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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Opportunities Lost (Part 2)

May 14, 2025 | S25:E137

Allen Jackson - Opportunities Lost (Part 2)
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 - Opportunities Lost (Part 2) | May 14, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:00:01.850 --> 00:00:02.618
  • Allen jackson: it's good to be with you again.
  • 00:00:06.555 --> 00:00:08.090
  • You know, we're walking through a season of some pretty
  • 00:00:08.090 --> 00:00:10.626
  • Unprecedented turmoil.
  • 00:00:10.626 --> 00:00:12.728
  • There are cars burning and car dealerships burning, and there
  • 00:00:12.728 --> 00:00:16.532
  • Are judges.
  • 00:00:16.532 --> 00:00:17.866
  • There's just a lot of stuff.
  • 00:00:17.866 --> 00:00:19.935
  • Well, i'm really excited about our offer this month.
  • 00:00:19.935 --> 00:00:21.737
  • In fact, we chose it because i think it will bring you a
  • 00:00:21.737 --> 00:00:24.373
  • Pathway of stability in the midst of all the turmoil.
  • 00:00:24.373 --> 00:00:27.976
  • It's written by a good friend of mine, rob morgan, "the lord is
  • 00:00:27.976 --> 00:00:30.479
  • My shepherd."
  • 00:00:30.479 --> 00:00:31.914
  • And it seems to me we need to know the tranquility that comes
  • 00:00:31.914 --> 00:00:35.150
  • From a shepherd who is marking a path for us and then standing
  • 00:00:35.150 --> 00:00:38.587
  • Watch over us when we know there's predators about.
  • 00:00:38.587 --> 00:00:42.624
  • We're living in a predatory season.
  • 00:00:42.624 --> 00:00:44.526
  • We need to know the lord is a shepherd, and i believe this
  • 00:00:44.526 --> 00:00:47.996
  • Offer can make a real difference in your life.
  • 00:00:47.996 --> 00:00:49.798
  • In fact, it's important enough that we'll make it available for
  • 00:00:49.798 --> 00:00:52.534
  • A gift of any amount.
  • 00:00:52.534 --> 00:00:54.369
  • I think it's far more important that you have it in your hand
  • 00:00:54.369 --> 00:00:56.839
  • Than the cost attached to it.
  • 00:00:56.839 --> 00:00:58.540
  • God is moving in the earth, and we wanna move with him.
  • 00:00:58.540 --> 00:01:01.009
  • Our shepherd will lead us through.
  • 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:03.045
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:01:03.045 --> 00:01:04.580
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:10.886
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:01:13.622 --> 00:01:18.560
  • Allen: i wanna ask you a question.
  • 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.863
  • I want to impanel you as expert witnesses.
  • 00:01:20.863 --> 00:01:25.067
  • You know something of the character of god, you know
  • 00:01:25.067 --> 00:01:28.370
  • Something of the kingdom of god.
  • 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:30.973
  • We're told in the narrative that pilate knows jesus is innocent.
  • 00:01:30.973 --> 00:01:34.776
  • He understands him to be an innocent man.
  • 00:01:34.776 --> 00:01:38.113
  • He's been warned by his wife, she's had a dream saying, "don't
  • 00:01:38.113 --> 00:01:41.650
  • Touch this man."
  • 00:01:41.650 --> 00:01:43.685
  • Pilate, knowing all of that, decides to condemn him to death.
  • 00:01:43.685 --> 00:01:50.225
  • But his solution is a bowl of water.
  • 00:01:50.225 --> 00:01:56.098
  • He has a bowl of water brought out.
  • 00:01:56.098 --> 00:01:58.467
  • And he washes his hands in the bowl.
  • 00:01:58.467 --> 00:02:01.703
  • And he makes a very feeble attempt.
  • 00:02:01.703 --> 00:02:05.007
  • He said, "now i'm innocent of this man's blood."
  • 00:02:05.007 --> 00:02:07.576
  • Here's my question.
  • 00:02:07.576 --> 00:02:08.911
  • How many of you think pouring a little water on pilate's hands
  • 00:02:08.911 --> 00:02:15.184
  • Made him innocent in the halls of heaven?
  • 00:02:15.184 --> 00:02:19.321
  • Think that'll do it?
  • 00:02:19.321 --> 00:02:21.790
  • If a little water would make you innocent, i'd have brought out
  • 00:02:21.790 --> 00:02:24.693
  • A tub.
  • 00:02:24.693 --> 00:02:27.496
  • I'd have gone to the sea of galilee or the ocean, the
  • 00:02:27.496 --> 00:02:30.165
  • Mediterranean, or i'd have gone someplace for lots of water
  • 00:02:30.165 --> 00:02:33.368
  • Because imagine the attitude in heaven.
  • 00:02:33.368 --> 00:02:37.105
  • Can you hear the silence?
  • 00:02:37.105 --> 00:02:38.874
  • Jesus before the judgment seat of the roman governor, he can
  • 00:02:38.874 --> 00:02:42.010
  • Free him, or he can condemn him to crucifixion.
  • 00:02:42.010 --> 00:02:45.881
  • Pilate knows he's innocent.
  • 00:02:45.881 --> 00:02:48.817
  • If caiaphas was guilty of self-righteousness, where did
  • 00:02:48.817 --> 00:02:55.524
  • Pilate miss the grace of god?
  • 00:02:55.524 --> 00:02:59.494
  • I would submit to you he made the choice that was expedient.
  • 00:02:59.494 --> 00:03:03.832
  • It was the easiest.
  • 00:03:03.832 --> 00:03:06.501
  • It was the one that satisfied his ambition for his career, for
  • 00:03:06.501 --> 00:03:10.739
  • His future, for his retirement.
  • 00:03:10.739 --> 00:03:15.410
  • So he could overlook the innocence of an individual.
  • 00:03:15.410 --> 00:03:19.715
  • After all, he was capitulating to the voices of the leaders in
  • 00:03:19.715 --> 00:03:23.318
  • The community and it'd be better to be applauded by the community
  • 00:03:23.318 --> 00:03:26.822
  • Than to take a stand for what you know to be right.
  • 00:03:26.822 --> 00:03:31.727
  • And he missed his invitation.
