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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - When God Moves - Choose (Part 1)

January 5, 2026 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - When God Moves - Choose (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#WordofGod #Ministry #History #PromisesofGod #Comfort #Angels #TrustGod #Rejection #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - When God Moves - Choose (Part 1) | January 5, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world,
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  • People are searching for truth, and together we're doing our
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  • Very best to help them find it.
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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • Together, we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Known right here at home and around the earth, wherever
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  • God opens a door.
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: our--the theme we've been working through is "when
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  • God moves."
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  • I'm of the opinion that god is moving in the earth.
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  • And i don't say that as a matter of rhetoric or habit or some
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  • Motivational ploy.
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  • In the years that i have served the lord, i don't recall another
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  • Time when i have sensed god moving in the earth on the
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  • Magnitude that he is in these days.
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  • There's a corresponding, not necessarily an equal, but
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  • There's a corresponding response of evil, of darkness and
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  • Ungodliness and perversion, with a boldness and a brazenness
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  • That's unsettling.
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  • Whether it's expressions of hatred for the jewish people,
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  • And it feels like a murderous rage being released against
  • 00:01:59.135 --> 00:02:02.438
  • Them, not just in our own nation but around the earth, an
  • 00:02:02.438 --> 00:02:04.841
  • Intolerance for the name of jesus.
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  • We have martyrs in america, christian martyrs in america in
  • 00:02:08.311 --> 00:02:11.181
  • The 21st century.
  • 00:02:11.181 --> 00:02:12.549
  • That's difficult to even say and process.
  • 00:02:12.549 --> 00:02:14.350
  • It seems impossible, but it's our reality.
  • 00:02:14.350 --> 00:02:17.086
  • But in spite of that, god is doing the most remarkable thing,
  • 00:02:17.086 --> 00:02:19.956
  • Stirring the hearts of people, creating a hunger and
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  • A thirsting.
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  • I believe it will--when god moves, there's a discontinuity
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  • With the past.
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  • It's not that just god makes us a little better or a little
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  • Happier or we're a little more prosperous.
  • 00:02:30.366 --> 00:02:32.835
  • When god sent moses back to egypt, the future for the former
  • 00:02:32.835 --> 00:02:35.538
  • Hebrew slaves was dramatically different.
  • 00:02:35.538 --> 00:02:38.274
  • Not--it wasn't always easy.
  • 00:02:38.274 --> 00:02:41.044
  • They're in the wilderness with no means of support or
  • 00:02:41.044 --> 00:02:43.146
  • Sustaining themselves other than faith in almighty god, and
  • 00:02:43.146 --> 00:02:46.082
  • They've got a promised land, an inheritance, that has to
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  • Be conquered.
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  • I mean, there's a difficult journey in front of them.
  • 00:02:49.953 --> 00:02:51.688
  • It's not a simple solution, but the future was not like
  • 00:02:51.688 --> 00:02:54.190
  • The past.
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  • When god sent jesus to bethlehem, when he sent gabriel
  • 00:02:57.493 --> 00:03:02.432
  • To nazareth to tell mary and joseph the plan.
  • 00:03:02.432 --> 00:03:06.236
  • It was--there was a bit of discontinuity.
  • 00:03:06.236 --> 00:03:09.072
  • Their plans got put in the blender.
  • 00:03:09.072 --> 00:03:12.008
  • It wasn't simple or easy.
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  • I would say it was good and it was the fulfillment of god's
  • 00:03:13.776 --> 00:03:16.246
  • Promise, but it was challenging.
  • 00:03:16.246 --> 00:03:19.182
  • I mean, scroll forward to mary standing at the foot of
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  • The cross.
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  • I suspect when gabriel visited her in nazareth, she didn't have
  • 00:03:22.552 --> 00:03:24.954
  • That emotion on the radar.
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  • So when i say to you god is moving in the earth, i don't
  • 00:03:26.990 --> 00:03:29.392
  • Want you to be confused.
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  • I'm not suggesting it's simple or easy or in every day it's
  • 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:33.696
  • Gonna be comfortable.
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  • I'm suggesting it's significant.
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  • That there's an invitation from god in front of every one of us
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  • And we can choose to say yes or we can do our best to maintain
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  • The status quo.
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  • Good luck with that.
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  • I don't want to bury my talent.
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  • You know the parable, right?
  • 00:03:48.711 --> 00:03:50.313
  • Entrusted with talents, resources, time,
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  • And opportunity.
  • 00:03:52.515 --> 00:03:54.050
  • Two of the three that were entrusted went to work with what
  • 00:03:54.050 --> 00:03:57.053
  • They were given and brought back a harvest, and one buried it,
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  • And he was condemned, rebuked, sent into everlasting darkness.
  • 00:03:59.956 --> 00:04:07.797
  • It's an important season.
  • 00:04:07.797 --> 00:04:09.132
  • God is moving.
  • 00:04:09.132 --> 00:04:10.466
  • Don't focus on the darkness.
  • 00:04:10.466 --> 00:04:11.834
  • Don't allow it to occupy your heart.
  • 00:04:11.834 --> 00:04:14.103
  • Celebrate every expression of godliness you find, every person
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  • You find that's seeking the lord, growing in the lord.
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  • Step closer to them.
  • 00:04:20.143 --> 00:04:21.911
  • This is the 3rd week in our advent series.
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  • All over the earth, christian communities are
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  • Celebrating advent.
  • 00:04:25.982 --> 00:04:27.317
  • It's the four sundays that precede christmas day.
  • 00:04:27.317 --> 00:04:30.486
  • The 3rd week is typically a celebration of joy.
  • 00:04:30.486 --> 00:04:35.091
  • If you're lighting candles on a wreath of some fashion, it's
  • 00:04:35.091 --> 00:04:37.927
  • Typically the shepherds's candle.
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  • The announcement that the heavenly host made to the
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  • Shepherds in the fields outside of bethlehem.
  • 00:04:42.498 --> 00:04:46.035
  • Sounds so romantic, but standing in the field in the dark with a
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  • Bunch of sheep on a cold winter's night,
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  • You need a heavenly host to make that sound fun.
  • 00:04:55.845 --> 00:04:59.982
  • In luke chapter 2 and verse 10, the very familiar verses.
