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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Jesus' Ministry (Part 2)

February 10, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Jesus' Ministry (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#WordofGod #Healing #ServantofGod #Suffering #Israel #Miracles #Parable #Disciples #LoveofGod #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Jesus' Ministry (Part 2) | February 10, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world,
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  • People are searching for truth, and together we're doing our
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  • Very best to help them find it.
  • 00:00:05.621 --> 00:00:07.589
  • When you become a ministry partner with allen jackson
  • 00:00:07.723 --> 00:00:09.858
  • Ministries, you're joining a growing community of believers
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  • Who are committed to strengthening the church and
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  • Sharing god's word through every available channel--
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  • Television, radio, podcast, books, bible studies,
  • 00:00:19.268 --> 00:00:22.671
  • Digital resources, conferences.
  • 00:00:22.671 --> 00:00:25.541
  • Your monthly partnership helps us equip believers to reach new
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  • Audiences, to take the hope of jesus to people who may never
  • 00:00:28.710 --> 00:00:32.614
  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
  • 00:00:32.614 --> 00:00:34.716
  • Together, we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Known right here at home and around the earth, wherever
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  • God opens a door.
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
  • 00:00:48.730 --> 00:00:51.633
  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • Allen: again, the breaks in your notes are--they're not in
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  • The text.
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  • When the text was written, there was no verse numbers
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  • Or chapter numbers.
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  • It was all just one running dialogue.
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  • We put all those other things in as reference points.
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  • "when jesus had entered capernaum, a centurion came to
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  • Him, asking for help.
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  • 'lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in
  • 00:01:24.266 --> 00:01:26.535
  • Terrible suffering.'
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  • And jesus said to him, 'i'll go and heal him.'"
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  • Like, yeah, was like me saying i'll come mow the yard.
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  • "yeah, i'll go and heal him."
  • 00:01:37.412 --> 00:01:39.548
  • "and the centurion replied,
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  • 'lord, i don't deserve to have you come under my roof.
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  • But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
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  • I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers
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  • Under me.
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  • And i tell this one, 'go' and he goes; and that one, 'come' and
  • 00:01:50.826 --> 00:01:52.694
  • He comes; and i say to my servant, 'do this,'
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  • And he does it.'
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  • When jesus heard this, he was astonished and he said to those
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  • Following him, 'i tell you the truth, i haven't found anyone in
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  • Israel with such great faith.'"
  • 00:02:01.336 --> 00:02:04.006
  • Let me pause there for a moment.
  • 00:02:04.006 --> 00:02:05.374
  • This is a bizarre story.
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  • Now, matthew's abutted both of these, a leper that comes to
  • 00:02:06.708 --> 00:02:09.478
  • Jesus and said, "lord, if you're willing, make me clean, lord."
  • 00:02:09.478 --> 00:02:13.549
  • "i'm willing."
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  • And the very next presentation is a roman centurion.
  • 00:02:14.883 --> 00:02:18.587
  • Now, that's the most odd part.
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  • Jesus declines on more than one occasion any entreaties from
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  • People who aren't jewish.
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  • He said, "i didn't come for you."
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  • In fact, there's a woman begging for help for her child, and
  • 00:02:27.829 --> 00:02:30.365
  • Jesus said, "i'm not gonna help you."
  • 00:02:30.365 --> 00:02:31.967
  • And she said, "well, even the dogs eat the scraps that fall
  • 00:02:31.967 --> 00:02:34.136
  • From the tables," and he said, "yeah, it's not my problem."
  • 00:02:34.136 --> 00:02:36.905
  • But this roman centurion comes.
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  • He doesn't keep--he's not keeping any of the rules.
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  • He's not--nothing about him qualifies him for
  • 00:02:45.447 --> 00:02:48.283
  • Jesus's attention.
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  • But even more bizarre than that, he came to jesus in public and
  • 00:02:50.252 --> 00:02:54.656
  • Said, "i need your help."
  • 00:02:54.656 --> 00:02:56.525
  • He's going to an itinerant jewish rabbi, he's a roman
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  • Centurion, he could have had jesus brought to him in chains.
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  • We've all seen hollywood do this.
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  • You know, you'll help my friend or i'll kill you.
  • 00:03:09.137 --> 00:03:13.075
  • We've seen it in the westerns, we've seen it in the
  • 00:03:13.075 --> 00:03:14.843
  • Modern versions.
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  • We're familiar with the drama.
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  • That's not how this plays out.
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  • This centurion comes with remarkable humility.
  • 00:03:20.182 --> 00:03:23.418
  • And he said, "my servant needs help."
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  • He cares about his servant.
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  • He'd get another one.
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  • A servant needs help, would you, would you, would you help me?
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  • Jesus said, i'll come and heal him and then the man interrupts.
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  • Most of us would have been happy to have had jesus come to our
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  • House, right?
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  • Absolutely, we're gonna have tuna, chicken and green
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  • Beans, probably.
  • 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.350
  • And the man interrupts that and says, "no, sir, that's
  • 00:03:55.350 --> 00:03:58.553
  • Not necessary.
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  • I'm a man with some authority.
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  • I have command over some limited group of people, and when i give
  • 00:04:02.424 --> 00:04:05.727
  • Instructions, they obey them.
  • 00:04:05.727 --> 00:04:09.331
  • And i recognize in you an authority very different from my
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  • Own, if you'll just say the word."
  • 00:04:12.301 --> 00:04:17.973
  • Wait a minute, this roman centurion has insight and
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  • Understanding that the disciples don't have, that the pharisees
  • 00:04:21.176 --> 00:04:25.914
  • Don't have, that the teachers of the law don't have.
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  • I mean, i think a part of the message from matthew is that the
  • 00:04:29.484 --> 00:04:31.920
  • Awakening, the awareness may not come from the places you
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  • Imagine it.
  • 00:04:35.123 --> 00:04:37.159
  • It's a part of our disorientation right now.
  • 00:04:37.159 --> 00:04:39.328
  • The places we've been looking to for truth don't tell us
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  • The truth.
