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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - The Power To Change

April 27, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - The Power To Change
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Redemption #Evil #Change #Heart #Believe #WalkwithGod #TrustGod #Faith #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - The Power To Change | April 27, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world, people are searching
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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • Together, we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: in fact, that title is of three centurions.
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  • We will look at three separate centurions whose lives were
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  • Dramatically impacted by jesus of nazareth.
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  • In this session, we're only gonna look at the third one, so
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  • Roman numeral number three is the only part we're gonna cover.
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  • That should give you great joy.
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  • You know, in the lives of these three roman soldiers, the power
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  • Of god was made evident.
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  • I like that because they're very unlikely characters.
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  • They're not jewish.
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  • They don't keep the right holidays.
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  • They don't eat the right diet.
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  • They're pagans.
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  • They're outside the covenant of god.
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  • There's nothing that should have caused them to be participants
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  • In the purposes of god, and yet god's power was evident in each
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  • Of the three lives that we have looked at.
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  • When the first centurion we looked at was the one that was
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  • At the foot of the cross, maybe the hardest of the three.
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  • Certainly the most brutal of the three.
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  • His day job is overseeing public torture.
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  • That's his day job.
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  • He tortures people to death in public.
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  • He's the point of the spear of roman intimidation.
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  • A brutal man, a man so hardened by his job that the suffering
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  • And pain of other human beings doesn't touch him.
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  • It's what he goes to work to do every day.
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  • And when jesus gave up his spirit on the cross, the roman
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  • Centurion, not the pharisees, not the sadducees, not that the
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  • Disciples are hiding, that roman centurion said, "surely this was
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  • The son of god."
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  • He made a declaration and i'm pretty sure nobody wanted to
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  • Challenge him.
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  • Somehow god touched that man's heart.
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  • The second centurion we looked at was in capernaum, a jewish
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  • Fishing village on the northern end of the sea of galilee,
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  • Located on the largest freshwater source for the entire
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  • Region alongside a major roman highway, an important place for
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  • Security, but the man came to jesus asking for help.
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  • And he understood the power of words, the authority of words in
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  • A unique way.
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  • He said, "i'm not worthy to have you come to my home."
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  • That's almost, from a roman perspective,
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  • A blasphemous statement.
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  • He could have had jesus brought to his home and chains at the
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  • Point of a spear.
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  • And he said, "i'm not even worthy to have you, an itinerant
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  • Rabbi, come into my home, but i do understand authority, and if
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  • You will speak the word, my servant will be healed."
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  • He astonished jesus.
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  • Wouldn't you like to have faith that would astonish jesus?
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  • If i fall off this platform that would be ugly, wouldn't it?
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  • If i fall off this platform, one of you better believe in
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  • Healing quickly.
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  • That roman centurion, the scripture tells us,
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  • Astonished jesus.
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  • Jesus, he said, "i haven't found faith in my disciples like this.
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  • I haven't found faith anywhere in israel like this."
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  • A roman centurion that understood the spiritual
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  • Authority that jesus had greater than any of his peer group.
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  • Remarkable thing.
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  • You see, some of us have been so timid, so withdrawn, we've
  • 00:04:13.368 --> 00:04:16.872
  • Settled to be polite christians, tame christians,
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  • Timid christians.
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  • We're like church christians.
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  • We're afraid to take our faith outside the church,
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  • Unthinkable, unacceptable.
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  • Our faith doesn't belong in the church, it belongs in the public
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  • Square, in academia, in the corporate boardroom, in the
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  • Corridors of the hospitals, in the midst of the courtrooms.
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  • A roman centurion with greater faith than jesus had seen
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  • Amongst any of his own people.
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  • Well, this morning we're gonna look at a third centurion.
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  • This one lives in caesarea, a pagan city, maybe the most pagan
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  • City in all of israel.
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  • We'll read in acts chapter 10.
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  • Says, "at caesarea there was a man named cornelius, a centurion
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  • In what was known as the italian regiment.
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  • And he and all his family were devout and god-fearing; and he
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  • Gave generously to those in need and prayed to god regularly.
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  • One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision.
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  • He distinctly saw an angel of god, who came to him and
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  • Said, 'cornelius.'
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  • Cornelius stared at him in fear.
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  • 'what is it, lord?'
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  • The angel answered, 'your prayers and your gifts to the
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  • Poor have come up as a memorial offering before god.
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  • Now send men to joppa to bring back a man named simon who's
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  • Called peter.
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  • He's staying with simon the tanner, whose house is by
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  • The sea.'
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  • When the angel who'd spoken to him had gone, cornelius called
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  • Two of his servants, a devout soldier who was one of his
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  • Attendants, and he told them everything that had happened,
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  • And he sent them to joppa."
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  • I'm gonna suggest to you that cornelius shows us the power
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  • To change.
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  • The power to have a different life.
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  • We don't know what happened to the centurion at the cross.
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  • We don't even know what happened to the centurion that believed
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  • In jesus's authority.
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  • Cornelius is a bit different.
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  • We're given a window into his spiritual journey.
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  • We'll talk about it a bit more.
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  • He's gonna make his way into the kingdom of god, a hated
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  • Roman oppressor.
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  • An occupying soldier.
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  • You should know, if you don't, caesarea is a pagan town.
  • 00:06:14.256 --> 00:06:16.491
  • It's a very roman town, stark contrast to capernaum.
  • 00:06:16.491 --> 00:06:19.728
  • Capernaum was a jewish fishing village.
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  • Caesarea is not, we have no record that jesus ever
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  • Visited caesarea.
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  • He didn't, he didn't go to the roman towns.
  • 00:06:26.501 --> 00:06:27.869
  • He didn't go to beit shaan.
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  • He didn't go to caesarea.
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  • He went to the people of israel.
