Allen Jackson - Jesus' Perfect Provision (Part 2)

September 5, 2025 | S25 E3606 | 28:35

Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Jesus' Perfect Provision (Part 2) | September 5, 2025
  • ..
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  • Allen jackson: hey, i sat down recently with my father to do a
  • 00:00:06.755 --> 00:00:09.258
  • Podcast for my "culture & christianity" podcast, and it
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  • Was so valuable to me.
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  • I mean, we--it was stories that obviously i'm familiar with, but
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  • As i heard him recount his faith, it ignited something in
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  • Me about the faithfulness of god across generations.
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  • Well, i encouraged my dad to put together a book about his
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  • Experiences with the holy spirit.
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  • It changed his life, my parents' life, ultimately my
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  • Family's life.
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  • I believe the book will be a real encouragement to you.
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  • I wanna make it available to you right along with "unleashing the
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  • Power of the holy spirit."
  • 00:00:41.090 --> 00:00:42.424
  • It's something i put together a while back that's been one of
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  • The most effective tools we've ever had in the ministry.
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  • Together they'll open the doorway for you to not just have
  • 00:00:47.863 --> 00:00:51.066
  • Language around the holy spirit, but to have something to
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  • Actually do to invite him into your life on a regular basis, to
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  • Give you the wisdom you need to help you unlock the problems
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  • That we face.
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  • The spirit of god within us to help us, guide us, and direct
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  • Us, that's invaluable, and these books will help you understand.
  • 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:09.184
  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: the gospel is based on three simple facts, i'll show
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  • You from the scripture in a moment.
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  • Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again on the
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  • Third day.
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  • Those are the facts that give you and i a hope for both time
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  • And eternity.
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  • It isn't theoretical.
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  • It's not about joining a movement or a part of a
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  • Congregation or a theology, you've got to grapple with
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  • Those facts.
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  • Do you believe jesus of nazareth was the son of god?
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  • It's important what you decide about that, it isn't irrelevant.
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  • But the fundamental facts was that he died for our sins, he
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  • Was buried, and he rose again.
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  • Look at 1 corinthians 15: "what i received i passed on to you as
  • 00:01:59.668 --> 00:02:03.839
  • Of first importance: that christ died for our sins according to
  • 00:02:03.839 --> 00:02:07.643
  • The scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised
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  • On the third day according to the scriptures."
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  • Now, those are matters of--those are points of fact in the
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  • Presentation of scripture.
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  • Faith is what you do to appropriate those facts.
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  • You see, you can believe that jesus of nazareth was born, that
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  • He was a 1st century character.
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  • You can believe he had a healing ministry.
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  • You may believe he appeared before pontius pilate.
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  • You may believe he died on a roman cross and was buried and
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  • Resurrected to life again.
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  • You can accept those facts and sit in hell.
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  • Faith is when you appropriate those facts and incorporate them
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  • Into your behavior.
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  • Faith leads us to accept, believe, and act upon
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  • Those facts.
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  • You see, the equation changes dramatically when you say,
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  • "jesus, be lord of my life."
  • 00:03:02.965 --> 00:03:06.235
  • Now you're no longer simply a historical character.
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  • You're not some shadowy figure from some point of antiquity.
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  • You're not some person that's been written about and
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  • Preached about.
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  • I have asked you into my realm of existence, jesus of nazareth,
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  • Be lord of my life.
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  • I'll yield my will to you, that's what being lord means.
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  • You see, if jesus isn't lord of your life, if you haven't
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  • Yielded your will to him, you shouldn't imagine you're a
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  • Christ follower.
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  • It's that act of faith where you believe in your heart and
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  • Confess with your mouth that jesus is lord that
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  • Changes everything.
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  • And then after facts and faith come our feelings.
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  • I don't make those decisions.
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  • In fact, my feelings are usually screaming, don't do that.
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  • Some of you are having one of those little fact, feeling,
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  • Faith battles right now volunteering to serve children.
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  • Your faith says, "i--i'd like to do that, i think," and your
  • 00:04:00.289 --> 00:04:02.958
  • Feelings go, "what are you thinking?
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  • Have you lost your ever-loving mind?"
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  • After facts and faith come our feelings.
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  • You see, it makes all the difference in your life and your
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  • Eternity if your faith is based on facts or feelings.
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  • It changes everything.
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  • I interact with people a lot, you know, and they'll say to me,
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  • "well, i just can't believe god would," and then whatever is
  • 00:04:32.421 --> 00:04:35.624
  • Their version of god.
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  • And they'll disconnect it completely from scripture, and
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  • They will base their model of god on how they feel
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  • About something.
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  • Now, feelings are legitimate.
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  • God created us with the capacity to have feelings.
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  • They enrich and enhance our lives, but they make lousy
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  • Cornerstones because feelings change with the weather.
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  • Feelings change with how much water weight we're
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  • Carrying today.
  • 00:05:01.149 --> 00:05:04.019
  • Feelings change with whether your seat you prefer at church
  • 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:07.389
  • Is vacant or occupied and who occupied it, in the house of god
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  • Before we worship.
