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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - When God Moves (Part 1)

November 5, 2025 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - When God Moves (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#PresenceofGod #HandofGod #Culture #Change #Church #BodyofChrist #Ministry #LightoftheWorld #Witness/Witnessing #God'sWill #Plan #IdentityinChrist

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - When God Moves (Part 1) | November 5, 2025
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, when i was a child i thought christmas
  • 00:00:06.823 --> 00:00:08.792
  • Came every 4 years.
  • 00:00:08.925 --> 00:00:10.560
  • Now i feel like it comes about every 4 weeks.
  • 00:00:10.693 --> 00:00:12.962
  • Well, christmas is just around the corner.
  • 00:00:13.096 --> 00:00:13.863
  • It's a season of tremendous opportunity for those of us who
  • 00:00:15.198 --> 00:00:17.801
  • Are people of faith to remember what god has done for us and
  • 00:00:17.801 --> 00:00:20.870
  • What we're inviting him into in the midst of this
  • 00:00:20.870 --> 00:00:23.006
  • Holiday season.
  • 00:00:23.006 --> 00:00:24.607
  • Well, we've created a tool, a resource for you, to lead with
  • 00:00:24.607 --> 00:00:27.477
  • Your faith at christmas.
  • 00:00:27.477 --> 00:00:29.079
  • It's a 25-day devotional along with some ideas about--from
  • 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:33.349
  • Recipes to activities for your friends or your family.
  • 00:00:33.349 --> 00:00:36.853
  • It's just a fun way so that you can shape your faith into
  • 00:00:36.853 --> 00:00:40.156
  • The holiday.
  • 00:00:40.156 --> 00:00:41.524
  • I think all of us have a desire to see christmas--we have jesus
  • 00:00:41.524 --> 00:00:44.761
  • In the midst of it a bit more.
  • 00:00:44.761 --> 00:00:46.429
  • There's so many secular voices that speak, and sometimes i
  • 00:00:46.429 --> 00:00:48.898
  • Think we feel powerless to do something other than put up a
  • 00:00:48.898 --> 00:00:51.401
  • Tree or hang some lights.
  • 00:00:51.401 --> 00:00:53.036
  • Well, "lead with your faith at christmas" is a tool we created
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  • So you can share your faith with your family, with your friends,
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  • With coworkers.
  • 00:00:58.608 --> 00:00:59.943
  • I think it'll make this christmas season truly a way to
  • 00:00:59.943 --> 00:01:02.912
  • Honor the lord in your life.
  • 00:01:02.912 --> 00:01:04.681
  • In fact, i'm quite confident it'll be a blessing to you.
  • 00:01:04.681 --> 00:01:07.951
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:01:07.951 --> 00:01:15.258
  • Allen: we've been working through this series called
  • 00:01:15.258 --> 00:01:16.826
  • "shaping culture," with--the premise is really
  • 00:01:16.826 --> 00:01:20.063
  • Very simple.
  • 00:01:20.063 --> 00:01:21.397
  • I believe the church is intended to shape culture, not be shaped
  • 00:01:21.397 --> 00:01:23.133
  • By it.
  • 00:01:23.133 --> 00:01:24.834
  • And i--it's an unfortunate commentary on the contemporary
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  • Church that, for too long, i believe we have been shaped
  • 00:01:29.105 --> 00:01:32.142
  • By culture.
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  • We've been more interested in being approved by a secular
  • 00:01:33.877 --> 00:01:36.479
  • Culture than we have been changing it.
  • 00:01:36.479 --> 00:01:39.115
  • But i believe god is awakening a group of people with a different
  • 00:01:39.115 --> 00:01:42.685
  • Heart, and i believe that we will see evidence of that in the
  • 00:01:42.685 --> 00:01:46.856
  • Months and the years ahead of us.
  • 00:01:46.856 --> 00:01:49.425
  • So we've been walking--this particular session, we're gonna
  • 00:01:49.425 --> 00:01:51.427
  • Talk about when god moves because i think that's a
  • 00:01:51.427 --> 00:01:53.429
  • Unique time.
  • 00:01:53.429 --> 00:01:55.064
  • Biblically, there are times and seasons when god moves in more
  • 00:01:55.064 --> 00:01:58.067
  • Pronounced ways.
  • 00:01:58.067 --> 00:01:59.802
  • And i'm of the opinion that we are living through one of those
  • 00:01:59.802 --> 00:02:02.405
  • In this season.
  • 00:02:02.405 --> 00:02:05.175
  • I think when god moves, there are typically corresponding
  • 00:02:05.175 --> 00:02:07.844
  • Expressions of evil.
  • 00:02:07.844 --> 00:02:09.479
  • I don't think it's into a vacuum.
  • 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:11.514
  • David made his way to prominence against the challenges bellowed
  • 00:02:11.514 --> 00:02:14.751
  • By goliath, the philistine warrior.
  • 00:02:14.751 --> 00:02:17.420
  • Daniel made his way to significance in the babylonian
  • 00:02:17.420 --> 00:02:20.790
  • Empire because he was to be executed in the morning and that
  • 00:02:20.790 --> 00:02:25.395
  • Caused him to seek god with a diligence through the night.
  • 00:02:25.395 --> 00:02:29.199
  • And that pattern holds pretty consistently through scripture--
  • 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.535
  • That when god is moving in these remarkable seasons there's a
  • 00:02:32.535 --> 00:02:35.905
  • Parallel expression of evil so i'm--i've been inviting you not
  • 00:02:35.905 --> 00:02:38.942
  • To focus on that, not to be overwhelmed by that.
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  • We don't wanna ignore it, we choose not to deny it, but we
  • 00:02:41.644 --> 00:02:45.014
  • Prefer to focus our attention on what god is doing so we can join
  • 00:02:45.014 --> 00:02:48.051
  • Him in what he's up to.
  • 00:02:48.051 --> 00:02:51.054
  • That's the point of this.
  • 00:02:51.054 --> 00:02:52.388
  • In fact, we've turned our whole building into a part of this
  • 00:02:52.388 --> 00:02:54.524
  • Messaging for the past several weeks, and i'm gonna walk back
  • 00:02:54.524 --> 00:02:58.561
  • Through that.
  • 00:02:58.561 --> 00:02:59.896
  • If you haven't taken any time to walk through the building and
  • 00:02:59.896 --> 00:03:01.497
  • Look at what's on the walls and process it, take some pictures,
  • 00:03:01.497 --> 00:03:04.067
  • Share it with your family and your friends, let it be a
  • 00:03:04.067 --> 00:03:06.035
  • Talking point when you get together in your small groups.
  • 00:03:06.035 --> 00:03:08.905
  • A church has to become more than sermons.
  • 00:03:08.905 --> 00:03:11.975
  • It has to become a message that's in our hearts that we
  • 00:03:11.975 --> 00:03:14.244
  • Take beyond the walls of a building or beyond the
  • 00:03:14.244 --> 00:03:16.913
  • Boundaries of our campuses.