  • 00:03:31.727 --> 00:03:33.095
  • Think how dramatically different pontius pilate's life would have
  • 00:03:33.095 --> 00:03:36.064
  • Been if when jesus said, "you're right, i'm a king," if he had
  • 00:03:36.064 --> 00:03:40.435
  • Knelt and said, "my lord and my king."
  • 00:03:40.435 --> 00:03:46.375
  • "well, he would have lost his job," no duh.
  • 00:03:46.375 --> 00:03:51.747
  • But he would have changed his eternity.
  • 00:03:51.747 --> 00:03:55.450
  • "well, that's not easy."
  • 00:03:55.450 --> 00:03:57.586
  • Who said following jesus was easy?
  • 00:03:57.586 --> 00:04:01.990
  • I don't intend to present a soft gospel and an easy path.
  • 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:07.396
  • Jesus said unless we take up our cross daily, we should not
  • 00:04:07.396 --> 00:04:11.900
  • Consider ourselves his disciples.
  • 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:15.737
  • It's free, the ground at the foot of the cross and the
  • 00:04:15.737 --> 00:04:19.875
  • Entrance through that narrow door, but it's not cheap.
  • 00:04:19.875 --> 00:04:24.546
  • Pilate declined his opportunity.
  • 00:04:24.546 --> 00:04:27.849
  • And there's no evidence that he ever was given another.
  • 00:04:27.849 --> 00:04:31.086
  • There's a third character i would point you to, you know
  • 00:04:31.086 --> 00:04:33.555
  • This one.
  • 00:04:33.555 --> 00:04:34.923
  • He's a part of jesus's inner circle.
  • 00:04:34.923 --> 00:04:36.992
  • Jesus recruited him.
  • 00:04:36.992 --> 00:04:38.360
  • He spent 3 years with him.
  • 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:39.928
  • He traveled with him, they shared meals together.
  • 00:04:39.928 --> 00:04:42.564
  • He saw jesus walk on the water and speak to the wind and
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  • The waves.
  • 00:04:45.067 --> 00:04:46.435
  • He saw him raise the dead and open blind eyes.
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  • You know his name, he's judas.
  • 00:04:48.403 --> 00:04:51.206
  • Now we know he's a traitor, but that's an
  • 00:04:51.206 --> 00:04:53.875
  • Incomplete explanation.
  • 00:04:53.875 --> 00:04:55.844
  • I've heard so many attempts to rescue judas.
  • 00:04:55.844 --> 00:04:58.980
  • That he betrayed jesus because he wanted to accelerate jesus's
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  • Acknowledgment as messiah.
  • 00:05:02.084 --> 00:05:04.953
  • Oh, bother.
  • 00:05:04.953 --> 00:05:07.089
  • It doesn't work for me.
  • 00:05:07.089 --> 00:05:09.024
  • In matthew 26 and verse 14, jesus is speaking.
  • 00:05:09.024 --> 00:05:13.462
  • Said, "one of the twelve--the one called judas iscariot--went
  • 00:05:13.462 --> 00:05:15.897
  • To the chief priest, and he asked, 'what are you willing to
  • 00:05:15.897 --> 00:05:18.633
  • Give me if i hand him over to you?'
  • 00:05:18.633 --> 00:05:21.203
  • So they counted out for him thirty silver coins, and from
  • 00:05:21.203 --> 00:05:24.606
  • Then on, judas watched for an opportunity to hand jesus over."
  • 00:05:24.606 --> 00:05:29.544
  • Unbelievable.
  • 00:05:29.544 --> 00:05:31.213
  • For 30 pieces of silver, he betrayed the lord.
  • 00:05:31.213 --> 00:05:36.685
  • Judas was the keeper of the money bag, he was the treasurer.
  • 00:05:36.685 --> 00:05:40.956
  • There seems to be some question about his trustworthiness long
  • 00:05:40.956 --> 00:05:43.658
  • Before we get to the point where he actually betrayed the lord.
  • 00:05:43.658 --> 00:05:47.229
  • Jesus knew he would betray him.
  • 00:05:47.229 --> 00:05:49.364
  • He told him he would betray him.
  • 00:05:49.364 --> 00:05:50.832
  • He told him in front of the other disciples.
  • 00:05:50.832 --> 00:05:54.736
  • I'm a bit amused at people who say that jesus was always about
  • 00:05:54.736 --> 00:05:57.539
  • Kindness and a group hug, that he was never confrontational.
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  • Folks, he confronted the leaders in jerusalem in public and in
  • 00:06:00.709 --> 00:06:03.945
  • Private with his--within his own circle, he would say to
  • 00:06:03.945 --> 00:06:07.549
  • Peter, "get behind me, satan.
  • 00:06:07.549 --> 00:06:09.217
  • What you have in mind is not the purposes of god."
  • 00:06:09.217 --> 00:06:12.854
  • Sharing the last supper with his closest friends, he said, "one
  • 00:06:12.854 --> 00:06:16.358
  • Of you is a traitor, one of you is gonna betray me," and he
  • 00:06:16.358 --> 00:06:19.594
  • Called judas out in front of the others.
  • 00:06:19.594 --> 00:06:23.198
  • That's an awkward meal.
  • 00:06:23.198 --> 00:06:26.034
  • In fact, he said to judas, "it would have been better for you
  • 00:06:26.034 --> 00:06:28.837
  • If you had never been born."
  • 00:06:28.837 --> 00:06:31.473
  • Judas had an opportunity.
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  • He was recruited.
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  • He was in the inner circle.
  • 00:06:35.911 --> 00:06:37.379
  • He heard the explanations for the parables.
  • 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:39.881
  • He could have chosen the path that peter or james or john or
  • 00:06:39.881 --> 00:06:42.784
  • Any of the other disciples have chosen.
  • 00:06:42.784 --> 00:06:45.353
  • He had a free will.
  • 00:06:45.353 --> 00:06:48.323
  • I mean, god knows the ending at the beginning, but it doesn't
  • 00:06:48.323 --> 00:06:51.493
  • Violate our freedom of choice.
  • 00:06:51.493 --> 00:06:53.228
  • He simply knows what our choice will be.
  • 00:06:53.228 --> 00:06:57.933
  • In john 18 and verse 1, it says: "when he'd finished praying,
  • 00:06:57.933 --> 00:07:00.702
  • Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the kidron valley.
  • 00:07:00.702 --> 00:07:03.972
  • On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his
  • 00:07:03.972 --> 00:07:06.174
  • Disciples went.