  • 00:04:59.982 --> 00:05:03.052
  • Says: "the angel said to them," the shepherds, "'do not be
  • 00:05:03.052 --> 00:05:05.822
  • Afraid; for behold, i bring you good news of great joy which
  • 00:05:05.822 --> 00:05:09.625
  • Will be for all the people; for today in the city of david there
  • 00:05:09.625 --> 00:05:13.496
  • Has been born for you a savior, who is christ the lord.'"
  • 00:05:13.496 --> 00:05:18.568
  • I like the language.
  • 00:05:18.568 --> 00:05:19.936
  • The greek word is megas, from which we get mega, big.
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  • We bring you good news of big joy.
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  • Big joy for you.
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  • Today in the city of david in bethlehem, christ is born, the
  • 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.150
  • Messiah is born.
  • 00:05:34.150 --> 00:05:35.818
  • It's an announcement, and the most improbable of announcements
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  • To the shepherds, the lowest rung on the social ladder, no
  • 00:05:38.421 --> 00:05:41.023
  • Status, no standing, not even particularly trustworthy by
  • 00:05:41.023 --> 00:05:45.828
  • Convention of the day.
  • 00:05:45.828 --> 00:05:47.530
  • And god chose them to be the messengers.
  • 00:05:47.530 --> 00:05:51.100
  • They had the media relations assignment for the birth
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  • Of jesus.
  • 00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:55.204
  • It was given to some other people, but they rejected it.
  • 00:05:55.204 --> 00:05:57.440
  • The king, herod, didn't want any part of it.
  • 00:05:57.440 --> 00:05:59.942
  • The chief priest and the teachers of the law, they
  • 00:05:59.942 --> 00:06:01.744
  • Weren't interested in that.
  • 00:06:01.744 --> 00:06:03.679
  • The biblical scholars who knew all the prophecies about the
  • 00:06:03.679 --> 00:06:06.349
  • Coming of messiah, they weren't interested in that.
  • 00:06:06.349 --> 00:06:08.951
  • The innkeeper, he wasn't interested in mary and joseph.
  • 00:06:08.951 --> 00:06:12.255
  • But the shepherds received it.
  • 00:06:12.255 --> 00:06:14.524
  • We want to be receptive to the invitations of god.
  • 00:06:14.524 --> 00:06:18.394
  • Don't measure your responses to god by your peer group or by
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  • Tradition or by what you've always done.
  • 00:06:21.264 --> 00:06:23.900
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:25.268
  • It's a new season.
  • 00:06:25.268 --> 00:06:26.602
  • There's new invitations.
  • 00:06:26.602 --> 00:06:27.970
  • There's new opportunities.
  • 00:06:27.970 --> 00:06:29.305
  • So many aspects of how we worship together and--has
  • 00:06:29.305 --> 00:06:31.908
  • Changed since covid in 2020.
  • 00:06:31.908 --> 00:06:34.510
  • Not the truth that we hold, or the word of god or the reverence
  • 00:06:34.510 --> 00:06:37.547
  • We hold for that or the uniqueness of jesus, but just
  • 00:06:37.547 --> 00:06:40.783
  • The styles and the ways and the places in which we worship.
  • 00:06:40.783 --> 00:06:43.820
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:06:43.820 --> 00:06:46.189
  • The advent season is not just an awaiting for jesus's first
  • 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:48.691
  • Arrival, it's an awaiting for jesus's second arrival.
  • 00:06:48.691 --> 00:06:52.395
  • Greek word for that's the parousia, the second coming.
  • 00:06:52.395 --> 00:06:55.565
  • You know he's coming back.
  • 00:06:55.565 --> 00:06:57.800
  • The first time he came back, it was a, for the most part, it was
  • 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.803
  • A quiet event.
  • 00:07:00.803 --> 00:07:02.171
  • I mean, there was a heavenly host that announced it to
  • 00:07:02.171 --> 00:07:03.639
  • The shepherds.
  • 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:05.007
  • Big joy to you guys.
  • 00:07:05.007 --> 00:07:06.809
  • But it wasn't like everybody in israel saw the heavenly host.
  • 00:07:06.809 --> 00:07:10.379
  • It wasn't like even everybody in jerusalem, not even everybody
  • 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:12.715
  • In bethlehem.
  • 00:07:12.715 --> 00:07:14.050
  • They needed the shepherds to give testimony about it.
  • 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:15.384
  • How do you light up the sky outside bethlehem?
  • 00:07:15.384 --> 00:07:17.220
  • It's a small place, tiny little village.
  • 00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:19.956
  • How do you light up the sky on the edge of bethlehem and
  • 00:07:19.956 --> 00:07:21.824
  • Everybody else in bethlehem not know?
  • 00:07:21.824 --> 00:07:24.994
  • Take god to do that.
  • 00:07:24.994 --> 00:07:26.896
  • The message was for the shepherds.
  • 00:07:26.896 --> 00:07:28.231
  • He wanted the shepherds to have the privilege of making
  • 00:07:28.231 --> 00:07:30.967
  • The announcement.
  • 00:07:30.967 --> 00:07:32.435
  • When jesus comes back the next time, it's gonna be
  • 00:07:32.435 --> 00:07:34.370
  • Dramatically different.
  • 00:07:34.370 --> 00:07:35.705
  • It's not gonna be kind of a quiet entry.
  • 00:07:35.705 --> 00:07:37.773
  • He's not coming in a humble package of a baby.
  • 00:07:37.773 --> 00:07:39.876
  • He's not coming in the vulnerable container of a infant
  • 00:07:39.876 --> 00:07:43.179
  • Laid in a manger.
  • 00:07:43.179 --> 00:07:45.781
  • There will not be an ox and a lamb keeping time.
  • 00:07:45.781 --> 00:07:49.385
  • It's described in the new testament.
  • 00:07:49.385 --> 00:07:50.953
  • I gave you a couple of passages.
  • 00:07:50.953 --> 00:07:52.288
  • Matthew 24:27, "as lightning that comes from the east and is
  • 00:07:52.288 --> 00:07:55.825
  • Visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the son
  • 00:07:55.825 --> 00:07:58.361
  • Of man."
  • 00:07:58.361 --> 00:07:59.695
  • That's jesus's words about his return.