  • 00:03:16.913 --> 00:03:18.915
  • It has to become the talking points for who we are.
  • 00:03:18.915 --> 00:03:20.783
  • Most of you that are tennessee fans knows there's a little--
  • 00:03:20.783 --> 00:03:23.319
  • Know there's a little ball game this weekend.
  • 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:26.689
  • You've probably already made plans to watch church someplace
  • 00:03:26.689 --> 00:03:30.193
  • Other than in person in the building because of that.
  • 00:03:30.193 --> 00:03:33.563
  • May god forgive you.
  • 00:03:33.563 --> 00:03:37.433
  • Not inappropriate, but we have to take our faith beyond the
  • 00:03:37.433 --> 00:03:40.103
  • Walls of the church as well.
  • 00:03:40.103 --> 00:03:42.338
  • In haggai, not a book i suspect you read a lot.
  • 00:03:42.338 --> 00:03:44.807
  • It's a book quoted in the new testament, and i thought i would
  • 00:03:44.807 --> 00:03:47.810
  • Go back to the original quote.
  • 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:49.178
  • It's a little window into one of those seasons when god
  • 00:03:49.178 --> 00:03:51.581
  • Was moving.
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  • He has put together a plan so that the temple in jerusalem can
  • 00:03:52.915 --> 00:03:55.485
  • Be rebuilt.
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  • Solomon built the first temple, one of the most beautiful
  • 00:03:57.053 --> 00:04:00.790
  • Buildings ever constructed.
  • 00:04:00.790 --> 00:04:03.326
  • Overlaid with gold, it was destroyed by the babylonians,
  • 00:04:03.326 --> 00:04:06.496
  • 587 bc.
  • 00:04:06.496 --> 00:04:09.666
  • And for decades there was no temple in jerusalem.
  • 00:04:09.666 --> 00:04:13.403
  • It doesn't seem that significant to us.
  • 00:04:13.403 --> 00:04:14.837
  • We tend to equate it with a church, but the temple was the
  • 00:04:14.837 --> 00:04:17.440
  • Center of religious life for the jewish people.
  • 00:04:17.440 --> 00:04:19.942
  • It's where the daily sacrifices were offered.
  • 00:04:19.942 --> 00:04:21.944
  • It's where on the day of atonement each year that the
  • 00:04:21.944 --> 00:04:25.481
  • Blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the mercy seat to atone for
  • 00:04:25.481 --> 00:04:28.985
  • The sins of the people.
  • 00:04:28.985 --> 00:04:30.320
  • It was the center of their relationship with almighty god,
  • 00:04:30.320 --> 00:04:33.656
  • So the destruction of the temple called into question, at least
  • 00:04:33.656 --> 00:04:37.393
  • In their daily practice, the relationship they had with god.
  • 00:04:37.393 --> 00:04:41.064
  • And now god has begun the process of rebuilding the city
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  • Of jerusalem.
  • 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:45.134
  • He sent nehemiah back to put the wall in place.
  • 00:04:45.134 --> 00:04:48.304
  • You know, before they restored worship in jerusalem, they
  • 00:04:48.304 --> 00:04:51.441
  • Restored the security of jerusalem.
  • 00:04:51.441 --> 00:04:55.011
  • I wouldn't draw a one-to-one parallel, but i think when we
  • 00:04:55.011 --> 00:04:57.714
  • See god moving in our nation, i think restoring the borders of
  • 00:04:57.714 --> 00:05:00.416
  • Our nation, the sense that--or begin to turn our face once
  • 00:05:00.416 --> 00:05:05.355
  • Again to the authority of law in our nation, just some of those
  • 00:05:05.355 --> 00:05:11.661
  • Simple things, i think are a prelude to god moving in more
  • 00:05:11.661 --> 00:05:15.965
  • Direct spiritual ways.
  • 00:05:15.965 --> 00:05:18.201
  • So after jerusalem is secured with nehemiah and the wall, then
  • 00:05:18.201 --> 00:05:21.137
  • God begins to restore worship.
  • 00:05:21.137 --> 00:05:22.605
  • He sends a priest to begin to restore the things necessary,
  • 00:05:22.605 --> 00:05:25.975
  • And now zerubbabel is coming to lead the construction of the
  • 00:05:25.975 --> 00:05:30.313
  • Second temple.
  • 00:05:30.313 --> 00:05:31.647
  • Far more modest, far more simple, this temple wouldn't be
  • 00:05:31.647 --> 00:05:34.450
  • Overlaid with gold.
  • 00:05:34.450 --> 00:05:36.786
  • In fact, the ones who could remember the former temple wept
  • 00:05:36.786 --> 00:05:39.122
  • When they saw this temple being constructed, not with joy, but
  • 00:05:39.122 --> 00:05:43.559
  • With grief at the difference.
  • 00:05:43.559 --> 00:05:45.595
  • But that's where we step into the narrative.
  • 00:05:45.595 --> 00:05:46.929
  • It's haggai 2 and verse 4: "'now be strong, o zerubbabel.'"
  • 00:05:46.929 --> 00:05:50.967
  • You have to be strong just to spell your name.
  • 00:05:50.967 --> 00:05:55.104
  • "'be strong, joshua, the high priest.
  • 00:05:55.104 --> 00:05:57.874
  • Be strong, all the people of the land,' declares the lord,
  • 00:05:57.874 --> 00:06:00.243
  • 'and work.'"
  • 00:06:00.243 --> 00:06:01.577
  • How many of you have the imagination that serving god
  • 00:06:01.577 --> 00:06:04.313
  • Requires strength and work?
  • 00:06:04.313 --> 00:06:07.550
  • I don't think that gets baked into most of our
  • 00:06:07.550 --> 00:06:09.285
  • Discipleship plans.
  • 00:06:09.285 --> 00:06:11.754
  • You know, most of our, you know, we focus on things like
  • 00:06:11.754 --> 00:06:14.891
  • Devotionals and quiet times and all of those have a place and--
  • 00:06:14.891 --> 00:06:19.629
  • But the bible seems in a far more direct way to say we're
  • 00:06:19.629 --> 00:06:22.331
  • Gonna need strength and effort to follow the lord.
  • 00:06:22.331 --> 00:06:25.601
  • Being a christ follower is not for the faint of heart.
  • 00:06:25.601 --> 00:06:28.805
  • The great endeavors of your life aren't something beyond
  • 00:06:28.805 --> 00:06:31.073
  • Your faith.
  • 00:06:31.073 --> 00:06:32.442
  • The greatest demands of your life will be attached to
  • 00:06:32.442 --> 00:06:33.810
  • Your faith.
  • 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:38.514
  • "'be strong, all you people of the land and work.
  • 00:06:38.514 --> 00:06:40.817
  • For i am with you,' declares the lord almighty."
  • 00:06:40.817 --> 00:06:42.919
  • You see, i tend to think if the lord is with me, why would i
  • 00:06:42.919 --> 00:06:44.921
  • Have to work?
