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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Lessons From David (Part 2)

September 1, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - Lessons From David (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Bible #RelationshipwithGod #Culture #Provision #Timing #TrustGod #SeekGod #Wilderness

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Lessons From David (Part 2) | September 1, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen jackson: hey, i sat down recently with my father to do a
  • 00:00:06.856 --> 00:00:09.259
  • 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.
  • 00:00:28.945 --> 00:00:30.914
  • It changed his life, my parents's life, ultimately
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  • My 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."
  • 00:00:41.091 --> 00:00:42.425
  • 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.
  • 00:00:44.828 --> 00:00:47.864
  • Together they'll open the doorway for you to not just have
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  • 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.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: if you are standing in the purposes of god, i would
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  • Tell you that the lesson, the message of scripture and from my
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  • Own life experience, god will provide what you need.
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  • And his timing and my timing,
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  • Not always fully aligned, but god will provide what you need.
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  • Now, if you wait to have all the provision you need for every
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  • Moment along the journey, you'll never start.
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  • You'll never begin.
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  • They didn't have any manna when they were still in egypt.
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  • They had to get into the wilderness.
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  • Moses didn't practice parting the red sea on the nile river
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  • Just for chuckles and grins.
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  • You see, you and i, we want to have such a mastery of all the
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  • Things that god will do that we never face those anxious moments
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  • That faith inevitably requires us to respond to god.
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  • What i'm inviting you is to an imagination of serving the lord
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  • In a way where you realize if the lord doesn't meet you, the
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  • Outcome is going to be awkward.
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  • Not foolish.
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  • We've had this conversation many times, folks, don't be foolish
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  • And blame god.
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  • When you're out of gas, don't pray for guidance.
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  • Get a gas station and some cash.
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  • If you're merging on the interstate, you don't need to be
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  • Led by the holy spirit, you need to look.
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  • Come on, i've driven with some of those weird people, but only
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  • Once, okay?
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  • And i'm not doing life with people that do that stuff.
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  • That's not faith, that's something else.
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  • We can talk about some of that another time if you want to, but
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  • God will provide, but his provision comes in real time.
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  • And so we take measured steps seeing the lord's provision.
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  • God gave david what he needed, whether it was a victory over
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  • Goliath or a commander of his armies with enough courage to
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  • Tell him something that nobody else would tell him.
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  • There's a third life lesson from david,
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  • And that's that life presents battles in each season.
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  • You know the david and goliath narrative, most of us learned
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  • That in sunday school as children.
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  • The battle with david and saul.
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  • I mean, he comes away from the battlefield with goliath and
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  • They're celebrating david.
  • 00:03:40.737 --> 00:03:42.071
  • They said saul has slain his thousands, but david is tens
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  • Of thousands.
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  • Well, that puts him on a collision course: the egos of
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  • Leadership at that level.
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  • I mean, it takes more than a decade for david to win that.
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  • He lives as a fugitive.
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  • He hides in caves, he does all sorts of stuff
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  • Nobody wants to do.
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  • We'll look at a few of them.
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  • Then there's david and bathsheba.
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  • There's a whole different kind of a battle there.
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  • This isn't on the--david was a pretty good military tactician.
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  • His courage, but he lost that battle with bathsheba.
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  • Cost him a great deal.
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  • And he had battles within his own family.
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  • He had a son who raped his half-sister.
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  • His one son, absalom, led a revolt against him.
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  • I put some passages in your notes.
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  • 1 samuel 19: "saul tried to pin david to the wall with his
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  • Spear, but david eluded him as saul drove the spear into
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  • The wall."
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  • God anointed him to be king, and he left saul in place.
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  • Does that make anybody else here uncomfortable?
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  • I have to recalibrate what it means to serve the lord.
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  • I want you to be an influence where you work.
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  • Well, they've told me i can't mention my faith.
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  • You think god said, "oh, well, in that case"?
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  • Just...
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  • No, i don't think so.
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  • 2 samuel 11: "one evening david got up from his bed and walked
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  • Around on the roof of the palace.
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  • And from the roof he saw a woman bathing.
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  • The woman was very beautiful, and david sent
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  • Someone to find out about her."
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  • There's a whole series of mistakes there.
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  • "the man says, 'isn't it bathsheba, the daughter of
  • 00:05:34.417 --> 00:05:36.753
  • Somebody and the wife of somebody else?'"
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  • And david not only commits adultery, he
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  • Orchestrates murder.
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  • I'm telling you, there's battles in every season.
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  • 2 samuel 15: "in the course of time, absalom," this is david's
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  • Own son, whom david has restored over the advice of counsel,
  • 00:05:58.474 --> 00:06:05.415
  • "provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to
  • 00:06:05.415 --> 00:06:08.584
  • Run ahead of him," there's warnings.
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  • "he would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading
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  • To the city gate.
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  • Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before
  • 00:06:15.625 --> 00:06:17.794
  • The king for a decision, absalom would call out, 'what town are
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  • You from?'
