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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Peace and Preparation (Part 1)

December 27, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - Peace and Preparation (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Peace #Preparation #MoveofGod #SeekGod #TrustGod #KingdomofGod #Revival #Culture #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Peace and Preparation (Part 1) | December 27, 2025
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen jackson: we began allen jackson ministries
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  • To strengthen the church.
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  • Thank you for your partnership.
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  • Together we made an impact in this nation, but we're not done.
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  • In fact, in many ways i believe we're just beginning.
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  • The status quo is not adequate any longer.
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  • We can't sit in our churches and have our polite bible studies
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  • And sing our favorite choruses while we watch
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  • Darkness increasing in the world around us.
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  • We have to have the courage to tell the truth to our culture.
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  • A biblical worldview to engage current events in a way
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  • To make what we believe apart of the fabric of our schools,
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  • Our homes, our communities, our nation, and beyond.
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  • We have invitations now from war-torn countries
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  • In israel and ukraine to strengthen the churches there.
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  • I want to ask you to make an investment with us
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  • In allen jackson ministries
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  • To make 2026 the most fruitful year we've ever had together.
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  • God is moving in the earth.
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  • We want to keep the pace.
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  • We want to take new steps to make a new impact.
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  • Your help makes that possible.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: so i wanna continue this theme we've been working on,
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  • When god moves, because i believe god's moving
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  • In the earth.
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  • And i don't mean that just as a matter of rhetoric or
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  • Polite discussion.
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  • I believe in ways that i have never seen in my lifetime.
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  • God has begun to initiate things in the earth.
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  • I can--the question i'm asked most frequently is, "well, tell
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  • Me what you see?"
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  • And it becomes really clear that there's a lot of discrepancy
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  • In that.
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  • There are also unprecedented expressions of evil.
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  • And i would suggest to you, as i did in some previous sessions
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  • That the christmas story, that narrative around jesus's birth,
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  • His arrival in the earth, we could agree that that was the
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  • Time when god was moving in the earth.
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  • I would call the incarnation like god was up to something.
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  • Is that fair?
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  • So, we can use that as something of a template for learning about
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  • What it's like.
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  • And i've already suggested or submitted to you that when god
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  • Moves, it's not gonna be like what he's done before.
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  • Jesus's arrival was unlike anything we had ever seen
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  • Before, even though there were some similarities between the,
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  • The atonement and all the things that were involved with the
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  • Sacrificial system, it was dramatically different when it
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  • Was jesus or it was a lamb that was used for passover.
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  • And while you can make some parallels, the actual expression
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  • Of that was dramatically different.
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  • And what god is doing in the earth today is different than
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  • What he did in the earth 20, or 30, or 40, or 50, or 100
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  • Years ago.
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  • Same spirit, same set of agendas, the same objective
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  • Truths will be honored, but how god will accomplish it will
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  • Be different.
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  • Moses grew up in pharaoh's palace, but when god sent him
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  • Back after exodus chapter 3 in the burning bush, it was a very
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  • Different experience he had with pharaoh.
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  • They didn't play the table games they played when they were boys.
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  • And when--the same is true in our lives, and we want to
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  • Understand that so we can see it and be a part of it.
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  • Peace and preparation this week.
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  • I'll begin there with luke chapter 2 in verse 13.
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  • It's the shepherds in the fields outside of bethlehem.
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  • My brother's sitting over here tonight.
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  • He and i were in bethlehem one christmas, and they told us that
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  • We were at the university, and they told us if we'd go to the
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  • Ymca, they were gonna take us to the shepherds's fields to sing
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  • Christmas carols.
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  • And it was at night, about as friendly as this.
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  • It was gray and drizzly, and cold, and windy, and we went to
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  • The y and we got on the bus, and they got on the bus, and the--we
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  • Were out of seats, but there were some women that still
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  • Wanted to go with them, was there anybody who would give
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  • Up their seats.
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  • We're from the south so we got off the bus.
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  • They said they'd send another bus for us and as soon as the
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  • Bus pulled off, somebody walked out of the line and said there's
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  • No more buses coming.
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  • It was such a blessing.
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  • But we were resourceful.
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  • We found a way to bethlehem, and i'm telling you, it was a
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  • Miserable night.
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  • The shepherds's fields were muddy.
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  • The wind was blowing.
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  • The only thing we had to see by was a candle.
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  • The wind would blow out the candle.
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  • Maintaining the love of jesus in your heart was
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  • Almost impossible.
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  • So, if you have to choose between a warm, dry space where
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  • You can read an outline and remember the scripture--so i was
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  • Just standing in the mud with the wind blowing, after you gave
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  • Up your seat and got abandoned.
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  • ♪ fa la la la. ♪♪
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  • Never mind.
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  • Luke 2: "suddenly a great company of the heavenly host
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  • Appeared with the angel, praising god and saying, 'glory
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  • To god in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his
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  • Favor rests.'
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  • When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
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  • Shepherds said to one another, 'let's go to bethlehem and see
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  • This thing that the angels have told us about.'"
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  • The angel's message was centered uniquely in something.
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  • They said: "on earth, peace to men."
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  • Jesus came to bring us peace.
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  • If you missed that, jesus himself emphasized it in john
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  • 14, we're on the opposite end of the story now.
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  • Jesus is preparing for his exit and he's trying to get his
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  • Friends ready.
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  • And they're very much stressed because he said he's leaving and
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  • Where they're going, they can't come, that's not the bargain
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  • They've struck.