  • 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:43.065
  • The places we've looked to for spiritual leadership and
  • 00:04:43.065 --> 00:04:45.701
  • Guidance have been too silent.
  • 00:04:45.701 --> 00:04:47.736
  • And the report that matthew gives about the centurion
  • 00:04:51.273 --> 00:04:55.577
  • Is striking.
  • 00:04:55.577 --> 00:04:56.945
  • It says that jesus was astonished.
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  • I would like to make god choices that caused jesus to be
  • 00:05:00.349 --> 00:05:02.951
  • Astonished in a positive way.
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  • Well, i mean, it goes the other way.
  • 00:05:09.725 --> 00:05:11.059
  • He'd look at the disciples every once in a while and go,
  • 00:05:11.059 --> 00:05:12.661
  • "are you really that dull?"
  • 00:05:12.661 --> 00:05:14.396
  • I don't want to astonish him like that.
  • 00:05:14.396 --> 00:05:19.134
  • He said, "i haven't found anybody amongst the covenant
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  • People of god, in all the places i would look, the ones i would
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  • Expect," he said, "nobody matches this man."
  • 00:05:25.440 --> 00:05:27.542
  • It made them really angry at him.
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  • And the man's servant was healed.
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  • We're gathering some data.
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  • God moves in the lives of unexpected people.
  • 00:05:36.651 --> 00:05:40.789
  • The people that you would imagine would be engaging with
  • 00:05:40.789 --> 00:05:43.191
  • God and inviting him in aren't.
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  • In fact, the religious leaders, the people that you would expect
  • 00:05:45.460 --> 00:05:48.897
  • To be at the front of this parade are saying, "show us
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  • A sign."
  • 00:05:51.099 --> 00:05:52.501
  • And jesus said, "no, you're not getting any more signs.
  • 00:05:55.737 --> 00:06:01.710
  • 'cause you won't believe the ones that are all around you."
  • 00:06:01.710 --> 00:06:05.380
  • And i have to say that sounds a great deal like our
  • 00:06:05.380 --> 00:06:07.382
  • Own discussions.
  • 00:06:07.382 --> 00:06:10.652
  • Well, you'll have to convince-- no, god doesn't have to
  • 00:06:10.652 --> 00:06:13.188
  • Convince us.
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  • We have to humble ourselves and come and say, "lord, if
  • 00:06:15.190 --> 00:06:17.292
  • You would."
  • 00:06:17.292 --> 00:06:19.261
  • You don't get the sense that the centurion would have been
  • 00:06:19.261 --> 00:06:21.296
  • Offended if jesus looked at him and said, "no, not today."
  • 00:06:21.296 --> 00:06:27.803
  • There's a humility in that man.
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  • Matthew's not done.
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  • He's telling us a story, verse 14.
  • 00:06:34.409 --> 00:06:38.246
  • "when jesus came into peter's house, he saw peter's
  • 00:06:38.246 --> 00:06:40.282
  • Mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
  • 00:06:40.282 --> 00:06:41.950
  • And he touched her and the fever left her, and she got up and
  • 00:06:41.950 --> 00:06:45.086
  • Began to wait on him."
  • 00:06:45.086 --> 00:06:47.489
  • So we're seeing a diversity of physical ailments that yield
  • 00:06:47.489 --> 00:06:50.826
  • Before jesus's authority.
  • 00:06:50.826 --> 00:06:53.361
  • "when evening came, many who were demon-possessed were
  • 00:06:53.361 --> 00:06:55.397
  • Brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and he
  • 00:06:55.397 --> 00:06:57.432
  • Healed all the sick.
  • 00:06:57.432 --> 00:06:59.334
  • This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet
  • 00:06:59.334 --> 00:07:01.336
  • Isaiah: 'he took up our infirmities and he carried
  • 00:07:01.336 --> 00:07:03.872
  • Our diseases.'"
  • 00:07:03.872 --> 00:07:05.907
  • Matthew's gonna link what jesus is doing to what the prophets
  • 00:07:05.907 --> 00:07:08.944
  • Had to say hundreds of years earlier.
  • 00:07:08.944 --> 00:07:12.113
  • You know, sometimes i think it's a mistake, but in our
  • 00:07:12.113 --> 00:07:15.217
  • Imaginations, we kind of break our bible into two portions as
  • 00:07:15.217 --> 00:07:17.986
  • If they're not complementary or they're--somehow they're
  • 00:07:17.986 --> 00:07:21.456
  • Separate narratives, and most of us know that the god we read
  • 00:07:21.456 --> 00:07:25.494
  • About in the old testament, the hebrew bible, is a god of
  • 00:07:25.494 --> 00:07:27.696
  • The supernatural.
  • 00:07:27.696 --> 00:07:29.030
  • He parts the red sea or visits plagues on egypt or brings water
  • 00:07:29.030 --> 00:07:31.933
  • Out of a rock or he says to an entire multitude of people,
  • 00:07:31.933 --> 00:07:37.572
  • Hundreds of thousands of people that were delivered from
  • 00:07:37.572 --> 00:07:40.542
  • Egyptian slavery, there were no sick amongst them.
  • 00:07:40.542 --> 00:07:43.945
  • Even their clothing didn't wear out.
  • 00:07:43.945 --> 00:07:46.114
  • That's a miracle.
  • 00:07:49.584 --> 00:07:50.986
  • I mean, apparently, amazon couldn't even deliver in
  • 00:07:53.955 --> 00:07:56.758
  • The wilderness.
  • 00:07:56.758 --> 00:08:00.228
  • And we tend to think, "well, you know, in the old testament god
  • 00:08:00.228 --> 00:08:02.063
  • Did miracles, we get to the new testament," no.
  • 00:08:02.063 --> 00:08:05.300
  • Matthew reminds us that what jesus was doing was a
  • 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:07.802
  • Fulfillment of what the prophet isaiah talked about.
