Allen Jackson - Wise People Pursue God

December 21, 2024 | S

Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Wise People Pursue God | December 21, 2024
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  • Allen jackson: the series we've worked on through the holidays
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  • Has been "holiday gifts."
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  • We started back at thanksgiving time.
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  • The real impetus for it, the premise of the whole study
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  • Was jesus's discussion with his disciples just before he left.
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  • He said it's better for you if i go away because if i go,
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  • The father will send you another comforter, a counselor,
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  • A helper, the holy spirit.
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  • I'm pretty confident, peter and james and john didn't believe
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  • They were better off with jesus absent.
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  • But if you keep reading the story, by the end of the book
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  • Of acts, it's very apparent that what god had begun
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  • In jesus's life has been multiplied through the lives
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  • Of his closest friends.
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  • Well, the spirit of god is still present in the earth, active
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  • In a work to help the church of jesus christ complete
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  • Our assignment.
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  • And it's increasingly important for us to understand him,
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  • Recognize him, cooperate with him as more than a theory
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  • Or a theological abstraction, he's a person.
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  • In the new testament, there are three general categories used
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  • For discussion.
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  • They're by no means inclusive, you can't put the holy spirit
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  • Into categories, but it provides for us a context for having
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  • The dialogue.
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  • It's a beginning point for our understanding and to help us
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  • Identify the activity of the spirit of god in our midst.
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  • One of the categories is the fruit of the spirit.
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  • In galatians, paul talks to the church in galatia and he
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  • Contrasts the acts of our carnal nature, our sinful nature,
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  • With the acts directed by the spirit of god.
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  • We talk about the fruit of the spirit, we're talking about our
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  • Character and a choice we make to cooperate with the spirit
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  • Of god to say no to ungodliness and yes to godliness.
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  • Paul identifies 16 aspects of our old earthly carnal, selfish,
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  • Sinful nature that we all battle with on some level or another.
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  • And we have to intentionally say no to those and yes to the
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  • Spirit of god to let the fruit of the spirit emerge in us.
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  • The best single indicator of maturity in your faith
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  • Is the fruit of the spirit in your life.
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  • The love, joy, peace, those nine things listed in galatians,
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  • They're not automatic, it's the change that the spirit of god
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  • Brings to us from the inside out.
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  • We're not transformed from the outside in.
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  • It's not about our haircut or our clothing style,
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  • It's about the transformation of our character.
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  • And they're not related to tenure.
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  • You can sit in church for decades and still be a selfish,
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  • Carnal christian.
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  • Or you can be a new christ follower and begin to cooperate
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  • With the spirit of god and let the fruit of the spirit emerge
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  • In your life.
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  • Neither is it a singular one-time decision.
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  • A decade ago, you may have been in a place where you were
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  • Cooperating with the spirit of god and your life was--
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  • Gave evidence to the fruit of the spirit.
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  • But the question is, what are you doing now?
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  • So the fruit of the spirit is one of the categories, another
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  • Is the gifts of the spirit, the manifestations of the spirit,
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  • It's the power of the spirit of god in our lives.
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  • These are not character-based, these are grace-based,
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  • They reflect god's desire to help his people.
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  • And it gives us some ways to imagine it, what would it
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  • Look like for the spirit of god to interact with us?
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  • Well, it talks about a word of wisdom, god's direction into our
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  • Lives; a word of knowledge, god's understanding in our
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  • Lives; the workings of miracles, or the gifts of healing,
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  • How we would see god's spirit moving in our midst.
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  • And this is not about us, these aren't merit badges
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  • That we earn.
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  • They're not like frequent flyer points.
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  • If you endure seven sermons, you get a gift.
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  • These are an expression of god's desire to help his people,
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  • And his desire is so great, that he will move through a donkey,
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  • Gives me hope every weekend.
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  • And those nine that are listed in corinthians is not
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  • The inclusive list, but it's a doorway for the dialogue.
