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 - The Lord Is With You (Part 2) | January 10, 2025
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- ♪♪♪
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- Allen jackson: if you'll allow me--i know it's in the bible
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- And it's a wonderful story and we celebrate mary and
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- Joseph and they're in our pageants
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- And they're venerated because we're looking back on them from
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- Two millennia's perspective.
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- But i would submit to you, if you were involved in that, if it
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- Was your name on the invitation that had been mailed out, or if
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- It was your child in the midst of that set of circumstances, i
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- Think the most appropriate--one of the most appropriate words i
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- Could find would be disappointment.
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- Joseph, i assure you, was disappointed in mary, or he
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- Would not have needed the visit from the angel.
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- Mary's words to him were not sufficient.
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- He understands the circumstance, he's very well versed in it.
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- He's decided he's not going forward with the commitment.
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- So mary's words to him were not sufficient.
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- The disappointment in him is more real than her assertion
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- That it's supernatural.
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- Is that fair?
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- I've done no injustice to the text.
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- So what i'm going to suggest to you is that disappointment in
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- My life or your life, as it was in joseph's life, could be a
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- Signpost for a breakthrough.
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- You know what a disappointment is?
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- If we break the word down, that little prefix "dis" d-i-s
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- Means "without."
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- A "disappointment" is an appointment that shows up that
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- You didn't have on your calendar.
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- "oh, i didn't want that.
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- I didn't want to make time for that.
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- I didn't wanna have to deal with that.
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- I wasn't planning on this."
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- That's a disappointment.
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- Matthew puts it this way, "mary was found to be with child."
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- It's really disappointing, if you know it's not your child.
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- So here's my question: are we willing to turn our faces to the
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- Lord and, "lord, they say there's some disappointments in
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- My life, this christmas season.
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- There's some things i'm not really just--wouldn't have been
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- The way i scheduled it.
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- It wouldn't have been the way i had planned it.
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- It wasn't what i had dreamt of, but i believe you're moving and
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- I wanna follow you.
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- I don't want a--
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- I want to follow you."
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- See, i'm pretty certain that in this circumstance, at least a
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- Part of what's going through joseph is if you feel pretty
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- Vulnerable, the community knows.
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- Nazareth is a town of 1500 or fewer people in the time that
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- They were there.
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- It's a small community.
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- They all know about the intentions of mary and joseph,
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- And there's not really any way to hide
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- What's happening with mary.
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- I would submit to you it's the reason she hurried off to see
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- Aunt elizabeth, immediately
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- After the announcement of the angel.
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- It's easier to process that at a distance.
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- But joseph, you're pretty vulnerable.
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- There's a sense of rejection.
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- "you're what?"
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- It's humiliating.
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- And i want to suggest that those things typically have to be
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- Navigated in the midst of a breakthrough.
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- Breakthrough is when god intervenes, it's typically not
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- That all the people around you, the seculars and everybody go,
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- "oh, that is so awesome."
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- That hasn't been my experience.
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- There's always some loud skeptics.
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- "well, why are you doing that?
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- How come you could do that?
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- I've never seen that before, that's not the way we did it.
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- Don't know if i like that!"
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- You're living through it thinking, "i'm
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- Not even doing it!
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- If god weren't helping, it's not happening."
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- Are you willing to say yes to a breakthrough?
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- What did the angels say to joseph?
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- "don't be afraid to take mary home as your wife."
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- What do you think is at the heart of the problem?
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- "i'm not taking her home."
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- The fourth observation i would give you is the breakthroughs
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- Are about the purposes of god.
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- See, we start asking typically because we know what we want.
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- But the real interventions, the real interventions of god are
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- About the purposes of god more than they're about what i want.
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- That'll be another session, but i could give you a litany of
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- Examples from my own life and my experience with other people.
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- Breakthroughs that were far more about the purposes of god.
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- In this particular case, the message from gabriel was, "you
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- Give this child the name jesus."
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- "well, that seals it.
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- Everybody will know he's not mine!"
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- "well it really isn't about you, joe.
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- You name him jesus.
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- Ask mary about uncle zachariah, what he said since i talked to
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- Him last."
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- That's a pretty startling thing.
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- This isn't about you.
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- "well, you've got a role to play, we need your strength, we
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- Need you to participate, we need you to step up.
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- But if you think this is just about you, you're
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- Not understanding."