  • 00:08:07.802 --> 00:08:10.005
  • Isaiah 53, who matthew is quoting is this great messianic
  • 00:08:13.441 --> 00:08:19.814
  • Prophecy telling about messiah, when he comes, what he will do,
  • 00:08:19.814 --> 00:08:22.484
  • This expression of hope.
  • 00:08:22.484 --> 00:08:24.886
  • The first century jewish audience missed that because
  • 00:08:24.886 --> 00:08:27.122
  • They wanted a messiah that was a political leader.
  • 00:08:27.122 --> 00:08:32.093
  • And jesus came and he really, he challenged the ideas of his day,
  • 00:08:32.093 --> 00:08:38.366
  • But they wanted the romans to be thrown out.
  • 00:08:38.366 --> 00:08:40.101
  • They wanted a military leader.
  • 00:08:40.101 --> 00:08:42.771
  • They wanted a complete realignment.
  • 00:08:42.771 --> 00:08:47.309
  • See, i think if we will focus on letting the values of the
  • 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:50.745
  • Scripture, that biblical worldview emerge through our
  • 00:08:50.745 --> 00:08:53.148
  • Lives and bake it into our conversations and what we bring
  • 00:08:53.148 --> 00:08:56.384
  • To our kitchen tables and our friendship circles, then we will
  • 00:08:56.384 --> 00:09:00.388
  • See the expressions of god in those broader ways.
  • 00:09:00.388 --> 00:09:04.125
  • We've been waiting for somebody to save us.
  • 00:09:04.125 --> 00:09:07.829
  • We want to elect the right person so we get offended 'cause
  • 00:09:07.829 --> 00:09:10.031
  • We elect somebody, "that couldn't be the one."
  • 00:09:10.031 --> 00:09:13.668
  • When it really begins within our own hearts, we champion the
  • 00:09:13.668 --> 00:09:17.105
  • Values of god.
  • 00:09:17.105 --> 00:09:18.440
  • We stop lying and cheating and stealing.
  • 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:20.942
  • We stop winking at sin and ungodliness.
  • 00:09:20.942 --> 00:09:28.350
  • Allen: we have partnered with our friends tim and david barton
  • 00:09:32.554 --> 00:09:34.990
  • To make available to you a two-volume set on
  • 00:09:34.990 --> 00:09:37.759
  • American history.
  • 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:39.094
  • It's "the american story."
  • 00:09:39.094 --> 00:09:40.462
  • And it focuses on the part of american history that's been
  • 00:09:40.462 --> 00:09:42.631
  • Lost in much of our public education these days.
  • 00:09:42.631 --> 00:09:45.533
  • It's god's engagement with this nation and how he brought the
  • 00:09:45.533 --> 00:09:48.803
  • American story forward.
  • 00:09:48.803 --> 00:09:50.271
  • Our nation is more than politics or republicans and democrats.
  • 00:09:50.271 --> 00:09:53.708
  • It's god working in the lives of people to shape a nation that
  • 00:09:53.708 --> 00:09:57.278
  • Had brought forth his purposes in the world.
  • 00:09:57.278 --> 00:09:59.547
  • I believe it's an important part of our faith journey this year,
  • 00:09:59.547 --> 00:10:02.517
  • And i believe the books will be a blessing to you.
  • 00:10:02.517 --> 00:10:04.886
  • Announcer: the 250th anniversary of our nation is an important
  • 00:10:04.886 --> 00:10:08.356
  • Milestone we shouldn't rush past, because history matters.
  • 00:10:08.356 --> 00:10:12.894
  • "the american story" is a two-volume book series that
  • 00:10:12.894 --> 00:10:15.730
  • Explores how faith, courage, and conviction helped shape the
  • 00:10:15.730 --> 00:10:19.367
  • United states from the very beginning.
  • 00:10:19.367 --> 00:10:21.803
  • Gain a greater understanding of where we've been so you can
  • 00:10:21.803 --> 00:10:24.873
  • Protect and defend our nation's biblical foundations as we
  • 00:10:24.873 --> 00:10:27.876
  • Move forward.
  • 00:10:27.876 --> 00:10:29.210
  • Request "the american story" with your gift of $50 or more at
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  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:10:32.614 --> 00:10:38.053
  • Allen: i believe as we follow jesus, god provides all that we
  • 00:10:41.189 --> 00:10:43.825
  • Need to complete the assignments before us.
  • 00:10:43.825 --> 00:10:47.462
  • Verse 23, matthew's telling a story now.
  • 00:10:47.462 --> 00:10:49.664
  • He's healed many.
  • 00:10:49.664 --> 00:10:51.900
  • We better look at verse 18, it's an important part of
  • 00:10:51.900 --> 00:10:53.702
  • The narrative.
  • 00:10:53.702 --> 00:10:55.036
  • "jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the
  • 00:10:55.036 --> 00:10:56.838
  • Other side of the lake.
  • 00:10:56.838 --> 00:10:58.473
  • Then a teacher of the law came and said, 'teacher, i'll follow
  • 00:10:58.473 --> 00:11:00.575
  • You wherever you go.'
  • 00:11:00.575 --> 00:11:01.943
  • And jesus said, 'foxes have holes and birds have nests, but
  • 00:11:01.943 --> 00:11:04.913
  • I have no place to lay my head.'
  • 00:11:04.913 --> 00:11:07.982
  • And another disciple came and said, 'lord, first let me go and
  • 00:11:07.982 --> 00:11:10.318
  • Bury my father.'
  • 00:11:10.318 --> 00:11:11.653
  • And jesus said, 'you follow me, let the dead bury their
  • 00:11:11.653 --> 00:11:13.354
  • Own dead.'"
  • 00:11:13.354 --> 00:11:14.723
  • It seems a little dissonant, maybe out of context with these
  • 00:11:14.723 --> 00:11:18.660
  • Healing expressions, but i don't think so.
  • 00:11:18.660 --> 00:11:22.097
  • I think the point that matthew is making, the point that are
  • 00:11:22.097 --> 00:11:24.399
  • Coming from jesus's words as he's assembling the story is
  • 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.970
  • In the midst of the miracles and the healings,
  • 00:11:28.970 --> 00:11:31.106
  • There's a reminder that there's a cost to following jesus.
