1. TBN
  2. Programs
  3. Allen Jackson Ministries
  4. Episodes
  5. Allen Jackson - Power For The Impossible (Part 1)
Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Power For The Impossible (Part 1)

September 23, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - Power For The Impossible (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Disciples #Faith #TrustGod #Deliverance #Surrender #WalkwithGod #Journey #Obedience #Discipleship

Closed captions

Show Timecode
Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Power For The Impossible (Part 1) | September 23, 2025
  • ...
  • 00:00:00.633 --> 00:00:01.450
  • Allen jackson: i'm of the opinion that professional
  • 00:00:06.822 --> 00:00:09.058
  • Christians like myself, we tend to make christianity
  • 00:00:09.191 --> 00:00:11.393
  • Too difficult.
  • 00:00:11.527 --> 00:00:12.761
  • We use big words and big concepts.
  • 00:00:12.895 --> 00:00:13.529
  • You know, we'll talk about hermeneutics and homiletics and
  • 00:00:14.830 --> 00:00:18.133
  • Exegetical specificity and reading the koine greek and the
  • 00:00:18.133 --> 00:00:21.937
  • Masoretic hebrew.
  • 00:00:21.937 --> 00:00:23.672
  • And i've studied a lot, and i understand the words,
  • 00:00:23.672 --> 00:00:26.008
  • And i could probably even come up with some definitions.
  • 00:00:26.008 --> 00:00:28.410
  • But in reality, i don't think our faith is that complicated.
  • 00:00:28.410 --> 00:00:31.480
  • Well, i've written a new book that's really at the heart.
  • 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.183
  • It's a concept that changed my life,
  • 00:00:34.183 --> 00:00:35.517
  • And it's changed my relationship with the lord.
  • 00:00:35.517 --> 00:00:37.619
  • It's my friend jesus.
  • 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:39.488
  • See, i think you and i know how to be a friend.
  • 00:00:39.488 --> 00:00:41.757
  • We know what we want from a friend.
  • 00:00:41.757 --> 00:00:43.225
  • We know what our friends imagine is appropriate from us.
  • 00:00:43.225 --> 00:00:46.595
  • Well, i wanna be jesus's friend.
  • 00:00:46.595 --> 00:00:48.831
  • I wanna do things that make him smile.
  • 00:00:48.831 --> 00:00:50.432
  • I don't wanna be involved with things that make him angry.
  • 00:00:50.432 --> 00:00:53.368
  • When he sees me, i want it to be a pleasant interaction.
  • 00:00:53.368 --> 00:00:56.505
  • I wanna be jesus's friend. it'll change your faith.
  • 00:00:56.505 --> 00:00:59.508
  • I believe this book will help open a whole new door in your
  • 00:00:59.508 --> 00:01:02.778
  • Relationship with the lord.
  • 00:01:02.778 --> 00:01:04.146
  • It'll be a blessing to you.
  • 00:01:04.146 --> 00:01:05.514
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:01:06.715 --> 00:01:17.960
  • Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.aberdeen.io
  • 00:01:08.951 --> 00:01:22.998
  • Allen: we are walking through a series under the title of "lions
  • 00:01:26.702 --> 00:01:29.204
  • & lambs," and the foundation of that really comes from our
  • 00:01:29.204 --> 00:01:32.574
  • New testament.
  • 00:01:32.574 --> 00:01:33.942
  • There's two presentations of lions in the new testament.
  • 00:01:33.942 --> 00:01:36.445
  • One is from peter, the fisherman that jesus recruited, and peter
  • 00:01:36.445 --> 00:01:40.549
  • Says "to be sober and alert because our enemy, the devil,
  • 00:01:40.549 --> 00:01:45.020
  • Prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone
  • 00:01:45.020 --> 00:01:47.623
  • To devour."
  • 00:01:47.623 --> 00:01:49.124
  • And he says resist him.
  • 00:01:49.124 --> 00:01:51.660
  • Then in the book of revelation, there's an alternative.
  • 00:01:51.660 --> 00:01:53.662
  • There's a lion.
  • 00:01:53.662 --> 00:01:54.997
  • John has this revelation of the throne room of heaven.
  • 00:01:54.997 --> 00:01:57.633
  • And the book that contains the scroll that contains the message
  • 00:01:57.633 --> 00:02:00.602
  • Of the end of the age is presented, but there's no one
  • 00:02:00.602 --> 00:02:02.704
  • Worthy to open the scroll and john begins to weep.
  • 00:02:02.704 --> 00:02:06.008
  • And a voice speaks up and said, "no, there's someone worthy to
  • 00:02:06.008 --> 00:02:08.610
  • Open that.
  • 00:02:08.610 --> 00:02:09.945
  • He's the lion of the tribe of judah."
  • 00:02:09.945 --> 00:02:12.581
  • And the premise is that our lives are aligned with one of
  • 00:02:12.581 --> 00:02:15.250
  • Those two lions.
  • 00:02:15.250 --> 00:02:17.419
  • There's no third option.
  • 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:19.755
  • And we're given very clear instructions when we hear the
  • 00:02:19.755 --> 00:02:22.224
  • Roar of the satanic influence in our own heart or in our world.
  • 00:02:22.224 --> 00:02:26.395
  • Peter said, "resist him, standing firm in the faith."
  • 00:02:26.395 --> 00:02:30.766
  • And when the lion of the tribe of judah was revealed in
  • 00:02:30.766 --> 00:02:32.935
  • Revelation 5, everybody present began to worship him.
  • 00:02:32.935 --> 00:02:37.139
  • So we have to resist satan's roars, and we want to learn to
  • 00:02:37.139 --> 00:02:41.143
  • Worship the lion of the tribe of judah.
  • 00:02:41.143 --> 00:02:44.546
  • Those are both expressions of god's power necessary in our
  • 00:02:44.546 --> 00:02:47.649
  • Earth--in the earth for us to lead triumphant lives, and so
  • 00:02:47.649 --> 00:02:51.820
  • That's kind of the foundation of this series we're
  • 00:02:51.820 --> 00:02:53.755
  • Walking through.
  • 00:02:53.755 --> 00:02:55.090
  • Right now, if you do the bible reading with us, we're in the
  • 00:02:55.090 --> 00:02:56.825
  • Book of 2 kings, such a happy book.
  • 00:02:56.825 --> 00:03:03.565
  • God got up on the wrong side of the bed, and they wrote 2 kings.
  • 00:03:03.565 --> 00:03:07.836
  • Not really, but i try to read a bit ahead of what we're doing as
  • 00:03:07.836 --> 00:03:11.607
  • A group, but i thought 2 kings was worthy of at least one of
  • 00:03:11.607 --> 00:03:15.277
  • Our sessions.
  • 00:03:15.277 --> 00:03:17.045
  • So just some excerpts from that.
  • 00:03:17.045 --> 00:03:19.214
  • I'll start in 2 kings chapter 1 and verse 1, says: "after ahab,"
  • 00:03:19.214 --> 00:03:23.485
  • And ahab in the bible is the gold standard for wickedness.
