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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Lessons From The Table (Part 1)

February 23, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Lessons From The Table (Part 1)
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 - Lessons From The Table (Part 1) | February 23, 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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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • 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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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: we began a new topic on "let's eat."
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  • It's really kinda keeping up a thread of ideas we've used
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  • Around here where we take our faith and try to give it
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  • Application for--we still talk about "let's pray," the idea of
  • 00:01:29.838 --> 00:01:35.210
  • Learning to take our prayers outside the walls of church,
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  • Outside the walls of a formal religious setting and introduce
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  • Prayer into the places where we work, into the conversations
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  • With our friends, and our interactions with strangers.
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  • It's kind of a non-threatening way to invite god in the midst
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  • Of a circumstance.
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  • How many of you have ever had a "let's pray" moment where you
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  • Prayed with somebody?
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  • What are the rest of you doing?
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  • It's okay.
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  • Well, "let's eat" is a little bit like that.
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  • It's--it really has to do with honoring god and pleasing god.
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  • What's it look like to engage god in our lives outside the
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  • Walls of the church?
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  • And i think this is a bit of an on-ramp to do that in our homes.
  • 00:02:11.947 --> 00:02:15.017
  • The hardest place in the world to be a christ follower is in
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  • Your home.
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  • You have greater expectations and more hurts in your home than
  • 00:02:19.421 --> 00:02:22.357
  • Almost anyplace else in your life.
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  • It's just the nature of that and it's the most challenging place,
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  • And this whole study is intended to help us center our lives and
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  • Our homes around god in a way that makes the transformational
  • 00:02:32.634 --> 00:02:36.305
  • Presence of god a part of who we are and not just a part of
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  • Our language.
  • 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:40.776
  • We have too many words and too few expectations, and what i
  • 00:02:40.776 --> 00:02:45.113
  • Wanna give you permission to do is begin to imagine god's
  • 00:02:45.113 --> 00:02:47.950
  • Engagement in your life, in your home, with your family, and some
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  • Ways to give expression to that that are practical.
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  • So this session we're gonna talk about some lessons from the
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  • Table, and i'm gonna start with a very simple question.
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  • At which table do you feast most frequently?
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  • There's a spiritual influence that presides over the table
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  • Where you gather.
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  • That's the truth, and i can highlight it from some
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  • Biblical passages.
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  • In 1 kings 18, this was the prophet saying, "summon the
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  • People from all over israel, elijah, to--over israel to meet
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  • Me on mount carmel.
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  • And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of baal and the
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  • Four hundred prophets of asherah, who eat at
  • 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.888
  • Jezebel's table."
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  • Jezebel's the queen.
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  • The king is ahab.
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  • They are the gold standard in all of the bible for wickedness.
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  • How'd you like that to be your legacy?
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  • Well, jezebel is the gold standard, and there are hundreds
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  • Of spiritual leaders who regularly eat at her table.
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  • We need more discernment regarding spiritual things.
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  • We too--we've lived for a long time in a season where
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  • Christianity was the primary social influence.
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  • And if there was a sign or a label or architecture that
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  • Suggested christianity, you could be comfortable that
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  • Orthodoxy was practiced there, that a biblical worldview was
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  • Embraced, that the authority of scripture was yielded to, that
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  • The uniqueness of jesus was celebrated.
  • 00:04:12.534 --> 00:04:15.103
  • Tragically, that's no longer true and we have to have
  • 00:04:15.103 --> 00:04:18.707
  • More discernment.
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  • We shouldn't be surprised.
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  • Jesus warned us about it.
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  • He said as we approach the end of the age there will be
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  • A proliferation.
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  • He said many will be deceived and there will be many false
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  • Prophets, people you would-- a prophet is somebody you
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  • Expect to tell the truth that doesn't tell the truth.
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  • That's not just somebody in a religious setting.
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  • How many of you noticed we have a plethora of people that you
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  • Would expect to tell you the truth that don't?
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  • So it isn't surprising to me that elijah has this problem.
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  • Israel, this is the covenant people of god, folks.
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  • This isn't the pagan nations.
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  • Yes, jezebel is not jewish.
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  • She's a pagan queen, but this is the covenant people of god.
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  • This isn't somebody else, and there are hundreds of religious
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  • Leaders ministering to the covenant people of god in the
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  • Name of false gods.
  • 00:05:05.754 --> 00:05:08.623
  • By contrast to that, in 2 samuel 9 and verse 11, "ziba said to
  • 00:05:08.623 --> 00:05:12.427
  • The king, 'your servant will do whatever the lord my king
  • 00:05:12.427 --> 00:05:15.664
  • Commands his servant to do.'
  • 00:05:15.664 --> 00:05:17.032
  • So mephibosheth--" wow, he was 14 before he could spell
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  • His name.
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  • Jonathan's son.
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  • Jonathan, david's friend when they were young men, saul's son.
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  • "mephibosheth ate at david's table like one of the
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  • King's sons."
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  • Mephibosheth has a claim to the throne.
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  • Ancient near eastern monarchy his life wasn't worth much, but
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  • Because of david's relationship with jonathan he said, "he'll
  • 00:05:45.427 --> 00:05:48.130
  • Eat at my table like he's one of my family."
  • 00:05:48.130 --> 00:05:51.833
  • Again, the question, what's the spiritual authority over
  • 00:05:51.833 --> 00:05:54.936
  • Your table?
  • 00:05:54.936 --> 00:05:56.304
  • If you don't know, that's not a good sign.
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  • If it isn't intentional, that's not a great sign.
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  • It's purposeful.
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  • It's as purp--spiritual hygiene is as intentional and purposeful
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  • As physical hygiene.
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  • If you don't know if you brushed your teeth today, that's not a
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  • Good sign.