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  • Feelings are remarkable, they're just not good rudders for
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  • Our lives.
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  • And to receive god's provision for rejection in our lives,
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  • There are two facts that we have to, we must appropriate for our
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  • Own lives.
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  • I'll give them to you.
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  • I'll support them from scripture.
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  • I didn't write these out in your notes,
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  • But the scriptures are there.
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  • The first is we have to believe, we have to accept that god did
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  • Not make multiple solutions for all of the challenges which face
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  • Human beings.
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  • He didn't create a menu of responses for us.
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  • Instead, he made one all-inclusive provisions for the
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  • Need of humanity.
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  • You know what it is?
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  • The sacrificial death of jesus of nazareth.
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  • In jesus's death, his burial, and his resurrection, god made
  • 00:06:03.979 --> 00:06:08.083
  • Provision for every need that we will ever face.
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  • The second thing that we have to believe is that what took place
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  • On the cross was a divine exchange, and here's the punch
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  • Line, which god himself had planned.
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  • I've said it to you many, many times.
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  • It's not original with me, i don't pretend it is.
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  • It comes as derived from scripture, but on the cross, a
  • 00:06:32.808 --> 00:06:35.744
  • Divinely ordered exchange took place, whereby the perfect,
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  • Sinless, obedient son of god took upon himself all of the
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  • Judgment that was due by divine judgment, my rebellion and my
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  • Godlessness, so that i might receive all of the blessing that
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  • Was due his perfect obedience.
  • 00:06:51.026 --> 00:06:54.863
  • You see, in that divine exchange, jesus exhausts the
  • 00:06:54.863 --> 00:06:59.601
  • Curse of sin so that you and i might receive the blessing of
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  • His obedience.
  • 00:07:04.773 --> 00:07:08.376
  • Look in galatians 3:13: "christ redeemed us from the curse of
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  • The law by becoming a curse for us, for it's written: 'cursed is
  • 00:07:16.218 --> 00:07:20.589
  • Everyone who's hung on a tree.'
  • 00:07:20.589 --> 00:07:22.691
  • He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to abraham might
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  • Come to the gentiles through christ jesus, so that by faith
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  • We might receive the promise of the spirit."
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  • Jesus became a curse for us.
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  • The language is important, the language of an exchange.
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  • Look at 2 corinthians 8:9: "you know the grace of our lord jesus
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  • Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
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  • Poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."
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  • There's that exchange again.
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  • You see, we've had a diminished presentation of the gospel.
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  • I'm not saying that it was wrong, i'm telling you
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  • It's incomplete.
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  • The gospel that we have heard preached predominantly in
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  • American evangelicalism is that if we'll confess our sins and
  • 00:08:05.400 --> 00:08:09.037
  • Forgive those who have sinned against us, we can be forgiven
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  • And we can be welcomed into the kingdom of god.
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  • I understand that to be true scripturally, but i understand
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  • It to be incomplete.
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  • The greek word that's translated most frequently saved, sozo, i
  • 00:08:21.950 --> 00:08:26.688
  • Don't--it's not a--i can't do it in this session, but it's also
  • 00:08:26.688 --> 00:08:29.724
  • That, that same word that's translated "saved" through the
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  • Gospels is translated to be healed, to be delivered.
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  • It has for every--that salvation includes every aspect of your
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  • Person, body, soul, and spirit.
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  • That we can be healed physically, that we can be
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  • Delivered from every tormenting spiritual force or influence.
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  • That we can be healed, not just physically but emotionally.
  • 00:08:50.512 --> 00:08:54.516
  • All of that provision for us was included in that divine exchange
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  • On the cross.
  • 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:00.956
  • But because we haven't had that total message presented to us,
  • 00:09:00.956 --> 00:09:04.893
  • We've preferred to have seminars and have arguments over whether
  • 00:09:04.893 --> 00:09:07.896
  • God still does miracles or god still heals, or whether we
  • 00:09:07.896 --> 00:09:11.600
  • Believe unclean spirits could have any influence on a believer
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  • Or not.
  • 00:09:14.336 --> 00:09:17.305
  • It's a--it's an amazing tactic of our adversary, to engage us
  • 00:09:17.305 --> 00:09:23.378
  • In debate about the clear teaching of scripture and keep
  • 00:09:23.378 --> 00:09:26.581
  • Us from benefiting from it.
  • 00:09:26.581 --> 00:09:28.049
  • Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9 says, "jesus suffered death, so
  • 00:09:31.686 --> 00:09:35.357
  • That by the grace of god he might taste death for everyone."
  • 00:09:35.357 --> 00:09:40.228
  • Can you see the exchange in these verses?
  • 00:09:40.228 --> 00:09:43.865
  • He took our poverty that we might have his abundance.
  • 00:09:43.865 --> 00:09:47.435
  • He exhausted the curse of sin that we might have
  • 00:09:47.435 --> 00:09:49.604
  • His blessings.
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  • He suffered death so that we might have the grace of god.