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- You see, the narrowest possible imagination of a breakthrough
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- Is, "it's just for me, this is what i want.
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- It's what i wanna do and the way i want it to happen and
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- This was the scenario i imagined and this is how i
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- Wanna be treated and this is how i wanna be perceived."
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- I don't find most of the breakthroughs are about that.
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- I think when saul of tarsus had his breakthrough on the road to
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- Damascus, he lost almost all of his friends.
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- And those who are going to be his new friends are too afraid
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- To talk to him.
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- He is very isolated, lots of rejection cascading over him, in
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- The midst of god's breakthrough in his life.
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- I think maybe the most startling to me in this is that joseph
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- Said yes.
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- Joseph said yes.
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- Joseph said yes!
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- I read that and i think, "wow.
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- I just--well, i'm gonna need, like, quadruple confirmation."
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- I think it's also safe to say that breakthroughs initiate
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- A journey.
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- That frequently, with the biblical narratives and in our
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- Own experiences, frequently you cannot see or imagine
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- The outcome.
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- I'm pretty certain that at the point that joseph and mary had
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- That angelic visit that they didn't understand all that was
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- In front of them.
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- I assure you the expectation from messiah in the first
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- Century at that point in time was not of someone who's going
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- To be crucified by romans.
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- It was a political leader, a military leader, a deliverer,
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- More from the book of judges, more of a character like gideon
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- Or samson or king david.
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- Somebody who's gonna change the narrative of authority and the
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- Expression of power.
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- And then there'll be a liberty that comes to our people.
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- And so if you're going to be engaged in the emergence of
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- Messiah, this is like a parade.
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- That was the idea.
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- It was so ingrained, it's what resulted--it really
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- Contributed mightily to the crucifixion of jesus.
- 00:08:06.735 --> 00:08:10.005
- So when mary and joseph as teenagers here, you're gonna be
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- In on this drama.
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- "wow, we'll get seats in the palace."
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- They couldn't see the end of it.
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- Are you willing to say yes to the lord when you understand you
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- Can't see the end of it.
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- You know the old analogy: you land on a desert island, and if
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- You want to display your commitment to your new location,
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- You burned the boats.
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- And you've eliminated any possibility of escape.
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- I want to ask you to consider, in the serving of the lord, have
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- You ever come to the point where you're willing to burn
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- The boats?
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- Or do you keep your escape hatches open, just in case this
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- God thing didn't work out the way i thought it would.
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- You've ever pushed the chips into the middle of the table and
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- Say, "listen, i'm all in with this."
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- 'cause i'm pretty certain that's what mary and joseph were doing.
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- And they couldn't see the outcome.
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- You see some little glimpses of it.
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- It's when jesus is 12 and they they lose him, and they find him
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- After several days and he's in the temple, having discussions
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- With the scholars, and they're completely confused by that.
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- They weren't prepared for that or there's a different--there's
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- A bit of a scene change when mary's at the wedding and cana,
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- And they're out of wine, and she says to the servants, "just do
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- Whatever he tells you.
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- Just whatever he tells you to do, listen to him."
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- Or at the cross, mary's standing at the foot of the cross.
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- I cannot imagine.
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- I don't have a broad enough emotional spectrum to paint a
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- Picture for you of that.
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- I can't imagine.
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- Seeing jesus beaten in the way he's been beaten and watching
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- Him being tortured in public, and through the haze of the
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- Pain, jesus looks down at mary, and john, and says, "behold
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- Your son."
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- And to john, "behold your mother."
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- I promise you, when gabriel came to visit mary as a teenage
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- Girl in nazareth, she didn't see that.
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- See, i think we abort breakthroughs.
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- I think we hit stop.
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- There--you know, you get that little thing that's scrolling,
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- Does that annoy you as much as it annoys me?
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- I think that little thing mocks me.
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- It's like you've done something wrong and there's no outcome.
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- You think, "well, i'll be patient for another 60 seconds,"
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- And it keeps scrolling.
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- When i call somebody smart and they'll say, "well, have
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- You rebooted?"
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- I got a boot for you, come over here.
- 00:11:03.344 --> 00:11:08.583
- Well, i'm pretty certain that, in my life, i've hit abort on
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- Some breakthroughs that god would have put in front of me
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- Because i didn't want to wait or i couldn't see an outcome,
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- And i wanted more instant gratification.
