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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - One Home at a Time (Part 1)

October 29, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - One Home at a Time (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Culture #Church #BodyofChrist #LightoftheWorld #Witness/Witnessing #Missions #Ministry #Purpose #Calling #Commission #Responsibility #IdentityinChrist #ChildofGod

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - One Home at a Time (Part 1) | October 29, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen jackson: you know, we're witnessing something of a crisis
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  • In our nation, something i never thought i would see, expressions
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  • Of anti-semitism, hatred for the jewish people, coming from
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  • America, coming from the christian community, the
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  • Conservative side of the ideological spectrum, to a
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  • Degree and scope i've never seen before.
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  • Well, it was important enough that i stopped and put together
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  • A book, the title of it is "supporting israel: how far is
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  • Too far?"
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  • It's an important concept that isn't political, it's grounded
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  • In a biblical worldview.
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  • I think we need to understand our responsibilities to the
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  • Jewish people, to the modern state of israel, not from an
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  • Ideological perspective, not from the perspective of nation
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  • States, but as people of god.
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  • It's important.
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  • It's an important season.
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  • A lot of voices, and i know there's some fatigue with the
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  • Conflict in the middle east, but we can't afford to be fatigued
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  • With our assignments to honor god, and the responsibilities
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  • That come with that.
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  • I believe the book will be a help to you.
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  • I believe it'll help you navigate the conversation with
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  • Your family and your friends.
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  • Enjoy the read.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: we're working through a series called "shaping culture,"
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  • And it's really a reflection of a much larger attempt to message
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  • That all over the walls of our building.
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  • From one end of the lobby to the other, there are aspects of
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  • Shaping culture, and they're highlighted repeatedly by the
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  • Phrase that we believe the church is intended to shape
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  • Culture, not be shaped by culture.
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  • I think that's what it means to be salt and light.
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  • I think that's what it is to hold out good news.
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  • I think we understand we are on an assignment that often puts us
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  • In a minority position.
  • 00:01:45.021 --> 00:01:46.389
  • Jesus talked about a narrow gate and a wide gate, and a wide gate
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  • That many would enter that leads to destruction, and a narrow
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  • Gate that few would enter that leads to life, and we're doing
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  • Our best to make sure there's an abundance of signs towards the
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  • Narrow gate.
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  • We don't intend to go quietly into that dark night, and so
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  • There's some various expressions of that over in the atrium, the
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  • Lobby just outside of genesis.
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  • It's really focused on our young people, and we took a weekend
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  • And looked at that messaging.
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  • In fellowship square, the messaging is centered, primarily
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  • Around the jewish people in the modern nation of israel, and
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  • What we understand to be something of our
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  • Responsibilities there, and we talked about that this past
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  • Weekend in some detail.
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  • Well, tonight i wanna continue that shaping culture theme, but
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  • I'm gonna go to the light lobby.
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  • If you're not overly familiar with our campus, that's the
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  • Lobby that has the big light in it.
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  • That's because we're so creative.
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  • Before that light fixture was in that lobby, there used to be a
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  • Globe that hung in there.
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  • Guess what we called the lobby then?
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  • The globe lobby, yeah.
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  • I'm not clever.
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  • But the messaging in that light lobby is really focused on
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  • Expressions of hospitality that impact the world, and that's my
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  • Topic with you in this session, that we can shape culture one
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  • Home at a time.
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  • You know, the question i'm asking--i've told you many
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  • Times, it's by far--it's not even close, the question i'm
  • 00:03:17.313 --> 00:03:20.817
  • Asked most frequently, when i'm here or when i travel, people
  • 00:03:20.817 --> 00:03:24.821
  • Say, "well, you know, what can i do?
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  • What can we do?"
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  • And the reality is what each one of us chooses to do is what
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  • Makes all the difference.
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  • We don't have to have a majority.
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  • We're children of the king.
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  • The one we worship is the name above every name, and if we will
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  • Understand the authority which we have been assigned to make a
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  • Presentation in this world, it will change our orientation.
  • 00:03:45.975 --> 00:03:50.313
  • We tend to think in terms, principally of elections or
  • 00:03:50.313 --> 00:03:52.682
  • Parties or majorities or whatever, and we don't require
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  • A majority.
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  • If it was about sheer numbers, the nation of israel wouldn't
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  • Survive until breakfast.
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  • There's a handful, a few million people, in the midst of hundreds
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  • Of millions of people who are sworn to their destruction, with
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  • The support of the majority of the global community towards
  • 00:04:09.666 --> 00:04:12.068
  • That objective, and yet, tiny israel survives.
  • 00:04:12.068 --> 00:04:14.270
  • Only god could explain that.
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  • And the church is no different, folks.
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  • We're not--the worldview we hold and the principles we hold,
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  • They're not the overwhelming majority in the globe.
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  • The most hunted people in the world today are christians, and
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  • The christians don't want to say that.
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  • They're desperate to not acknowledge that.
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  • I wrote that in a book that i was--had agreed to write for a
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  • Christian publisher, and the editor sent it back to me, and
  • 00:04:35.692 --> 00:04:38.394
  • Questioning that statement, and i said, "well, it's a matter of
  • 00:04:38.394 --> 00:04:40.863
  • Fact," and i produced the facts, and then the editor responded
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  • Back to me and said, "well, it's only true because there's so
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  • Many christians."