  • 00:07:59.695 --> 00:08:01.731
  • He said it'll be like the lightning that you can see light
  • 00:08:01.731 --> 00:08:04.000
  • Up the whole sky and everybody can see.
  • 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.637
  • When he comes back, every eye will see.
  • 00:08:07.637 --> 00:08:10.907
  • No more subtle entry in a stable in bethlehem, folks.
  • 00:08:10.907 --> 00:08:15.578
  • Look at revelation chapter 1, verse 7: "look, he's coming with
  • 00:08:15.578 --> 00:08:19.715
  • The clouds, and every eye will see him."
  • 00:08:19.715 --> 00:08:23.686
  • I believe that.
  • 00:08:23.686 --> 00:08:25.054
  • I don't think it's some metaphorical presentation.
  • 00:08:25.054 --> 00:08:26.389
  • I believe when jesus returns, everybody will see him.
  • 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:30.493
  • How will god do that? i don't know.
  • 00:08:30.493 --> 00:08:31.861
  • I don't know how he didn't let everybody in bethlehem hear the
  • 00:08:31.861 --> 00:08:33.529
  • Heavenly host.
  • 00:08:33.529 --> 00:08:35.398
  • There's a god and it's not me.
  • 00:08:35.398 --> 00:08:39.702
  • You know, why is it we have a higher standard for believing
  • 00:08:39.702 --> 00:08:42.371
  • God than we do almost everything else?
  • 00:08:42.371 --> 00:08:45.007
  • How many of you have used ai?
  • 00:08:45.007 --> 00:08:47.376
  • Asked it a question, followed its instructions?
  • 00:08:47.376 --> 00:08:51.581
  • How many of you have asked siri for directions?
  • 00:08:51.581 --> 00:08:54.951
  • Don't know where i'm going. how do i get there?
  • 00:08:54.951 --> 00:08:56.319
  • She--"go to the stoplight and turn left."
  • 00:08:56.319 --> 00:08:57.653
  • You just drive up there and turn left.
  • 00:08:57.653 --> 00:09:00.022
  • Somebody you've never met.
  • 00:09:00.022 --> 00:09:02.291
  • If your spouse gave you those directions, you'd ask them how
  • 00:09:02.291 --> 00:09:04.427
  • They know.
  • 00:09:04.427 --> 00:09:07.263
  • Why is it we will accept the information that comes to us
  • 00:09:07.263 --> 00:09:10.566
  • From technology or some sort of expertise, a youtube video, but
  • 00:09:10.566 --> 00:09:14.570
  • We are so skeptical, so reluctant, so hardhearted when
  • 00:09:14.570 --> 00:09:18.007
  • It comes to believing god?
  • 00:09:18.007 --> 00:09:19.408
  • I believe every eye will see the return of jesus.
  • 00:09:19.408 --> 00:09:22.645
  • He's coming back as a conquering king.
  • 00:09:22.645 --> 00:09:25.481
  • He's coming back for his church.
  • 00:09:25.481 --> 00:09:27.049
  • You know why he's coming back?
  • 00:09:27.049 --> 00:09:28.384
  • Because if he didn't step back into time on our behalf, we
  • 00:09:28.384 --> 00:09:30.820
  • Wouldn't survive.
  • 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:33.656
  • The greatest expression of the power of god in the history of
  • 00:09:33.656 --> 00:09:36.659
  • Humanity will be the completion of the rescue mission that he
  • 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:40.029
  • Began in bethlehem.
  • 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:42.164
  • So when i say god is moving and he's propelling us toward the
  • 00:09:42.164 --> 00:09:44.767
  • End of the ages, we need to understand that both the wheat
  • 00:09:44.767 --> 00:09:47.570
  • And the tares, the weeds, are growing in that
  • 00:09:47.570 --> 00:09:49.705
  • Same environment.
  • 00:09:49.705 --> 00:09:53.275
  • In daniel chapter 7, i love the book of daniel.
  • 00:09:53.275 --> 00:09:55.845
  • He's a captivating character to me, a young man in a difficult
  • 00:09:55.845 --> 00:10:00.149
  • Place with a persistent faith.
  • 00:10:00.149 --> 00:10:02.184
  • God gave him a vision, gave him several visions, but in daniel
  • 00:10:02.184 --> 00:10:05.554
  • 7:13, he said, "in my vision at night i looked, and there before
  • 00:10:05.554 --> 00:10:08.891
  • Me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds
  • 00:10:08.891 --> 00:10:11.527
  • Of heaven.
  • 00:10:11.527 --> 00:10:12.862
  • He approached the ancient of days and was led into
  • 00:10:12.862 --> 00:10:14.230
  • His presence.
  • 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:15.564
  • He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all
  • 00:10:15.564 --> 00:10:18.567
  • Peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him.
  • 00:10:18.567 --> 00:10:22.171
  • His dominion is an everlasting dominion.
  • 00:10:22.171 --> 00:10:23.973
  • It will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never
  • 00:10:23.973 --> 00:10:27.209
  • Be destroyed."
  • 00:10:27.209 --> 00:10:28.544
  • You know how daniel had that vision?
  • 00:10:28.544 --> 00:10:29.912
  • In babylon. he's a slave.
  • 00:10:29.912 --> 00:10:32.815
  • He's been physically mutilated.
  • 00:10:32.815 --> 00:10:37.019
  • And god gives him a revelation of the end of the age and the
  • 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:40.022
  • Return of the king.
  • 00:10:40.022 --> 00:10:42.291
  • Don't allow your circumstances and the difficulty of your
  • 00:10:42.291 --> 00:10:44.694
  • Circumstances or the frustrations you feel or the
  • 00:10:44.694 --> 00:10:47.530
  • Things that are incomplete or the dreams you may have held
  • 00:10:47.530 --> 00:10:50.633
  • That haven't emerged in the way you'd hoped they would to keep
  • 00:10:50.633 --> 00:10:53.335
  • You from the promises of god.
  • 00:10:53.335 --> 00:10:56.872
  • Before we go today, i want to pray with you.
  • 00:10:56.872 --> 00:11:00.309
  • We gotta stop.
  • 00:11:00.309 --> 00:11:01.677
  • We can't afford to sit in the shadows because we've been
  • 00:11:01.677 --> 00:11:03.879
  • Wounded or hurt or disappointed.