  • 00:11:31.106 --> 00:11:35.243
  • See, everybody, the most secular, the most marginally
  • 00:11:35.243 --> 00:11:38.847
  • Godly would take down expressions of the power of god
  • 00:11:38.847 --> 00:11:41.983
  • To bring fulfillment and happiness.
  • 00:11:41.983 --> 00:11:43.918
  • Miracles for 1,000, alex.
  • 00:11:47.088 --> 00:11:50.492
  • I mean, can we have a miracle and just cancel our
  • 00:11:50.492 --> 00:11:52.393
  • Healthcare plans?
  • 00:11:52.393 --> 00:11:55.463
  • Can we believe in healing and stop exercising?
  • 00:11:55.463 --> 00:11:57.899
  • No more cardio for me, more dessert.
  • 00:11:57.899 --> 00:12:01.402
  • I mean, i think we would all plummet headlong into that
  • 00:12:01.402 --> 00:12:05.273
  • Because of our old carnal, earthly, adamic nature.
  • 00:12:05.273 --> 00:12:10.145
  • And jesus is reminding us, and matthew puts it strategically in
  • 00:12:10.145 --> 00:12:13.515
  • The midst of the miracles, that there's a cost to
  • 00:12:13.515 --> 00:12:16.351
  • Following jesus.
  • 00:12:16.351 --> 00:12:18.953
  • It's not simple or easy.
  • 00:12:18.953 --> 00:12:20.588
  • It's gonna--it will separate us from the people that don't
  • 00:12:20.588 --> 00:12:23.792
  • Intend to do life with him.
  • 00:12:23.792 --> 00:12:26.828
  • See, we've been trying to be covert disciples.
  • 00:12:26.828 --> 00:12:31.266
  • We wanted to look like the secularist and smell like the
  • 00:12:31.266 --> 00:12:33.935
  • Secularist and recreate like the secularist.
  • 00:12:33.935 --> 00:12:37.372
  • We didn't really want there to be any distinctiveness.
  • 00:12:37.372 --> 00:12:40.341
  • In fact, when we're behaving in an ungodly way, "well go, you
  • 00:12:40.341 --> 00:12:42.844
  • Know, the behavior is a little rogue, but i know what they
  • 00:12:42.844 --> 00:12:45.980
  • Really believe," really?
  • 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:49.083
  • The bible says that we'll be evaluated by the fruit of
  • 00:12:49.083 --> 00:12:51.219
  • Our lives.
  • 00:12:51.219 --> 00:12:54.522
  • I don't want the fruit of my life to be confusing.
  • 00:12:54.522 --> 00:12:56.691
  • It's an important point.
  • 00:13:00.161 --> 00:13:01.529
  • In the midst of this, you see, i think the supernatural
  • 00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:03.998
  • Engagement of god on our journeys, it's not because we're
  • 00:13:03.998 --> 00:13:07.001
  • So--the centurion clearly was not a rule keeper.
  • 00:13:07.001 --> 00:13:11.306
  • But he was a man of remarkable humility and willing to humble
  • 00:13:11.306 --> 00:13:15.543
  • Himself publicly before jesus when he didn't have to.
  • 00:13:15.543 --> 00:13:18.179
  • And so jesus reminds us there's a cost.
  • 00:13:21.716 --> 00:13:25.486
  • Verse 23, "he got into a boat and his disciples followed him.
  • 00:13:25.486 --> 00:13:27.856
  • And without warning, a furious storm came on the lake, and
  • 00:13:27.856 --> 00:13:29.991
  • The waves swept over the boat.
  • 00:13:29.991 --> 00:13:31.326
  • And jesus was sleeping."
  • 00:13:31.326 --> 00:13:34.095
  • That peace thing.
  • 00:13:34.095 --> 00:13:36.097
  • "and his disciples went and woke him and said, 'lord, save us,
  • 00:13:36.097 --> 00:13:38.600
  • We're gonna drown!'
  • 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:41.236
  • And jesus said, 'you of little faith.'"
  • 00:13:41.236 --> 00:13:43.805
  • Wait a minute, we just read about a roman centurion that had
  • 00:13:43.805 --> 00:13:46.007
  • Great faith.
  • 00:13:46.007 --> 00:13:47.976
  • And now the people jesus recruited, the ones he selected,
  • 00:13:47.976 --> 00:13:54.983
  • They got little faith.
  • 00:13:54.983 --> 00:13:56.351
  • "'you of little faith, why are you so afraid?'
  • 00:13:59.854 --> 00:14:02.123
  • And he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was
  • 00:14:02.123 --> 00:14:04.492
  • Completely calm.
  • 00:14:04.492 --> 00:14:06.194
  • And the men were amazed, 'what kind of man is this?'"
  • 00:14:06.194 --> 00:14:10.198
  • This is a wonderful contrast, the roman centurion has great
  • 00:14:10.198 --> 00:14:16.571
  • Faith and jesus is amazed at him.
  • 00:14:16.571 --> 00:14:20.141
  • The disciples who have proximity to jesus, they get the rest of
  • 00:14:20.141 --> 00:14:23.978
  • The story, the behind the scenes explanations on all the
  • 00:14:23.978 --> 00:14:26.581
  • Parables, and they have little faith and they're amazed
  • 00:14:26.581 --> 00:14:30.385
  • At jesus.
  • 00:14:30.385 --> 00:14:34.722
  • I tell you that 'cause if you had to pick which group we're
  • 00:14:34.722 --> 00:14:37.959
  • Most like, most of us would much rather say, "well, absolutely,
  • 00:14:37.959 --> 00:14:42.931
  • We're disciples.
  • 00:14:42.931 --> 00:14:45.300
  • Been chosen by god."
  • 00:14:45.300 --> 00:14:46.668
  • I'm not some pagan roman soldier, idolater, ungodly
  • 00:14:49.737 --> 00:14:54.342
  • Rule breaker."