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  • You know, in nigeria right now there is a christian
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  • Genocide underway.
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  • They are systematically eliminating the
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  • Christian population.
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  • Hundreds of christians a week being murdered, and for the most
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  • Part, i think we just try not to notice.
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  • We kind of shrug our shoulders, and i--when we talk about what
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  • Can we do, i think what we have to understand is it starts one
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  • Life at a time, one home at a time, and if we will address
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  • That, then god will make the difference.
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  • So i don't understand how my home can impact what happens
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  • In nigeria?
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  • Well, you invite god more fully into your home, and let's watch.
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  • Well, the lobby out there tells the story of two families, one
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  • Is corrie ten boom.
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  • You're a bit familiar with her.
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  • The others tells a bit of the story of my parents,
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  • That's awkward.
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  • You know, they showed me the graphics for that on somebody's
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  • Little laptop.
  • 00:05:46.629 --> 00:05:47.997
  • They brought it to my desk, and said, "this is what we'd like to
  • 00:05:47.997 --> 00:05:49.866
  • Put on the wall for the fall learning series."
  • 00:05:49.866 --> 00:05:53.770
  • Well, on the laptop, it was about this big, and i didn't
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  • Really ask any questions about which wall they were gonna put
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  • It on, or--i, you know, i thought, well, i could live with
  • 00:06:00.510 --> 00:06:02.912
  • That on the wall, and i walked into the lobby, and there stood
  • 00:06:02.912 --> 00:06:11.187
  • My mom, and i went into the bathroom and looked behind my
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  • Ears to see if they were clean, and, i mean, i started through
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  • The checklist, 'cause there's a list of stuff, and then i said
  • 00:06:18.428 --> 00:06:22.064
  • Stupid from the pulpit a couple of weeks ago, and i was afraid
  • 00:06:22.064 --> 00:06:24.367
  • To walk out through that lobby, 'cause that's against the rules,
  • 00:06:24.367 --> 00:06:28.704
  • But the similarity there--the stories are vastly different,
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  • Different nations, different time periods, different
  • 00:06:33.142 --> 00:06:36.345
  • Challenges, but they're both expressions of hospitality that
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  • God used for purposes that exceeded their imagination when
  • 00:06:40.183 --> 00:06:42.985
  • They opened their homes, and that's what i want to invite you
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  • Towards in this session.
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  • I brought you some scriptures.
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  • They're really centered around this notion of hospitality,
  • 00:06:49.492 --> 00:06:52.395
  • Becoming hospitable.
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  • There's a connection between hospital and being hospitable
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  • And hospitality.
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  • They're all about welcoming and shelter and including people.
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  • In romans chapter 12, it's the conclusion of the book
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  • Of romans.
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  • There's a whole list of things we're being given instructions
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  • To consider as christ followers, and it share--says, "share with
  • 00:07:08.978 --> 00:07:12.348
  • God's people who are in need.
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  • Practice hospitality.
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  • Bless those who persecute you; bless and don't curse.
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  • Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
  • 00:07:18.621 --> 00:07:21.691
  • Live in harmony with one another.
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  • Don't be proud, but be willing to associate with people of
  • 00:07:23.059 --> 00:07:25.328
  • Low position.
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  • Don't be conceited."
  • 00:07:26.696 --> 00:07:28.030
  • Nothing in there is too surprising, of--some of it
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  • Though is often ignored.
  • 00:07:30.266 --> 00:07:32.635
  • We treat it like it's a smorgasbord.
  • 00:07:32.635 --> 00:07:34.437
  • You know, i'll take one, three, and five.
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  • I don't understand it that way.
  • 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:39.141
  • I understand it to be a collection of things that will
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  • Enable you to be spiritually healthy.
  • 00:07:41.477 --> 00:07:45.414
  • You know, if you talk to a nutritionist, and they said,
  • 00:07:45.414 --> 00:07:47.717
  • "you need to eat less sugar and less salt and less saturated
  • 00:07:47.717 --> 00:07:51.888
  • Fats, and don't eat highly processed food," and you say,
  • 00:07:51.888 --> 00:07:54.891
  • "well, i'll tell you what.
  • 00:07:54.891 --> 00:07:56.759
  • I'll eat less salt, but i'm gonna double down on highly
  • 00:07:56.759 --> 00:08:01.631
  • Processed foods, and i like sugar."
  • 00:08:01.631 --> 00:08:04.467
  • You're not gonna get healthier, and you're not gonna get
  • 00:08:04.467 --> 00:08:07.837
  • Spiritually healthier if you see lists like that, and you think,
  • 00:08:07.837 --> 00:08:10.773
  • "well, i'm pretty good on three out of seven," and it captures
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  • My attention that it says we practice hospitality.
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  • How do you become more hospitable?
  • 00:08:17.914 --> 00:08:22.952
  • By practicing hospitality.
  • 00:08:22.952 --> 00:08:27.590
  • You know, most of the things that are really important in our
  • 00:08:27.590 --> 00:08:29.458
  • Life, the professionals who engage in those things are
  • 00:08:29.458 --> 00:08:32.295
  • Called practitioners.
  • 00:08:32.295 --> 00:08:33.663
  • They practice.