  • 00:06:20.696 --> 00:06:22.031
  • 'your servant is from one of the tribes of israel.'
  • 00:06:22.031 --> 00:06:25.101
  • And absalom would say, 'your claims are valid and proper, but
  • 00:06:25.101 --> 00:06:28.304
  • There's no representative of the king to hear you.'"
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  • Do you know the hebrew word for that behavior?
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  • Slime ball.
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  • I'll have to spell it later, but it's--imagine doing that to
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  • Your own family.
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  • He would have killed his father.
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  • That's a battle.
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  • After goliath and overcoming the drama with bathsheba and the
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  • Turmoil in his family, every season of david's life there are
  • 00:07:02.004 --> 00:07:08.244
  • Challenges to be faced.
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  • I point that out because i don't think we live with
  • 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:12.348
  • That expectation.
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  • I think we're disheartened, i think we're frustrated, i think
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  • We imagine that god has withdrawn from us or sometimes
  • 00:07:19.956 --> 00:07:23.559
  • People say to me, you know, "i'm just tired of this.
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  • I don't wanna do this anymore."
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  • Oh, i'm sorry, i didn't realize we got to pull that lever.
  • 00:07:27.563 --> 00:07:32.535
  • I mean, jesus wrestled with that: "father, i don't want to
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  • Do this," he said in gethsemane.
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  • "i really don't," i believe he was sincere.
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  • But he said, "nevertheless not my will."
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  • What did it say about david?
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  • God--he would do whatever god asked him to do.
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  • Folks, every season of this journey we're gonna
  • 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:53.422
  • Have to be overcomers.
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  • There's things to be overcome if you're a teenager.
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  • There's things to be overcome if you're a new parent.
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  • There's things to be overcome if you're an empty nester.
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  • There's things to be overcome as you approach the end of life.
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  • There are things to be overcome.
  • 00:08:04.534 --> 00:08:06.302
  • What are we gonna do with that?
  • 00:08:06.302 --> 00:08:10.273
  • I'm grateful you've got a baptism certificate.
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  • What are you doing to be an overcomer for the purposes of
  • 00:08:12.708 --> 00:08:15.411
  • The kingdom of god today?
  • 00:08:15.411 --> 00:08:17.246
  • It's one of the lessons from david.
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  • It's true in jesus's life.
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  • I didn't bring you all the scriptures because this is
  • 00:08:22.785 --> 00:08:24.320
  • Lessons from david, maybe we'll do lessons from jesus later.
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  • But i mean, when he's an infant, they kill all the babies
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  • In bethlehem.
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  • Mary and joseph run to egypt.
  • 00:08:35.064 --> 00:08:36.766
  • They believed gabriel.
  • 00:08:36.766 --> 00:08:38.601
  • They accepted the assignment, and they
  • 00:08:38.601 --> 00:08:41.304
  • Had to run for their lives.
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  • That bugs me.
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  • I mean doesn't bug me 'cause i think god's wrong.
  • 00:08:46.208 --> 00:08:48.277
  • I just think, oh, really?
  • 00:08:48.277 --> 00:08:52.782
  • I mean, i'm thinking like an immaculate conception and a
  • 00:08:52.782 --> 00:08:55.384
  • Virgin birth and the heavenly host and the shepherds's field
  • 00:08:55.384 --> 00:08:59.088
  • And wide-eyed shepherds and wise men and gifts.
  • 00:08:59.088 --> 00:09:04.026
  • Surely, you could distract herod.
  • 00:09:04.026 --> 00:09:09.498
  • No, i think i'm gonna send you to egypt.
  • 00:09:09.498 --> 00:09:15.504
  • And when he's 12, he's in the temple talking to the priest,
  • 00:09:15.504 --> 00:09:19.508
  • And mary and joseph are a little torqued.
  • 00:09:19.508 --> 00:09:23.512
  • You know, "hey pop, could you communicate with
  • 00:09:23.512 --> 00:09:25.781
  • The babysitters?"
  • 00:09:25.781 --> 00:09:29.685
  • And when he begins his public ministry, there's a consistent
  • 00:09:29.685 --> 00:09:35.124
  • Drum roll of challenges.
  • 00:09:35.124 --> 00:09:38.394
  • He's baptized and god says, "this is my son," and then he
  • 00:09:38.394 --> 00:09:41.731
  • Goes into the wilderness and the devil himself comes to
  • 00:09:41.731 --> 00:09:44.266
  • Tempt him.
  • 00:09:44.266 --> 00:09:46.569
  • He goes to nazareth, his hometown.
  • 00:09:46.569 --> 00:09:48.804
  • There's got to be some anticipation of that.
  • 00:09:48.804 --> 00:09:50.573
  • He knows these people.
  • 00:09:50.573 --> 00:09:52.508
  • He's eaten at their tables.
  • 00:09:52.508 --> 00:09:53.843
  • He's been in synagogue with them.
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  • He's played soccer with the kids.