  • 00:03:23.485 --> 00:03:28.957
  • I mean, ahab rang the bell.
  • 00:03:28.957 --> 00:03:30.692
  • Like, if you want to be wicked, he went to the top of the hill.
  • 00:03:30.692 --> 00:03:34.096
  • I mean he just--but "after ahab's death, moab rebelled
  • 00:03:34.096 --> 00:03:38.634
  • Against israel.
  • 00:03:38.634 --> 00:03:39.968
  • Now ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room in
  • 00:03:39.968 --> 00:03:43.639
  • Samaria and he injured himself."
  • 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:45.073
  • Wouldn't that be awful?
  • 00:03:45.073 --> 00:03:46.441
  • You have a clumsy moment and they put it in the
  • 00:03:46.441 --> 00:03:48.043
  • Bible forever.
  • 00:03:48.043 --> 00:03:51.113
  • Huh, i mean, that's worse than social media.
  • 00:03:51.113 --> 00:03:54.983
  • I mean, i don't know whether he tripped.
  • 00:03:54.983 --> 00:03:56.752
  • I don't know what happened, but he made the book.
  • 00:03:56.752 --> 00:04:00.055
  • "so he sent messengers, saying to them, 'go and consult
  • 00:04:00.055 --> 00:04:03.292
  • Baal-zebub, the god of ekron, to see if i'll recover from
  • 00:04:03.292 --> 00:04:07.095
  • This injury.'
  • 00:04:07.095 --> 00:04:09.398
  • But the angel of the lord said to elijah, 'go up and meet the
  • 00:04:09.398 --> 00:04:13.402
  • Messengers of the king of samaria and ask them, "is it
  • 00:04:13.402 --> 00:04:16.438
  • Because there is no god in israel that you're going off to
  • 00:04:16.438 --> 00:04:18.874
  • Consult baal-zebub, the god of ekron?"
  • 00:04:18.874 --> 00:04:22.344
  • Therefore this is what the lord says: "you will not leave the
  • 00:04:22.344 --> 00:04:25.714
  • Bed you're lying on.
  • 00:04:25.714 --> 00:04:27.049
  • You'll certainly die!"'"
  • 00:04:27.049 --> 00:04:31.053
  • That's the message god gave elijah.
  • 00:04:31.053 --> 00:04:33.755
  • To which elijah responded to the lord, "well, i don't want to
  • 00:04:33.755 --> 00:04:36.458
  • Be political."
  • 00:04:36.458 --> 00:04:41.163
  • No, actually it says, "so elijah went."
  • 00:04:41.163 --> 00:04:44.866
  • I think sometimes we think the bible only delivers good news.
  • 00:04:44.866 --> 00:04:48.970
  • It only delivers blessings and i'm grateful that the
  • 00:04:48.970 --> 00:04:51.139
  • Overwhelming majority of the time it seems to, but there's
  • 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:54.009
  • Another aspect of the character of god that's hinted here.
  • 00:04:54.009 --> 00:04:56.378
  • God said, "you know, you could have called on me, but because
  • 00:04:56.378 --> 00:04:58.613
  • You chose not to, you're on your own and you're not surviving."
  • 00:04:58.613 --> 00:05:02.150
  • And he sent the prophet to tell him.
  • 00:05:02.150 --> 00:05:05.053
  • I mean, it was one thing for that to have been the opinion
  • 00:05:05.053 --> 00:05:06.855
  • In heaven.
  • 00:05:06.855 --> 00:05:08.623
  • But it's a whole different thing when god says, "no, i'm gonna
  • 00:05:08.623 --> 00:05:11.393
  • Send a messenger to tell you you're toast."
  • 00:05:11.393 --> 00:05:17.432
  • So in the midst of that, in the midst of getting elisha--elijah
  • 00:05:17.432 --> 00:05:23.372
  • To the meeting, they send a contingent of soldiers.
  • 00:05:23.372 --> 00:05:28.410
  • Same chapter, verse 8: "they said, 'he was a man with a
  • 00:05:28.410 --> 00:05:31.847
  • Garment of hair and a leather belt around his waist,' and the
  • 00:05:31.847 --> 00:05:34.182
  • King said, 'that was elijah.'
  • 00:05:34.182 --> 00:05:36.418
  • So then he sent to elijah a captain with his company of
  • 00:05:36.418 --> 00:05:38.787
  • Fifty men.
  • 00:05:38.787 --> 00:05:40.122
  • And the captain went up to elijah, who was sitting on the
  • 00:05:40.122 --> 00:05:41.723
  • Top of a hill, and he said to him, 'man of god, the king says,
  • 00:05:41.723 --> 00:05:44.126
  • "come down!"'"
  • 00:05:44.126 --> 00:05:46.294
  • Wicked king.
  • 00:05:46.294 --> 00:05:48.130
  • "and elijah answered, 'if i'm a man of god, may fire come down
  • 00:05:48.130 --> 00:05:51.266
  • From heaven and consume you and your fifty men!'"
  • 00:05:51.266 --> 00:05:56.104
  • You know, i've studied pastoral care in a variety of settings.
  • 00:05:56.104 --> 00:06:01.610
  • That was never a response that i was coached towards.
  • 00:06:01.610 --> 00:06:06.114
  • "then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and
  • 00:06:06.114 --> 00:06:08.917
  • His men."
  • 00:06:08.917 --> 00:06:10.285
  • And if you've read this, if you read the narrative, the
  • 00:06:10.285 --> 00:06:11.753
  • Passage's already, you know, it's repeated again.
  • 00:06:11.753 --> 00:06:14.923
  • And the king just keeps sending groups of 50.
  • 00:06:14.923 --> 00:06:16.925
  • He apparently doesn't care too much about his men.
  • 00:06:16.925 --> 00:06:19.961
  • The third captain's wiser, he approaches a bit
  • 00:06:19.961 --> 00:06:22.364
  • More cautiously.
  • 00:06:22.364 --> 00:06:24.800
  • You know, we read our bible and people always, you know, "what's
  • 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.436
  • The explanation?"
  • 00:06:27.436 --> 00:06:28.804
  • I don't always have good explanation.
  • 00:06:28.804 --> 00:06:30.138
  • Sometimes i read my bible to understand the character and the
  • 00:06:30.138 --> 00:06:32.340
  • Nature of god.
  • 00:06:32.340 --> 00:06:34.409
  • There are ways the bible is a revelation for us.
  • 00:06:34.409 --> 00:06:37.913
  • And that doesn't offend my intellect.
  • 00:06:37.913 --> 00:06:39.614
  • I love to learn.
  • 00:06:39.614 --> 00:06:40.982
  • I like to study.
  • 00:06:40.982 --> 00:06:42.317
  • I'm happy to have explanations, but i don't stand outside the
  • 00:06:42.317 --> 00:06:44.953
  • Bible and try to explain it.
  • 00:06:44.953 --> 00:06:46.421
  • I try to let the bible speak to me.
  • 00:06:46.421 --> 00:06:49.291
  • I'm not the judge of the bible.
  • 00:06:49.291 --> 00:06:50.625
  • The bible judges me.