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- Breakthroughs initiate a journey, but you typically can't
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- See the outcome.
- 00:11:28.269 --> 00:11:33.274
- Female announcer: if you look, you'll find good
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- News everywhere.
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- Female: our baby was born healthy and strong.
- 00:11:40.749 --> 00:11:44.719
- Female: we have the groceries we need.
- 00:11:44.719 --> 00:11:47.155
- Male: another year cancer free.
- 00:11:47.155 --> 00:11:50.525
- Female: we bought our first house this year.
- 00:11:50.525 --> 00:11:54.462
- Female: the raise came through when i needed it most.
- 00:11:54.462 --> 00:11:58.099
- Male: i have a working car.
- 00:11:58.099 --> 00:12:01.669
- Female: my husband came home safe.
- 00:12:01.669 --> 00:12:05.607
- Announcer: philippians 4 tells us to think about whatever is
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- True, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent,
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- And praiseworthy.
- 00:12:13.548 --> 00:12:15.316
- All of these things honor god, and when we take time to notice
- 00:12:15.316 --> 00:12:18.586
- Them, we welcome god's presence and experience his peace.
- 00:12:18.586 --> 00:12:24.225
- Allen: you know, the two most critical junctures of any
- 00:12:24.225 --> 00:12:26.728
- Enterprise are how we begin and how we conclude.
- 00:12:26.728 --> 00:12:30.198
- So the beginning of a new year is a tremendous opportunity.
- 00:12:30.198 --> 00:12:34.135
- We've prepared a tool we wanna share with you.
- 00:12:34.135 --> 00:12:35.904
- It's a good news journal.
- 00:12:35.904 --> 00:12:37.806
- We wanna help you set a habit this year to do something with a
- 00:12:37.806 --> 00:12:41.810
- Bit more intention than perhaps has been our pattern in
- 00:12:41.810 --> 00:12:44.779
- The past.
- 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:46.114
- We wanna start our year with an attitude of appreciation and
- 00:12:46.114 --> 00:12:49.184
- Gratitude for the blessings of god in our lives.
- 00:12:49.184 --> 00:12:52.420
- So we've designed this journal so that you can use it as a part
- 00:12:52.420 --> 00:12:55.423
- Of your devotional.
- 00:12:55.423 --> 00:12:56.791
- It's something you could include the children, the grandchildren.
- 00:12:56.791 --> 00:12:58.993
- You could take it to work and create a good news journal for
- 00:12:58.993 --> 00:13:01.429
- The people you work with.
- 00:13:01.429 --> 00:13:03.031
- Wherever that may be, let's start our year out purposefully,
- 00:13:03.031 --> 00:13:06.801
- Intentionally saying thank you to the lord for his goodness
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- To us.
- 00:13:10.238 --> 00:13:11.606
- I know there's challenges and we have places where we need god's
- 00:13:11.606 --> 00:13:14.008
- Help, but we're gonna begin with gratitude and walk into the
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- Blessings of god in this year.
- 00:13:17.912 --> 00:13:20.281
- I think you'll enjoy the journal.
- 00:13:20.281 --> 00:13:22.016
- God bless.
- 00:13:22.016 --> 00:13:23.351
- Announcer: when you keep a good news list, you'll notice how god
- 00:13:23.351 --> 00:13:25.854
- Is constantly at work all around you.
- 00:13:25.854 --> 00:13:28.690
- Our new 52 week good news notebook gives you a place to
- 00:13:28.690 --> 00:13:32.660
- Record your good news, prayers you saw god answer, and your
- 00:13:32.660 --> 00:13:36.231
- Current prayer requests.
- 00:13:36.231 --> 00:13:38.032
- As you look back on your lists over the weeks and months to
- 00:13:38.032 --> 00:13:40.902
- Come, you'll find a personal record of
- 00:13:40.902 --> 00:13:42.937
- God's faithfulness to you.
- 00:13:42.937 --> 00:13:44.339
- Allen: we are trusting god for a year like no other, for his
- 00:13:44.339 --> 00:13:47.575
- Breakthroughs this year.
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- I believe the good news journal can be a part of our journey in
- 00:13:48.943 --> 00:13:51.913
- Each of our lives.
- 00:13:51.913 --> 00:13:53.248
- Announcer: request your good news notebook when you donate
- 00:13:53.248 --> 00:13:55.183
- $20 or more today at allenjackson.com or by
- 00:13:55.183 --> 00:13:58.987
- Calling ...
