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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Life Lived Well (Part 1)

June 5, 2025 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Life Lived Well (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Faith #Purpose #WalkwithGod #ChildofGod #Faithfulness #ServantofGod #Lifestyle #Christianity #Religion #Calling #AllenJackson #LightoftheWorld

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Life Lived Well (Part 1) | June 5, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen jackson: yeah, i believe it's more important that we lead
  • 00:00:06.923 --> 00:00:08.858
  • With our faith now than at any time i can remember in
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  • Recent history.
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  • It's not always easy to do.
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  • If you're at work or sometimes in a family setting or with
  • 00:00:14.697 --> 00:00:17.067
  • Children--you don't know how to get a conversation started.
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  • Well, we've created a tool that we believe can be
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  • Really helpful.
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  • They're conversation cards.
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  • They're designed for a variety of settings--children, family, a
  • 00:00:25.308 --> 00:00:28.211
  • Small group setting--but the idea is it's a way to initiate a
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  • Faith-based conversation.
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  • You can share them with other people and do it together.
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  • You can simply look through them and use it as an imagination
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  • Starter for yourself.
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  • When you're thinking about a coworker or a neighbor or a
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  • Family member or you're gonna have some time with children or
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  • Grandchildren or maybe something happening in the neighborhood,
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  • We want to lead with our faith.
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  • You don't have to preach a sermon or quote a bible verse or
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  • Present a small group study.
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  • We simply want to engage a conversation so that faith
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  • Becomes a part of who we are, no matter where we go.
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  • I think these conversation cards will be a real blessing to you
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  • And a very useful tool as we lead with our faith.
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  • Allen: during our worship planning, wednesday is really an
  • 00:01:08.618 --> 00:01:12.055
  • Extension of saturday and sunday.
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  • So if i'm gonna begin a new topic, typically i'll do it on
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  • A saturday.
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  • And so this past weekend was mother's day weekend.
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  • And it felt a little odd to do "mother's day" as the title
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  • On wednesday.
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  • But in my own preparation, this really was an extension of that.
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  • This is my first mother's day with our mom in heaven.
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  • Her gain, our loss.
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  • And so my topic, while not as observably connected to that,
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  • The theme of the lesson really comes from one of the gifts that
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  • My mom gave to our family and, honestly, i think, to
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  • This congregation.
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  • [congregation applauding]
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  • So the title is the hardest part of messages for me.
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  • The title is "a life lived well."
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  • When everything's said and done, i think we all would like to
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  • Know that the lord said we had a life that was lived well.
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  • You know, what more?
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  • What could you accumulate, what honor could you receive, what
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  • Accolades could be directed your way that would be greater than
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  • To hear the lord say, "well done"?
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  • And so i think about that a good little bit, what that would look
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  • Like and what could add momentum to that and what could detract
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  • From that.
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  • And the--one of the clarities that my mother had, and it
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  • Emerged in her life.
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  • I knew her when it wasn't a priority, and i watched it gain
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  • Momentum and grow until it became, really, an essential
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  • Part of who she was and that was the role that prayer played in
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  • Her life.
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  • And the one that she thought it should play in the rest of our
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  • Lives as well.
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  • And my father was very willing to join her or encourage her or
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  • Be a part of that.
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  • I understood them to do it together.
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  • But they spent time and energy and effort praying when many
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  • People around them did not attach the same value to it.
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  • And so i wanna spend a little time--i think if we're gonna
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  • Lead a life well, that's led well, we're gonna have to find a
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  • Way to become people of prayer.
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  • And i'm a bit--i'm always curious because we can be in
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  • Church all of our lives and people will go, "well, you know,
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  • I don't really pray."
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  • And that's unfortunate.
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  • And so this is really an invitation, but i'll try to
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  • Build it from a biblical perspective.
  • 00:03:33.730 --> 00:03:35.265
  • Colossians 1, verse 9 says: "for this reason, since the day we
  • 00:03:35.265 --> 00:03:38.601
  • Heard about you," paul's writing to a group of believers.
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  • He said, "we have not stopped praying for you and asking god
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  • To fill you with the knowledge of his will through all
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  • Spiritual wisdom and understanding."
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  • I don't believe that's just empty words as a part of a
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  • Formal greeting.
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  • I think he's describing a behavior that paul and the team
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  • That served with him have adopted towards the communities
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  • Of faith that they helped to bring into existence.
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  • He said, "from the time that we heard about you, we haven't
  • 00:04:01.457 --> 00:04:03.760
  • Stopped praying for you."
  • 00:04:03.760 --> 00:04:05.862
  • What a fascinating idea.
  • 00:04:05.862 --> 00:04:08.231
  • And i won't ask you to do it now, but if you made a list of
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  • The things that you haven't stopped praying for--you know, i
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  • Don't mean like every christmas.
  • 00:04:15.838 --> 00:04:18.775
  • Or every easter or before every meal, but what are the things
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  • That live in your heart as a point of continual prayer?
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  • It's an interesting thing to consider and perhaps even to
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  • Begin to implement in your life.
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  • "we haven't stopped praying for you."
  • 00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:38.161
  • And then in luke 7, there's this intriguing--you know the
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  • Scenario, it's the--it's a funeral procession and jesus is
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  • Gonna interrupt it and raise a young man back to life.
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  • We've read the passage on many occasions.
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  • There's no invitation to jesus; it's an expression of
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  • His compassion.
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  • What strikes me in that scenario is that if jesus hadn't
  • 00:04:59.248 --> 00:05:03.720
  • Intervened, that young man would have been buried.
  • 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:08.324
  • And so, i take that to heart.
