> 00:14:40.862
  • What a bold, arrogant mocking of god, amen?
  • 00:14:40.862 --> 00:14:49.570
  • He's speaking to the people of jerusalem in their own language,
  • 00:14:49.570 --> 00:14:52.473
  • And he says multiple times, "don't let your leaders convince
  • 00:14:52.473 --> 00:14:55.843
  • You that god is faithful.
  • 00:14:55.843 --> 00:14:58.613
  • Don't listen to them when they say god will deliver you.
  • 00:14:58.613 --> 00:15:02.250
  • Don't be deceived by them."
  • 00:15:02.250 --> 00:15:04.519
  • And this isn't just like a debate.
  • 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.355
  • The military might of assyria is on full display.
  • 00:15:07.355 --> 00:15:10.124
  • Every inhabitant of the city of jerusalem understands that if
  • 00:15:10.124 --> 00:15:14.462
  • It's about military competition, they have no hope.
  • 00:15:14.462 --> 00:15:19.233
  • There is no means of deliverance.
  • 00:15:19.233 --> 00:15:22.236
  • There's no plan b.
  • 00:15:22.236 --> 00:15:24.339
  • There's no possibility of escape.
  • 00:15:24.339 --> 00:15:28.142
  • All their resources have been exhausted.
  • 00:15:28.142 --> 00:15:32.046
  • And now the commander of the opposing army stands and
  • 00:15:32.046 --> 00:15:35.817
  • Mocks god.
  • 00:15:35.817 --> 00:15:38.219
  • It seems like a very contemporary expression of the
  • 00:15:38.219 --> 00:15:40.722
  • World we live in where powerful voices stand and mock god.
  • 00:15:40.722 --> 00:15:47.095
  • Where we have months celebrated on a national basis by any
  • 00:15:47.095 --> 00:15:52.200
  • Number of people and organizations and professional
  • 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:54.836
  • Sports leagues, mocking god, saying to you, "don't imagine
  • 00:15:54.836 --> 00:16:02.310
  • There's a god in heaven.
  • 00:16:02.310 --> 00:16:04.712
  • Don't imagine you should submit to his authority or to
  • 00:16:04.712 --> 00:16:08.116
  • His boundaries.
  • 00:16:08.116 --> 00:16:09.851
  • Or as to his definitions of morality and immorality.
  • 00:16:09.851 --> 00:16:14.288
  • There is no god in heaven that will back up his claims.
  • 00:16:14.288 --> 00:16:18.226
  • We stand in defiance of him."
  • 00:16:18.226 --> 00:16:20.294
  • You see, the world we face is not a dramatically new world.
  • 00:16:20.294 --> 00:16:24.432
  • The spiritual conflict in our world is as old as
  • 00:16:24.432 --> 00:16:26.801
  • Human civilization.
  • 00:16:26.801 --> 00:16:28.736
  • It goes back to the garden of eden.
  • 00:16:28.736 --> 00:16:30.171
  • It's been expressed in every generation.
  • 00:16:30.171 --> 00:16:33.941
  • And yet in every one of those generations there have been men
  • 00:16:33.941 --> 00:16:35.977
  • And women who said, "i will stand with god."
  • 00:16:35.977 --> 00:16:40.281
  • And i'm asking you to consider doing that.
  • 00:16:40.281 --> 00:16:43.618
  • I understand something of the resistance that will come.
  • 00:16:43.618 --> 00:16:48.356
  • I understand something of the battle that you'll have in your
  • 00:16:48.356 --> 00:16:50.792
  • Mind, of the voices that will be raised against you, of the
  • 00:16:50.792 --> 00:16:54.462
  • Temptation to think, "well, i can just be quiet."
  • 00:16:54.462 --> 00:16:58.266
  • The assyrian commander said, "if you'll just capitulate,
  • 00:16:58.266 --> 00:17:01.235
  • If you'll deny god, if you'll ignore the authority over your
  • 00:17:01.235 --> 00:17:04.072
  • Life, we'll give you a good future."
  • 00:17:04.072 --> 00:17:07.108
  • Was he telling the truth?
  • 00:17:07.108 --> 00:17:10.311
  • No, that wasn't the plan at all.
  • 00:17:10.311 --> 00:17:14.248
  • When the enemy comes to invite you towards ungodliness and
  • 00:17:14.248 --> 00:17:16.951
  • Wickedness and capitulation, he does it with a very tempting
  • 00:17:16.951 --> 00:17:21.823
  • Proposal: there'll be less resistance this way.