  • 00:06:31.072 --> 00:06:33.942
  • And luke introduces us to a centurion.
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  • This is the only one of the centurions whose name
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  • We're given.
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  • He's cornelius.
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  • The other two remain nameless.
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  • I have an opinion about that.
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  • I believe it's because cornelius makes his way into the kingdom
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  • Of god.
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  • We're given his name.
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  • I want you to know something today if you don't.
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  • God knows your name.
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  • If you've given your life to him and you've acknowledged jesus,
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  • He knows your name.
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  • You see, there's a voice in your head that says you're not very
  • 00:06:59.501 --> 00:07:01.703
  • Important, you're not very significant, you shouldn't
  • 00:07:01.703 --> 00:07:03.805
  • Really give your best to god, he's a distant, far off reality
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  • And just don't be bothered with that.
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  • I'm telling you, he knows your name.
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  • The bible says he knows when you sit or you stand, you come in,
  • 00:07:10.545 --> 00:07:13.014
  • When you go out, that's not a threat, folks, he cares
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  • About you.
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  • He cares about you.
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  • Technology today allows you to keep track of your
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  • Family members.
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  • Hopefully it's not because you're creepy.
  • 00:07:23.291 --> 00:07:24.960
  • Some of you are creepy even and you don't do that, but i think
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  • The reality of that is it's a desire to know that one another
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  • Are safe so that we can help one another if there's a need.
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  • I believe when god gave us cornelius's name, he was giving
  • 00:07:39.741 --> 00:07:42.844
  • Us a clue that cornelius is a part of the family.
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  • It's important to know that god cares about who you are.
  • 00:07:45.914 --> 00:07:50.685
  • In that third verse, it says that cornelius distinctly saw
  • 00:07:50.685 --> 00:07:54.689
  • An angel.
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  • I love that.
  • 00:07:56.057 --> 00:07:57.392
  • This is a roman centurion.
  • 00:07:57.392 --> 00:07:58.760
  • There's a credibility attached to him that would be different
  • 00:07:58.760 --> 00:08:00.295
  • Than some of the people who approached jesus, the demoniac,
  • 00:08:00.295 --> 00:08:04.099
  • The people that had significant physical challenge.
  • 00:08:04.099 --> 00:08:06.167
  • There's just a lot of reasons.
  • 00:08:06.167 --> 00:08:07.502
  • Cornelius comes as a roman centurion, and he said, i
  • 00:08:07.502 --> 00:08:10.338
  • Distinctly saw an angel, not some hazy apparition, not a
  • 00:08:10.338 --> 00:08:14.743
  • Dream, not a vision, he said in the middle of the afternoon, i
  • 00:08:14.743 --> 00:08:18.647
  • Had a distinct conversation with an angel.
  • 00:08:18.647 --> 00:08:24.419
  • And the messaging around it is truly phenomenal to me.
  • 00:08:24.419 --> 00:08:28.089
  • We're given a little bit of the backstory.
  • 00:08:28.089 --> 00:08:29.624
  • The centurion, we're told, prayed and practiced generosity.
  • 00:08:29.624 --> 00:08:34.262
  • He had a heart turned towards god.
  • 00:08:34.262 --> 00:08:36.398
  • This is the fascinating part.
  • 00:08:36.398 --> 00:08:37.766
  • God noticed and god responded.
  • 00:08:37.766 --> 00:08:40.602
  • You know, the bible says in hebrews that god is the rewarder
  • 00:08:40.602 --> 00:08:43.204
  • Of those who diligently seek him.
  • 00:08:43.204 --> 00:08:45.740
  • There's very few promises made to the casual inquirer, to the
  • 00:08:45.740 --> 00:08:49.744
  • Marginally interested.
  • 00:08:49.744 --> 00:08:52.514
  • I know that's not great news 'cause most of us, you know,
  • 00:08:52.514 --> 00:08:55.951
  • We've kind of settled in life to get the results we want.
  • 00:08:55.951 --> 00:08:58.753
  • We can make partial efforts.
  • 00:08:58.753 --> 00:09:00.789
  • I drive by the gym and expect to lose weight, right?
  • 00:09:00.789 --> 00:09:06.528
  • I'm very fortunate, some of you may not be from murfreesboro, on
  • 00:09:06.528 --> 00:09:09.464
  • The way to the gym that i frequent, just past the gym is a
  • 00:09:09.464 --> 00:09:12.567
  • Donut shop.
  • 00:09:12.567 --> 00:09:14.436
  • It's the perfect pairing.
  • 00:09:14.436 --> 00:09:16.871
  • I can stop at the gym, go in, look at all the people working
  • 00:09:16.871 --> 00:09:19.007
  • Out, and then go get an apple fritter.
  • 00:09:19.007 --> 00:09:23.678
  • And most of us have a bit of that attitude about god.
  • 00:09:23.678 --> 00:09:26.014
  • We can drive by the church.
  • 00:09:26.014 --> 00:09:27.349
  • "yeah, yeah, yeah, we go there.
  • 00:09:27.349 --> 00:09:28.683
  • If we go to church, that's the one we go to, right there."
  • 00:09:28.683 --> 00:09:31.953
  • Or maybe you come with some frequency, but when you leave
  • 00:09:31.953 --> 00:09:34.022
  • The building, you kind of put god in a corner and then it's
  • 00:09:34.022 --> 00:09:36.758
  • Your life and your terms and your boundaries and your
  • 00:09:36.758 --> 00:09:39.260
  • Perspectives and "oh no, i did my--i said that prayer thing and
  • 00:09:39.260 --> 00:09:42.530
  • I got wet in the pool one time and i mean, i've got a bible and
  • 00:09:42.530 --> 00:09:45.900
  • You know, i know something about it.
  • 00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:47.802
  • I may be able to quote a verse or two."