  • 00:07:06.174 --> 00:07:08.710
  • Now judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because jesus
  • 00:07:08.710 --> 00:07:11.246
  • Often met there with his disciples.
  • 00:07:11.246 --> 00:07:13.648
  • So judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers
  • 00:07:13.648 --> 00:07:17.652
  • And some officials from the chief priests and the pharisees.
  • 00:07:17.652 --> 00:07:20.622
  • They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons."
  • 00:07:20.622 --> 00:07:25.193
  • Judas led them to jesus, carrying weapons.
  • 00:07:25.193 --> 00:07:31.099
  • He rejected his invitation because he imagined there was an
  • 00:07:31.099 --> 00:07:35.637
  • Immediate gain that he preferred.
  • 00:07:35.637 --> 00:07:39.107
  • Now in judas's case, he later regretted his choice.
  • 00:07:39.107 --> 00:07:43.812
  • He brought the silver back and he said, "i've done something
  • 00:07:43.812 --> 00:07:46.147
  • Wrong," and they laughed at him, they mocked him.
  • 00:07:46.147 --> 00:07:49.584
  • But he was unable to reverse his course.
  • 00:07:49.584 --> 00:07:52.687
  • The grace and the mercy of god as remarkable as they are, as
  • 00:07:52.687 --> 00:07:56.625
  • Extravagant as they are, they're not infinite.
  • 00:07:56.625 --> 00:07:59.895
  • There is an end to the grace and mercy of god, or else there
  • 00:07:59.895 --> 00:08:02.931
  • Would never be judgment.
  • 00:08:02.931 --> 00:08:04.266
  • There would have been no noah and a story of a flood or there
  • 00:08:04.266 --> 00:08:06.801
  • Would be no story of lot and sodom and gomorrah.
  • 00:08:06.801 --> 00:08:09.337
  • The book of revelation would be very different if the grace and
  • 00:08:09.337 --> 00:08:12.040
  • Mercy of god were infinite, but they're not.
  • 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:15.911
  • Don't lead presumptive lives.
  • 00:08:15.911 --> 00:08:19.848
  • Don't look through the windows of our churches and imagine the
  • 00:08:19.848 --> 00:08:22.083
  • People who need to be different.
  • 00:08:22.083 --> 00:08:23.652
  • Let's in humility begin to say to the lord, "is there any place
  • 00:08:23.652 --> 00:08:27.122
  • Where i have it wrong?
  • 00:08:27.122 --> 00:08:28.490
  • Is there any opportunity that you have extended to me that i
  • 00:08:28.490 --> 00:08:30.859
  • Have declined, that i've rejected?
  • 00:08:30.859 --> 00:08:34.162
  • I'm sorry."
  • 00:08:34.162 --> 00:08:36.998
  • Judas is pretty simple.
  • 00:08:36.998 --> 00:08:38.333
  • I think it's just greed.
  • 00:08:38.333 --> 00:08:40.535
  • It's just greed.
  • 00:08:40.535 --> 00:08:43.038
  • I'll give you one more and then i want to give you
  • 00:08:43.038 --> 00:08:44.639
  • An invitation.
  • 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:46.174
  • In matthew 27, we don't have the names of these characters.
  • 00:08:46.174 --> 00:08:49.945
  • It isn't caiaphas or pilate or judas.
  • 00:08:49.945 --> 00:08:52.447
  • It's just a group of people.
  • 00:08:52.447 --> 00:08:53.782
  • We know them by their profession: they're soldiers.
  • 00:08:53.782 --> 00:08:57.385
  • They're roman, they're not jewish.
  • 00:08:57.385 --> 00:09:01.356
  • In matthew 27 and verse 27, it said: "the governor's soldiers
  • 00:09:01.356 --> 00:09:04.726
  • Took jesus into the praetorium and they gathered the whole
  • 00:09:04.726 --> 00:09:07.195
  • Company of soldiers around him.
  • 00:09:07.195 --> 00:09:09.264
  • And they stripped him and they put a scarlet robe on him, and
  • 00:09:09.264 --> 00:09:11.800
  • They twisted together a crown of thorns and they set it on
  • 00:09:11.800 --> 00:09:14.336
  • His head.
  • 00:09:14.336 --> 00:09:15.670
  • And they put a staff in his right hand and they knelt in
  • 00:09:15.670 --> 00:09:17.772
  • Front of him and they mocked him, 'hail, king of the jews!'
  • 00:09:17.772 --> 00:09:21.076
  • They said.
  • 00:09:21.076 --> 00:09:22.677
  • And they spit on him, and they took the staff and they struck
  • 00:09:22.677 --> 00:09:26.114
  • Him on the head again and again.
  • 00:09:26.114 --> 00:09:29.117
  • And after they mocked him, they took off the robe and they put
  • 00:09:29.117 --> 00:09:32.354
  • His own clothes on him and they led him away to crucify him."
  • 00:09:32.354 --> 00:09:35.390
  • You know the story, you know about the crown of thorns and
  • 00:09:35.390 --> 00:09:39.361
  • You understand the drama around that, but it's a very insightful
  • 00:09:39.361 --> 00:09:42.564
  • Passage, for those soldiers to take jesus.
  • 00:09:42.564 --> 00:09:45.400
  • They're in the crucifixion business.
  • 00:09:45.400 --> 00:09:48.436
  • On the day that jesus is crucified, there's people on
  • 00:09:48.436 --> 00:09:50.605
  • Either side of him being crucified.
  • 00:09:50.605 --> 00:09:52.407
  • Crucifixion was the roman form of intimidation.
  • 00:09:52.407 --> 00:09:56.544
  • If they came into a new community and they wanted to
  • 00:09:56.544 --> 00:09:58.580
  • Assert roman authority, they would take the first 12 men they
  • 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:02.183
  • Met in a new community and crucify them.
  • 00:10:02.183 --> 00:10:08.189
  • It was a way of asserting an authority.
  • 00:10:08.189 --> 00:10:11.393
  • These are hardened people.
  • 00:10:11.393 --> 00:10:14.129
  • But they understand there's something different about jesus.
  • 00:10:14.129 --> 00:10:17.165
  • They know his story, they know the narrative, they know what
  • 00:10:17.165 --> 00:10:20.301
  • The crowds have said, they know what the reports are, because
  • 00:10:20.301 --> 00:10:23.471
  • When they're alone with jesus, it says they went and got the
  • 00:10:23.471 --> 00:10:25.840
  • Whole contingent of the soldiers.