  • 00:14:54.342 --> 00:14:55.743
  • But in matthew's narrative, the roman had great faith, and jesus
  • 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:06.020
  • Was amazed at him.
  • 00:15:06.020 --> 00:15:08.022
  • And the disciples had little faith, and they were amazed that
  • 00:15:08.022 --> 00:15:10.925
  • Jesus could do anything.
  • 00:15:10.925 --> 00:15:13.227
  • Apparently, they just woke him up so he wouldn't
  • 00:15:13.227 --> 00:15:14.963
  • Drown sleepily.
  • 00:15:14.963 --> 00:15:18.633
  • It's not suggesting they had any expectation he was gonna
  • 00:15:18.633 --> 00:15:20.935
  • Do anything.
  • 00:15:20.935 --> 00:15:22.303
  • In fact, they're kind of freaked out by it.
  • 00:15:22.303 --> 00:15:24.205
  • They just would rather see him panic.
  • 00:15:24.205 --> 00:15:26.240
  • Your faith can grow.
  • 00:15:29.744 --> 00:15:31.779
  • I hope you live with that imagination.
  • 00:15:31.779 --> 00:15:33.181
  • Maybe today you say, "you know, i've really never thought about
  • 00:15:33.181 --> 00:15:35.283
  • This much.
  • 00:15:35.283 --> 00:15:36.651
  • It hadn't been a part of my journey.
  • 00:15:36.651 --> 00:15:38.152
  • This isn't, you know, i do bible studies.
  • 00:15:38.152 --> 00:15:40.488
  • I go to classes.
  • 00:15:40.488 --> 00:15:41.856
  • I'm in groups.
  • 00:15:41.856 --> 00:15:43.458
  • I do those things, but this, i don't know."
  • 00:15:43.458 --> 00:15:46.995
  • The bible says, you know, we can have a little faith, but it
  • 00:15:46.995 --> 00:15:48.896
  • Doesn't have to stay little.
  • 00:15:48.896 --> 00:15:51.666
  • It says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word
  • 00:15:51.666 --> 00:15:54.235
  • Of god.
  • 00:15:54.235 --> 00:15:55.603
  • It's in romans 10, but it's not just hearing the bible read,
  • 00:15:55.603 --> 00:15:58.439
  • It's about hearing it, receiving it,
  • 00:15:58.439 --> 00:16:02.143
  • Gaining understanding of it.
  • 00:16:02.143 --> 00:16:05.413
  • This isn't an indictment, it's an invitation.
  • 00:16:05.413 --> 00:16:07.949
  • See, i'm of the opinion that in order to flourish in the season
  • 00:16:07.949 --> 00:16:10.485
  • That's before us, we're gonna have to have growing faith.
  • 00:16:10.485 --> 00:16:14.822
  • How much time have i got?
  • 00:16:18.426 --> 00:16:19.761
  • A couple of minutes.
  • 00:16:19.761 --> 00:16:21.162
  • "when he arrived," verse 28, "when he arrived at the other
  • 00:16:24.966 --> 00:16:27.101
  • Side in the region of the gadarenes, two demon possessed
  • 00:16:27.101 --> 00:16:29.570
  • Men were coming from the tombs.
  • 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:32.340
  • And they were so violent that no one could pass that way.
  • 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:36.177
  • 'what do you want with us, son of god,' they shouted.
  • 00:16:36.177 --> 00:16:38.746
  • 'have you come to torture--have you come here to torture us
  • 00:16:38.746 --> 00:16:41.382
  • Before the appointed time?'
  • 00:16:41.382 --> 00:16:44.318
  • Some distance from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding, and
  • 00:16:44.318 --> 00:16:46.788
  • The demons begged jesus, 'if you drive us out, send us into the
  • 00:16:46.788 --> 00:16:49.657
  • Herd of pigs.'"
  • 00:16:49.657 --> 00:16:51.492
  • Let's stop there a moment.
  • 00:16:51.492 --> 00:16:52.894
  • The demons are speaking to jesus through these two men.
  • 00:16:52.894 --> 00:16:55.229
  • And jesus is speaking to them.
  • 00:16:58.566 --> 00:17:00.034
  • So some of you are not sure you believe in demons, i would just
  • 00:17:00.034 --> 00:17:02.270
  • Point out in passing that jesus did.
  • 00:17:02.270 --> 00:17:04.005
  • Now, i can tell you how they dispense with that.
  • 00:17:07.442 --> 00:17:10.645
  • In theological academia that doesn't want to deal with it,
  • 00:17:10.645 --> 00:17:14.115
  • They said, "well, you know, in the first century they believed
  • 00:17:14.115 --> 00:17:15.917
  • In spiritual things.
  • 00:17:15.917 --> 00:17:18.853
  • And so jesus was just being a good first century person.
  • 00:17:18.853 --> 00:17:23.591
  • But we all know they're not real."
  • 00:17:23.591 --> 00:17:26.794
  • That when you read your bible, you have to make a decision
  • 00:17:26.794 --> 00:17:30.264
  • Whether you're gonna stand apart from it and pass judgment on it
  • 00:17:30.264 --> 00:17:34.335
  • Or whether you'll allow it to pass judgment on you.
  • 00:17:34.335 --> 00:17:38.106
  • And in those two choices, you have two different--very
  • 00:17:38.106 --> 00:17:42.009
  • Different futures.
  • 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:44.512
  • I don't believe it violates my intellect at all.
  • 00:17:44.512 --> 00:17:47.048
  • I don't think it diminishes my intellectual capacities to say i
  • 00:17:47.048 --> 00:17:52.053
  • Believe the bible.
  • 00:17:52.053 --> 00:17:53.387
  • I don't understand it all.
  • 00:17:53.387 --> 00:17:54.822
  • I don't pretend that.
  • 00:17:54.822 --> 00:17:56.691
  • But i believe it's authoritative.
  • 00:17:56.691 --> 00:17:59.327
  • I believe demons are real.