  • 00:09:55.411 --> 00:09:57.313
  • I mean, he knows these people.
  • 00:09:57.313 --> 00:10:00.983
  • And they wanna kill him.
  • 00:10:00.983 --> 00:10:04.120
  • And in jerusalem, he's with the leaders of the people, the
  • 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.589
  • Biblical scholars, they should know that he's the fulfillment
  • 00:10:06.589 --> 00:10:09.725
  • Of the prophets.
  • 00:10:09.725 --> 00:10:11.060
  • I mean, they understand.
  • 00:10:11.060 --> 00:10:13.429
  • And they want nothing to do with him.
  • 00:10:13.429 --> 00:10:16.165
  • Every season, as we grow and mature with the lord, and god
  • 00:10:16.165 --> 00:10:21.203
  • Can trust us with assignments.
  • 00:10:21.203 --> 00:10:24.340
  • Are we willing to overcome?
  • 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:27.376
  • Or do we have this mentality, "no, i've already done that.
  • 00:10:27.376 --> 00:10:30.579
  • I did that.
  • 00:10:30.579 --> 00:10:32.448
  • I did that for a little while, but now let somebody
  • 00:10:32.448 --> 00:10:34.583
  • Else do that."
  • 00:10:34.583 --> 00:10:35.918
  • Oh, really? would you tap out?
  • 00:10:35.918 --> 00:10:42.324
  • What has happened to us, church?
  • 00:10:42.324 --> 00:10:44.193
  • Are you paying attention?
  • 00:10:44.193 --> 00:10:45.528
  • Do you know what's happening in our world?
  • 00:10:45.528 --> 00:10:49.899
  • Do you understand if the momentum of the direction we are
  • 00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:52.568
  • Traveling isn't blunted and a new direction isn't charted, our
  • 00:10:52.568 --> 00:10:57.106
  • Children will lose their freedoms?
  • 00:10:57.106 --> 00:11:00.776
  • I don't mean decades from now.
  • 00:11:00.776 --> 00:11:02.311
  • Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.aberdeen.io
  • 00:11:03.612 --> 00:11:09.652
  • Allen: hey, i sat down with my father recently and did
  • 00:11:09.719 --> 00:11:11.687
  • A podcast.
  • 00:11:11.687 --> 00:11:13.055
  • He told the story of how he came to faith, how god transformed
  • 00:11:13.055 --> 00:11:15.458
  • Our family.
  • 00:11:15.458 --> 00:11:16.792
  • They started a home bible study, all the way up to the beginning
  • 00:11:16.792 --> 00:11:18.627
  • Of this church that i've served now for decades.
  • 00:11:18.627 --> 00:11:21.464
  • As i listened, the heart of it was the work of the holy spirit
  • 00:11:21.464 --> 00:11:24.200
  • In his life and through his life.
  • 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:26.335
  • I asked him to do a book around the topic, and we have it so
  • 00:11:26.335 --> 00:11:29.772
  • That you can invite the spirit of god to be the dynamic
  • 00:11:29.772 --> 00:11:32.675
  • Presence of the power of god to bring change and life and hope,
  • 00:11:32.675 --> 00:11:36.846
  • No matter what the circumstances.
  • 00:11:36.846 --> 00:11:38.647
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:11:38.647 --> 00:11:40.015
  • Female announcer: experience the holy spirit in a deeper way with
  • 00:11:40.015 --> 00:11:42.485
  • This new book by pastor allen's dad, "the eternal
  • 00:11:42.485 --> 00:11:45.354
  • Breath of life."
  • 00:11:45.354 --> 00:11:46.889
  • Request your copy when you donate any amount today, and
  • 00:11:46.889 --> 00:11:50.059
  • When you give $50 or more, you can also request "unleashing the
  • 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:54.130
  • Power of the holy spirit."
  • 00:11:54.130 --> 00:11:55.898
  • It's a collection of pastor allen's sermons that will help
  • 00:11:55.898 --> 00:11:58.501
  • You understand the holy spirit in new ways.
  • 00:11:58.501 --> 00:12:01.437
  • Request yours today at allenjackson.com or
  • 00:12:01.437 --> 00:12:04.440
  • By calling...
  • 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.811
  • Allen: there's battles in all those seasons.
  • 00:12:10.212 --> 00:12:12.114
  • The fourth one is the obvious follow-up to that.
  • 00:12:12.114 --> 00:12:14.817
  • We've got to commit to learning about god and his kingdom.
  • 00:12:14.817 --> 00:12:18.454
  • David certainly did that.
  • 00:12:18.454 --> 00:12:21.423
  • This scrawny little kid that knew how to sling a stone in a
  • 00:12:21.423 --> 00:12:25.594
  • Straight line has to become the leader of the nation.
  • 00:12:25.594 --> 00:12:30.733
  • I mean, there's some brilliant, brilliant tactical moves that
  • 00:12:30.733 --> 00:12:34.336
  • David engineers.