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  • And they're more than anxious, and jesus said: "peace i leave
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  • With you; my peace i give to you.
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  • I don't give to you as the world gives.
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  • Don't let your hearts be troubled and don't be afraid."
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  • Words have many definitions.
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  • Language is being manipulated these days in some very
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  • Unsettling ways.
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  • You have to pay attention to words and language
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  • And definitions.
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  • You can no longer imagine that the people using words mean the
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  • Definitions that we would have used as a matter of habit a
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  • Short time ago.
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  • And peace, particularly in the new testament and the way it's
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  • Used in these passages, is not the absence of a conflict.
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  • Jesus said: "my peace i give to you."
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  • Did jesus live a peaceful life?
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  • I mean, hardly.
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  • We just don't have very many windows into jesus's life that
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  • Could be described as an absence of conflict or pushback.
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  • I mean, there's some triumphant moments.
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  • There's baptism, but it's immediately followed by a time
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  • In the wilderness where he's tempted by satan himself.
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  • That's not peaceful.
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  • He went to his hometown on the sabbath, and he went to the
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  • Synagogue, and he read from the scripture, and they tried to
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  • Kill him.
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  • That's not peaceful.
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  • My peace i give to you, so it isn't an absence of conflict.
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  • But what you find as you follow jesus through his life is that
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  • He has a calm assurance of god's abiding presence.
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  • That no matter what he faces, he can stand before a roman
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  • Governor that has the ability to have him tortured to death, and
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  • He can say to pilate, he said, "you would have no authority
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  • Unless my dad gave it to you.
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  • You think you're all that and a bag of chips, sir, but without
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  • My pop."
  • 00:07:04.073 --> 00:07:05.475
  • So, when he said: "my peace, i give to you," the rest of that
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  • Passage, i think is helpful.
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  • He said, "don't let your hearts be troubled and don't
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  • Be afraid."
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  • I don't believe jesus gives idle warnings.
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  • If he said, "don't let your heart be troubled and don't be
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  • Afraid," i think that it's highly probable that we're going
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  • To face circumstances that will be deeply troubling and could
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  • Inspire fear.
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  • And he said, "that's not the choice to make."
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  • Rather, understand i've given you my peace.
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  • You can have my assurance that whether you're facing a storm,
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  • Or a tyrant, or an angry mob, that god's power is present and
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  • Able to deliver.
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  • That's amazing.
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  • I think the angels understood that in those fields
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  • Outside bethlehem.
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  • I'm quite certain that the angels of heaven understood more
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  • About jesus, and his glory, and his majesty, and the power of
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  • His kingdom than any of us understand at this point in
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  • Our journey.
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  • And when the skies outside of bethlehem were lit up with the
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  • Heavenly host, the message they were delivering to humans that
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  • Could hear them on earth, peace to man.
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  • It's a new day for humanity.
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  • That's exciting.
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  • It's worth a special weekend celebration.
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  • The peace of god in our lives.
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  • We talk a lot about current events and the troubling things
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  • Happening in our world, much to the consternation of people.
  • 00:08:22.919 --> 00:08:27.223
  • Some are encouraged and some are angered and all across the
  • 00:08:27.223 --> 00:08:30.927
  • Spectrum because we put our hope in things other than god.
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  • We put our hopes in systems, and economies, and ourselves, and at
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  • The end of the day, the only security for our future is
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  • God himself.
  • 00:08:41.003 --> 00:08:42.738
  • We need to know the power of god.
  • 00:08:42.738 --> 00:08:45.374
  • For far too long, we've gathered in our churches, and we've held
  • 00:08:45.374 --> 00:08:47.443
  • Polite bible studies, and we've had conversations about whether
  • 00:08:47.443 --> 00:08:50.580
  • God still does miracles or not, folks, if he's not doing
  • 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:52.682
  • Miracles and he's not involved in our lives, let's lock the
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  • Doors and go do something meaningful.
  • 00:08:55.284 --> 00:08:58.588
  • It's embarrassing to talk about god in those ways.
  • 00:08:58.588 --> 00:09:02.558
  • Now, there's much about it we don't understand and we
  • 00:09:02.558 --> 00:09:04.460
  • Certainly don't control him.
  • 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:05.795
  • He's sovereign and we serve at his pleasure, but there is every
  • 00:09:05.795 --> 00:09:08.931
  • Reason to imagine the power of god is still moving through
  • 00:09:08.931 --> 00:09:11.400
  • The earth.
  • 00:09:11.400 --> 00:09:13.135
  • "my peace," jesus said, "i give to you."
  • 00:09:13.135 --> 00:09:17.306
  • And then the preparation part was such a--it's such an
  • 00:09:17.306 --> 00:09:19.709
  • Abundant theme in scripture, but i chose one passage from
  • 00:09:19.709 --> 00:09:22.578
  • 1 peter.
  • 00:09:22.578 --> 00:09:24.113
  • The fisherman that jesus recruited.
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  • When we first meet peter, he's a brash young man.
  • 00:09:25.681 --> 00:09:27.850
  • He keeps--he shoots his mouth off far before his
  • 00:09:27.850 --> 00:09:30.553
  • Brain engages.
  • 00:09:30.553 --> 00:09:32.321
  • But when he writes the two letters that bear his name in
  • 00:09:32.321 --> 00:09:35.358
  • The new testament, he's decades later in the journey.
  • 00:09:35.358 --> 00:09:41.097
  • And some of his strength may have faded, but he has a
  • 00:09:41.097 --> 00:09:43.466
  • Confidence in the lord that resonates to us.
