Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - From Rejection to Acceptance (Part 1) | September 2, 2025
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- ♪♪♪
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- Allen jackson: i sat down recently with my father to do
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- A podcast for my "culture and christianity" podcast, and it
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- Was so valuable to me.
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- I mean, we--it was stories that obviously i'm familiar with, but
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- As i heard him recount his faith, it ignited something in
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- Me about the faithfulness of god across generations.
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- Well, i encouraged my dad to put together a book about his
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- Experiences with the holy spirit.
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- It changed his life, my parents' life, ultimately my
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- Family's life.
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- I believe the book will be a real encouragement to you.
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- I wanna make it available to you right along with "unleashing the
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- Power of the holy spirit."
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- It's something i put together a while back that's been one of
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- The most effective tools we've ever had in the ministry.
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- Together, they'll open the doorway for you to not just have
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- Language around the holy spirit, but to have something to
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- Actually do to invite him into your life on a regular basis,
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- To give you the wisdom you need to help you unlock the problems
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- That we face.
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- The spirit of god within us, to help us, guide us, and direct
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- Us, that's invaluable, and these books will help you understand.
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- ♪♪♪
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- Allen: i want to begin a study, it's gonna take two or
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- Three sessions.
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- Not because i can't finish this outline, it's just gonna take
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- Two or three sessions.
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- Under the same theme, we may break it apart a bit, but under
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- The general theme of, "from rejection to acceptance."
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- You know, i find one of the most consistent, persistent needs for
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- Pastoral ministry has to do around this issue of rejection.
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- And it's not frequently discussed, it's often something
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- We're not aware of.
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- You know, i've read in a variety of places that high blood
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- Pressure is a silent killer.
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- Well, i believe rejection is a-- really, a silent adversary to
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- God's best in your life.
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- And most of us live with a lack of awareness of either of its
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- Existence or its influence within us, or if there is a
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- Pathway to be relieved of that.
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- And with god's help, and the help of his spirit, i want to
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- Walk through that with you in the next two or three sessions,
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- But we'll start on this one with the idea we're gonna move from
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- Rejection to acceptance, and i'll start with the most obvious
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- That you matter to god, you really do.
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- That's not just hyperbole, it's not just the message of somebody
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- That wants to be a happy, clappy preacher.
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- I mean, there are some of those, and i'm not opposed to happy,
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- But i usually prefer the truth.
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- Sometimes it makes you happy, and sometimes it makes you
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- Focus, but the truth always leads you to freedom.
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- But i brought you a collection of scriptures just in case you
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- Think god made a mistake with you, or somebody told you that
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- He made a mistake with you.
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- Have you ever had somebody with influence or authority over your
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- Life say something demeaning, belittling?
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- Sure, you have, everybody has!
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- They had a coach that said something to you that wasn't
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- Encouraging, or a teacher, or a parent, or a pastor, or a boss,
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- Or somebody.
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- Well, the counterbalance to that is what god said about me.
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- So i brought you a sample in psalm 139, verse 13, it says,
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- "you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my
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- Mother's womb.
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- I praise you because i'm fearfully and wonderfully made."
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- That's a pretty remarkable thing.
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- You may not like the way i look, but god said i'm okay.
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- You should adjust.
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- In ephesians 1:6, says, "...to the praise of the glory of his
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- Grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved."
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- That's an amazing phrase, that we've been accepted into the
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- People of god.
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- Peter said it a little differently in 1 peter, he said,
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- "once you were not a people, but now you are the people of god."
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- You know, so we strive to be identified, to find our tribe,
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- To find the group to which we belong, because we imagine
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- There's strength in that, and there is, to a degree.
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- But all those characteristics that we strive to identify, a
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- School from which we graduate, a profession to which we belong,
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- Our racial identity, whatever it may be, they pale in
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- Significance to the privilege of being included amongst the
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- People of god.
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- They do, folks, because the benefits that come from all of
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- Those other allegiances are short-term, and the kingdom of
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- God is eternal, and to be included in that is the greatest
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- Honor of your life.
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- It needs to be the leading qualifier, the
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- Leading indicator.
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- Before you know anything else about me, i hope you understand
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- I'm a part of the eternal kingdom of god.
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- Everything else, it's not just secondary, it's way down
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- The list.
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- In luke 1 and verse 28, the angel, gabriel, that came to see
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- Mary with a rather awkward announcement, said, "you are
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- Highly favored, the lord is with you; blessed are you
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- Among women!"