  • 00:05:08.324 --> 00:05:09.759
  • It feels very personal to me.
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  • Effective prayers open the doors of god's possibility in
  • 00:05:11.294 --> 00:05:14.697
  • Our lives.
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  • And the failure to pray leaves those doors closed.
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  • And i want you to--i want to leave that with you for just
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  • A moment.
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  • I want you to consider it: that an effective prayer opens the
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  • Door of god's possibility.
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  • The absence of prayer leaves the door closed.
  • 00:05:29.045 --> 00:05:33.950
  • So a legitimate question, i think it's a question that we
  • 00:05:33.950 --> 00:05:36.586
  • Could put to the spirit of god: where have i left doors closed
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  • That you would open?
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  • Where have i been reluctant or embarrassed or unaware or for
  • 00:05:43.960 --> 00:05:48.398
  • Whatever reason, where have i failed to open doors that you
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  • Would open?
  • 00:05:51.167 --> 00:05:53.403
  • I'm convinced that god has more for our lives than we receive.
  • 00:05:53.403 --> 00:06:02.245
  • I'm quite certain of that.
  • 00:06:02.245 --> 00:06:05.114
  • And i think prayer is a way that we begin to open those doors.
  • 00:06:05.114 --> 00:06:08.684
  • There--it's an invitation.
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  • It's a simple expression of faith.
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  • It's a seed planted.
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  • This is the beginning of growing season around middle tennessee.
  • 00:06:13.856 --> 00:06:16.225
  • If you're gonna get a garden in, it's time to go.
  • 00:06:16.225 --> 00:06:19.362
  • If you're gonna get some of those great summer vegetables,
  • 00:06:19.362 --> 00:06:21.130
  • It's time to be moving, because it's not gonna keep raining
  • 00:06:21.130 --> 00:06:23.166
  • Three times a day for very long.
  • 00:06:23.166 --> 00:06:27.036
  • And if you want tomatoes by july the 4th, you better get those
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  • Rascals in the ground.
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  • It shouldn't freeze again.
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  • [congregation laughing]
  • 00:06:35.611 --> 00:06:41.884
  • But when we pray, we plant a seed, we create an opportunity.
  • 00:06:41.884 --> 00:06:47.557
  • And i--again, we say some rather goofy things.
  • 00:06:47.557 --> 00:06:50.693
  • "well, you know, i don't know how to pray," or "i don't know
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  • What to pray," or "was that the right way?"
  • 00:06:52.695 --> 00:06:54.931
  • Or "what if i pray wrong?"
  • 00:06:54.931 --> 00:06:56.399
  • And i'm like, "well, let's just start."
  • 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:03.506
  • I think you learn to pray like you learned to walk, you fall a
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  • Lot, you bump into things.
  • 00:07:05.875 --> 00:07:09.045
  • You know, if you had clever adults around you, they
  • 00:07:09.045 --> 00:07:11.447
  • Childproofed the spaces you were in.
  • 00:07:11.447 --> 00:07:13.249
  • I think this--god will send his angels to childproof the spaces
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  • We're in.
  • 00:07:16.219 --> 00:07:17.954
  • But let's begin.
  • 00:07:17.954 --> 00:07:19.288
  • Let's start to move.
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  • In matthew 10, you know, the response that we have introduced
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  • Here, we talk about it a lot and i'll take a minute with
  • 00:07:25.595 --> 00:07:29.065
  • It, but i'm not--is this whole notion of let's pray.
  • 00:07:29.065 --> 00:07:31.601
  • It's a simple prayer.
  • 00:07:31.601 --> 00:07:32.969
  • It's an invitation, but it's very available.
  • 00:07:32.969 --> 00:07:35.838
  • It's very accessible.
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  • It's something that can be implemented in about any
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  • Circumstance with about any setting you find yourself in.
  • 00:07:40.543 --> 00:07:43.913
  • It's hard to object to a one-sentence invitation to god.
  • 00:07:43.913 --> 00:07:49.085
  • And i don't think we have-- we're familiar enough yet or
  • 00:07:49.085 --> 00:07:52.455
  • Comfortable enough yet that we take full advantage of
  • 00:07:52.455 --> 00:07:54.790
  • That opportunity.
  • 00:07:54.790 --> 00:07:56.492
  • In matthew 10, jesus is teaching, and he says, "do not
  • 00:07:56.492 --> 00:07:59.228
  • Fear those who kill the body."
  • 00:07:59.228 --> 00:08:02.098
  • That's always seemed like such an odd statement to me because
  • 00:08:02.098 --> 00:08:04.534
  • We're pretty much, if we're honest, who do we fear?
  • 00:08:04.534 --> 00:08:08.771
  • People that might kill us, right?
  • 00:08:08.771 --> 00:08:15.444
  • Oh, don't get so spiritual.
  • 00:08:15.444 --> 00:08:18.180
  • "no, i'm not so afraid of those people."
  • 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:19.582
  • Well, good, come go to israel with me.
  • 00:08:19.582 --> 00:08:22.985
  • We'll go down to gaza and walk through the streets and wave at
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  • The strangers.
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  • Jesus says, "don't be afraid of those who kill the body but are
  • 00:08:27.890 --> 00:08:31.727
  • Unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to
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  • Destroy both soul and body in hell."
  • 00:08:35.998 --> 00:08:39.535
  • So there's something worse than just losing your life: losing
  • 00:08:39.535 --> 00:08:43.105
  • Your soul.
  • 00:08:43.105 --> 00:08:45.141
  • Jesus said that is fearsome.
  • 00:08:45.141 --> 00:08:47.610
  • That should be frightening.