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  • Psalm 23, one of the most familiar of all the psalms.
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  • We're reading those these days as a part of our bible-reading.
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  • I hope you're enjoying them.
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  • I've been having the best time in the book of psalms.
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  • "the lord is my shepherd, i shall not be in want.
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  • He makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside
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  • Quiet waters, he restores my soul.
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  • He guides me in paths of righteousness for his
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  • Name's sake.
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  • And even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of
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  • Death, i will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and
  • 00:06:45.854 --> 00:06:50.826
  • Your staff, they comfort me.
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  • You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
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  • You anoint my head with oil; and my cup overflows.
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  • Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my
  • 00:07:01.536 --> 00:07:04.473
  • Life, and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever."
  • 00:07:04.473 --> 00:07:10.111
  • What a majestic song.
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  • You're walking through a difficult place.
  • 00:07:12.314 --> 00:07:13.715
  • If you're walking through a shadowed valley, i would make
  • 00:07:13.715 --> 00:07:15.584
  • That psalm a declaration over my life morning, noon, and evening.
  • 00:07:15.584 --> 00:07:19.454
  • And i'd probably throw something in mid-morning and mid-afternoon
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  • Just for determination's sake.
  • 00:07:22.023 --> 00:07:27.195
  • But i'm fascinated by the line where it said, "you prepare a
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  • Table before me."
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  • Do you have an imagination that god prepares a table for you?
  • 00:07:31.266 --> 00:07:35.136
  • It's the second half of that sentence that's problematic.
  • 00:07:35.136 --> 00:07:38.540
  • "in the presence of my--" i don't wanna eat with my enemies.
  • 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:40.375
  • I want my enemies to choke, and i don't wanna help them.
  • 00:07:40.375 --> 00:07:46.815
  • I mean, i wanna eat with my friends.
  • 00:07:50.652 --> 00:07:53.488
  • I wanna eat me with--i wanna have a meal with those who would
  • 00:07:53.488 --> 00:07:55.924
  • Encourage me or strengthen me or add momentum to--i don't wanna
  • 00:07:55.924 --> 00:07:59.094
  • Eat with people that are mad at--do me harm.
  • 00:07:59.094 --> 00:08:02.430
  • "the lord prepares a table for me."
  • 00:08:02.430 --> 00:08:05.066
  • The lord prepares tables for us that aren't always pleasant.
  • 00:08:05.066 --> 00:08:09.237
  • It's not always the devil.
  • 00:08:09.237 --> 00:08:12.307
  • We have to walk through seasons where we have to learn to
  • 00:08:12.307 --> 00:08:14.342
  • Overcome and grow and learn and understand the character of god
  • 00:08:14.342 --> 00:08:18.446
  • And the nature of god and the power of god.
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  • I don't like that.
  • 00:08:20.482 --> 00:08:22.751
  • I want every meal to be happy and clappy, with dessert.
  • 00:08:22.751 --> 00:08:29.157
  • I'm pretty sure if you're eating at the table with your enemies
  • 00:08:29.157 --> 00:08:31.359
  • You're not gonna overeat.
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  • It won't be a three-hour meal.
  • 00:08:34.563 --> 00:08:38.233
  • The table the lord prepares for us, it's not always the
  • 00:08:38.233 --> 00:08:40.835
  • Preferred meal.
  • 00:08:40.835 --> 00:08:42.203
  • Sometimes it's more difficult than we would like, but it
  • 00:08:42.203 --> 00:08:44.139
  • Doesn't mean god has abandoned you.
  • 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:46.875
  • It poses a question, are you really willing to sit at the
  • 00:08:46.875 --> 00:08:49.678
  • Lord's table?
  • 00:08:49.678 --> 00:08:53.048
  • So i think we struggle with that more than we wanna admit.
  • 00:08:53.048 --> 00:08:56.384
  • I know for those of you on campus you're in church on a
  • 00:08:56.384 --> 00:08:58.320
  • Cold day and that's like, "wow, look at me."
  • 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:00.322
  • And yeah, i felt that way too.
  • 00:09:00.322 --> 00:09:02.424
  • But are we really willing to sit at the lord's table?
  • 00:09:02.424 --> 00:09:07.195
  • That's really kind of the essence of this whole little
  • 00:09:07.195 --> 00:09:09.331
  • Series and the willingness to orient our lives towards the
  • 00:09:09.331 --> 00:09:12.634
  • Lord beyond just conversion and kind of checking boxes on
  • 00:09:12.634 --> 00:09:16.204
  • Spiritual experiences.
  • 00:09:16.204 --> 00:09:17.572
  • And as the routine, the habit, the pattern of our lives, are we
  • 00:09:17.572 --> 00:09:21.610
  • Willing to orient our lives towards the lord?
  • 00:09:21.610 --> 00:09:23.612
  • Proverbs chapter 9 gives us these choices again.
  • 00:09:23.612 --> 00:09:26.948
  • It says, "wisdom has built her house; and she's hewn it out of
  • 00:09:26.948 --> 00:09:29.417
  • Seven pillars.
  • 00:09:29.417 --> 00:09:30.752
  • She's prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has set
  • 00:09:30.752 --> 00:09:32.687
  • Her table.
  • 00:09:32.687 --> 00:09:34.556
  • She sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of
  • 00:09:34.556 --> 00:09:36.992
  • The city.
  • 00:09:36.992 --> 00:09:38.326
  • 'let all who are simple come in here!'
  • 00:09:38.326 --> 00:09:39.694
  • She says to those who lack judgment.
  • 00:09:39.694 --> 00:09:41.096
  • 'come, eat my food and drink the wine i've mixed.
  • 00:09:41.096 --> 00:09:43.465
  • Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way
  • 00:09:43.465 --> 00:09:45.734
  • Of understanding.'"