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- I don't do a lot of word studies with you, but this one
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- Is helpful.
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- The word that's translated in ephesians 1:6, "to be accepted
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- In the beloved," is the exact same word that's translated in
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- Luke 1:28, "highly favored."
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- So what god is saying to us in ephesians is he's made us
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- Highly favored.
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- God has brought favor to your life.
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- He's not mad at you.
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- I got a note for you, if god's really mad at you, you'll know!
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- I've read the book, i mean, the earth opens up, you get the
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- Botch, the itch, and the scab.
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- Lions and bears chase you, i mean, stuff happens!
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- That's not an excuse for sloppy living.
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- But if you're doing your best to honor the lord, you've been
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- Favored by him.
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- To be accepted by god is to be highly favored.
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- And one more, in matthew 16, this verse changed my life.
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- Jesus said, "i'll build the church, and the gates of hades
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- Will not be able to withstand it."
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- When jesus said he would build a church, the church is people who
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- Were called by god.
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- It's not about buildings, or denominations, or schools of
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- Thought, or theological perspectives, jesus is
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- Building people.
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- That's so important to know, he's the head of the church!
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- He's our leader, we follow him.
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- We use our bibles to understand his character and his nature,
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- To learn his will, but the goal of our lives is to walk pleasing
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- Before him, uprightly before him.
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- He's the creator of all things.
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- We have received his favor.
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- He said we are "fearfully and wonderfully made."
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- So from the inside out, god has said, "you are very good."
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- Come on, that is the most amazing thing!
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- And yet, all of us have these tapes that play that remind us
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- Of what we're not, we're too short, or we're too tall, we're
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- Too thin, or we're not.
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- We talk with an accent, or we don't, our iq is limited, our
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- Physical abilities, our age.
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- I mean, there's this never-ending tape, and it keeps
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- Shifting, and it always tries to tell you what you're not.
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- I didn't come to deliver a motivational lecture, but i did
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- Come to pull the curtain back on what the word of god says
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- About you.
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- It's why your identity in christ has to lead.
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- If you're not identified in christ, you can erase what
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- I just said.
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- You're an object of god's wrath.
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- Your future is not hopeful.
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- You're on borrowed time.
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- There is a distinction between the people of god and those
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- Who aren't.
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- But if you're amongst god's people, the enemy of god's
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- Kingdom has an agenda.
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- If he can destroy you, he will.
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- Absent that, if he can keep you from the kingdom of god,
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- He will.
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- Absent that, if he can hinder your effectiveness, he will.
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- He hates the purposes of god.
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- And i meet people, well-educated people, sophisticated people,
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- "you know, i'm just not sure i believe in the devil."
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- Well, a couple of things.
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- Number one, i would remind you that jesus did.
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- And there's multiple ways, it's a whole study, but he said,
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- "i saw him fall from heaven."
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- Jesus addressed demons and unclean spirits as a regular
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- Part of his ministry.
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- In fact, it was probably more celebrated than his
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- Healing ministry.
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- The devil exists, and you're either aligned with the kingdom
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- Of god, or you're aligned with the kingdom of darkness.
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- And if you're aligned with the kingdom of god, it's in your
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- Best interest to spend time thinking about what god has said
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- About you, it will change your life.
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- Now, having said that, our journey through time, no matter
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- What generation we're born to, no matter what nationality, no
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- Matter of all of those things, our journey through time is
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- Filled with rejection.
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- I'm gonna take a moment with it.
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- I chose some characters if you're doing your bible reading
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- With us, and i hope you are.
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- We've been reading through 1 and 2 samuel the last few days,
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- So i thought i would start there, with samuel.
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- Samuel is the last of the judges, he's a leader of all the
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- Tribes of israel, a man of a remarkable story from his
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- Childhood, literally, from the point of his conception through
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- The end of his life, samuel honors the lord.
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- There's none of those real bad stories told about samuel.
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- When he gives his farewell speech, he said, "i didn't take
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- Anything from you, inappropriately."
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- But the tribal leaders come to samuel, and they said, "'give us
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- A king to lead us,' and it displeased samuel, so he prayed
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- To the lord and the lord said to him, 'listen to all that the
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- People are saying to you; it's not you they've rejected, but
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- They rejected me as their king.'"
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- Why did god have to say to samuel, "it's not you
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- They've rejected?"
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- Because it felt a whole lot like it was him they were rejecting!