  • 00:08:47.610 --> 00:08:50.112
  • We don't want anybody in our sphere of influence to lose
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  • Their soul.
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  • If you don't pray continually for those people, what are
  • 00:08:56.118 --> 00:09:00.156
  • You doing?
  • 00:09:00.156 --> 00:09:04.060
  • But he doesn't stop there.
  • 00:09:04.060 --> 00:09:06.796
  • He gives an example.
  • 00:09:06.796 --> 00:09:08.564
  • He's such a good teacher.
  • 00:09:08.564 --> 00:09:09.899
  • He said, "aren't two sparrows sold for a cent?
  • 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:11.334
  • And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
  • 00:09:11.334 --> 00:09:14.070
  • Your father."
  • 00:09:14.070 --> 00:09:15.404
  • Do you know that god attends the funerals of the sparrows?
  • 00:09:15.404 --> 00:09:20.409
  • "the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
  • 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:22.378
  • So don't fear; you're more valuable than many sparrows.
  • 00:09:22.378 --> 00:09:26.015
  • Therefore anyone who confesses me before men, i will confess
  • 00:09:26.015 --> 00:09:29.085
  • Him before my father who's in heaven.
  • 00:09:29.085 --> 00:09:31.354
  • But whoever denies me before men, i will also deny him before
  • 00:09:31.354 --> 00:09:34.690
  • My father who is in heaven."
  • 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:37.593
  • Now, there's many ways you can understand that.
  • 00:09:37.593 --> 00:09:39.829
  • To me, the most effective way is to not read that as a threat.
  • 00:09:39.829 --> 00:09:43.933
  • I don't understand jesus to be threatening.
  • 00:09:43.933 --> 00:09:45.434
  • "if you deny me," i understand it as a promise.
  • 00:09:45.434 --> 00:09:51.474
  • Jesus is explaining how to be acknowledged by the father.
  • 00:09:51.474 --> 00:09:57.513
  • If you want the father to be familiar with you, you spend
  • 00:09:57.513 --> 00:10:01.117
  • Time acknowledging jesus.
  • 00:10:01.117 --> 00:10:04.186
  • Because if you'll acknowledge jesus, the father will
  • 00:10:04.186 --> 00:10:06.255
  • Acknowledge you.
  • 00:10:06.255 --> 00:10:08.290
  • Well, i read that and i think, "well, how many times a day can
  • 00:10:08.290 --> 00:10:10.159
  • I acknowledge jesus?"
  • 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.695
  • [imitating horn]
  • 00:10:12.695 --> 00:10:15.264
  • Right?
  • 00:10:15.264 --> 00:10:16.599
  • I'm not going anywhere and not taking jesus with me because i
  • 00:10:16.599 --> 00:10:18.668
  • Don't want to go anywhere and the father not go with me.
  • 00:10:18.668 --> 00:10:23.039
  • So don't read that as some ominous, heavy, you know, where
  • 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.342
  • You're raking back through your life, going, "where have i been
  • 00:10:26.342 --> 00:10:28.811
  • The denier," you know, "and the rooster crowed, and i'm
  • 00:10:28.811 --> 00:10:31.180
  • Like, oh!"
  • 00:10:31.180 --> 00:10:34.050
  • See it as an invitation.
  • 00:10:34.050 --> 00:10:36.952
  • Where and how and in what manner?
  • 00:10:36.952 --> 00:10:40.489
  • Allen: leading with our faith is often not easy.
  • 00:10:44.527 --> 00:10:46.595
  • You know, you're in a business setting, how do you start
  • 00:10:46.595 --> 00:10:48.531
  • A conversation?
  • 00:10:48.531 --> 00:10:49.865
  • Or you're with family and maybe it's awkward to bring faith
  • 00:10:49.865 --> 00:10:52.702
  • Forward or maybe it's children and you're not sure how to get
  • 00:10:52.702 --> 00:10:55.037
  • To it on their level.
  • 00:10:55.037 --> 00:10:56.405
  • We've got a tool that we think will help you.
  • 00:10:56.405 --> 00:10:57.907
  • They're conversation cards.
  • 00:10:57.907 --> 00:10:59.608
  • They're designed to help you lead with your faith in those
  • 00:10:59.608 --> 00:11:02.211
  • Different settings.
  • 00:11:02.211 --> 00:11:03.579
  • Whether you share 'em with somebody else, or you use them
  • 00:11:03.579 --> 00:11:05.381
  • As fuel for your own imagination, i believe with
  • 00:11:05.381 --> 00:11:08.184
  • Those cards and the help of the holy spirit, we can all lead
  • 00:11:08.184 --> 00:11:10.753
  • With our faith more effectively.
  • 00:11:10.753 --> 00:11:12.722
  • I'm excited about the outcome.
  • 00:11:12.722 --> 00:11:14.690
  • Female announcer: we created our new "lead with faith"
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  • Conversation starter cards to help you move past surface-level
  • 00:11:16.492 --> 00:11:20.563
  • Conversations so you can get to know the people around you in a
  • 00:11:20.563 --> 00:11:23.432
  • More meaningful way.
  • 00:11:23.432 --> 00:11:24.967
  • When you donate $25 or more today, you can request a set of
  • 00:11:24.967 --> 00:11:28.971
  • Conversation cards that include one for your family, one for
  • 00:11:28.971 --> 00:11:32.308
  • Your gatherings with friends, and another to use with
  • 00:11:32.308 --> 00:11:34.744
  • Young children.
  • 00:11:34.744 --> 00:11:36.078
  • Request your set of "lead with faith" conversation starter
  • 00:11:36.078 --> 00:11:38.748
  • Cards today at allenjackson.com or by calling...