  • 00:08:33.663 --> 00:08:35.598
  • Doctors practice medicine.
  • 00:08:35.598 --> 00:08:38.868
  • Brain surgeons practice brain surgery on people.
  • 00:08:38.868 --> 00:08:44.373
  • Well, christians practice hospitality, and some of us are
  • 00:08:48.377 --> 00:08:55.384
  • Out of practice.
  • 00:08:55.384 --> 00:08:59.589
  • We've come up with some of the default places, you know, like,
  • 00:08:59.589 --> 00:09:03.159
  • "pastor, what's the church going to do?"
  • 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:06.295
  • If you've asked me that question, you likely got this
  • 00:09:06.295 --> 00:09:09.131
  • Answer, "i'm not sure, what are you planning to do as a part of
  • 00:09:09.131 --> 00:09:12.234
  • The church?"
  • 00:09:12.234 --> 00:09:14.737
  • There's no mysterious closet where the church dwells, it's
  • 00:09:14.737 --> 00:09:18.074
  • Us, and we are given biblically, in multiple places--we're gonna
  • 00:09:18.074 --> 00:09:24.580
  • Look at just a handful, the direction that we are assigned,
  • 00:09:24.580 --> 00:09:28.517
  • This responsibility to practice hospitality.
  • 00:09:28.517 --> 00:09:32.955
  • Cory ten boom's family, her father was a watchmaker.
  • 00:09:32.955 --> 00:09:36.325
  • The watch shop was in their family home, and for many years
  • 00:09:36.325 --> 00:09:40.730
  • Prior to the german occupation, the ten boom family was known to
  • 00:09:40.730 --> 00:09:44.934
  • Be hospitable to strangers, to people, to--they shared their
  • 00:09:44.934 --> 00:09:50.773
  • Home for tea and bible studies, and it's what made possible for
  • 00:09:50.773 --> 00:09:56.045
  • Them to hide jews once the nazi occupation began, was their home
  • 00:09:56.045 --> 00:10:00.516
  • Was well known in the community as a place where people
  • 00:10:00.516 --> 00:10:04.120
  • Were welcomed.
  • 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.922
  • So when the pressure of german occupation came, they simply
  • 00:10:06.922 --> 00:10:10.893
  • Implemented something that was already a routine practice for
  • 00:10:10.893 --> 00:10:14.163
  • Their family.
  • 00:10:14.163 --> 00:10:16.465
  • They built a secret room, a hiding place for the jews, and
  • 00:10:16.465 --> 00:10:19.568
  • More than 800 jewish people were moved through their home as a
  • 00:10:19.568 --> 00:10:22.805
  • Part of the underground towards safety, but they didn't invent a
  • 00:10:22.805 --> 00:10:27.076
  • Response, they simply utilized a response that was already their
  • 00:10:27.076 --> 00:10:31.447
  • Expression of the grace of god in their community.
  • 00:10:31.447 --> 00:10:37.653
  • Practice hospitality.
  • 00:10:37.653 --> 00:10:39.155
  • Look at 1 timothy chapter 5, paul's writing to timothy, he's
  • 00:10:39.155 --> 00:10:42.258
  • Talking about widows, and he's saying: you can't be put on the
  • 00:10:42.258 --> 00:10:45.327
  • Widow's list just because you're a widow.
  • 00:10:45.327 --> 00:10:47.263
  • Jeez, that seems harsh.
  • 00:10:47.263 --> 00:10:49.799
  • How many have heard the phrase that, you know, pure and
  • 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:51.500
  • Undefiled rig--religion is to help the widows and the orphans?
  • 00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:55.838
  • Right, i mean, we--that's at the head of every fundraising letter
  • 00:10:55.838 --> 00:10:59.008
  • You get from everybody.
  • 00:10:59.008 --> 00:11:01.377
  • Not inappropriately so, but the rest of the story is important.
  • 00:11:01.377 --> 00:11:04.780
  • Paul doesn't say everybody that is a widow deserves to
  • 00:11:04.780 --> 00:11:07.450
  • Receive support.
  • 00:11:07.450 --> 00:11:11.320
  • What about compassion?
  • 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:14.490
  • And then he gives this list, and it's intriguing, and i'm not
  • 00:11:14.490 --> 00:11:17.493
  • Trying to come up with a new legalistic system, but he says,
  • 00:11:17.493 --> 00:11:19.628
  • "no widow might be put on the list of widows unless she's over
  • 00:11:19.628 --> 00:11:23.466
  • Sixty," and there's--i don't really think that's so much
  • 00:11:23.466 --> 00:11:26.836
  • About a chronological point in a--at a time when the life
  • 00:11:26.836 --> 00:11:31.407
  • Expectancy would have been far below 60, unless she's already a
  • 00:11:31.407 --> 00:11:36.312
  • Remarkable person, and then there's a set of character
  • 00:11:36.312 --> 00:11:40.850
  • Based things.
  • 00:11:40.850 --> 00:11:42.184
  • She has to have, "been faithful to her husband."
  • 00:11:42.184 --> 00:11:44.086
  • She's, "well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up
  • 00:11:44.086 --> 00:11:46.722
  • Children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints,
  • 00:11:46.722 --> 00:11:50.359
  • Helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of
  • 00:11:50.359 --> 00:11:53.629
  • Good deeds."