  • 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:29.010
  • And they wove a crown and put it on his head.
  • 00:10:29.010 --> 00:10:33.281
  • They put a purple robe on him, a signal--a symbol of royalty.
  • 00:10:33.281 --> 00:10:39.454
  • They knew the jesus story.
  • 00:10:39.454 --> 00:10:42.724
  • He was not to them just another criminal.
  • 00:10:42.724 --> 00:10:45.260
  • This wasn't just another roman flex.
  • 00:10:45.260 --> 00:10:49.330
  • They mocked him.
  • 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:53.468
  • Think of how different their lives would have been if just
  • 00:10:53.468 --> 00:10:56.304
  • One of them had said, "i won't do that."
  • 00:10:56.304 --> 00:11:00.775
  • "well, he would have been made fun of, he would have
  • 00:11:00.775 --> 00:11:02.477
  • Been ostracized.
  • 00:11:02.477 --> 00:11:03.812
  • It might have been a forfeiture."
  • 00:11:03.812 --> 00:11:05.380
  • No kidding.
  • 00:11:05.380 --> 00:11:06.715
  • Please understand there is a forfeiture to be identified
  • 00:11:06.715 --> 00:11:10.285
  • With jesus.
  • 00:11:10.285 --> 00:11:15.790
  • There is.
  • 00:11:15.790 --> 00:11:17.692
  • We've had too much cheap grace.
  • 00:11:17.692 --> 00:11:24.099
  • I think the key to understanding the soldiers is they thought--
  • 00:11:24.099 --> 00:11:27.268
  • They trusted in their strength.
  • 00:11:27.268 --> 00:11:30.171
  • They trusted in the authority in which they stood.
  • 00:11:30.171 --> 00:11:33.374
  • And they felt completely comfortable mocking jesus.
  • 00:11:33.374 --> 00:11:37.479
  • I could go on.
  • 00:11:37.479 --> 00:11:38.813
  • There's a lengthy list of these characters, people who took
  • 00:11:38.813 --> 00:11:41.149
  • Adversarial roles with jesus, but before he went to the cross,
  • 00:11:41.149 --> 00:11:44.419
  • I believe there was given to them an expression of grace and
  • 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:46.921
  • Mercy they could have chosen to have stood with jesus.
  • 00:11:46.921 --> 00:11:50.759
  • It might not have changed his fate.
  • 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:52.127
  • It might not have changed the outcome, but it would have
  • 00:11:52.127 --> 00:11:54.295
  • Changed their fate and their outcome.
  • 00:11:54.295 --> 00:11:58.600
  • It's very important, it's significant.
  • 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:00.735
  • Jesus, before his torture began, was led to palaces, to judgment
  • 00:12:00.735 --> 00:12:04.305
  • Halls, to soldiers' quarters.
  • 00:12:04.305 --> 00:12:06.074
  • He met with the powerful and he met with their enforcers.
  • 00:12:06.074 --> 00:12:10.545
  • I would suggest to you that our opportunities begin
  • 00:12:10.545 --> 00:12:13.148
  • As invitations.
  • 00:12:13.148 --> 00:12:15.383
  • Our opportunities begin as invitations to choose jesus as
  • 00:12:15.383 --> 00:12:18.386
  • Lord, to confront the conditions of our own hearts and our
  • 00:12:18.386 --> 00:12:21.322
  • Own lives.
  • 00:12:21.322 --> 00:12:23.291
  • We can accept the privilege of joining in the movement of god.
  • 00:12:23.291 --> 00:12:27.262
  • He's moving in the earth today just as certainly he was--as he
  • 00:12:27.262 --> 00:12:30.131
  • Was moving in first century jerusalem.
  • 00:12:30.131 --> 00:12:33.668
  • In fact, the lines of demarcation are just about as
  • 00:12:33.668 --> 00:12:36.571
  • Stark and just about as clear today.
  • 00:12:36.571 --> 00:12:39.474
  • It doesn't take a great deal of discernment to see the
  • 00:12:39.474 --> 00:12:42.377
  • Difference between godliness and ungodliness.
  • 00:12:42.377 --> 00:12:46.047
  • Once that invitation is received on our part, we become
  • 00:12:46.047 --> 00:12:48.783
  • Ambassadors, salt and light in the midst of the darkness.
  • 00:12:48.783 --> 00:12:53.154
  • And we have an assignment that comes with that, not just for an
  • 00:12:53.154 --> 00:12:55.924
  • Eternity in the kingdom of god, but an assignment to advocate
  • 00:12:55.924 --> 00:12:59.460
  • For the principles of the kingdom we've been
  • 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:01.062
  • Welcomed into.
  • 00:13:01.062 --> 00:13:03.198
  • And if we deny the principles of the kingdom, please understand,
  • 00:13:03.198 --> 00:13:07.635
  • We deny our king.
  • 00:13:07.635 --> 00:13:09.337
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:13:09.337 --> 00:13:15.043
  • Allen: hey, the question i'm asked most often is, "how do i
  • 00:13:16.511 --> 00:13:18.746
  • Know what god wants me to do?
  • 00:13:18.746 --> 00:13:20.248
  • If i just knew what god wanted me to do, i would do it,
  • 00:13:20.248 --> 00:13:22.550
  • Whatever it is."
  • 00:13:22.550 --> 00:13:24.285
  • Well, our offer this month i think will help.
  • 00:13:24.285 --> 00:13:25.987
  • It's by a good friend of mine, rob morgan, "the lord is my
  • 00:13:25.987 --> 00:13:28.223
  • Shepherd."
  • 00:13:28.223 --> 00:13:29.557
  • He's gonna unpack the scripture that tells us how to follow the
  • 00:13:29.557 --> 00:13:32.393
  • Lord's guidance and understand his abiding presence and
  • 00:13:32.393 --> 00:13:35.997
  • His comfort.
  • 00:13:35.997 --> 00:13:37.332
  • It'll help you chart a course and know the path that god has
  • 00:13:37.332 --> 00:13:40.435
  • For you.
  • 00:13:40.435 --> 00:13:41.769
  • Get a copy, it'll make a difference in your life.