  • 00:12:34.336 --> 00:12:36.372
  • Choosing jerusalem to be the capital of israel, jerusalem
  • 00:12:36.372 --> 00:12:39.375
  • Wasn't under the authority of any of the 12 tribes.
  • 00:12:39.375 --> 00:12:42.678
  • If he'd had chosen any city in any of the tribal areas, it
  • 00:12:42.678 --> 00:12:46.248
  • Would have brought tribal angst and battles and confusion.
  • 00:12:46.248 --> 00:12:50.352
  • He chose an independent city to be the capital.
  • 00:12:50.352 --> 00:12:54.723
  • Much like we have the district of columbia
  • 00:12:54.723 --> 00:12:56.559
  • Where our capital is.
  • 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:57.893
  • Imagine if the us capitol was in nashville.
  • 00:12:57.893 --> 00:13:01.964
  • Well, the national anthem would have to start with a good
  • 00:13:01.964 --> 00:13:04.033
  • Country riff.
  • 00:13:04.033 --> 00:13:10.172
  • I mean, there are so many things david had to learn and grow into
  • 00:13:10.172 --> 00:13:15.578
  • To follow the lord.
  • 00:13:15.578 --> 00:13:19.548
  • What did god say about him again?
  • 00:13:19.548 --> 00:13:21.016
  • "he'll do whatever i ask him to do."
  • 00:13:21.016 --> 00:13:23.619
  • Don't you want that to be said of you?
  • 00:13:23.619 --> 00:13:26.589
  • I don't want them just to say in heaven, "you know, allen
  • 00:13:26.589 --> 00:13:28.624
  • Said the sinner's prayer.
  • 00:13:28.624 --> 00:13:31.827
  • Bless his--you know, he was baptized when he was nine.
  • 00:13:31.827 --> 00:13:35.164
  • They have the picture on the wall in heaven.
  • 00:13:35.164 --> 00:13:37.366
  • It was in the atlantic.
  • 00:13:37.366 --> 00:13:40.336
  • It was kind of stormy that day, they almost drowned the poor
  • 00:13:40.336 --> 00:13:42.738
  • Child on his way to the baptism.
  • 00:13:42.738 --> 00:13:47.509
  • And you know, since then he's pretty much just sat on his good
  • 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:50.112
  • Intentions, bless his heart."
  • 00:13:50.112 --> 00:13:54.416
  • I don't want that to be my legacy.
  • 00:13:54.416 --> 00:13:57.519
  • I want to do what the lord wants done, most of the time.
  • 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:01.924
  • And i'm working on the rest.
  • 00:14:01.924 --> 00:14:05.094
  • I don't think we've had that imagination.
  • 00:14:05.094 --> 00:14:08.030
  • "well, i go to church, what do you want me to do?
  • 00:14:08.030 --> 00:14:11.133
  • Jeez.
  • 00:14:11.133 --> 00:14:15.404
  • I mean, i came to the building.
  • 00:14:15.404 --> 00:14:18.841
  • I parked, what, three counties away?
  • 00:14:18.841 --> 00:14:23.512
  • I was so weak by the time i got in.
  • 00:14:23.512 --> 00:14:29.051
  • And somebody was in my seat.
  • 00:14:29.051 --> 00:14:33.856
  • Then pastor said i couldn't bring my pets.
  • 00:14:33.856 --> 00:14:37.860
  • I don't know if i can take it anymore."
  • 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:43.365
  • Well, when you get to heaven, you go hug david, give him your
  • 00:14:43.365 --> 00:14:47.169
  • Report and then run.
  • 00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:50.606
  • And pray that he's mellowed.
  • 00:14:50.606 --> 00:14:55.344
  • Folks, we have to keep learning and growing and maturing.
  • 00:14:55.344 --> 00:15:00.282
  • We can't use these lines, like, "well, that's not how
  • 00:15:00.282 --> 00:15:02.451
  • I believe."
  • 00:15:02.451 --> 00:15:03.819
  • Is it in the bible?
  • 00:15:03.819 --> 00:15:07.623
  • We should be able to talk about the growth edge of our faith.
  • 00:15:07.623 --> 00:15:11.327
  • What's god doing?
  • 00:15:11.327 --> 00:15:13.262
  • How's it emerging?
  • 00:15:13.262 --> 00:15:14.596
  • How's it changing?
  • 00:15:14.596 --> 00:15:18.867
  • There's just some simple points i put in there about learning.
  • 00:15:18.867 --> 00:15:21.603
  • Learn the nature of spiritual conflict.
  • 00:15:21.603 --> 00:15:24.106
  • Learn about it.
  • 00:15:24.106 --> 00:15:25.908
  • I'm amazed at the christians: "i mean, i just don't know if i
  • 00:15:25.908 --> 00:15:27.943
  • Believe in demons."
  • 00:15:27.943 --> 00:15:29.311
  • Really, well, spoiler alert, jesus did.
  • 00:15:29.311 --> 00:15:36.785
  • Jesus did, and he's the boss.
  • 00:15:36.785 --> 00:15:41.156
  • He created the place.
