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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - A New Reformation (Part 1)

January 31, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - A New Reformation (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Christianity #TrustGod #Bible #Grace #Prayer #WalkwithGod #Faithfulness #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - A New Reformation (Part 1) | January 31, 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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  • Very best to help them find it.
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  • When you become a ministry partner with allen jackson
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  • Ministries, you're joining a growing community of believers
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  • Who are committed to strengthening the church and
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  • Sharing god's word through every available channel--
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  • Television, radio, podcast, books, bible studies,
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  • Digital resources, conferences.
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  • Your monthly partnership helps us equip believers to reach new
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  • Audiences, to take the hope of jesus to people who may never
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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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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: i want to begin a new study under the theme of "a
  • 00:01:07.817 --> 00:01:11.154
  • New reformation."
  • 00:01:11.154 --> 00:01:13.790
  • I put a quote in your notes, it's from a secular history book
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  • About the church in the age of revolution.
  • 00:01:17.393 --> 00:01:19.362
  • The time period isn't as relevant for us as the quote in
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  • This moment.
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  • It says, "a reform is a correction of abuses, but a
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  • Revolution is a transfer of power.
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  • What starts as reforming often ends in a
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  • Revolutionary movement."
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  • I believe it's an accurate statement of history, but i
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  • Believe it has a direct application to our lives and
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  • Our faith.
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  • I would submit to you that our nation is in need of reform, but
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  • That our hearts are in need of a revolution.
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  • We need a transfer of power.
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  • We need to move from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom
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  • Of light.
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  • Too many of us for too long have been sitting in churches while
  • 00:01:57.300 --> 00:02:00.003
  • We were still under the authority of the kingdom
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  • Of darkness.
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  • No, i mean, i didn't call your name.
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  • I'm just--i'm engaged with the church in a broader way, and i
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  • Don't believe we can continue on the course we've been for
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  • Several decades and imagine that our freedoms and liberties
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  • Are sustainable.
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  • So, i'm very grateful for the movement that i see.
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  • In luke chapter 12 and verse 49, jesus had something to say
  • 00:02:23.293 --> 00:02:27.096
  • That is not a passage that you hear a great deal in
  • 00:02:27.096 --> 00:02:29.899
  • Contemporary evangelicalism.
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  • He said, "i've come to bring fire on the earth, and how i
  • 00:02:32.702 --> 00:02:35.305
  • Wish it were already kindled!
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  • But i have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed i am until
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  • It's completed!
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  • Do you think i came to bring peace on earth?
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  • No, but i tell you, division."
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  • Jesus is a dividing line.
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  • He is not just an extension of a group hug.
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  • Now, i understand the angelic announcement in the shepherd's
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  • Fields outside of bethlehem, on earth, peace and goodwill
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  • To men.
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  • I mean, there is good news in the gospel, but the good news is
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  • We can be delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought
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  • Into the kingdom of light.
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  • It's not good news about the gray.
  • 00:03:15.178 --> 00:03:18.881
  • And we have been a bit confused.
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  • I--some time ago, i started referring to current events as
  • 00:03:22.952 --> 00:03:26.789
  • The theater of the absurd.
  • 00:03:26.789 --> 00:03:28.191
  • It seemed like the most accurate description because it seems to
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  • Be more bizarre week over week, and they continue to release
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  • New material.
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  • I don't know if you're paying any attention or not, but at a
  • 00:03:37.867 --> 00:03:42.538
  • Staggering--at a pace that's beyond--it's impossible to keep
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  • Up with, honestly.
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  • And i think my observation last weekend, we talked a good deal
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  • About matthew 24 where jesus talked about the increase
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  • Of lawlessness.
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  • If i was asked for an evaluation, i think we've grown
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  • Accustomed to--we've grown unaccustomed, unfamiliar with
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  • The boundaries of law.
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  • We are habituated to our individualism.
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  • The rules really shouldn't apply to me.
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  • I mean, we want rules.
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  • We just have a whole host of reasons why they really
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  • Shouldn't apply to us.
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  • I mean, i know there's speed limits, but i know the road.
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  • And on and on we go, kind of the rules for thee, but not for me.
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  • And i think we all understand that, and that is far more
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  • Prevalent than it is healthy for us.
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  • Because out from under authority, none of us
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  • Will flourish.
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  • Discipline, i think in general, we've arrived at the point where
  • 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:44.967
  • It's considered kind of a quaint relic from a bygone era on
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  • Almost any aspect of our lives.
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  • We don't need physical discipline anymore.
  • 00:04:51.474 --> 00:04:53.309
  • "we're not responsible for our diet.
  • 00:04:53.309 --> 00:04:54.777
  • The government gave us the wrong food pyramid.
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  • I'm not fluffy because of what i put on my fork, i'm fluffy
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  • Because they told me i could eat whatever i wanted.
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  • And after all, now i can just take the shot and be thin."
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  • Oh, don't hiss.
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  • Our small children, for the most part, we have determined really
  • 00:05:17.900 --> 00:05:21.170
  • Shouldn't be disciplined.
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  • We want them to discover their potential.
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  • Our teens often escape discipline.
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  • We want them to experience the fullness of life.