  • 00:17:21.823 --> 00:17:26.527
  • There'll be more affirmation this way.
  • 00:17:26.527 --> 00:17:29.097
  • You'll find more happiness this way or more pleasure this way or
  • 00:17:29.097 --> 00:17:32.467
  • More fulfillment this way.
  • 00:17:32.467 --> 00:17:34.268
  • Isn't that always the way temptation comes?
  • 00:17:34.268 --> 00:17:37.872
  • I've never had temptation knock on the door of my life and say,
  • 00:17:37.872 --> 00:17:40.808
  • "i'm here to destroy you.
  • 00:17:40.808 --> 00:17:43.845
  • I'm here to be the bitterest pill you've ever swallowed.
  • 00:17:43.845 --> 00:17:47.348
  • I'm here to devastate you emotionally, financially
  • 00:17:47.348 --> 00:17:49.584
  • And physically.
  • 00:17:49.584 --> 00:17:50.918
  • May i come in?"
  • 00:17:50.918 --> 00:17:52.787
  • Temptation never comes that way.
  • 00:17:52.787 --> 00:17:57.091
  • Well, when hezekiah heard the challenge, he didn't defend
  • 00:17:57.091 --> 00:18:00.995
  • Himself before the people.
  • 00:18:00.995 --> 00:18:03.197
  • He didn't offer a rebuttal to the assyrian commander.
  • 00:18:03.197 --> 00:18:07.802
  • He went to the temple and prayed.
  • 00:18:07.802 --> 00:18:11.606
  • He went to the temple and prayed.
  • 00:18:11.606 --> 00:18:14.342
  • I'm grateful for a governor that would embrace the biblical
  • 00:18:14.342 --> 00:18:17.645
  • Worldview of the family. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:18:17.645 --> 00:18:24.986
  • And god sent the prophet isaiah who was a contemporary of
  • 00:18:24.986 --> 00:18:29.490
  • Hezekiah's with a message for hezekiah.
  • 00:18:29.490 --> 00:18:33.895
  • And that's--i put it in your notes.
  • 00:18:33.895 --> 00:18:35.229
  • It's the very next chapter.
  • 00:18:35.229 --> 00:18:36.597
  • It's isaiah 37: "isaiah the son of amoz sent a message to
  • 00:18:36.597 --> 00:18:40.835
  • Hezekiah: 'this is what the lord, the god of israel, says.'"
  • 00:18:40.835 --> 00:18:45.339
  • Now he's heard what the assyrian king has said.
  • 00:18:45.339 --> 00:18:49.777
  • "'this is what the god of israel says: because you have prayed
  • 00:18:49.777 --> 00:18:53.514
  • To me concerning sennacherib, who is the assyrian king, this
  • 00:18:53.514 --> 00:18:59.954
  • Is the word of the lord spoken against him: 'the virgin
  • 00:18:59.954 --> 00:19:03.524
  • Daughter of zion despises you and mocks you.
  • 00:19:03.524 --> 00:19:08.496
  • The daughter of jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.'"
  • 00:19:08.496 --> 00:19:18.072
  • You need to read that a dozen times or so.
  • 00:19:18.072 --> 00:19:21.008
  • It needs to settle in deep within you.
  • 00:19:21.008 --> 00:19:24.078
  • Isaiah sent a messenger.
  • 00:19:24.078 --> 00:19:25.580
  • He didn't even go himself.
  • 00:19:25.580 --> 00:19:27.782
  • "send a message to hezekiah and tell him, 'this is what god
  • 00:19:27.782 --> 00:19:30.918
  • Says: because you prayed, watch what i'm gonna do.'"
  • 00:19:30.918 --> 00:19:37.358
  • The implication is very unsettling.
  • 00:19:37.358 --> 00:19:40.761
  • What if hezekiah hadn't prayed?
  • 00:19:40.761 --> 00:19:44.298
  • What if hezekiah had just panicked?
  • 00:19:44.298 --> 00:19:47.301
  • What if hezekiah had just negotiated?
  • 00:19:47.301 --> 00:19:50.671
  • What if hezekiah had just complained?
  • 00:19:50.671 --> 00:19:54.675
  • "because you prayed."
  • 00:19:54.675 --> 00:19:57.044
  • May i ask you a question?
  • 00:19:57.044 --> 00:20:00.081
  • Do you think it's possible you forfeited anything in your life
  • 00:20:00.081 --> 00:20:03.284
  • That god perhaps would have done had you known to pray?
  • 00:20:03.284 --> 00:20:10.558
  • I'm pretty certain that's true in my own life.