  • 00:06:44.921 --> 00:06:46.722
  • I mean, if god is with me, just bring me the victory.
  • 00:06:46.722 --> 00:06:50.026
  • Bring me the blue ribbons, bring me the gold medals.
  • 00:06:50.026 --> 00:06:53.129
  • Take me to the front of the parade.
  • 00:06:53.129 --> 00:06:54.497
  • I want to listen to the applause.
  • 00:06:54.497 --> 00:06:57.433
  • That's what i would like to think, but it isn't really
  • 00:06:57.433 --> 00:06:59.569
  • Biblically informed.
  • 00:06:59.569 --> 00:07:01.471
  • If god is with us, it will require of us our
  • 00:07:01.471 --> 00:07:04.273
  • Focused attention.
  • 00:07:04.273 --> 00:07:07.143
  • "'this is what i covenanted with you when you came out of egypt.
  • 00:07:07.143 --> 00:07:10.813
  • And my spirit remains among you.
  • 00:07:10.813 --> 00:07:13.749
  • Do not fear.'"
  • 00:07:13.749 --> 00:07:15.485
  • They've been delivered from egypt now for hundreds of years.
  • 00:07:15.485 --> 00:07:20.189
  • But in god's narrative of encouragement to them, it's as
  • 00:07:20.189 --> 00:07:23.893
  • If that event happened the previous week.
  • 00:07:23.893 --> 00:07:27.897
  • He said, "i made an agreement hundreds of years ago that's
  • 00:07:27.897 --> 00:07:30.266
  • Informing how i'm dealing with you today."
  • 00:07:30.266 --> 00:07:32.502
  • I want us to understand before we're done tonight that you and
  • 00:07:32.502 --> 00:07:34.837
  • I are standing, trusting god based on a covenant that has
  • 00:07:34.837 --> 00:07:39.008
  • Been made thousands of years ago.
  • 00:07:39.008 --> 00:07:42.345
  • It's not something new to us.
  • 00:07:42.345 --> 00:07:43.746
  • We believe god will be faithful to us because he's been faithful
  • 00:07:43.746 --> 00:07:46.315
  • To his people century upon century upon century upon
  • 00:07:46.315 --> 00:07:49.919
  • Century across empires, economic cycles.
  • 00:07:49.919 --> 00:07:53.322
  • There is something greater than those things.
  • 00:07:53.322 --> 00:07:54.924
  • I'm not denying the reality of those things, but there's
  • 00:07:54.924 --> 00:07:56.993
  • Something greater than that that secures our future.
  • 00:07:56.993 --> 00:08:01.297
  • "'don't fear.'
  • 00:08:01.297 --> 00:08:02.632
  • 'this is what the lord almighty says: "in a little while i will
  • 00:08:02.632 --> 00:08:05.434
  • Once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the
  • 00:08:05.434 --> 00:08:09.105
  • Dry land.
  • 00:08:09.105 --> 00:08:10.640
  • I'll shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will
  • 00:08:10.640 --> 00:08:14.310
  • Come, and i will fill this house with glory,' says the
  • 00:08:14.310 --> 00:08:17.813
  • Lord almighty."
  • 00:08:17.813 --> 00:08:20.449
  • Now, that passage is quoted in hebrews chapter 12 in a
  • 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:24.487
  • Completely different historic context, hundreds of years apart
  • 00:08:24.487 --> 00:08:27.290
  • From the message he gave to zerubbabel.
  • 00:08:27.290 --> 00:08:29.525
  • I think sometimes we have a very narrow-minded approach to
  • 00:08:29.525 --> 00:08:33.596
  • Biblical passages and prophetic passages and scripture where we
  • 00:08:33.596 --> 00:08:37.300
  • Come typically from the seat of the skeptic.
  • 00:08:37.300 --> 00:08:40.336
  • We say, "well, i'm not gonna believe that until you can give
  • 00:08:40.336 --> 00:08:42.972
  • Me 12 corresponding passages in a context over
  • 00:08:42.972 --> 00:08:46.342
  • Multiple chapters.
  • 00:08:46.342 --> 00:08:47.677
  • I'm not gonna take a sentence from one verse and imagine that
  • 00:08:47.677 --> 00:08:50.179
  • That has application in my life."
  • 00:08:50.179 --> 00:08:52.715
  • Well, i don't want you to be weird and i don't want you to
  • 00:08:52.715 --> 00:08:54.750
  • Be presumptive.
  • 00:08:54.750 --> 00:08:56.085
  • I want you to be biblically sound, but i do want you to have
  • 00:08:56.085 --> 00:08:58.187
  • An open heart that god is watching over his word because
  • 00:08:58.187 --> 00:09:00.623
  • The author of hebrews took two sentences from that passage in
  • 00:09:00.623 --> 00:09:04.126
  • Haggai hundreds of years later and gave an application to
  • 00:09:04.126 --> 00:09:07.563
  • His life.
  • 00:09:07.563 --> 00:09:08.898
  • And i believe we can give an application to ours.
  • 00:09:08.898 --> 00:09:11.667
  • The author of hebrews says, once again, "god said he will shake
  • 00:09:11.667 --> 00:09:15.438
  • The earth."
  • 00:09:15.438 --> 00:09:18.007
  • In zerubbabel's case, to make it possible for a temple to rebuild
  • 00:09:18.007 --> 00:09:22.244
  • And for the glory of god to once again rest in the center of his
  • 00:09:22.244 --> 00:09:25.281
  • People because the temple was to be the tangible
  • 00:09:25.281 --> 00:09:28.651
  • Visible expression.
  • 00:09:28.651 --> 00:09:30.686
  • The glory isn't some euphemistic term for a feeling.
  • 00:09:30.686 --> 00:09:36.325
  • The glory of god is the manifest, the unveiled
  • 00:09:36.325 --> 00:09:40.029
  • Expression of the power of god in the midst of his people, that
  • 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:44.200
  • You're not alone, you're not left to your own resources, your
  • 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:47.036
  • Own strength or your wisdom or your plans,
  • 00:09:47.036 --> 00:09:49.438
  • That there is a power at work on your behalf, greater than what
  • 00:09:49.438 --> 00:09:52.908
  • You represent in yourself.
  • 00:09:52.908 --> 00:09:56.078
  • And god said, "i will let my glory be made evident in the
  • 00:09:56.078 --> 00:09:59.015
  • Midst of my people again, even though you've been exiled and
  • 00:09:59.015 --> 00:10:02.218
  • Conquered and humiliated."
  • 00:10:02.218 --> 00:10:04.887
  • And the author of hebrews picked it up and god said, "once again,
  • 00:10:04.887 --> 00:10:07.623
  • I'll shake the earth,"
  • 00:10:07.623 --> 00:10:09.825
  • So that what can be shaken will be made evident.