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  • Our adult children, i mean, they may be ungodly, but they know
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  • Better even if they don't do better.
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  • And after all, they're my children.
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  • Just a modern day prodigal.
  • 00:05:45.294 --> 00:05:49.399
  • Well, i would submit to you that one parable does not fit all.
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  • Jesus also said go and sin no more.
  • 00:05:54.303 --> 00:05:58.408
  • And we've got to reconcile all of that.
  • 00:05:58.408 --> 00:06:00.977
  • Adults, it seems to me, often just scoff at expressions
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  • Of discipline.
  • 00:06:04.747 --> 00:06:06.182
  • And again, the list is beyond the time frame we have, but you
  • 00:06:06.182 --> 00:06:10.453
  • Hear it frequently.
  • 00:06:10.453 --> 00:06:11.788
  • You know, actually leaving home to go to work?
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  • How 20th century.
  • 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:21.164
  • The discipline of telling the truth.
  • 00:06:21.164 --> 00:06:25.067
  • "whose truth?"
  • 00:06:25.067 --> 00:06:29.272
  • Don't steal.
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  • "no, i'm just getting my fair share."
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  • Exploiting loopholes.
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  • Everybody's doing it.
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  • Don't lie.
  • 00:06:39.482 --> 00:06:42.518
  • "truth is relative.
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  • Who's to say what's true?"
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  • Don't commit adultery.
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  • "well you can't tell me how i feel.
  • 00:06:51.427 --> 00:06:54.597
  • Marriage is just a piece of paper.
  • 00:06:54.597 --> 00:06:55.932
  • A piece of paper doesn't make me more or less anything."
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  • Honor your father and mother.
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  • "you didn't know my parents."
  • 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:08.945
  • See, discipline means we're under authority and we're
  • 00:07:08.945 --> 00:07:14.450
  • Wrestling with that.
  • 00:07:14.450 --> 00:07:16.219
  • We need a change.
  • 00:07:16.219 --> 00:07:21.591
  • We need reform in a broad way, but we need a
  • 00:07:21.591 --> 00:07:23.993
  • Revolution inwardly.
  • 00:07:23.993 --> 00:07:27.630
  • We've rejected authority for the most part.
  • 00:07:27.630 --> 00:07:31.133
  • We don't intend for our children to be under the authority
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  • Of teachers.
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  • We don't intend to be under the authority of churches.
  • 00:07:36.172 --> 00:07:38.441
  • We don't have to go to the building.
  • 00:07:38.441 --> 00:07:41.210
  • What an antiquated idea.
  • 00:07:41.210 --> 00:07:44.347
  • "well, i mean, i know the bible says not to forsake the
  • 00:07:44.347 --> 00:07:47.083
  • Assembling together of yourselves, but i assemble with
  • 00:07:47.083 --> 00:07:50.486
  • People all the time.
  • 00:07:50.486 --> 00:07:54.690
  • And after all, if i don't like this church, i'll just move.
  • 00:07:54.690 --> 00:07:57.927
  • There's more."
  • 00:07:57.927 --> 00:08:01.430
  • In fact, most of us use multiple churches.
  • 00:08:01.430 --> 00:08:03.633
  • I understand it's a characteristic of the
  • 00:08:03.633 --> 00:08:05.568
  • 21st century.
  • 00:08:05.568 --> 00:08:06.903
  • I'm not even really complaining about it.
  • 00:08:06.903 --> 00:08:09.205
  • I'm telling you, it's also a very easy way to escape
  • 00:08:09.205 --> 00:08:11.774
  • Any authority.
  • 00:08:11.774 --> 00:08:13.109
  • You put together what you believe like a menu and
  • 00:08:13.109 --> 00:08:14.644
  • A smorgasbord.
  • 00:08:14.644 --> 00:08:16.512
  • It's like a cafeteria plan.
  • 00:08:16.512 --> 00:08:19.315
  • I'll take commandments one, three, and eight.
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  • We don't like being under the authority of law or
  • 00:08:26.188 --> 00:08:28.190
  • Law enforcement.
  • 00:08:28.190 --> 00:08:29.859
  • We have a national epidemic of this with a whole host of
  • 00:08:29.859 --> 00:08:35.932
  • Outlying excuses.
  • 00:08:35.932 --> 00:08:38.501
  • We don't want to be under the authority of god.
  • 00:08:38.501 --> 00:08:40.303
  • We'd rather talk about the mercy of god, the goodness of god, and
  • 00:08:40.303 --> 00:08:44.607
  • The kindness of god.
  • 00:08:44.607 --> 00:08:47.643
  • I mean, it's not uncommon to hear christians, influential
  • 00:08:47.643 --> 00:08:50.313
  • Christians, christians with large platforms, christians that
  • 00:08:50.313 --> 00:08:52.515
  • Have been on this platform say things like, "well, you know, i
  • 00:08:52.515 --> 00:08:55.518
  • Don't like to read the old testament.
  • 00:08:55.518 --> 00:08:58.287
  • God is so harsh."
  • 00:08:58.287 --> 00:09:04.660
  • Have you read the book of revelation?
  • 00:09:04.660 --> 00:09:08.097
  • I mean, just for orientation, that would be new testament.