  • 00:17:59.327 --> 00:18:00.661
  • I think they torment human beings.
  • 00:18:00.661 --> 00:18:03.264
  • What fascinates me in this narrative is the demons knew
  • 00:18:03.264 --> 00:18:06.067
  • More about jesus than his disciples.
  • 00:18:06.067 --> 00:18:09.804
  • They had insight and awareness and understanding that the
  • 00:18:09.804 --> 00:18:12.240
  • Teachers of the law didn't have, the pharisees didn't have, the
  • 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.775
  • Rabbis didn't have, even jesus's own disciples, you know, the
  • 00:18:14.775 --> 00:18:17.745
  • Ones with little faith, they didn't have.
  • 00:18:17.745 --> 00:18:20.915
  • "what do you want with us, son of god?"
  • 00:18:20.915 --> 00:18:23.217
  • They knew exactly who jesus was.
  • 00:18:23.217 --> 00:18:26.087
  • We gotta make room in our--if we're gonna be biblically
  • 00:18:26.087 --> 00:18:28.623
  • Oriented, we have to make room in our imaginations that there
  • 00:18:28.623 --> 00:18:31.058
  • Are spiritual forces that have awareness that we don't have.
  • 00:18:31.058 --> 00:18:35.429
  • Please don't be offended by that.
  • 00:18:35.429 --> 00:18:36.797
  • Your dog can hear things you can't.
  • 00:18:36.797 --> 00:18:39.467
  • Come on.
  • 00:18:42.737 --> 00:18:44.972
  • You believe that?
  • 00:18:44.972 --> 00:18:47.041
  • There's all sorts of creatures that make noise at night that
  • 00:18:47.041 --> 00:18:49.477
  • Can see things that you can't see.
  • 00:18:49.477 --> 00:18:53.014
  • Why do we bow up and go, "oh, no, i'm just not gonna
  • 00:18:53.014 --> 00:18:56.484
  • Believe it."
  • 00:18:56.484 --> 00:18:58.586
  • Because we're rebellious.
  • 00:18:58.586 --> 00:19:00.955
  • Remember our topic, miracles and healing, the supernatural
  • 00:19:00.955 --> 00:19:04.492
  • Engagement of god in our lives, to do that, we have to believe
  • 00:19:04.492 --> 00:19:08.596
  • In the reality of spiritual things.
  • 00:19:08.596 --> 00:19:11.632
  • They're begging to go into the pigs, and jesus said, "'go,' so
  • 00:19:11.632 --> 00:19:13.968
  • They came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed
  • 00:19:13.968 --> 00:19:16.137
  • Down the bank into the lake and they died in the water.
  • 00:19:16.137 --> 00:19:21.142
  • Those tending the pigs ran off."
  • 00:19:21.142 --> 00:19:22.543
  • No kidding.
  • 00:19:22.543 --> 00:19:25.513
  • "they went to town and reported all of this, including what had
  • 00:19:25.513 --> 00:19:27.815
  • Happened to the demon-possessed men.
  • 00:19:27.815 --> 00:19:30.585
  • And the whole town went out to meet jesus."
  • 00:19:30.585 --> 00:19:32.820
  • Now so far it's kind of tracking.
  • 00:19:32.820 --> 00:19:35.056
  • This next line makes it really absurd to me.
  • 00:19:35.056 --> 00:19:38.726
  • "when they saw jesus, they pleaded with him to leave
  • 00:19:38.726 --> 00:19:43.197
  • Their region."
  • 00:19:43.197 --> 00:19:44.865
  • The roman centurion wanted him to come to his house.
  • 00:19:44.865 --> 00:19:48.502
  • So you know, you really don't have to, you just say the word.
  • 00:19:48.502 --> 00:19:52.974
  • The people in this town go, yeah, those guys were
  • 00:19:52.974 --> 00:19:54.642
  • Really mad.
  • 00:19:54.642 --> 00:19:56.010
  • They were so violent, they terrified all of us, and they're
  • 00:19:56.010 --> 00:19:57.478
  • Peaceful, but we don't want any more of that peace.
  • 00:19:57.478 --> 00:20:01.949
  • This is not a one to one, but it's kind of like "get ice out
  • 00:20:01.949 --> 00:20:04.585
  • Of here."
  • 00:20:04.585 --> 00:20:06.587
  • I didn't say it was one to one.
  • 00:20:10.258 --> 00:20:11.759
  • Don't go there.
  • 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:13.094
  • Do not send me an email.
  • 00:20:13.094 --> 00:20:14.795
  • But we do make some illogical--
  • 00:20:14.795 --> 00:20:18.366
  • There's something else going on here.
  • 00:20:18.366 --> 00:20:20.801
  • Because those two men have announced loudly for everybody
  • 00:20:20.801 --> 00:20:23.404
  • That was there watching, "we know who you are.
  • 00:20:23.404 --> 00:20:27.975
  • You're the son of god."
  • 00:20:27.975 --> 00:20:30.745
  • And then jesus demonstrates an authority that none of the
  • 00:20:30.745 --> 00:20:33.147
  • People had.
  • 00:20:33.147 --> 00:20:34.515
  • Nobody there had the power or the ability or the authority to
  • 00:20:34.515 --> 00:20:36.350
  • Deal with those unruly men.
  • 00:20:36.350 --> 00:20:39.153
  • And yet jesus brings peace to them.
  • 00:20:39.153 --> 00:20:42.590
  • I mean, i can explain it.
  • 00:20:42.590 --> 00:20:43.924
  • They were terrified 'cause they lost the assets from the herd of
  • 00:20:43.924 --> 00:20:49.030
  • Animals that drowned in the lake and that we're frightened by
  • 00:20:49.030 --> 00:20:51.465
  • What we don't know, but there's some other things in play in the
  • 00:20:51.465 --> 00:20:53.567
  • Narrative that it seems would have appealed to people.