  • 00:15:41.156 --> 00:15:43.692
  • "well, now in the first century, people were more--less
  • 00:15:43.692 --> 00:15:49.331
  • Sophisticated, and so they used spiritual explanations
  • 00:15:49.331 --> 00:15:53.369
  • For things."
  • 00:15:53.369 --> 00:15:55.537
  • Okay, let me see if i understand this correctly.
  • 00:15:55.537 --> 00:15:58.507
  • You just called the creator of heaven and earth and your savior
  • 00:15:58.507 --> 00:16:01.343
  • A dummy.
  • 00:16:01.343 --> 00:16:06.015
  • I wouldn't wear that t-shirt.
  • 00:16:06.015 --> 00:16:09.685
  • It might be rapture time and you'd be wearing that when you
  • 00:16:09.685 --> 00:16:11.787
  • Meet the boss and that it's gonna be awkward.
  • 00:16:11.787 --> 00:16:15.024
  • So perhaps we learn the nature of spiritual conflict.
  • 00:16:15.024 --> 00:16:19.928
  • Gain confidence in the authority you have in christ.
  • 00:16:19.928 --> 00:16:23.332
  • The only way you gain confidence is by beginning to let it inform
  • 00:16:23.332 --> 00:16:27.536
  • Your experience, your behavior, and you gain experience and from
  • 00:16:27.536 --> 00:16:30.472
  • That you gain confidence.
  • 00:16:30.472 --> 00:16:32.841
  • Develop an awareness of the holy spirit.
  • 00:16:32.841 --> 00:16:36.245
  • I don't mean just language around it.
  • 00:16:36.245 --> 00:16:38.013
  • Every denomination i know has beautiful language, almost
  • 00:16:38.013 --> 00:16:41.784
  • Without exception, around the person of the holy spirit, but
  • 00:16:41.784 --> 00:16:44.286
  • Most lack any intent whatsoever of welcoming him into
  • 00:16:44.286 --> 00:16:47.389
  • Their behaviors.
  • 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:51.126
  • And finally, treasure those learning seasons.
  • 00:16:51.126 --> 00:16:54.863
  • They're still valuable.
  • 00:16:54.863 --> 00:16:57.266
  • It's unfortunate, you know, when children start to school they
  • 00:16:57.266 --> 00:17:00.569
  • Like it.
  • 00:17:00.569 --> 00:17:04.840
  • We have to--we demotivate them.
  • 00:17:04.840 --> 00:17:11.046
  • That's another sermon.
  • 00:17:11.046 --> 00:17:12.414
  • Ephesians 6:12, it's there: "for our struggle isn't against flesh
  • 00:17:12.414 --> 00:17:15.050
  • And blood, but against rulers and authorities, against the
  • 00:17:15.050 --> 00:17:18.420
  • Powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of
  • 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:20.956
  • Evil in the heavenly realms."
  • 00:17:20.956 --> 00:17:23.625
  • The question i'm asked 100 to 1 over anything else i've told you
  • 00:17:23.625 --> 00:17:26.495
  • Is, "what can we do?"
  • 00:17:26.495 --> 00:17:27.863
  • You know why we ask that question?
  • 00:17:27.863 --> 00:17:29.198
  • We have so little awareness of spiritual conflict.
  • 00:17:29.198 --> 00:17:32.634
  • You can pray, you can become an intercessor.
  • 00:17:32.634 --> 00:17:38.073
  • "well, yeah, i mean, i know, but what can i do?"
  • 00:17:38.073 --> 00:17:39.708
  • You can pray until god gives you an assignment.
  • 00:17:39.708 --> 00:17:46.582
  • And then when you recognize that evil is being expressed in your
  • 00:17:46.582 --> 00:17:49.885
  • Arena and there's a place where your voice can make a
  • 00:17:49.885 --> 00:17:51.587
  • Difference, then you don't need direction, you go use
  • 00:17:51.587 --> 00:17:53.722
  • Your voice.
  • 00:17:53.722 --> 00:17:56.158
  • That's wrong.
  • 00:17:56.158 --> 00:17:57.726
  • "well, i mean, i didn't mean like that.
  • 00:17:57.726 --> 00:17:59.061
  • That could, like, lead to conflict."
  • 00:17:59.061 --> 00:18:04.299
  • Oh, you were accepting the assignment to be the ambassador
  • 00:18:04.299 --> 00:18:09.238
  • For all peaceful resolutions.
  • 00:18:09.238 --> 00:18:14.510
  • 1 peter 5:7: "cast all your anxiety on him.
  • 00:18:14.510 --> 00:18:17.112
  • He cares for you.
  • 00:18:17.112 --> 00:18:18.780
  • Be self-controlled and alert.
  • 00:18:18.780 --> 00:18:21.350
  • Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion
  • 00:18:21.350 --> 00:18:23.986
  • Looking for someone to devour.
  • 00:18:23.986 --> 00:18:25.354
  • Resist him, standing firm in the faith."