  • 00:09:08.097 --> 00:09:13.135
  • And i watched president trump these last few days bring some
  • 00:09:13.135 --> 00:09:17.039
  • Discipline to venezuela.
  • 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:22.578
  • He expressed strength on a national stage and--full candor,
  • 00:09:22.578 --> 00:09:28.317
  • You know, there's a part of you that--a part of me that
  • 00:09:28.317 --> 00:09:30.886
  • Was--steps back and go, "oh."
  • 00:09:30.886 --> 00:09:36.359
  • But i have to say, as i reflected upon it, i'm very
  • 00:09:36.359 --> 00:09:38.494
  • Grateful for somebody that would say to the leader of a nation,
  • 00:09:38.494 --> 00:09:42.198
  • "you cannot continue to poison our children and our young
  • 00:09:42.198 --> 00:09:45.201
  • People with fentanyl and other drugs."
  • 00:09:45.201 --> 00:09:53.175
  • How many 100,000 of our young people have to die before we
  • 00:09:53.175 --> 00:09:56.612
  • Say, "i don't think we want to let you do that"?
  • 00:09:56.612 --> 00:09:59.582
  • You can't continue to align with those who intend
  • 00:09:59.582 --> 00:10:01.884
  • Our destruction.
  • 00:10:01.884 --> 00:10:03.219
  • Nations like china and russia and iran and their proxies.
  • 00:10:03.219 --> 00:10:07.923
  • We won't support that and celebrate and act like we
  • 00:10:07.923 --> 00:10:10.693
  • Don't notice.
  • 00:10:10.693 --> 00:10:12.028
  • It's startling to witness.
  • 00:10:12.028 --> 00:10:15.231
  • It's been so long since we've even imagined it.
  • 00:10:15.231 --> 00:10:20.169
  • We have been taught over and over and over again in so many
  • 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:23.372
  • Ways from so many platforms and with so many voices that
  • 00:10:23.372 --> 00:10:27.810
  • Strength and authority in the exercise of such things
  • 00:10:27.810 --> 00:10:30.479
  • Is wrong.
  • 00:10:30.479 --> 00:10:32.815
  • Even in the churches.
  • 00:10:32.815 --> 00:10:36.686
  • We don't like to talk about the power of god and the judgment of
  • 00:10:36.686 --> 00:10:40.056
  • God and the authority of god.
  • 00:10:40.056 --> 00:10:42.058
  • We'd rather talk about his love.
  • 00:10:42.058 --> 00:10:47.963
  • We're told we should be gentle and meek and negotiate with
  • 00:10:47.963 --> 00:10:51.333
  • Those who oppose us.
  • 00:10:51.333 --> 00:10:52.668
  • Have you read the psalms?
  • 00:10:52.668 --> 00:10:56.739
  • I would submit there's two things we can do that would
  • 00:10:56.739 --> 00:10:58.741
  • Dramatically improve our future.
  • 00:10:58.741 --> 00:11:02.578
  • One is persuade as many people as possible to serve jesus of
  • 00:11:02.578 --> 00:11:05.481
  • Nazareth as lord and king.
  • 00:11:05.481 --> 00:11:08.751
  • I can't think of any single thing that would do more to
  • 00:11:08.751 --> 00:11:11.353
  • Improve our quality of life.
  • 00:11:11.353 --> 00:11:15.191
  • Allen: we have partnered with our friends tim and david barton
  • 00:11:19.395 --> 00:11:21.831
  • To make available to you a two-volume set on
  • 00:11:21.831 --> 00:11:24.600
  • American history.
  • 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:25.935
  • It's "the american story."
  • 00:11:25.935 --> 00:11:27.303
  • And it focuses on the part of american history that's been
  • 00:11:27.303 --> 00:11:29.472
  • Lost in much of our public education these days.
  • 00:11:29.472 --> 00:11:32.374
  • It's god's engagement with this nation and how he brought the
  • 00:11:32.374 --> 00:11:35.644
  • American story forward.
  • 00:11:35.644 --> 00:11:37.113
  • Our nation is more than politics or republicans and democrats.
  • 00:11:37.113 --> 00:11:40.549
  • It's god working in the lives of people to shape a nation that
  • 00:11:40.549 --> 00:11:44.120
  • Had brought forth his purposes in the world.
  • 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:46.388
  • I believe it's an important part of our faith journey this year,
  • 00:11:46.388 --> 00:11:49.358
  • And i believe the books will be a blessing to you.
  • 00:11:49.358 --> 00:11:51.727
  • Announcer: the 250th anniversary of our nation is an important
  • 00:11:51.727 --> 00:11:55.197
  • Milestone we shouldn't rush past, because history matters.
  • 00:11:55.197 --> 00:11:59.735
  • "the american story" is a two-volume book series that
  • 00:11:59.735 --> 00:12:02.571
  • Explores how faith, courage, and conviction helped shape the
  • 00:12:02.571 --> 00:12:06.208
  • United states from the very beginning.
  • 00:12:06.208 --> 00:12:08.644
  • Gain a greater understanding of where we've been so you can
  • 00:12:08.644 --> 00:12:11.714
  • Protect and defend our nation's biblical foundations as we
  • 00:12:11.714 --> 00:12:14.717
  • Move forward.