  • 00:20:10.558 --> 00:20:13.160
  • But i'm determined to make that a very diminished part of
  • 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:16.063
  • My future.
  • 00:20:16.063 --> 00:20:17.932
  • I intend to talk to the lord.
  • 00:20:17.932 --> 00:20:20.701
  • I intend to invite him into my days.
  • 00:20:20.701 --> 00:20:23.804
  • I intend to engage with him on a very regular basis.
  • 00:20:23.804 --> 00:20:28.142
  • Don't always know what to say, don't always know how to ask,
  • 00:20:28.142 --> 00:20:31.145
  • But i'm learning.
  • 00:20:31.145 --> 00:20:33.614
  • I'm not leaving prayer to formal religious services.
  • 00:20:33.614 --> 00:20:36.984
  • I'm not leaving it to a devotional time.
  • 00:20:36.984 --> 00:20:40.254
  • I want to engage in dialogue with the lord as if he were
  • 00:20:40.254 --> 00:20:42.790
  • Truly my friend.
  • 00:20:42.790 --> 00:20:46.961
  • The message is, "hezekiah, because you prayed."
  • 00:20:46.961 --> 00:20:50.364
  • Some of you prefer the new testament.
  • 00:20:50.364 --> 00:20:52.133
  • I think that's weird, but that's true.
  • 00:20:52.133 --> 00:20:53.934
  • So luke 11, jesus is speaking and he said, "i say to you: ask
  • 00:20:53.934 --> 00:20:59.240
  • And it'll be given to you; seek and you'll find; knock and the
  • 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:01.876
  • Door will be opened to you.
  • 00:21:01.876 --> 00:21:03.210
  • For everyone who asks receive; and who seeks finds; and to him
  • 00:21:03.210 --> 00:21:06.113
  • Who knocks, the door will be opened."
  • 00:21:06.113 --> 00:21:08.082
  • If you don't seek, ask, or knock, there's no openings.
  • 00:21:08.082 --> 00:21:13.754
  • So if you're in that camp of people who go, "well, you know,
  • 00:21:13.754 --> 00:21:15.556
  • I don't wanna be a bother, i don't wanna be an intrusion,
  • 00:21:15.556 --> 00:21:18.426
  • I don't wanna be presumptive," what is it you want to do:
  • 00:21:18.426 --> 00:21:21.362
  • Ignore scripture?
  • 00:21:21.362 --> 00:21:24.031
  • Let's change.
  • 00:21:24.031 --> 00:21:25.766
  • Rather than defend our patterns of the past, rather than defend
  • 00:21:25.766 --> 00:21:29.570
  • The degree to which we've been withdrawn or sullen or
  • 00:21:29.570 --> 00:21:32.006
  • Disinterested or ignorant or unaware, for whatever reason.
  • 00:21:32.006 --> 00:21:36.077
  • It's not the important point at this juncture in the decision.
  • 00:21:36.077 --> 00:21:39.280
  • Let's determine that we will ask and knock and seek and invite
  • 00:21:39.280 --> 00:21:44.251
  • And be certain that whatever is emerging in our lives that we
  • 00:21:44.251 --> 00:21:46.987
  • Have given god an open door to be engaged in those things.
  • 00:21:46.987 --> 00:21:50.858
  • Is that possible?
  • 00:21:50.858 --> 00:21:52.293
  • Now, the word--the word we're given for that is prayer, but
  • 00:21:52.293 --> 00:21:56.764
  • It's going to require a more nuanced understanding.
  • 00:21:56.764 --> 00:21:59.266
  • It's going to require a fuller definition.
  • 00:21:59.266 --> 00:22:02.970
  • You know, if, 15 years ago or 20 years ago you'd said something
  • 00:22:02.970 --> 00:22:06.540
  • About a computer and the impact it was having in our world,
  • 00:22:06.540 --> 00:22:10.144
  • It has a very different meaning today.
  • 00:22:10.144 --> 00:22:13.848
  • And if your knowledge of prayer is unchanged across the breadth
  • 00:22:13.848 --> 00:22:18.419
  • Of your spiritual journey, that's unfortunate.
  • 00:22:18.419 --> 00:22:22.089
  • The bible tells us that prayer is something that's learned,
  • 00:22:22.089 --> 00:22:24.325
  • It's not intuitive.
  • 00:22:24.325 --> 00:22:26.994
  • Prayer is not like a part of your autonomic nervous system.
  • 00:22:26.994 --> 00:22:30.698
  • You know, there's--you have some bodily functions that don't
  • 00:22:30.698 --> 00:22:33.534
  • Require you to think.