  • 00:09:45.734 --> 00:09:47.102
  • Wisdom is crying out she's set a table.
  • 00:09:47.102 --> 00:09:49.504
  • What an invitation.
  • 00:09:49.504 --> 00:09:51.172
  • I would like to sit at the table with god's wisdom, wouldn't you,
  • 00:09:51.172 --> 00:09:54.509
  • Even if it's in the presence of my enemies.
  • 00:09:54.509 --> 00:09:58.046
  • But there's an integrity to scripture.
  • 00:09:58.046 --> 00:09:59.447
  • That same chapter, there's a second option.
  • 00:09:59.447 --> 00:10:02.117
  • "the woman folly, she is loud, undisciplined, and
  • 00:10:02.117 --> 00:10:06.154
  • Without knowledge.
  • 00:10:06.154 --> 00:10:07.522
  • And she sits at the floor--door of her house, on a seat at the
  • 00:10:07.522 --> 00:10:10.025
  • Highest point of the city."
  • 00:10:10.025 --> 00:10:11.926
  • Two competing messages.
  • 00:10:11.926 --> 00:10:13.294
  • Two competing invitations.
  • 00:10:13.294 --> 00:10:16.598
  • Two simultaneous invitations.
  • 00:10:16.598 --> 00:10:18.333
  • We have to choose.
  • 00:10:18.333 --> 00:10:19.701
  • We have to choose.
  • 00:10:20.835 --> 00:10:22.671
  • "calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on
  • 00:10:22.671 --> 00:10:25.006
  • Their way.
  • 00:10:25.006 --> 00:10:26.374
  • 'let all who are simple come in here!' she
  • 00:10:26.374 --> 00:10:27.709
  • Says to those who lack judgment.
  • 00:10:27.709 --> 00:10:29.978
  • 'stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!'
  • 00:10:29.978 --> 00:10:34.449
  • But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests
  • 00:10:34.449 --> 00:10:37.652
  • Are in the depths of the grave."
  • 00:10:37.652 --> 00:10:39.888
  • Again, the question, what's the spiritual authority over the
  • 00:10:39.888 --> 00:10:42.624
  • Table in your home, in your life?
  • 00:10:42.624 --> 00:10:46.928
  • Have you done it on purpose?
  • 00:10:46.928 --> 00:10:48.296
  • Is it intentional? is it random?
  • 00:10:48.296 --> 00:10:49.631
  • Is it accidental?
  • 00:10:49.631 --> 00:10:50.999
  • I've never thought about it.
  • 00:10:50.999 --> 00:10:52.333
  • No shame in that.
  • 00:10:52.333 --> 00:10:53.702
  • I'm just inviting you to some intentionality.
  • 00:10:53.702 --> 00:10:55.370
  • "why would you pray before you eat?"
  • 00:10:55.370 --> 00:10:56.738
  • 'cause i wanna be certain the authority over my table.
  • 00:10:56.738 --> 00:11:02.077
  • Allen: we have partnered with our friends tim and david barton
  • 00:11:06.281 --> 00:11:08.717
  • To make available to you a two-volume set on
  • 00:11:08.717 --> 00:11:11.486
  • American history.
  • 00:11:11.486 --> 00:11:12.821
  • It's "the american story."
  • 00:11:12.821 --> 00:11:14.189
  • And it focuses on the part of american history that's been
  • 00:11:14.189 --> 00:11:16.357
  • Lost in much of our public education these days.
  • 00:11:16.357 --> 00:11:19.260
  • It's god's engagement with this nation and how he brought the
  • 00:11:19.260 --> 00:11:22.197
  • American story forward.
  • 00:11:22.197 --> 00:11:23.998
  • Our nation is more than politics or republicans and democrats.
  • 00:11:23.998 --> 00:11:27.435
  • It's god working in the lives of people to shape a nation that
  • 00:11:27.435 --> 00:11:31.005
  • Had brought forth his purposes in the world.
  • 00:11:31.005 --> 00:11:33.274
  • I believe it's an important part of our faith journey this year,
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  • And i believe the books will be a blessing to you.
  • 00:11:36.244 --> 00:11:38.613
  • Announcer: the 250th anniversary of our nation is an important
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  • Milestone we shouldn't rush past, because history matters.
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  • Gain a greater understanding of where we've been so you can
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  • Move forward.
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  • Request "the american story" with your gift of $50 or more at
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  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:12:06.341 --> 00:12:11.780
  • Allen: in fact, i've been giving you an invitation.
  • 00:12:14.949 --> 00:12:16.484
  • I wanna revisit it.
  • 00:12:16.484 --> 00:12:18.052
  • It's not new.
  • 00:12:18.052 --> 00:12:19.420
  • We talked about it as we approached the end of last year,
  • 00:12:19.420 --> 00:12:22.290
  • This whole idea that we come back to our tables in our homes.
  • 00:12:22.290 --> 00:12:26.027
  • Look at acts chapter 2 and verse 46.
  • 00:12:26.027 --> 00:12:28.596
  • It says, "every day they," the believers, "continued to meet
  • 00:12:28.596 --> 00:12:31.833
  • Together in the temple courts."
  • 00:12:31.833 --> 00:12:33.168
  • They met every day, folks.
  • 00:12:33.168 --> 00:12:34.536
  • Once a week, we're getting off light.
  • 00:12:34.536 --> 00:12:37.572
  • Don't come every day.
  • 00:12:37.572 --> 00:12:39.541
  • It's not an invitation just for clarity's sake.
  • 00:12:39.541 --> 00:12:42.243
  • "they broke bread in their homes, and they ate together
  • 00:12:42.243 --> 00:12:44.445
  • With glad and sincere hearts, praising god and enjoying the
  • 00:12:44.445 --> 00:12:47.315
  • Favor of all the people.