  • 00:12:14.717 --> 00:12:16.051
  • Request "the american story" with your gift of $50 or more at
  • 00:12:16.051 --> 00:12:19.455
  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:12:19.455 --> 00:12:24.894
  • Allen: so, i wanna--i'm back to your notes.
  • 00:12:28.564 --> 00:12:30.299
  • There's hope.
  • 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:33.502
  • In ephesians chapter 1 and verse 18, paul is writing to a
  • 00:12:33.502 --> 00:12:37.506
  • Church, to a group of believers, but they live in a very--they
  • 00:12:37.506 --> 00:12:43.078
  • Live in a culture where the voice of christianity would very
  • 00:12:43.078 --> 00:12:45.881
  • Much be a minority perspective.
  • 00:12:45.881 --> 00:12:48.551
  • So, there's enormous pressure to think in other ways, to not have
  • 00:12:48.551 --> 00:12:52.588
  • Framed your worldview and your perspective and your evaluation
  • 00:12:52.588 --> 00:12:56.425
  • Of your life through the filter of godliness.
  • 00:12:56.425 --> 00:12:59.762
  • And paul's writing to that group of people and he says, "i pray
  • 00:12:59.762 --> 00:13:02.498
  • That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you
  • 00:13:02.498 --> 00:13:06.535
  • May know the hope to which he's called you, the riches of his
  • 00:13:06.535 --> 00:13:10.439
  • Glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably
  • 00:13:10.439 --> 00:13:15.544
  • Great power for us who believe.
  • 00:13:15.544 --> 00:13:18.347
  • That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he
  • 00:13:18.347 --> 00:13:21.584
  • Exerted in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him
  • 00:13:21.584 --> 00:13:24.320
  • At his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all
  • 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.556
  • Rule and authority, and power and dominion, and every title
  • 00:13:27.556 --> 00:13:30.693
  • That can be given, not only in the present age but also in the
  • 00:13:30.693 --> 00:13:34.697
  • One to come.
  • 00:13:34.697 --> 00:13:36.398
  • And god placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be
  • 00:13:36.398 --> 00:13:39.602
  • The head over everything for the church, which is his body, the
  • 00:13:39.602 --> 00:13:42.938
  • Fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
  • 00:13:42.938 --> 00:13:47.810
  • Doesn't need a great deal of explanation.
  • 00:13:47.810 --> 00:13:49.478
  • It's pretty straightforward, but paul is praying for the
  • 00:13:49.478 --> 00:13:51.747
  • Believers that the eyes of our hearts would be opened to three
  • 00:13:51.747 --> 00:13:55.351
  • Very specific things, and i think it's an appropriate prayer
  • 00:13:55.351 --> 00:13:57.920
  • For us.
  • 00:13:57.920 --> 00:13:59.755
  • The hope to which he's called us, that our future is anchored
  • 00:13:59.755 --> 00:14:03.959
  • In the one who has called us out of darkness.
  • 00:14:03.959 --> 00:14:06.762
  • Hope is about the future.
  • 00:14:06.762 --> 00:14:10.366
  • And if we are going to have a hopeful future for ourselves and
  • 00:14:10.366 --> 00:14:13.702
  • The ones we love, it will be because there is a revelation,
  • 00:14:13.702 --> 00:14:17.673
  • An unfolding, a revolution in the hearts of people that only
  • 00:14:17.673 --> 00:14:21.777
  • God can bring good things to us.
  • 00:14:21.777 --> 00:14:25.381
  • And secondly, he prays that we will have this--our hearts
  • 00:14:25.381 --> 00:14:28.817
  • Opened to the riches of his glorious inheritance.
  • 00:14:28.817 --> 00:14:33.289
  • That your faith, your christian faith, your orientation towards
  • 00:14:33.289 --> 00:14:36.959
  • God is not limiting, diminishing.
  • 00:14:36.959 --> 00:14:39.662
  • It's not gonna take something from you.
  • 00:14:39.662 --> 00:14:42.731
  • It will expand your life, expand your possibilities.
  • 00:14:42.731 --> 00:14:46.001
  • It will bring greater fulfillment, greater
  • 00:14:46.001 --> 00:14:47.970
  • Contentment, greater joy.
  • 00:14:47.970 --> 00:14:50.706
  • You'll have to find space for that in your heart and your
  • 00:14:50.706 --> 00:14:53.776
  • Thoughts from the word of god and from other
  • 00:14:53.776 --> 00:14:55.811
  • Fellow christians.
  • 00:14:55.811 --> 00:14:57.179
  • That message will not be highlighted from secular music,
  • 00:14:57.179 --> 00:15:04.620
  • From whatever you--whatever platform you watch, whatever
  • 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:08.223
  • Programming you're familiar with.
  • 00:15:08.223 --> 00:15:11.727
  • That is an underdelivered message.
  • 00:15:11.727 --> 00:15:14.229
  • So, for that to flourish in your heart, you will have to
  • 00:15:14.229 --> 00:15:17.399
  • Understand it, you'll have to protect it, you'll have to
  • 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.169
  • Repeat it.
  • 00:15:20.169 --> 00:15:22.604
  • We are so inundated with chasing the same goals of our secular
  • 00:15:22.604 --> 00:15:27.109
  • Ungodly acquaintances, our aspirations for ourselves and
  • 00:15:27.109 --> 00:15:31.647
  • Those we love.