  • 00:09:43.466 --> 00:09:46.068
  • It's 1 peter 1:10: "concerning this salvation, the prophets,
  • 00:09:46.068 --> 00:09:49.205
  • Who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched
  • 00:09:49.205 --> 00:09:52.775
  • Intently with the greatest care."
  • 00:09:52.775 --> 00:09:54.510
  • What did they search?
  • 00:09:54.510 --> 00:09:56.312
  • Scripture.
  • 00:09:56.312 --> 00:09:58.681
  • The prophets searched intently with the greatest care.
  • 00:09:58.681 --> 00:10:02.518
  • So, i think we imagine profits for people who just had
  • 00:10:02.518 --> 00:10:05.921
  • A vision.
  • 00:10:05.921 --> 00:10:07.990
  • They felt inspired.
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  • They got a heavenly prompt.
  • 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:14.530
  • But the suggestion is that they were diligent students, that
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  • They applied themselves, that they hungered and thirsted, that
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  • They sought after, that they pressed in.
  • 00:10:21.170 --> 00:10:25.207
  • I mean, we've been reading through the prophets of late.
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  • Isn't ezekiel a happy book?
  • 00:10:28.010 --> 00:10:30.880
  • Phew.
  • 00:10:30.880 --> 00:10:33.249
  • But that they weren't just randomly delivering messages,
  • 00:10:33.249 --> 00:10:36.585
  • They were anchored in the word of god.
  • 00:10:36.585 --> 00:10:40.289
  • He said that they searched intently with the greatest care,
  • 00:10:40.289 --> 00:10:44.093
  • Trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the
  • 00:10:44.093 --> 00:10:46.696
  • Spirit of christ in them was pointing when he predicted the
  • 00:10:46.696 --> 00:10:50.199
  • Sufferings of christ.
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  • And the glories that would follow, even angels long to look
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  • Into these things.
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  • Therefore, prepare your minds for action.
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  • Be self-controlled.
  • 00:11:01.210 --> 00:11:03.112
  • Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when jesus
  • 00:11:03.112 --> 00:11:07.016
  • Christ is revealed.
  • 00:11:07.016 --> 00:11:09.218
  • There's gonna be an amazing expression of the grace of god
  • 00:11:09.218 --> 00:11:12.221
  • When jesus returns.
  • 00:11:12.221 --> 00:11:14.356
  • You know the definition of grace, but that's really
  • 00:11:14.356 --> 00:11:16.425
  • Inadequate, the unmerited, the unearned, the undeserved favor,
  • 00:11:16.425 --> 00:11:21.230
  • Blessing, goodness of god to us.
  • 00:11:21.230 --> 00:11:23.599
  • If it's merit-based, it isn't grace.
  • 00:11:23.599 --> 00:11:27.470
  • And there there's--the jesus return is an expression of grace
  • 00:11:27.470 --> 00:11:31.040
  • Beyond anything we've experienced in our life, save
  • 00:11:31.040 --> 00:11:33.943
  • The redemptive work of jesus on the cross.
  • 00:11:33.943 --> 00:11:37.480
  • And peter says, "we have to prepare our minds."
  • 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.950
  • Not for a study.
  • 00:11:40.950 --> 00:11:42.852
  • Prepare your minds for what?
  • 00:11:42.852 --> 00:11:45.387
  • Action.
  • 00:11:45.387 --> 00:11:48.691
  • "well, there must be a greek word that means something like
  • 00:11:48.691 --> 00:11:51.193
  • Sit and read your bible."
  • 00:11:51.193 --> 00:11:53.763
  • That's translated action.
  • 00:11:53.763 --> 00:11:55.097
  • Or go to another bible study, or have a seminar, or one
  • 00:11:55.097 --> 00:11:58.567
  • More sermon.
  • 00:11:58.567 --> 00:12:00.703
  • No, i think when peter said, prepare your mind for action,
  • 00:12:00.703 --> 00:12:03.439
  • That the old fisherman was saying, you better be ready to
  • 00:12:03.439 --> 00:12:05.407
  • Do something with what you believe.
  • 00:12:05.407 --> 00:12:09.011
  • This isn't a theoretical faith, folks.
  • 00:12:09.011 --> 00:12:13.282
  • I regret the way our faith has been communicated in
  • 00:12:13.282 --> 00:12:16.886
  • Recent decades.
  • 00:12:16.886 --> 00:12:18.487
  • I regret the way we've trained leaders in the churches.
  • 00:12:18.487 --> 00:12:21.223
  • I regret the way we've trained ministers and clergy persons in
  • 00:12:21.223 --> 00:12:25.261
  • Our seminaries, in our schools.
  • 00:12:25.261 --> 00:12:26.729
  • It's an intellectual exercise with very little attention
  • 00:12:26.729 --> 00:12:30.166
  • Pointed towards anything other than being kind and gentle.
  • 00:12:30.166 --> 00:12:34.336
  • Now, there's a side of god that's kind and gentle, but
  • 00:12:34.336 --> 00:12:36.238
  • That's not the full expression of the character of god and it's
  • 00:12:36.238 --> 00:12:38.641
  • Not the full expression of his church.
  • 00:12:38.641 --> 00:12:41.610
  • We're gonna need a tenacity, a courage, a determination, a
  • 00:12:41.610 --> 00:12:45.347
  • Willingness to persevere.
  • 00:12:45.347 --> 00:12:47.483
  • I think we all understand that evil isn't kind.
  • 00:12:47.483 --> 00:12:52.388
  • Evil is not retiring.