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- He was the one that was leading them.
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- He'd spent his life making a circuit through the tribes,
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- Helping resolve problems, provide a god-perspective,
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- Seeking god on behalf of the people, and now, the most
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- Powerful people in the--amongst the tribes have come to samuel,
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- And they say, "we don't want you anymore.
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- We want a king."
- 00:10:34.783 --> 00:10:37.552
- And samuel goes to see the lord and the lord said, "it's not you
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- They've rejected, samuel, it's me."
- 00:10:40.121 --> 00:10:43.792
- And that adjustment that god gives to samuel to offload
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- Rejection enables the next season of his life to be the
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- Most significant of his entire life.
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- He annoys saul as king, and then he anoints david as king.
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- I think we could all agree that the years after he was rejected
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- By the people--you see, if rejection--if he had embraced
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- It, if it had defined his personality, if it has shaped
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- His character, he'd have never anointed saul.
- 00:11:07.415 --> 00:11:09.684
- "you don't want me to lead you?
- 00:11:09.684 --> 00:11:11.152
- Find your own help."
- 00:11:11.152 --> 00:11:16.324
- And when i read that narrative, i think, "why is
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- Samuel helping?"
- 00:11:18.593 --> 00:11:22.330
- Because god brought deliverance to him.
- 00:11:22.330 --> 00:11:27.068
- Allen: i sat that when my father, recently, did a podcast,
- 00:11:31.206 --> 00:11:34.142
- He told the story of how he came to faith, how god transformed
- 00:11:34.142 --> 00:11:36.711
- Our family.
- 00:11:36.711 --> 00:11:38.046
- They started a home bible study, all the way up to the beginning
- 00:11:38.046 --> 00:11:39.914
- Of this church that i've served now for decades.
- 00:11:39.914 --> 00:11:42.717
- As i listened, the heart of it was the work of the holy spirit
- 00:11:42.717 --> 00:11:45.453
- In his life and through his life.
- 00:11:45.453 --> 00:11:47.589
- I asked him to do a book around the topic, and we have it so
- 00:11:47.589 --> 00:11:51.025
- That you can invite the spirit of god to be the dynamic
- 00:11:51.025 --> 00:11:53.895
- Presence of the power of god to bring change in life and hope,
- 00:11:53.895 --> 00:11:58.099
- No matter what the circumstances, you'll enjoy
- 00:11:58.099 --> 00:12:00.335
- The book.
- 00:12:00.335 --> 00:12:01.669
- Female announcer: experience the holy spirit in a deeper way with
- 00:12:01.669 --> 00:12:03.738
- This new book by pastor allen's dad, "the eternal breath
- 00:12:03.738 --> 00:12:06.975
- Of life."
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- Request your copy when you donate any amount today, and
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- When you get $50 or more, you can also request "unleashing the
- 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:15.383
- Power of the holy spirit."
- 00:12:15.383 --> 00:12:17.051
- It's a collection of pastor allen's sermons that will help
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- You understand the holy spirit in new ways.
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- Request yours today at allenjackson.com, or by
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- Allen: david, the most remarkable of all the israelite
- 00:13:31.826 --> 00:13:35.730
- Kings, until jesus rules and reigns.
- 00:13:35.730 --> 00:13:39.067
- In 1 samuel 16, it says, "samuel took the horn of oil and
- 00:13:39.067 --> 00:13:41.836
- Anointed david in the presence of his brothers, and from that
- 00:13:41.836 --> 00:13:44.239
- Day on the spirit of the lord came upon david in power.
- 00:13:44.239 --> 00:13:48.877
- Samuel went on his way."
- 00:13:48.877 --> 00:13:50.979
- And you know that little window, god anointed david to be king.
- 00:13:50.979 --> 00:13:53.882
- You think, "well, if god sends the judge, the prophet, to
- 00:13:53.882 --> 00:13:57.118
- Anoint you to be king, things are gonna be good.
- 00:13:57.118 --> 00:14:00.989
- Weeds will quit growing in my garden!"
- 00:14:00.989 --> 00:14:05.627
- But that's not david's story at all.
- 00:14:05.627 --> 00:14:09.063
- He's the youngest in his family.
- 00:14:09.063 --> 00:14:12.267
- In a time in history when primogeniture ruled, which means
- 00:14:12.267 --> 00:14:15.670
- The eldest would have inherited all the land, it's an
- 00:14:15.670 --> 00:14:17.906
- Agricultural society, and you can't break the farm apart into
- 00:14:17.906 --> 00:14:21.576
- A dozen pieces every generation or you'll starve.