  • 00:09:47.802 --> 00:09:50.972
  • But we're given a little bit of a different perspective
  • 00:09:50.972 --> 00:09:53.308
  • From this.
  • 00:09:53.308 --> 00:09:54.643
  • Cornelius's life was oriented towards the lord.
  • 00:09:54.643 --> 00:09:57.145
  • He was known amongst a pagan population as a roman soldier
  • 00:09:57.145 --> 00:10:02.484
  • Who prays regularly, is generous towards the people that they
  • 00:10:02.484 --> 00:10:07.188
  • Have conquered and they are occupying.
  • 00:10:07.188 --> 00:10:10.692
  • I'm thinking he took some ridicule from his peer group
  • 00:10:10.692 --> 00:10:14.796
  • For that.
  • 00:10:14.796 --> 00:10:16.131
  • I suspect it had some bearing on his professional status.
  • 00:10:16.131 --> 00:10:20.301
  • It at least put it in question in some quarters and yet he was
  • 00:10:20.301 --> 00:10:24.406
  • Willing to orient his life towards god in a public enough
  • 00:10:24.406 --> 00:10:28.043
  • Way that it got recorded and taken note of.
  • 00:10:28.043 --> 00:10:30.712
  • I'm asking you to do that.
  • 00:10:30.712 --> 00:10:32.047
  • I don't wanna be unclear about this.
  • 00:10:32.047 --> 00:10:34.282
  • I'm asking you to lead with your faith, to live with your faith,
  • 00:10:34.282 --> 00:10:38.486
  • To not just be a christian in a church building, but to be
  • 00:10:38.486 --> 00:10:41.756
  • Identified as a christ follower across the breadth of your life,
  • 00:10:41.756 --> 00:10:45.994
  • So that no part of your life isn't touched by the light of
  • 00:10:45.994 --> 00:10:48.496
  • God or that there's no place god could send you where you're not
  • 00:10:48.496 --> 00:10:51.266
  • Willing to be a light for him.
  • 00:10:51.266 --> 00:10:52.734
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:10:53.234 --> 00:10:59.340
  • Allen: i have a childhood memory i wanna share with you.
  • 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:01.242
  • It was our kitchen table.
  • 00:11:01.242 --> 00:11:02.577
  • I've got two younger brothers.
  • 00:11:02.577 --> 00:11:04.446
  • Gathered around the table and my parents were consistently,
  • 00:11:04.446 --> 00:11:07.582
  • Persistently inviting guests to dinner, you know, practicing
  • 00:11:07.582 --> 00:11:11.186
  • That notion of hospitality.
  • 00:11:11.186 --> 00:11:12.954
  • My brothers and i weren't always excited about it, but i realized
  • 00:11:12.954 --> 00:11:15.857
  • That we had a front row seat for expressions of the kingdom
  • 00:11:15.857 --> 00:11:19.060
  • Of god.
  • 00:11:19.060 --> 00:11:20.395
  • We can still do the same.
  • 00:11:20.395 --> 00:11:21.763
  • Imagine your kitchen table as an expression of god's love in
  • 00:11:21.763 --> 00:11:24.899
  • This generation.
  • 00:11:24.899 --> 00:11:26.234
  • God's moving in the earth.
  • 00:11:26.234 --> 00:11:27.602
  • Let's join him.
  • 00:11:27.602 --> 00:11:28.937
  • Female announcer: hospitality doesn't have to be complicated.
  • 00:11:28.937 --> 00:11:31.706
  • Sometimes it begins with inviting someone to your
  • 00:11:31.706 --> 00:11:33.675
  • Kitchen table.
  • 00:11:33.675 --> 00:11:35.376
  • To help you get started, we've created a tools for
  • 00:11:35.376 --> 00:11:37.712
  • Hospitality set.
  • 00:11:37.712 --> 00:11:39.214
  • It includes a custom kitchen towel that reminds you sweet
  • 00:11:39.214 --> 00:11:41.816
  • Tea, pecan pie, and your god story make a difference.
  • 00:11:41.816 --> 00:11:45.120
  • It also has three favorite recipes from pastor allen, and
  • 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.156
  • Some tips that will help make hospitality a little bit easier.
  • 00:11:48.156 --> 00:11:51.593
  • Request the tools for hospitality set with your gift
  • 00:11:51.593 --> 00:11:53.995
  • Of $25 or more at allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:11:53.995 --> 00:12:00.835
  • Allen: one of the things that will happen as we leave this
  • 00:12:00.902 --> 00:12:03.104
  • Service and we begin to walk into a new season with the lord,
  • 00:12:03.104 --> 00:12:06.341
  • God will begin to expand our imagination of what's possible.
  • 00:12:06.341 --> 00:12:10.645
  • He'll begin to illuminate those places where we've had limits.
  • 00:12:10.645 --> 00:12:14.215
  • Our imaginations have been too small.
  • 00:12:14.215 --> 00:12:16.151
  • We've allowed our experiences and our backgrounds, and we have
  • 00:12:16.151 --> 00:12:19.254
  • All kinds of statements.
  • 00:12:19.254 --> 00:12:20.588
  • So that's how i believe.
  • 00:12:20.588 --> 00:12:21.923
  • That's how my people are.
  • 00:12:21.923 --> 00:12:23.291
  • Well, the group where i go, the church i attend, we've got all
  • 00:12:23.291 --> 00:12:25.894
  • These limiting phrases.
  • 00:12:25.894 --> 00:12:27.529
  • God is deconstructing the limits so that his purposes can
  • 00:12:27.529 --> 00:12:30.331
  • Break forth.
  • 00:12:30.331 --> 00:12:32.167
  • He is.