  • 00:15:31.647 --> 00:15:33.248
  • And then paul prayed that the eyes of our heart would be open
  • 00:15:33.248 --> 00:15:35.684
  • To the incomparably great power for us who believe.
  • 00:15:35.684 --> 00:15:39.855
  • The greatest power available to a human being is the power of a
  • 00:15:39.855 --> 00:15:43.592
  • Living god.
  • 00:15:43.592 --> 00:15:45.761
  • I'm not suggesting that there aren't other significant
  • 00:15:45.761 --> 00:15:47.863
  • Expressions of power.
  • 00:15:47.863 --> 00:15:50.232
  • Nuclear power, military power, political power, economic,
  • 00:15:50.232 --> 00:15:55.204
  • They're all legitimate.
  • 00:15:55.204 --> 00:15:56.572
  • They're all expressions of power, but they all pale in
  • 00:15:56.572 --> 00:15:58.374
  • Comparison to the power of god.
  • 00:15:58.374 --> 00:16:01.377
  • And the church has got to be the delivery system.
  • 00:16:01.377 --> 00:16:06.515
  • We have got to be the voices for that, the invitation to that.
  • 00:16:06.515 --> 00:16:10.386
  • We have got to stop debating whether or not god's power is
  • 00:16:10.386 --> 00:16:13.655
  • Still prevalent in the earth.
  • 00:16:13.655 --> 00:16:16.525
  • If i were in charge of diminishing the church, one of
  • 00:16:16.525 --> 00:16:18.894
  • The first things i would do is get them involved in a debate on
  • 00:16:18.894 --> 00:16:21.897
  • Whether or not the power of god was still in play.
  • 00:16:21.897 --> 00:16:28.103
  • It's messy because we don't understand it all.
  • 00:16:28.103 --> 00:16:30.839
  • We don't understand it fully.
  • 00:16:30.839 --> 00:16:32.174
  • We certainly don't control it.
  • 00:16:32.174 --> 00:16:34.343
  • We can learn a great deal about electrical power and energy and
  • 00:16:34.343 --> 00:16:37.546
  • How to control it and insulate it and direct it and have it
  • 00:16:37.546 --> 00:16:40.783
  • Work on our behalf.
  • 00:16:40.783 --> 00:16:43.018
  • And because we're hardwired for that control, we think we can do
  • 00:16:43.018 --> 00:16:45.954
  • That with god.
  • 00:16:45.954 --> 00:16:47.322
  • We come up with a formula, the three keys, the four secrets,
  • 00:16:47.322 --> 00:16:49.258
  • The six steps.
  • 00:16:49.258 --> 00:16:51.693
  • Folks, we don't control almighty god, we serve
  • 00:16:51.693 --> 00:16:54.196
  • At his leisure, at his pleasure.
  • 00:16:54.196 --> 00:16:58.267
  • But he is real.
  • 00:16:58.267 --> 00:16:59.902
  • Let that incubate in your heart.
  • 00:16:59.902 --> 00:17:02.071
  • We need our--the eyes of our heart open to his incomparably
  • 00:17:02.071 --> 00:17:06.475
  • Great power that is expressed for us who believe.
  • 00:17:06.475 --> 00:17:11.880
  • We've become so squishy we're reluctant to say there's any
  • 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.750
  • Difference between those of us who believe and those who don't.
  • 00:17:14.750 --> 00:17:17.986
  • "well, we're all god's children."
  • 00:17:17.986 --> 00:17:19.354
  • No, we're not. we're all god's creation.
  • 00:17:19.354 --> 00:17:21.356
  • There's a difference.
  • 00:17:21.356 --> 00:17:24.393
  • "well, that seems so judgy."
  • 00:17:24.393 --> 00:17:27.262
  • Well, it's called true.
  • 00:17:27.262 --> 00:17:30.499
  • You know how--we hide from the truth.
  • 00:17:30.499 --> 00:17:32.668
  • We don't even like people to say we're overweight.
  • 00:17:32.668 --> 00:17:34.269
  • "that's, you know, you're fat shaming me.
  • 00:17:34.269 --> 00:17:36.004
  • No, i'm just a little fluffy."
  • 00:17:36.004 --> 00:17:40.275
  • Well, who establishes the norms?
  • 00:17:40.275 --> 00:17:43.278
  • I like that one.
  • 00:17:43.278 --> 00:17:44.646
  • When i'm outside the norm, i need to re-establish
  • 00:17:44.646 --> 00:17:45.981
  • These boundaries.
  • 00:17:45.981 --> 00:17:51.620
  • Do not turn the cameras on the audience.
  • 00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:53.922
  • It's not fair.
  • 00:17:53.922 --> 00:17:56.291
  • And then paul reminds the ephesians that god has placed
  • 00:17:56.291 --> 00:17:58.827
  • All things under jesus's feet.
  • 00:17:58.827 --> 00:18:01.396
  • He said over everything.
  • 00:18:01.396 --> 00:18:03.765
  • What an amazing statement.
  • 00:18:03.765 --> 00:18:05.134
  • That he's appointed him to be head of everything for
  • 00:18:05.134 --> 00:18:07.002
  • The church.