- 00:13:58.987 --> 00:14:03.124
- Allen: i gotta wrap it up, so let's do this quickly.
- 00:14:06.127 --> 00:14:08.863
- Breakthroughs are the fulfillment of god's promises.
- 00:14:08.863 --> 00:14:12.200
- I want to say it again, it's really important: breakthroughs
- 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.335
- Of the fulfillment of god's promises.
- 00:14:14.335 --> 00:14:17.338
- I could develop that with quite a bit of complexity from
- 00:14:17.338 --> 00:14:20.708
- Scripture, but i'll give you one passage.
- 00:14:20.708 --> 00:14:22.243
- 2 peter 1.
- 00:14:22.243 --> 00:14:24.012
- This is the fisherman that jesus recruited.
- 00:14:24.012 --> 00:14:25.947
- He said, "he's given us his very great and precious promises, so
- 00:14:25.947 --> 00:14:29.484
- That through them you may participate in the divine nature
- 00:14:29.484 --> 00:14:31.920
- And escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."
- 00:14:31.920 --> 00:14:35.723
- How do we escape evil and the corruption it brings in
- 00:14:35.723 --> 00:14:38.593
- Our world?
- 00:14:38.593 --> 00:14:39.994
- He told you: through the promises of god.
- 00:14:39.994 --> 00:14:44.999
- You see, the exodus generation were given a promised land, a
- 00:14:44.999 --> 00:14:48.736
- Space on terra firma that belonged to them and their
- 00:14:48.736 --> 00:14:51.406
- Children and the generations who came after them forever.
- 00:14:51.406 --> 00:14:54.442
- It's printed in the book, and it still frustrates the nations of
- 00:14:54.442 --> 00:14:57.478
- The earth.
- 00:14:57.478 --> 00:15:00.014
- Well, god didn't give to you and me a piece of ground.
- 00:15:00.014 --> 00:15:03.384
- He didn't give us a promised land, but our existence and our
- 00:15:03.384 --> 00:15:07.555
- Journey through time is the land of god's promises.
- 00:15:07.555 --> 00:15:13.428
- Which means you'll have to take some time and energy to get to
- 00:15:13.428 --> 00:15:16.264
- Know the promises of god.
- 00:15:16.264 --> 00:15:19.400
- In order to stand against the evil in our community, you got
- 00:15:19.400 --> 00:15:21.469
- To read some books that you probably shouldn't read.
- 00:15:21.469 --> 00:15:24.572
- 'cause once you read it, you go, "oh, i don't need to be there."
- 00:15:24.572 --> 00:15:28.276
- And if you're gonna--if you're going to live in the fulfillment
- 00:15:28.276 --> 00:15:30.545
- Of the promises of god, you'll have to spend some time
- 00:15:30.545 --> 00:15:33.047
- Searching them, coming to understand them.
- 00:15:33.047 --> 00:15:36.384
- They're god's provision for your life.
- 00:15:36.384 --> 00:15:38.853
- God's provision for you and me is in his promises.
- 00:15:38.853 --> 00:15:41.589
- "i wish i knew what god would do."
- 00:15:41.589 --> 00:15:42.924
- He's told you!
- 00:15:42.924 --> 00:15:45.193
- He's told you.
- 00:15:45.193 --> 00:15:46.527
- He said, "i'll never leave you or forsake you."
- 00:15:46.527 --> 00:15:47.895
- "well, i feel like he's abandoned me."
- 00:15:47.895 --> 00:15:49.263
- Well, your feeling's not accurate.
- 00:15:49.263 --> 00:15:53.267
- "well, you can't tell me how i feel."
- 00:15:53.267 --> 00:15:54.635
- No, i can't, i can just tell you it's not fully accurate.
- 00:15:54.635 --> 00:15:58.139
- "it's real, i can't help how i feel."
- 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:01.676
- I know, but you can just decide which feeling to believe, which
- 00:16:01.676 --> 00:16:05.313
- Feeling to act on.
- 00:16:05.313 --> 00:16:08.416
- There have been times i didn't feel like preaching.
- 00:16:08.416 --> 00:16:16.824
- I just put on the screen, didn't feel like it today.
- 00:16:16.824 --> 00:16:21.162
- "yeah, well, that's not a very mature response."