  • 00:12:32.167 --> 00:12:33.668
  • We're helping some leaders in armenia right now prepare places
  • 00:12:33.668 --> 00:12:39.574
  • To train iranian pastors and church leaders as those freedoms
  • 00:12:39.574 --> 00:12:43.978
  • Grow so that they'll be able to step back into iran to provide
  • 00:12:43.978 --> 00:12:47.515
  • Leadership and guidance for what god is doing in that nation.
  • 00:12:47.515 --> 00:12:52.787
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:12:52.787 --> 00:12:54.856
  • I wanna give you one more passage, it's in your notes.
  • 00:12:54.856 --> 00:12:56.858
  • It's not a centurion this time, but it's a continuation of this
  • 00:12:56.858 --> 00:13:00.228
  • Message, this idea, the power to change, even the friends of
  • 00:13:00.228 --> 00:13:04.032
  • Jesus need new beginnings sometimes, you know that, right?
  • 00:13:04.032 --> 00:13:08.369
  • It's an easter and it's an overwhelmingly, i'm sure
  • 00:13:08.369 --> 00:13:11.172
  • Christian audience, we gather because we're christ followers
  • 00:13:11.172 --> 00:13:14.008
  • To celebrate the resurrection of jesus, but even jesus's friends
  • 00:13:14.008 --> 00:13:18.179
  • Need new beginnings, not just roman centurions.
  • 00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:20.982
  • Not those, just those who torture people to death for
  • 00:13:20.982 --> 00:13:23.484
  • A living.
  • 00:13:23.484 --> 00:13:25.086
  • Those of us that know the language and the vocabulary and
  • 00:13:25.086 --> 00:13:27.655
  • The basic behaviors, we need new beginnings.
  • 00:13:27.655 --> 00:13:30.792
  • In john 21, it's post-resurrection.
  • 00:13:30.792 --> 00:13:34.596
  • Jesus and his friends are past easter morning.
  • 00:13:34.596 --> 00:13:37.732
  • They've survived that.
  • 00:13:37.732 --> 00:13:39.100
  • Most of you know the story when jesus was arrested on good
  • 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:42.270
  • Friday, his closest friends hid.
  • 00:13:42.270 --> 00:13:45.506
  • I mean, peter had a momentary flash to defend jesus and jesus
  • 00:13:45.506 --> 00:13:50.178
  • Said, "put your sword away, i've got this to do," but as the
  • 00:13:50.178 --> 00:13:52.480
  • Pressure escalated through that evening and in the early hours
  • 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:55.049
  • Of the morning, his friends stepped into the shadows.
  • 00:13:55.049 --> 00:13:58.086
  • It was too much pressure.
  • 00:13:58.086 --> 00:13:59.754
  • And on resurrection morning, the women went to the tomb, but his
  • 00:13:59.754 --> 00:14:02.523
  • Closest friends, they were hiding.
  • 00:14:02.523 --> 00:14:04.525
  • The men were afraid, overwhelmed with despair.
  • 00:14:04.525 --> 00:14:09.664
  • Jesus had been crucified.
  • 00:14:09.664 --> 00:14:11.766
  • So the women go to the cemetery, the women go to the tomb to have
  • 00:14:11.766 --> 00:14:15.536
  • It open that they can anoint the body of jesus, not the men.
  • 00:14:15.536 --> 00:14:20.308
  • Well, in john 21, jesus meets his friends on the shore
  • 00:14:20.308 --> 00:14:24.379
  • Of galilee.
  • 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:25.747
  • That's where he'd recruited most of them initially.
  • 00:14:25.747 --> 00:14:28.182
  • And they've gone fishing.
  • 00:14:28.182 --> 00:14:29.517
  • It's comforting to them.
  • 00:14:29.517 --> 00:14:30.985
  • It provides some emotional relief to them.
  • 00:14:30.985 --> 00:14:34.322
  • And jesus is on the shore.
  • 00:14:34.322 --> 00:14:35.657
  • It's john 21:5.
  • 00:14:35.657 --> 00:14:37.025
  • You've got it.
  • 00:14:37.025 --> 00:14:38.359
  • "he called to them, 'friends, haven't you any fish?'
  • 00:14:38.359 --> 00:14:39.727
  • And they answered, 'no.'
  • 00:14:39.727 --> 00:14:42.430
  • 'well, throw your net on the right side of the boat, you'll
  • 00:14:42.430 --> 00:14:44.332
  • Find some.'
  • 00:14:44.332 --> 00:14:45.667
  • And when they did, they were unable to haul the
  • 00:14:45.667 --> 00:14:47.035
  • Net in because of the large number of fish."
  • 00:14:47.035 --> 00:14:49.337
  • Now they've had this scenario with jesus before, but they're
  • 00:14:49.337 --> 00:14:53.074
  • Still not aware.
  • 00:14:53.074 --> 00:14:54.409
  • You know, despair and pain can be so great that it affects how
  • 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:56.511
  • You see the world around you.
  • 00:14:56.511 --> 00:14:59.180
  • Most of us know that.
  • 00:14:59.180 --> 00:15:01.149
  • It can cloud your perception.
  • 00:15:01.149 --> 00:15:02.583
  • It can limit your responses.
  • 00:15:02.583 --> 00:15:05.420
  • "the disciple whom jesus loved," that's john, "said to 'peter,
  • 00:15:05.420 --> 00:15:09.157
  • It's the lord.'"
  • 00:15:09.157 --> 00:15:10.525
  • Peter doesn't even recognize it's jesus.
  • 00:15:10.525 --> 00:15:12.527
  • It's not because he's too far away, there's nothing that
  • 00:15:12.527 --> 00:15:14.662
  • Suggests peter's eyesight or perception was limited.
  • 00:15:14.662 --> 00:15:18.266
  • His despair, his despondency, his personal grief, he's denied
  • 00:15:18.266 --> 00:15:21.936
  • The lord.