  • 00:12:52.388 --> 00:12:54.790
  • Evil isn't timid.
  • 00:12:54.790 --> 00:12:56.492
  • Do you think we can stand and overcome evil without the
  • 00:12:56.492 --> 00:13:00.062
  • Courage and the boldness?
  • 00:13:00.062 --> 00:13:02.731
  • And the determination of the spirit of god?
  • 00:13:02.731 --> 00:13:06.335
  • I don't.
  • 00:13:06.335 --> 00:13:08.070
  • Prepare your minds for action.
  • 00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:09.705
  • We need the helmet of hope.
  • 00:13:09.705 --> 00:13:11.040
  • We talked about it last week.
  • 00:13:11.040 --> 00:13:13.609
  • We've got to prepare our minds, our thoughts, our expectations
  • 00:13:13.609 --> 00:13:16.846
  • For god's activity.
  • 00:13:16.846 --> 00:13:18.480
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:20.282
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:13:20.282 --> 00:13:26.922
  • Allen: god is moving in the earth
  • 00:13:26.922 --> 00:13:28.457
  • And at allen jackson ministries we're doing everything we can
  • 00:13:28.457 --> 00:13:31.327
  • To strengthen the church in our nation
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  • And wherever god opens the door.
  • 00:13:33.295 --> 00:13:35.397
  • We don't intend to maintain the status quo
  • 00:13:35.397 --> 00:13:37.433
  • Or to gather at our churches for polite bible studies.
  • 00:13:37.433 --> 00:13:40.236
  • We're going to engage our culture with biblical truth
  • 00:13:40.236 --> 00:13:42.805
  • And give you the tools to do so.
  • 00:13:42.805 --> 00:13:45.341
  • We want our children and grandchildren to inherit
  • 00:13:45.341 --> 00:13:47.543
  • A church that's vibrant and vital.
  • 00:13:47.543 --> 00:13:50.446
  • And to do that we've got to make an investment.
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  • Will you give generously to what we're doing
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  • At allen jackson ministries?
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  • Your partnership will make 2026 the most fruitful year
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  • We've ever known.
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  • Thank you.
  • 00:14:00.623 --> 00:14:01.957
  • Female announcer: at allen jackson ministries
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  • We're committed to strengthening the church
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  • And sharing the truth of god's word.
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  • When you support this ministry with a gift of $75 or more
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  • Give today at allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:14:21.977 --> 00:14:27.683
  • Allen: i'm gonna take the balance of our time and unpack
  • 00:14:28.984 --> 00:14:30.586
  • That with the familiar characters that you know from
  • 00:14:30.586 --> 00:14:32.521
  • The christmas narratives.
  • 00:14:32.521 --> 00:14:34.556
  • It's simpler because the characters are more familiar to
  • 00:14:34.556 --> 00:14:36.792
  • Us than than many of the the places in scripture.
  • 00:14:36.792 --> 00:14:40.663
  • And then one of the things i can tell you, when god begins to
  • 00:14:40.663 --> 00:14:43.065
  • Move, there are often many participants.
  • 00:14:43.065 --> 00:14:46.335
  • But the perspective of all the people involved is incomplete.
  • 00:14:46.335 --> 00:14:50.572
  • See, i think most of us don't want to cooperate with god until
  • 00:14:50.572 --> 00:14:53.175
  • He tells us the full story.
  • 00:14:53.175 --> 00:14:56.779
  • I don't know when in this series we will do it, but i intend to
  • 00:14:56.779 --> 00:14:59.548
  • Do a series where we look at the way the prophets were used by
  • 00:14:59.548 --> 00:15:02.618
  • The writers of the gospels.
  • 00:15:02.618 --> 00:15:04.887
  • When you and i read prophecy, we want three or four chapters that
  • 00:15:04.887 --> 00:15:08.023
  • Explain the whole picture.
  • 00:15:08.023 --> 00:15:10.426
  • "or, i'm not reading it, it's just for kooks."
  • 00:15:10.426 --> 00:15:14.730
  • And in the christmas story that we have, the writers of the
  • 00:15:14.730 --> 00:15:18.100
  • Gospels would take one line, not even a full sentence oftentimes,
  • 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.637
  • Just one line from a place and say, "this is what the prophet
  • 00:15:21.637 --> 00:15:26.008
  • Spoke about."
  • 00:15:26.008 --> 00:15:28.143
  • And what we're going to find as we walk through this that there
  • 00:15:28.143 --> 00:15:30.512
  • Are multiple participants in what god is doing.
  • 00:15:30.512 --> 00:15:33.916
  • You know the names of many of them, but none of them have the
  • 00:15:33.916 --> 00:15:37.186
  • Full context.
  • 00:15:37.186 --> 00:15:38.854
  • They know the lane they've been invited into.
  • 00:15:38.854 --> 00:15:41.890
  • Well, i don't like that.
  • 00:15:41.890 --> 00:15:44.259
  • If i'm gonna climb out on a limb for god, i want to explain fully
  • 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:46.895
  • What he's doing.
  • 00:15:46.895 --> 00:15:48.263
  • Well, you can hold that attitude and remain on the sidelines, or
  • 00:15:48.263 --> 00:15:51.934
  • You can say, "god, help me see what you've invited me to do."
  • 00:15:51.934 --> 00:15:56.005
  • Walk through it with me.
  • 00:15:56.005 --> 00:15:57.339
  • I think it'll get a bit more clear.