  • 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.382
  • I'm not saying that they're not real or legitimate.
  • 00:11:06.382 --> 00:11:08.484
  • I'm not saying that everybody's treated you appropriately or
  • 00:11:08.484 --> 00:11:11.287
  • That every circumstance in your life was ideal.
  • 00:11:11.287 --> 00:11:14.156
  • I'm telling you there's a power before you that can transform
  • 00:11:14.156 --> 00:11:17.159
  • Those and bring a meaning to your life.
  • 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:20.096
  • The king is coming back.
  • 00:11:20.096 --> 00:11:22.998
  • We wanna be looking for the arrival of the king with the
  • 00:11:22.998 --> 00:11:25.835
  • Same determination and intensity that anna and simeon were in the
  • 00:11:25.835 --> 00:11:29.705
  • Temple waiting to identify the baby jesus when they brought
  • 00:11:29.705 --> 00:11:32.975
  • Him in.
  • 00:11:32.975 --> 00:11:34.844
  • Temple's filled with parents with new babies, excited about
  • 00:11:34.844 --> 00:11:37.847
  • It, all the things that we all-- think of all the pictures the
  • 00:11:37.847 --> 00:11:40.616
  • Grandparents are taking.
  • 00:11:40.616 --> 00:11:43.352
  • But anna and simeon are waiting to recognize the messiah.
  • 00:11:43.352 --> 00:11:48.424
  • You wanna be in the group that are anxiously awaiting the
  • 00:11:48.424 --> 00:11:51.327
  • Return of the king.
  • 00:11:51.327 --> 00:11:53.028
  • We're gonna recalibrate a little bit.
  • 00:11:53.028 --> 00:11:54.764
  • The theme of the weekend is joy.
  • 00:11:54.764 --> 00:11:58.200
  • Joy needs to be understood.
  • 00:11:58.200 --> 00:11:59.735
  • Joy is rocket fuel for fulfilling god's purposes for
  • 00:11:59.735 --> 00:12:03.272
  • Your life.
  • 00:12:03.272 --> 00:12:04.707
  • Joy is absolutely essential if you're going to be able to
  • 00:12:04.707 --> 00:12:07.510
  • Persevere and overcome.
  • 00:12:07.510 --> 00:12:09.712
  • I don't believe you'll be able to persevere and endure
  • 00:12:09.712 --> 00:12:12.348
  • Without joy.
  • 00:12:12.348 --> 00:12:14.850
  • Joy sustains us.
  • 00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:16.652
  • We're complex beings.
  • 00:12:16.652 --> 00:12:17.987
  • The bible talks to us about being body, soul, and spirit.
  • 00:12:17.987 --> 00:12:20.756
  • Your body, what i often say, is your earth suit.
  • 00:12:20.756 --> 00:12:23.692
  • Your body gives you spiritual authority in time.
  • 00:12:23.692 --> 00:12:28.798
  • When your body's done, you step out of time, you're
  • 00:12:28.798 --> 00:12:31.233
  • Not finished.
  • 00:12:31.233 --> 00:12:32.968
  • You live in a body, you have a soul, your mind, your will and
  • 00:12:32.968 --> 00:12:36.105
  • Your emotions, but you are a spirit.
  • 00:12:36.105 --> 00:12:39.909
  • Your spirit's eternal.
  • 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:42.344
  • The bible says god knows us when we're being knit together in
  • 00:12:42.344 --> 00:12:44.680
  • Our mother's womb.
  • 00:12:44.680 --> 00:12:46.048
  • There's really no argument from a biblical perspective about
  • 00:12:46.048 --> 00:12:48.717
  • When life begins.
  • 00:12:48.717 --> 00:12:50.085
  • You're not a blob of cells.
  • 00:12:50.085 --> 00:12:52.154
  • You're not a hunk of plasma.
  • 00:12:52.154 --> 00:12:54.590
  • It's a convenient, godless argument that's allowed us to
  • 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:57.193
  • Sacrifice multiplied millions of children on the altar
  • 00:12:57.193 --> 00:13:00.663
  • Of convenience.
  • 00:13:00.663 --> 00:13:02.164
  • It's not new to america.
  • 00:13:02.164 --> 00:13:03.499
  • It's not new to the 21st century.
  • 00:13:03.499 --> 00:13:04.867
  • We've been killing our children for economic opportunity
  • 00:13:04.867 --> 00:13:07.069
  • For millennia.
  • 00:13:07.069 --> 00:13:09.104
  • But it's a unique stain upon a christian nation.
  • 00:13:09.104 --> 00:13:15.144
  • Allen: welcome to 2026. happy new year.
  • 00:13:18.981 --> 00:13:21.851
  • We've created a new book to help you.
  • 00:13:21.851 --> 00:13:23.352
  • It's called "turn up the light."
  • 00:13:23.352 --> 00:13:24.687
  • It's a devotional for the whole year.
  • 00:13:24.687 --> 00:13:26.322
  • It's a really simple idea.
  • 00:13:26.322 --> 00:13:27.656
  • I can join you for a cup of coffee in the morning.
  • 00:13:27.656 --> 00:13:30.492
  • We'll have a brief conversation with a spiritual principle
  • 00:13:30.492 --> 00:13:33.195
  • To start our day, a scripture verse, a prayer.
  • 00:13:33.195 --> 00:13:35.998
  • And then when you're tired of me,
  • 00:13:35.998 --> 00:13:37.333
  • You can close the book.
  • 00:13:37.333 --> 00:13:38.834
  • It's perfect.
  • 00:13:38.834 --> 00:13:40.436
  • In all seriousness, we do wanna turn up the light.
  • 00:13:40.436 --> 00:13:43.038
  • Let's not rage against the darkness.
  • 00:13:43.038 --> 00:13:44.440
  • Let's invite god into the midst of this year
  • 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:46.709
  • And then just see what he will do.
  • 00:13:46.709 --> 00:13:48.577
  • Female announcer: pastor allen's new devotional,
  • 00:13:48.577 --> 00:13:50.112
  • "turn up the light," is designed to equip you every single day
  • 00:13:50.112 --> 00:13:53.249
  • Of the year.
  • 00:13:53.249 --> 00:13:54.583
  • Inside, you'll find 365 short devotionals,
  • 00:13:54.583 --> 00:13:58.053
  • Each with a scripture, teaching, and a prayer.