  • 00:18:07.002 --> 00:18:08.604
  • The one who's the head of the church is the judge of all
  • 00:18:08.604 --> 00:18:10.839
  • The earth.
  • 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.275
  • I'm telling you, what we've been invited to, please, we've got to
  • 00:18:13.275 --> 00:18:16.845
  • Expand our imagination and our hearts of church.
  • 00:18:16.845 --> 00:18:19.014
  • We think about it in terms of buildings or theological
  • 00:18:19.014 --> 00:18:22.117
  • Structures or systematic theologies or forms of worship.
  • 00:18:22.117 --> 00:18:26.355
  • We need a much broader understanding.
  • 00:18:26.355 --> 00:18:29.091
  • It describes the men and women throughout the earth from every
  • 00:18:29.091 --> 00:18:31.326
  • Nation, race, language, and tribe who've acknowledged jesus
  • 00:18:31.326 --> 00:18:34.763
  • And have chosen him as lord of their lives.
  • 00:18:34.763 --> 00:18:38.300
  • It's given expression through some buildings and through some
  • 00:18:38.300 --> 00:18:40.602
  • Organizational systems, but those aren't the church.
  • 00:18:40.602 --> 00:18:43.906
  • Jesus is the head of all the people who turn their faces
  • 00:18:43.906 --> 00:18:46.408
  • To him.
  • 00:18:46.408 --> 00:18:47.743
  • And if you're not yielded to him, if he's not lord of your
  • 00:18:47.743 --> 00:18:49.511
  • Life, where you sit is not relevant.
  • 00:18:49.511 --> 00:18:53.682
  • Truthfully, your bible collection is not relevant if
  • 00:18:53.682 --> 00:18:56.919
  • You haven't yielded to him as lord of your life.
  • 00:18:56.919 --> 00:19:00.722
  • We're gonna process that before we complete this session,
  • 00:19:00.722 --> 00:19:03.292
  • God willing.
  • 00:19:03.292 --> 00:19:05.027
  • The new testament describes us apart from jesus as if we had
  • 00:19:05.027 --> 00:19:08.096
  • Been enslaved.
  • 00:19:08.096 --> 00:19:11.433
  • Continues to be a very dynamic topic in our culture.
  • 00:19:11.433 --> 00:19:16.605
  • In galatians chapter 4 and verse 3 it says, "when we were
  • 00:19:16.605 --> 00:19:19.274
  • Children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of
  • 00:19:19.274 --> 00:19:23.078
  • The world.
  • 00:19:23.078 --> 00:19:24.513
  • But when the time had fully come, god sent his son, born of
  • 00:19:24.513 --> 00:19:27.182
  • A woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we
  • 00:19:27.182 --> 00:19:30.018
  • Might receive the full rights of sons.
  • 00:19:30.018 --> 00:19:33.655
  • And because you're sons, god sent the spirit of his son into
  • 00:19:33.655 --> 00:19:36.391
  • Our hearts, the spirit who calls out, 'abba, father.'
  • 00:19:36.391 --> 00:19:41.163
  • So you're no longer a slave, but a son; and since you're a son,
  • 00:19:41.163 --> 00:19:45.167
  • God has made you also an heir."
  • 00:19:45.167 --> 00:19:48.303
  • Same book, galatians, the previous chapter in verse 13,
  • 00:19:48.303 --> 00:19:51.807
  • "christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
  • 00:19:51.807 --> 00:19:55.444
  • Curse for us, for it's written: 'cursed is everyone who's hung
  • 00:19:55.444 --> 00:19:59.448
  • On a tree.'"
  • 00:19:59.448 --> 00:20:01.516
  • The language is a little removed from our own life experience.
  • 00:20:01.516 --> 00:20:06.388
  • The roman world was a roman--a world where slavery
  • 00:20:06.388 --> 00:20:09.157
  • Was normalized.
  • 00:20:09.157 --> 00:20:10.959
  • As the roman legions would conquer nations and people
  • 00:20:10.959 --> 00:20:13.829
  • Groups, it was very commonplace for them to enslave
  • 00:20:13.829 --> 00:20:17.199
  • Conquered peoples.
  • 00:20:17.199 --> 00:20:19.001
  • Not based on skin color, they were conquered peoples.
  • 00:20:19.001 --> 00:20:23.038
  • So, the major roman cities were frequented with slave markets.
  • 00:20:23.038 --> 00:20:27.142
  • They would come to a public square or a public place, and
  • 00:20:27.142 --> 00:20:30.412
  • They would find some elevated--some block to stand on
  • 00:20:30.412 --> 00:20:32.948
  • Or something, and they would drive a spear into a wall or
  • 00:20:32.948 --> 00:20:37.653
  • A beam.
  • 00:20:37.653 --> 00:20:38.987
  • And if you were standing on an elevated platform beneath the
  • 00:20:38.987 --> 00:20:42.257
  • Spear, it was understood you're being sold as a slave, void of
  • 00:20:42.257 --> 00:20:50.332
  • Any rights, any self-determination.
  • 00:20:50.332 --> 00:20:52.734
  • Once you're on the block under the spear, you're being sold at
  • 00:20:52.734 --> 00:20:58.707
  • The discretion of whoever the purchaser is.