  • 00:13:41.769 --> 00:13:43.938
  • Female announcer: life can be overwhelming, but true peace
  • 00:13:43.938 --> 00:13:46.441
  • Is possible.
  • 00:13:46.441 --> 00:13:47.842
  • Pastor robert morgan's book "the lord is my shepherd" reflects on
  • 00:13:47.842 --> 00:13:50.511
  • The specific ways psalm 23 speaks to our lives today.
  • 00:13:50.511 --> 00:13:53.848
  • It will help you find rest for your soul and discover the joy,
  • 00:13:53.848 --> 00:13:57.118
  • Inspiration, power, and peace found in psalm 23.
  • 00:13:57.118 --> 00:14:00.955
  • In today's culture it's essential to know god is leading
  • 00:14:00.955 --> 00:14:03.591
  • Us, charting our path, and watching over us.
  • 00:14:03.591 --> 00:14:06.794
  • Request your copy of "the lord is my shepherd" when you donate
  • 00:14:06.794 --> 00:14:09.297
  • Any amount at allenjackson.com or by calling ...
  • 00:14:09.297 --> 00:14:15.470
  • Allen: there's great indifference in
  • 00:14:17.105 --> 00:14:18.473
  • Christendom today.
  • 00:14:18.473 --> 00:14:20.441
  • We don't want to be involved.
  • 00:14:20.441 --> 00:14:23.344
  • Or even more frequently i hear us say that our personal
  • 00:14:23.344 --> 00:14:26.581
  • Behavior is stellar.
  • 00:14:26.581 --> 00:14:29.250
  • We've checked the boxes, we've made a profession of faith,
  • 00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:31.386
  • We've been dipped in a pool, we read our bible some, we go to
  • 00:14:31.386 --> 00:14:34.122
  • Church when it's convenient.
  • 00:14:34.122 --> 00:14:36.357
  • Therefore, we should not be bothered with the behaviors of
  • 00:14:36.357 --> 00:14:39.093
  • Others, of our peers or our professions.
  • 00:14:39.093 --> 00:14:43.131
  • Well, for the record, i disagree.
  • 00:14:43.131 --> 00:14:46.935
  • I believe it's an incomplete reading of scripture.
  • 00:14:46.935 --> 00:14:49.604
  • I believe we are obligated by virtue of having received grace
  • 00:14:49.604 --> 00:14:53.274
  • To be advocates for god's truth.
  • 00:14:53.274 --> 00:14:56.044
  • We cannot simply overlook evil.
  • 00:14:56.044 --> 00:14:58.613
  • The biblical assignment is to overcome evil.
  • 00:14:58.613 --> 00:15:04.018
  • I began a list.
  • 00:15:04.018 --> 00:15:06.087
  • I don't have much time.
  • 00:15:06.087 --> 00:15:07.422
  • We'll do this quickly.
  • 00:15:07.422 --> 00:15:08.790
  • One that seems to have perplexed us is the notion of legal
  • 00:15:08.790 --> 00:15:10.992
  • And illegal.
  • 00:15:10.992 --> 00:15:13.628
  • Any description that begins with illegal is probably not taking
  • 00:15:13.628 --> 00:15:16.664
  • You someplace good.
  • 00:15:16.664 --> 00:15:18.833
  • We have a great deal of national ambivalence, indifference,
  • 00:15:18.833 --> 00:15:22.170
  • Around illegal aliens, people that have come into our country
  • 00:15:22.170 --> 00:15:25.440
  • Without permission.
  • 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:27.575
  • It's illegal.
  • 00:15:27.575 --> 00:15:28.943
  • More than 20 million.
  • 00:15:28.943 --> 00:15:31.479
  • Illegal technically means it's wrong.
  • 00:15:31.479 --> 00:15:35.616
  • If you take money illegally, it should be returned and repaid.
  • 00:15:35.616 --> 00:15:40.221
  • We understand that, it's called stealing.
  • 00:15:40.221 --> 00:15:43.324
  • And if you enter illegally, you can't just mystically be
  • 00:15:43.324 --> 00:15:49.097
  • Given status.
  • 00:15:49.097 --> 00:15:52.033
  • And the church has to have clarity or we will plunge into a
  • 00:15:52.033 --> 00:15:55.703
  • Lawlessness that will rob our children of their future.
  • 00:15:55.703 --> 00:16:00.775
  • The looting of america.
  • 00:16:00.775 --> 00:16:02.710
  • This isn't complicated or complex.
  • 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:04.679
  • It's so apparent that it's uncomfortable.
  • 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:06.914
  • Many people i talk to say, "i've just quit listening to the news.
  • 00:16:06.914 --> 00:16:09.250
  • I don't like to hear it," because we don't wanna hear
  • 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:11.552
  • The truth.
  • 00:16:11.552 --> 00:16:13.888
  • Fraud, brazen theft, has been so rampant that the reports
  • 00:16:13.888 --> 00:16:19.994
  • Are absurd.
  • 00:16:19.994 --> 00:16:22.697
  • Absurd.
  • 00:16:22.697 --> 00:16:25.833
  • And rather than celebrate the disclosure that truth is being
  • 00:16:25.833 --> 00:16:29.237
  • Told in the public square, there's anger and resentment and
  • 00:16:29.237 --> 00:16:32.640
  • Bitterness and hatred, and we say, "you're being political."
  • 00:16:32.640 --> 00:16:35.810
  • No, no, no, they're demanding of us money so they can use it
  • 00:16:35.810 --> 00:16:39.247
  • Fraudulently for their own selfish ambition.
  • 00:16:39.247 --> 00:16:42.517
  • That is evil.
  • 00:16:42.517 --> 00:16:45.019
  • We need clarity, church.
  • 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:47.255
  • It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue, it's a
  • 00:16:47.255 --> 00:16:49.824
  • Biblical issue.
  • 00:16:49.824 --> 00:16:51.159
  • We cannot be silent even if there is an opportunity to
  • 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:54.495
  • Profit from the graft.
  • 00:16:54.495 --> 00:16:58.132
  • I'll give you another one.
  • 00:16:58.132 --> 00:16:59.500
  • It's not confusing.
  • 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:00.835
  • Biological sex is not confusing.
  • 00:17:00.835 --> 00:17:04.806
  • It really isn't.
  • 00:17:04.806 --> 00:17:06.340
  • God created us male and female.