- 00:14:21.576 --> 00:14:25.613
- So if you're the youngest son in that list, your future is not
- 00:14:25.613 --> 00:14:28.917
- The brightest.
- 00:14:28.917 --> 00:14:30.919
- Now, that's not enough, david's not really celebrated--samuel
- 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:34.622
- Is coming to town to offer a sacrifice in bethlehem, and he's
- 00:14:34.622 --> 00:14:37.458
- Invited jesse, david's father, to bring the family, and he
- 00:14:37.458 --> 00:14:40.795
- Brings all the boys, except david.
- 00:14:40.795 --> 00:14:46.301
- He left david with the sheep.
- 00:14:46.301 --> 00:14:49.037
- And samuel says, "i'm here to anoint one of your sons."
- 00:14:49.037 --> 00:14:52.307
- And so the boys all stand up one after the other, and he said,
- 00:14:52.307 --> 00:14:55.076
- "no, it's none of these," and samuel has to say, "are there
- 00:14:55.076 --> 00:14:58.646
- Any others?"
- 00:14:58.646 --> 00:15:01.349
- You may be in a little healthier system, they go, "well, there's
- 00:15:01.349 --> 00:15:03.584
- One that's not here.
- 00:15:03.584 --> 00:15:04.953
- Wait, let us go--" "no, no, no, samuel," they say, "wait,
- 00:15:04.953 --> 00:15:06.521
- Something's missing."
- 00:15:06.521 --> 00:15:08.990
- I mean, david's not living, it seems, in the most
- 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.359
- Supportive environment.
- 00:15:11.359 --> 00:15:14.195
- When his brothers go to see the goliath spectacle, david stays
- 00:15:14.195 --> 00:15:18.733
- Home, but his dad sends him with lunch for them.
- 00:15:18.733 --> 00:15:24.806
- And david sees goliath, and he hears the challenge, and he
- 00:15:24.806 --> 00:15:27.108
- Says, "i can do this."
- 00:15:27.108 --> 00:15:28.443
- You know who said shut up, his brothers.
- 00:15:28.443 --> 00:15:34.515
- He has a victory over goliath, and then the king hates him.
- 00:15:34.515 --> 00:15:39.153
- Saul hunts him like an animal.
- 00:15:39.153 --> 00:15:41.556
- David's forced to live like a fugitive.
- 00:15:41.556 --> 00:15:44.926
- After saul was killed, several of the israelite tribes go to
- 00:15:44.926 --> 00:15:47.595
- War with him.
- 00:15:47.595 --> 00:15:49.597
- Later in his life, absalom, his son, whom he has restored after
- 00:15:49.597 --> 00:15:54.602
- Some abysmal behavior, absalom leads a rebellion against him.
- 00:15:54.602 --> 00:15:59.674
- It's safe to say david's life is filled, season after season,
- 00:15:59.674 --> 00:16:04.712
- With expressions of rejection.
- 00:16:04.712 --> 00:16:11.319
- We can step back a bit in the narrative, joseph, at the time,
- 00:16:11.319 --> 00:16:16.657
- The youngest in his family.
- 00:16:16.657 --> 00:16:19.660
- His brothers are jealous of him because he's his
- 00:16:19.660 --> 00:16:22.363
- Father's favorite.
- 00:16:22.363 --> 00:16:23.731
- He comes from a torqued family.
- 00:16:23.731 --> 00:16:26.367
- His father has many sons, but he prefers joseph.
- 00:16:26.367 --> 00:16:31.039
- So a failure on a parent brings great pain into the life of
- 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:35.009
- Joseph, but all of the family.
- 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:38.312
- There are no perfect families, folks.
- 00:16:38.312 --> 00:16:41.416
- Our families are what put the "fun" in "dysfunctional."
- 00:16:41.416 --> 00:16:46.788
- And joseph's brothers are so put-out by him, they hate him.
- 00:16:46.788 --> 00:16:52.760
- They don't just dislike him, they don't just think he's
- 00:16:52.760 --> 00:16:55.463
- A hassle, he's not just a pain, they hate him to the point that
- 00:16:55.463 --> 00:17:01.436
- They sell him to slave traders.
- 00:17:01.436 --> 00:17:04.772
- Now, i have brothers.