  • 00:20:53.567 --> 00:20:56.937
  • And they didn't--we have to guard our hearts or we will
  • 00:20:56.937 --> 00:20:58.906
  • Reject the opportunities god puts before us.
  • 00:20:58.906 --> 00:21:01.642
  • They don't usually come in the way we imagined them.
  • 00:21:01.642 --> 00:21:03.844
  • They come in unexpected packages and unexpected times.
  • 00:21:03.844 --> 00:21:08.182
  • The reason i keep saying to you that i believe god is moving in
  • 00:21:08.182 --> 00:21:10.651
  • The most remarkable ways throughout the earth is there
  • 00:21:10.651 --> 00:21:13.154
  • Are all kinds of expressions of freedom and opportunity coming
  • 00:21:13.154 --> 00:21:16.057
  • To enormous groups of people in the midst of unprecedented
  • 00:21:16.057 --> 00:21:21.228
  • Violence and darkness and perversion, and it's confusing
  • 00:21:21.228 --> 00:21:24.932
  • And i have to keep turning my attention to the things that god
  • 00:21:24.932 --> 00:21:27.335
  • Is doing and go, "oh, i didn't expect that."
  • 00:21:27.335 --> 00:21:30.304
  • Matthew's bundled it all together in one chapter.
  • 00:21:34.275 --> 00:21:38.846
  • I'm gonna not get through all the notes.
  • 00:21:38.846 --> 00:21:42.583
  • I got close.
  • 00:21:42.583 --> 00:21:45.686
  • I'm not interested in religious lectures.
  • 00:21:45.686 --> 00:21:49.757
  • It's the transformation of lives that is the point of taking a
  • 00:21:49.757 --> 00:21:52.927
  • Step towards the lord, of approaching the throne of god,
  • 00:21:52.927 --> 00:21:56.464
  • Not the gathering of facts.
  • 00:21:56.464 --> 00:21:59.433
  • Ai will do that for us.
  • 00:21:59.433 --> 00:22:03.003
  • We have to put our faith in god.
  • 00:22:03.003 --> 00:22:05.606
  • I gave you a proclamation there.
  • 00:22:05.606 --> 00:22:07.308
  • It's a series of statements that each of those lines is taken
  • 00:22:07.308 --> 00:22:11.779
  • From a passage of scripture.
  • 00:22:11.779 --> 00:22:14.048
  • So it's just an affirmation of what the word of god says
  • 00:22:14.048 --> 00:22:16.684
  • About us.
  • 00:22:16.684 --> 00:22:18.586
  • In fact, that's the introduction that i testify to what the word
  • 00:22:18.586 --> 00:22:22.790
  • Of god says the blood of jesus does for me.
  • 00:22:22.790 --> 00:22:24.925
  • Through the blood of jesus, i'm redeemed out of the hand of
  • 00:22:24.925 --> 00:22:28.796
  • The devil.
  • 00:22:28.796 --> 00:22:30.131
  • They're all statements about that.
  • 00:22:30.131 --> 00:22:31.465
  • I wanna give that to you.
  • 00:22:31.465 --> 00:22:32.833
  • If you're walking through a season in your life where you
  • 00:22:32.833 --> 00:22:34.935
  • Need god's supernatural involvement, i would take that
  • 00:22:34.935 --> 00:22:37.772
  • Proclamation and say it morning, noon, and evening, just like i
  • 00:22:37.772 --> 00:22:40.241
  • Were taking medicine.
  • 00:22:40.241 --> 00:22:42.676
  • I want to align myself with what god's word says about me.
  • 00:22:42.676 --> 00:22:45.479
  • That's how faith grows.
  • 00:22:45.479 --> 00:22:47.782
  • It's not something--it's not some mystery, it's about intent.
  • 00:22:47.782 --> 00:22:54.088
  • But before we go today, if you're here and you would say,
  • 00:22:54.088 --> 00:22:56.690
  • "i need a miracle."
  • 00:22:56.690 --> 00:22:58.692
  • I'm not praying for other people, we'll do that in the
  • 00:22:58.692 --> 00:23:00.594
  • Next sessions.
  • 00:23:00.594 --> 00:23:03.097
  • But today, let's make this personal.
  • 00:23:03.097 --> 00:23:05.533
  • It becomes more--there are more factors involved when we begin
  • 00:23:05.533 --> 00:23:08.536
  • To extrapolate it out to others.
  • 00:23:08.536 --> 00:23:10.037
  • But today, let's just say, "i need a miracle.
  • 00:23:10.037 --> 00:23:12.239
  • There's a circumstance in my own life, my health, my whatever
  • 00:23:12.239 --> 00:23:16.710
  • That may be, that apart from god's involvement, i don't know
  • 00:23:16.710 --> 00:23:19.246
  • How i'm gonna get to the outcome that's best.
  • 00:23:19.246 --> 00:23:22.349
  • And i wanna invite god into that."
  • 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:25.186
  • If that's you, i'm gonna ask you to stand really quickly.
  • 00:23:25.186 --> 00:23:27.254
  • I'm gonna pray, whichever space you're in on campus, if you're
  • 00:23:27.254 --> 00:23:29.757
  • At home, you can stand with us.
  • 00:23:29.757 --> 00:23:36.797
  • This is always remarkable to me.
  • 00:23:40.468 --> 00:23:43.704
  • If you give an invitation in a legitimate, way the overwhelming
  • 00:23:43.704 --> 00:23:47.975
  • Majority of us almost every time stand and say, "i'm in
  • 00:23:47.975 --> 00:23:51.779
  • That space."
  • 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:53.914
  • And yet we look at one another like we've got it all together.
  • 00:23:53.914 --> 00:23:57.551
  • We do, we just can't remember where we put it.
  • 00:23:57.551 --> 00:24:04.625
  • We're gonna approach the throne of grace to find mercy to help
  • 00:24:08.829 --> 00:24:13.868
  • Us in our time of need.
  • 00:24:13.868 --> 00:24:16.003
  • "well, i prayed once, pastor, and i didn't get an answer."