  • 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:57.612
  • We could walk through a myriad of other passages with this, but
  • 00:09:57.612 --> 00:10:02.784
  • This exchange has implications for our shame and for our
  • 00:10:02.784 --> 00:10:07.822
  • Suffering that emerges because of the rejection that touches
  • 00:10:07.822 --> 00:10:11.159
  • Our lives.
  • 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:12.494
  • And again, it's universal and it's not unique to a season of
  • 00:10:12.494 --> 00:10:16.731
  • Your life.
  • 00:10:16.731 --> 00:10:21.836
  • Allen: hey, i sat down with my father recently, did a podcast.
  • 00:10:26.041 --> 00:10:29.177
  • He told the story of how he came to faith, how god transformed
  • 00:10:29.177 --> 00:10:31.746
  • Our family, they started a home bible study.
  • 00:10:31.746 --> 00:10:33.948
  • All the way up to the beginning of this church that i've served
  • 00:10:33.948 --> 00:10:36.384
  • Now for decades.
  • 00:10:36.384 --> 00:10:37.719
  • And as i listened, the heart of it was the work of the holy
  • 00:10:37.719 --> 00:10:40.155
  • Spirit in his life and through his life.
  • 00:10:40.155 --> 00:10:42.624
  • I asked him to do a book around the topic, and we have it, so
  • 00:10:42.624 --> 00:10:46.061
  • That you can invite the spirit of god to be the dynamic
  • 00:10:46.061 --> 00:10:48.963
  • Presence of the power of god to bring change and life and hope
  • 00:10:48.963 --> 00:10:53.134
  • No matter what the circumstances.
  • 00:10:53.134 --> 00:10:54.936
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:10:54.936 --> 00:10:56.304
  • Female announcer: experience the holy spirit in a deeper way with
  • 00:10:56.304 --> 00:10:58.773
  • This new book by pastor allen's dad, "the eternal breath
  • 00:10:58.773 --> 00:11:01.976
  • Of life."
  • 00:11:01.976 --> 00:11:03.344
  • Request your copy when you donate any amount today.
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  • And when you give $50 or more, you can also request "unleashing
  • 00:11:06.214 --> 00:11:10.185
  • The power of the holy spirit," it's a collection of pastor
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  • Allen's sermons that will help you understand the holy spirit
  • 00:11:13.354 --> 00:11:16.424
  • In new ways.
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  • Request yours today at allenjackson.com or by
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  • Calling ...
  • 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:26.668
  • Allen: you know, i listen to the language that we direct towards
  • 00:11:26.668 --> 00:11:29.237
  • Young people, because we spend a great deal of energy
  • 00:11:29.237 --> 00:11:31.639
  • Around that.
  • 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.174
  • And there's this great fear that a young person will have an
  • 00:11:33.174 --> 00:11:36.344
  • Encounter that will shape their whole life.
  • 00:11:36.344 --> 00:11:39.247
  • Rather than be frightened that they'll be bullied, let's teach
  • 00:11:39.247 --> 00:11:42.617
  • Them about god's provision in jesus, and they'll have a power
  • 00:11:42.617 --> 00:11:48.490
  • Greater than the words or the intimidation of a bully to
  • 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:51.493
  • Overcome rejection.
  • 00:11:51.493 --> 00:11:54.963
  • You see, we can't protect our children from every expression
  • 00:11:54.963 --> 00:11:57.732
  • Of evil in the world, it's impossible.
  • 00:11:57.732 --> 00:12:00.201
  • Because when it's come--when it's their turn to go adulting,
  • 00:12:00.201 --> 00:12:03.104
  • They're gonna have to face those things.
  • 00:12:03.104 --> 00:12:05.840
  • And rather than try to put them in some sort of a bubble where
  • 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:08.643
  • They never encounter those things, what if we gave them the
  • 00:12:08.643 --> 00:12:12.680
  • Tools to overcome all of those attacks of the adversary?
  • 00:12:12.680 --> 00:12:20.221
  • Let's introduce them to the fundamentals of spiritual
  • 00:12:20.221 --> 00:12:22.957
  • Realities and the provision of god to equip them to
  • 00:12:22.957 --> 00:12:26.294
  • Be triumphant.
  • 00:12:26.294 --> 00:12:29.831
  • Somehow, i don't understand, we don't have the whole narrative
  • 00:12:29.831 --> 00:12:32.467
  • On joseph, but joseph was undeterred.
  • 00:12:32.467 --> 00:12:37.172
  • He's not so emotionally bound up by the hatred of his family of
  • 00:12:37.172 --> 00:12:40.809
  • Origin and the evil behavior or the betrayal in potiphar's house
  • 00:12:40.809 --> 00:12:46.214
  • Or the betrayals in prison that he can flourish.
  • 00:12:46.214 --> 00:12:49.584
  • I promise you if he'd been bound by hatred and resentment, he
  • 00:12:49.584 --> 00:12:53.121
  • Could have never become the person who brought deliverance
  • 00:12:53.121 --> 00:12:55.757
  • To his brothers later in his life.