  • 00:11:53.629 --> 00:11:55.498
  • The people that he says you should help are people that
  • 00:11:55.498 --> 00:11:59.268
  • Everybody knows are helping people.
  • 00:11:59.268 --> 00:12:02.972
  • That's a dramatic paradigm shift from the world we live in.
  • 00:12:02.972 --> 00:12:06.876
  • Is that fair?
  • 00:12:06.876 --> 00:12:09.278
  • But i just want to direct your attention, that the scripture,
  • 00:12:09.278 --> 00:12:12.748
  • And i could give you multiple other places, tells us that we
  • 00:12:12.748 --> 00:12:15.785
  • Are to become hospitable people as an expression of our faith.
  • 00:12:15.785 --> 00:12:20.189
  • What can we do in the face of a world with escalating violence
  • 00:12:20.189 --> 00:12:23.125
  • And hatred and immorality and intolerance?
  • 00:12:23.125 --> 00:12:26.162
  • We could practice being hospitable.
  • 00:12:26.162 --> 00:12:30.966
  • See, we're all equipped for this.
  • 00:12:30.966 --> 00:12:32.868
  • Even if you're a widow, it says you're expected to do this.
  • 00:12:32.868 --> 00:12:37.940
  • I'm not trying to add to your to-do list.
  • 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:40.609
  • I'm trying to awaken us to what it means to live as a
  • 00:12:40.609 --> 00:12:43.212
  • Christ follower.
  • 00:12:43.212 --> 00:12:44.847
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:12:44.847 --> 00:12:49.018
  • Allen: you know, how should we respond to the nation of israel
  • 00:12:51.754 --> 00:12:54.323
  • And the jewish people?
  • 00:12:54.323 --> 00:12:55.691
  • It's a complex question in today's world.
  • 00:12:55.691 --> 00:12:58.160
  • Well, i've written a book, "supporting israel: how far is
  • 00:12:58.160 --> 00:13:00.930
  • Too far?," to help us establish a biblical perspective on what
  • 00:13:00.930 --> 00:13:05.301
  • Has become a complex question in contemporary culture.
  • 00:13:05.301 --> 00:13:09.171
  • We don't wanna follow the guidance and the counsel of some
  • 00:13:09.171 --> 00:13:12.041
  • Of the elite universities in this nation.
  • 00:13:12.041 --> 00:13:14.743
  • We want to form a perspective that's built from god's word.
  • 00:13:14.743 --> 00:13:17.279
  • If we'll do that, it'll bring his blessings to our lives.
  • 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.416
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:13:20.416 --> 00:13:21.750
  • Female announcer: from the pages of scripture to the front lines
  • 00:13:21.750 --> 00:13:23.986
  • Of today's news, israel stands at the center of god's purposes.
  • 00:13:23.986 --> 00:13:28.424
  • Pastor allen's new booklet, "supporting israel: how far is
  • 00:13:28.424 --> 00:13:31.961
  • Too far?," offers a quick way to gain a biblical perspective on
  • 00:13:31.961 --> 00:13:35.364
  • Israel, why israel matters to god, and why it should matter
  • 00:13:35.364 --> 00:13:39.435
  • To us.
  • 00:13:39.435 --> 00:13:40.769
  • Request your copy with your gift of any amount today at
  • 00:13:40.769 --> 00:13:43.672
  • Allenjackson.com or by calling ...
  • 00:13:43.672 --> 00:13:50.112
  • Allen: in acts chapter 2--acts chapter 1, jesus ascended back
  • 00:13:53.616 --> 00:13:59.688
  • To heaven.
  • 00:13:59.688 --> 00:14:01.557
  • So for the first time since they met jesus, his closest friends
  • 00:14:01.557 --> 00:14:05.594
  • Are now left without access to his physical presence.
  • 00:14:05.594 --> 00:14:10.499
  • I think that would be unsettling.
  • 00:14:10.499 --> 00:14:13.836
  • I have some friends at turning point, and it's a whole new
  • 00:14:13.836 --> 00:14:18.874
  • Season for them, now that charlie's no longer present.
  • 00:14:18.874 --> 00:14:24.546
  • Well, in acts chapter 2, jesus is no longer available, and it's
  • 00:14:24.546 --> 00:14:31.253
  • A completely different response to the world, and in verse 42,
  • 00:14:31.253 --> 00:14:35.524
  • It says "they," the believers, "devoted themselves to the
  • 00:14:35.524 --> 00:14:38.260
  • Apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, and to the breaking
  • 00:14:38.260 --> 00:14:43.132
  • Of bread and prayer.
  • 00:14:43.132 --> 00:14:45.768
  • And everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and
  • 00:14:45.768 --> 00:14:48.103
  • Miraculous signs were done by the apostles."
  • 00:14:48.103 --> 00:14:52.141
  • You know, that doesn't sound very dramatic.
  • 00:14:52.141 --> 00:14:54.243
  • The outcome sounds dramatic, that there were many miraculous
  • 00:14:54.243 --> 00:14:56.779
  • Signs being done, now not by jesus any longer, but by
  • 00:14:56.779 --> 00:14:59.648
  • The apostles.