  • 00:22:33.534 --> 00:22:34.902
  • You don't have to think about breathing.
  • 00:22:34.902 --> 00:22:36.737
  • In fact, if you start thinking about breathing,
  • 00:22:36.737 --> 00:22:38.472
  • You'll suffocate.
  • 00:22:38.472 --> 00:22:40.608
  • You'll get yourself out of rhythm.
  • 00:22:40.608 --> 00:22:41.976
  • You don't have to think, "now i need to digest food."
  • 00:22:41.976 --> 00:22:46.180
  • Your body will do that all on its own.
  • 00:22:46.180 --> 00:22:48.916
  • You don't have to think for your heart to beat.
  • 00:22:48.916 --> 00:22:50.851
  • There's a whole host of functions that your body has
  • 00:22:50.851 --> 00:22:54.422
  • That happen for you auto--prayer is not like that.
  • 00:22:54.422 --> 00:22:56.390
  • You have to choose to pray.
  • 00:22:56.390 --> 00:22:59.260
  • You have to volunteer, you have to make a mental decision,
  • 00:22:59.260 --> 00:23:01.695
  • A spiritual decision, you have to humble yourself.
  • 00:23:01.695 --> 00:23:04.265
  • Prayer is an expression of intent.
  • 00:23:04.265 --> 00:23:08.302
  • And some of us say, "well, god--if god knows the thought
  • 00:23:08.302 --> 00:23:10.871
  • And intents of my heart, then he knows what i want.
  • 00:23:10.871 --> 00:23:14.642
  • I don't need to talk to him."
  • 00:23:14.642 --> 00:23:19.480
  • Well, translate that to the people you live with.
  • 00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:23.384
  • If they never said please or thank you, if they ever
  • 00:23:23.384 --> 00:23:26.787
  • Acknowledged your presence.
  • 00:23:26.787 --> 00:23:28.789
  • They just expect you to intuit their every need.
  • 00:23:28.789 --> 00:23:33.461
  • That's not really what you would describe as a relationship.
  • 00:23:33.461 --> 00:23:37.231
  • That's a very presumptive way to live.
  • 00:23:37.231 --> 00:23:40.734
  • And the reality is we have lived rather presumptively.
  • 00:23:40.734 --> 00:23:45.339
  • And so, i'm inviting you this summer in the midst of this
  • 00:23:45.339 --> 00:23:47.675
  • Growing season, wherever you are in your spiritual journey, you
  • 00:23:47.675 --> 00:23:50.678
  • May be a grizzled veteran or a beginner or someplace in
  • 00:23:50.678 --> 00:23:54.048
  • Between, to imagine that there's a role for prayer that would
  • 00:23:54.048 --> 00:23:59.119
  • Write a different future than you've had, if you would
  • 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:02.022
  • Be interested.
  • 00:24:02.022 --> 00:24:04.091
  • We can't master this in a single session, but we're gonna turn
  • 00:24:04.091 --> 00:24:07.161
  • Over some rocks and at least consider some things.
  • 00:24:07.161 --> 00:24:09.230
  • Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6, the apostle paul's writing
  • 00:24:09.230 --> 00:24:12.733
  • From a roman prison to a community of believers for whom
  • 00:24:12.733 --> 00:24:16.904
  • He's been instrumental.
  • 00:24:16.904 --> 00:24:18.973
  • And he says to them, "don't be anxious about anything."
  • 00:24:18.973 --> 00:24:21.075
  • He's the one in prison.
  • 00:24:21.075 --> 00:24:23.978
  • And he's writing them not to worry.
  • 00:24:23.978 --> 00:24:29.450
  • "don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
  • 00:24:29.450 --> 00:24:32.753
  • Prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
  • 00:24:32.753 --> 00:24:35.222
  • Requests to god.
  • 00:24:35.222 --> 00:24:36.857
  • And the peace of god, which transcends all understanding,
  • 00:24:36.857 --> 00:24:40.528
  • Will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus."
  • 00:24:40.528 --> 00:24:44.899
  • "don't be anxious about anything."
  • 00:24:44.899 --> 00:24:49.103
  • So we can begin with this acknowledgement that if we're
  • 00:24:49.103 --> 00:24:51.105
  • Anxious about something, we've stepped away from god's best
  • 00:24:51.105 --> 00:24:54.875
  • For us.
  • 00:24:54.875 --> 00:24:56.510
  • In the sermon on the mount in matthew's gospel, jesus says
  • 00:24:56.510 --> 00:25:00.047
  • A handful of times in a single chapter, "do not worry."