  • 00:12:55.757 --> 00:13:00.094
  • You see, we grieve things for our children because we haven't
  • 00:13:00.094 --> 00:13:03.164
  • Learned them for ourselves.
  • 00:13:03.164 --> 00:13:06.034
  • And because we're still living with the pain and the shame and
  • 00:13:06.034 --> 00:13:08.970
  • The disappointment, we're still muttering the phrases and hiding
  • 00:13:08.970 --> 00:13:13.074
  • Behind our facades, we think, well, we have to protect them
  • 00:13:13.074 --> 00:13:16.845
  • From those things.
  • 00:13:16.845 --> 00:13:18.646
  • When in reality, to the degree we find freedom, we can teach
  • 00:13:18.646 --> 00:13:22.283
  • Them how to live in freedom and they can overcome all the
  • 00:13:22.283 --> 00:13:25.987
  • Attacks of the enemy.
  • 00:13:25.987 --> 00:13:29.023
  • This is a possibility, church.
  • 00:13:29.023 --> 00:13:31.559
  • It's a different cadence, it's a different response.
  • 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:35.730
  • It's a response rooted in the gospel, it's not a response
  • 00:13:35.730 --> 00:13:38.867
  • Rooted in the secular self-help.
  • 00:13:38.867 --> 00:13:44.138
  • Look at isaiah 61:7, it says, "instead of their shame my
  • 00:13:44.138 --> 00:13:49.344
  • People will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace
  • 00:13:49.344 --> 00:13:52.747
  • They will rejoice in their inheritance; so they will
  • 00:13:52.747 --> 00:13:55.650
  • Inherit a double portion in their land."
  • 00:13:55.650 --> 00:13:57.318
  • In the place of shame, they can have a double portion of
  • 00:13:57.318 --> 00:14:00.355
  • God's grace.
  • 00:14:00.355 --> 00:14:02.323
  • Hebrews 12, some prefer the new testament, "let's fix our eyes
  • 00:14:02.323 --> 00:14:05.126
  • On jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for
  • 00:14:05.126 --> 00:14:08.263
  • The joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame."
  • 00:14:08.263 --> 00:14:13.001
  • Jesus could see joy in the face of humiliation.
  • 00:14:13.001 --> 00:14:17.772
  • In shame and hungry, thirsty and naked, in need of all things,
  • 00:14:17.772 --> 00:14:22.944
  • Hung on a cross like a common criminal with a--and he could
  • 00:14:22.944 --> 00:14:26.915
  • See the joy on the other side of it.
  • 00:14:26.915 --> 00:14:29.417
  • You see, we can't eliminate--if we're gonna make our journey
  • 00:14:29.417 --> 00:14:31.786
  • Through time, we're going to engage inappropriate behaviors,
  • 00:14:31.786 --> 00:14:34.923
  • Inappropriate responses.
  • 00:14:34.923 --> 00:14:36.724
  • We're going to have encounters with evil, it's a part of
  • 00:14:36.724 --> 00:14:39.460
  • The journey.
  • 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:41.262
  • What we can do to prepare ourselves is understand
  • 00:14:41.262 --> 00:14:43.798
  • God's provision.
  • 00:14:43.798 --> 00:14:46.134
  • You believe it about forgiveness, let's ask the holy
  • 00:14:46.134 --> 00:14:49.003
  • Spirit to help us believe it about rejection.
  • 00:14:49.003 --> 00:14:53.341
  • Isaiah 50 is a messianic prophecy, isaiah is writing
  • 00:14:53.341 --> 00:14:57.512
  • About the messiah.
  • 00:14:57.512 --> 00:14:59.414
  • Describing jesus, he said, "i offered my back to those who
  • 00:14:59.414 --> 00:15:02.483
  • Beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; i didn't
  • 00:15:02.483 --> 00:15:05.787
  • Hide my face from mocking and spitting."
  • 00:15:05.787 --> 00:15:08.923
  • Could we call that rejection?
  • 00:15:08.923 --> 00:15:11.359
  • I think so.
  • 00:15:11.359 --> 00:15:12.894
  • You see, the promise that if we took those simple passages, the
  • 00:15:12.894 --> 00:15:16.898
  • Promises that joy, honor, and glory are offered in place of
  • 00:15:16.898 --> 00:15:20.034
  • Shame and humiliation.
  • 00:15:20.034 --> 00:15:22.770
  • So we may walk through circumstances that are
  • 00:15:22.770 --> 00:15:24.806
  • Humiliating, we may walk through experiences where a response
  • 00:15:24.806 --> 00:15:30.278
  • Apart from god would seem to be an invitation to shame in our
  • 00:15:30.278 --> 00:15:34.082
  • Life, but the promise of scripture is that jesus
  • 00:15:34.082 --> 00:15:36.684
  • Exhausted those things so that you and i might find joy and
  • 00:15:36.684 --> 00:15:41.089
  • Honor and glory in the midst of those circumstances.