  • 00:10:09.825 --> 00:10:13.729
  • The objective of that is what is unshakeable will become more
  • 00:10:13.729 --> 00:10:16.999
  • Evident: the--my eternal kingdom, he said.
  • 00:10:16.999 --> 00:10:20.069
  • And i believe that's what we're watching in the earth,
  • 00:10:20.069 --> 00:10:22.004
  • The shaking.
  • 00:10:22.004 --> 00:10:23.706
  • Almost everything that i imagined was foundational to our
  • 00:10:23.706 --> 00:10:26.575
  • Own culture and our own civilization, in recent years,
  • 00:10:26.575 --> 00:10:29.578
  • Has been proven to be less than trustworthy.
  • 00:10:29.578 --> 00:10:34.050
  • That's not something that i say with any delight or glee.
  • 00:10:34.050 --> 00:10:36.886
  • That isn't politically based.
  • 00:10:36.886 --> 00:10:38.688
  • In fact, it's a rather tragic thing to me to have to
  • 00:10:38.688 --> 00:10:41.090
  • Acknowledge, but i would have told you just a few short years
  • 00:10:41.090 --> 00:10:44.293
  • Ago that a place like the cdc was beyond reproach.
  • 00:10:44.293 --> 00:10:46.796
  • They were science-based.
  • 00:10:46.796 --> 00:10:49.098
  • Until i saw that they weren't.
  • 00:10:49.098 --> 00:10:51.667
  • No, i think that trust could be restored and we could see
  • 00:10:51.667 --> 00:10:54.270
  • Integrity built back into these places, but we've seen the
  • 00:10:54.270 --> 00:10:57.573
  • Integrity, the lack of integrity, revealed in places
  • 00:10:57.573 --> 00:11:00.309
  • Like the fbi where they would knowingly, intentionally,
  • 00:11:00.309 --> 00:11:04.947
  • Repeatedly lie and pervert justice for personal or
  • 00:11:04.947 --> 00:11:09.785
  • Some gain.
  • 00:11:09.785 --> 00:11:11.120
  • We've seen a lack of integrity in the church,
  • 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.389
  • The turning away from the authority of scripture, the
  • 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:15.357
  • Uniqueness of jesus.
  • 00:11:15.357 --> 00:11:17.426
  • I'm not picking randomly on institutions i don't like.
  • 00:11:17.426 --> 00:11:19.995
  • I'll start with the one where i've invested my life.
  • 00:11:19.995 --> 00:11:22.565
  • This is the--in my lifetime, this is the lowest ebb in the
  • 00:11:22.565 --> 00:11:25.634
  • Expression of faithfulness in the christian church in
  • 00:11:25.634 --> 00:11:28.404
  • Our nation.
  • 00:11:28.404 --> 00:11:30.106
  • And i have hopes that we will see that reversed and changed.
  • 00:11:30.106 --> 00:11:34.343
  • But institutions that we have imagined should be beyond
  • 00:11:34.343 --> 00:11:37.179
  • Reproach have been proven to be far less than that.
  • 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:41.684
  • But god said the reason the shaking takes place is so that
  • 00:11:41.684 --> 00:11:44.653
  • We can see the unshakeable,
  • 00:11:44.653 --> 00:11:47.189
  • That it's not the institutional church that we're a part of,
  • 00:11:47.189 --> 00:11:50.059
  • We're a part of the people of god in the earth, church with a
  • 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:52.862
  • Big c.
  • 00:11:52.862 --> 00:11:54.463
  • It's not about a congregation or a denomination
  • 00:11:54.463 --> 00:11:57.333
  • Or a theological nuance that we belong to.
  • 00:11:57.333 --> 00:12:00.469
  • We are the people of god because of a relationship with jesus of
  • 00:12:00.469 --> 00:12:03.439
  • Nazareth, and we've chosen him as lord christ and we serve him
  • 00:12:03.439 --> 00:12:07.276
  • As king.
  • 00:12:07.276 --> 00:12:09.411
  • That is the description of the church.
  • 00:12:09.411 --> 00:12:11.714
  • So it requires a broadening of that.
  • 00:12:11.714 --> 00:12:14.183
  • We have to be willing to acknowledge now there are false
  • 00:12:14.183 --> 00:12:16.519
  • Expressions of that.
  • 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:17.887
  • If they're not founded on the authority of scripture, if they
  • 00:12:17.887 --> 00:12:20.055
  • Don't embrace the uniqueness of jesus, if they deny the
  • 00:12:20.055 --> 00:12:23.459
  • Authority of biblical values and principles, it isn't the church.
  • 00:12:23.459 --> 00:12:27.596
  • Doesn't matter the architecture or the language on the sign.
  • 00:12:27.596 --> 00:12:33.836
  • So it isn't that the church is diminished, it's just the
  • 00:12:33.836 --> 00:12:36.105
  • Expressions have been diminished.
  • 00:12:36.105 --> 00:12:38.340
  • The covenant people of god were no less the covenant people of
  • 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.043
  • God, absent the temple.
  • 00:12:41.043 --> 00:12:43.946
  • But when the temple was restored, it gave a place for
  • 00:12:43.946 --> 00:12:46.048
  • The glory of god once again to be made evident in the midst of
  • 00:12:46.048 --> 00:12:48.717
  • His people, and i believe we will see god reconfigure
  • 00:12:48.717 --> 00:12:52.855
  • His church.
  • 00:12:52.855 --> 00:12:55.558
  • I do.
  • 00:12:55.558 --> 00:12:59.428
  • Allen: have you ever said that christmas is too secular and
  • 00:13:03.632 --> 00:13:06.035
  • You're tired of it?
  • 00:13:06.035 --> 00:13:07.369
  • Well, we've got a solution or at least something that can help.
  • 00:13:07.369 --> 00:13:09.905
  • We've written a book.
  • 00:13:09.905 --> 00:13:11.273
  • It's called, "how to lead with your faith at christmas."
  • 00:13:11.273 --> 00:13:13.309
  • It's 25 days of devotionals that you can read.
  • 00:13:13.309 --> 00:13:15.544
  • You can share them with family, your friends, coworkers.
  • 00:13:15.544 --> 00:13:18.080
  • Then there's some ideas, even recipes, activities.
  • 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.983
  • It's a fun--it's like a--it's a starter kit for bringing your
  • 00:13:20.983 --> 00:13:23.719
  • Faith to bear this christmas season.
  • 00:13:23.719 --> 00:13:26.222
  • Don't stand on the sidelines and complain.
  • 00:13:26.222 --> 00:13:28.457
  • Let's lead with our faith this christmas season.
  • 00:13:28.457 --> 00:13:30.593
  • Let's honor the lord and see the blessings that he brings to all
  • 00:13:30.593 --> 00:13:33.796
  • Of our lives.
  • 00:13:33.796 --> 00:13:35.130
  • Female announcer: christmas comes quickly and it's easy to
  • 00:13:35.130 --> 00:13:37.099
  • Let the season slip by without focusing on what matters most.