  • 00:18:25.354 --> 00:18:28.257
  • You can't resist the devil unless you're standing in
  • 00:18:28.257 --> 00:18:30.325
  • Your faith.
  • 00:18:30.325 --> 00:18:31.660
  • You can't resist the devil from a platform of disobedience.
  • 00:18:31.660 --> 00:18:35.497
  • You can't practice sin and resist the devil.
  • 00:18:35.497 --> 00:18:37.699
  • He has a legal right to you.
  • 00:18:37.699 --> 00:18:41.537
  • "because you know that your brothers throughout the world
  • 00:18:41.537 --> 00:18:43.405
  • Are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
  • 00:18:43.405 --> 00:18:46.275
  • That's a little how-to manual for a learning season: "cast all
  • 00:18:46.275 --> 00:18:50.279
  • Your anxiety on the lord."
  • 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.415
  • That's not easy to do.
  • 00:18:53.415 --> 00:18:55.851
  • "be self-controlled and alert."
  • 00:18:55.851 --> 00:18:57.386
  • I promise that's not easy to do.
  • 00:18:57.386 --> 00:19:02.191
  • Do you know self-control is one of the fruit of the spirit?
  • 00:19:02.191 --> 00:19:10.098
  • And finally, and my time, i did not do a good job.
  • 00:19:10.098 --> 00:19:16.572
  • Because i think we have to, from david's life, there's a lesson
  • 00:19:16.572 --> 00:19:19.107
  • To be learned that you're gonna face rejection often in the
  • 00:19:19.107 --> 00:19:21.176
  • Midst of god's purposes.
  • 00:19:21.176 --> 00:19:24.613
  • From the time david went to see his brothers at the battle lines
  • 00:19:24.613 --> 00:19:29.952
  • Before he faced goliath, his brothers were mocking him.
  • 00:19:29.952 --> 00:19:33.422
  • I mean, he has very--the only reason he gets a spot in the
  • 00:19:33.422 --> 00:19:35.958
  • Battlefield is everybody else is terrified.
  • 00:19:35.958 --> 00:19:40.462
  • But the rejection follows him right through.
  • 00:19:40.462 --> 00:19:42.431
  • Saul certainly doesn't want him to be king.
  • 00:19:42.431 --> 00:19:45.801
  • Many of the tribes don't want him to be king.
  • 00:19:45.801 --> 00:19:47.436
  • There's a physical civil war after saul's death.
  • 00:19:47.436 --> 00:19:51.206
  • There's not just, like, a coronation parade.
  • 00:19:51.206 --> 00:19:55.043
  • His son leads rebellion against him.
  • 00:19:55.043 --> 00:19:56.979
  • I mean, there's a consistent-- there's one snapshot in 1 samuel
  • 00:19:56.979 --> 00:20:01.283
  • 22 that i think highlights this so beautifully.
  • 00:20:01.283 --> 00:20:04.620
  • "david left gath," he's had to go live with the philistines
  • 00:20:04.620 --> 00:20:07.222
  • 'cause it's not safe for him to live amongst his own people
  • 00:20:07.222 --> 00:20:10.359
  • Because of the anointing of god on his life.
  • 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:15.264
  • Are you tracking with him?
  • 00:20:15.264 --> 00:20:17.566
  • Do you understand how far we've drifted from this?
  • 00:20:17.566 --> 00:20:22.437
  • So he leaves gath, and he escaped to the cave.
  • 00:20:22.437 --> 00:20:28.443
  • So he left his enemies and he's living in a cave.
  • 00:20:28.443 --> 00:20:31.580
  • I don't--i guess that's an upgrade.
  • 00:20:31.580 --> 00:20:34.316
  • "when his brothers and his father's household heard about
  • 00:20:34.316 --> 00:20:36.618
  • It, they went down to him."
  • 00:20:36.618 --> 00:20:38.987
  • And then there's gonna be a group of people migrate
  • 00:20:38.987 --> 00:20:41.056
  • Towards david, listen to their description.
  • 00:20:41.056 --> 00:20:42.991
  • "all those who were in distress or in debt or discontented
  • 00:20:42.991 --> 00:20:47.362
  • Gathered around him," oh, wonderful.
  • 00:20:47.362 --> 00:20:50.899
  • "and he became their leader.
  • 00:20:50.899 --> 00:20:57.005
  • About four hundred men were with him, and from there david went
  • 00:20:57.005 --> 00:21:00.008
  • To mizpah in moab," which is a country across the jordan river,
  • 00:21:00.008 --> 00:21:05.013
  • "and he said to the king, 'would you let my father and my mother
  • 00:21:05.013 --> 00:21:08.650
  • Come and stay with you until i learn what god will do for me?'
  • 00:21:08.650 --> 00:21:12.788
  • So he left them with the king of moab.
  • 00:21:12.788 --> 00:21:15.757
  • And they stayed with him as long as david was in the stronghold."