  • 00:20:58.707 --> 00:21:03.211
  • You may be chosen by--purchased by someone that is somewhat
  • 00:21:03.211 --> 00:21:07.883
  • Good-hearted, that you might be treated with some degree of
  • 00:21:07.883 --> 00:21:10.786
  • Mercy and kindness and given some responsibility that carried
  • 00:21:10.786 --> 00:21:14.356
  • With it some expression of dignity, maybe monitoring
  • 00:21:14.356 --> 00:21:17.559
  • Household goods like joseph was given in egypt when he was
  • 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:21.863
  • A slave.
  • 00:21:21.863 --> 00:21:23.965
  • Or you might be sold into the basest form of degrading human
  • 00:21:23.965 --> 00:21:27.903
  • Behavior imaginable.
  • 00:21:27.903 --> 00:21:29.538
  • You have no choice in that, you're being sold under
  • 00:21:29.538 --> 00:21:32.007
  • The spear.
  • 00:21:32.007 --> 00:21:34.710
  • That's the imagery that paul is using when he's writing to the
  • 00:21:34.710 --> 00:21:37.579
  • Galatian believers.
  • 00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:40.482
  • And he said, "at one time, you were in slavery under the basic
  • 00:21:40.482 --> 00:21:44.653
  • Principles of this present age."
  • 00:21:44.653 --> 00:21:49.758
  • You didn't have any self-determination.
  • 00:21:49.758 --> 00:21:51.226
  • It's a delusion to think that you're the captain of your fate
  • 00:21:51.226 --> 00:21:54.863
  • And the master of your soul.
  • 00:21:54.863 --> 00:21:57.866
  • I mean, it makes good poetry, but it's a delusion.
  • 00:21:57.866 --> 00:22:04.373
  • But he says that christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by
  • 00:22:04.373 --> 00:22:08.910
  • Becoming a curse for us.
  • 00:22:08.910 --> 00:22:10.846
  • He took our curse.
  • 00:22:10.846 --> 00:22:12.180
  • He paid the price for us to be delivered from slavery.
  • 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:16.318
  • He exhausted the curse of sin so that we could be free.
  • 00:22:16.318 --> 00:22:21.523
  • It's what paul was praying for the ephesians, excuse me, that
  • 00:22:21.523 --> 00:22:25.293
  • The eyes of their heart would be enlightened that they might know
  • 00:22:25.293 --> 00:22:28.029
  • The hope of their calling.
  • 00:22:28.029 --> 00:22:31.199
  • That they wouldn't imagine that the lordship of jesus was
  • 00:22:31.199 --> 00:22:34.102
  • Diminishing, limiting, oppressive.
  • 00:22:34.102 --> 00:22:40.709
  • See, the same--our enemy doesn't have new lies, he uses
  • 00:22:40.709 --> 00:22:45.313
  • The same old ones.
  • 00:22:45.313 --> 00:22:48.083
  • We have been set free.
  • 00:22:48.083 --> 00:22:49.618
  • The greatest gift you will ever receive was the revelation of
  • 00:22:49.618 --> 00:22:53.989
  • Jesus that god extended to you, and he extended it to you.
  • 00:22:53.989 --> 00:22:57.259
  • He sought us before we could seek him.
  • 00:22:57.259 --> 00:23:00.729
  • That we might be delivered from the kingdom of darkness, that we
  • 00:23:00.729 --> 00:23:03.198
  • Might be set free from a bondage of sin and welcomed into the
  • 00:23:03.198 --> 00:23:07.269
  • Kingdom of light.
  • 00:23:07.269 --> 00:23:08.904
  • We should spend the rest of our days quietly, persistently
  • 00:23:08.904 --> 00:23:12.974
  • Giving thanks to god for his goodness to us.
  • 00:23:12.974 --> 00:23:16.945
  • We should, but a significant-- we're mad at god.
  • 00:23:16.945 --> 00:23:22.717
  • We don't like our circumstances.
  • 00:23:22.717 --> 00:23:24.052
  • "it's too difficult. i'm tired.
  • 00:23:24.052 --> 00:23:25.420
  • I'm tired of this problem.
  • 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:26.788
  • I'm tired of these people.
  • 00:23:26.788 --> 00:23:28.123
  • I prayed to you twice, what are you doing?
  • 00:23:28.123 --> 00:23:33.595
  • You haven't been fair to me.
  • 00:23:33.595 --> 00:23:36.765
  • You haven't done what i wanted you to do.
  • 00:23:36.765 --> 00:23:42.037
  • I had a plan and you didn't read it.
  • 00:23:42.037 --> 00:23:45.006
  • I had a timeline and you haven't kept to it.
  • 00:23:45.006 --> 00:23:52.514
  • I'm really disappointed.
  • 00:23:52.514 --> 00:23:54.816
  • I don't wanna give up my faith, but you're pushing it."
  • 00:23:54.816 --> 00:24:03.725
  • I mean, we don't usually articulate it in that way, but
  • 00:24:03.725 --> 00:24:05.694
  • I've had that meeting many, many times.