  • 00:13:58.053 --> 00:14:01.123
  • As you begin this new year, don't rage against the darkness.
  • 00:14:01.123 --> 00:14:04.326
  • Instead, choose to turn up the light.
  • 00:14:04.326 --> 00:14:06.495
  • You can request this book when you donate $25 or more today
  • 00:14:06.495 --> 00:14:10.499
  • At allenjackson.com or by calling...
  • 00:14:10.499 --> 00:14:15.771
  • Allen: you're a spirit, and for each part of your personality,
  • 00:14:19.808 --> 00:14:24.013
  • There is a different way of understanding satisfaction.
  • 00:14:24.013 --> 00:14:26.749
  • For your body, it's pleasure.
  • 00:14:26.749 --> 00:14:28.117
  • I think we get that.
  • 00:14:28.117 --> 00:14:29.718
  • Pleasure is not evil.
  • 00:14:29.718 --> 00:14:31.053
  • God created us with the capacity to enjoy pleasure.
  • 00:14:31.053 --> 00:14:34.256
  • For your soul, satisfaction is understood as happiness.
  • 00:14:34.256 --> 00:14:38.260
  • Again, happiness isn't evil.
  • 00:14:38.260 --> 00:14:41.230
  • Happiness is very transient.
  • 00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:43.098
  • It's dependent upon what feels good, if it aligns with how
  • 00:14:43.098 --> 00:14:46.735
  • You think.
  • 00:14:46.735 --> 00:14:48.137
  • Happiness comes from your mind, your will, and your emotions.
  • 00:14:48.137 --> 00:14:50.673
  • And if your circumstances are such that they're what you were
  • 00:14:50.673 --> 00:14:53.275
  • Hoping to experience, you're happy about it.
  • 00:14:53.275 --> 00:14:55.744
  • If they differ from that or somebody presents an idea to you
  • 00:14:55.744 --> 00:14:58.814
  • That differs from what you hold, you're no longer happy.
  • 00:14:58.814 --> 00:15:04.053
  • And if you're not grounded in god, you lose the ability for
  • 00:15:04.053 --> 00:15:06.956
  • Civil discourse.
  • 00:15:06.956 --> 00:15:08.290
  • Gee, have we noticed that happening around us.
  • 00:15:08.290 --> 00:15:11.694
  • We're so happiness-centered we can't even have a conversation
  • 00:15:11.694 --> 00:15:16.031
  • Any longer with someone we disagree with.
  • 00:15:16.031 --> 00:15:20.469
  • We have a commitment to a set of values and principles of
  • 00:15:20.469 --> 00:15:23.172
  • Objective truth.
  • 00:15:23.172 --> 00:15:24.540
  • They're not changed by what people think or feel.
  • 00:15:24.540 --> 00:15:27.343
  • Why do we have to feel so threatened?
  • 00:15:27.343 --> 00:15:30.479
  • We should be able to have those conversations.
  • 00:15:30.479 --> 00:15:35.617
  • Not hide them.
  • 00:15:35.617 --> 00:15:38.187
  • But satisfaction for your spirit is joy.
  • 00:15:38.187 --> 00:15:43.625
  • Happiness is very transient, it wasn't as happy this morning as
  • 00:15:43.625 --> 00:15:46.495
  • Yesterday morning.
  • 00:15:46.495 --> 00:15:48.030
  • When i stepped out of the house, something awful had happened.
  • 00:15:48.030 --> 00:15:51.367
  • Who did not pay the heat bill, right?
  • 00:15:51.367 --> 00:15:57.039
  • And i looked at my phone and the high for the day today was
  • 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.042
  • Last night.
  • 00:16:00.042 --> 00:16:02.378
  • That's messed up.
  • 00:16:02.378 --> 00:16:03.746
  • I live in the south.
  • 00:16:03.746 --> 00:16:06.382
  • I don't know who needs to repent, but you need to get busy
  • 00:16:06.382 --> 00:16:08.784
  • With it.
  • 00:16:08.784 --> 00:16:11.620
  • I mean that doesn't make me happy.
  • 00:16:11.620 --> 00:16:14.656
  • But i'm not gonna let--i didn't stay home because i was unhappy
  • 00:16:14.656 --> 00:16:17.159
  • About the temperature.
  • 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:19.028
  • It was just too cold to get out.
  • 00:16:19.028 --> 00:16:20.629
  • Some of you probably did.
  • 00:16:20.629 --> 00:16:21.997
  • I'm looking at you right now.
  • 00:16:21.997 --> 00:16:25.367
  • Happiness-based decision.
  • 00:16:25.367 --> 00:16:26.769
  • That would make me happy to get out in the cold, hm.
  • 00:16:26.769 --> 00:16:30.139
  • If we're going to be able to face the challenges of life,
  • 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:34.610
  • We're gonna have to understand the role and the essential
  • 00:16:34.610 --> 00:16:37.212
  • Nature of joy within us.
  • 00:16:37.212 --> 00:16:41.116
  • I can unpack it with you a little bit from scripture.
  • 00:16:41.116 --> 00:16:42.751
  • Look at deuteronomy 28.
  • 00:16:42.751 --> 00:16:45.254
  • God says: "because you didn't serve the lord your god with joy
  • 00:16:45.254 --> 00:16:48.891
  • And a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;
  • 00:16:48.891 --> 00:16:52.895
  • Therefore you'll serve your enemies whom the lord will send
  • 00:16:52.895 --> 00:16:55.064
  • Against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the
  • 00:16:55.064 --> 00:16:58.400
  • Lack of all things; and he'll put an iron yoke on your neck
  • 00:16:58.400 --> 00:17:02.538
  • Until he has destroyed you."
  • 00:17:02.538 --> 00:17:04.540
  • "wow, well, i mean, i thought we were talking about christmas and
  • 00:17:04.540 --> 00:17:08.877
  • Angels and happy stuff.
  • 00:17:08.877 --> 00:17:12.014
  • Couldn't we clap for a minute or play some drums or something?"
  • 00:17:12.014 --> 00:17:17.186
  • You see, spiritual things are more real than we have really
  • 00:17:17.186 --> 00:17:21.323
  • Given much credence to.