  • 00:15:41.089 --> 00:15:46.728
  • That we're not covered with shame because the god we serve
  • 00:15:46.728 --> 00:15:50.465
  • Has a plan for us, and at the moment, we may be walking
  • 00:15:50.465 --> 00:15:53.468
  • Through a shadowed valley or the shadow of the cross, but god
  • 00:15:53.468 --> 00:15:57.138
  • Will bring us through triumphantly.
  • 00:15:57.138 --> 00:15:58.639
  • He's bringing us out of that tomb.
  • 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:02.610
  • It is such an important message to put in your heart, jesus
  • 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:07.482
  • Suffered rejection.
  • 00:16:07.482 --> 00:16:09.851
  • He was rejected on two levels, he was rejected both by men and
  • 00:16:09.851 --> 00:16:13.521
  • He was rejected by god himself.
  • 00:16:13.521 --> 00:16:16.391
  • In isaiah 53, again, isaiah is talking about messiah, and he
  • 00:16:16.391 --> 00:16:20.328
  • Said, "he was despised and rejected by men, a man of
  • 00:16:20.328 --> 00:16:22.964
  • Sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
  • 00:16:22.964 --> 00:16:25.333
  • Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and
  • 00:16:25.333 --> 00:16:29.203
  • We esteemed him not."
  • 00:16:29.203 --> 00:16:31.606
  • See, jesus should have been celebrated, he should have
  • 00:16:31.606 --> 00:16:34.308
  • Been received.
  • 00:16:34.308 --> 00:16:35.676
  • He raised the dead and he made wine out of water, you would
  • 00:16:35.676 --> 00:16:40.148
  • Think he could get a party invitation, and instead he
  • 00:16:40.148 --> 00:16:45.219
  • Was crucified.
  • 00:16:45.219 --> 00:16:48.689
  • But his rejection didn't stop there.
  • 00:16:48.689 --> 00:16:50.224
  • In matthew 27, there's a little window, there's a little portal
  • 00:16:50.224 --> 00:16:53.961
  • Into jesus on the cross.
  • 00:16:53.961 --> 00:16:56.097
  • It says, "from the sixth hour until the ninth, darkness came
  • 00:16:56.097 --> 00:16:58.533
  • Over the land.
  • 00:16:58.533 --> 00:16:59.867
  • In the ninth hour jesus cried out, 'my god, my god, why have
  • 00:16:59.867 --> 00:17:03.171
  • You forsaken me?'"
  • 00:17:03.171 --> 00:17:04.539
  • He didn't know that feeling of being separate from god.
  • 00:17:07.542 --> 00:17:12.847
  • "some standing near him, they said, 'he's calling elijah.'
  • 00:17:16.284 --> 00:17:18.686
  • And immediately they ran and got a sponge and filled it with
  • 00:17:18.686 --> 00:17:20.888
  • Vinegar and put it on a stick.
  • 00:17:20.888 --> 00:17:23.291
  • 'leave him alone, let's see if elijah comes.'
  • 00:17:23.291 --> 00:17:26.394
  • When jesus cried out in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit and
  • 00:17:26.394 --> 00:17:29.097
  • The curtain of the temple was torn in two."
  • 00:17:29.097 --> 00:17:31.766
  • Do you know what that's referencing?
  • 00:17:31.766 --> 00:17:33.835
  • The temple was divided into segments.
  • 00:17:33.835 --> 00:17:37.038
  • There's the outer court where anybody could come, even
  • 00:17:37.038 --> 00:17:40.608
  • The gentiles.
  • 00:17:40.608 --> 00:17:41.943
  • But as you move towards the temple, it was consistently
  • 00:17:41.943 --> 00:17:46.013
  • Limiting the audience, first only to jews, and then only to
  • 00:17:46.013 --> 00:17:48.783
  • Jewish men, and then the temple proper only for the priests.
  • 00:17:48.783 --> 00:17:53.121
  • In the innermost section of the temple was the holy of holies,
  • 00:17:53.121 --> 00:17:56.858
  • And the only person that could enter the holy of holies was the
  • 00:17:56.858 --> 00:17:59.293
  • High priest, and he could only go once a year with the blood of
  • 00:17:59.293 --> 00:18:02.430
  • The passover lamb.
  • 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.665
  • It was in that holy of holies where the ark of the covenant
  • 00:18:04.665 --> 00:18:07.001
  • Was to dwell.
  • 00:18:07.001 --> 00:18:09.036
  • And what separated the holy of holies from the next outer
  • 00:18:09.036 --> 00:18:11.606
  • Chamber was this thick curtain.
  • 00:18:11.606 --> 00:18:14.909
  • And when jesus said, "it is finished," that curtain was torn
  • 00:18:14.909 --> 00:18:18.312
  • In two from the top to the bottom.
  • 00:18:18.312 --> 00:18:20.448
  • It was a message, it was a symbolic declaration that the
  • 00:18:23.718 --> 00:18:28.055
  • Way into the presence of god had been opened for all of us.