- 00:17:04.772 --> 00:17:10.945
- You know, and we all lived at home, we didn't always get
- 00:17:10.945 --> 00:17:13.147
- Along, we fought.
- 00:17:13.147 --> 00:17:15.883
- You know, my mom had a rule, we couldn't fight--we couldn't
- 00:17:15.883 --> 00:17:19.053
- Wrestle in the house.
- 00:17:19.053 --> 00:17:21.722
- You know, my mom was about this tall, which was completely
- 00:17:21.722 --> 00:17:24.158
- Irrelevant, had nothing to do with power.
- 00:17:24.158 --> 00:17:30.765
- So if that started, you could-- you know, you'd hear the house
- 00:17:30.765 --> 00:17:32.900
- Shift on its foundations, and the next thing you hear is my
- 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:36.170
- Mother saying, "not in this house!"
- 00:17:36.170 --> 00:17:40.208
- But it never occurred to me i could sell them!
- 00:17:40.208 --> 00:17:46.347
- I mean, i got mad at them, i was annoyed by them, but i mean,
- 00:17:46.347 --> 00:17:51.519
- It's a whole another level.
- 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:52.854
- They hated joseph, they sold him as a slave.
- 00:17:52.854 --> 00:17:57.024
- Then he finds himself in another country, he's a servant, a slave
- 00:17:57.024 --> 00:18:01.028
- In a household.
- 00:18:01.028 --> 00:18:02.897
- There's a lie told about him, and the man he has served
- 00:18:02.897 --> 00:18:05.266
- Faithfully has him put in prison.
- 00:18:05.266 --> 00:18:06.868
- He doesn't listen to him, he doesn't believe him, he's
- 00:18:06.868 --> 00:18:10.471
- Rejected again.
- 00:18:10.471 --> 00:18:11.806
- In prison, he gains some opportunity because of his
- 00:18:11.806 --> 00:18:15.543
- Faithfulness in serving in the prison.
- 00:18:15.543 --> 00:18:18.079
- He interprets dreams, and the men for whom he interprets
- 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.681
- Dreams break their word to him, and he's left in prison.
- 00:18:20.681 --> 00:18:25.386
- I mean, it's not a one-time event.
- 00:18:25.386 --> 00:18:27.388
- It's not like some momentary-- his life is filled with these
- 00:18:27.388 --> 00:18:31.058
- Seasons, and yet, joseph becomes the prime minister of the land
- 00:18:31.058 --> 00:18:35.029
- Of egypt as a foreigner and a slave.
- 00:18:35.029 --> 00:18:37.865
- Next to the pharaoh, the most powerful person in the
- 00:18:37.865 --> 00:18:40.568
- Entire empire.
- 00:18:40.568 --> 00:18:42.937
- And his brothers come to see him when he's an older man, and
- 00:18:42.937 --> 00:18:45.573
- They're mature.
- 00:18:45.573 --> 00:18:46.908
- I put it in your notes, it's genesis 45, "joseph said to his
- 00:18:46.908 --> 00:18:49.544
- Brothers, 'come close to me.'
- 00:18:49.544 --> 00:18:51.312
- And when they had done so, he said, 'i'm your
- 00:18:51.312 --> 00:18:52.914
- Brother, joseph.'"
- 00:18:52.914 --> 00:18:54.882
- He looks like an egyptian, he smells like an egyptian, he
- 00:18:54.882 --> 00:18:57.418
- Talks like an egyptian, his brothers don't know him.
- 00:18:57.418 --> 00:19:02.456
- "i'm your brother, the one you sold into egypt!"
- 00:19:02.456 --> 00:19:08.729
- Now if the most--if the second-most powerful man in the
- 00:19:08.729 --> 00:19:11.666
- Nation, you sold into slavery?
- 00:19:11.666 --> 00:19:15.469
- This is an awkward moment.
- 00:19:15.469 --> 00:19:19.473
- "and now, do not be distressed and don't be angry with
- 00:19:19.473 --> 00:19:22.310
- Yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives
- 00:19:22.310 --> 00:19:26.380
- That god sent me ahead of you."
- 00:19:26.380 --> 00:19:30.284
- Now we're gonna unpack this in a good bit more detail, but i want
- 00:19:30.284 --> 00:19:32.987
- You to have some examples, because they fill the scripture
- 00:19:32.987 --> 00:19:36.290
- Of men and women who have to endure the most horrific
- 00:19:36.290 --> 00:19:39.560
- Expressions of rejection, evil, and yet, it doesn't become the
- 00:19:39.560 --> 00:19:45.499
- Defining characteristic of their life.