  • 00:14:59.648 --> 00:15:01.583
  • But the on-ramp to that outcome, it seems pretty mundane.
  • 00:15:01.583 --> 00:15:06.722
  • "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching," and it's
  • 00:15:06.722 --> 00:15:12.561
  • Important, the next phrase, it says, "and to the fellowship."
  • 00:15:12.561 --> 00:15:15.698
  • Not to fellowship.
  • 00:15:15.698 --> 00:15:19.068
  • Not to hanging out.
  • 00:15:19.068 --> 00:15:21.570
  • Not to being together.
  • 00:15:21.570 --> 00:15:22.905
  • They devoted themselves to the fellowship of the believers.
  • 00:15:22.905 --> 00:15:26.742
  • A lot of chatter these days, a lot of noise, a lot of about, "i
  • 00:15:26.742 --> 00:15:30.746
  • Don't have to go to church to be a christian," and i agree
  • 00:15:30.746 --> 00:15:34.950
  • With that.
  • 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:36.418
  • You can accept the lord in the produce section of the grocery
  • 00:15:36.418 --> 00:15:39.288
  • Store, you can share your testimony in the gym, but you
  • 00:15:39.288 --> 00:15:45.227
  • Will not grow to maturity unless you are doing life in the midst
  • 00:15:45.227 --> 00:15:48.464
  • Of a community of believers, and that's biblical, and by acts
  • 00:15:48.464 --> 00:15:54.403
  • Chapter 2, these people who were closest to jesus devoted
  • 00:15:54.403 --> 00:15:57.840
  • Themselves to the apostles' teaching, they devoted
  • 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.042
  • Themselves to the fellowship, the group of believers that were
  • 00:16:00.042 --> 00:16:03.145
  • Available to them, and the breaking of bread and to prayer.
  • 00:16:03.145 --> 00:16:07.282
  • That sounds a lot like hospitality to me.
  • 00:16:07.282 --> 00:16:11.787
  • Now i don't--we--invariably, somebody will try to
  • 00:16:11.787 --> 00:16:14.223
  • Spiritualize it, and say, "well, they were
  • 00:16:14.223 --> 00:16:16.525
  • Celebrating communion."
  • 00:16:16.525 --> 00:16:19.361
  • Then i think they would have said that, obi-wan, and we can
  • 00:16:19.361 --> 00:16:25.801
  • Stay in acts chapter 2, and i think you get a little more
  • 00:16:25.801 --> 00:16:28.771
  • Clarity, just three verses later.
  • 00:16:28.771 --> 00:16:30.739
  • "every day they continued to meet in the temple courts, and
  • 00:16:30.739 --> 00:16:35.978
  • They broke bread in their homes and they ate together."
  • 00:16:35.978 --> 00:16:40.382
  • Again, i think it's extended beyond the notion of
  • 00:16:40.382 --> 00:16:42.684
  • Just communion.
  • 00:16:42.684 --> 00:16:45.087
  • "with glad and sincere hearts, praising god and enjoying the
  • 00:16:45.087 --> 00:16:48.257
  • Favor of all the people.
  • 00:16:48.257 --> 00:16:49.892
  • And the lord added to their number daily those who were
  • 00:16:49.892 --> 00:16:52.995
  • Being saved."
  • 00:16:52.995 --> 00:16:55.164
  • So it's a very similar pattern to what we read in verse 42.
  • 00:16:55.164 --> 00:16:57.933
  • This is just three verses later, same chapter.
  • 00:16:57.933 --> 00:17:00.102
  • Again, jesus has left.
  • 00:17:00.102 --> 00:17:01.637
  • They're trying to figure out what to do.
  • 00:17:01.637 --> 00:17:03.405
  • How do we maintain this?
  • 00:17:03.405 --> 00:17:05.274
  • How do we sustain what we learned when jesus was with us?
  • 00:17:05.274 --> 00:17:10.145
  • And it says they devoted themselves to the apostle and to
  • 00:17:10.145 --> 00:17:12.514
  • The fellowship and to the breaking of bread together, and
  • 00:17:12.514 --> 00:17:15.951
  • The lord was doing remarkable things, and then three verses
  • 00:17:15.951 --> 00:17:18.687
  • Later, it says every day they continued to meet together, they
  • 00:17:18.687 --> 00:17:21.924
  • Broke bread in their homes, and they ate together.
  • 00:17:21.924 --> 00:17:24.226
  • That sounds a whole lot like being hospitable, doesn't it?
  • 00:17:24.226 --> 00:17:29.465
  • And look at what the lord did.
  • 00:17:29.465 --> 00:17:31.900
  • It says they enjoyed the favor of the people, and the lord
  • 00:17:31.900 --> 00:17:34.636
  • Added to their number daily those who were being saved.
  • 00:17:34.636 --> 00:17:39.108
  • Imagine if we did something as profound as open our homes.
  • 00:17:39.108 --> 00:17:43.345
  • Oh, i don't know, do something crazy, like a video study with
  • 00:17:43.345 --> 00:17:47.683
  • Dan gurley, and invited somebody.
  • 00:17:47.683 --> 00:17:53.989
  • "well, i invited somebody, and they didn't come."
  • 00:17:53.989 --> 00:17:55.557
  • Well, invite somebody else.