  • 00:11:38.748 --> 00:11:44.754
  • Allen: so this whole "let's pray" idea, the way it was
  • 00:11:47.389 --> 00:11:49.925
  • Introduced, what we want to continue to pull forward with
  • 00:11:49.925 --> 00:11:53.028
  • That is a non-threatening way to allow your relationship with god
  • 00:11:53.028 --> 00:11:56.565
  • To grow, and you can do that across all the interactions of
  • 00:11:56.565 --> 00:11:59.869
  • Your life.
  • 00:11:59.869 --> 00:12:01.203
  • Every group--we're not gonna segment ourselves and go, "well,
  • 00:12:01.203 --> 00:12:03.672
  • You know, i'll pray with my small group, but i'm not praying
  • 00:12:03.672 --> 00:12:06.108
  • At work."
  • 00:12:06.108 --> 00:12:07.443
  • No, i'm praying anywhere i go.
  • 00:12:07.443 --> 00:12:09.979
  • I don't want any aspect of my life to be absent those
  • 00:12:09.979 --> 00:12:13.349
  • Invitations to god.
  • 00:12:13.349 --> 00:12:14.683
  • I want to plant seeds in all of those areas.
  • 00:12:14.683 --> 00:12:20.356
  • And this is very accessible.
  • 00:12:20.356 --> 00:12:22.191
  • You know, this whole notion, it's really just a
  • 00:12:22.191 --> 00:12:23.859
  • Listening prayer.
  • 00:12:23.859 --> 00:12:25.194
  • You don't really even have to initiate it.
  • 00:12:25.194 --> 00:12:26.862
  • If you listen to people, they'll tell you what's happening.
  • 00:12:26.862 --> 00:12:29.298
  • "how are you doing?"
  • 00:12:29.298 --> 00:12:30.666
  • "i'm not very good.
  • 00:12:30.666 --> 00:12:33.235
  • Been sitting in traffic on highway 99 for 3 hours."
  • 00:12:33.235 --> 00:12:38.374
  • Well, let's pray.
  • 00:12:38.374 --> 00:12:43.612
  • It's a listening prayer and i guess at the heart of that is
  • 00:12:43.612 --> 00:12:47.116
  • You have to care enough about other people that you're not
  • 00:12:47.116 --> 00:12:49.251
  • Just thinking about your stuff.
  • 00:12:49.251 --> 00:12:52.755
  • And you have to care enough about them that you'll have that
  • 00:12:52.755 --> 00:12:54.590
  • Little vulnerable moment where you'll simply close your eyes
  • 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:57.827
  • And say, "let's pray."
  • 00:12:57.827 --> 00:13:00.462
  • And then you just get a sentence, don't pray
  • 00:13:00.462 --> 00:13:02.131
  • A paragraph.
  • 00:13:02.131 --> 00:13:03.465
  • Don't quote them your favorite scripture.
  • 00:13:03.465 --> 00:13:05.835
  • Don't hand them my latest book.
  • 00:13:05.835 --> 00:13:12.174
  • You know, we--and after you've said your prayer, don't wait for
  • 00:13:12.174 --> 00:13:16.011
  • Them to affirm you.
  • 00:13:16.011 --> 00:13:17.379
  • I think that's the hardest part.
  • 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:20.349
  • You know, we want people to go, "oh, that was amazing."
  • 00:13:20.349 --> 00:13:28.557
  • I mean, that's nice from time to time, you know, but if you're
  • 00:13:28.557 --> 00:13:31.827
  • Planting a seed, think of it in a different way.
  • 00:13:31.827 --> 00:13:33.762
  • When you plant the seed, you understand you're probably not
  • 00:13:33.762 --> 00:13:36.565
  • Gonna harvest the crop or enjoy the flower in 30 minutes.
  • 00:13:36.565 --> 00:13:42.004
  • You're probably gonna have to spray some bugs and pull some
  • 00:13:42.004 --> 00:13:44.106
  • Weeds and pay attention to the surroundings and if you do those
  • 00:13:44.106 --> 00:13:49.245
  • Things, there'll be an outcome.
  • 00:13:49.245 --> 00:13:53.515
  • When we lived in florida, when-- we lived in hollywood, and our
  • 00:13:53.515 --> 00:14:00.356
  • Most--many of our neighbors were jewish and i remember
  • 00:14:00.356 --> 00:14:02.925
  • Across the street there was a family and they had a daughter
  • 00:14:02.925 --> 00:14:05.194
  • About my age when i was young, early elementary school.
  • 00:14:05.194 --> 00:14:08.731
  • But we'd come--we were not urbanites.
  • 00:14:08.731 --> 00:14:12.501
  • We'd come from missoura and much more comfortable in a rural
  • 00:14:12.501 --> 00:14:15.437
  • Setting and now we're in hollywood, florida.
  • 00:14:15.437 --> 00:14:18.674
  • And i don't remember how it happened, i just remember my
  • 00:14:18.674 --> 00:14:21.110
  • Mother helped the little girl across the street plant
  • 00:14:21.110 --> 00:14:23.879
  • Some vegetables.
  • 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.682
  • And the part i remember and i don't remember the details, but
  • 00:14:26.682 --> 00:14:29.351
  • The part i remember is my mother saying she keeps digging
  • 00:14:29.351 --> 00:14:31.587
  • Them up.
  • 00:14:31.587 --> 00:14:33.889
  • You know, she'd plant them and leave them in the ground a week
  • 00:14:33.889 --> 00:14:35.824
  • And then she'd dig it up because she wanted to see what grew.