  • 00:15:21.936 --> 00:15:23.271
  • He failed his best friend.
  • 00:15:23.271 --> 00:15:25.473
  • And john says, "pete, it's jesus."
  • 00:15:25.473 --> 00:15:29.510
  • And in typical fashion, john says, "as soon as simon peter
  • 00:15:29.510 --> 00:15:34.482
  • Heard him say, 'it's the lord,' he wrapped his garment around
  • 00:15:34.482 --> 00:15:37.151
  • Him and he jumped in the water."
  • 00:15:37.151 --> 00:15:39.120
  • Doesn't that sound like peter?
  • 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.489
  • Jesus says to the disciples on the night he's gonna be
  • 00:15:41.489 --> 00:15:43.558
  • Betrayed, "you're all gonna abandon me."
  • 00:15:43.558 --> 00:15:45.593
  • And peter said, "oh, not me.
  • 00:15:45.593 --> 00:15:48.162
  • Never me."
  • 00:15:48.162 --> 00:15:50.198
  • You know, they're in the boat at night struggling against the
  • 00:15:50.198 --> 00:15:52.400
  • Waves and jesus comes walking across the water and jesus says,
  • 00:15:52.400 --> 00:15:56.170
  • "it's me, don't be afraid," and peter said, "well, lord, if it's
  • 00:15:56.170 --> 00:15:58.272
  • You, i wanna walk."
  • 00:15:58.272 --> 00:16:01.709
  • Well, on this day they're in the boat and when john says, "it's
  • 00:16:01.709 --> 00:16:04.345
  • The lord," peter just jumps in.
  • 00:16:04.345 --> 00:16:08.016
  • God bless his pointed head.
  • 00:16:08.016 --> 00:16:12.387
  • "the other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of
  • 00:16:12.387 --> 00:16:15.056
  • Fish, and they weren't far from the shore, about a hundred
  • 00:16:15.056 --> 00:16:17.558
  • Yards away.
  • 00:16:17.558 --> 00:16:19.293
  • And when they landed, they saw a fire burning coals with fish on
  • 00:16:19.293 --> 00:16:22.063
  • It, and some bread.
  • 00:16:22.063 --> 00:16:23.431
  • And jesus said, 'bring some of the fish you've just caught.'"
  • 00:16:23.431 --> 00:16:26.567
  • One of my favorite places to visit when i'm in israel, it is
  • 00:16:26.567 --> 00:16:30.204
  • A simple little church on the northern end of the sea
  • 00:16:30.204 --> 00:16:32.373
  • Of galilee.
  • 00:16:32.373 --> 00:16:33.708
  • It's made out of basalt stone.
  • 00:16:33.708 --> 00:16:35.076
  • It's black stone.
  • 00:16:35.076 --> 00:16:36.411
  • It's not fancy.
  • 00:16:36.411 --> 00:16:37.779
  • It's not even particularly appealing.
  • 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:39.414
  • But it's the place they say the traditional place of peter's
  • 00:16:39.414 --> 00:16:43.384
  • Restoration where this event took place.
  • 00:16:43.384 --> 00:16:48.222
  • Where jesus has a meal with his friends and then after the meal
  • 00:16:48.222 --> 00:16:50.758
  • He takes peter aside and he asks him some questions.
  • 00:16:50.758 --> 00:16:55.696
  • Peter's so aware of his shortcomings that he can't
  • 00:16:55.696 --> 00:16:57.999
  • Hardly engage with the world around him.
  • 00:16:57.999 --> 00:17:02.303
  • You know, jesus's presence brings supernatural results.
  • 00:17:02.303 --> 00:17:06.207
  • I don't wanna walk past that.
  • 00:17:06.207 --> 00:17:07.575
  • You can say, "oh, they caught some fish."
  • 00:17:07.575 --> 00:17:09.143
  • No, it's more than that.
  • 00:17:09.143 --> 00:17:11.045
  • The presence of jesus changed the nature of their existence.
  • 00:17:11.045 --> 00:17:13.915
  • They fished all night with nothing.
  • 00:17:13.915 --> 00:17:16.217
  • And jesus said, "well, you might try the other side of the boat."
  • 00:17:16.217 --> 00:17:20.555
  • See, i think we're--for some reason we're afraid of jesus.
  • 00:17:20.555 --> 00:17:23.091
  • We're afraid to open our lives to him.
  • 00:17:23.091 --> 00:17:25.126
  • We have dreams and ambitions and we think we should chase them on
  • 00:17:25.126 --> 00:17:27.695
  • Our own.
  • 00:17:27.695 --> 00:17:29.030
  • We have imaginations of how we want our family to be or our
  • 00:17:29.030 --> 00:17:31.566
  • Relationships to be or our businesses to go or our children
  • 00:17:31.566 --> 00:17:34.602
  • To emerge, but we think, "you know, i don't wanna overexpose
  • 00:17:34.602 --> 00:17:37.605
  • Them to jesus."
  • 00:17:37.605 --> 00:17:40.074
  • There's something broken in that thought process.
  • 00:17:40.074 --> 00:17:42.376
  • There's something incomplete.
  • 00:17:42.376 --> 00:17:44.579
  • Because the presence of jesus brings the supernatural outcome
  • 00:17:44.579 --> 00:17:47.915
  • Of god in something as simple as fishing.
  • 00:17:47.915 --> 00:17:52.086
  • And if you would trust your future to the lord, if you would
  • 00:17:52.086 --> 00:17:55.456
  • Trust your plans to the lord and your dreams to the lord, he'll
  • 00:17:55.456 --> 00:17:58.793
  • Bring a supernatural outcome.