  • 00:06:50.625 --> 00:06:52.961
  • And there's something of a revelation of the character and
  • 00:06:52.961 --> 00:06:55.464
  • The nature of god in here that is largely lost in
  • 00:06:55.464 --> 00:06:57.866
  • Contemporary evangelicalism.
  • 00:06:57.866 --> 00:07:00.936
  • You know, the 21st century church has fallen prey to a
  • 00:07:00.936 --> 00:07:03.905
  • Completely different kind of faith than this.
  • 00:07:03.905 --> 00:07:06.107
  • Like, it's not uncommon to hear christians that many of us would
  • 00:07:06.107 --> 00:07:08.710
  • Know of great influence, say, you know, "i just don't read my
  • 00:07:08.710 --> 00:07:11.313
  • Old testament."
  • 00:07:11.313 --> 00:07:13.415
  • Like, wow.
  • 00:07:13.415 --> 00:07:15.584
  • That's like leaving half a recipe out.
  • 00:07:15.584 --> 00:07:18.620
  • I don't wanna eat with you.
  • 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:21.122
  • And if you're not willing to accept the truth of the old
  • 00:07:21.122 --> 00:07:22.958
  • Testament, to be honest, i don't wanna worship with you.
  • 00:07:22.958 --> 00:07:26.728
  • We can't pick and choose the parts of the bible we pick up.
  • 00:07:26.728 --> 00:07:29.865
  • I don't understand them all.
  • 00:07:29.865 --> 00:07:31.233
  • I wouldn't pretend to.
  • 00:07:31.233 --> 00:07:32.634
  • But the truth is we have largely removed the power of god, the
  • 00:07:32.634 --> 00:07:35.837
  • Sovereignty of god.
  • 00:07:35.837 --> 00:07:38.039
  • The aspects of god's character and his engagement with human
  • 00:07:38.039 --> 00:07:40.976
  • Beings that result in awe and wonder and even uncertainty, to
  • 00:07:40.976 --> 00:07:46.281
  • A great extent, have been minimized.
  • 00:07:46.281 --> 00:07:48.850
  • We've tried to kind of just remove them.
  • 00:07:48.850 --> 00:07:52.854
  • Godliness has been reduced to a moral suggestion where the edges
  • 00:07:52.854 --> 00:07:58.193
  • Are soft because we've had a primary emphasis upon the grace
  • 00:07:58.193 --> 00:08:02.764
  • And mercy of god, so we could soften those edges.
  • 00:08:02.764 --> 00:08:07.035
  • Compliance with god's truth, we are told, is voluntary, even for
  • 00:08:07.035 --> 00:08:13.108
  • Those who imagine themselves to be christian.
  • 00:08:13.108 --> 00:08:16.545
  • We shouldn't think of god's directives as being mandantory
  • 00:08:16.545 --> 00:08:21.516
  • Or real boundaries.
  • 00:08:21.516 --> 00:08:22.851
  • After all, god's a god of love, and he said he would forgive our
  • 00:08:22.851 --> 00:08:26.454
  • Sins and that he loves us.
  • 00:08:26.454 --> 00:08:28.823
  • So i have a question i just want to pose.
  • 00:08:28.823 --> 00:08:31.459
  • Do you imagine that god loved less in the book of 2 kings?
  • 00:08:31.459 --> 00:08:37.465
  • No, i don't.
  • 00:08:37.465 --> 00:08:38.967
  • Is the gospel of john less intimidating than genesis?
  • 00:08:38.967 --> 00:08:41.803
  • I don't think so.
  • 00:08:41.803 --> 00:08:44.773
  • To live with the power of god, i would submit to you that we also
  • 00:08:44.773 --> 00:08:48.176
  • Must learn to submit to the sovereignty of god.
  • 00:08:48.176 --> 00:08:51.846
  • And to live without the power of god simply makes us another
  • 00:08:51.846 --> 00:08:54.816
  • Philosophical society, a civic group, some kind of a
  • 00:08:54.816 --> 00:08:58.553
  • Social club.
  • 00:08:58.553 --> 00:09:00.121
  • The church cannot be understood and certainly can't represent
  • 00:09:00.121 --> 00:09:02.824
  • The kingdom that we say we're a part of without demonstrations
  • 00:09:02.824 --> 00:09:05.927
  • Of the power of god.
  • 00:09:05.927 --> 00:09:08.697
  • Doesn't mean our lives are always perfect or easy or
  • 00:09:08.697 --> 00:09:11.199
  • Without incident or without challenge, but in the midst of
  • 00:09:11.199 --> 00:09:14.235
  • All of the messiness that comes with our journey through time,
  • 00:09:14.235 --> 00:09:16.972
  • We are desperately in need of the power of god.
  • 00:09:16.972 --> 00:09:21.576
  • It's true.
  • 00:09:21.576 --> 00:09:24.779
  • I don't have simple explanations for those passages other than i
  • 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:28.350
  • Can tell, you know, the first commandment is you can worship
  • 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:30.418
  • No other gods.
  • 00:09:30.418 --> 00:09:33.121
  • Hard stop.
  • 00:09:33.121 --> 00:09:34.856
  • That was the first boundary god drew.
  • 00:09:34.856 --> 00:09:36.524
  • He said, "listen, i'm intolerant.
  • 00:09:36.524 --> 00:09:39.728
  • You can't have a plethora of gods, you can't have a pantheon
  • 00:09:39.728 --> 00:09:42.664
  • Like the romans did with a whole building full of all the gods
  • 00:09:42.664 --> 00:09:45.000
  • And you can pick the one that suits your moment."
  • 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:48.403
  • He said, "i won't tolerate that."
  • 00:09:48.403 --> 00:09:51.573
  • And we find it throughout the scripture, both old and
  • 00:09:51.573 --> 00:09:54.275
  • New testament.
  • 00:09:54.275 --> 00:09:58.313
  • Allen: hey, i've written a new book.
  • 00:10:02.150 --> 00:10:03.618
  • It's called "my friend jesus."
  • 00:10:03.618 --> 00:10:05.420
  • You know, i'm a pastor--a lot of ritual,
  • 00:10:05.420 --> 00:10:07.489
  • Tradition, a lot of formality in the way we know god.
  • 00:10:07.489 --> 00:10:10.892
  • It's not bad.
  • 00:10:10.892 --> 00:10:12.227
  • There's some good things in that,
  • 00:10:12.227 --> 00:10:13.628
  • But when i'm in real trouble or i have something i wanna
  • 00:10:13.628 --> 00:10:15.563
  • Celebrate, i call a friend.
  • 00:10:15.563 --> 00:10:17.699
  • Well, i wanna live my life with jesus of nazareth as my friend.
  • 00:10:17.699 --> 00:10:21.102
  • It changes everything in both celebration
  • 00:10:21.102 --> 00:10:23.938
  • And when there's a problem.
  • 00:10:23.938 --> 00:10:25.273
  • Wrote the book to help.
  • 00:10:25.273 --> 00:10:26.608
  • I think it'll open your life to god in a more personal,
  • 00:10:26.608 --> 00:10:29.044
  • Transformational way than ever before.