  • 00:17:21.323 --> 00:17:23.692
  • We tend to get far more worked up about the direction of the
  • 00:17:23.692 --> 00:17:25.894
  • Markets or the fed rate, whether they're raising it or lowering
  • 00:17:25.894 --> 00:17:28.964
  • It, or whether our kids made a ball team or something.
  • 00:17:28.964 --> 00:17:32.101
  • Those things seem far more important to us than spiritual
  • 00:17:32.101 --> 00:17:35.471
  • Choices, but i assure you, the quality of your life and your
  • 00:17:35.471 --> 00:17:39.575
  • Eternal destiny is dependent more upon spiritual forces than
  • 00:17:39.575 --> 00:17:43.912
  • Anything physical or tangible in this material world.
  • 00:17:43.912 --> 00:17:47.316
  • But i'm not saying those things aren't real.
  • 00:17:47.316 --> 00:17:49.084
  • I believe in economic power and i believe in military power or
  • 00:17:49.084 --> 00:17:53.355
  • Political power, but they pale in comparison to
  • 00:17:53.355 --> 00:17:56.592
  • Spiritual power.
  • 00:17:56.592 --> 00:17:58.660
  • And god gave us a little window.
  • 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:00.229
  • He said, "you chose not to serve the lord with joy and a
  • 00:18:00.229 --> 00:18:03.665
  • Glad heart."
  • 00:18:03.665 --> 00:18:06.101
  • We choose to serve the lord.
  • 00:18:06.101 --> 00:18:08.470
  • We don't do it out of a sense of encumbrance or necessity.
  • 00:18:08.470 --> 00:18:13.208
  • We choose.
  • 00:18:13.208 --> 00:18:14.543
  • If we choose not to do that, he said, "you can serve
  • 00:18:14.543 --> 00:18:17.146
  • Your enemies."
  • 00:18:17.146 --> 00:18:18.480
  • "well, i don't like that."
  • 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.582
  • I'm always a bit bemused at people when god has been
  • 00:18:20.582 --> 00:18:23.685
  • Gracious enough to reveal to us his character and the principles
  • 00:18:23.685 --> 00:18:28.157
  • That the world in which we find ourselves operate so that we can
  • 00:18:28.157 --> 00:18:32.161
  • Make choices that bring the best of god to our lives.
  • 00:18:32.161 --> 00:18:36.632
  • Understand, it wasn't incumbent upon him to reveal those things
  • 00:18:36.632 --> 00:18:38.867
  • To us at all.
  • 00:18:38.867 --> 00:18:40.202
  • He could have just left us with no instructions, like a bunch of
  • 00:18:40.202 --> 00:18:43.906
  • Men at christmas, right?
  • 00:18:43.906 --> 00:18:48.310
  • You got all those things that need assembled and you open the
  • 00:18:48.310 --> 00:18:50.345
  • Packages and you start putting them together.
  • 00:18:50.345 --> 00:18:53.348
  • And you get done with what you know to do, and you got all
  • 00:18:53.348 --> 00:18:55.217
  • These parts left.
  • 00:18:55.217 --> 00:18:57.553
  • It was a stupid toy anyway.
  • 00:18:57.553 --> 00:19:01.323
  • And then there's always a little voice: "did you read
  • 00:19:01.323 --> 00:19:04.126
  • The instructions?"
  • 00:19:04.126 --> 00:19:11.266
  • Oh, that's an awful--that's an awful intersection of--but god
  • 00:19:11.266 --> 00:19:16.905
  • Loved us enough to give us the insight, the understanding, so
  • 00:19:16.905 --> 00:19:21.176
  • That we can make a choice.
  • 00:19:21.176 --> 00:19:24.046
  • We can choose to serve the lord or we can serve our enemies.
  • 00:19:24.046 --> 00:19:29.484
  • People go, "well, i don't think that's fair."
  • 00:19:29.484 --> 00:19:33.188
  • But when you're god, you can make your own rules.
  • 00:19:33.188 --> 00:19:37.526
  • I mean, if i were making the rules, i think chocolate should
  • 00:19:37.526 --> 00:19:43.332
  • Cause toned abs, right?
  • 00:19:43.332 --> 00:19:51.673
  • And i think if you really wanted to accelerate the process, you'd
  • 00:19:51.673 --> 00:19:56.144
  • Have chocolate and then immediately follow it with cake.
  • 00:19:56.144 --> 00:20:04.486
  • I mean, it's a farce.
  • 00:20:04.486 --> 00:20:06.622
  • You have to eat broccoli and chase it with some cauliflower.
  • 00:20:06.622 --> 00:20:13.295
  • And you can just go wild and have a little olive oil.
  • 00:20:13.295 --> 00:20:17.566
  • Whoopee.
  • 00:20:17.566 --> 00:20:21.336
  • We don't rage against the rules.
  • 00:20:21.336 --> 00:20:23.905
  • Do you understand how far we have drifted, church?
  • 00:20:23.905 --> 00:20:27.643
  • And then we introduce this thing, "well, i'm not sure.
  • 00:20:27.643 --> 00:20:30.145
  • I don't believe that way," as if that changes anything.
  • 00:20:30.145 --> 00:20:34.816
  • Like me saying, "i don't believe chocolate's gonna--i think
  • 00:20:34.816 --> 00:20:37.152
  • Chocolate will make me healthy."
  • 00:20:37.152 --> 00:20:38.487
  • Well, you can believe it all you want while you look like that
  • 00:20:38.487 --> 00:20:40.222
  • Michelin person.
  • 00:20:40.222 --> 00:20:45.494
  • God has given us a choice.
  • 00:20:45.494 --> 00:20:47.195
  • Isaiah 35 gives us a promise.
  • 00:20:47.195 --> 00:20:49.164
  • It's amazing.
  • 00:20:49.164 --> 00:20:50.532
  • Said, "the ransomed of the lord will return and they'll come
  • 00:20:50.532 --> 00:20:52.334
  • With joyful shouting to zion, with everlasting joy upon
  • 00:20:52.334 --> 00:20:56.338
  • Their heads.
  • 00:20:56.338 --> 00:20:57.673
  • They'll find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will
  • 00:20:57.673 --> 00:21:02.044
  • Flee away."