  • 00:12:47.315 --> 00:12:49.217
  • And the lord added to their number daily those who were
  • 00:12:49.217 --> 00:12:51.386
  • Being saved."
  • 00:12:51.386 --> 00:12:52.754
  • I like the imagery of that.
  • 00:12:52.754 --> 00:12:54.622
  • There was this consistent, regular community in learning,
  • 00:12:54.622 --> 00:12:57.692
  • And they met in one another's homes and they shared food
  • 00:12:57.692 --> 00:13:00.295
  • Together, and there were people coming into the kingdom,
  • 00:13:00.295 --> 00:13:02.964
  • Embracing the faith on a daily basis.
  • 00:13:02.964 --> 00:13:05.633
  • I would like to live in more of that.
  • 00:13:05.633 --> 00:13:07.168
  • Wouldn't you?
  • 00:13:07.168 --> 00:13:09.170
  • We've kind of gotten into this cycle.
  • 00:13:09.170 --> 00:13:10.538
  • You know, the conversion is about an altar experience, and
  • 00:13:10.538 --> 00:13:12.941
  • We need a worship service and a band and an invitation.
  • 00:13:12.941 --> 00:13:16.177
  • And i'm not opposed to those components, but the real essence
  • 00:13:16.177 --> 00:13:19.981
  • Of transformation in a culture, in a community is when it starts
  • 00:13:19.981 --> 00:13:24.786
  • Happening at an organic level in our homes and on daily basis and
  • 00:13:24.786 --> 00:13:28.723
  • It's not related or rooted in big public events.
  • 00:13:28.723 --> 00:13:33.828
  • We need more of that.
  • 00:13:33.828 --> 00:13:35.463
  • That's how wickedness is shared.
  • 00:13:35.463 --> 00:13:40.501
  • That's another sermon.
  • 00:13:40.501 --> 00:13:42.570
  • Well, here's the invitation i've been giving you, one meal a week
  • 00:13:42.570 --> 00:13:45.640
  • At the kitchen table with no devices for your family.
  • 00:13:45.640 --> 00:13:50.712
  • We've gotten away from that.
  • 00:13:50.712 --> 00:13:53.181
  • You know, for hundreds and hundreds of years across almost
  • 00:13:53.181 --> 00:13:55.850
  • Every conceivable form of society or organization, all
  • 00:13:55.850 --> 00:14:00.822
  • Different levels of freedom, families have gathered around
  • 00:14:00.822 --> 00:14:04.359
  • The kitchen table.
  • 00:14:04.359 --> 00:14:06.561
  • It was kind of the organizing principle of the family.
  • 00:14:06.561 --> 00:14:10.932
  • It's a wellness check.
  • 00:14:10.932 --> 00:14:13.034
  • It's an update.
  • 00:14:13.034 --> 00:14:14.402
  • "since we were last together, how have you been?
  • 00:14:14.402 --> 00:14:16.070
  • What have you celebrated?
  • 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:17.405
  • What have you wept about?
  • 00:14:17.405 --> 00:14:18.940
  • What are the challenges in front of you that are threatening or
  • 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:21.242
  • Intimidating, or the--how do we rally together to resolve
  • 00:14:21.242 --> 00:14:24.846
  • Whatever is before us?"
  • 00:14:24.846 --> 00:14:26.214
  • It's that point of communion, until we get to the beginning of
  • 00:14:26.214 --> 00:14:29.017
  • The 21st century and the demands on our lives and the affluence
  • 00:14:29.017 --> 00:14:32.954
  • We have and the--the options we have--
  • 00:14:32.954 --> 00:14:37.725
  • You know, i've read that the more highly optional the
  • 00:14:37.725 --> 00:14:40.128
  • Environment, the more options you have the greater the
  • 00:14:40.128 --> 00:14:42.530
  • Tendency to mediocrity 'cause you don't have to do
  • 00:14:42.530 --> 00:14:46.100
  • Anything well.
  • 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:47.435
  • You just do a little bit of everything, and i think our
  • 00:14:47.435 --> 00:14:50.004
  • Families are caught in a little bit of that.
  • 00:14:50.004 --> 00:14:51.572
  • I'm not trying to add to the burden of your lives.
  • 00:14:51.572 --> 00:14:53.775
  • I know you're crazy busy.
  • 00:14:53.775 --> 00:14:56.277
  • I didn't come to try to multiply shame in your heart or point an
  • 00:14:56.277 --> 00:14:59.714
  • Accusing finger.
  • 00:14:59.714 --> 00:15:01.082
  • I came to present you with an invitation to establish an
  • 00:15:01.082 --> 00:15:05.420
  • Authority point in your home for almighty god, and i believe a
  • 00:15:05.420 --> 00:15:10.591
  • Significant step in that is once a week at the table.
  • 00:15:10.591 --> 00:15:14.462
  • It isn't about the--how elaborate the meal is or how
  • 00:15:14.462 --> 00:15:17.832
  • Elaborate the table setting.
  • 00:15:17.832 --> 00:15:21.002
  • I don't think you have to start, you know, binging the food
  • 00:15:21.002 --> 00:15:25.640
  • Network to know how to prepare an elaborate meal, or you don't
  • 00:15:25.640 --> 00:15:29.644
  • Have to go to hgtv and find out how to make the fanciest table.
  • 00:15:29.644 --> 00:15:33.448
  • I think you can order pizza.
  • 00:15:33.448 --> 00:15:36.384
  • But i think to have that value established in your home that we
  • 00:15:36.384 --> 00:15:39.520
  • Will stop together and break bread is transformational.
  • 00:15:39.520 --> 00:15:46.794
  • It also happens to be biblical.