  • 00:10:29.044 --> 00:10:31.813
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:10:31.813 --> 00:10:33.148
  • Female announcer: in his book,
  • 00:10:33.148 --> 00:10:34.482
  • "my friend jesus," pastor allen shares how friendship with jesus
  • 00:10:34.482 --> 00:10:37.018
  • Brings clarity, strength, and peace in every part of life.
  • 00:10:37.018 --> 00:10:40.889
  • This isn't about following a religion or religious rules.
  • 00:10:40.889 --> 00:10:44.259
  • It's about cultivating a cherished relationship that will
  • 00:10:44.259 --> 00:10:46.761
  • Help your faith become more personal,
  • 00:10:46.761 --> 00:10:49.097
  • More joyful, and more powerful each day.
  • 00:10:49.097 --> 00:10:51.966
  • Request "my friend jesus" with your donation of $25 or more
  • 00:10:51.966 --> 00:10:55.804
  • Today at allenjackson.com or by calling...
  • 00:10:55.804 --> 00:11:01.543
  • Allen: we're gonna step into the narrative.
  • 00:11:02.944 --> 00:11:04.279
  • It's a story familiar to many of you.
  • 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:06.448
  • Says: "there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the
  • 00:11:06.448 --> 00:11:08.550
  • City gate, and they said to each other, 'why stay here until
  • 00:11:08.550 --> 00:11:11.653
  • We die?
  • 00:11:11.653 --> 00:11:13.021
  • If we say, "we'll go into the city"--the famine is there, and
  • 00:11:13.021 --> 00:11:14.756
  • We'll die.
  • 00:11:14.756 --> 00:11:16.091
  • And if we stay here, we'll die.
  • 00:11:16.091 --> 00:11:18.193
  • So let's go over to the camp of the arameans and surrender.
  • 00:11:18.193 --> 00:11:20.628
  • If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.'"
  • 00:11:20.628 --> 00:11:24.199
  • They don't have a good option.
  • 00:11:24.199 --> 00:11:27.068
  • They got three options and all three of them appear to end in
  • 00:11:27.068 --> 00:11:29.938
  • Certain death.
  • 00:11:29.938 --> 00:11:31.272
  • One of them, maybe it's not certain.
  • 00:11:31.272 --> 00:11:33.174
  • So that's their best choice.
  • 00:11:33.174 --> 00:11:35.210
  • "so at dusk they got up and went into the camp of the arameans.
  • 00:11:35.210 --> 00:11:38.012
  • And when they reached the edge of the camp, not a man
  • 00:11:38.012 --> 00:11:39.948
  • Was there.
  • 00:11:39.948 --> 00:11:41.816
  • The lord had caused the arameans to hear the sound of chariots
  • 00:11:41.816 --> 00:11:44.586
  • And horses and a great army, so that they said to one another,
  • 00:11:44.586 --> 00:11:47.522
  • 'look, the king of israel has hired the hittite and egyptian
  • 00:11:47.522 --> 00:11:49.858
  • Kings to attack us!'
  • 00:11:49.858 --> 00:11:51.226
  • So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents
  • 00:11:51.226 --> 00:11:53.394
  • And their horses and their donkeys.
  • 00:11:53.394 --> 00:11:55.296
  • They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
  • 00:11:55.296 --> 00:11:59.567
  • The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered
  • 00:11:59.567 --> 00:12:02.036
  • One of the tents.
  • 00:12:02.036 --> 00:12:03.671
  • And they ate and drank and carried away silver, gold and
  • 00:12:03.671 --> 00:12:05.974
  • Clothes, and went off and hid them.
  • 00:12:05.974 --> 00:12:07.342
  • And they returned and entered another tent and took some of
  • 00:12:07.342 --> 00:12:09.144
  • The things from it and hid them also."
  • 00:12:09.144 --> 00:12:13.748
  • They did come to their senses.
  • 00:12:13.748 --> 00:12:15.583
  • It's a part of the record.
  • 00:12:15.583 --> 00:12:16.951
  • After a few trips of hiding their treasure, they said, "you
  • 00:12:16.951 --> 00:12:19.354
  • Know, it's probably not kind of us.
  • 00:12:19.354 --> 00:12:22.590
  • Our friends are starving to death, and there's an abundance
  • 00:12:22.590 --> 00:12:26.027
  • Of food."
  • 00:12:26.027 --> 00:12:28.029
  • So they report to the city that's hiding
  • 00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:31.366
  • That "the enemy has left."
  • 00:12:31.366 --> 00:12:33.168
  • Then they plundered the enemy's camp.
  • 00:12:33.168 --> 00:12:35.904
  • It's a simple little story.
  • 00:12:35.904 --> 00:12:37.238
  • We've read it, i'm sure if you have been in church much you've
  • 00:12:37.238 --> 00:12:40.074
  • Heard it many, many times, but i think it provides a template for
  • 00:12:40.074 --> 00:12:42.844
  • You and me.
  • 00:12:42.844 --> 00:12:44.212
  • It's something of a case study of understanding that there is a
  • 00:12:44.212 --> 00:12:46.915
  • Power of god for the impossible places in our lives.
  • 00:12:46.915 --> 00:12:50.552
  • I don't want you to suspend logic or reason.
  • 00:12:50.552 --> 00:12:52.487
  • I'm not suggesting you can sit on your good intentions and god
  • 00:12:52.487 --> 00:12:54.823
  • Will bring all of his deliverance to you, but i'm
  • 00:12:54.823 --> 00:12:57.392
  • Suggesting that god's engagement in your life writes a
  • 00:12:57.392 --> 00:12:59.727
  • New future.
  • 00:12:59.727 --> 00:13:01.062
  • That is the story of scripture--
  • 00:13:01.062 --> 00:13:02.730
  • That being a christ follower is not simply intended to be a
  • 00:13:02.730 --> 00:13:05.733
  • Ticket to a better place in eternity, it's intended to bring
  • 00:13:05.733 --> 00:13:08.937
  • Freedom to your journey through time.
  • 00:13:08.937 --> 00:13:14.542
  • So we're just gonna walk through it in some real simple ways.
  • 00:13:14.542 --> 00:13:16.744
  • I'm not a complicated guy.
  • 00:13:16.744 --> 00:13:18.079
  • I grew up in a barn in tennessee.
  • 00:13:18.079 --> 00:13:20.315
  • But the story begins with a great need.
  • 00:13:20.315 --> 00:13:23.318
  • There's a great need in the city.
  • 00:13:23.318 --> 00:13:24.886
  • They're starving.
  • 00:13:24.886 --> 00:13:26.254
  • They've been--they're so desperate they've been plunged
  • 00:13:26.254 --> 00:13:28.489
  • Into depravity.
  • 00:13:28.489 --> 00:13:30.658
  • What's happening is unthinkable.
  • 00:13:30.658 --> 00:13:32.393
  • It's uncivilized.
  • 00:13:32.393 --> 00:13:33.728
  • All the boundaries have been broken, so they're beyond
  • 00:13:33.728 --> 00:13:36.297
  • Desperate, and the heroes in the story are gonna be these four
  • 00:13:36.297 --> 00:13:39.467
  • Leprous men who aren't even welcome in the city.