  • 00:17:55.557 --> 00:17:59.595
  • "well, it hurt my feelings."
  • 00:17:59.595 --> 00:18:01.296
  • Well, tell the lord, and then ask him to heal your feelings.
  • 00:18:01.296 --> 00:18:07.302
  • Do you have any idea how many people visit church, and then
  • 00:18:07.302 --> 00:18:09.404
  • Don't come back?
  • 00:18:09.404 --> 00:18:11.773
  • If i were sensitive i'd be rolled up in a fetal position
  • 00:18:11.773 --> 00:18:17.579
  • Somewhere, whimpering.
  • 00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:20.516
  • They didn't like me.
  • 00:18:20.516 --> 00:18:27.256
  • But we'll continue to practice hospitality.
  • 00:18:27.256 --> 00:18:31.260
  • I wanna invite you--you see, i think the scripture suggests to
  • 00:18:31.260 --> 00:18:34.663
  • Us that as we learn to flourish as christ followers, a
  • 00:18:34.663 --> 00:18:40.569
  • Significant part of the--this is so available to everybody.
  • 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:44.339
  • This isn't about a fancy home.
  • 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:47.276
  • You don't have to have been trained in etiquette.
  • 00:18:47.276 --> 00:18:52.414
  • You don't have to be like, martha stewart like.
  • 00:18:52.414 --> 00:18:57.653
  • You know, some of you, god bless you.
  • 00:18:57.653 --> 00:19:01.490
  • You know, i'm amazed, you can walk out in your backyard, and
  • 00:19:01.490 --> 00:19:03.859
  • You come back in with a wreath and napkin rings, and it all
  • 00:19:03.859 --> 00:19:13.302
  • Came from your backyard.
  • 00:19:13.302 --> 00:19:16.538
  • I can't do that.
  • 00:19:16.538 --> 00:19:19.641
  • You know, in fact, you don't need a napkin ring if you're
  • 00:19:19.641 --> 00:19:22.477
  • Coming to--with--you're gonna get a paper towel, but i'm gonna
  • 00:19:22.477 --> 00:19:27.516
  • Pray for you in the name of jesus.
  • 00:19:27.516 --> 00:19:29.084
  • I did--this was before i was married to kathy, don't blame
  • 00:19:29.084 --> 00:19:31.720
  • Her, but i did a small group in my home, and i had a little
  • 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:35.324
  • Problem in my house.
  • 00:19:35.324 --> 00:19:36.658
  • The entry foyer collapsed.
  • 00:19:36.658 --> 00:19:40.862
  • I mean, like you could see the dirt, and so i would open the
  • 00:19:40.862 --> 00:19:45.767
  • Front door, and say to my guest, "step over the hole, please,"
  • 00:19:45.767 --> 00:19:52.441
  • And you know what, it worked.
  • 00:19:52.441 --> 00:19:54.876
  • We survived.
  • 00:19:54.876 --> 00:19:56.245
  • Nobody confused me with martha stewart.
  • 00:19:56.245 --> 00:20:00.082
  • So i want to absolve you of the responsibility to be super
  • 00:20:00.082 --> 00:20:05.187
  • Host, impeccable.
  • 00:20:05.187 --> 00:20:08.257
  • Your self worth is not determined by the cushions on
  • 00:20:08.257 --> 00:20:12.995
  • The sofa.
  • 00:20:12.995 --> 00:20:15.797
  • Having said that, you can--i cleaned my house, which at that
  • 00:20:15.797 --> 00:20:21.236
  • Point meant i hid the pizza boxes, but i did!
  • 00:20:21.236 --> 00:20:26.208
  • But it requires practice and commitment.
  • 00:20:26.208 --> 00:20:28.277
  • It's inconvenient.
  • 00:20:28.277 --> 00:20:29.645
  • It's uncomfortable.
  • 00:20:29.645 --> 00:20:30.979
  • It's a nuisance.
  • 00:20:30.979 --> 00:20:32.881
  • You know, my parents, this church came from a bible study
  • 00:20:32.881 --> 00:20:35.917
  • That my parents had in their home, for many years on thursday
  • 00:20:35.917 --> 00:20:40.322
  • Night, and i can tell you, as one of the three children that
  • 00:20:40.322 --> 00:20:45.360
  • Lived in the home, we did not vote for bible study.
  • 00:20:45.360 --> 00:20:51.166
  • There just weren't numbers.
  • 00:20:51.166 --> 00:20:52.501
  • You know, back--now you can report people that--but back in
  • 00:20:52.501 --> 00:20:56.972
  • The day, we didn't have those options.
  • 00:20:56.972 --> 00:21:00.442
  • We didn't get time out.
  • 00:21:00.442 --> 00:21:03.445
  • I'm not gonna say that.
  • 00:21:03.445 --> 00:21:06.648
  • But we would oftentimes be recruited for childcare.
  • 00:21:06.648 --> 00:21:09.451
  • They'd say, "oh, yeah, you can bring your kids.
  • 00:21:09.451 --> 00:21:10.786
  • They can--our boys will be glad to have them," and we're
  • 00:21:10.786 --> 00:21:15.457
  • Standing there going, "no," 'cause, you know, church
  • 00:21:15.457 --> 00:21:21.963
  • Services have beginning times and ending times, and we're
  • 00:21:21.963 --> 00:21:25.233
  • Pretty good about starting on time and stopping on time,
  • 00:21:25.233 --> 00:21:27.636
  • And--not at their home bible study.