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  • And then finally, we've looked at the third category
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  • And that's the ministry gifts.
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  • In ephesians it says that god's given to the church, apostles,
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  • Prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
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  • Now, these reflect more than a momentary expression
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  • Of the power of god or a moving of the spirit of god,
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  • They're offices that god has established
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  • Within the context of the body of christ,
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  • The church with a capital c, and it says that they're there
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  • To help us reach maturity, to fulfill the purpose
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  • For which we were created.
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  • They reflect a life laid down.
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  • They're not job descriptions.
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  • I think sometimes the professionalization of
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  • Christianity has diminished our imagination of the moving
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  • Of the spirit of god.
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  • This isn't an occupation that you choose, it's the call of god
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  • That you respond to and you spend a life yielding to.
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  • I can't imagine trying to fulfill one of those
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  • Ministry gifts without the fruit of the spirit or the gifts
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  • Of the spirit and evidence in your life.
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  • But collectively, it gives us the beginning point or at least
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  • To have some talking points and an imagination of how we could
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  • Conceive of the spirit of god moving in our midst.
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  • Now, i've chosen this season to do this because in the familiar
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  • Characters of the christmas narrative, we can see the moving
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  • Of the spirit of god.
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  • And because you know the story and you know the individuals
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  • Involved, it makes it easier to form the imagination.
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  • You see, there could be no christmas story without the
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  • Activity of the spirit of god.
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  • I think we all understand fundamentally, it'd been
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  • Nonsense for mary and joseph to have gotten together with their
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  • Small group in nazareth and said, you know, we really need
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  • A revival.
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  • What do you think we should do?
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  • I know, a baby!
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  • When you read the story, we all understand fundamentally that
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  • There's something supernaturally happening, or the whole
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  • Context unravels.
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  • Well, just as certainly as the activity of the spirit of god
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  • Was necessary to make jesus's first coming a possibility,
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  • I wanna assure you that the activity of the spirit of god
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  • Will be necessary for the second coming of the king to the earth.
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  • We're not gonna out-organize evil or outthink evil or outwork
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  • Evil, we will need the help of the spirit of god.
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  • So recognizing him, understanding his voice, how
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  • He leads, how to interact with him is of a significant priority
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  • In the life of the church if we're to complete
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  • What god has put us here for.
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  • I wanna use matthew 2, it's the story of the visit of the magi,
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  • The wise men that came to worship
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  • The newborn christ child.
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  • In fact, if you've looked ahead at your notes,
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  • The entire cha-2nd chapter of matthew is there.
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  • It's caused some of you great grief.
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  • I highlighted for you several words through that passage,
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  • They're all timing words.
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  • And maybe for some reflection later, i'll highlight them
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  • As we read through it.
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  • But there's a very precise, a very intricate collection
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  • Of both instructions and interactions in this chapter.
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  • And if you rearrange the blocks in any other way, or you made
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  • The precision of it any less pre--intricate, the whole story
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  • Would unravel.
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  • It is a display of the wisdom of god and his willingness and
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  • Desire to communicate with us.
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  • Now, before we read it, i wanna tell you on the front end, if i
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  • Had been responsible for writing this narrative, if you'd asked
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  • Me to have scripted a visit of three magi, these wise men,
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  • These kingmakers from the east, i would have written it
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  • Entirely differently.
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  • In fact, i know it's in the bible and we wanna treat it with
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  • Respect, but much of this story, to me, is illogical.
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  • But the point of having the scripture is, it helps you
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  • And me learn how to recognize how god deals with adam
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  • And his descendants.
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  • The point of reading the bible is to help us understand the
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  • Character of god and the nature of god and how he interacts
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  • With us.
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  • So i wanna invite you into the story, not because of
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  • Its familiarity, i wanna invite you into it because, in a lot
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  • Of cases, if it wasn't in the bible, i'd say, that's just not
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  • The way it should have happened.
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  • Are you with me?