  • 00:13:37.099 --> 00:13:41.036
  • Pastor allen's new book, "lead with faith at christmas," is a
  • 00:13:41.036 --> 00:13:44.406
  • 25-day advent devotional that will help you bring jesus more
  • 00:13:44.406 --> 00:13:48.077
  • Fully into the season.
  • 00:13:48.077 --> 00:13:49.745
  • Inside you'll find scriptures, devotionals, prayers, recipes,
  • 00:13:49.745 --> 00:13:54.550
  • And practical things you can do to make the holidays
  • 00:13:54.550 --> 00:13:57.353
  • More meaningful.
  • 00:13:57.353 --> 00:13:58.687
  • It also makes a fantastic gift.
  • 00:13:58.687 --> 00:14:01.257
  • It's time to stop repeating the same stale traditions and get
  • 00:14:01.257 --> 00:14:04.526
  • Ready to put your faith into action in new ways
  • 00:14:04.526 --> 00:14:07.196
  • This christmas.
  • 00:14:07.196 --> 00:14:08.597
  • Request your copy when you donate $30 or more today at
  • 00:14:08.597 --> 00:14:12.001
  • Allenjackson.com or by calling...
  • 00:14:12.001 --> 00:14:17.206
  • Allen: so there are some principles that are spread
  • 00:14:19.174 --> 00:14:21.210
  • Throughout the building that we've talked about a bit.
  • 00:14:21.210 --> 00:14:23.112
  • I wanna walk through them rather quickly because we've touched
  • 00:14:23.112 --> 00:14:26.115
  • Them on one level or another in the previous sessions, but one
  • 00:14:26.115 --> 00:14:29.485
  • Of the--if you go over to the atrium, the lobby that's
  • 00:14:29.485 --> 00:14:31.520
  • Adjacent to genesis, the first of our sanctuaries, it's filled
  • 00:14:31.520 --> 00:14:35.624
  • With pictures of young people and verses of scripture with the
  • 00:14:35.624 --> 00:14:38.027
  • Declaration that every generation has to choose god
  • 00:14:38.027 --> 00:14:40.296
  • For themselves.
  • 00:14:40.296 --> 00:14:42.231
  • Every generation.
  • 00:14:42.231 --> 00:14:45.434
  • You know, it's one of the unique aspects of our faith.
  • 00:14:45.434 --> 00:14:47.703
  • There are so many aspects of our lives and our learning that we
  • 00:14:47.703 --> 00:14:50.139
  • Build generationally upon one another.
  • 00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:52.675
  • I started my academic career in college in the basic sciences,
  • 00:14:52.675 --> 00:14:56.478
  • And it wasn't a brand--we weren't starting from the
  • 00:14:56.478 --> 00:14:58.280
  • Ground up.
  • 00:14:58.280 --> 00:14:59.648
  • We were learning from all those people before us.
  • 00:14:59.648 --> 00:15:01.750
  • But in our spiritual life, every one of us starts with a
  • 00:15:01.750 --> 00:15:04.320
  • Relationship with the lord and we build our own experience and
  • 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.822
  • Our own trust in the word of god.
  • 00:15:06.822 --> 00:15:09.258
  • Every generation has to make a decision for the
  • 00:15:09.258 --> 00:15:11.560
  • Lord themselves.
  • 00:15:11.560 --> 00:15:13.329
  • The fact that your parents were faithful followers of jesus
  • 00:15:13.329 --> 00:15:16.598
  • Is helpful.
  • 00:15:16.598 --> 00:15:17.967
  • It can add some momentum to you, but you have a decision to make
  • 00:15:17.967 --> 00:15:19.835
  • For yourself.
  • 00:15:19.835 --> 00:15:21.370
  • The fact that your grandparents or one of your grandparents may
  • 00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:24.506
  • Have known the lord in a remarkable way is a wonderful
  • 00:15:24.506 --> 00:15:26.709
  • Part of your heritage, but you have to make a decision what
  • 00:15:26.709 --> 00:15:29.678
  • Your relationship with the lord will be.
  • 00:15:29.678 --> 00:15:32.915
  • It's a very important biblical principle.
  • 00:15:32.915 --> 00:15:34.650
  • In joshua chapter 24 and verse 15, it says: "if serving the
  • 00:15:34.650 --> 00:15:38.253
  • Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this
  • 00:15:38.253 --> 00:15:40.990
  • Day whom you'll serve, whether the gods your forefathers served
  • 00:15:40.990 --> 00:15:44.760
  • Beyond the river, or the gods of the amorites, in whose lands
  • 00:15:44.760 --> 00:15:46.996
  • You're living."
  • 00:15:46.996 --> 00:15:48.797
  • Joshua was a part of that exodus generation.
  • 00:15:48.797 --> 00:15:51.100
  • He began his life as a slave in egypt.
  • 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:54.003
  • He was there when moses comes walking in out of the desert and
  • 00:15:54.003 --> 00:15:56.438
  • Said, "you need to pack, we're leaving."
  • 00:15:56.438 --> 00:15:59.408
  • And joshua watched all the plagues be visited on
  • 00:15:59.408 --> 00:16:01.610
  • The egyptians.
  • 00:16:01.610 --> 00:16:02.945
  • He saw the red sea parted.
  • 00:16:02.945 --> 00:16:04.780
  • He drank water that came out of the rock.
  • 00:16:04.780 --> 00:16:06.782
  • He ate a manna diet for 40 years.
  • 00:16:06.782 --> 00:16:10.519
  • And moses dies and joshua gets tapped to be moses's successor.
  • 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:13.956
  • Can you imagine having that job?
  • 00:16:13.956 --> 00:16:16.658
  • Whew.
  • 00:16:16.658 --> 00:16:18.894
  • And he leads the tribes of israel into their inheritance,
  • 00:16:18.894 --> 00:16:21.563
  • The promised land.
  • 00:16:21.563 --> 00:16:23.399
  • And now he's at a point where it's time for another change and
  • 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:27.436
  • He said, "you have to make a decision whom you're going
  • 00:16:27.436 --> 00:16:29.405
  • To serve.
  • 00:16:29.405 --> 00:16:31.073
  • But as for me and my household, we'll serve the lord."
  • 00:16:31.073 --> 00:16:36.311
  • I'm interested in the--joshua was very conscious that there
  • 00:16:36.311 --> 00:16:39.148
  • Were generations other than him involved.
  • 00:16:39.148 --> 00:16:41.617
  • He said, "i intend to influence the generations that i have a
  • 00:16:41.617 --> 00:16:45.587
  • Voice to.
  • 00:16:45.587 --> 00:16:47.389
  • In my household we'll choose the lord."
  • 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:50.292
  • I think we've been too casual with this, if you'll allow me.
  • 00:16:50.292 --> 00:16:53.362
  • I think one of the reasons the church finds itself, the
  • 00:16:53.362 --> 00:16:56.365
  • Traditional church, in the weakened state we are is we
  • 00:16:56.365 --> 00:16:58.767
  • Haven't given attention to the formation of faith in the
  • 00:16:58.767 --> 00:17:01.970
  • Generations who follow us.