  • 00:17:06.340 --> 00:17:08.443
  • Every cell in our body bears evidence to this truth.
  • 00:17:08.443 --> 00:17:12.513
  • Boys should not compete with girls in athletic competition.
  • 00:17:12.513 --> 00:17:19.554
  • And i love you, but even if your daughter is a crazy gifted
  • 00:17:19.554 --> 00:17:23.091
  • Athlete, it's not a good plan.
  • 00:17:23.091 --> 00:17:28.129
  • The health care community shouldn't be engaged in
  • 00:17:28.129 --> 00:17:30.465
  • Promoting gender reassignment or hormone therapies.
  • 00:17:30.465 --> 00:17:33.534
  • It's bad science.
  • 00:17:33.534 --> 00:17:35.636
  • It's ungodly and it's immoral.
  • 00:17:35.636 --> 00:17:38.739
  • It's easter weekend.
  • 00:17:38.739 --> 00:17:40.108
  • Why would we talk about this?
  • 00:17:40.108 --> 00:17:41.442
  • Because the church has to be the church.
  • 00:17:41.442 --> 00:17:43.845
  • We can't gather and celebrate history and not be the voice of
  • 00:17:43.845 --> 00:17:47.615
  • Truth in the present.
  • 00:17:47.615 --> 00:17:50.751
  • Human sexuality, god established the boundaries for moral
  • 00:17:50.751 --> 00:17:53.955
  • And immoral.
  • 00:17:53.955 --> 00:17:55.490
  • If we ignore, rewrite, or assert our own opinions, you invite
  • 00:17:55.490 --> 00:17:59.227
  • God's judgment.
  • 00:17:59.227 --> 00:18:00.595
  • It's clear throughout scripture.
  • 00:18:00.595 --> 00:18:01.929
  • It's not compassion to encourage others to ignore god.
  • 00:18:01.929 --> 00:18:07.201
  • That is not kindness.
  • 00:18:07.201 --> 00:18:11.139
  • Family, the competing definitions for family.
  • 00:18:11.139 --> 00:18:15.409
  • Folks, what has happened?
  • 00:18:15.409 --> 00:18:17.445
  • God established the idea of family.
  • 00:18:17.445 --> 00:18:21.616
  • Now our reality is our families are broken and we struggle with
  • 00:18:21.616 --> 00:18:25.386
  • Our brokenness, but our imperfection should not be
  • 00:18:25.386 --> 00:18:28.122
  • Understood as the liberty to redefine or dismantle god's
  • 00:18:28.122 --> 00:18:31.192
  • Intent for the family.
  • 00:18:31.192 --> 00:18:34.428
  • The biblical assignment is to train your children in godliness
  • 00:18:34.428 --> 00:18:41.235
  • Before we train them in anything else.
  • 00:18:41.235 --> 00:18:43.137
  • And i'm all for training our children to flourish in the
  • 00:18:43.137 --> 00:18:45.907
  • World, to give them good educations and full experiences,
  • 00:18:45.907 --> 00:18:49.911
  • And they're all important things, but first and foremost
  • 00:18:49.911 --> 00:18:52.847
  • Is to train them in godliness.
  • 00:18:52.847 --> 00:18:57.084
  • How have we become so addled that we have 12 priorities
  • 00:18:57.084 --> 00:19:01.589
  • Before that?
  • 00:19:01.589 --> 00:19:06.694
  • Christian schools, christian universities, no longer
  • 00:19:06.694 --> 00:19:09.630
  • Advocating for biblical worldviews.
  • 00:19:09.630 --> 00:19:12.667
  • How can this be?
  • 00:19:12.667 --> 00:19:16.437
  • I growled today: a christian school sponsoring or
  • 00:19:16.437 --> 00:19:19.073
  • Participating in a tournament, an athletic tournament, on
  • 00:19:19.073 --> 00:19:22.276
  • Easter weekend.
  • 00:19:22.276 --> 00:19:23.711
  • It's unthinkable.
  • 00:19:23.711 --> 00:19:25.079
  • It's unbelievable to me.
  • 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:26.514
  • What are we doing?
  • 00:19:26.514 --> 00:19:32.920
  • We have an opportunity.
  • 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:34.255
  • We have more liberty, more freedom, we have been shown
  • 00:19:34.255 --> 00:19:38.059
  • Grace and mercy.
  • 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:41.796
  • Can we turn our hearts to god, and let him write a future
  • 00:19:41.796 --> 00:19:45.933
  • For us.
  • 00:19:45.933 --> 00:19:47.735
  • There's no better way.
  • 00:19:47.735 --> 00:19:50.471
  • Our opportunity this easter weekend is personal.
  • 00:19:50.471 --> 00:19:53.908
  • Let's not repeat the errors of the cast of characters who
  • 00:19:53.908 --> 00:19:56.477
  • Rejected jesus's invitations.
  • 00:19:56.477 --> 00:19:59.113
  • Let's humble ourselves and take our place in his
  • 00:19:59.113 --> 00:20:01.249
  • Eternal kingdom.
  • 00:20:01.249 --> 00:20:03.985
  • I'm not making a recruitment pitch for joining a
  • 00:20:03.985 --> 00:20:06.053
  • Church, folks.
  • 00:20:06.053 --> 00:20:07.388
  • That's not the goal.
  • 00:20:07.388 --> 00:20:08.756
  • It's much larger than that.
  • 00:20:08.756 --> 00:20:10.091
  • Please don't imagine that your previous faith journey is
  • 00:20:10.091 --> 00:20:12.226
  • Sufficient, that you can point backwards and say, "i've done
  • 00:20:12.226 --> 00:20:14.929
  • All the important things."
  • 00:20:14.929 --> 00:20:16.764
  • Caiaphas was an expert on scripture.
  • 00:20:16.764 --> 00:20:19.367
  • Judas had 3 years of personal training with jesus.
  • 00:20:19.367 --> 00:20:22.703
  • He was in the boat when he walked on the water.
  • 00:20:22.703 --> 00:20:24.272
  • He picked up basketfuls of leftovers when he fed
  • 00:20:24.272 --> 00:20:26.540
  • The multitude.
  • 00:20:26.540 --> 00:20:27.875
  • He had a very impressive resume.