  • 00:21:27.636 --> 00:21:31.707
  • They were gonna like, pray through, and i was through long
  • 00:21:31.707 --> 00:21:36.078
  • Before they thought they'd prayed through.
  • 00:21:36.078 --> 00:21:43.318
  • You know, i understand that hospitality and opening your
  • 00:21:43.318 --> 00:21:46.455
  • Home, it's inconvenient, it's uncomfortable, it's not restful,
  • 00:21:46.455 --> 00:21:51.059
  • It's a sacrifice.
  • 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:52.928
  • That--all of those things are the components that make it
  • 00:21:52.928 --> 00:21:55.731
  • Possible for god to use it in a remarkable way.
  • 00:21:55.731 --> 00:22:02.304
  • I don't want you to be reckless or--but i don't want you to wait
  • 00:22:02.304 --> 00:22:06.408
  • For the perfect environment.
  • 00:22:06.408 --> 00:22:09.511
  • I've learned i can't tell who's gonna respond to the lord.
  • 00:22:09.511 --> 00:22:13.615
  • Oftentimes, people i think would be the most likely candidates to
  • 00:22:13.615 --> 00:22:16.184
  • Be significant in god's kingdom don't seem too interested, and
  • 00:22:16.184 --> 00:22:19.454
  • People that i think, "oh, they--no way," they have a heart
  • 00:22:19.454 --> 00:22:22.858
  • For god, and i can tell you, as the church was trying to get
  • 00:22:22.858 --> 00:22:29.798
  • Their legs under them, to figure out what to do after jesus left,
  • 00:22:29.798 --> 00:22:33.969
  • One of the foundational components was this practice
  • 00:22:33.969 --> 00:22:36.872
  • Of hospitality.
  • 00:22:36.872 --> 00:22:40.742
  • In acts chapter 5, as the story is emerging, it says, "day
  • 00:22:40.742 --> 00:22:45.547
  • After day."
  • 00:22:45.547 --> 00:22:47.115
  • There's a theme here.
  • 00:22:47.115 --> 00:22:48.550
  • Every day, it said, daily.
  • 00:22:48.550 --> 00:22:50.318
  • Now, "day after day, in temple courts and from house to house,
  • 00:22:50.318 --> 00:22:54.923
  • They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that
  • 00:22:54.923 --> 00:22:57.392
  • Jesus is the christ."
  • 00:22:57.392 --> 00:22:59.294
  • And i hear people say, "well, the new testament church was a
  • 00:22:59.294 --> 00:23:01.263
  • House church."
  • 00:23:01.263 --> 00:23:02.597
  • Please don't say that.
  • 00:23:02.597 --> 00:23:04.733
  • The ignorance it suggests about scripture is stunning.
  • 00:23:04.733 --> 00:23:09.504
  • On the day of pentecost, thousands--3,000 people
  • 00:23:09.504 --> 00:23:12.874
  • Were baptized.
  • 00:23:12.874 --> 00:23:14.876
  • There's people being saved every day.
  • 00:23:14.876 --> 00:23:17.746
  • Just in the city of jerusalem, there are thousands and
  • 00:23:17.746 --> 00:23:19.881
  • Thousands of people coming to faith.
  • 00:23:19.881 --> 00:23:22.451
  • They're meeting on the temple mount on a regular basis.
  • 00:23:22.451 --> 00:23:25.620
  • That temple mount would accommodate tens of thousands
  • 00:23:25.620 --> 00:23:27.989
  • Of people.
  • 00:23:27.989 --> 00:23:30.125
  • They were gathering people in such numbers that it caused the
  • 00:23:30.125 --> 00:23:33.628
  • Sadducees, the religious political leaders, to become
  • 00:23:33.628 --> 00:23:35.897
  • Jealous of the apostles.
  • 00:23:35.897 --> 00:23:38.567
  • So it's true they met in homes for meals and such, but it far
  • 00:23:38.567 --> 00:23:43.638
  • Outgrew their homes.
  • 00:23:43.638 --> 00:23:46.174
  • What i'm suggesting is that your home is an incubator.
  • 00:23:46.174 --> 00:23:49.711
  • It's a cell.
  • 00:23:49.711 --> 00:23:51.346
  • It's an opportunity for you, under the influence of your life
  • 00:23:51.346 --> 00:23:55.116
  • And your spiritual momentum and your spiritual maturity and
  • 00:23:55.116 --> 00:23:58.520
  • Wherever that is, to practice hospitality--being hospitable to
  • 00:23:58.520 --> 00:24:02.090
  • People, and saying, "god has changed my life, and i believe
  • 00:24:02.090 --> 00:24:04.759
  • He would change yours."
  • 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:07.395
  • When we say that the change is going to begin at our kitchen
  • 00:24:07.395 --> 00:24:09.764
  • Tables, i certainly--i mean, we're inviting you, and i hope
  • 00:24:09.764 --> 00:24:13.635
  • You've begun one meal a week as a family.
  • 00:24:13.635 --> 00:24:17.005
  • No devices, one meal a week.