- 00:19:45.499 --> 00:19:48.903
- There's a wonderful promise in that, look at moses.
- 00:19:48.903 --> 00:19:52.240
- I mean, moses's parents put him in a basket in the nile river,
- 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.644
- And set him loose as an infant.
- 00:19:56.644 --> 00:19:59.714
- Now, you may say that was heroic, but if you knew of
- 00:19:59.714 --> 00:20:02.083
- A parent doing that, you wouldn't call it heroic!
- 00:20:02.083 --> 00:20:06.053
- And i promise you, to the child, it's an expression of rejection.
- 00:20:06.053 --> 00:20:11.259
- Rejection isn't something you just process intellectually,
- 00:20:11.259 --> 00:20:14.829
- It's not something you process because you have the emotional
- 00:20:14.829 --> 00:20:17.465
- Or physical maturity to go, "i think i have been rejected."
- 00:20:17.465 --> 00:20:22.737
- Rejection touches you at a far deeper level.
- 00:20:22.737 --> 00:20:25.339
- You can experience rejection as an infant in the womb.
- 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:29.610
- And i assure you, moses's parents setting him adrift in
- 00:20:29.610 --> 00:20:32.580
- A basket in the nile river is rejection.
- 00:20:32.580 --> 00:20:36.717
- He grows up in the palace, as a hebrew, when the hebrew people
- 00:20:36.717 --> 00:20:42.023
- Are being enslaved by the egyptians.
- 00:20:42.023 --> 00:20:44.425
- That will torque your character.
- 00:20:44.425 --> 00:20:47.895
- Moses had an anger problem because, as a young man, he sees
- 00:20:47.895 --> 00:20:52.033
- An egyptian abusing a hebrew slave, and he killed
- 00:20:52.033 --> 00:20:54.335
- The egyptian.
- 00:20:54.335 --> 00:20:57.772
- He had many options, he had access to pharaoh, he had access
- 00:20:57.772 --> 00:21:01.208
- To a great deal of power, there were many things he could have
- 00:21:01.208 --> 00:21:03.978
- Done with that egyptian taskmaster.
- 00:21:03.978 --> 00:21:06.580
- Murder was more an expression of his character than it was the
- 00:21:06.580 --> 00:21:09.417
- Problem at hand.
- 00:21:09.417 --> 00:21:14.088
- Exodus 2:13 is the next day.
- 00:21:14.088 --> 00:21:15.756
- Says, "the next day he went out and he saw two hebrews fighting.
- 00:21:15.756 --> 00:21:19.160
- And he asked the one in the wrong, 'why are you hitting your
- 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:21.262
- Fellow hebrew?'
- 00:21:21.262 --> 00:21:22.596
- And the man said, 'who made you ruler and judge?
- 00:21:22.596 --> 00:21:25.733
- Are you thinking of killing me, too?'"
- 00:21:25.733 --> 00:21:30.071
- Even his own people don't want to listen to him.
- 00:21:30.071 --> 00:21:34.075
- "i put everything at risk to help you, who do you think
- 00:21:34.075 --> 00:21:37.778
- You are?"
- 00:21:37.778 --> 00:21:40.681
- So moses flees egypt, and years later, on the backside of the
- 00:21:40.681 --> 00:21:44.418
- Desert, god's recruiting him, and moses is reluctant, as you
- 00:21:44.418 --> 00:21:47.154
- Can imagine, and moses says something that's
- 00:21:47.154 --> 00:21:49.623
- Very insightful.
- 00:21:49.623 --> 00:21:50.991
- He said, "what if they don't believe me or listen to me and
- 00:21:50.991 --> 00:21:53.194
- They say, 'the lord didn't appear to you?'"
- 00:21:53.194 --> 00:21:56.297
- What's moses saying?
- 00:21:56.297 --> 00:21:57.631
- He said, "look, i've been there and tried that.
- 00:21:57.631 --> 00:22:00.534
- They don't want my leadership."
- 00:22:00.534 --> 00:22:03.738
- And a big part of that recruitment narrative is god
- 00:22:03.738 --> 00:22:06.774
- Preparing moses to lead his people in spite of what he
- 00:22:06.774 --> 00:22:10.077
- Has endured.
- 00:22:10.077 --> 00:22:12.580
- The greatest leader in all of scripture until you get
- 00:22:12.580 --> 00:22:14.815
- To jesus.