  • 00:14:35.824 --> 00:14:41.764
  • You know, and i remember they-- she showed her how to plant a
  • 00:14:41.764 --> 00:14:44.166
  • Potato and they planted a piece of a potato and the little girl
  • 00:14:44.166 --> 00:14:46.835
  • Kept digging them up.
  • 00:14:46.835 --> 00:14:49.838
  • And i think we have that tendency.
  • 00:14:49.838 --> 00:14:52.975
  • And you know, when you have a let's pray moment with someone,
  • 00:14:52.975 --> 00:14:55.444
  • Whether it's at work or in a family member or whenever it be,
  • 00:14:55.444 --> 00:14:58.213
  • You know, i know everybody would like a microwaved answer, but
  • 00:14:58.213 --> 00:15:01.417
  • Most of the times in my life i don't get those
  • 00:15:01.417 --> 00:15:03.285
  • Microwave answers.
  • 00:15:03.285 --> 00:15:04.653
  • From time to time you do, but that's not the pattern.
  • 00:15:04.653 --> 00:15:08.090
  • And you plant the seed.
  • 00:15:08.090 --> 00:15:10.326
  • And what you've done is open a door to the awareness of god.
  • 00:15:10.326 --> 00:15:13.228
  • You've opened the door to the possibility of a prayer.
  • 00:15:13.228 --> 00:15:15.464
  • You've opened the door to a person who believes there is a
  • 00:15:15.464 --> 00:15:18.600
  • God and maybe there's a conversation to have on the
  • 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:20.336
  • Other side of that where you could talk about the
  • 00:15:20.336 --> 00:15:22.638
  • Implications of faith in your life in some broader ways.
  • 00:15:22.638 --> 00:15:25.975
  • There's many ways that that seed that is planted can
  • 00:15:25.975 --> 00:15:29.745
  • Produce fruit.
  • 00:15:29.745 --> 00:15:32.114
  • But if it's--if it's centered in "me establishing my
  • 00:15:32.114 --> 00:15:35.617
  • Spirituality and me asserting my maturity and my great
  • 00:15:35.617 --> 00:15:39.788
  • Wisdom," then you dig it up.
  • 00:15:39.788 --> 00:15:44.727
  • And you give them that creepy look, trying to elicit from them
  • 00:15:44.727 --> 00:15:48.097
  • Some kind of a response.
  • 00:15:48.097 --> 00:15:51.834
  • And if we can learn to plant it and then let god bring about
  • 00:15:51.834 --> 00:15:54.870
  • The outcome.
  • 00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:57.806
  • You know, the most remarkable outcomes in my life when i know
  • 00:15:57.806 --> 00:16:01.610
  • Without any doubt god has intervened, he's redirected my
  • 00:16:01.610 --> 00:16:04.947
  • Life, he's changed the course, he's brought gifts into my life
  • 00:16:04.947 --> 00:16:08.384
  • That i didn't anticipate, whatever--it doesn't look like
  • 00:16:08.384 --> 00:16:11.820
  • What i was imagining.
  • 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:15.791
  • You know, i had an imagination when i raised my hand and said,
  • 00:16:15.791 --> 00:16:18.360
  • "yeah, i'll be willing to be a pastor," i had a little bit of
  • 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.829
  • Imagination of that.
  • 00:16:20.829 --> 00:16:22.164
  • It doesn't look like my life today.
  • 00:16:22.164 --> 00:16:25.501
  • Just hardly at all.
  • 00:16:25.501 --> 00:16:27.569
  • I mean, the bible is still involved and there's people
  • 00:16:27.569 --> 00:16:29.638
  • Involved, but beyond that it doesn't look much like my life.
  • 00:16:29.638 --> 00:16:33.876
  • And i suspect with a little bit of reflection, you would have to
  • 00:16:33.876 --> 00:16:36.045
  • Say god has done things in your life vastly different than you
  • 00:16:36.045 --> 00:16:39.448
  • Would have imagined if he was just following your script.
  • 00:16:39.448 --> 00:16:43.385
  • So those little one-sentence prayers that you plant, if you
  • 00:16:43.385 --> 00:16:46.021
  • Begin to think of them as just an expression of faith and i
  • 00:16:46.021 --> 00:16:48.891
  • Wanna drop it in the ground, i wanna plant that in the life of
  • 00:16:48.891 --> 00:16:51.260
  • This person.
  • 00:16:51.260 --> 00:16:52.594
  • I wanna plant that in the place where i work.
  • 00:16:52.594 --> 00:16:54.063
  • I wanna plant it in the heart of one of my children or i wanna
  • 00:16:54.063 --> 00:16:57.599
  • Plant it over my family or, god, i wanna invite you into that.
  • 00:16:57.599 --> 00:17:03.405
  • You can have let's pray prayers for yourself.
  • 00:17:03.405 --> 00:17:08.377
  • Now, i pray more involved prayers than that.
  • 00:17:08.377 --> 00:17:10.479
  • I like to walk and pray.
  • 00:17:10.479 --> 00:17:12.614
  • I like to walk and pray in the spirit.
  • 00:17:12.614 --> 00:17:16.251
  • It's one of the most helpful ways i have found that god
  • 00:17:16.251 --> 00:17:19.154
  • Brings direction to my life.
  • 00:17:19.154 --> 00:17:22.257
  • You know, i visited--i did my undergraduate work at oral
  • 00:17:22.257 --> 00:17:25.227
  • Roberts university, once upon a time.
  • 00:17:25.227 --> 00:17:30.265
  • And we had to take--we were required the first 2 years we
  • 00:17:30.265 --> 00:17:32.901
  • Were there to take a course that president roberts taught on the
  • 00:17:32.901 --> 00:17:36.271
  • Holy spirit in the now.