  • 00:18:28.055 --> 00:18:30.625
  • In the book of hebrews it says we can come boldly before the
  • 00:18:30.625 --> 00:18:33.728
  • Throne of grace to find mercy to help us in our time of need.
  • 00:18:33.728 --> 00:18:39.800
  • That's a powerful passage.
  • 00:18:39.800 --> 00:18:41.135
  • It's not in your notes, i didn't have any room.
  • 00:18:41.135 --> 00:18:43.070
  • I made the font so small i couldn't read it already.
  • 00:18:43.070 --> 00:18:47.808
  • But it says we can come boldly before the throne of grace to
  • 00:18:47.808 --> 00:18:51.179
  • Find mercy to help us in our time of need.
  • 00:18:51.179 --> 00:18:54.916
  • Not in our time of triumph or our time of righteousness, but
  • 00:18:54.916 --> 00:18:58.586
  • At those low points.
  • 00:18:58.586 --> 00:18:59.954
  • At those points of failure, at those points where we feel like
  • 00:18:59.954 --> 00:19:03.124
  • A failure, we can come boldly before the throne of grace, why?
  • 00:19:03.124 --> 00:19:08.462
  • Because jesus exhausted the curse.
  • 00:19:08.462 --> 00:19:14.235
  • We have lived below what jesus sacrificed for us to have.
  • 00:19:14.235 --> 00:19:18.940
  • We have bore the wounds and the shame and the mark of our
  • 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:22.443
  • Journey through time, when jesus made a sacrifice that we could
  • 00:19:22.443 --> 00:19:26.814
  • Have greater freedom.
  • 00:19:26.814 --> 00:19:28.182
  • Look at ephesians 1, paul's writing to a church,
  • 00:19:31.586 --> 00:19:35.256
  • To believers.
  • 00:19:35.256 --> 00:19:36.591
  • He said, "praise be to the god and father of our lord jesus
  • 00:19:36.591 --> 00:19:39.193
  • Christ, who's blessed us in the heavenly realms with every
  • 00:19:39.193 --> 00:19:42.396
  • Spiritual blessing in christ.
  • 00:19:42.396 --> 00:19:44.765
  • For he chose us in him."
  • 00:19:44.765 --> 00:19:47.134
  • Did you hear that?
  • 00:19:47.134 --> 00:19:48.502
  • He chose us.
  • 00:19:48.502 --> 00:19:49.837
  • Have you ever been left out, not selected, overlooked, bypassed?
  • 00:19:49.837 --> 00:19:57.645
  • You need to meditate on this, god chose us.
  • 00:19:57.645 --> 00:20:02.917
  • You can leave me off your stinking team.
  • 00:20:02.917 --> 00:20:04.819
  • If god chose me, it'd be all right.
  • 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:06.420
  • And i don't mean that in a haughty way.
  • 00:20:10.091 --> 00:20:12.693
  • But you need to meditate on that a bit, you need to walk around
  • 00:20:12.693 --> 00:20:15.396
  • With that.
  • 00:20:15.396 --> 00:20:16.731
  • You need to think about that.
  • 00:20:16.731 --> 00:20:18.099
  • You need to spend a few days walking around, god,
  • 00:20:18.099 --> 00:20:19.433
  • I just wanna thank you that you chose me.
  • 00:20:19.433 --> 00:20:22.336
  • You know the worst things about me, you know things about me
  • 00:20:22.336 --> 00:20:24.505
  • That if those people at church knew, they'd never sit next to
  • 00:20:24.505 --> 00:20:26.507
  • Me again.
  • 00:20:26.507 --> 00:20:29.243
  • God, there's nothing hidden from you, and you chose me.
  • 00:20:29.243 --> 00:20:32.613
  • I thank you that you chose me.
  • 00:20:32.613 --> 00:20:35.016
  • Oh god, thank you.
  • 00:20:35.016 --> 00:20:37.852
  • I thank you that you chose to show favor to me.
  • 00:20:37.852 --> 00:20:41.922
  • You could have shown punishment to me, anger to me, discipline
  • 00:20:41.922 --> 00:20:45.760
  • To me, you chose to show fa--thank you, god.
  • 00:20:45.760 --> 00:20:50.765
  • See, that--that's not an excuse for sloppy living, folks.
  • 00:20:50.765 --> 00:20:54.201
  • If you truly believe that it will bring more uprightness to
  • 00:20:54.201 --> 00:20:57.772
  • Your life than any message on grace i know, "he chose us in
  • 00:20:57.772 --> 00:21:04.045
  • Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless
  • 00:21:04.045 --> 00:21:08.749
  • In his sight."
  • 00:21:08.749 --> 00:21:11.018
  • There's no way.
  • 00:21:11.018 --> 00:21:12.386
  • We are neither holy nor blameless, only in christ could
  • 00:21:12.386 --> 00:21:16.824
  • That be our story, "in love he predestined us to be adopted as
  • 00:21:16.824 --> 00:21:24.365
  • His sons through jesus christ, in accordance with his pleasure
  • 00:21:24.365 --> 00:21:29.203
  • And will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he's
  • 00:21:29.203 --> 00:21:32.406
  • Freely given us in the one he loves."