  • 00:13:39.467 --> 00:13:41.636
  • So as horrific as it is in the city, their condition is such
  • 00:13:41.636 --> 00:13:45.707
  • That they're not even welcome in the midst of the depravity and
  • 00:13:45.707 --> 00:13:48.076
  • The desperation.
  • 00:13:48.076 --> 00:13:50.044
  • So i think it's an understatement to say there's a
  • 00:13:50.044 --> 00:13:52.013
  • Great need.
  • 00:13:52.013 --> 00:13:53.882
  • But what i would introduce to us is amongst us today, and more
  • 00:13:53.882 --> 00:13:56.651
  • Than likely within all of us today, there are needs present.
  • 00:13:56.651 --> 00:14:00.822
  • Sitting in church does not remove us from that arena.
  • 00:14:00.822 --> 00:14:03.958
  • It just doesn't.
  • 00:14:03.958 --> 00:14:05.460
  • We have tensions and temptations and fears and anxieties, and
  • 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:09.397
  • We've made bad choices and we're stuck with guilt and shame.
  • 00:14:09.397 --> 00:14:12.934
  • We've faced rejection from the brokenness of our world.
  • 00:14:12.934 --> 00:14:15.503
  • We have physical challenge.
  • 00:14:15.503 --> 00:14:16.871
  • It's an endless list.
  • 00:14:16.871 --> 00:14:18.973
  • We have great needs and we have a choice to make whether we'll
  • 00:14:18.973 --> 00:14:22.343
  • Believe that god can deliver us or whether we're just gonna
  • 00:14:22.343 --> 00:14:25.013
  • Surrender to our current situation.
  • 00:14:25.013 --> 00:14:28.016
  • The overwhelming majority of the people in this narrative
  • 00:14:28.016 --> 00:14:30.418
  • Surrendered to the situation.
  • 00:14:30.418 --> 00:14:31.819
  • They're--they've been plunged into despair within the city,
  • 00:14:31.819 --> 00:14:35.223
  • But these four broken people make another choice.
  • 00:14:35.223 --> 00:14:39.861
  • You know, the question that most often comes to the surface is
  • 00:14:39.861 --> 00:14:42.196
  • "why me?"
  • 00:14:42.196 --> 00:14:43.564
  • I really, honestly, i think it's the wrong question.
  • 00:14:43.564 --> 00:14:46.534
  • I like what's modeled here.
  • 00:14:46.534 --> 00:14:48.102
  • At some point, we have to get up and begin to exert what--
  • 00:14:48.102 --> 00:14:50.438
  • With the faith that we have, what we can do.
  • 00:14:50.438 --> 00:14:54.809
  • I mean, if nothing else, we can get up and begin to thank god.
  • 00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:57.412
  • I've shared this with you before: at the darkest points in
  • 00:14:57.412 --> 00:14:59.981
  • My life when i thought despair might completely overwhelm me,
  • 00:14:59.981 --> 00:15:03.384
  • When my faith seemed to be hanging by a thread so thin that
  • 00:15:03.384 --> 00:15:05.920
  • The slightest breeze would have broken it, the only response i
  • 00:15:05.920 --> 00:15:08.856
  • Was capable of was to thank god.
  • 00:15:08.856 --> 00:15:11.592
  • And i couldn't thank him for my circumstances because they were
  • 00:15:11.592 --> 00:15:13.895
  • Making me miserable and i couldn't--but i could thank him
  • 00:15:13.895 --> 00:15:16.998
  • For his character.
  • 00:15:16.998 --> 00:15:18.967
  • Because at the end of the day, i believe god is faithful.
  • 00:15:18.967 --> 00:15:21.069
  • I believe god is just.
  • 00:15:21.069 --> 00:15:23.538
  • And i would simply begin to say those things.
  • 00:15:23.538 --> 00:15:26.941
  • I didn't feel like it.
  • 00:15:26.941 --> 00:15:28.309
  • In fact, it made me angry to think it.
  • 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:31.446
  • But i understood the seriousness of my condition.
  • 00:15:31.446 --> 00:15:35.350
  • And i didn't want to remain there, so i would begin to thank
  • 00:15:35.350 --> 00:15:38.619
  • God for who i knew he was.
  • 00:15:38.619 --> 00:15:40.989
  • And i can't explain how, but time and again, i've watched
  • 00:15:40.989 --> 00:15:43.691
  • That break the stranglehold over me, the emotional heaviness in
  • 00:15:43.691 --> 00:15:48.796
  • The darkness.
  • 00:15:48.796 --> 00:15:50.465
  • I could get up and begin to thank god and take those steps
  • 00:15:50.465 --> 00:15:53.167
  • Towards him.
  • 00:15:53.167 --> 00:15:54.502
  • "why me?"
  • 00:15:54.502 --> 00:15:55.870
  • When that starts going through your mind, you know, typically
  • 00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:57.205
  • We can't answer that question.
  • 00:15:57.205 --> 00:15:58.573
  • It isn't even a productive one.
  • 00:15:58.573 --> 00:16:02.210
  • But i do believe we can help with a brand-new start.
  • 00:16:02.210 --> 00:16:06.547
  • To those who say today they've got a great need.
  • 00:16:06.547 --> 00:16:10.818
  • Maybe the more important group to me would be those who say, "i
  • 00:16:10.818 --> 00:16:12.854
  • Have no need.
  • 00:16:12.854 --> 00:16:15.189
  • I'm pretty good, pastor.
  • 00:16:15.189 --> 00:16:17.825
  • I've been a christian since i was a little tyke.
  • 00:16:17.825 --> 00:16:20.762
  • I've served in this, i've done that.
  • 00:16:20.762 --> 00:16:22.497
  • I volunteered at the hoedown.
  • 00:16:22.497 --> 00:16:25.633
  • At easter, i park in another county and i walk to church.
  • 00:16:25.633 --> 00:16:31.839
  • I've checked all the boxes.
  • 00:16:31.839 --> 00:16:34.208
  • Haven't done any of those big moral sins that people like to
  • 00:16:34.208 --> 00:16:37.078
  • Talk about.
  • 00:16:37.078 --> 00:16:38.413
  • I'm pretty good.
  • 00:16:38.413 --> 00:16:39.781
  • I'm not really sure i've got any needs."
  • 00:16:39.781 --> 00:16:41.516
  • Well, that may be the greatest need amongst us: a complete lack
  • 00:16:41.516 --> 00:16:46.454
  • Of situational awareness.
  • 00:16:46.454 --> 00:16:47.889
  • This is our generation, folks.
  • 00:16:47.889 --> 00:16:49.457
  • This is our time in the arena.
  • 00:16:49.457 --> 00:16:50.992
  • Have you looked around us?
  • 00:16:50.992 --> 00:16:52.994
  • They're mutilating our children, our families are unraveling.
  • 00:16:52.994 --> 00:16:57.265
  • We have a level of debt that will be a burden to
  • 00:16:57.265 --> 00:16:59.534
  • Our grandchildren.