  • 00:15:46.794 --> 00:15:49.364
  • The last night in egypt before the hebrew slaves left--the
  • 00:15:49.364 --> 00:15:52.033
  • Plagues are coming to a completion.
  • 00:15:52.033 --> 00:15:53.735
  • Death is about to pass through the land.
  • 00:15:53.735 --> 00:15:55.603
  • The last night the hebrew slaves are in egypt, god has every
  • 00:15:55.603 --> 00:15:58.773
  • Family that intends to follow him out of the slavery at the
  • 00:15:58.773 --> 00:16:02.243
  • Table discussing what's coming.
  • 00:16:02.243 --> 00:16:08.616
  • Jesus just a few hours in front of his betrayal, his arrest, and
  • 00:16:08.616 --> 00:16:14.055
  • The beginning of his great suffering until he's tortured to
  • 00:16:14.055 --> 00:16:16.691
  • Death, we find him at the table with his closest friends giving
  • 00:16:16.691 --> 00:16:19.894
  • Them some last-minute instructions.
  • 00:16:19.894 --> 00:16:22.497
  • Not in a lecture hall, not in a synagogue, at a table.
  • 00:16:22.497 --> 00:16:29.237
  • And i believe that centering point for your family, it's not
  • 00:16:29.237 --> 00:16:31.806
  • A new idea.
  • 00:16:31.806 --> 00:16:33.941
  • It would have been familiar to your grandparents.
  • 00:16:33.941 --> 00:16:35.810
  • I'm not trying to take you backwards, i'm trying to help
  • 00:16:35.810 --> 00:16:38.179
  • Maintain continuity with something that establishes the
  • 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:41.249
  • Authority of god in your home.
  • 00:16:41.249 --> 00:16:42.617
  • You can sit at the table and give your home to the devil, but
  • 00:16:42.617 --> 00:16:46.487
  • If you're learning this through a christian setting, i'm hoping
  • 00:16:46.487 --> 00:16:48.823
  • You have the wisdom to invite god.
  • 00:16:48.823 --> 00:16:50.324
  • Maybe you begin your prayer with, "god, thank you for a
  • 00:16:50.324 --> 00:16:52.493
  • Table and for food on it."
  • 00:16:52.493 --> 00:16:55.229
  • And maybe by the time you're done and you're ready to leave,
  • 00:16:55.229 --> 00:16:57.265
  • Maybe you just stop and say, "just before we go, can we have
  • 00:16:57.265 --> 00:16:59.734
  • A sentence prayer?
  • 00:16:59.734 --> 00:17:01.069
  • God, we need your help this week.
  • 00:17:01.069 --> 00:17:02.403
  • We got tests, or big games, or big projects, or we don't
  • 00:17:02.403 --> 00:17:07.975
  • Feel good.
  • 00:17:07.975 --> 00:17:09.343
  • Lord, we need your help."
  • 00:17:09.343 --> 00:17:10.678
  • Let your family feel the intentionality of that
  • 00:17:10.678 --> 00:17:13.281
  • Invitation at your table once a week.
  • 00:17:13.281 --> 00:17:20.288
  • I mean, we could talk about sabbaths and--but then you'd
  • 00:17:20.288 --> 00:17:23.591
  • Wanna argue about which day and which sunset, which translation
  • 00:17:23.591 --> 00:17:28.763
  • Of the bible.
  • 00:17:28.763 --> 00:17:30.131
  • And i'm gonna come back to that, but not today.
  • 00:17:30.131 --> 00:17:32.733
  • One meal a week at your table.
  • 00:17:32.733 --> 00:17:34.235
  • If your kids are gone, you're in a different life season and you
  • 00:17:34.235 --> 00:17:37.638
  • Don't have that--all the things that come with young families
  • 00:17:37.638 --> 00:17:41.175
  • And the energy that's around that, i don't think your table
  • 00:17:41.175 --> 00:17:44.879
  • Becomes inert.
  • 00:17:44.879 --> 00:17:46.214
  • I don't think it becomes irrelevant.
  • 00:17:46.214 --> 00:17:48.549
  • I believe that table is still a ministry center.
  • 00:17:48.549 --> 00:17:50.952
  • I think it still holds enormous potential.
  • 00:17:50.952 --> 00:17:53.321
  • I would still ask you, are you--what spiritual authority
  • 00:17:53.321 --> 00:17:55.923
  • Are you using that table for?
  • 00:17:55.923 --> 00:17:59.127
  • The biblical word for this is hospitality.
  • 00:17:59.127 --> 00:18:01.863
  • It's meddlesome, isn't it?
  • 00:18:01.863 --> 00:18:03.764
  • Look at 1 peter 4:9.
  • 00:18:03.764 --> 00:18:05.133
  • "offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."
  • 00:18:05.133 --> 00:18:09.637
  • When my parents became christians, i don't know what
  • 00:18:09.637 --> 00:18:11.472
  • Happened to them.
  • 00:18:11.472 --> 00:18:13.241
  • I mean, i do know what happened to them, but i knew my
  • 00:18:13.241 --> 00:18:15.710
  • Parents bc.
  • 00:18:15.710 --> 00:18:17.812
  • You didn't.
  • 00:18:17.812 --> 00:18:19.881
  • You knew the milder version.
  • 00:18:19.881 --> 00:18:22.583
  • And when they became, when they--we were church.
  • 00:18:22.583 --> 00:18:24.719
  • When they really became christians, they changed.
  • 00:18:24.719 --> 00:18:27.722
  • Their lives changed.
  • 00:18:27.722 --> 00:18:29.090
  • The temperature in our home changed.
  • 00:18:29.090 --> 00:18:30.758
  • Their patterns of behavior changed, and they would invite
  • 00:18:30.758 --> 00:18:35.229
  • People into our home.