  • 00:15:57.339 --> 00:15:59.074
  • It's a diverse cast of characters with differing roles
  • 00:15:59.074 --> 00:16:02.111
  • And very different vantage points, yet each one has a very
  • 00:16:02.111 --> 00:16:05.280
  • Significant role to play.
  • 00:16:05.280 --> 00:16:07.216
  • The outcomes of their lives collectively reflect
  • 00:16:07.216 --> 00:16:09.752
  • God's intent.
  • 00:16:09.752 --> 00:16:11.854
  • Oftentimes, not the primary preferences of those involved.
  • 00:16:11.854 --> 00:16:16.425
  • Zechariah and elizabeth, the parents of john the baptist, you
  • 00:16:16.425 --> 00:16:19.028
  • Know their story.
  • 00:16:19.028 --> 00:16:22.464
  • They were old and childless.
  • 00:16:22.464 --> 00:16:23.866
  • They'd prayed for a child, but they'd stopped praying for
  • 00:16:23.866 --> 00:16:25.901
  • A child.
  • 00:16:25.901 --> 00:16:27.236
  • It wasn't biologically reasonable anymore.
  • 00:16:27.236 --> 00:16:29.772
  • They'd made peace with their lives.
  • 00:16:29.772 --> 00:16:31.340
  • They've moved beyond that.
  • 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:32.674
  • And then gabriel shows up to see zechariah and says, you know,
  • 00:16:32.674 --> 00:16:35.544
  • "you're going to be a pop."
  • 00:16:35.544 --> 00:16:38.313
  • And he has some questions about that, so he used to be quiet for
  • 00:16:38.313 --> 00:16:40.849
  • A while.
  • 00:16:40.849 --> 00:16:42.217
  • And john the baptist is born.
  • 00:16:45.254 --> 00:16:47.523
  • They're not there.
  • 00:16:47.523 --> 00:16:48.857
  • I don't think there's any reasonable imagination to think
  • 00:16:48.857 --> 00:16:50.225
  • They were there, but to see his ministry begin.
  • 00:16:50.225 --> 00:16:52.561
  • Wouldn't be easy.
  • 00:16:56.031 --> 00:16:57.900
  • And then john the baptist is described throughout the gospels
  • 00:16:57.900 --> 00:17:00.402
  • In multiple places.
  • 00:17:00.402 --> 00:17:01.737
  • I just gave you one verse from mark.
  • 00:17:01.737 --> 00:17:03.105
  • He said he was, "the voice of one calling in the desert,
  • 00:17:03.105 --> 00:17:05.741
  • 'prepare the way for the lord, make straight paths for him.'"
  • 00:17:05.741 --> 00:17:09.445
  • John had an assignment.
  • 00:17:09.445 --> 00:17:11.613
  • The child for zechariah and elizabeth wasn't just to fulfill
  • 00:17:11.613 --> 00:17:14.450
  • Their hearts, to warm their hearts, to resolve their prayers
  • 00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:18.654
  • So they could have the experience of giving birth to
  • 00:17:18.654 --> 00:17:20.722
  • A child.
  • 00:17:20.722 --> 00:17:22.091
  • Folks, children aren't pets.
  • 00:17:22.091 --> 00:17:25.394
  • We have some cultural, some real cultural challenges with our
  • 00:17:25.394 --> 00:17:29.164
  • Attitudes towards family.
  • 00:17:29.164 --> 00:17:33.102
  • We have been so co-opted in the church by secular ideas around
  • 00:17:33.102 --> 00:17:37.706
  • Our families that we've been almost completely unable to push
  • 00:17:37.706 --> 00:17:41.543
  • Back on some wicked things.
  • 00:17:41.543 --> 00:17:43.545
  • You can't craft a family any way you want to.
  • 00:17:43.545 --> 00:17:48.684
  • It was god's idea.
  • 00:17:48.684 --> 00:17:51.854
  • He's the author of this thing.
  • 00:17:51.854 --> 00:17:53.689
  • Gabriel that came to see zechariah had a purpose from the
  • 00:17:57.159 --> 00:18:00.729
  • Throne room of god for that family.
  • 00:18:00.729 --> 00:18:03.732
  • It included a child born to them in an unlikely season, but it
  • 00:18:03.732 --> 00:18:07.536
  • Was for the advancement of the kingdom of god.
  • 00:18:07.536 --> 00:18:10.672
  • Your family was given to you by god for the advancement of his
  • 00:18:10.672 --> 00:18:14.443
  • Kingdom, not for you just pleasure.
  • 00:18:14.443 --> 00:18:17.346
  • Now, i'm of the opinion that doing the will of god brings
  • 00:18:20.582 --> 00:18:23.185
  • Pleasure to our lives.
  • 00:18:23.185 --> 00:18:24.887
  • If we will allow that to happen.
  • 00:18:24.887 --> 00:18:28.390
  • But there's a purpose for our lives other than just our own
  • 00:18:28.390 --> 00:18:31.527
  • Selfish fulfillment.
  • 00:18:31.527 --> 00:18:34.363
  • Amen, pastor.
  • 00:18:37.766 --> 00:18:39.134
  • "the voice of one crying in the wilderness."
  • 00:18:42.337 --> 00:18:45.874
  • See, i believe god will--as we approach the end of the age, god
  • 00:18:45.874 --> 00:18:49.044
  • Will raise up a church to prepare the way for the return
  • 00:18:49.044 --> 00:18:51.980
  • Of the lord.
  • 00:18:51.980 --> 00:18:53.882
  • That's not just my opinion.