  • 00:21:15.757 --> 00:21:19.094
  • David had to take his place-- his parents to another nation to
  • 00:21:19.094 --> 00:21:25.600
  • Be safe.
  • 00:21:25.600 --> 00:21:27.202
  • He said, "i don't know when i'll be back.
  • 00:21:27.202 --> 00:21:30.238
  • I don't know what god's going to do."
  • 00:21:30.238 --> 00:21:34.843
  • "but the prophet came to david and said, 'you can't stay in the
  • 00:21:34.843 --> 00:21:39.147
  • Stronghold,'" in the place where you feel safe, "'you've got to
  • 00:21:39.147 --> 00:21:41.817
  • Go into the land of judah.'"
  • 00:21:41.817 --> 00:21:44.920
  • Now, if you're taking notes, david escaped the philistines
  • 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.556
  • And he lived in a cave.
  • 00:21:47.556 --> 00:21:50.592
  • And when he did that, god sent men to help him, and he sent men
  • 00:21:50.592 --> 00:21:54.162
  • In distress, men in debt, and men that were discontented.
  • 00:21:54.162 --> 00:21:59.534
  • And he had to take his parents to a foreign king and say, "will
  • 00:21:59.534 --> 00:22:02.270
  • You protect them," a godless king, a king who didn't worship
  • 00:22:02.270 --> 00:22:05.674
  • The god of abraham, isaac, and jacob.
  • 00:22:05.674 --> 00:22:08.543
  • David, the anointed man of god, the man after god's own heart.
  • 00:22:08.543 --> 00:22:13.348
  • Do you think that would cause some internal turmoil?
  • 00:22:13.348 --> 00:22:19.254
  • And finally, the prophet came and said, "you can't stay in a
  • 00:22:19.254 --> 00:22:21.723
  • Safe place.
  • 00:22:21.723 --> 00:22:23.158
  • You gotta go back into judah, right in the heart of
  • 00:22:23.158 --> 00:22:25.560
  • The conflict."
  • 00:22:25.560 --> 00:22:28.897
  • If i have to describe it, david's unwanted, he's hunted,
  • 00:22:28.897 --> 00:22:32.100
  • He's unwelcome, he's the perpetual outsider whether he's
  • 00:22:32.100 --> 00:22:36.037
  • With the king of moab or the philistine king.
  • 00:22:36.037 --> 00:22:39.841
  • If you got to summarize all those words, the best word i
  • 00:22:39.841 --> 00:22:42.210
  • Know is he's rejected.
  • 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:47.182
  • In the next session i'm gonna pick up this idea a little more
  • 00:22:47.182 --> 00:22:50.185
  • Fully, but i at least want to table for our discussion that
  • 00:22:50.185 --> 00:22:55.824
  • Following god, the purposes of god, the plans of god, with the
  • 00:22:55.824 --> 00:23:00.462
  • Anointing of god and god-directed outcomes can lead
  • 00:23:00.462 --> 00:23:05.233
  • You through seasons where there is resistance.
  • 00:23:05.233 --> 00:23:10.372
  • And you will be excluded.
  • 00:23:10.372 --> 00:23:13.375
  • And you won't always be celebrated.
  • 00:23:13.375 --> 00:23:16.278
  • But follow god anyway.
  • 00:23:16.278 --> 00:23:18.647
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:23:18.647 --> 00:23:23.285
  • And i would ask you to reject the notion that following god is
  • 00:23:23.285 --> 00:23:27.456
  • About a singular experience.
  • 00:23:27.456 --> 00:23:30.358
  • I believe in the new birth and conversion and salvation, but i
  • 00:23:30.358 --> 00:23:34.229
  • Believe that birth, that spiritual birth into the kingdom
  • 00:23:34.229 --> 00:23:37.799
  • Is to enable us to be faithful followers, to take up our
  • 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:44.406
  • Crosses daily.
  • 00:23:44.406 --> 00:23:47.776
  • So i brought you a prayer.
  • 00:23:47.776 --> 00:23:50.812
  • And it's really a proclamation, a declaration of intent.
  • 00:23:50.812 --> 00:23:55.116
  • And i'm--spoiler alert, i concluded it differently.
  • 00:23:55.116 --> 00:23:58.019
  • Rather than concluding it with amen, we're gonna conclude it by
  • 00:23:58.019 --> 00:24:00.889
  • Saying, "thank you."
  • 00:24:00.889 --> 00:24:05.627
  • You know, sometimes you have to make a choice with your emotions
  • 00:24:05.627 --> 00:24:08.296
  • Before your feelings get there.
  • 00:24:08.296 --> 00:24:11.700
  • So we're about ready to say to the lord, i'm up for this.
  • 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.237
  • And then we're gonna say thank you.
  • 00:24:15.237 --> 00:24:17.839
  • And if you don't feel like thank you, offer thank you as an
  • 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:20.675
  • Expression of faith.
  • 00:24:20.675 --> 00:24:27.415
  • Why don't you stand with me for this?