  • 00:18:35.229 --> 00:18:37.098
  • Now, i have two brothers, and they didn't ask us our opinions.
  • 00:18:37.098 --> 00:18:41.769
  • You know, admittedly i grew up in a different generation.
  • 00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:44.205
  • Kids' rights were different.
  • 00:18:44.205 --> 00:18:49.377
  • I don't ever remember them coming and say, "how would you
  • 00:18:49.377 --> 00:18:51.345
  • Feel if we had somebody over for dinner?"
  • 00:18:51.345 --> 00:18:57.618
  • If they had asked me, i would have dialed 911.
  • 00:18:57.618 --> 00:19:02.957
  • And i can tell you we didn't always like it 'cause they
  • 00:19:02.957 --> 00:19:06.827
  • Wouldn't always invite people that were our friends.
  • 00:19:06.827 --> 00:19:10.398
  • They wouldn't invite people we wanted to have dinner with.
  • 00:19:10.398 --> 00:19:14.235
  • They would invite people that, like, needed help and you
  • 00:19:14.235 --> 00:19:17.805
  • Could tell.
  • 00:19:17.805 --> 00:19:20.608
  • We were talking like, "i don't wanna do that.
  • 00:19:20.608 --> 00:19:23.244
  • It's our dinner."
  • 00:19:23.244 --> 00:19:26.214
  • They were not moved by our pleadings.
  • 00:19:26.214 --> 00:19:29.884
  • So when i read that verse and peter says offer hospitality to
  • 00:19:29.884 --> 00:19:32.453
  • One another without grumbling--i'll give you
  • 00:19:32.453 --> 00:19:34.121
  • Another passage.
  • 00:19:34.121 --> 00:19:35.456
  • You can check me. it's in hebrews.
  • 00:19:35.456 --> 00:19:36.824
  • It says, "don't neglect hospitality because in
  • 00:19:36.824 --> 00:19:39.527
  • Entertaining strangers you have entertained angels and didn't
  • 00:19:39.527 --> 00:19:42.330
  • Know it."
  • 00:19:42.330 --> 00:19:44.165
  • I can't wait to get to heaven and see how many angels i
  • 00:19:44.165 --> 00:19:45.933
  • Grumbled about, 'cause i'm sure i did.
  • 00:19:45.933 --> 00:19:53.474
  • One meal each week at the kitchen table without devices.
  • 00:19:53.474 --> 00:19:56.510
  • If your family's not there, maybe it's your--maybe--there's
  • 00:19:56.510 --> 00:19:59.814
  • A lot of reasons.
  • 00:19:59.814 --> 00:20:01.148
  • Maybe you're single.
  • 00:20:01.148 --> 00:20:02.550
  • Maybe you got an empty nest.
  • 00:20:02.550 --> 00:20:03.884
  • Maybe you're a widow or a widower.
  • 00:20:03.884 --> 00:20:05.286
  • Maybe your life circumstance--whatever the
  • 00:20:05.286 --> 00:20:07.054
  • Reasons, this doesn't--you're not absent this invitation.
  • 00:20:07.054 --> 00:20:11.826
  • Begin to imagine that table as a hospitality center.
  • 00:20:11.826 --> 00:20:16.631
  • "i'm gonna use my table for the purposes of the kingdom of god."
  • 00:20:16.631 --> 00:20:21.469
  • It's such an important idea.
  • 00:20:21.469 --> 00:20:24.238
  • I'm not telling you you have to open your home every week for
  • 00:20:24.238 --> 00:20:26.340
  • Hospitality, but on a regular basis it's a great idea.
  • 00:20:26.340 --> 00:20:30.878
  • We've almost lost this.
  • 00:20:30.878 --> 00:20:33.381
  • We're so busy.
  • 00:20:33.381 --> 00:20:34.782
  • We eat in so many places.
  • 00:20:34.782 --> 00:20:36.150
  • We're on the go.
  • 00:20:36.150 --> 00:20:38.486
  • And you don't even have to do it at your home, you could meet
  • 00:20:38.486 --> 00:20:40.721
  • Somebody else someplace and--but the--it's next level when you do
  • 00:20:40.721 --> 00:20:44.558
  • It in a home.
  • 00:20:44.558 --> 00:20:46.260
  • It changes the nature.
  • 00:20:46.260 --> 00:20:47.595
  • Folks, please don't get caught up in this.
  • 00:20:47.595 --> 00:20:48.963
  • "my home isn't nice.
  • 00:20:48.963 --> 00:20:50.298
  • I don't know how to do this well."
  • 00:20:50.298 --> 00:20:51.666
  • Folks, if it's paper plates and plastic utensils.
  • 00:20:51.666 --> 00:20:56.671
  • Here's the secret.
  • 00:20:56.671 --> 00:20:58.039
  • We didn't get together because you're a gourmet chef and we
  • 00:20:58.039 --> 00:20:59.974
  • Like your fine china.
  • 00:20:59.974 --> 00:21:02.677
  • We've gotten so far away from this it's commonplace now for--i
  • 00:21:02.677 --> 00:21:05.313
  • Mean, amongst the--they even mock people who have fine china
  • 00:21:05.313 --> 00:21:09.450
  • 'cause we don't have much value left for the kitchen table.
  • 00:21:09.450 --> 00:21:13.521
  • I mean, they have other reasons around it, but we've gotten so
  • 00:21:13.521 --> 00:21:16.090
  • Far away from the value that we used to attach to these kind
  • 00:21:16.090 --> 00:21:19.193
  • Of gatherings.
  • 00:21:19.193 --> 00:21:20.561
  • When i moved to the--to middle tennessee years ago at this
  • 00:21:20.561 --> 00:21:23.397
  • Point, it was still a custom that sunday lunch was a deal.