  • 00:17:58.793 --> 00:18:02.697
  • I've seen it over and over and over again in my own life, in
  • 00:18:02.697 --> 00:18:05.566
  • The lives of the people that i've made the journey with
  • 00:18:05.566 --> 00:18:07.735
  • Through so many years and i'm quite confident to say to you,
  • 00:18:07.735 --> 00:18:10.972
  • He'll do the same for you.
  • 00:18:10.972 --> 00:18:13.641
  • And you don't do that all at once.
  • 00:18:13.641 --> 00:18:15.143
  • That hasn't been my experience.
  • 00:18:15.143 --> 00:18:16.544
  • I find that i have done that incrementally, one little bit at
  • 00:18:16.544 --> 00:18:19.547
  • A time.
  • 00:18:19.547 --> 00:18:20.915
  • I surrender another aspect of my dream or my imagination or my
  • 00:18:20.915 --> 00:18:23.651
  • Hope or, and i'll say, "lord, i'll trust you with that.
  • 00:18:23.651 --> 00:18:27.922
  • I'll do my best to honor you in this place where i am."
  • 00:18:27.922 --> 00:18:31.893
  • You see, that catch of fish suggests to me before i even get
  • 00:18:31.893 --> 00:18:35.062
  • To the rest of the story that jesus isn't done.
  • 00:18:35.062 --> 00:18:37.598
  • He's got more in mind than a big catch of fish.
  • 00:18:37.598 --> 00:18:41.602
  • That jesus present doesn't remove all the expressions
  • 00:18:41.602 --> 00:18:43.604
  • Of evil.
  • 00:18:43.604 --> 00:18:45.106
  • It doesn't eliminate difficulty or suffering.
  • 00:18:45.106 --> 00:18:48.776
  • Sometimes we get a little sideways on this and we think,
  • 00:18:48.776 --> 00:18:50.811
  • "well, if jesus loves me, why do i?"
  • 00:18:50.811 --> 00:18:53.114
  • And then we fill in those blanks.
  • 00:18:53.114 --> 00:18:54.782
  • The incarnate son of god faced rejection and mistreatment
  • 00:18:58.586 --> 00:19:03.891
  • And hatred.
  • 00:19:03.891 --> 00:19:05.760
  • And his closest friends all the way through the new testament
  • 00:19:05.760 --> 00:19:08.162
  • And if you precede that throughout the old testament,
  • 00:19:08.162 --> 00:19:11.299
  • The people of god have faced challenges and opposition.
  • 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.502
  • I'm quite confident we will too.
  • 00:19:14.502 --> 00:19:17.371
  • So the difficulties in your life, the disappointments in
  • 00:19:17.371 --> 00:19:20.141
  • Your life, the expressions of evil in your life, they don't
  • 00:19:20.141 --> 00:19:23.277
  • Mean god has abandoned you.
  • 00:19:23.277 --> 00:19:26.013
  • It means he'll make a way through.
  • 00:19:26.013 --> 00:19:28.749
  • I don't want to run out of time.
  • 00:19:28.749 --> 00:19:30.084
  • I wanna read the end of this.
  • 00:19:30.084 --> 00:19:31.452
  • John 21.
  • 00:19:31.452 --> 00:19:32.787
  • "when they'd finished eating, jesus said to simon peter,
  • 00:19:32.787 --> 00:19:35.423
  • 'simon son of john, do you truly love me more than these?'
  • 00:19:35.423 --> 00:19:38.926
  • And he said, 'yes, lord, you know i love you.'
  • 00:19:38.926 --> 00:19:41.629
  • 'then feed my lambs.'
  • 00:19:41.629 --> 00:19:43.798
  • And jesus said, 'simon, son of john, do you truly love me?'
  • 00:19:43.798 --> 00:19:46.334
  • And he said, 'yes, lord, you know i love you.'
  • 00:19:46.334 --> 00:19:48.836
  • 'then take care of my sheep.'"
  • 00:19:48.836 --> 00:19:50.204
  • He repeats it a third time.
  • 00:19:50.204 --> 00:19:51.539
  • Peter's offended.
  • 00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:52.907
  • He said, "lord, you know i love you.
  • 00:19:52.907 --> 00:19:54.242
  • Why the questions?"
  • 00:19:54.242 --> 00:19:55.943
  • Well, peter, you know, most of us know pete, he's the one who
  • 00:19:55.943 --> 00:19:58.846
  • Denied the lord.
  • 00:19:58.846 --> 00:20:00.181
  • Folks, all of his friends hid that night.
  • 00:20:00.181 --> 00:20:02.350
  • Peter's the one that's recorded.
  • 00:20:02.350 --> 00:20:03.684
  • Peter's the one that's in the spotlight.
  • 00:20:03.684 --> 00:20:05.953
  • But i mean, it's unfaithful, peter, it's frightened peter,
  • 00:20:05.953 --> 00:20:08.656
  • It's intimidated peter.
  • 00:20:08.656 --> 00:20:10.524
  • It's the peter that didn't have the courage under the pressure
  • 00:20:10.524 --> 00:20:12.927
  • Of the moment, all the things.
  • 00:20:12.927 --> 00:20:15.463
  • All the things.
  • 00:20:15.463 --> 00:20:17.098
  • And yet jesus comes in a very personal way to restore and to
  • 00:20:17.098 --> 00:20:21.135
  • Give him a commission.
  • 00:20:21.135 --> 00:20:23.004
  • It changes peter's future.
  • 00:20:23.004 --> 00:20:24.672
  • He's never the same again.
  • 00:20:24.672 --> 00:20:27.108
  • It's the force of peter's character, the scholars, even
  • 00:20:27.108 --> 00:20:29.777
  • The liberal scholars say that enabled the church to survive in
  • 00:20:29.777 --> 00:20:33.314
  • Those early years after jesus ascended back to heaven.