  • 00:18:53.882 --> 00:18:55.250
  • That's not just pastor rhetoric trying to motivate the people to
  • 00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:59.087
  • Come to service more often.
  • 00:18:59.087 --> 00:19:00.856
  • When jesus gave his most lengthy prophetic discourse, the
  • 00:19:00.856 --> 00:19:03.926
  • Ultimate sign of the end of the age was this gospel we preached
  • 00:19:03.926 --> 00:19:07.396
  • In the whole world, and then the end will come.
  • 00:19:07.396 --> 00:19:12.467
  • Well, it's the church, the capital c church, not
  • 00:19:12.467 --> 00:19:15.704
  • Necessarily the denominations or the congregations, but the
  • 00:19:15.704 --> 00:19:18.173
  • People of god will take the message of the kingdom of god to
  • 00:19:18.173 --> 00:19:21.543
  • The far corners of the earth, and the end will come.
  • 00:19:21.543 --> 00:19:25.948
  • So, don't get too stressed about technology and all its evil
  • 00:19:25.948 --> 00:19:28.951
  • Applications that you know of from the book of revelation.
  • 00:19:28.951 --> 00:19:31.720
  • Get excited because we're gonna be able to preach the gospel in
  • 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:33.889
  • The whole world.
  • 00:19:33.889 --> 00:19:35.224
  • Language barriers are collapsing.
  • 00:19:35.224 --> 00:19:37.426
  • Distance is not really relevant any longer.
  • 00:19:37.426 --> 00:19:41.196
  • And the technology is available and accessible.
  • 00:19:41.196 --> 00:19:43.765
  • We're gonna preach the gospel in the whole world.
  • 00:19:43.765 --> 00:19:47.169
  • Or there'll be evil spread around the world in ways we've
  • 00:19:47.169 --> 00:19:49.371
  • Never imagined before.
  • 00:19:49.371 --> 00:19:51.440
  • But the gospel will resonate around the globe.
  • 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:55.277
  • It's amazing.
  • 00:19:55.277 --> 00:19:56.612
  • We will see it in the same way that jesus's birth changed
  • 00:19:56.612 --> 00:20:00.249
  • The world.
  • 00:20:00.249 --> 00:20:03.485
  • John the baptist was the forerunner, the predecessor
  • 00:20:03.485 --> 00:20:05.954
  • Of that.
  • 00:20:05.954 --> 00:20:08.757
  • You think zechariah and elizabeth understood all that
  • 00:20:08.757 --> 00:20:11.059
  • Jesus would accomplish?
  • 00:20:11.059 --> 00:20:14.096
  • We had some insight.
  • 00:20:14.096 --> 00:20:16.765
  • Elizabeth had some pretty exciting things to say to mary,
  • 00:20:16.765 --> 00:20:20.769
  • Her niece when she saw her.
  • 00:20:20.769 --> 00:20:23.605
  • It was a safe place for mary to go to when she was pregnant.
  • 00:20:23.605 --> 00:20:28.910
  • It wasn't particularly comfortable at all.
  • 00:20:28.910 --> 00:20:32.381
  • So, they knew something, but i don't think they knew the
  • 00:20:32.381 --> 00:20:34.650
  • Whole story.
  • 00:20:34.650 --> 00:20:35.984
  • Mary and joseph, do you think they understood the whole drama?
  • 00:20:35.984 --> 00:20:41.156
  • Do you think they'd sent a note to elizabeth prior to mary being
  • 00:20:41.156 --> 00:20:45.160
  • Pregnant saying, "i think your son will prepare the way
  • 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.897
  • For messiah."
  • 00:20:48.897 --> 00:20:51.066
  • I doubt it.
  • 00:20:51.066 --> 00:20:52.434
  • I think they were just kind of curious about them.
  • 00:20:52.434 --> 00:20:56.405
  • Mary 2--i mean, luke chapter 2 says: "mary treasured up all
  • 00:20:56.405 --> 00:21:01.643
  • These things and pondered them in her heart."
  • 00:21:01.643 --> 00:21:04.880
  • After the shepherds had come looking for the baby.
  • 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:07.582
  • "and the shepherds returned, glorifying god and praising god
  • 00:21:07.582 --> 00:21:10.385
  • For all the things they'd heard and seen, which were just as
  • 00:21:10.385 --> 00:21:12.554
  • They've been told."
  • 00:21:12.554 --> 00:21:13.922
  • You know the drama, we've heard it many, many times.
  • 00:21:13.922 --> 00:21:18.794
  • Intrigued by the language that's used, "mary treasured up all
  • 00:21:18.794 --> 00:21:22.531
  • These things."
  • 00:21:22.531 --> 00:21:24.032
  • That's not the normal way we would say that or it's not the
  • 00:21:24.032 --> 00:21:27.302
  • Normal way i would say that.
  • 00:21:27.302 --> 00:21:28.737
  • I would--to treasure something up, it's like mary put them in
  • 00:21:28.737 --> 00:21:31.573
  • A vault.
  • 00:21:31.573 --> 00:21:33.742
  • She collected them.
  • 00:21:33.742 --> 00:21:35.077
  • She took them out of the public space and she made them
  • 00:21:35.077 --> 00:21:37.145
  • Intentionally private.
  • 00:21:37.145 --> 00:21:38.480
  • She selected them and she held on to them.
  • 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:40.282
  • She considered them valuable.
  • 00:21:40.282 --> 00:21:43.218
  • A bunch of crazy shepherds babbling about angels.