  • 00:21:23.397 --> 00:21:28.002
  • You could drive through the country in mi--and there was
  • 00:21:28.002 --> 00:21:30.104
  • More country then, and you'd see these families or these groups
  • 00:21:30.104 --> 00:21:33.407
  • Of people gathered.
  • 00:21:33.407 --> 00:21:36.177
  • Too many to fit at the kitchen table, they had to eat
  • 00:21:36.177 --> 00:21:37.912
  • In shifts.
  • 00:21:37.912 --> 00:21:40.247
  • There was kind of a hierarchy around that.
  • 00:21:40.247 --> 00:21:43.617
  • I'm not trying to drag us back to some place, i am trying to
  • 00:21:43.617 --> 00:21:46.687
  • Invite you to a place in your future where you clearly
  • 00:21:46.687 --> 00:21:49.523
  • Establish the authority of god over your table, the lives of
  • 00:21:49.523 --> 00:21:52.693
  • Those that live in that house on a regular basis.
  • 00:21:52.693 --> 00:22:00.735
  • If you walk through the lobby before you go, we've got kitchen
  • 00:22:02.703 --> 00:22:06.507
  • Tables set up from the '50s and '60s and the '70s and '80s and
  • 00:22:06.507 --> 00:22:10.344
  • The '90s and the 2000s.
  • 00:22:10.344 --> 00:22:13.614
  • Tables look a little different, what they're constructed out of.
  • 00:22:13.614 --> 00:22:16.450
  • Fashionable changes.
  • 00:22:16.450 --> 00:22:19.086
  • The communications devices changed.
  • 00:22:19.086 --> 00:22:21.055
  • The television sets changed.
  • 00:22:21.055 --> 00:22:22.423
  • We've got automobiles out there.
  • 00:22:22.423 --> 00:22:23.758
  • They changed.
  • 00:22:23.758 --> 00:22:25.126
  • Everything changed, but that kitchen table as a fundamental
  • 00:22:25.126 --> 00:22:26.994
  • Organizing premise of family hasn't changed.
  • 00:22:26.994 --> 00:22:31.832
  • Goes all the way back to egypt and the hebrew slaves or the new
  • 00:22:31.832 --> 00:22:34.869
  • Testament and the disciples.
  • 00:22:34.869 --> 00:22:38.272
  • The style of the table may have changed, but the organizing
  • 00:22:38.272 --> 00:22:40.775
  • Principle hasn't.
  • 00:22:40.775 --> 00:22:43.077
  • So i wanna add to that a little different take, maybe a bit more
  • 00:22:43.077 --> 00:22:45.279
  • Of a 21st century take.
  • 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:46.981
  • Covid introduced us on a whole new level to zoom calls and
  • 00:22:46.981 --> 00:22:50.384
  • Teams meetings and digital communications.
  • 00:22:50.384 --> 00:22:52.420
  • We all learned we could learn things over the internet we
  • 00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:54.188
  • Didn't know about.
  • 00:22:54.188 --> 00:22:56.123
  • I met a lot of friends out there that found us over the internet.
  • 00:22:56.123 --> 00:23:00.394
  • Not a bad thing.
  • 00:23:00.394 --> 00:23:01.762
  • Well, in this building, we have lots of meeting rooms, rooms
  • 00:23:01.762 --> 00:23:03.998
  • With tables.
  • 00:23:03.998 --> 00:23:05.366
  • In fact, we have two sanctuaries that are populated by tables.
  • 00:23:05.366 --> 00:23:07.268
  • It'd be more than 1,000 people on a typical weekend not sitting
  • 00:23:07.268 --> 00:23:10.337
  • In the room where i am live because they prefer to sit at
  • 00:23:10.337 --> 00:23:12.840
  • A table.
  • 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:15.142
  • There's some comfort in it.
  • 00:23:15.142 --> 00:23:16.510
  • They can put their notes out and get their bibles open and sit
  • 00:23:16.510 --> 00:23:18.245
  • With a couple of friends and they gather before church, and
  • 00:23:18.245 --> 00:23:21.182
  • There's an intimacy that comes with just sitting around a table
  • 00:23:21.182 --> 00:23:23.417
  • Even if it's in a large room.
  • 00:23:23.417 --> 00:23:24.785
  • Then we've got all sorts of rooms with tables.
  • 00:23:24.785 --> 00:23:27.221
  • All sorts of groups meet and people meet.
  • 00:23:27.221 --> 00:23:29.223
  • Then we've got some fancier rooms that are more technical
  • 00:23:29.223 --> 00:23:32.460
  • And there's cameras that will track you as you walk across the
  • 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:34.995
  • Room so you can do a zoom call and you can have an
  • 00:23:34.995 --> 00:23:38.899
  • International meeting and walk around the room and the camera
  • 00:23:38.899 --> 00:23:42.236
  • Will follow.
  • 00:23:42.236 --> 00:23:43.571
  • It's kind of creepy.
  • 00:23:43.571 --> 00:23:45.873
  • And if you'll take your phone into the meeting with you,
  • 00:23:45.873 --> 00:23:47.808
  • Google will listen to you and populate your phone with ads
  • 00:23:47.808 --> 00:23:51.645
  • About what you talk about in your conference call.
  • 00:23:51.645 --> 00:23:55.716
  • Let me ask you a question.
  • 00:23:55.716 --> 00:24:00.354
  • If i invited you to meet with me in one of the conference rooms
  • 00:24:00.354 --> 00:24:02.823
  • At the church or i invited you to come to my home and sit at
  • 00:24:02.823 --> 00:24:07.661
  • The table with kathy and me, which feels more personal?
  • 00:24:07.661 --> 00:24:15.603
  • You don't have to pray about that.