  • 00:20:27.875 --> 00:20:32.079
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.881
  • Let's begin this weekend with a new sense of searching, of
  • 00:20:33.881 --> 00:20:37.018
  • Cooperating, of wholehearted obedience.
  • 00:20:37.018 --> 00:20:41.155
  • I'll repeat what i began with: you are of tremendous value
  • 00:20:41.155 --> 00:20:44.792
  • To god.
  • 00:20:44.792 --> 00:20:46.927
  • There is--it's impossible to understand your worth.
  • 00:20:46.927 --> 00:20:49.230
  • He offered his son as a sacrifice to open a possibility
  • 00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:52.700
  • For you and for me.
  • 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:54.902
  • Let's not neglect the grace of god.
  • 00:20:54.902 --> 00:20:58.072
  • Let's not treat it shabbily. i wanna offer a prayer.
  • 00:20:58.072 --> 00:21:01.342
  • I wanna invite you to say a simple prayer with me, and then
  • 00:21:01.342 --> 00:21:03.277
  • We're gonna take communion together, and then we're gonna
  • 00:21:03.277 --> 00:21:05.546
  • Worship the lord, and while we worship the lord, i want you to
  • 00:21:05.546 --> 00:21:07.748
  • Receive from him.
  • 00:21:07.748 --> 00:21:09.884
  • But i'm gonna ask you to say a simple prayer with me.
  • 00:21:09.884 --> 00:21:11.852
  • It's a simple prayer of acknowledgement of god and
  • 00:21:11.852 --> 00:21:14.755
  • Acknowledge that i'm a sinner and that i need a savior.
  • 00:21:14.755 --> 00:21:19.160
  • I'm not asking you--this has little to do with anything with
  • 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:21.462
  • World outreach church, but it has a lot to do with the kingdom
  • 00:21:21.462 --> 00:21:24.565
  • Of god.
  • 00:21:24.565 --> 00:21:25.900
  • Will you pray this prayer out loud with me?
  • 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:27.702
  • Will you use your outdoor voice?
  • 00:21:27.702 --> 00:21:29.070
  • Last night, they whispered.
  • 00:21:29.070 --> 00:21:32.239
  • All right, let's pray.
  • 00:21:32.239 --> 00:21:33.607
  • Just close your eyes, bow your head, forget the people around
  • 00:21:33.607 --> 00:21:35.743
  • You for a moment.
  • 00:21:35.743 --> 00:21:38.012
  • If we can, let's just be still for half a second.
  • 00:21:38.012 --> 00:21:40.114
  • This is important.
  • 00:21:40.114 --> 00:21:41.482
  • It'll change destinies.
  • 00:21:41.482 --> 00:21:43.484
  • Say this prayer with me: "almighty god, i'm a sinner, and
  • 00:21:43.484 --> 00:21:48.656
  • I need a savior.
  • 00:21:48.656 --> 00:21:50.791
  • I believe jesus is your son.
  • 00:21:50.791 --> 00:21:54.295
  • That he died on a cross for my sins.
  • 00:21:54.295 --> 00:21:58.466
  • And that you raised him to life again that i might be justified.
  • 00:21:58.466 --> 00:22:04.605
  • Forgive me of my sins.
  • 00:22:04.605 --> 00:22:07.408
  • I forgive all those who sinned against me.
  • 00:22:07.408 --> 00:22:12.079
  • Jesus, be lord of my life.
  • 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:15.649
  • All that i am, all that i have, all that i'll ever be.
  • 00:22:15.649 --> 00:22:21.589
  • I want to live to give honor to jesus, amen," hallelujah.
  • 00:22:21.589 --> 00:22:30.931
  • Now in that bag, you've got the elements of communion, one
  • 00:22:30.931 --> 00:22:34.168
  • More step.
  • 00:22:34.168 --> 00:22:36.003
  • Jesus himself put this in place.
  • 00:22:36.003 --> 00:22:38.072
  • It's not a church tradition or a ritual.
  • 00:22:38.072 --> 00:22:40.775
  • It's grounded in jesus's sacrificial death, offering
  • 00:22:40.775 --> 00:22:44.512
  • Himself as a sacrifice for us.
  • 00:22:44.512 --> 00:22:47.114
  • If you didn't get a bag when you came in, there's ushers in the
  • 00:22:47.114 --> 00:22:49.383
  • Aisles there.
  • 00:22:49.383 --> 00:22:50.751
  • Apparently, they'll share those with you.
  • 00:22:50.751 --> 00:22:52.086
  • If you're at home, go grab a cup of water and a saltine.
  • 00:22:52.086 --> 00:22:56.724
  • You don't have to have one of our handy dandy little kits.
  • 00:22:56.724 --> 00:23:00.661
  • But this is important.
  • 00:23:00.661 --> 00:23:01.996
  • Through jesus's redemptive work, he made provision for your sins
  • 00:23:01.996 --> 00:23:04.999
  • To be forgiven, but he also made provision for the power of god
  • 00:23:04.999 --> 00:23:08.702
  • To transform our bodies to bring life to us, peace to us, hope to
  • 00:23:08.702 --> 00:23:13.641
  • Us, god's provision for us.
  • 00:23:13.641 --> 00:23:16.877
  • Through the cross, jesus accomplished a complete, total,
  • 00:23:16.877 --> 00:23:21.248
  • And irreversible victory over satan and his kingdom
  • 00:23:21.248 --> 00:23:24.852
  • Of darkness.
  • 00:23:24.852 --> 00:23:26.654
  • What's left is for us to receive it by faith, and so we're coming
  • 00:23:26.654 --> 00:23:30.858
  • As disciples to the communion table tonight.
  • 00:23:30.858 --> 00:23:36.230
  • It's grace, folks.
  • 00:23:36.230 --> 00:23:37.565
  • We don't earn it, we don't deserve it.
  • 00:23:37.565 --> 00:23:40.301
  • How will god do it?
  • 00:23:40.301 --> 00:23:41.635
  • I don't know.
  • 00:23:41.635 --> 00:23:43.003
  • In fact, he continues to amaze me at what he does.
  • 00:23:43.003 --> 00:23:45.206
  • But i wanna believe.
  • 00:23:45.206 --> 00:23:47.608
  • Are you ready to receive?
  • 00:23:47.608 --> 00:23:50.511
  • Jesus himself put this in place.
  • 00:23:50.511 --> 00:23:52.046
  • It's the night he was to be betrayed.