  • 00:17:01.970 --> 00:17:04.440
  • We've given more attention to all the things that the secular
  • 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:06.975
  • Culture says to us are mission critical, and i'm not opposed
  • 00:17:06.975 --> 00:17:10.145
  • To those.
  • 00:17:10.145 --> 00:17:11.480
  • I'm an advocate for a good education and i think life
  • 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:13.015
  • Experience is helpful and extracurricular activities
  • 00:17:13.015 --> 00:17:16.385
  • Certainly speak to the formation of your character, but all of
  • 00:17:16.385 --> 00:17:19.955
  • Those things, i would submit to you, are secondary to a
  • 00:17:19.955 --> 00:17:23.092
  • Foundational knowledge of who jesus of nazareth is and the
  • 00:17:23.092 --> 00:17:26.061
  • Role he'll play in your life.
  • 00:17:26.061 --> 00:17:28.997
  • And i believe we've got to come back into our families and our
  • 00:17:28.997 --> 00:17:31.900
  • Homes and establish that as a primary commitment from
  • 00:17:31.900 --> 00:17:36.138
  • Generation to generation.
  • 00:17:36.138 --> 00:17:38.240
  • What makes our family unique, first and foremost above every
  • 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:41.777
  • Other characteristic, would be the relationship we intend to
  • 00:17:41.777 --> 00:17:44.646
  • Establish with jesus of nazareth.
  • 00:17:44.646 --> 00:17:47.282
  • Before we identify with a university athletic team, before
  • 00:17:47.282 --> 00:17:50.219
  • We identify with whatever gifts and traits and talents may come
  • 00:17:50.219 --> 00:17:53.822
  • Genetically to us, with whatever ambition, with whatever
  • 00:17:53.822 --> 00:17:57.392
  • Inheritance, the primary inheritance we choose is to
  • 00:17:57.392 --> 00:18:01.830
  • Choose to follow the lord.
  • 00:18:01.830 --> 00:18:03.165
  • The primary gifting is a revelation and insight and
  • 00:18:03.165 --> 00:18:05.834
  • Understanding into who jesus is.
  • 00:18:05.834 --> 00:18:08.003
  • Now here's the reality of that.
  • 00:18:08.003 --> 00:18:09.338
  • It's highly improbable that that will come to the younger
  • 00:18:09.338 --> 00:18:12.474
  • Generations unless it's held in the highest esteem by those who
  • 00:18:12.474 --> 00:18:15.711
  • Are leading.
  • 00:18:15.711 --> 00:18:17.679
  • So joshua's statement becomes very insightful and informative.
  • 00:18:17.679 --> 00:18:21.083
  • "i've lived my life by this principle," he said.
  • 00:18:21.083 --> 00:18:24.019
  • "i may have started as a slave in the brick pits of egypt, but
  • 00:18:24.019 --> 00:18:27.422
  • I've led the people of god into their inheritance, and as for me
  • 00:18:27.422 --> 00:18:30.459
  • And my household--"
  • 00:18:30.459 --> 00:18:33.862
  • You see, the supposition in that statement is he understands not
  • 00:18:33.862 --> 00:18:37.166
  • Everybody in israel, not everybody that's a part of the
  • 00:18:37.166 --> 00:18:39.368
  • Covenant people are gonna choose to covenant with god.
  • 00:18:39.368 --> 00:18:43.705
  • And we gotta have the wisdom to know that everybody that sits in
  • 00:18:43.705 --> 00:18:45.807
  • A church or everybody that says jesus once in a while or
  • 00:18:45.807 --> 00:18:48.443
  • Everybody that sings christian music or everybody that doesn't
  • 00:18:48.443 --> 00:18:51.246
  • Declare themselves a buddhist or a muslim or an agnostic doesn't
  • 00:18:51.246 --> 00:18:55.184
  • Necessarily choose to follow the lord.
  • 00:18:55.184 --> 00:18:56.952
  • We have to say, "as for me and my household."
  • 00:18:56.952 --> 00:19:00.222
  • Every generation has to make a choice for themselves.
  • 00:19:00.222 --> 00:19:04.393
  • Acts chapter 11.
  • 00:19:04.393 --> 00:19:05.761
  • Some of you prefer the new testament.
  • 00:19:05.761 --> 00:19:09.264
  • Peter's giving a report in jerusalem of what happened at
  • 00:19:09.264 --> 00:19:11.700
  • Cornelius's home.
  • 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:13.035
  • Cornelius was a roman centurion, a roman soldier, a gentile, not
  • 00:19:13.035 --> 00:19:16.405
  • A jew.
  • 00:19:16.405 --> 00:19:18.574
  • No doubt hated by the majority of the jewish population, he's
  • 00:19:18.574 --> 00:19:21.310
  • An occupying soldier, a centurion at that.
  • 00:19:21.310 --> 00:19:25.747
  • And god sent, through a series of supernatural events, sent
  • 00:19:25.747 --> 00:19:28.317
  • Peter to his home, and the events of acts chapter 2 on the
  • 00:19:28.317 --> 00:19:31.720
  • Day of pentecost are duplicated in a roman centurion's home in
  • 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:35.624
  • Caesarea, the most--one of the most pagan cities in the land
  • 00:19:35.624 --> 00:19:38.527
  • Of israel.
  • 00:19:38.527 --> 00:19:40.329
  • And peter goes back to jerusalem to meet with the leaders of the
  • 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:42.764
  • Church, and they're highly offended.
  • 00:19:42.764 --> 00:19:45.167
  • They said, "you went into the home of a gentile and you ate
  • 00:19:45.167 --> 00:19:47.603
  • With him."
  • 00:19:47.603 --> 00:19:49.905
  • It doesn't sound so offensive to us, but whatever you would think
  • 00:19:49.905 --> 00:19:53.275
  • Of as the most reprehensible behavior i could engage in that
  • 00:19:53.275 --> 00:19:55.811
  • Would disqualify me as a pastor, that was the way they viewed
  • 00:19:55.811 --> 00:19:58.914
  • What peter had done.
  • 00:19:58.914 --> 00:20:02.050
  • And when he's--when he has to give an account for that, this
  • 00:20:02.050 --> 00:20:05.187
  • One line i thought was worth noting, he's telling--he's
  • 00:20:05.187 --> 00:20:08.557
  • Giving the report of cornelius's encounter with an angel.
  • 00:20:08.557 --> 00:20:12.494
  • He said, "he told us how he'd seen an angel appear in his
  • 00:20:12.494 --> 00:20:14.830
  • House and say, 'send to joppa for simon who is called peter.'"
  • 00:20:14.830 --> 00:20:19.301
  • I think it's worth noting, at least in passing, the angels
  • 00:20:19.301 --> 00:20:22.871
  • Knew where cornelius lived and knew his name.