  • 00:17:36.271 --> 00:17:38.807
  • And i heard him say dozens and dozens and dozens of times when
  • 00:17:38.807 --> 00:17:42.644
  • He--god asked him to build the universities, "i don't want to
  • 00:17:42.644 --> 00:17:45.147
  • Build a university.
  • 00:17:45.147 --> 00:17:46.515
  • I'm a tent preacher.
  • 00:17:46.515 --> 00:17:48.684
  • Don't know anything about building a university."
  • 00:17:48.684 --> 00:17:51.453
  • He said he bought these several hundred acres on the edge
  • 00:17:51.453 --> 00:17:53.622
  • Of tulsa.
  • 00:17:53.622 --> 00:17:55.224
  • And he said, "i would walk over that farm and pray in
  • 00:17:55.224 --> 00:17:57.626
  • The spirit."
  • 00:17:57.626 --> 00:17:58.994
  • And he said, "the lord would show me what to do next."
  • 00:17:58.994 --> 00:18:01.830
  • And i heard him say that dozens and dozens and dozens of times
  • 00:18:01.830 --> 00:18:05.300
  • As a young man, and i used to think, "what a bother.
  • 00:18:05.300 --> 00:18:09.037
  • I don't wanna--i don't care about building a university.
  • 00:18:09.037 --> 00:18:11.073
  • I don't care about building a-- what's wrong with you?
  • 00:18:11.073 --> 00:18:14.076
  • I'm trying to pass an exam.
  • 00:18:14.076 --> 00:18:17.446
  • Trying to get into professional school."
  • 00:18:17.446 --> 00:18:21.984
  • And i have repented, because in the years that have followed, i
  • 00:18:21.984 --> 00:18:25.554
  • Can't tell you how many times i find myself walking through the
  • 00:18:25.554 --> 00:18:27.990
  • Fields going, "god, i don't-- what do we do next?"
  • 00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:34.329
  • You know, when we heard about a virus coming from wuhan, i
  • 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:38.333
  • Didn't know what to do.
  • 00:18:38.333 --> 00:18:39.668
  • I was up early in the mornings, walking through the fields
  • 00:18:39.668 --> 00:18:41.370
  • Going, "god, what do we do next?
  • 00:18:41.370 --> 00:18:45.073
  • What's appropriate, god?"
  • 00:18:45.073 --> 00:18:48.510
  • I'm telling you, prayer will change the trajectory of
  • 00:18:48.510 --> 00:18:52.047
  • Your life.
  • 00:18:52.047 --> 00:18:54.683
  • We think of prayer so often as a means of getting our way, of
  • 00:18:54.683 --> 00:19:00.789
  • Getting a problem resolved or getting a need met, and it can
  • 00:19:00.789 --> 00:19:03.926
  • Be about that.
  • 00:19:03.926 --> 00:19:05.561
  • But i have found it to be far, far more encompassing than that.
  • 00:19:05.561 --> 00:19:09.665
  • It's about god's direction for our lives.
  • 00:19:09.665 --> 00:19:15.270
  • So i brought you just some examples by category, simple
  • 00:19:15.270 --> 00:19:18.040
  • One-sentence prayers you can pray.
  • 00:19:18.040 --> 00:19:20.642
  • Take a picture of it.
  • 00:19:20.642 --> 00:19:22.010
  • Keep it in your phone, share it with somebody else.
  • 00:19:22.010 --> 00:19:25.247
  • Somebody will no doubt call the office tomorrow and say, "will
  • 00:19:25.247 --> 00:19:27.149
  • You post it somewhere?"
  • 00:19:27.149 --> 00:19:28.483
  • I have posted it in your hand, on a piece of paper.
  • 00:19:28.483 --> 00:19:30.452
  • Now take a picture.
  • 00:19:30.452 --> 00:19:35.524
  • "well, couldn't we have it?"
  • 00:19:35.524 --> 00:19:36.858
  • No, just take a picture.
  • 00:19:36.858 --> 00:19:39.962
  • If you need a--if you need a healing miracle, "lord, give us
  • 00:19:39.962 --> 00:19:43.265
  • Your strength for this day, in jesus' name, amen."
  • 00:19:43.265 --> 00:19:48.704
  • "well, that's not what i want.
  • 00:19:48.704 --> 00:19:50.038
  • I want--" now, wait, just, "lord, give us your
  • 00:19:50.038 --> 00:19:51.673
  • Strength today."
  • 00:19:51.673 --> 00:19:55.944
  • If you're filled with anxiety and i don't mean some arbitrary
  • 00:19:55.944 --> 00:20:00.182
  • Point of where, i mean, if there are circumstances that would
  • 00:20:00.182 --> 00:20:02.684
  • Cause any normal sane person to be worried, "father, may your
  • 00:20:02.684 --> 00:20:08.790
  • Peace fill our hearts and our minds today, in jesus'
  • 00:20:08.790 --> 00:20:12.394
  • Name, amen."
  • 00:20:12.394 --> 00:20:14.596
  • Jesus faced real threats.
  • 00:20:14.596 --> 00:20:17.933
  • He faced threats from rome, he faced threats from
  • 00:20:17.933 --> 00:20:20.902
  • Jewish leaders.
  • 00:20:20.902 --> 00:20:22.704
  • He faced the threats of a group of people that he was trying to
  • 00:20:22.704 --> 00:20:26.141
  • Train that seemed to be recruited from the slow group.
  • 00:20:26.141 --> 00:20:29.878
  • I mean, his life was filled with--he was rejected in his
  • 00:20:29.878 --> 00:20:32.581
  • Hometown, a lot of stuff, but you never find him anxious.