- 00:22:14.815 --> 00:22:16.784
- A man who was rejected from the time of his birth.
- 00:22:16.784 --> 00:22:20.688
- We can excuse his parents' favor, sometimes rejection comes
- 00:22:20.688 --> 00:22:23.157
- Not because our family systems are evil, or our parents are
- 00:22:23.157 --> 00:22:25.893
- Evil, there's tremendous pressure.
- 00:22:25.893 --> 00:22:28.696
- Great problems, enormous stress, and the presentation of another
- 00:22:28.696 --> 00:22:33.334
- Child is a--it's just a--it's a bridge too far, it's more than
- 00:22:33.334 --> 00:22:37.037
- The system can handle.
- 00:22:37.037 --> 00:22:40.374
- Rejection doesn't always come because the point of initiation
- 00:22:40.374 --> 00:22:44.078
- Is sparked by evil, sometimes it is.
- 00:22:44.078 --> 00:22:46.714
- Jesus was rejected, in isaiah 53, there's a prophecy about our
- 00:22:46.714 --> 00:22:51.085
- Messiah, and it says, "he was despised and rejected by men,
- 00:22:51.085 --> 00:22:54.588
- A man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
- 00:22:54.588 --> 00:22:56.957
- Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and
- 00:22:56.957 --> 00:23:00.561
- We esteemed him not."
- 00:23:00.561 --> 00:23:01.896
- That's our lord!
- 00:23:01.896 --> 00:23:04.865
- See, we're so mistaken, we think when we identify with jesus,
- 00:23:04.865 --> 00:23:07.935
- Everybody's gonna cheer!
- 00:23:07.935 --> 00:23:11.572
- He was rejected and despised.
- 00:23:11.572 --> 00:23:13.541
- Okay, if you choose to be an ambassador for his eternal
- 00:23:13.541 --> 00:23:16.143
- Kingdom, there's a high degree of probability you're gonna bump
- 00:23:16.143 --> 00:23:19.280
- Into people that don't like that.
- 00:23:19.280 --> 00:23:22.783
- So this isn't just a ministry skill, or an invitation to the
- 00:23:22.783 --> 00:23:27.521
- Holy spirit for those poor, unfortunate people who didn't
- 00:23:27.521 --> 00:23:29.990
- Have the best family systems.
- 00:23:29.990 --> 00:23:31.725
- If you're gonna be a servant in the purposes of god and the
- 00:23:31.725 --> 00:23:34.161
- Earth, you're gonna have to know how to process rejection.
- 00:23:34.161 --> 00:23:40.501
- It got far more blatant in jesus's life, it's not just some
- 00:23:40.501 --> 00:23:43.003
- Prophetic thing.
- 00:23:43.003 --> 00:23:44.371
- In luke 23, he's been arrested, they've had a sham trial,
- 00:23:44.371 --> 00:23:47.341
- They've hired people to tell lies about him.
- 00:23:47.341 --> 00:23:49.243
- Sounds a lot like the 21st century.
- 00:23:49.243 --> 00:23:52.680
- We see this happening on a regular basis before us.
- 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:55.716
- Do you think it might not happen to you?
- 00:23:55.716 --> 00:24:01.322
- And finally, pilate knows that jesus is innocent, the roman
- 00:24:01.322 --> 00:24:04.925
- Governor, and he wants to release him.
- 00:24:04.925 --> 00:24:07.261
- It's a feast--festival time, it's feast time.
- 00:24:07.261 --> 00:24:10.130
- And he said, "i have a habit, i release a prisoner."
- 00:24:10.130 --> 00:24:12.166
- He thinks he's found a way out because jesus hasn't done
- 00:24:12.166 --> 00:24:15.369
- Anything wrong, he hasn't broken any laws, he's not a murderer.
- 00:24:15.369 --> 00:24:19.607
- So he thinks, "i'll give the people a choice, and it'll
- 00:24:19.607 --> 00:24:21.842
- Relieve me of my responsibility."
- 00:24:21.842 --> 00:24:23.944
- So he brings the most heinous criminal he has arrested, a
- 00:24:23.944 --> 00:24:27.615
- Murderer, a man who's led rebellions and insurrectionists.
- 00:24:27.615 --> 00:24:33.087
- You don't have any allies, or any advocates amongst the
- 00:24:33.087 --> 00:24:35.823
- People, and he stands barabbas on one side, and jesus on the
- 00:24:35.823 --> 00:24:39.126
- Other, and he said, "so now, who do you want me to release?"