  • 00:16:59.534 --> 00:17:02.303
  • And we just keep plunging ahead.
  • 00:17:02.303 --> 00:17:05.440
  • Well, there's a passage of scripture i put in your notes.
  • 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.208
  • It's revelation 3, there's a message given to seven churches
  • 00:17:07.208 --> 00:17:11.145
  • With a correction for all seven, but the one that is the most
  • 00:17:11.145 --> 00:17:14.115
  • Desperate correction is the one i'm sharing.
  • 00:17:14.115 --> 00:17:16.084
  • It's the church at laodicea, and then, and god says to them, "you
  • 00:17:16.084 --> 00:17:19.220
  • Say, 'i'm rich; i've acquired wealth, and i don't need
  • 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:21.189
  • A thing.'
  • 00:17:21.189 --> 00:17:22.523
  • But you don't realize that you're wretched, pitiful, poor,
  • 00:17:22.523 --> 00:17:24.659
  • Blind, naked.
  • 00:17:24.659 --> 00:17:25.993
  • I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you
  • 00:17:25.993 --> 00:17:28.296
  • Can become rich; and white clothes you can wear, so you can
  • 00:17:28.296 --> 00:17:32.533
  • Cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes,
  • 00:17:32.533 --> 00:17:35.036
  • So you can see.
  • 00:17:35.036 --> 00:17:36.938
  • Those whom i love i rebuke and discipline.
  • 00:17:36.938 --> 00:17:39.674
  • So be earnest, and repent."
  • 00:17:39.674 --> 00:17:42.343
  • It's a pretty sobering message.
  • 00:17:42.343 --> 00:17:44.579
  • It's a church, it's a group of god's people.
  • 00:17:44.579 --> 00:17:47.615
  • People that have yielded their lives to the lordship of jesus,
  • 00:17:47.615 --> 00:17:50.351
  • They've done all those things that we talk about, and they
  • 00:17:50.351 --> 00:17:53.354
  • Say, "you know, i don't really need anything.
  • 00:17:53.354 --> 00:17:54.722
  • I'm good, i'm golden. rock on."
  • 00:17:54.722 --> 00:17:58.392
  • And god says to them, "well, in actuality, you're blind,
  • 00:17:58.392 --> 00:18:01.496
  • Pitiful, naked, in need of all things."
  • 00:18:01.496 --> 00:18:03.865
  • That's pretty mes--when you're so messed up that you're
  • 00:18:03.865 --> 00:18:05.766
  • Blind and naked and don't know.
  • 00:18:05.766 --> 00:18:10.538
  • You know, some of you here are never lost.
  • 00:18:10.538 --> 00:18:13.674
  • Do you live with somebody that never gets lost?
  • 00:18:13.674 --> 00:18:17.378
  • No matter where we are in the car and how far we are from our
  • 00:18:17.378 --> 00:18:19.547
  • Intended destination, i'm not really lost.
  • 00:18:19.547 --> 00:18:21.415
  • I'm just on an adventure.
  • 00:18:21.415 --> 00:18:25.286
  • You know, gps has kind of intervened on that.
  • 00:18:25.286 --> 00:18:27.388
  • They keep redirecting us, but after a while i just turn that
  • 00:18:27.388 --> 00:18:29.824
  • Off, you know, hush.
  • 00:18:29.824 --> 00:18:31.692
  • I know exactly where i'm at.
  • 00:18:31.692 --> 00:18:35.763
  • We have kind of that same attitude towards our faith
  • 00:18:35.763 --> 00:18:37.665
  • Journey sometimes, you know, "nothing really wrong with me.
  • 00:18:37.665 --> 00:18:39.600
  • I mean, i may be not all i could be, but--" we gotta fit that
  • 00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:42.637
  • Description and god says rather soberingly, this is every bit as
  • 00:18:42.637 --> 00:18:47.375
  • Harsh to me as what we just read from 2 kings.
  • 00:18:47.375 --> 00:18:49.310
  • God said, "listen, you need everything.
  • 00:18:49.310 --> 00:18:52.647
  • You have nothing. i'm not interested in your gold.
  • 00:18:52.647 --> 00:18:56.384
  • We use it to pave the streets where i live.
  • 00:18:56.384 --> 00:19:00.621
  • You don't have enough self-awareness to know you have
  • 00:19:00.621 --> 00:19:02.690
  • Nothing on."
  • 00:19:02.690 --> 00:19:05.359
  • But then he gives them some counsel: "be earnest and repent.
  • 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:09.063
  • Here i am! i stand at the door and knock.
  • 00:19:09.063 --> 00:19:10.631
  • And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, i'll come in and
  • 00:19:10.631 --> 00:19:13.100
  • Eat with him, and he with me.
  • 00:19:13.100 --> 00:19:15.203
  • To him who overcomes, i will give the right to sit with me on
  • 00:19:15.203 --> 00:19:18.105
  • My throne," and to turn the page, "just as i overcame and
  • 00:19:18.105 --> 00:19:23.744
  • Sat down with my father on his throne.
  • 00:19:23.744 --> 00:19:26.180
  • He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to
  • 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:28.082
  • The churches."
  • 00:19:28.082 --> 00:19:30.051
  • So it isn't a rejection, it's a rebuke.
  • 00:19:30.051 --> 00:19:34.121
  • But in order to receive what is being promised, repentance is
  • 00:19:34.121 --> 00:19:39.660
  • Required, and a willingness to overcome.
  • 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:43.831
  • You see, one of the challenges when problems present themselves
  • 00:19:43.831 --> 00:19:46.701
  • Is there's a great temptation just to yield and go, "well,
  • 00:19:46.701 --> 00:19:49.036
  • It's just more than i can bear; it's more than i want to
  • 00:19:49.036 --> 00:19:51.105
  • Deal with."
  • 00:19:51.105 --> 00:19:54.242
  • How many of you have at least one place in your life where
  • 00:19:54.242 --> 00:19:56.110
  • God's help would be a good thing?
  • 00:19:56.110 --> 00:19:59.747
  • Yeah, you know, almost everybody i know has a circumstance that
  • 00:19:59.747 --> 00:20:04.151
  • The only acceptable resolution would require god's involvement.
  • 00:20:04.151 --> 00:20:09.323
  • And i want to be guilty of extending those invitations.
  • 00:20:09.323 --> 00:20:12.593
  • I don't believe that's presumptuous or arrogant
  • 00:20:12.593 --> 00:20:14.562
  • Or demanding.
  • 00:20:14.562 --> 00:20:15.930
  • How god brings the resolution is up to him.
  • 00:20:15.930 --> 00:20:17.732
  • The timing of that is certainly in his hands.
  • 00:20:17.732 --> 00:20:20.635
  • But i want to have raised my hand and said, "help, please."
  • 00:20:20.635 --> 00:20:24.505
  • And so that's our objective this morning.
  • 00:20:24.505 --> 00:20:27.074
  • Why don't you stand with me.
  • 00:20:27.074 --> 00:20:28.442
  • If you're at home, you can stand with us too.
  • 00:20:28.442 --> 00:20:29.777
  • Put down your bagel, your pop-tart.