  • 00:21:32.406 --> 00:21:35.009
  • You see, god's eternal purpose, from the opening chapter of
  • 00:21:35.009 --> 00:21:38.646
  • Genesis, is that you and i might become his children, in all of
  • 00:21:38.646 --> 00:21:45.720
  • Our rebellion and our godlessness.
  • 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:48.823
  • When jesus bore our sins and suffered our rejection, he
  • 00:21:48.823 --> 00:21:52.393
  • Made--we made--he made possible our acceptance as sons and
  • 00:21:52.393 --> 00:21:55.730
  • Daughters of god.
  • 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:58.065
  • So now we have a choice to make, what will we do with the
  • 00:21:58.065 --> 00:22:02.103
  • Experience of rejection?
  • 00:22:02.103 --> 00:22:05.539
  • Are we gonna build walls, we're gonna get angry, we're gonna
  • 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:10.578
  • Give in?
  • 00:22:10.578 --> 00:22:12.346
  • What are we gonna do?
  • 00:22:12.346 --> 00:22:14.749
  • Are we gonna give it to the lord and celebrate joyfully the fact
  • 00:22:14.749 --> 00:22:19.987
  • That he accepts us?
  • 00:22:19.987 --> 00:22:23.090
  • You see, if we can believe that, it changes everything.
  • 00:22:23.090 --> 00:22:28.095
  • Do you remember the story of the prodigal?
  • 00:22:28.095 --> 00:22:30.364
  • The young man that came to his father and demanded his
  • 00:22:30.364 --> 00:22:32.700
  • Inheritance, and the father gave it to him and the young man
  • 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:35.936
  • Spent it in the most ungodly ways.
  • 00:22:35.936 --> 00:22:38.239
  • He finds himself destitute, he finds himself feeding the pigs
  • 00:22:38.239 --> 00:22:42.443
  • And the only thing he has to eat is the slop he feeds the pigs.
  • 00:22:42.443 --> 00:22:45.646
  • Now for a young jewish man, that's about as low down as
  • 00:22:45.646 --> 00:22:47.915
  • It goes.
  • 00:22:47.915 --> 00:22:50.751
  • And it says that he came to himself and he said, "i'm gonna
  • 00:22:50.751 --> 00:22:53.154
  • Go back home and i'll say to my dad, 'i don't deserve to be
  • 00:22:53.154 --> 00:22:56.190
  • Your son.'"
  • 00:22:56.190 --> 00:22:57.925
  • But your servants--his servants are living better than i'm
  • 00:22:57.925 --> 00:23:01.829
  • Living, maybe i could be a servant in my father's house.
  • 00:23:01.829 --> 00:23:05.299
  • You know the story, it says, when he was still a long way
  • 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:07.334
  • Off, the father saw him and he ran to meet him.
  • 00:23:07.334 --> 00:23:11.939
  • And he said, "put the signet ring back on his finger,
  • 00:23:11.939 --> 00:23:14.108
  • Reinstate him in the family.
  • 00:23:14.108 --> 00:23:16.610
  • Put a robe on him, because my son that was dead is alive."
  • 00:23:16.610 --> 00:23:22.049
  • If you can believe that god will accept you, then you have
  • 00:23:22.049 --> 00:23:27.555
  • Something to process.
  • 00:23:27.555 --> 00:23:29.123
  • Are you going to give yourself the luxury of hatred and
  • 00:23:29.123 --> 00:23:31.625
  • Resentment and bitterness, or would you dare to believe that
  • 00:23:31.625 --> 00:23:36.597
  • God chose you?
  • 00:23:36.597 --> 00:23:40.801
  • God chose you.
  • 00:23:40.801 --> 00:23:44.505
  • If you can believe that, there's a freedom that comes to
  • 00:23:44.505 --> 00:23:46.607
  • Our life.
  • 00:23:46.607 --> 00:23:48.476
  • I brought you a prayer.
  • 00:23:48.476 --> 00:23:50.544
  • My time's up.
  • 00:23:50.544 --> 00:23:51.879
  • I'm gonna ask you to read it with me, why don't you stand?
  • 00:23:51.879 --> 00:23:55.483
  • It's a prayer i would give to you, not just for a moment at
  • 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:03.123
  • Church, it's worth making a part of your devotions for a
  • 00:24:03.123 --> 00:24:06.227
  • Few days.
  • 00:24:06.227 --> 00:24:07.728
  • I'd read it morning, evening and--morning, noon, and evening.
  • 00:24:07.728 --> 00:24:11.465
  • I would take it like spiritual medicine.
  • 00:24:11.465 --> 00:24:15.102
  • I would treat it as if it were more potent or more powerful
  • 00:24:15.102 --> 00:24:18.372
  • Than any pharmaceutical you could ingest.
  • 00:24:18.372 --> 00:24:21.675
  • I believe it holds greater potential to change your future
  • 00:24:21.675 --> 00:24:25.212
  • Than any chemical you could put in your body.