- 00:24:39.126 --> 00:24:42.096
- Fully expecting the crowd to roar, "jesus of nazareth!"
- 00:24:42.096 --> 00:24:45.099
- He heals the sick, he makes wine out of water!
- 00:24:45.099 --> 00:24:50.971
- So you know, just luke 23, "with one voice they cried, 'away with
- 00:24:50.971 --> 00:24:55.442
- This man!
- 00:24:55.442 --> 00:24:56.810
- And release barabbas to us!'
- 00:24:56.810 --> 00:25:00.848
- Wanting to release jesus, pilate appealed to them again.
- 00:25:00.848 --> 00:25:04.518
- But they kept shouting, 'crucify him!'"
- 00:25:04.518 --> 00:25:08.689
- Can you imagine?
- 00:25:08.689 --> 00:25:11.492
- How do you describe that?
- 00:25:11.492 --> 00:25:13.761
- Does that qualify as rejection?
- 00:25:13.761 --> 00:25:16.196
- Folks, this isn't some subtle theme of scripture.
- 00:25:16.196 --> 00:25:20.334
- You see, if you intend to be about the purposes of god,
- 00:25:20.334 --> 00:25:23.137
- You're gonna have to know how to navigate this.
- 00:25:23.137 --> 00:25:26.373
- It's not accidental.
- 00:25:26.373 --> 00:25:29.610
- Now, there's some good news in the midst of it.
- 00:25:29.610 --> 00:25:32.813
- We can't eliminate rejection from the journey, it's a part of
- 00:25:32.813 --> 00:25:35.382
- Our journey in this present world order, but rejection does
- 00:25:35.382 --> 00:25:39.587
- Not have the power to keep you from god's best.
- 00:25:39.587 --> 00:25:45.059
- I'm gonna say it again, the rejection that touches your life
- 00:25:45.059 --> 00:25:48.295
- Does not have the power to keep you from god's best.
- 00:25:48.295 --> 00:25:56.403
- Unless we allow it to, it can be overcome.
- 00:25:56.403 --> 00:25:59.139
- ♪♪♪
- 00:25:59.139 --> 00:26:06.213
- Allen: being a christ follower is not as much about
- 00:26:06.213 --> 00:26:08.682
- An experience and a completed activity, a prayer, a visit
- 00:26:08.682 --> 00:26:12.186
- To an altar, a response to an evangelist.
- 00:26:12.186 --> 00:26:15.389
- It's certainly a beginning point of welcoming jesus into your
- 00:26:15.389 --> 00:26:17.992
- Heart, but it's a life that we lead, so we continue to grow,
- 00:26:17.992 --> 00:26:21.395
- And learn, and gain strength as life presents challenges, we get
- 00:26:21.395 --> 00:26:24.965
- To know god in a new way.
- 00:26:24.965 --> 00:26:26.834
- Well, i believe this book about the holy spirit is a tool to
- 00:26:26.834 --> 00:26:30.270
- Help you gain a new momentum, to grow through the things in your
- 00:26:30.270 --> 00:26:34.141
- Life under the direction of the power of the spirit of god.
- 00:26:34.141 --> 00:26:37.444
- Folks, we're not gonna outwork evil, or outthink evil, we're
- 00:26:37.444 --> 00:26:40.314
- Not gonna out organize evil, the only thing evil will yield to is
- 00:26:40.314 --> 00:26:43.484
- A power greater than itself, and that power is the spirit of god,
- 00:26:43.484 --> 00:26:47.688
- And you and me manifest in the earth through people of faith.
- 00:26:47.688 --> 00:26:51.992
- We're salt and light, we're change agents.
- 00:26:51.992 --> 00:26:54.495
- I wanna pray.
- 00:26:54.495 --> 00:26:55.829
- Heavenly father, give us a discernment to recognize your
- 00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:58.932
- Spirit, how we can welcome him into our lives, and cooperate
- 00:26:58.932 --> 00:27:02.202
- With him to bring your breakthroughs into our lives,
- 00:27:02.202 --> 00:27:04.905
- Our homes, and our churches.
- 00:27:04.905 --> 00:27:07.041
- In jesus's name, amen.
- 00:27:07.041 --> 00:27:09.043
- ♪♪♪
- 00:27:09.043 --> 00:27:27.394