- 00:16:21.162 --> 00:16:25.500
- You're right!
- 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:27.568
- And we have incubated some very immature responses to life.
- 00:16:27.568 --> 00:16:35.643
- God's provision is in his promises.
- 00:16:35.643 --> 00:16:38.179
- Look at luke 7, i can give you some support from jesus's life.
- 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:42.283
- He's talking about john the baptist, and he says, "this is
- 00:16:42.283 --> 00:16:44.585
- The one about whom it was written.
- 00:16:44.585 --> 00:16:45.953
- I'll send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way
- 00:16:45.953 --> 00:16:48.656
- Before you.
- 00:16:48.656 --> 00:16:50.091
- I tell you, among those born among women, there's no one
- 00:16:50.091 --> 00:16:52.326
- Greater than john; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of
- 00:16:52.326 --> 00:16:54.462
- God is greater than he."
- 00:16:54.462 --> 00:16:56.397
- I'll give you the shorthand on that, 'cause our our time is
- 00:16:56.397 --> 00:16:58.933
- Slipping past.
- 00:16:58.933 --> 00:17:00.334
- Jesus understood the circumstances surrounding him,
- 00:17:00.334 --> 00:17:03.404
- His life, to be the fulfillment of scripture.
- 00:17:03.404 --> 00:17:08.276
- I want to say it again, very clearly, i can give you
- 00:17:08.276 --> 00:17:11.112
- Multiple passages.
- 00:17:11.112 --> 00:17:12.780
- Jesus understood the circumstances surrounding his
- 00:17:12.780 --> 00:17:15.950
- Life to be the fulfillment of god's promises.
- 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:20.955
- We should do no less. we should do no less.
- 00:17:20.955 --> 00:17:27.995
- Then, finally, it it's the ending that matters.
- 00:17:31.933 --> 00:17:34.102
- Breakthroughs are understood in their conclusion, in their
- 00:17:34.102 --> 00:17:36.838
- Outworking, not on their finality because they lead to
- 00:17:36.838 --> 00:17:40.108
- Other things, but it's when you recognize god has intervened.
- 00:17:40.108 --> 00:17:44.645
- And to do that, you have to push through, you have to overcome,
- 00:17:44.645 --> 00:17:47.381
- You have to persevere, you have to endure.
- 00:17:47.381 --> 00:17:49.750
- All those words that i would rather not.
- 00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:53.454
- I've mentioned elizabeth and zachariah and john, their son,
- 00:17:53.454 --> 00:17:56.891
- In matthew 14, in verse 9, it says, "the king was distressed,
- 00:17:56.891 --> 00:18:00.895
- Because of his oaths and his dinner guest, he ordered that
- 00:18:00.895 --> 00:18:04.265
- The request to be granted and he had john beheaded in prison.
- 00:18:04.265 --> 00:18:08.703
- His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
- 00:18:08.703 --> 00:18:11.005
- Who carried it to her mother.
- 00:18:11.005 --> 00:18:13.341
- John's disciples came and took his body and buried it.
- 00:18:13.341 --> 00:18:15.610
- Then they went to find jesus."
- 00:18:15.610 --> 00:18:18.946
- Well, the passage i just read to you, immediately preceding that,
- 00:18:18.946 --> 00:18:21.949
- Jesus said "there wasn't anyone greater born among women
- 00:18:21.949 --> 00:18:24.685
- Than john."
- 00:18:24.685 --> 00:18:27.655
- And herod beheaded him.
- 00:18:27.655 --> 00:18:31.192
- Talk about a breakthrough missed.
- 00:18:31.192 --> 00:18:34.529
- Herod was intrigued by john, but he wasn't strong enough to stand
- 00:18:34.529 --> 00:18:39.100
- Up to the manipulative forces in his life and he would rather
- 00:18:39.100 --> 00:18:41.702
- Indulge his pleasures than stand up for what's right.
- 00:18:41.702 --> 00:18:45.640
- Gee, that doesn't sound like the 21st century.
- 00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:53.080
- And so john's mission was finished.
- 00:18:53.080 --> 00:18:58.686
- I don't believe he did something wrong.
- 00:18:58.686 --> 00:19:01.889
- 1 corinthians 9 says, "do you not know that in a race all the
- 00:19:01.889 --> 00:19:04.725
- Runners run, only one gets the prize.