  • 00:20:33.314 --> 00:20:36.784
  • That's why god sent peter to caesarea to the home of a
  • 00:20:36.784 --> 00:20:40.454
  • Centurion named cornelius, because if any of the other
  • 00:20:40.454 --> 00:20:43.391
  • Apostles had gone, it wouldn't have made it through the
  • 00:20:43.391 --> 00:20:45.426
  • Pressure of jerusalem.
  • 00:20:45.426 --> 00:20:46.794
  • But if peter went there and god brought forth through peter's
  • 00:20:46.794 --> 00:20:49.797
  • Life, they'll believe it when he gets to jerusalem.
  • 00:20:49.797 --> 00:20:53.467
  • Peter had an assignment.
  • 00:20:53.467 --> 00:20:56.237
  • We find him all through the book of acts.
  • 00:20:56.237 --> 00:20:59.073
  • We don't have it recorded in scripture, but church tradition
  • 00:20:59.073 --> 00:21:01.375
  • Tells us that when peter was condemned to crucifixion, he
  • 00:21:01.375 --> 00:21:05.479
  • Made the request that he could be crucified upside down.
  • 00:21:05.479 --> 00:21:07.882
  • He said, "i don't deserve to die in the same way my lord did."
  • 00:21:07.882 --> 00:21:12.019
  • I believe that commission was fashioned, i believe that
  • 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:14.355
  • Commitment was fashioned on the shores of the northern end of
  • 00:21:14.355 --> 00:21:17.925
  • The lake of galilee that day when jesus took him aside and
  • 00:21:17.925 --> 00:21:21.128
  • Said, "pete, feed my sheep.
  • 00:21:21.128 --> 00:21:25.700
  • Not because you're perfect, not because you haven't failed, not
  • 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:29.937
  • Because you haven't denied me in public, not because you haven't
  • 00:21:29.937 --> 00:21:33.107
  • Been intimidated.
  • 00:21:33.107 --> 00:21:35.443
  • Peter, you know, you seldom think before you speak.
  • 00:21:35.443 --> 00:21:42.550
  • Peter, i have an assignment for you."
  • 00:21:42.550 --> 00:21:45.753
  • Well, this easter weekend, i came with a message for you,
  • 00:21:45.753 --> 00:21:49.990
  • That easter is about restoration and a new commission in
  • 00:21:49.990 --> 00:21:52.393
  • Our lives.
  • 00:21:52.393 --> 00:21:54.295
  • Where we've stepped away from honoring our lord.
  • 00:21:54.295 --> 00:21:57.498
  • You know, that usually starts in our homes long before it starts
  • 00:21:57.498 --> 00:22:01.102
  • In public places.
  • 00:22:01.102 --> 00:22:04.605
  • Sometimes there's just too much influence from secular ideas and
  • 00:22:04.605 --> 00:22:07.475
  • It steals our heart and it infects our habits and our
  • 00:22:07.475 --> 00:22:11.812
  • Behaviors and we start comparing ourselves to a more ungodly
  • 00:22:11.812 --> 00:22:16.650
  • Culture and we go, "well, i'm better than that."
  • 00:22:16.650 --> 00:22:19.687
  • But that isn't the standard.
  • 00:22:19.687 --> 00:22:23.324
  • It's time this easter weekend for a new beginning.
  • 00:22:23.324 --> 00:22:26.193
  • Now, i wanna invite you to say a prayer with me.
  • 00:22:30.164 --> 00:22:33.033
  • Why don't you stand for this.
  • 00:22:33.033 --> 00:22:34.368
  • You can put that cup back in the bag.
  • 00:22:34.368 --> 00:22:37.204
  • It's a delivery system and then we'll use it to clean it up.
  • 00:22:37.204 --> 00:22:41.642
  • I'm just gonna ask you to repeat a simple prayer with me.
  • 00:22:41.642 --> 00:22:43.844
  • I'll give it to you phrase by phrase.
  • 00:22:43.844 --> 00:22:45.980
  • It's not posted anywhere, but i will put it someplace so you can
  • 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:49.016
  • Get it later.
  • 00:22:49.016 --> 00:22:52.253
  • It's an acknowledgement of jesus, it's a request for
  • 00:22:52.253 --> 00:22:56.457
  • Forgiveness, and it's a commitment to a new beginning.
  • 00:22:56.457 --> 00:23:01.028
  • If you would like those things, i invite you to join me in
  • 00:23:01.028 --> 00:23:03.631
  • This prayer.
  • 00:23:03.631 --> 00:23:04.999
  • You just close your eyes, forget the people around you for
  • 00:23:04.999 --> 00:23:06.967
  • A moment.
  • 00:23:06.967 --> 00:23:08.969
  • You know there's a day that will come when you'll stand before
  • 00:23:08.969 --> 00:23:10.971
  • The lord.
  • 00:23:10.971 --> 00:23:12.339
  • The bible says that there are two appointments that we all
  • 00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:14.208
  • Have, death and after death judgment.
  • 00:23:14.208 --> 00:23:18.345
  • And when we keep those appointments, no one can stand
  • 00:23:18.345 --> 00:23:20.915
  • On our behalf.
  • 00:23:20.915 --> 00:23:23.017
  • Not a spouse, not a family member, not a pastor.
  • 00:23:23.017 --> 00:23:26.520
  • We'll stand there and every one of us wanna be prepared.
  • 00:23:26.520 --> 00:23:31.125
  • It's a big religious word, it's righteousness.
  • 00:23:31.125 --> 00:23:34.094
  • Righteousness means the ability to stand before god without
  • 00:23:34.094 --> 00:23:37.965
  • Fear, without guilt, or without shame.
  • 00:23:37.965 --> 00:23:42.369
  • Isn't that amazing?
  • 00:23:42.369 --> 00:23:44.038
  • To stand before god without fear, without guilt, or
  • 00:23:44.038 --> 00:23:48.843
  • Without shame.