  • 00:24:15.603 --> 00:24:19.306
  • The invitation to step into someone's home and sit at their
  • 00:24:19.306 --> 00:24:21.742
  • Table is dramatically different than a--in a meeting in some
  • 00:24:21.742 --> 00:24:25.613
  • Sort of a conference setting.
  • 00:24:25.613 --> 00:24:28.015
  • They're not good or bad, they're different.
  • 00:24:28.015 --> 00:24:32.553
  • And i think we intuitively understand that, but we've
  • 00:24:32.553 --> 00:24:37.024
  • Almost given up the notion of gathering around our table.
  • 00:24:37.024 --> 00:24:42.296
  • I sat down with my legal pad and started to make a list of some
  • 00:24:42.296 --> 00:24:45.065
  • Lessons i took away at a kitchen table largely through my
  • 00:24:45.065 --> 00:24:50.204
  • Parents's leadership, to be completely candid about it, but
  • 00:24:50.204 --> 00:24:52.840
  • Nevertheless there are lessons that affect me until today, and
  • 00:24:52.840 --> 00:24:56.243
  • I think kathy would testify to most of this.
  • 00:24:56.243 --> 00:24:58.178
  • It's in--your table is an expression of hospitality in
  • 00:24:58.178 --> 00:25:00.848
  • Service, whether it's in use or it's being ignored.
  • 00:25:00.848 --> 00:25:05.819
  • It holds that potential.
  • 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:07.421
  • Your table is a place where you are a participant and not just
  • 00:25:07.421 --> 00:25:10.591
  • An attender.
  • 00:25:10.591 --> 00:25:11.926
  • Don't allow your family to come to the table as just attenders.
  • 00:25:11.926 --> 00:25:14.995
  • They're not olympic judges to evaluate the quality of the
  • 00:25:14.995 --> 00:25:17.598
  • Meal, the time that was demanded.
  • 00:25:17.598 --> 00:25:20.868
  • They're participants.
  • 00:25:20.868 --> 00:25:22.870
  • "participants how?"
  • 00:25:22.870 --> 00:25:24.204
  • Well, these are some of the things i learned.
  • 00:25:24.204 --> 00:25:25.573
  • I always learned that i had to be present and prepared,
  • 00:25:25.573 --> 00:25:28.242
  • Particularly if we had guests coming.
  • 00:25:28.242 --> 00:25:30.945
  • I couldn't come sliding in at the last minute not prepared.
  • 00:25:30.945 --> 00:25:34.548
  • It would not go well with me when the guests left.
  • 00:25:34.548 --> 00:25:39.853
  • Typically, we would be engaged in helping to set the table.
  • 00:25:39.853 --> 00:25:42.423
  • I had to learn where the forks went.
  • 00:25:42.423 --> 00:25:45.292
  • Didn't matter to me.
  • 00:25:45.292 --> 00:25:46.627
  • "you got a fork? here."
  • 00:25:46.627 --> 00:25:48.996
  • Who knew there was an order?
  • 00:25:48.996 --> 00:25:52.633
  • There is.
  • 00:25:52.633 --> 00:25:58.806
  • I'm grateful for the training i got learning to set a table.
  • 00:25:58.806 --> 00:26:02.810
  • It's an investment in your children.
  • 00:26:02.810 --> 00:26:04.244
  • Don't teach them to hit a curveball and not teach them how
  • 00:26:04.244 --> 00:26:06.547
  • To set a table.
  • 00:26:06.547 --> 00:26:07.915
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:26:07.915 --> 00:26:16.223
  • Allen: hey, this is not just the beginning of another year, this
  • 00:26:16.223 --> 00:26:18.959
  • Is the beginning of the 250th anniversary of our nation.
  • 00:26:18.959 --> 00:26:22.563
  • This is a very special year.
  • 00:26:22.563 --> 00:26:24.465
  • It's god's story.
  • 00:26:24.465 --> 00:26:25.799
  • This isn't about national politics or economics or
  • 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:29.370
  • Chest-thumping, this is an acknowledgement that god works
  • 00:26:29.370 --> 00:26:32.406
  • In the history of people and nations.
  • 00:26:32.406 --> 00:26:35.175
  • Well, most of us don't care a lot about history so we
  • 00:26:35.175 --> 00:26:37.111
  • Partnered with some of our good friends, wallbuilders tim and
  • 00:26:37.111 --> 00:26:39.947
  • David barton.
  • 00:26:39.947 --> 00:26:41.281
  • They have the best on this topic.
  • 00:26:41.281 --> 00:26:42.650
  • It's a two-volume set on the american story.
  • 00:26:42.650 --> 00:26:45.119
  • It'll help us understand god's engagement in american history.
  • 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:49.623
  • We've lost most of this in our public schools and certainly in
  • 00:26:49.623 --> 00:26:52.292
  • Higher education.
  • 00:26:52.292 --> 00:26:53.661
  • We gotta start back with our families around the kitchen
  • 00:26:53.661 --> 00:26:55.829
  • Table, learning how god has been engaged with us so we can
  • 00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:58.832
  • Imagine a future that includes god.
  • 00:26:58.832 --> 00:27:01.468
  • Let's pray and ask for his help.
  • 00:27:01.468 --> 00:27:03.604
  • Father, i thank you.
  • 00:27:03.604 --> 00:27:04.938
  • I believe you have blessed our nation and caused us to
  • 00:27:04.938 --> 00:27:06.807
  • Flourish, and i pray that this year you would open our hearts
  • 00:27:06.807 --> 00:27:09.777
  • To what you have still ahead of us, that we might invite you
  • 00:27:09.777 --> 00:27:13.614
  • Into our homes, our communities, and into this nation's future.
  • 00:27:13.614 --> 00:27:17.117
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:17.117 --> 00:27:19.086
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:19.086 --> 00:27:19.086