  • 00:20:22.871 --> 00:20:26.308
  • They also knew where peter was.
  • 00:20:26.308 --> 00:20:28.243
  • Peter was several hours away in a whole 'nother city, and the
  • 00:20:28.243 --> 00:20:32.147
  • Angels knew where peter was, the home in which he was staying,
  • 00:20:32.147 --> 00:20:35.217
  • And the address so they could give it to cornelius to put in
  • 00:20:35.217 --> 00:20:37.686
  • His gps.
  • 00:20:37.686 --> 00:20:40.956
  • Do you live with the awareness that there are angels and
  • 00:20:40.956 --> 00:20:44.893
  • Spiritual beings that have an awareness of your life?
  • 00:20:44.893 --> 00:20:51.233
  • I think we live with a very diminished awareness of
  • 00:20:51.233 --> 00:20:54.536
  • Spiritual things.
  • 00:20:54.536 --> 00:20:55.871
  • I think we're far more aware of the nutritional impact of the
  • 00:20:55.871 --> 00:20:59.675
  • Things we eat or the potential of a virus or a bacteria.
  • 00:20:59.675 --> 00:21:03.512
  • We're far more conscience of personal hygiene.
  • 00:21:03.512 --> 00:21:05.347
  • I don't think those things are wrong.
  • 00:21:05.347 --> 00:21:06.682
  • I don't think they should be diminished, but i would submit
  • 00:21:06.682 --> 00:21:08.850
  • To you that your spiritual welfare and your spiritual
  • 00:21:08.850 --> 00:21:11.186
  • Health should be of at least an equal consideration.
  • 00:21:11.186 --> 00:21:14.623
  • It's eternal.
  • 00:21:14.623 --> 00:21:18.427
  • Like, i think your overall well-being probably depends more
  • 00:21:18.427 --> 00:21:21.330
  • On your spiritual well-being than it does on your nutrition.
  • 00:21:21.330 --> 00:21:26.435
  • And i'm an advocate for nutrition.
  • 00:21:26.435 --> 00:21:29.638
  • I mean, that doesn't mean i won't cheat and eat an oreo from
  • 00:21:29.638 --> 00:21:31.640
  • Time to time, but i know it's not the best.
  • 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:37.412
  • "how he'd seen an angel in his house say, 'send to joppa for
  • 00:21:37.412 --> 00:21:40.282
  • Simon who's called peter, and he'll bring you a message
  • 00:21:40.282 --> 00:21:42.351
  • Through which you and all your household will be saved.'"
  • 00:21:42.351 --> 00:21:48.223
  • We have such a focus on a personal salvation.
  • 00:21:48.223 --> 00:21:51.760
  • And again, i believe in that.
  • 00:21:51.760 --> 00:21:53.095
  • I believe in the essential nature of that, the necessity
  • 00:21:53.095 --> 00:21:55.964
  • Of that.
  • 00:21:55.964 --> 00:21:57.599
  • But we've almost completely lost sight of this
  • 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.635
  • Generational component.
  • 00:22:00.635 --> 00:22:02.471
  • The message to cornelius was that you and everyone in your
  • 00:22:02.471 --> 00:22:05.574
  • Household can have a different future.
  • 00:22:05.574 --> 00:22:08.276
  • Do you imagine that you had a revelation of jesus so that
  • 00:22:08.276 --> 00:22:11.713
  • Everybody around you could have a revelation of jesus?
  • 00:22:11.713 --> 00:22:17.486
  • Somehow we fall in this place where, "you know, i don't--i
  • 00:22:17.486 --> 00:22:19.621
  • Don't want to--i don't wanna influence anybody else.
  • 00:22:19.621 --> 00:22:24.559
  • I don't wanna force my opinions on anybody else."
  • 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:27.829
  • Really?
  • 00:22:27.829 --> 00:22:29.164
  • Why?
  • 00:22:29.164 --> 00:22:31.366
  • Why is that?
  • 00:22:31.366 --> 00:22:33.068
  • You didn't feel that way about covid.
  • 00:22:33.068 --> 00:22:38.673
  • Whatever--wherever you took a stand in that debate, i'm pretty
  • 00:22:38.673 --> 00:22:41.510
  • Sure you were a vocal advocate for the stand you took.
  • 00:22:41.510 --> 00:22:45.714
  • If you were a "get vaxxed every time one comes out" person, i
  • 00:22:45.714 --> 00:22:48.617
  • Suspect you were an advocate for that.
  • 00:22:48.617 --> 00:22:51.386
  • If you were a hardcore no vax person, i bet you were an
  • 00:22:51.386 --> 00:22:54.055
  • Advocate for that.
  • 00:22:54.055 --> 00:22:56.158
  • Why is it when we come to our faith we say something so
  • 00:22:56.158 --> 00:22:58.527
  • Foolish as, "well, yeah, i don't wanna push my opinion on--" why?
  • 00:22:58.527 --> 00:23:02.864
  • Do you believe it with such little intensity that you don't
  • 00:23:02.864 --> 00:23:05.834
  • Think it's worth sharing?
  • 00:23:05.834 --> 00:23:10.839
  • Do you think it's so ineffective?
  • 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:12.340
  • Do you think it's so secondary?
  • 00:23:12.340 --> 00:23:13.708
  • Do you think it's so trivial?
  • 00:23:13.708 --> 00:23:15.043
  • Do you think it's--why, why?
  • 00:23:15.043 --> 00:23:16.411
  • Tell me again why you believe you've found something that will
  • 00:23:16.411 --> 00:23:19.247
  • Change all of your eternity, but you wouldn't want to share it
  • 00:23:19.247 --> 00:23:23.118
  • With somebody?
  • 00:23:23.118 --> 00:23:24.453
  • Tell me that again.
  • 00:23:24.453 --> 00:23:28.890
  • See, i think we have been dramatically influenced by a
  • 00:23:28.890 --> 00:23:31.460
  • Secular culture.
  • 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:34.129
  • We're more interested in being approved by people who have
  • 00:23:34.129 --> 00:23:36.631
  • Rejected god than we are helping people who might receive an
  • 00:23:36.631 --> 00:23:39.868
  • Invitation, if we would say, "listen, this has changed
  • 00:23:39.868 --> 00:23:41.903
  • My life.
  • 00:23:41.903 --> 00:23:43.238
  • I think it would change yours too."
  • 00:23:43.238 --> 00:23:45.874
  • There'll be a cost to that.
  • 00:23:45.874 --> 00:23:47.209
  • Everybody won't applaud.
  • 00:23:47.209 --> 00:23:48.577
  • I can tell you that from personal experience.
  • 00:23:48.577 --> 00:23:51.413
  • There will be some opportunities you'll forfeit.
  • 00:23:51.413 --> 00:23:53.248
  • There will be some doors that close to you.
  • 00:23:53.248 --> 00:23:54.783
  • There are people will say some unkind things about you.