  • 00:24:05.694 --> 00:24:11.032
  • Or, "you didn't really give me what i needed in order to stay
  • 00:24:11.032 --> 00:24:13.902
  • The course.
  • 00:24:13.902 --> 00:24:15.770
  • Temptation was so real.
  • 00:24:15.770 --> 00:24:20.642
  • The opportunities for ungodliness were just
  • 00:24:20.642 --> 00:24:22.644
  • So prevalent.
  • 00:24:22.644 --> 00:24:25.113
  • The pastor didn't preach good enough.
  • 00:24:25.113 --> 00:24:28.884
  • The worship people didn't worship well enough.
  • 00:24:28.884 --> 00:24:31.920
  • Christians were mean to me.
  • 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.390
  • I went to church and somebody parked in my space and sat in my
  • 00:24:35.390 --> 00:24:39.694
  • Seat so i walked away."
  • 00:24:39.694 --> 00:24:49.738
  • We've missed the gift of god.
  • 00:24:51.206 --> 00:24:55.777
  • And rather than say in humility, "god, i'm without excuse."
  • 00:24:55.777 --> 00:25:05.554
  • You know, james says to us that our, the most--unruly part of
  • 00:25:05.554 --> 00:25:09.057
  • Our body is our tongue.
  • 00:25:09.057 --> 00:25:10.458
  • That if we can control what we say, we could be perfect
  • 00:25:10.458 --> 00:25:14.462
  • And complete.
  • 00:25:14.462 --> 00:25:16.364
  • He said, "in the same way a small rudder can control a huge
  • 00:25:16.364 --> 00:25:18.934
  • Ship or a bit in the mouth of a powerful horse can control its
  • 00:25:18.934 --> 00:25:22.671
  • Strength," he said that our our tongue is--he calls it
  • 00:25:22.671 --> 00:25:27.142
  • A fire.
  • 00:25:27.142 --> 00:25:31.046
  • And jesus said our tongue is linked to our heart because out
  • 00:25:31.046 --> 00:25:33.281
  • Of our heart we speak.
  • 00:25:33.281 --> 00:25:36.284
  • If my tongue is sparky, my fire is a smoke pit--my heart's
  • 00:25:36.284 --> 00:25:39.854
  • A smoke pit because it's so easy to get your heart on the wrong
  • 00:25:39.854 --> 00:25:43.692
  • Path, in the wrong direction, filled with the wrong thoughts.
  • 00:25:43.692 --> 00:25:47.295
  • Have you ever done that?
  • 00:25:47.295 --> 00:25:50.999
  • And it's important to come back because we're reading through
  • 00:25:50.999 --> 00:25:53.501
  • Our new testament again.
  • 00:25:53.501 --> 00:25:55.837
  • To submit ourselves to god, there are some behaviors that we
  • 00:25:55.837 --> 00:25:59.274
  • Simply don't have the luxury of engaging in.
  • 00:25:59.274 --> 00:26:04.346
  • Allen: hey, this is not just the beginning of another year.
  • 00:26:08.483 --> 00:26:11.019
  • This is the beginning of the 250th anniversary of our nation.
  • 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:14.789
  • This is a very special year.
  • 00:26:14.789 --> 00:26:16.658
  • It's a god story.
  • 00:26:16.658 --> 00:26:18.026
  • This isn't about national politics or economics or
  • 00:26:18.026 --> 00:26:21.596
  • Chest thumping.
  • 00:26:21.596 --> 00:26:22.931
  • This is an acknowledgement that god works in the history of
  • 00:26:22.931 --> 00:26:25.533
  • People and nations.
  • 00:26:25.533 --> 00:26:27.435
  • Well, most of us don't care a lot about history, so we
  • 00:26:27.435 --> 00:26:29.404
  • Partnered with some of our good friends, wallbuilders, tim and
  • 00:26:29.404 --> 00:26:32.140
  • David barton, they have the best on this topic.
  • 00:26:32.140 --> 00:26:34.442
  • It's a two volume set on the american story.
  • 00:26:34.442 --> 00:26:37.345
  • It'll help us understand god's engagement in american history.
  • 00:26:37.345 --> 00:26:41.883
  • We've lost most of this in our public schools and certainly in
  • 00:26:41.883 --> 00:26:44.552
  • Higher education.
  • 00:26:44.552 --> 00:26:45.887
  • We gotta start back with our families around the kitchen
  • 00:26:45.887 --> 00:26:48.023
  • Table learning how god has been engaged with us so we can
  • 00:26:48.023 --> 00:26:51.059
  • Imagine a future that includes god.
  • 00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:53.695
  • Let's pray and ask for his help.
  • 00:26:53.695 --> 00:26:55.830
  • Father, i thank you.
  • 00:26:55.830 --> 00:26:57.165
  • I believe you have blessed our nation and caused us to
  • 00:26:57.165 --> 00:26:59.034
  • Flourish, and i pray that this year you would open our hearts
  • 00:26:59.034 --> 00:27:02.003
  • To what you have still ahead of us, that we might invite you
  • 00:27:02.003 --> 00:27:05.840
  • Into our homes, our communities, and into this nation's future.
  • 00:27:05.840 --> 00:27:09.310
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:09.310 --> 00:27:11.179
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:11.179 --> 00:27:30.001