  • 00:24:25.212 --> 00:24:26.947
  • This is not a joke.
  • 00:24:30.084 --> 00:24:33.287
  • Spiritual forces aren't some mystical--they impact us
  • 00:24:33.287 --> 00:24:39.493
  • Physically and mentally, emotionally.
  • 00:24:39.493 --> 00:24:42.263
  • They shape our family systems and they write our futures.
  • 00:24:42.263 --> 00:24:46.100
  • God's made complete provision for us, but we've been
  • 00:24:46.100 --> 00:24:49.637
  • Very ambivalent.
  • 00:24:49.637 --> 00:24:52.506
  • Let's pray together.
  • 00:24:52.506 --> 00:24:54.141
  • Heavenly father, i thank you that you love me, that you gave
  • 00:24:54.141 --> 00:24:58.412
  • Jesus to die on my behalf, that he bore my sin, that he took my
  • 00:24:58.412 --> 00:25:03.784
  • Rejection, that he paid my penalty.
  • 00:25:03.784 --> 00:25:07.388
  • Because i come to you through him, i am not rejected, i am not
  • 00:25:07.388 --> 00:25:12.059
  • Unwanted, i am not excluded.
  • 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:15.296
  • You really love me.
  • 00:25:15.296 --> 00:25:17.031
  • I am really your child.
  • 00:25:17.031 --> 00:25:19.099
  • You are really my father.
  • 00:25:19.099 --> 00:25:21.235
  • I belong in your family.
  • 00:25:21.235 --> 00:25:23.337
  • I belong to the best family in the universe.
  • 00:25:23.337 --> 00:25:26.340
  • Heaven is my home.
  • 00:25:26.340 --> 00:25:28.175
  • Thank you, thank you.
  • 00:25:28.175 --> 00:25:31.745
  • You know, you may have--i mean, one half a beat and i'll let
  • 00:25:31.745 --> 00:25:34.415
  • You go.
  • 00:25:34.415 --> 00:25:35.783
  • You know, you may have unhappy memories of an earthly father,
  • 00:25:35.783 --> 00:25:38.986
  • Many people do.
  • 00:25:38.986 --> 00:25:40.854
  • But there is good news, you have a heavenly father who loves you,
  • 00:25:40.854 --> 00:25:44.491
  • Who accepts you, who welcomes you, who wants the best for you,
  • 00:25:44.491 --> 00:25:48.529
  • Who will never reject you or abandon you.
  • 00:25:48.529 --> 00:25:52.900
  • If you'll welcome him, he will write a new future for you.
  • 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:57.338
  • God bless you, we'll pick this up next time.
  • 00:25:57.338 --> 00:26:03.877
  • Allen: hey, i've got a question, what's "the eternal breath
  • 00:26:08.015 --> 00:26:10.417
  • Of life?"
  • 00:26:10.417 --> 00:26:12.019
  • Well, the answer is a new book my dad just wrote.
  • 00:26:12.019 --> 00:26:14.555
  • When i sat down to do a podcast with him and i was listening to
  • 00:26:14.555 --> 00:26:17.257
  • His story about how god had moved in his life and my
  • 00:26:17.257 --> 00:26:20.160
  • Family's life all the way up to the beginning of the church that
  • 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:22.529
  • I've served now for several decades, i was so reminded of
  • 00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:26.133
  • The purpose and the power of the spirit of god in our lives.
  • 00:26:26.133 --> 00:26:28.902
  • I asked him to put it in a book, that's what we're sharing
  • 00:26:28.902 --> 00:26:31.605
  • With you.
  • 00:26:31.605 --> 00:26:32.973
  • We all need god's help, we all face challenges.
  • 00:26:32.973 --> 00:26:34.942
  • Life's not easy no matter who you are, but the spirit of god
  • 00:26:34.942 --> 00:26:37.945
  • Is present within us to bring the power and purposes of god to
  • 00:26:37.945 --> 00:26:42.316
  • Bear in our lives.
  • 00:26:42.316 --> 00:26:44.051
  • I believe the book will be a blessing with--for you.
  • 00:26:44.051 --> 00:26:46.020
  • If you'll pair it with "unleashing the power of the
  • 00:26:46.020 --> 00:26:49.289
  • Holy spirit," one of the most effective tools we have, it'll
  • 00:26:49.289 --> 00:26:52.026
  • Give you a pathway that i believe will bring god's best
  • 00:26:52.026 --> 00:26:55.262
  • Into your family.
  • 00:26:55.262 --> 00:26:56.597
  • You may not plant a church, but you have been given the
  • 00:26:56.597 --> 00:26:58.732
  • Assignment as an ambassador for the kingdom of god, and we need
  • 00:26:58.732 --> 00:27:01.835
  • The help of the holy spirit.
  • 00:27:01.835 --> 00:27:03.604
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:27:03.604 --> 00:27:05.005
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:05.005 --> 00:27:11.912
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:14.281 --> 00:27:27.394