  • 00:21:43.218 --> 00:21:47.255
  • She thought, "i can't afford to let that go.
  • 00:21:47.255 --> 00:21:51.059
  • I had a visit with an angel a few months ago.
  • 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:53.895
  • Changed my life.
  • 00:21:53.895 --> 00:21:56.898
  • These guys were here telling me they'd had an encounter with
  • 00:21:56.898 --> 00:21:58.934
  • Angels and it had something to do with this baby i
  • 00:21:58.934 --> 00:22:01.002
  • Just delivered."
  • 00:22:01.002 --> 00:22:03.939
  • I don't think mary was expecting the shepherds to come in with
  • 00:22:03.939 --> 00:22:07.642
  • Angelic stories.
  • 00:22:07.642 --> 00:22:10.078
  • So, she pondered them in her heart, she thought about them,
  • 00:22:10.078 --> 00:22:12.381
  • She dwelt on them.
  • 00:22:12.381 --> 00:22:13.749
  • She wouldn't let them go.
  • 00:22:13.749 --> 00:22:15.083
  • I think as we begin to see god move and you see something and
  • 00:22:15.083 --> 00:22:17.018
  • You go, you know, the only way to really explain that was god
  • 00:22:17.018 --> 00:22:19.921
  • Was involved.
  • 00:22:19.921 --> 00:22:21.256
  • You wanna treasure that in your heart, you wanna hold on to it,
  • 00:22:21.256 --> 00:22:23.158
  • You wanna think about it.
  • 00:22:23.158 --> 00:22:24.493
  • You wanna ponder it.
  • 00:22:24.493 --> 00:22:25.861
  • You wanna go, "god, i didn't anticipate that."
  • 00:22:25.861 --> 00:22:28.964
  • And you begin to see a narrative emerge.
  • 00:22:28.964 --> 00:22:30.866
  • I didn't expect--and elizabeth and zachariah to get pregnant at
  • 00:22:30.866 --> 00:22:35.203
  • This season of their life.
  • 00:22:35.203 --> 00:22:38.106
  • I didn't expect that angel to come see me.
  • 00:22:38.106 --> 00:22:41.777
  • I didn't expect to hear shepherds that excited.
  • 00:22:41.777 --> 00:22:46.615
  • Mary's holding on to these things.
  • 00:22:46.615 --> 00:22:48.283
  • You and i have to do that.
  • 00:22:48.283 --> 00:22:51.620
  • She's not focused on the burden of having to travel to bethlehem
  • 00:22:51.620 --> 00:22:54.856
  • From nazareth.
  • 00:22:54.856 --> 00:22:56.191
  • That's not recorded in here that she grumbled the whole way.
  • 00:22:56.191 --> 00:23:00.429
  • Imagine joseph having to go home and say, "mary, you're gonna
  • 00:23:00.429 --> 00:23:02.864
  • Have to take a donkey ride.
  • 00:23:02.864 --> 00:23:05.534
  • She's great with child.
  • 00:23:05.534 --> 00:23:06.868
  • It's gonna take about a week.
  • 00:23:06.868 --> 00:23:08.537
  • Yay us."
  • 00:23:08.537 --> 00:23:10.439
  • She treasured these things up.
  • 00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:16.111
  • We have to choose to treasure the things where we see
  • 00:23:16.111 --> 00:23:18.713
  • God moving.
  • 00:23:18.713 --> 00:23:21.583
  • Mary's learning, this intrigues me.
  • 00:23:21.583 --> 00:23:23.318
  • We have very limited insight and information to jesus's story
  • 00:23:23.318 --> 00:23:27.889
  • Between his birth until he begins his public ministry.
  • 00:23:27.889 --> 00:23:30.091
  • But in luke chapter 2, and i don't think it's an accident
  • 00:23:30.091 --> 00:23:33.428
  • That it's tucked away in there, jesus is 12.
  • 00:23:33.428 --> 00:23:38.533
  • So, we're gonna step forward a decade or so, and he got left
  • 00:23:38.533 --> 00:23:41.803
  • Behind, but he did it on purpose.
  • 00:23:41.803 --> 00:23:44.973
  • And days later, mary and joseph are back and they're searching
  • 00:23:44.973 --> 00:23:48.043
  • For him, and they find him in the temple and jesus says to
  • 00:23:48.043 --> 00:23:50.412
  • Them, you have it in your notes, it's luke 2:49: "why were you
  • 00:23:50.412 --> 00:23:53.381
  • Searching for me?
  • 00:23:53.381 --> 00:23:54.716
  • Didn't you know i had to be in my father's house?"
  • 00:23:54.716 --> 00:23:56.184
  • And the answer is, no, we didn't know where you were.
  • 00:23:56.184 --> 00:23:59.554
  • Don't talk to us that way.
  • 00:23:59.554 --> 00:24:02.958
  • But they didn't understand what he was saying to them.
  • 00:24:02.958 --> 00:24:05.060
  • He went down to nazareth with them and was obedient to them,
  • 00:24:05.060 --> 00:24:07.729
  • But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
  • 00:24:07.729 --> 00:24:13.301
  • "and jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with god
  • 00:24:13.301 --> 00:24:16.805
  • And men."
  • 00:24:16.805 --> 00:24:18.139
  • I like that sentence.
  • 00:24:18.139 --> 00:24:19.508
  • Did you have the imagination that jesus not only had to grow
  • 00:24:19.508 --> 00:24:21.109
  • Physically, but he had to grow in the favor of god?
  • 00:24:21.109 --> 00:24:25.347
  • Do you have to imagine that you need to do that?