- 00:19:04.725 --> 00:19:07.128
- Run in such a way as to get the prize."
- 00:19:07.128 --> 00:19:09.564
- You see, breakthroughs are about us setting apart.
- 00:19:09.564 --> 00:19:14.268
- Oftentimes from family, from contemporaries, from
- 00:19:14.268 --> 00:19:16.904
- Conventional wisdom.
- 00:19:16.904 --> 00:19:18.806
- Breakthroughs are about aligning with god.
- 00:19:18.806 --> 00:19:21.943
- The messages are often challenging.
- 00:19:21.943 --> 00:19:25.713
- God's called you out of the world, not to be indistinct, not
- 00:19:25.713 --> 00:19:30.885
- To be so well camouflaged they didn't know you were
- 00:19:30.885 --> 00:19:33.321
- A christian.
- 00:19:33.321 --> 00:19:39.694
- I've told you, there were seasons in my life i was way
- 00:19:39.694 --> 00:19:42.163
- Too undercover.
- 00:19:42.163 --> 00:19:44.665
- I grew up in this community, they were very shocked when i
- 00:19:44.665 --> 00:19:47.268
- Showed up as a pastor.
- 00:19:47.268 --> 00:19:50.504
- I mean, we laugh about it, and i tell it with a bit of a smirk,
- 00:19:50.504 --> 00:19:54.075
- But i'm not really proud of it.
- 00:19:54.075 --> 00:19:58.012
- I went to the public schools here,
- 00:19:58.012 --> 00:20:00.915
- Played on their basketball teams.
- 00:20:00.915 --> 00:20:03.584
- That was back when it was about the only option.
- 00:20:03.584 --> 00:20:05.686
- We used to actually pray before ball games.
- 00:20:05.686 --> 00:20:08.189
- I know that sounds quaint, but we did.
- 00:20:08.189 --> 00:20:11.092
- The last game i played at riverdale, they looked at me and
- 00:20:11.092 --> 00:20:15.730
- Said, "you pray."
- 00:20:15.730 --> 00:20:17.932
- I had never prayed before a game, or at least not in
- 00:20:17.932 --> 00:20:20.534
- That year.
- 00:20:20.534 --> 00:20:22.637
- And i got done with the prayer and a guy that i'd played ball
- 00:20:22.637 --> 00:20:24.705
- With a long time, several years, he looked at me, he said, "dang,
- 00:20:24.705 --> 00:20:28.042
- Jackson, i didn't know you knew how to pray."
- 00:20:28.042 --> 00:20:33.881
- That's not a compliment.
- 00:20:33.881 --> 00:20:36.784
- He knew i'd fight.
- 00:20:36.784 --> 00:20:41.455
- He knew i was stubborn.
- 00:20:41.455 --> 00:20:44.925
- He knew i'd run till i throw up.
- 00:20:44.925 --> 00:20:51.399
- But he didn't have any idea i knew how to pray.
- 00:20:51.399 --> 00:20:57.838
- You see, breakthroughs are about a willingness to align yourself
- 00:20:57.838 --> 00:21:01.776
- With god.
- 00:21:01.776 --> 00:21:03.978
- And we've been coached for a while now, i think, in some
- 00:21:03.978 --> 00:21:06.881
- Wrong directions.
- 00:21:06.881 --> 00:21:13.421
- Disappointment is not the final evaluation.
- 00:21:13.421 --> 00:21:16.524
- God can bring some great victories through
- 00:21:16.524 --> 00:21:17.958
- Disappointing circumstances.
- 00:21:17.958 --> 00:21:20.361
- Run to get the prize.
- 00:21:20.361 --> 00:21:22.063
- At the starting line, we all look good.
- 00:21:22.063 --> 00:21:24.899
- New shoes, hair's in place, plenty of oxygen.
- 00:21:24.899 --> 00:21:31.739
- At the end of the contest, i'm a mess.
- 00:21:31.739 --> 00:21:35.376
- There's usually blood and i can't breathe and my
- 00:21:35.376 --> 00:21:37.445
- Shirt's untucked.
- 00:21:37.445 --> 00:21:39.680
- My hair is plastered in my head.
- 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:41.282
- I can watch you move, and i sweat.
- 00:21:41.282 --> 00:21:44.251
- So if i'm moving, it's just embarrassing.
- 00:21:44.251 --> 00:21:48.289
- "run in such a way as to get the prize."