  • 00:24:17.005 --> 00:24:18.673
  • It's kind of a spiritual health check.
  • 00:24:18.673 --> 00:24:20.175
  • How you been since we were together last?
  • 00:24:20.175 --> 00:24:22.911
  • What have you wept about, and what have you celebrated?
  • 00:24:22.911 --> 00:24:25.046
  • What victories have you had?
  • 00:24:25.046 --> 00:24:26.381
  • What's frightening to you?
  • 00:24:26.381 --> 00:24:28.250
  • If you made new friends, how are your old friends?
  • 00:24:28.250 --> 00:24:30.452
  • It's a checkup.
  • 00:24:30.452 --> 00:24:33.021
  • But you can use that same kitchen table for another
  • 00:24:33.021 --> 00:24:35.323
  • Gathering of people beyond your family.
  • 00:24:35.323 --> 00:24:39.027
  • Oh, i knew you wouldn't be satisfied with one night.
  • 00:24:39.027 --> 00:24:46.434
  • In acts 5:42, the church grew from house to house, and they
  • 00:24:50.672 --> 00:24:55.644
  • Never stopped.
  • 00:24:55.644 --> 00:24:57.112
  • In acts chapter 8, the opposition has become very
  • 00:24:57.112 --> 00:24:59.748
  • Pointed because of the jealousy, and it says, "saul began to
  • 00:24:59.748 --> 00:25:03.285
  • Destroy the church.
  • 00:25:03.285 --> 00:25:05.053
  • Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and
  • 00:25:05.053 --> 00:25:08.690
  • Put them in prison."
  • 00:25:08.690 --> 00:25:10.992
  • If you'll allow me, i would submit to you that the
  • 00:25:10.992 --> 00:25:13.695
  • House-to-house description is a description of the front line of
  • 00:25:13.695 --> 00:25:17.299
  • The spiritual conflict that was emerging in jerusalem.
  • 00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:21.870
  • The message of the gospel is growing from house to house,
  • 00:25:21.870 --> 00:25:25.273
  • It's not limited to the houses, and the hatred for the
  • 00:25:25.273 --> 00:25:28.443
  • Christians is being expressed from house to house.
  • 00:25:28.443 --> 00:25:31.413
  • That seems very contemporary to me in the attempts to redefine
  • 00:25:31.413 --> 00:25:36.484
  • Our homes, to redefine our families, to redefine human
  • 00:25:36.484 --> 00:25:41.056
  • Sexuality, to set aside biblical prescriptions of authority and
  • 00:25:41.056 --> 00:25:45.727
  • Responsibilities in the home, to try to separate parents from
  • 00:25:45.727 --> 00:25:49.831
  • Their spiritual responsibility for their children, to elevate
  • 00:25:49.831 --> 00:25:53.902
  • Voices other than parents as being primary assignment givers
  • 00:25:53.902 --> 00:25:57.806
  • In our homes.
  • 00:25:57.806 --> 00:25:59.908
  • I don't believe teachers, teachers's unions, should have
  • 00:25:59.908 --> 00:26:04.579
  • An authority greater than the parents in their home.
  • 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:07.015
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:26:07.816 --> 00:26:10.852
  • Allen: you know, i used to believe that anti-semitism was a
  • 00:26:10.919 --> 00:26:13.388
  • European problem, or an issue in the islamic nations of the
  • 00:26:13.388 --> 00:26:17.092
  • World, but now we see it flourishing in our nation on
  • 00:26:17.092 --> 00:26:20.695
  • Elite college campuses, even amongst the political class, and
  • 00:26:20.695 --> 00:26:24.466
  • Now on the conservative ideological spectrum.
  • 00:26:24.466 --> 00:26:28.203
  • It's troubling.
  • 00:26:28.203 --> 00:26:29.537
  • So i wrote a book, "supporting israel: how far is too far?"
  • 00:26:29.537 --> 00:26:33.575
  • You know, i know we've all got a little battle fatigue with the
  • 00:26:33.575 --> 00:26:36.144
  • Constant conflicts in the middle east and beyond, but what we
  • 00:26:36.144 --> 00:26:39.481
  • Desperately need is a biblical perspective on how to navigate
  • 00:26:39.481 --> 00:26:43.151
  • What's unfolding in our world, and i believe the word of god
  • 00:26:43.151 --> 00:26:46.521
  • Gives that to us with clarity.
  • 00:26:46.521 --> 00:26:48.723
  • So we put this book together to help you find yourself in a
  • 00:26:48.723 --> 00:26:51.559
  • Place that will bring the blessings of god to your life.
  • 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.562
  • I wanna pray that we'll have his wisdom.
  • 00:26:54.562 --> 00:26:56.831
  • Father, you said when we lack wisdom, we could ask, and that
  • 00:26:56.831 --> 00:26:59.000
  • You would give it to us without criticism.
  • 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:01.169
  • We want to stand with you in what you're accomplishing in the
  • 00:27:01.169 --> 00:27:03.471
  • Earth so that your purposes can come forth.
  • 00:27:03.471 --> 00:27:06.508
  • Holy spirit, give us the discernment we need,
  • 00:27:06.508 --> 00:27:08.943
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:08.943 --> 00:27:10.845
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:11.646 --> 00:27:30.001