  • 00:20:32.581 --> 00:20:37.886
  • He stands outside lazarus's tomb.
  • 00:20:37.886 --> 00:20:39.454
  • His friend is dead and has been for a while.
  • 00:20:39.454 --> 00:20:41.490
  • He stinketh.
  • 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:43.592
  • And jesus said, "father, i thank you that you hear my prayers."
  • 00:20:43.592 --> 00:20:49.464
  • You know, that little we--i showed you the passage just a
  • 00:20:49.464 --> 00:20:51.933
  • Moment ago when jesus went to raise that young man in the
  • 00:20:51.933 --> 00:20:56.571
  • Village of nain.
  • 00:20:56.571 --> 00:20:59.308
  • It was just a sentence prayer.
  • 00:20:59.308 --> 00:21:03.679
  • Imagine if you felt like god told you to go pray for someone
  • 00:21:03.679 --> 00:21:06.315
  • Who was dead.
  • 00:21:06.315 --> 00:21:09.184
  • How would you prepare?
  • 00:21:09.184 --> 00:21:13.155
  • Well, i'll tell you what i'd do.
  • 00:21:13.155 --> 00:21:14.523
  • I'd write a long proclamation.
  • 00:21:14.523 --> 00:21:17.826
  • And i'd take the worship team.
  • 00:21:17.826 --> 00:21:21.663
  • And i'd want the atmosphere to be just right, right?
  • 00:21:21.663 --> 00:21:26.335
  • I'd be like some world-class athlete stretching and getting
  • 00:21:26.335 --> 00:21:28.970
  • Limber and warming up, right?
  • 00:21:28.970 --> 00:21:33.542
  • Then i'd want the right tone of voice.
  • 00:21:33.542 --> 00:21:35.177
  • I mean, that's a big lift. people watching.
  • 00:21:35.177 --> 00:21:38.680
  • You've interrupted the funeral procession.
  • 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:40.482
  • You've got, you know, you're drawing attention to yourself...
  • 00:21:40.482 --> 00:21:47.556
  • And jesus said, he just, "sit up."
  • 00:21:47.556 --> 00:21:55.997
  • See, a small prayer can make a big difference.
  • 00:21:55.997 --> 00:21:59.167
  • When he stood outside lazarus's tomb, he said, "lazarus, come
  • 00:21:59.167 --> 00:22:02.471
  • Here, psst."
  • 00:22:02.471 --> 00:22:07.142
  • That's not what i would have done at all.
  • 00:22:07.142 --> 00:22:09.678
  • "let's join hands.
  • 00:22:09.678 --> 00:22:12.714
  • Let's link our faith.
  • 00:22:12.714 --> 00:22:15.083
  • Let's repent of our unbelief.
  • 00:22:15.083 --> 00:22:18.019
  • If there's any unconfessed sin, let's take a minute because we
  • 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:20.455
  • Need a lightning bolt here," right?
  • 00:22:20.455 --> 00:22:23.558
  • It's like we gotta work up--no!
  • 00:22:23.558 --> 00:22:26.428
  • Folks, on our best day, we can't heal a gnat's wing.
  • 00:22:26.428 --> 00:22:28.530
  • What you acting like you're gonna call somebody out of the
  • 00:22:28.530 --> 00:22:30.132
  • Grave for?
  • 00:22:30.132 --> 00:22:34.035
  • So a sentence prayer to me is not void of significance.
  • 00:22:34.035 --> 00:22:38.173
  • I don't want to limit your prayers to that.
  • 00:22:38.173 --> 00:22:39.941
  • I want it to be a touch point.
  • 00:22:39.941 --> 00:22:44.346
  • If there are problems in your life, real problems, tangible
  • 00:22:44.346 --> 00:22:47.516
  • Problems: "father, give us your wisdom today, in jesus' name."
  • 00:22:47.516 --> 00:22:55.791
  • See, wisdom is knowing what to do.
  • 00:22:55.791 --> 00:22:57.459
  • It's having the right information at the right time
  • 00:22:57.459 --> 00:22:59.694
  • For the right response.
  • 00:22:59.694 --> 00:23:02.164
  • That takes god.
  • 00:23:02.164 --> 00:23:06.935
  • Discouragement.
  • 00:23:06.935 --> 00:23:09.237
  • Discouragement is to be without courage.
  • 00:23:09.237 --> 00:23:11.139
  • If you don't have the courage to go forward, if you're stuck
  • 00:23:11.139 --> 00:23:14.976
  • In procrastination.
  • 00:23:14.976 --> 00:23:17.312
  • [clearing throat]
  • 00:23:17.312 --> 00:23:18.780
  • Excuse me.
  • 00:23:18.780 --> 00:23:20.649
  • "lord, fill us with joy and hope as we move through our
  • 00:23:20.649 --> 00:23:23.318
  • Day, amen."
  • 00:23:23.318 --> 00:23:30.826
  • Loneliness.
  • 00:23:30.826 --> 00:23:32.494
  • You know, loneliness is really-- loneliness, typically, it's not
  • 00:23:32.494 --> 00:23:35.931
  • About being completely alone.
  • 00:23:35.931 --> 00:23:37.299
  • It's you don't have the people around you or you don't have the
  • 00:23:37.299 --> 00:23:39.067
  • Support that you want.
  • 00:23:39.067 --> 00:23:44.573
  • "well, i mean, yeah, i know they'll talk to me, but they're
  • 00:23:44.573 --> 00:23:46.274
  • Not the ones i want to talk to me.