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  • Let's read the text, first of all, matthew chapter 2
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  • And verse 1: "after jesus was born"--something happened
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  • Before this, and you know the backstory, there've been angelic
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  • Visits in nazareth and gabriel talked to mary, and gabriel
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  • Talked to joe, and they've been to see elizabeth and zechariah,
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  • And zach isn't saying much.
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  • But: "after," after all of that, "jesus was born in bethlehem in
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  • Judea, during the time of king herod, and magi from the east
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  • Came to jerusalem and asked, 'where is the one who's been
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  • Born king of the jews?
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  • We saw his star in the east and we've come to worship him.'
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  • When king herod heard this he was disturbed, and all
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  • Jerusalem with him.
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  • When he'd called together all the people's chief priests and
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  • The teachers of the law, he asked them where the christ was
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  • To be born.
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  • 'in bethlehem in judea, for this is what the prophet
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  • Has written.'"
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  • And then they quote from micah: "but you, bethlehem, in the land
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  • Of judah, are by no means least among the rulers of judah;
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  • For out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd
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  • Of my people israel."
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  • It's worth noting that the religious scholars knew
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  • The messiah was gonna be born in bethlehem.
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  • Verse 7: "then herod called the magi secretly and found out
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  • From them the exact time the star had appeared."
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  • They'd been with herod a while, we don't really have the
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  • Timeline here and its fullness.
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  • But they arrive in jerusalem, they make their entry, they get
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  • An audience with the king.
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  • They say, we're looking for the king of the jews.
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  • This is the capital, the city, where's the new king
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  • Of the jews?
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  • And herod sends them away, then he brings in his counselors
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  • And says, what's the story with the messiah?
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  • And they say, oh, that's bethlehem, and they quote
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  • The prophets to him.
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  • So then he gets rid of his counselors and his wise men
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  • And he brings the magi back in.
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  • So there's some period of time here, we don't know how long
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  • They were herod's guests.
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  • But "herod called the magi secretly, found out from them
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  • The exact time the star had appeared.
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  • And he sent them to bethlehem, 'go and make a careful search
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  • For the child.
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  • And as soon as you find him, report to me, so i can go
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  • And worship him too.'
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  • After they heard the king, they went on their way, and the star
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  • They had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped
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  • Over the place where the child was.
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  • And when they turned the page and saw the star,
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  • They were overjoyed.
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  • And on coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother
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  • Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
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  • Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts
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  • Of gold and incense and of myrrh.
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  • And having been warned in a dream not to go back to herod,
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  • They returned to their country by another route.
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  • When they had gone, an angel of the lord appeared to joseph in
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  • A dream.
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  • 'get up,' he said, 'take the child and his mother
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  • And escape to egypt.
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  • Stay there until i tell you, for herod's going to search
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  • For the child to kill him.'
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  • So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and
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  • Left for egypt, where he stayed until the death of herod.
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  • And so was fulfilled what the lord had said through
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  • The prophet: 'out of egypt i called my son.'
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  • When herod realized that he'd been outwitted by the magi,
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  • He was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in
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  • Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under,
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  • In accordance with the time he had learned from the magi.
  • 00:11:05.780 --> 00:11:09.084
  • Then what was said through the prophet jeremiah was fulfilled:
  • 00:11:09.084 --> 00:11:12.654
  • 'a voice is heard in ramah, weeping and great mourning,
  • 00:11:12.654 --> 00:11:16.224
  • Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,
  • 00:11:16.224 --> 00:11:18.993
  • Because they were no more.'"
  • 00:11:18.993 --> 00:11:20.361
  • Jeremiah had written that hundreds of years before herod
  • 00:11:20.361 --> 00:11:22.864
  • Ever lived.
  • 00:11:22.864 --> 00:11:25.066
  • "after herod died, an angel of the lord appeared in a dream
  • 00:11:25.066 --> 00:11:27.902
  • To joseph in egypt and said, 'get up, and take the child and
  • 00:11:27.902 --> 00:11:30.638
  • His mother and go to the land of israel, those who were trying
  • 00:11:30.638 --> 00:11:32.841
  • To take his life are dead.'