  • 00:25:00.047 --> 00:25:05.452
  • I'm old school.
  • 00:25:05.452 --> 00:25:06.787
  • I think if jesus said, "do not worry," he means, "don't worry."
  • 00:25:06.787 --> 00:25:13.127
  • And i think if he's cautious-- he's cautioning us against it
  • 00:25:13.127 --> 00:25:16.697
  • Multiple times in such close proximity, it's because he
  • 00:25:16.697 --> 00:25:20.901
  • Understands the reality of the challenge.
  • 00:25:20.901 --> 00:25:24.538
  • So i think the first thing we have to acknowledge is that we
  • 00:25:24.538 --> 00:25:26.974
  • Have an adversary that would like to create in you and
  • 00:25:26.974 --> 00:25:29.877
  • Me anxiety.
  • 00:25:29.877 --> 00:25:32.179
  • To make us uncomfortable, unsettled, because if he can do
  • 00:25:32.179 --> 00:25:35.683
  • That, if the enemy can cause you to be anxious and worried and
  • 00:25:35.683 --> 00:25:38.552
  • Fretful and disrupted, you lose the peace of god, and you
  • 00:25:38.552 --> 00:25:45.225
  • Forfeit a great deal of the awareness of what god might have
  • 00:25:45.225 --> 00:25:48.095
  • To say or to direct you towards.
  • 00:25:48.095 --> 00:25:52.132
  • Because you kick in that flight or fight response in you, and
  • 00:25:52.132 --> 00:25:56.270
  • The rest of your senses lose a little bit of their sharpness.
  • 00:25:56.270 --> 00:25:59.640
  • What paul is inviting his friends to do is "in everything,
  • 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:02.543
  • By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, to present your
  • 00:26:02.543 --> 00:26:05.646
  • Requests to god."
  • 00:26:05.646 --> 00:26:07.014
  • "in everything," he said, "in everything."
  • 00:26:07.014 --> 00:26:10.184
  • Allen: hey, i'm really excited about our newest publication,
  • 00:26:14.421 --> 00:26:16.991
  • "your identity in christ."
  • 00:26:16.991 --> 00:26:18.826
  • Far too often in christiandom, we major on the minors.
  • 00:26:18.826 --> 00:26:21.729
  • We get way heated up about which church we attend, which
  • 00:26:21.729 --> 00:26:23.864
  • Denomination we belong to, which translation of the bible
  • 00:26:23.864 --> 00:26:26.333
  • We read.
  • 00:26:26.333 --> 00:26:27.701
  • Most those things are all okay, but knowing who you are in
  • 00:26:27.701 --> 00:26:30.337
  • Christ, it will mean freedom, or it will put you in a place
  • 00:26:30.337 --> 00:26:33.741
  • Of bondage.
  • 00:26:33.741 --> 00:26:35.075
  • When i help people through the steps of spiritual freedom, the
  • 00:26:35.075 --> 00:26:37.444
  • Foundation of that is understanding who we are
  • 00:26:37.444 --> 00:26:40.180
  • In christ.
  • 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:41.515
  • We put together this little booklet as a tool.
  • 00:26:41.515 --> 00:26:43.283
  • It'll help you individually.
  • 00:26:43.283 --> 00:26:44.752
  • You can do it as a small group.
  • 00:26:44.752 --> 00:26:46.086
  • It's a great resource to share with your children or your
  • 00:26:46.086 --> 00:26:48.489
  • Grandchildren at your kitchen table time.
  • 00:26:48.489 --> 00:26:50.924
  • It'll make a difference in your life knowing who you are in
  • 00:26:50.924 --> 00:26:53.827
  • Christ first and foremost as a part of your
  • 00:26:53.827 --> 00:26:56.430
  • Spiritual formation.
  • 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:57.765
  • In fact, i wanna pray with you before we go that god will bring
  • 00:26:57.765 --> 00:27:00.267
  • New freedom to you in this season.
  • 00:27:00.267 --> 00:27:02.636
  • Father, thank you for--you have established, you have paid the
  • 00:27:02.636 --> 00:27:06.006
  • Price that we can participate in your kingdom.
  • 00:27:06.006 --> 00:27:08.375
  • By your spirit, awaken us to who we are in christ
  • 00:27:08.375 --> 00:27:12.112
  • First and foremost.
  • 00:27:12.112 --> 00:27:13.480
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:15.549
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:15.549 --> 00:27:15.549