  • 00:20:29.777 --> 00:20:37.118
  • I learned a prayer years ago and i learned it as a quaker prayer.
  • 00:20:37.118 --> 00:20:39.954
  • I don't know if the quakers had anything to do with it, to be
  • 00:20:39.954 --> 00:20:42.156
  • Honest, but it works for me.
  • 00:20:42.156 --> 00:20:43.858
  • It's a prayer where we start with our palms down.
  • 00:20:43.858 --> 00:20:47.628
  • You know, and even if you're one of those people who won't raise
  • 00:20:47.628 --> 00:20:49.363
  • Your hands in church, this is safe, it's only waist level.
  • 00:20:49.363 --> 00:20:53.301
  • You know, you could excuse that you were just stretching your
  • 00:20:53.301 --> 00:20:55.202
  • Shoulders a little bit.
  • 00:20:55.202 --> 00:20:56.537
  • It's not like you're not doing anything really weird, but we
  • 00:20:56.537 --> 00:20:59.307
  • Start with our palms down to release to the lord all those
  • 00:20:59.307 --> 00:21:01.809
  • Things we need to give him.
  • 00:21:01.809 --> 00:21:04.011
  • And i can identify those categories.
  • 00:21:04.011 --> 00:21:05.913
  • Those are the things that bring anxiety and stress and fear and
  • 00:21:05.913 --> 00:21:10.351
  • Real worry, you know, that can completely occupy our hearts and
  • 00:21:10.351 --> 00:21:15.089
  • Our minds, that can immobilize us, neutralize us.
  • 00:21:15.089 --> 00:21:19.493
  • It can be anger or resentment, bitterness, hate.
  • 00:21:19.493 --> 00:21:21.929
  • You can be mad at god because you don't like your
  • 00:21:21.929 --> 00:21:24.231
  • Circumstances or evil touched your life and why didn't he
  • 00:21:24.231 --> 00:21:26.967
  • Stop that?
  • 00:21:26.967 --> 00:21:28.302
  • I mean, it can be a myriad of things, but carrying them
  • 00:21:28.302 --> 00:21:31.038
  • Doesn't help.
  • 00:21:31.038 --> 00:21:32.373
  • It imprisons you, emotionally and spiritually, and we want to
  • 00:21:32.373 --> 00:21:37.011
  • Lay those at the foot of the cross.
  • 00:21:37.011 --> 00:21:39.814
  • And then we're gonna turn our palms up
  • 00:21:39.814 --> 00:21:42.383
  • And receive what god has for us: his life, his health, his peace,
  • 00:21:42.383 --> 00:21:49.156
  • His forgiveness, his freedom, whatever that may be.
  • 00:21:49.156 --> 00:21:54.462
  • And when we turn our palms up, i'm gonna ask you to help me
  • 00:21:54.462 --> 00:21:56.530
  • Do something.
  • 00:21:56.530 --> 00:21:57.865
  • I know you're used to listening to me say a prayer.
  • 00:21:57.865 --> 00:22:00.901
  • But what i wanna ask you to do with me is just begin to say
  • 00:22:00.901 --> 00:22:03.404
  • Thank you to the lord for the things you're conscious of that
  • 00:22:03.404 --> 00:22:06.407
  • He's done in your life.
  • 00:22:06.407 --> 00:22:07.942
  • You know we're blessed people.
  • 00:22:07.942 --> 00:22:10.478
  • I know that our lives have undone places.
  • 00:22:10.478 --> 00:22:13.414
  • I'm not suggesting that everything is okay, but i am
  • 00:22:13.414 --> 00:22:17.284
  • Suggesting that we have many, many blessings.
  • 00:22:17.284 --> 00:22:20.621
  • You know, most of us have more food to eat than we need, so
  • 00:22:20.621 --> 00:22:23.290
  • There's more of us than there should be.
  • 00:22:23.290 --> 00:22:26.527
  • Most of us have so much stuff in our homes that we have to rent
  • 00:22:26.527 --> 00:22:29.764
  • Places to put stuff because there's not enough room for it
  • 00:22:29.764 --> 00:22:31.932
  • In our homes.
  • 00:22:31.932 --> 00:22:34.268
  • Most of us, our families are so busy we have a hard time ever
  • 00:22:34.268 --> 00:22:37.905
  • Sitting at the same table for a meal.
  • 00:22:37.905 --> 00:22:40.808
  • We eat in our cars.
  • 00:22:40.808 --> 00:22:43.043
  • Does that sound right?
  • 00:22:43.043 --> 00:22:44.478
  • All--i'm not--all of those are symptoms of
  • 00:22:44.478 --> 00:22:47.014
  • Overwhelming blessings.
  • 00:22:47.014 --> 00:22:49.784
  • And so what i wanna ask you to do with me when we've given to
  • 00:22:49.784 --> 00:22:53.120
  • The lord what we wanna give to him and we're ready to receive
  • 00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:55.356
  • From him, that we collectively offer just a quiet chorus
  • 00:22:55.356 --> 00:22:59.160
  • Of thanksgiving.
  • 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:01.195
  • He gave us the health to come to church today.
  • 00:23:01.195 --> 00:23:04.031
  • I have friends that would desperately like to be able to
  • 00:23:04.031 --> 00:23:06.333
  • Be here, but their health prevents it.
  • 00:23:06.333 --> 00:23:09.370
  • Can we just say thank you to him?
  • 00:23:09.370 --> 00:23:10.771
  • Now for some of you, you're thinking, "you know, that's
  • 00:23:10.771 --> 00:23:12.306
  • Just chaotic.
  • 00:23:12.306 --> 00:23:13.641
  • We're all gonna be talking at once," you know.
  • 00:23:13.641 --> 00:23:16.644
  • Well, i would submit to you that any given moment in time there
  • 00:23:16.644 --> 00:23:19.580
  • Are exponentially more people than in this room or on this
  • 00:23:19.580 --> 00:23:23.918
  • Campus that are praying to the lord at the same time.
  • 00:23:23.918 --> 00:23:27.154
  • And so far it hasn't broken the internet in heaven.
  • 00:23:27.154 --> 00:23:31.492
  • So i think we'll be okay, all right?
  • 00:23:31.492 --> 00:23:34.128
  • Then i'll close the prayer, but i want to take just a minute and
  • 00:23:34.128 --> 00:23:36.764
  • Let all of us offer a quiet thanksgiving--chorus
  • 00:23:36.764 --> 00:23:40.034
  • Of thanksgiving.
  • 00:23:40.034 --> 00:23:41.402
  • Could you do that with me, you think?
  • 00:23:41.402 --> 00:23:42.903
  • So, have you got two or three things in mind you can be
  • 00:23:42.903 --> 00:23:44.638
  • Thankful for?
  • 00:23:44.638 --> 00:23:46.574
  • You can be thankful. i'll hush in just a few minutes.
  • 00:23:46.574 --> 00:23:48.609
  • We're halfway through service. you have hope, okay?
  • 00:23:48.609 --> 00:23:54.615
  • Amen, let's pray.