  • 00:24:16.003 --> 00:24:18.339
  • I know, i went to the gym once and i was still fat.
  • 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:24.845
  • Bummed me out.
  • 00:24:24.845 --> 00:24:27.147
  • I mean, i was even sore for two or three days.
  • 00:24:27.147 --> 00:24:30.217
  • Decided not to go back.
  • 00:24:30.217 --> 00:24:31.552
  • It made me feel bad.
  • 00:24:31.552 --> 00:24:34.288
  • See, i reveal my own heart so often.
  • 00:24:38.125 --> 00:24:41.562
  • It's not that i wanna know the lord better, i just want what
  • 00:24:41.562 --> 00:24:43.564
  • I want.
  • 00:24:43.564 --> 00:24:45.566
  • And the point of approaching the throne, i believe, is to get to
  • 00:24:45.566 --> 00:24:49.236
  • Know the king, not to get my way.
  • 00:24:49.236 --> 00:24:55.342
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:24:55.342 --> 00:24:56.677
  • Father, i thank you.
  • 00:24:56.677 --> 00:24:58.045
  • I thank you for your word and its truth and its authority.
  • 00:24:58.045 --> 00:25:01.582
  • We stand before you today to acknowledge, father, that we
  • 00:25:01.582 --> 00:25:05.719
  • Need help.
  • 00:25:05.719 --> 00:25:08.656
  • And we know you are well able.
  • 00:25:08.656 --> 00:25:11.258
  • So we invite you into our lives.
  • 00:25:11.258 --> 00:25:13.961
  • Bring your peace to our minds.
  • 00:25:13.961 --> 00:25:16.697
  • Bring contentment, lord, where we have been agitated
  • 00:25:16.697 --> 00:25:19.266
  • And frustrated.
  • 00:25:19.266 --> 00:25:21.802
  • Bring health to us.
  • 00:25:21.802 --> 00:25:24.104
  • Lord, give us the wisdom to make choices that will enable us
  • 00:25:24.104 --> 00:25:27.675
  • To receive.
  • 00:25:27.675 --> 00:25:29.843
  • There are things we're doing that are bringing destruction
  • 00:25:29.843 --> 00:25:32.079
  • To us.
  • 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:33.447
  • Lord, help us to see them.
  • 00:25:33.447 --> 00:25:34.782
  • May we have the willingness and the courage to
  • 00:25:34.782 --> 00:25:36.150
  • Change behaviors.
  • 00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:39.053
  • If there are spiritual influences that have buffeted us
  • 00:25:39.053 --> 00:25:42.122
  • Or tormented us or diminished us, in the name of jesus, we
  • 00:25:42.122 --> 00:25:46.493
  • Come against you today.
  • 00:25:46.493 --> 00:25:48.662
  • Father, i thank you for the freedom that is ours through the
  • 00:25:48.662 --> 00:25:51.799
  • Blood of jesus christ.
  • 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:54.368
  • And lord, we receive now, we receive your life and your
  • 00:25:54.368 --> 00:25:57.504
  • Health and your peace and your hope.
  • 00:25:57.504 --> 00:26:00.674
  • I thank you that you've begun something in us today that will
  • 00:26:00.674 --> 00:26:03.444
  • Continue to grow.
  • 00:26:03.444 --> 00:26:04.812
  • May our faith grow.
  • 00:26:04.812 --> 00:26:06.146
  • May our confidence in you, our trust in you, our desire to be
  • 00:26:06.146 --> 00:26:08.782
  • Pleasing and to walk uprightly before you, may that grow day
  • 00:26:08.782 --> 00:26:12.653
  • Over day.
  • 00:26:12.653 --> 00:26:14.488
  • We praise you for it.
  • 00:26:14.488 --> 00:26:15.856
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:26:15.856 --> 00:26:19.360
  • Hallelujah.
  • 00:26:19.360 --> 00:26:20.694
  • God bless you.
  • 00:26:20.694 --> 00:26:25.032
  • Allen: this is the 250th anniversary of our nation.
  • 00:26:29.103 --> 00:26:31.872
  • It's a big deal.
  • 00:26:31.872 --> 00:26:33.207
  • Now, i know a lot of us don't care a whole lot about history.
  • 00:26:33.207 --> 00:26:35.843
  • We didn't have great experiences in school.
  • 00:26:35.843 --> 00:26:37.611
  • I understand that, but here's the reality.
  • 00:26:37.611 --> 00:26:40.047
  • If they can steal our history, they'll rob us of our future.
  • 00:26:40.047 --> 00:26:43.250
  • So history really does matter.
  • 00:26:43.250 --> 00:26:45.252
  • Well, because of that, we have partnered with some good friends
  • 00:26:45.252 --> 00:26:47.655
  • Of our ministries, wallbuilders david and tim barton.
  • 00:26:47.655 --> 00:26:51.058
  • They have the best of the best on this topic.
  • 00:26:51.058 --> 00:26:53.127
  • It's a two-volume set on "the american story," and it helps us
  • 00:26:53.127 --> 00:26:56.697
  • Learn american history with a faith component, with a god
  • 00:26:56.697 --> 00:27:00.267
  • Perspective--how god has been engaged in the unfolding
  • 00:27:00.267 --> 00:27:03.337
  • Narrative of our american story.
  • 00:27:03.337 --> 00:27:05.973
  • That matters because we need god to be involved in the future of
  • 00:27:05.973 --> 00:27:09.176
  • The american story.
  • 00:27:09.176 --> 00:27:10.544
  • That affects our lives, our families, our communities, and
  • 00:27:10.544 --> 00:27:13.313
  • Ultimately our nation.
  • 00:27:13.313 --> 00:27:14.982
  • The books will be a blessing to you, but more than that, i
  • 00:27:14.982 --> 00:27:17.418
  • Believe they'll open your life to the imagination that god is
  • 00:27:17.418 --> 00:27:19.920
  • Moving in the earth, and we can participate with him in the next
  • 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:23.223
  • Chapters of american history.
  • 00:27:23.223 --> 00:27:27.394