  • 00:21:02.044 --> 00:21:03.845
  • It's a presentation of opposites, antonyms.
  • 00:21:03.845 --> 00:21:06.915
  • It's worth noting.
  • 00:21:06.915 --> 00:21:08.317
  • He said they'll find gladness and joy.
  • 00:21:08.317 --> 00:21:11.620
  • And when you find them, something's gonna happen.
  • 00:21:11.620 --> 00:21:14.089
  • Sorrow and sighing will flee away.
  • 00:21:14.089 --> 00:21:17.526
  • If we want sorrow and sighing to depart from us, then we need to
  • 00:21:17.526 --> 00:21:22.230
  • Cultivate and pursue gladness and joy.
  • 00:21:22.230 --> 00:21:26.335
  • Please note he didn't say pursue happiness.
  • 00:21:26.335 --> 00:21:29.271
  • We have a culture so bent on happy: "doesn't make me happy,
  • 00:21:29.271 --> 00:21:33.942
  • So i'm not doing it."
  • 00:21:33.942 --> 00:21:36.511
  • Well, again, i don't think god's opposed to happiness, but he's
  • 00:21:36.511 --> 00:21:39.247
  • Not--he's much more committed to your holiness.
  • 00:21:39.247 --> 00:21:44.986
  • Most of the things in my life that require discipline, whether
  • 00:21:44.986 --> 00:21:47.255
  • It's spiritual discipline or physical discipline or emotional
  • 00:21:47.255 --> 00:21:50.459
  • Discipline, often in the real time don't make me happy.
  • 00:21:50.459 --> 00:21:55.497
  • Studying when you'd rather be relaxing, doesn't usually make
  • 00:21:55.497 --> 00:21:58.133
  • Me happy.
  • 00:21:58.133 --> 00:21:59.468
  • Eating healthy versus eating junk probably doesn't make
  • 00:21:59.468 --> 00:22:00.836
  • Me happy.
  • 00:22:00.836 --> 00:22:02.704
  • All sorts of things.
  • 00:22:02.704 --> 00:22:04.606
  • But we choose the discipline.
  • 00:22:04.606 --> 00:22:07.843
  • The bible describes it in 2 timothy, it's not in your
  • 00:22:07.843 --> 00:22:10.145
  • Notes, but it is in your bible.
  • 00:22:10.145 --> 00:22:12.581
  • Said: "there'll be terrible times in the last day," and then
  • 00:22:12.581 --> 00:22:14.649
  • It lists 18 aspects of the human character that will deteriorate.
  • 00:22:14.649 --> 00:22:18.253
  • And one of them, it says: "people will be lovers of
  • 00:22:18.253 --> 00:22:19.921
  • Pleasure more than lovers of god."
  • 00:22:19.921 --> 00:22:23.225
  • They'll want to satisfy their craving for pleasure more than
  • 00:22:23.225 --> 00:22:26.695
  • They will want to be obedient to god.
  • 00:22:26.695 --> 00:22:29.898
  • Gee, that doesn't sound familiar.
  • 00:22:29.898 --> 00:22:32.501
  • We have to choose happiness and joy, church.
  • 00:22:32.501 --> 00:22:35.771
  • God is moving in the earth.
  • 00:22:35.771 --> 00:22:37.139
  • If we're gonna move with him and get to different outcomes, we
  • 00:22:37.139 --> 00:22:39.708
  • Can't allow the compass of our lives, the value structure of
  • 00:22:39.708 --> 00:22:43.245
  • Our lives to be dictated to us by a secular culture that is not
  • 00:22:43.245 --> 00:22:47.516
  • Interested in pleasing god.
  • 00:22:47.516 --> 00:22:49.918
  • We're gonna have to walk a different path and hear a
  • 00:22:49.918 --> 00:22:52.354
  • Different cadence and have a different set of values and a
  • 00:22:52.354 --> 00:22:54.756
  • Different set of parameters and do something different with our
  • 00:22:54.756 --> 00:22:57.559
  • Time and something different with our money and something
  • 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:00.028
  • Different with our ambitions.
  • 00:23:00.028 --> 00:23:01.730
  • The things, the dreams and aspirations we have for our
  • 00:23:01.730 --> 00:23:04.132
  • Children better be different than the secularist amongst us.
  • 00:23:04.132 --> 00:23:08.570
  • Please, please, it's time that we become ambitious for the
  • 00:23:08.570 --> 00:23:17.913
  • Kingdom of god.
  • 00:23:17.913 --> 00:23:22.017
  • If i had to look for the opposite of joy, i think it'd
  • 00:23:22.017 --> 00:23:24.786
  • Be grumbling.
  • 00:23:24.786 --> 00:23:27.522
  • It'd be grumbling.
  • 00:23:27.522 --> 00:23:30.158
  • And we wanna think, "well, you know, i would only grumble if
  • 00:23:30.158 --> 00:23:32.494
  • God wasn't helping me," but that really doesn't hold up under the
  • 00:23:32.494 --> 00:23:35.730
  • Pattern of scripture or our own life experience.
  • 00:23:35.730 --> 00:23:38.233
  • The generation that perhaps saw more supernatural involvement of
  • 00:23:38.233 --> 00:23:41.069
  • God than any generation of all of human history was the
  • 00:23:41.069 --> 00:23:43.438
  • Exodus generation.
  • 00:23:43.438 --> 00:23:45.307
  • They saw the plagues in egypt, they saw the red sea part.
  • 00:23:45.307 --> 00:23:48.076
  • They ate manna every day.
  • 00:23:48.076 --> 00:23:51.146
  • They got water in the desert from a rock that god brought out
  • 00:23:51.146 --> 00:23:55.150
  • For them.
  • 00:23:55.150 --> 00:23:56.585
  • And one of their most consistent responses to god was grumbling.
  • 00:23:56.585 --> 00:24:02.591
  • They grumbled with manna in their teeth.
  • 00:24:02.591 --> 00:24:08.330
  • Come on, they're eating heavenly food, grumbling about the baker.
  • 00:24:08.330 --> 00:24:14.202
  • So the message is pretty clear that god's supernatural
  • 00:24:14.202 --> 00:24:17.472
  • Involvement won't eliminate grumbling.
  • 00:24:17.472 --> 00:24:19.107
  • Grumbling is a choice we make.