  • 00:23:54.615 --> 00:23:56.283
  • Father, we come this morning, grateful that you watch over our
  • 00:23:56.283 --> 00:23:59.954
  • Lives, that there's a god in heaven who's interested and
  • 00:23:59.954 --> 00:24:02.923
  • Concerned and cares about us.
  • 00:24:02.923 --> 00:24:05.326
  • And lord, we pause this day to lay at your feet, to lay at the
  • 00:24:05.326 --> 00:24:09.029
  • Foot of the cross, those things that plague our thoughts, that
  • 00:24:09.029 --> 00:24:13.267
  • Occupy our hearts, that distract us from your goodness in
  • 00:24:13.267 --> 00:24:17.271
  • Our lives.
  • 00:24:17.271 --> 00:24:20.207
  • Lord, we have worn them and carried them and wrestled with
  • 00:24:20.207 --> 00:24:23.410
  • Them, and this morning we want to lay them before you.
  • 00:24:23.410 --> 00:24:27.147
  • Lord, others of us have habits and behaviors and emotions that
  • 00:24:27.147 --> 00:24:31.886
  • We've carried.
  • 00:24:31.886 --> 00:24:33.220
  • We've been angry and resentful and bitter and hate-filled.
  • 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:37.291
  • Lord, evil encroached on our lives, and we have responded,
  • 00:24:37.291 --> 00:24:40.528
  • But it's left us with a residue and we want to lay that at the
  • 00:24:40.528 --> 00:24:44.098
  • Foot of the cross today.
  • 00:24:44.098 --> 00:24:46.700
  • We don't wanna carry it beyond this moment in time.
  • 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:50.271
  • Others of us have struggled with questions and fears,
  • 00:24:50.271 --> 00:24:54.642
  • Uncertainty and concern.
  • 00:24:54.642 --> 00:24:58.212
  • And lord, we wanna lay those before you.
  • 00:24:58.212 --> 00:25:00.114
  • You promised that you would never leave us or forsake us.
  • 00:25:00.114 --> 00:25:03.751
  • And as we lay those things down, father, we turn our hands and
  • 00:25:03.751 --> 00:25:06.487
  • Our hearts to you to receive all that you have for us, to say
  • 00:25:06.487 --> 00:25:10.124
  • Thank you.
  • 00:25:10.124 --> 00:25:11.559
  • Thank you for your goodness to us, thank you for your abundance
  • 00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:14.495
  • In our lives, thank you for our freedoms.
  • 00:25:14.495 --> 00:25:17.965
  • Thank you that we can gather in a public place to worship jesus
  • 00:25:17.965 --> 00:25:21.569
  • Of nazareth.
  • 00:25:21.569 --> 00:25:23.270
  • We thank you for the schools for our children, for medicine
  • 00:25:23.270 --> 00:25:26.173
  • That's available to them, for health care that's accessible
  • 00:25:26.173 --> 00:25:29.810
  • To us.
  • 00:25:29.810 --> 00:25:31.178
  • We praise you today, lord.
  • 00:25:31.178 --> 00:25:32.513
  • You have blessed us.
  • 00:25:32.513 --> 00:25:33.881
  • We have bibles to read.
  • 00:25:33.881 --> 00:25:35.215
  • You've given us the strength to be present.
  • 00:25:35.215 --> 00:25:36.584
  • We praise you this morning, for you are worthy.
  • 00:25:36.584 --> 00:25:40.287
  • You are worthy above all things to receive glory and honor
  • 00:25:40.287 --> 00:25:44.191
  • And praise.
  • 00:25:44.191 --> 00:25:45.526
  • We take off the spirit of despair and heaviness and we put
  • 00:25:45.526 --> 00:25:49.096
  • On, father, the robes of righteousness and are standing
  • 00:25:49.096 --> 00:25:52.333
  • With you today.
  • 00:25:52.333 --> 00:25:53.701
  • We bless your name.
  • 00:25:53.701 --> 00:25:55.035
  • May the joy of the lord fill our hearts.
  • 00:25:55.035 --> 00:25:56.670
  • May the hope of heaven fill our souls.
  • 00:25:56.670 --> 00:25:58.772
  • Where there has been heaviness and despair, may it go.
  • 00:25:58.772 --> 00:26:01.175
  • Where there's been fear, may it yield to a confidence and a
  • 00:26:01.175 --> 00:26:05.012
  • Trust in a living god.
  • 00:26:05.012 --> 00:26:07.281
  • I thank you that you're the author and the completer of
  • 00:26:07.281 --> 00:26:09.917
  • Our story.
  • 00:26:09.917 --> 00:26:12.853
  • We trust you today, in jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:26:12.853 --> 00:26:17.858
  • Hallelujah, you better give the lord a hand.
  • 00:26:17.858 --> 00:26:19.893
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:26:19.893 --> 00:26:24.131
  • Allen: thank you for spending a few minutes with us today.
  • 00:26:28.335 --> 00:26:30.437
  • You know, our goal in doing this is to add momentum
  • 00:26:30.437 --> 00:26:33.107
  • To your spiritual life.
  • 00:26:33.107 --> 00:26:34.975
  • To help open the kingdom of god to you in a more practical way
  • 00:26:34.975 --> 00:26:37.911
  • That you could engage in a relationship with the lord.
  • 00:26:37.911 --> 00:26:40.014
  • Not be a more faithful church sitter or a bible reader
  • 00:26:40.014 --> 00:26:43.651
  • But a person who actually knows the living god.
  • 00:26:43.651 --> 00:26:46.320
  • I've a written a new book, it's called "my friend jesus,"
  • 00:26:46.320 --> 00:26:49.089
  • To be candid, it's the culmination of years
  • 00:26:49.089 --> 00:26:51.959
  • Of my own spiritual journey.
  • 00:26:51.959 --> 00:26:53.994
  • I wanted to peel away all the formality of language
  • 00:26:53.994 --> 00:26:56.897
  • And routine and ritual.
  • 00:26:56.897 --> 00:26:59.266
  • I really wanted to focus on what it means to be a friend
  • 00:26:59.266 --> 00:27:01.835
  • Of the lord.
  • 00:27:01.835 --> 00:27:03.370
  • And that book is intended to give you a pathway
  • 00:27:03.370 --> 00:27:05.439
  • To imagine your faith in a way that enables it
  • 00:27:05.439 --> 00:27:08.042
  • To be more personal, more transformational.
  • 00:27:08.042 --> 00:27:10.511
  • When i need help i call my friends.
  • 00:27:10.511 --> 00:27:12.279
  • When i need real help i call my friend jesus.
  • 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:15.249
  • He changes everything.
  • 00:27:15.249 --> 00:27:16.583
  • He's done it many times in my life.
  • 00:27:16.583 --> 00:27:18.552
  • He'll do it in your life.
  • 00:27:18.552 --> 00:27:20.187
  • Read the book, open your heart,
  • 00:27:20.187 --> 00:27:21.922
  • There'll be a whole new power available
  • 00:27:21.922 --> 00:27:24.391
  • To help shape your future.
  • 00:27:24.391 --> 00:27:27.394