  • 00:24:25.347 --> 00:24:29.284
  • I mean, i'm grateful you're born again.
  • 00:24:29.284 --> 00:24:30.819
  • I'm--i would applaud you for your baptism and you attend
  • 00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:34.155
  • Church with some determination, and i think that's good, but are
  • 00:24:34.155 --> 00:24:39.961
  • You living with the imagination that one of the life objectives
  • 00:24:39.961 --> 00:24:42.764
  • You hold as much as it would be to save for retirement, or
  • 00:24:42.764 --> 00:24:45.233
  • Maintain your health, or be a good parent, or be faithful to
  • 00:24:45.233 --> 00:24:48.236
  • Your marriage vows, is to grow in the favor of god.
  • 00:24:48.236 --> 00:24:54.042
  • I want to do things that please god.
  • 00:24:54.042 --> 00:24:57.712
  • I want to do the things that caused god to respond to my
  • 00:24:57.712 --> 00:25:01.550
  • Life, with his mercy and his goodness.
  • 00:25:01.550 --> 00:25:07.656
  • I don't imagine that's accidental, or just when i want
  • 00:25:07.656 --> 00:25:10.258
  • To, or when i'm in the mood, or when it's convenient, it means
  • 00:25:10.258 --> 00:25:13.895
  • I'm gonna have to order my life around.
  • 00:25:13.895 --> 00:25:15.263
  • I'm gonna have to make decisions.
  • 00:25:15.263 --> 00:25:16.631
  • I'm gonna have to be purposeful and intentional.
  • 00:25:16.631 --> 00:25:18.633
  • We've been pretty sloppy with our faith.
  • 00:25:18.633 --> 00:25:20.335
  • I mean, maybe not you, but i think we've been really,
  • 00:25:24.372 --> 00:25:28.009
  • Really casual.
  • 00:25:28.009 --> 00:25:30.111
  • And we hear more sermons, more messaging, there's more
  • 00:25:30.111 --> 00:25:32.747
  • Literature around our faith is unassailable.
  • 00:25:32.747 --> 00:25:36.184
  • It can't be challenged, it's so permanent.
  • 00:25:36.184 --> 00:25:39.554
  • And i mean, i'm grateful for that, but i'm not quite sure why
  • 00:25:39.554 --> 00:25:43.525
  • That message we have to hear it so repeatedly.
  • 00:25:43.525 --> 00:25:45.894
  • It seems to me there's a redundancy, it's like, no, no, i
  • 00:25:49.998 --> 00:25:52.067
  • Want to please the lord.
  • 00:25:52.067 --> 00:25:55.370
  • I'm not worried about forfeiting something,
  • 00:25:55.370 --> 00:25:58.840
  • I wanna grow in the favor of god.
  • 00:25:58.840 --> 00:26:01.876
  • Don't you?
  • 00:26:01.876 --> 00:26:06.581
  • Allen: allen jackson ministries was created
  • 00:26:10.485 --> 00:26:12.454
  • To strengthen the church.
  • 00:26:12.454 --> 00:26:13.922
  • Your partnership has made this possible.
  • 00:26:13.922 --> 00:26:16.024
  • Thank you for your faithfulness and your generosity.
  • 00:26:16.024 --> 00:26:18.827
  • But the need is as significant as it's ever been.
  • 00:26:18.827 --> 00:26:21.730
  • Not simply in this nation, now we have invitations
  • 00:26:21.730 --> 00:26:23.798
  • Internationally to war-torn countries,
  • 00:26:23.798 --> 00:26:26.134
  • Into israel and to ukraine,
  • 00:26:26.134 --> 00:26:27.702
  • To come help strengthen the church there.
  • 00:26:27.702 --> 00:26:30.005
  • And with god's help and your help, we intend to respond.
  • 00:26:30.005 --> 00:26:32.841
  • Folks, it's a critical time, it's not just business as usual.
  • 00:26:32.841 --> 00:26:36.311
  • We can't gather in our churches and sing our hymns
  • 00:26:36.311 --> 00:26:38.413
  • And ignore what's happening in our world.
  • 00:26:38.413 --> 00:26:40.615
  • We have to take the biblical truth, the biblical worldview,
  • 00:26:40.615 --> 00:26:43.618
  • And share it with our culture, clearly
  • 00:26:43.618 --> 00:26:45.720
  • With determination, with courage.
  • 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:48.456
  • We're creating tools to help you do that in your church,
  • 00:26:48.456 --> 00:26:50.959
  • In your home, in your community.
  • 00:26:50.959 --> 00:26:52.961
  • Together we're going to make an impact in this new year
  • 00:26:52.961 --> 00:26:55.463
  • Like we've never made before.
  • 00:26:55.463 --> 00:26:57.532
  • Will you make an investment in what we're doing?
  • 00:26:57.532 --> 00:26:59.901
  • Together we're going to join god in seeing the name of jesus
  • 00:26:59.901 --> 00:27:02.937
  • Elevated in the earth.
  • 00:27:02.937 --> 00:27:04.572
  • Will you pray?
  • 00:27:04.572 --> 00:27:05.907
  • Father, i ask for your anointing.
  • 00:27:05.907 --> 00:27:07.308
  • Give us a freedom to give and to serve like never before,
  • 00:27:07.308 --> 00:27:11.012
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:11.012 --> 00:27:13.281
  • God bless you and thank you.
  • 00:27:13.281 --> 00:27:14.783
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:16.217 --> 00:27:16.217