  • 00:24:19.107 --> 00:24:22.010
  • It's a decision we make.
  • 00:24:22.010 --> 00:24:23.845
  • Grumbling is not linked to your circumstances.
  • 00:24:23.845 --> 00:24:25.847
  • It's linked to the condition of your heart and your character.
  • 00:24:25.847 --> 00:24:29.851
  • Don't blame your grumbling on god's unfair.
  • 00:24:29.851 --> 00:24:32.320
  • We have to choose joy and gladness.
  • 00:24:32.320 --> 00:24:35.891
  • So how do we cultivate joy?
  • 00:24:35.891 --> 00:24:39.461
  • Acts 13:52.
  • 00:24:39.461 --> 00:24:41.930
  • Says: "and the disciples were continually filled with joy and
  • 00:24:41.930 --> 00:24:44.900
  • With the holy spirit."
  • 00:24:44.900 --> 00:24:49.738
  • I think one of the components is the attitude we hold towards the
  • 00:24:49.738 --> 00:24:53.041
  • Person of the holy spirit.
  • 00:24:53.041 --> 00:24:55.243
  • We've left him out of the equation for too long.
  • 00:24:55.243 --> 00:24:58.179
  • We may have had language with regarding the person of the holy
  • 00:24:58.179 --> 00:25:01.182
  • Spirit, but we've had very little intent to cooperate
  • 00:25:01.182 --> 00:25:03.485
  • With him.
  • 00:25:03.485 --> 00:25:06.054
  • We will focus on the parts that were convenient for us, maybe
  • 00:25:06.054 --> 00:25:08.924
  • Conversion, new birth, baptism, bible study.
  • 00:25:08.924 --> 00:25:11.826
  • We're gonna stay in the logical end of the pool and we're gonna
  • 00:25:11.826 --> 00:25:14.496
  • Outthink and outwork evil and we're gonna outorganize and
  • 00:25:14.496 --> 00:25:17.532
  • We've made very little room for the dynamic of the spirit
  • 00:25:17.532 --> 00:25:20.035
  • Of god.
  • 00:25:20.035 --> 00:25:21.369
  • Jesus said to his closest friends, the ones that he had
  • 00:25:21.369 --> 00:25:22.871
  • Spent the most time with in his earthly life in ministry, he
  • 00:25:22.871 --> 00:25:25.941
  • Said, "don't even leave jerusalem.
  • 00:25:25.941 --> 00:25:27.275
  • Don't begin--don't begin your assignment until you're baptized
  • 00:25:27.275 --> 00:25:30.712
  • In the holy spirit."
  • 00:25:30.712 --> 00:25:33.381
  • He'd just spent a 40-day period of time with them, teaching them
  • 00:25:33.381 --> 00:25:36.418
  • About the kingdom of god.
  • 00:25:36.418 --> 00:25:37.786
  • Can you imagine a 40-day seminar with post-resurrection jesus?
  • 00:25:37.786 --> 00:25:41.389
  • I bet you'd put that on your résumé.
  • 00:25:41.389 --> 00:25:47.796
  • And jesus said, "listen, you can't even start until you're
  • 00:25:47.796 --> 00:25:51.433
  • Baptized in the spirit."
  • 00:25:51.433 --> 00:25:54.202
  • I would submit to you, we need to make room in our lives and
  • 00:25:54.202 --> 00:25:57.238
  • The intent of our faith for the person of
  • 00:25:57.238 --> 00:25:59.507
  • The holy spirit in new ways.
  • 00:25:59.507 --> 00:26:02.277
  • Allen: i love the promise of a new year,
  • 00:26:06.181 --> 00:26:08.249
  • All the opportunities that it holds.
  • 00:26:08.249 --> 00:26:10.318
  • We wanna begin that on purpose, so we've created a new tool.
  • 00:26:10.318 --> 00:26:13.021
  • It's a book.
  • 00:26:13.021 --> 00:26:14.356
  • It's a devotional, 365-day devotional, built out of those
  • 00:26:14.356 --> 00:26:17.726
  • Digital devotionals that you're familiar with.
  • 00:26:17.726 --> 00:26:19.928
  • The intent is just to give you a bit of a spiritual beginning
  • 00:26:19.928 --> 00:26:22.731
  • For the day, a little vitamin, spiritual vitamin,
  • 00:26:22.731 --> 00:26:24.633
  • For your day--a prayer, a scripture verse.
  • 00:26:24.633 --> 00:26:26.801
  • It's easy to share.
  • 00:26:26.801 --> 00:26:28.136
  • You know, i've often said that you don't rage against
  • 00:26:28.136 --> 00:26:29.938
  • The darkness; turn up the light.
  • 00:26:29.938 --> 00:26:31.806
  • Well, we very creatively entitled this devotional
  • 00:26:31.806 --> 00:26:34.242
  • "turn up the light."
  • 00:26:34.242 --> 00:26:35.710
  • Get a couple of copies.
  • 00:26:35.710 --> 00:26:37.045
  • Share one with a friend, maybe a family member.
  • 00:26:37.045 --> 00:26:38.647
  • Let's do it together. god is moving in the earth.
  • 00:26:38.647 --> 00:26:41.516
  • Don't let your attention be drawn to the darkness and the
  • 00:26:41.516 --> 00:26:44.653
  • Chaos and the confusion.
  • 00:26:44.653 --> 00:26:46.488
  • Let's focus our hearts on the lord.
  • 00:26:46.488 --> 00:26:48.089
  • Ask him to turn up the light and raise our hands,
  • 00:26:48.089 --> 00:26:50.892
  • And let's just see what he will do in our lives.
  • 00:26:50.892 --> 00:26:53.428
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:26:53.428 --> 00:26:54.763
  • Father, i thank you for a new year, for the strength to meet
  • 00:26:54.763 --> 00:26:56.931
  • This beginning.
  • 00:26:56.931 --> 00:26:58.266
  • We wanna invite you into the midst of our homes,
  • 00:26:58.266 --> 00:27:00.168
  • Our lives, our journeys.
  • 00:27:00.168 --> 00:27:02.137
  • May christ in us truly be a light in this world this year.
  • 00:27:02.137 --> 00:27:05.807
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:05.807 --> 00:27:07.842
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:07.842 --> 00:27:28.897