  • 00:23:52.046 --> 00:23:54.682
  • Before they went to gethsemane, they gathered in the upper room
  • 00:23:54.682 --> 00:23:57.084
  • In the upper city, and they shared a passover meal.
  • 00:23:57.084 --> 00:24:00.187
  • At the beginning of the meal, jesus took bread and he said,
  • 00:24:00.187 --> 00:24:02.490
  • "this bread is my body broken for you.
  • 00:24:02.490 --> 00:24:05.259
  • As often as you eat this, do this in remembrance of me."
  • 00:24:05.259 --> 00:24:08.896
  • Let's receive together.
  • 00:24:08.896 --> 00:24:13.133
  • And then he took a cup, and he said, "this cup is a new
  • 00:24:13.133 --> 00:24:16.470
  • Covenant," literally, a new contract, "sealed with my
  • 00:24:16.470 --> 00:24:20.040
  • Own blood.
  • 00:24:20.040 --> 00:24:21.375
  • As often as you drink it, you proclaim my death until you see
  • 00:24:21.375 --> 00:24:25.179
  • Me again."
  • 00:24:25.179 --> 00:24:26.680
  • Let's receive together.
  • 00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:32.753
  • Now if you'll stand with me i wanna pray with you.
  • 00:24:32.753 --> 00:24:36.757
  • You can just drop those cups right back in that little bag.
  • 00:24:36.757 --> 00:24:40.661
  • Or give them to your neighbor to put in their pocket.
  • 00:24:40.661 --> 00:24:47.468
  • We're gonna receive from the lord.
  • 00:24:47.468 --> 00:24:48.802
  • Maybe you wanna turn your palms up.
  • 00:24:48.802 --> 00:24:51.038
  • You certainly wanna turn your heart up.
  • 00:24:51.038 --> 00:24:54.575
  • Your belief matters.
  • 00:24:54.575 --> 00:24:55.910
  • Jesus has given you a measure of faith, the scripture says.
  • 00:24:55.910 --> 00:24:58.746
  • Let's use it.
  • 00:24:58.746 --> 00:25:00.648
  • Whatever may have brought you here, whomever may have brought
  • 00:25:00.648 --> 00:25:02.883
  • You, whatever the motivation, you've got an opportunity and an
  • 00:25:02.883 --> 00:25:05.886
  • Invitation from the creator of all things.
  • 00:25:05.886 --> 00:25:09.023
  • Let's receive.
  • 00:25:09.023 --> 00:25:10.624
  • Heavenly father, i thank you for your great love for us.
  • 00:25:10.624 --> 00:25:14.895
  • That you care for us, lord, nothing's hidden from you.
  • 00:25:14.895 --> 00:25:17.331
  • You know the details and the circumstances of our lives and
  • 00:25:17.331 --> 00:25:20.734
  • Our existence and as we have received the bread and the cup
  • 00:25:20.734 --> 00:25:23.370
  • Tonight, we receive your life into our lives, your
  • 00:25:23.370 --> 00:25:26.874
  • Forgiveness, your hope, your wholeness, your life in our
  • 00:25:26.874 --> 00:25:30.311
  • Bodies, your peace in our minds, your provision for us.
  • 00:25:30.311 --> 00:25:34.548
  • I thank you that you have accepted us, that you have
  • 00:25:34.548 --> 00:25:36.951
  • Chosen us, that you looked across the span of human history
  • 00:25:36.951 --> 00:25:40.721
  • And you called our names for this unique time.
  • 00:25:40.721 --> 00:25:43.624
  • That we're not accidents, that we've not been overlooked.
  • 00:25:43.624 --> 00:25:47.595
  • I praise you for it.
  • 00:25:47.595 --> 00:25:50.130
  • We give you glory tonight.
  • 00:25:50.130 --> 00:25:51.498
  • As we have received from you, we turn our hearts to you and our
  • 00:25:51.498 --> 00:25:54.368
  • Hands to you, bring life to our bodies and peace to us.
  • 00:25:54.368 --> 00:25:58.772
  • We praise you for the victory that is ours, in the matchless
  • 00:25:58.772 --> 00:26:03.043
  • Name of jesus of nazareth, amen.
  • 00:26:03.043 --> 00:26:07.414
  • Hallelujah, you better give the lord a hand.
  • 00:26:07.414 --> 00:26:09.617
  • Allen: you know, before our congregation even existed,
  • 00:26:11.285 --> 00:26:14.154
  • My family used to distribute christian literature.
  • 00:26:14.154 --> 00:26:16.490
  • We found that sharing books changed lives,
  • 00:26:16.490 --> 00:26:19.927
  • And so we spent a lot of time and energy and resources,
  • 00:26:19.927 --> 00:26:22.396
  • Honestly, sharing books around our community.
  • 00:26:22.396 --> 00:26:25.566
  • Well, our offer this month is our--is a book by a good
  • 00:26:25.566 --> 00:26:28.602
  • Friend of mine, rob morgan.
  • 00:26:28.602 --> 00:26:29.937
  • The title is "the lord is my shepherd."
  • 00:26:29.937 --> 00:26:32.439
  • It's a book about god's abiding presence,
  • 00:26:32.439 --> 00:26:34.742
  • His guidance in our lives, and the fact that he
  • 00:26:34.742 --> 00:26:37.611
  • Charts a course for us.
  • 00:26:37.611 --> 00:26:39.013
  • It's a book i believe will change your life,
  • 00:26:39.013 --> 00:26:41.482
  • But it's also a really easy book to share with a friend.
  • 00:26:41.482 --> 00:26:44.652
  • So i want to give you an invitation.
  • 00:26:44.652 --> 00:26:46.086
  • Let's not just enjoy the word of god and what god does for us,
  • 00:26:46.086 --> 00:26:49.690
  • Let's decide to be light in our families, in our community,
  • 00:26:49.690 --> 00:26:53.627
  • In your sunday school class, wherever that may be.
  • 00:26:53.627 --> 00:26:55.896
  • I believe this book is a wonderful tool,
  • 00:26:55.896 --> 00:26:59.099
  • Not only for you, but for the people you care about.
  • 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:02.036
  • "the lord is my shepherd," that's the message we need now.
  • 00:27:02.036 --> 00:27:05.706
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:05.706 --> 00:27:11.345
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:13.213 --> 00:27:30.064