- 00:21:48.289 --> 00:21:52.360
- We've treated our faith like it's a photo op.
- 00:21:52.360 --> 00:21:55.062
- We want every hair in place.
- 00:21:55.062 --> 00:21:57.598
- We want to tell our stories as if we couldn't imagine stress
- 00:21:57.598 --> 00:22:01.102
- Or strain.
- 00:22:01.102 --> 00:22:03.871
- Discomfort.
- 00:22:03.871 --> 00:22:06.006
- "no, i met jesus and every day he's just been filled with
- 00:22:06.006 --> 00:22:08.542
- Greater glory than the day before."
- 00:22:08.542 --> 00:22:12.613
- I'd hear those stories and go, "well, i haven't met him yet."
- 00:22:12.613 --> 00:22:20.721
- I mean, you know the stories, daniel got to go to the lions'
- 00:22:20.721 --> 00:22:23.190
- Den, shadrach, meshach, and abednego got to go to a really
- 00:22:23.190 --> 00:22:25.793
- Hot furnace, moses had to go talk to pharaoh over and
- 00:22:25.793 --> 00:22:30.398
- Over again.
- 00:22:30.398 --> 00:22:33.501
- Jesus had to go to the cross.
- 00:22:33.501 --> 00:22:37.938
- I mean, it's a long list.
- 00:22:37.938 --> 00:22:39.707
- Breakthroughs, and i'll close with this.
- 00:22:39.707 --> 00:22:41.308
- Breakthroughs present opportunities for us into
- 00:22:41.308 --> 00:22:44.378
- God's purposes.
- 00:22:44.378 --> 00:22:47.148
- More than they satisfy our own temporal, or
- 00:22:47.148 --> 00:22:51.318
- Temporary, circumstances.
- 00:22:51.318 --> 00:22:54.655
- You see, real breakthroughs do more than just satisfy my wants.
- 00:22:54.655 --> 00:22:59.860
- They may do that, but they present opportunities to be
- 00:22:59.860 --> 00:23:03.764
- Engaged in the purposes of god, and there's no greater
- 00:23:03.764 --> 00:23:06.333
- Breakthrough for your life!
- 00:23:06.333 --> 00:23:09.403
- You'd rather be engaged in the purposes of god than win the
- 00:23:09.403 --> 00:23:11.972
- Lottery, i promise.
- 00:23:11.972 --> 00:23:18.913
- Breakthroughs, breakthroughs, breakthroughs.
- 00:23:18.913 --> 00:23:23.551
- Let's be like joseph, "yes!"
- 00:23:23.551 --> 00:23:26.020
- He said yes!
- 00:23:26.020 --> 00:23:29.924
- Mary said it, and it was still somewhat theoretical.
- 00:23:29.924 --> 00:23:32.860
- I'm not saying it was easier, she's gonna get stretch marks.
- 00:23:32.860 --> 00:23:36.997
- She's got to go find joseph.
- 00:23:36.997 --> 00:23:39.867
- She's got an answer.
- 00:23:39.867 --> 00:23:47.074
- And then joseph's got his own side of it.
- 00:23:47.074 --> 00:23:49.043
- Mary said, "may it be unto me."
- 00:23:49.043 --> 00:23:51.212
- And joseph said, "yeah, i'm in too."
- 00:23:51.212 --> 00:23:54.782
- We can't do less, folks.
- 00:23:54.782 --> 00:23:59.653
- Again, i believe in being the new birth
- 00:23:59.653 --> 00:24:02.022
- And conversion, but stop.
- 00:24:02.022 --> 00:24:06.494
- These are the covenant people of god, living in the promised
- 00:24:06.494 --> 00:24:09.396
- Land, celebrating at the temple.
- 00:24:09.396 --> 00:24:11.932
- They've got all the credentials, but god puts something in front
- 00:24:11.932 --> 00:24:15.002
- Of them that takes every ounce of courage they have.
- 00:24:15.002 --> 00:24:19.507
- Let's decide to be those people.
- 00:24:19.507 --> 00:24:22.276
- Breakthroughs, breakthroughs.
- 00:24:22.276 --> 00:24:27.281
- Stand with me, we're gonna say yes to the lord.
- 00:24:27.281 --> 00:24:34.221
- Don't miss--i believe god heals and delivers and
- 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:41.362
- Restores and renews and provides.