  • 00:23:48.843 --> 00:23:50.644
  • Well, in this prayer, you have the invitation to receive the
  • 00:23:50.644 --> 00:23:55.249
  • Gift of righteousness.
  • 00:23:55.249 --> 00:23:58.419
  • It's a gift.
  • 00:23:58.419 --> 00:23:59.753
  • You can't earn it.
  • 00:23:59.753 --> 00:24:01.121
  • You can't pay for it.
  • 00:24:01.121 --> 00:24:02.456
  • You don't deserve it.
  • 00:24:02.456 --> 00:24:03.824
  • There's nothing we have to trade for it.
  • 00:24:03.824 --> 00:24:05.159
  • I don't have anything god needs.
  • 00:24:05.159 --> 00:24:06.494
  • But if you will receive it, he will give every one of us
  • 00:24:06.494 --> 00:24:08.262
  • The gift, but the gift comes with a commission.
  • 00:24:08.262 --> 00:24:11.899
  • It doesn't come with a license to be selfish.
  • 00:24:11.899 --> 00:24:15.469
  • So if you're interested, let's pray this prayer together.
  • 00:24:15.469 --> 00:24:18.706
  • "heavenly father, i choose jesus as lord and i will serve him
  • 00:24:18.706 --> 00:24:25.679
  • As king.
  • 00:24:25.679 --> 00:24:28.282
  • Forgive me of my indifference.
  • 00:24:28.282 --> 00:24:32.119
  • Forgive me of my reluctance.
  • 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:35.356
  • I have allowed the fear of others' opinions to diminish my
  • 00:24:35.356 --> 00:24:41.562
  • Faith and courage.
  • 00:24:41.562 --> 00:24:45.332
  • I ask you now to forgive my sins, my willful disobedience
  • 00:24:45.332 --> 00:24:51.071
  • To you.
  • 00:24:51.071 --> 00:24:54.141
  • And i forgive all those who've sinned against me.
  • 00:24:54.141 --> 00:24:56.644
  • Restore to me the joy of my salvation.
  • 00:25:00.014 --> 00:25:02.616
  • Renew my heart.
  • 00:25:05.686 --> 00:25:08.088
  • May your invitations be more clear than my failures.
  • 00:25:08.088 --> 00:25:11.325
  • I choose to serve jesus with all of my heart, with all of my
  • 00:25:14.895 --> 00:25:21.201
  • Soul, with all of my body.
  • 00:25:21.201 --> 00:25:25.372
  • And now i ask, may i see the power of god at work in me, at
  • 00:25:25.372 --> 00:25:33.614
  • Work through me, and at work throughout the earth.
  • 00:25:33.614 --> 00:25:39.453
  • In jesus's name, amen."
  • 00:25:39.453 --> 00:25:43.857
  • Hallelujah.
  • 00:25:43.857 --> 00:25:45.259
  • A whole new batch of roman centurions responding to god.
  • 00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:55.903
  • The lord is so good to us.
  • 00:25:55.903 --> 00:25:58.339
  • There is a greeting that is as old as the christian church.
  • 00:25:58.339 --> 00:26:01.942
  • You know, when the church began, christianity was persecuted, and
  • 00:26:01.942 --> 00:26:05.279
  • If you met somebody in public and you suspected they were a
  • 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:07.982
  • Believer, you would say, "he is risen."
  • 00:26:07.982 --> 00:26:11.619
  • And if they were a believer, the response was, "he is
  • 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:13.988
  • Risen indeed."
  • 00:26:13.988 --> 00:26:15.556
  • He is risen.
  • 00:26:15.556 --> 00:26:16.924
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:26:18.726 --> 00:26:24.431
  • Allen: you know, i've often said that what happens in the white
  • 00:26:24.431 --> 00:26:26.367
  • House is not more important than what happens in your house.
  • 00:26:26.367 --> 00:26:29.303
  • I have an assignment if you'll accept it.
  • 00:26:29.303 --> 00:26:31.305
  • Imagine your kitchen table as an expression of the love of god to
  • 00:26:31.305 --> 00:26:34.875
  • Our generation.
  • 00:26:34.875 --> 00:26:36.243
  • Let's start to practice hospitality from the inside out,
  • 00:26:36.243 --> 00:26:38.646
  • From our kitchen table to our neighbors, our friends.
  • 00:26:38.646 --> 00:26:42.082
  • God will meet us in that place as we take those simple steps of
  • 00:26:42.082 --> 00:26:45.119
  • Obedience, honor him at our kitchen table, and we can join
  • 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.555
  • With what god is doing in the earth.
  • 00:26:48.555 --> 00:26:50.491
  • Now that is an opportunity.
  • 00:26:50.491 --> 00:26:53.360
  • Female announcer: some of life's most meaningful moments happen
  • 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:55.596
  • Around a kitchen table.
  • 00:26:55.596 --> 00:26:57.064
  • That's where stories are shared and faith is passed from one
  • 00:26:57.064 --> 00:27:00.100
  • Generation to the next.
  • 00:27:00.100 --> 00:27:01.635
  • To help you welcome others for a meal, we've created a tools for
  • 00:27:01.635 --> 00:27:04.605
  • Hospitality set.
  • 00:27:04.605 --> 00:27:05.939
  • It includes a custom kitchen towel, three of pastor alan's
  • 00:27:05.939 --> 00:27:08.842
  • Favorite recipes, and some simple tips you can use to help
  • 00:27:08.842 --> 00:27:11.745
  • Your guests feel at home.
  • 00:27:11.745 --> 00:27:14.548
  • Request your tools for hospitality set with your gift
  • 00:27:14.548 --> 00:27:17.084
  • Of $25 or more at allenjackson.com.
  • 00:27:17.084 --> 00:27:23.657
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:26.994 --> 00:27:26.994