  • 00:24:27.415 --> 00:24:35.056
  • You know, i still--i fix my own outlines and then i send them to
  • 00:24:35.056 --> 00:24:39.327
  • Some really clever people who format them.
  • 00:24:39.327 --> 00:24:42.831
  • And they sent me a note this afternoon and said, "you didn't
  • 00:24:42.831 --> 00:24:44.833
  • End your prayer right."
  • 00:24:44.833 --> 00:24:50.272
  • Yeah, because sometimes, thank god, they catch my--if they
  • 00:24:50.272 --> 00:24:54.409
  • Didn't proofread, my outlines would be exciting.
  • 00:24:54.409 --> 00:25:01.449
  • And i said, "yeah, it's okay, we don't need an amen," and they
  • 00:25:01.449 --> 00:25:03.919
  • Came because i had two thank yous there.
  • 00:25:03.919 --> 00:25:06.154
  • Then they came back and said, "well, there's two thank yous."
  • 00:25:06.154 --> 00:25:10.926
  • And i said, "thank you."
  • 00:25:10.926 --> 00:25:12.561
  • [congregation laughing]
  • 00:25:12.561 --> 00:25:16.131
  • So i knew that, you know, it's wonderful to--i mean, we like
  • 00:25:16.131 --> 00:25:20.435
  • Our seats.
  • 00:25:20.435 --> 00:25:22.237
  • And it's hard to proofread for somebody that's half crazy.
  • 00:25:22.237 --> 00:25:25.840
  • So you should pray for those people that have to help, but
  • 00:25:25.840 --> 00:25:28.376
  • Let's read this prayer.
  • 00:25:28.376 --> 00:25:30.045
  • "heavenly father, i thank you that you love me, that you gave
  • 00:25:30.045 --> 00:25:34.716
  • Jesus to die on my behalf, that he bore my sin, that he took my
  • 00:25:34.716 --> 00:25:39.988
  • Rejection, that he paid my penalty.
  • 00:25:39.988 --> 00:25:43.625
  • Because i come to you through him, i am not rejected, i am not
  • 00:25:43.625 --> 00:25:48.430
  • Unwanted, i am not excluded.
  • 00:25:48.430 --> 00:25:51.700
  • You really love me.
  • 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:53.368
  • I am really your child.
  • 00:25:53.368 --> 00:25:55.437
  • You are really my father.
  • 00:25:55.437 --> 00:25:57.539
  • I belong in your family.
  • 00:25:57.539 --> 00:25:59.874
  • I belong to the best family in the universe.
  • 00:25:59.874 --> 00:26:02.944
  • Heaven is my home.
  • 00:26:02.944 --> 00:26:05.046
  • Thank you, thank you."
  • 00:26:05.046 --> 00:26:08.049
  • Lord, we do thank you, in jesus's name.
  • 00:26:08.049 --> 00:26:11.252
  • God bless you.
  • 00:26:11.252 --> 00:26:17.258
  • Allen: hey, i got a question.
  • 00:26:20.929 --> 00:26:22.297
  • What's the eternal breath of life?
  • 00:26:22.297 --> 00:26:24.966
  • Well, the answer is a new book my dad just wrote.
  • 00:26:24.966 --> 00:26:27.535
  • When i sat down to do a podcast with him and i was listening to
  • 00:26:27.535 --> 00:26:30.205
  • His story about how god had moved in his life and my
  • 00:26:30.205 --> 00:26:33.108
  • Family's life all the way up to the beginning of the church that
  • 00:26:33.108 --> 00:26:35.477
  • I've served now for several decades, i was so reminded of
  • 00:26:35.477 --> 00:26:39.080
  • The purpose and the power of the spirit of god in our lives, i
  • 00:26:39.080 --> 00:26:42.050
  • Asked him to put it in a book.
  • 00:26:42.050 --> 00:26:43.685
  • That's what we're sharing with you.
  • 00:26:43.685 --> 00:26:45.387
  • We all need god's help, we all face challenges.
  • 00:26:45.387 --> 00:26:47.889
  • Life's not easy no matter who you are, but the spirit of god
  • 00:26:47.889 --> 00:26:50.892
  • Is present within us to bring the power and purposes of god to
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  • Bear in our lives.
  • 00:26:55.363 --> 00:26:56.998
  • I believe the book will be a blessing with--for you.
  • 00:26:56.998 --> 00:26:59.634
  • If you'll pair it with, "unleashing the power of the
  • 00:26:59.634 --> 00:27:02.237
  • Holy spirit," it's one of the most effective tools we have,
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  • It'll give you a pathway that i believe will bring
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  • God's best into your family.
  • 00:27:07.509 --> 00:27:08.877
  • You may not plant a church, but you have been given the
  • 00:27:08.877 --> 00:27:11.713
  • Assignment as an ambassador for the kingdom of god, and we need
  • 00:27:11.713 --> 00:27:14.849
  • The help of the holy spirit.
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  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:27:16.551 --> 00:27:17.886
  • ♪♪♪
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