- 00:24:41.362 --> 00:24:43.797
- I believe he opens up the windows of heaven and pours
- 00:24:43.797 --> 00:24:45.633
- Blessings out on his people.
- 00:24:45.633 --> 00:24:48.502
- I believe god toppled goliath, and enabled gideon to overcome
- 00:24:48.502 --> 00:24:52.406
- The midianites, and he caused the lions to not be hungry and
- 00:24:52.406 --> 00:24:57.411
- The furnace to not be so hot.
- 00:24:57.411 --> 00:25:00.114
- And he caused murderous paul--saul to become the
- 00:25:00.114 --> 00:25:02.816
- Apostle paul,
- 00:25:02.816 --> 00:25:05.219
- Bigmouth peter to become the anchor in the church.
- 00:25:05.219 --> 00:25:10.190
- I mean, god changes circumstances and times.
- 00:25:10.190 --> 00:25:12.893
- I mean, it's amazing what he will do.
- 00:25:12.893 --> 00:25:16.697
- But there's a component to it that we've looked past while
- 00:25:16.697 --> 00:25:19.767
- We've celebrated.
- 00:25:19.767 --> 00:25:24.738
- Those guys still had to get tied hand and foot and carried to
- 00:25:24.738 --> 00:25:29.043
- The mouth of a furnace, and the men that threw him into the
- 00:25:29.043 --> 00:25:31.178
- Furnace were killed by the heat.
- 00:25:31.178 --> 00:25:35.416
- They saw the blisters on somebody else.
- 00:25:35.416 --> 00:25:41.589
- Lord, thank you for your word, for its truth and power
- 00:25:41.589 --> 00:25:44.224
- And authority.
- 00:25:44.224 --> 00:25:45.593
- Thank you that you've called us to the 21st century, to be men
- 00:25:45.593 --> 00:25:48.963
- And women of faith, to take our place in your
- 00:25:48.963 --> 00:25:51.398
- Unfolding purposes.
- 00:25:51.398 --> 00:25:53.634
- Thank you for a christmas season when we can celebrate the
- 00:25:53.634 --> 00:25:56.870
- Faithfulness of those who have preceded us, those men and women
- 00:25:56.870 --> 00:26:00.808
- Who said yes to you and allowed your purposes to break
- 00:26:00.808 --> 00:26:03.410
- Forth and change generations.
- 00:26:03.410 --> 00:26:07.214
- And lord, in humility tonight, we wanna say thank you.
- 00:26:07.214 --> 00:26:09.650
- Thank you that, through the blood of jesus, we have been
- 00:26:09.650 --> 00:26:11.652
- Delivered out of the hand of the enemy.
- 00:26:11.652 --> 00:26:14.321
- Thank you that, through the blood of jesus, our sins have
- 00:26:14.321 --> 00:26:16.457
- Been forgiven,
- 00:26:16.457 --> 00:26:17.791
- That we've been justified and sanctified and called according
- 00:26:17.791 --> 00:26:20.761
- To your purposes.
- 00:26:20.761 --> 00:26:22.129
- And now, lord, we want to say yes to you.
- 00:26:22.129 --> 00:26:25.633
- We want to say yes to you.
- 00:26:25.633 --> 00:26:28.469
- Forgive us where we've been stubborn or unconcerned or
- 00:26:28.469 --> 00:26:31.705
- Unwilling to prepare.
- 00:26:31.705 --> 00:26:33.741
- Lord, we choose a new path tonight.
- 00:26:33.741 --> 00:26:37.444
- We want to be men and women who follow you, who cooperate with
- 00:26:37.444 --> 00:26:41.281
- Your spirit, who yield to your direction.
- 00:26:41.281 --> 00:26:46.086
- Give us discerning hearts.
- 00:26:46.086 --> 00:26:48.722
- Give us understanding and insight.
- 00:26:48.722 --> 00:26:51.759
- May the fear of god grow within us.
- 00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:55.596
- We thank you for what you're doing
- 00:26:55.596 --> 00:26:58.232
- And we want to say yes to you,
- 00:26:58.232 --> 00:27:00.601
- In jesus's name, amen.
- 00:27:00.601 --> 00:27:04.505
- God bless you.
- 00:27:04.505 --> 00:27:05.873
- ♪♪♪
- 00:27:05.873 --> 00:27:30.230