  • 00:23:46.274 --> 00:23:49.244
  • Well, yeah, i know they care about me, but that's not the one
  • 00:23:49.244 --> 00:23:51.580
  • I want."
  • 00:23:51.580 --> 00:23:55.050
  • "father, send your angels to stand beside us today."
  • 00:23:55.050 --> 00:23:59.020
  • If you know god is with you, if you really believe what he said
  • 00:23:59.020 --> 00:24:01.556
  • That he'll never leave you or forsake you, you're not alone.
  • 00:24:01.556 --> 00:24:05.527
  • "yeah, but i feel--" oh, i got that.
  • 00:24:05.527 --> 00:24:15.270
  • Heaviness.
  • 00:24:15.270 --> 00:24:17.205
  • "father, lift the spirit of despair and bring your hope to
  • 00:24:17.205 --> 00:24:19.808
  • Us today, in jesus' name, amen."
  • 00:24:19.808 --> 00:24:25.046
  • Weariness.
  • 00:24:25.046 --> 00:24:27.315
  • You know, the bible says not to grow weary in doing good.
  • 00:24:27.315 --> 00:24:30.485
  • You know something for certain if the bible says not to grow
  • 00:24:30.485 --> 00:24:32.888
  • Weary in doing good that you will, what?
  • 00:24:32.888 --> 00:24:36.224
  • Pfft.
  • 00:24:36.224 --> 00:24:37.759
  • "tired of doing good. feel like doing a little wicked.
  • 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:45.300
  • Well, maybe not wicked, but i'm just gonna a little--at least
  • 00:24:45.300 --> 00:24:47.135
  • I'm gonna do a little not good.
  • 00:24:47.135 --> 00:24:50.372
  • Not gonna be kind.
  • 00:24:50.372 --> 00:24:52.941
  • You pull in front of me, i'm gonna hit you."
  • 00:24:52.941 --> 00:25:02.317
  • Well, you've--we've all got our own expression of that.
  • 00:25:02.317 --> 00:25:06.555
  • "not picking up after these kids one more time."
  • 00:25:06.555 --> 00:25:10.792
  • "no, i'm not taking one more prayer request."
  • 00:25:10.792 --> 00:25:19.868
  • "father, help carry our burden through this day, give us a
  • 00:25:19.868 --> 00:25:24.005
  • Sense of your rest, in jesus' name, amen."
  • 00:25:24.005 --> 00:25:30.579
  • And i think one of the most powerful things you can do when
  • 00:25:30.579 --> 00:25:32.814
  • You recognize you're in a spiritual struggle is to be
  • 00:25:32.814 --> 00:25:35.917
  • Determined to rejoice, to use your voice, to focus
  • 00:25:35.917 --> 00:25:38.587
  • Your thoughts.
  • 00:25:38.587 --> 00:25:40.422
  • "lord, thank you for your goodness and your love for us.
  • 00:25:40.422 --> 00:25:44.059
  • We love you."
  • 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.428
  • Now, if any one of those things were appropriate for a specific
  • 00:25:46.428 --> 00:25:49.664
  • Point of awareness in my life, i would say that 100 times today.
  • 00:25:49.664 --> 00:25:55.503
  • Allen: you know, it seems to me our nation is more polarized
  • 00:25:55.503 --> 00:25:58.106
  • Than any time i can remember.
  • 00:25:58.106 --> 00:25:59.975
  • I don't believe we're gonna bridge that gap with
  • 00:25:59.975 --> 00:26:01.710
  • Better politics.
  • 00:26:01.710 --> 00:26:03.044
  • I believe we will change that by an extension of our faith.
  • 00:26:03.044 --> 00:26:06.548
  • Those of us with a biblical worldview, those of us that
  • 00:26:06.548 --> 00:26:08.550
  • Believe jesus of nazareth is lord, christ, and king have to
  • 00:26:08.550 --> 00:26:12.787
  • Understand how to take that message back into the
  • 00:26:12.787 --> 00:26:14.656
  • Marketplace, back into academia, back into our neighborhoods.
  • 00:26:14.656 --> 00:26:18.860
  • We've got a tool that we think will help you lead with
  • 00:26:18.860 --> 00:26:20.929
  • Your faith.
  • 00:26:20.929 --> 00:26:22.297
  • It's really simple. they're conversation cards.
  • 00:26:22.297 --> 00:26:23.632
  • We've built them around some imagined audiences, whether it's
  • 00:26:23.632 --> 00:26:26.334
  • A small group, christian friends, family, or even
  • 00:26:26.334 --> 00:26:29.371
  • Children, to help you engage a conversation.
  • 00:26:29.371 --> 00:26:32.340
  • Whether you share them with other people or you just use
  • 00:26:32.340 --> 00:26:34.409
  • Them to help fuel your own imagination, we're gonna lead
  • 00:26:34.409 --> 00:26:37.412
  • With our faith in this season to help bring the purposes of god
  • 00:26:37.412 --> 00:26:41.716
  • To bear in our communities, our homes, and beyond.
  • 00:26:41.716 --> 00:26:44.786
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:26:44.786 --> 00:26:46.121
  • Father, i ask for your anointing that these conversation cards
  • 00:26:46.121 --> 00:26:48.923
  • Would be more than a tool, that they would be something you
  • 00:26:48.923 --> 00:26:50.992
  • Anoint for your purposes in this season to transform lives, in
  • 00:26:50.992 --> 00:26:55.330
  • Jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:26:55.330 --> 00:26:57.265
  • Announcer: we are committed to helping you grow in your faith
  • 00:27:01.002 --> 00:27:03.138
  • And have tools for your journey, no matter your schedule.
  • 00:27:03.138 --> 00:27:05.840
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