  • 00:23:54.783 --> 00:23:57.586
  • Oh, bother.
  • 00:23:57.586 --> 00:24:00.355
  • But i have an announcement, even if you choose to hide your
  • 00:24:00.355 --> 00:24:02.657
  • Relationship with jesus, people are gonna say unkind things
  • 00:24:02.657 --> 00:24:04.793
  • About you.
  • 00:24:04.793 --> 00:24:06.561
  • If people say unkind things about me because i'm all in, all
  • 00:24:06.561 --> 00:24:09.664
  • Out, all chips in the middle of the table for jesus, i'll just
  • 00:24:09.664 --> 00:24:12.834
  • Roll with the consequences.
  • 00:24:12.834 --> 00:24:15.871
  • How about you?
  • 00:24:15.871 --> 00:24:18.173
  • The message is, god sent an angel that said, "you and all
  • 00:24:18.173 --> 00:24:22.544
  • Your household can be saved."
  • 00:24:22.544 --> 00:24:24.045
  • Our young people have a tremendous zeal and energy
  • 00:24:24.045 --> 00:24:27.215
  • And strength.
  • 00:24:27.215 --> 00:24:29.284
  • They do.
  • 00:24:29.284 --> 00:24:30.652
  • They dwarf what the rest of us can muster, thank god.
  • 00:24:30.652 --> 00:24:36.491
  • I mean, i watch the little kids, the little, little people come
  • 00:24:36.491 --> 00:24:39.227
  • Down the--they don't walk through the lobby of the church,
  • 00:24:39.227 --> 00:24:41.530
  • They jump, they hop, they spin.
  • 00:24:41.530 --> 00:24:46.501
  • The rest of us are just trying not to stumble while we walk
  • 00:24:46.501 --> 00:24:49.137
  • Down the lobby, right?
  • 00:24:49.137 --> 00:24:51.439
  • We don't wanna trip, right?
  • 00:24:51.439 --> 00:24:54.209
  • Look before you step.
  • 00:24:54.209 --> 00:24:55.810
  • Not them, they're like, "waaa, come on," right?
  • 00:24:55.810 --> 00:25:02.984
  • Watch after church, they'll run back and forth.
  • 00:25:02.984 --> 00:25:07.556
  • I just go sit down and watch them, like, wow.
  • 00:25:07.556 --> 00:25:11.826
  • They have enormous energy and zeal and strength, but they
  • 00:25:11.826 --> 00:25:16.264
  • Need guidance.
  • 00:25:16.264 --> 00:25:18.333
  • They need to be encouraged to submit to authority.
  • 00:25:18.333 --> 00:25:22.370
  • And more than your words, they'll need to see you
  • 00:25:22.370 --> 00:25:24.372
  • Submitted to the righteous authority of god.
  • 00:25:24.372 --> 00:25:28.043
  • They need training in the tools, the weapons, that are available
  • 00:25:28.043 --> 00:25:32.047
  • To the people of god.
  • 00:25:32.047 --> 00:25:34.516
  • Don't just teach them about the value of a dollar.
  • 00:25:34.516 --> 00:25:38.253
  • That's a good lesson to learn.
  • 00:25:38.253 --> 00:25:39.588
  • I'm not opposed to that.
  • 00:25:39.588 --> 00:25:40.956
  • Don't just teach them the significance of work.
  • 00:25:40.956 --> 00:25:42.490
  • That's a good lesson, but don't just teach them
  • 00:25:42.490 --> 00:25:45.193
  • About sportsmanship.
  • 00:25:45.193 --> 00:25:46.561
  • That's a good lesson, but they're not the
  • 00:25:46.561 --> 00:25:49.030
  • Essential lessons.
  • 00:25:49.030 --> 00:25:52.534
  • Teach them who they are in christ.
  • 00:25:52.534 --> 00:25:56.137
  • Teach them the power of the truth of god to break the
  • 00:25:56.137 --> 00:26:00.075
  • Bondage of their lives.
  • 00:26:00.075 --> 00:26:03.345
  • They need examples from those who have preceded them and are
  • 00:26:03.345 --> 00:26:05.814
  • Subject to self-discipline.
  • 00:26:05.814 --> 00:26:08.717
  • Teach them about the triumph of holiness over happiness.
  • 00:26:08.717 --> 00:26:13.254
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:26:13.254 --> 00:26:19.694
  • Allen: you know, it's almost christmastime and year after
  • 00:26:19.694 --> 00:26:22.697
  • Year when i interact with people through the holiday season, the
  • 00:26:22.697 --> 00:26:25.100
  • Thing that is said to me most frequently is, "pastor, i feel
  • 00:26:25.100 --> 00:26:28.169
  • Like our faith has been pushed to the periphery of the
  • 00:26:28.169 --> 00:26:30.672
  • Holiday season."
  • 00:26:30.672 --> 00:26:32.007
  • You know, they start showing us in the stores all the
  • 00:26:32.007 --> 00:26:33.908
  • Decorations in july, and by the time we get to december, we've
  • 00:26:33.908 --> 00:26:37.679
  • Lost the whole tone.
  • 00:26:37.679 --> 00:26:39.014
  • Well, we've created a tool to help with that.
  • 00:26:39.014 --> 00:26:41.316
  • It's "how to lead with your faith at christmas."
  • 00:26:41.316 --> 00:26:43.718
  • It's a devotional.
  • 00:26:43.718 --> 00:26:45.053
  • It has some recipes in it.
  • 00:26:45.053 --> 00:26:46.421
  • It's got some activities, things you can do with your family,
  • 00:26:46.421 --> 00:26:48.356
  • Your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers.
  • 00:26:48.356 --> 00:26:50.558
  • It's actually a way to bring your faith into the center of
  • 00:26:50.558 --> 00:26:53.428
  • This christmas season.
  • 00:26:53.428 --> 00:26:55.230
  • It's not helpful to rage against the darkness and complain about
  • 00:26:55.230 --> 00:26:57.799
  • The secularist.
  • 00:26:57.799 --> 00:26:59.134
  • Let's turn up the light of faith in our lives, and this little
  • 00:26:59.134 --> 00:27:01.836
  • Tool is built precisely to help you do that.
  • 00:27:01.836 --> 00:27:05.340
  • I believe it'll be a blessing to you.
  • 00:27:05.340 --> 00:27:06.741
  • I wanna join--i wanna pray with you that jesus will be in the
  • 00:27:06.741 --> 00:27:09.377
  • Midst of this christmas more than ever before.
  • 00:27:09.377 --> 00:27:11.946
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:27:11.946 --> 00:27:13.314
  • Heavenly father, we invite you into the midst of this
  • 00:27:13.314 --> 00:27:14.883
  • Holiday season.
  • 00:27:14.883 --> 00:27:16.217
  • I pray that your name will be lifted up, that your peace will
  • 00:27:16.217 --> 00:27:18.586
  • Come to all with whom we gather, in jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:18.586 --> 00:27:27.395