  • 00:11:32.841 --> 00:11:35.009
  • So he got up, he took the child and his mother and went
  • 00:11:35.009 --> 00:11:37.479
  • To the land of israel.
  • 00:11:37.479 --> 00:11:39.080
  • But when he heard that archelaus," that's herod's son,
  • 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:43.084
  • "was reigning in judea in place of his father herod,
  • 00:11:43.084 --> 00:11:45.520
  • He was afraid to go there.
  • 00:11:45.520 --> 00:11:47.288
  • Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of
  • 00:11:47.288 --> 00:11:49.724
  • Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called nazareth.
  • 00:11:49.724 --> 00:11:52.794
  • So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, he'll be
  • 00:11:52.794 --> 00:11:55.764
  • Called a nazarene."
  • 00:11:55.764 --> 00:11:57.799
  • If you come from the village of nazareth, you're called
  • 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:00.668
  • A nazarene.
  • 00:12:00.668 --> 00:12:02.003
  • If you come from tennessee, you're a tennessean.
  • 00:12:02.003 --> 00:12:04.205
  • There's another word that's used in scripture that's similar,
  • 00:12:04.205 --> 00:12:06.741
  • But it's different, it's called a nazarite.
  • 00:12:06.741 --> 00:12:08.943
  • That is a sect within judaism.
  • 00:12:08.943 --> 00:12:11.045
  • There were different means of observing judaism, just like
  • 00:12:11.045 --> 00:12:13.915
  • There are different approaches to observing christianity.
  • 00:12:13.915 --> 00:12:17.786
  • There are some differences, may be subtle, but there's
  • 00:12:17.786 --> 00:12:20.321
  • Some differences in the way an episcopalian and a presbyterian
  • 00:12:20.321 --> 00:12:23.825
  • Serves the lord.
  • 00:12:23.825 --> 00:12:25.894
  • Well, a nazarite is different from a nazarene.
  • 00:12:25.894 --> 00:12:28.129
  • A nazarite made a vow to god to not cut their hair or to take
  • 00:12:28.129 --> 00:12:31.733
  • Strong drink, fermented drink.
  • 00:12:31.733 --> 00:12:33.835
  • Can you think of a nazarite you know from scripture?
  • 00:12:33.835 --> 00:12:37.005
  • Samson is probably the most obvious, there are others.
  • 00:12:37.005 --> 00:12:40.375
  • Well, jesus is from the village of nazareth, so we call him
  • 00:12:40.375 --> 00:12:42.944
  • A nazarene.
  • 00:12:42.944 --> 00:12:44.279
  • Now, i wanna take that chapter and offer you just a handful of
  • 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:46.681
  • Observations on how the story unfolded, to see what you and i
  • 00:12:46.681 --> 00:12:49.884
  • Can learn about the activity of the spirit of god
  • 00:12:49.884 --> 00:12:53.388
  • In the 21st century.
  • 00:12:53.388 --> 00:12:54.722
  • What can we expect from him?
  • 00:12:54.722 --> 00:12:56.858
  • In those first verses, it says: the "magi came from the east
  • 00:12:56.858 --> 00:13:00.361
  • To jerusalem."
  • 00:13:00.361 --> 00:13:02.197
  • It's a long journey.
  • 00:13:02.197 --> 00:13:03.565
  • In fact, this journey, we're told--we're given a context
  • 00:13:03.565 --> 00:13:05.533
  • Of time, it's a two-year trip.
  • 00:13:05.533 --> 00:13:07.802
  • So i think it's safe to say that this particular invitation
  • 00:13:07.802 --> 00:13:11.139
  • From god into their lives was disruptive.
  • 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:16.177
  • We invite you to share in ministry frequently.
  • 00:13:16.177 --> 00:13:18.213
  • We have yet to invite you for a two-year commitment,
  • 00:13:18.213 --> 00:13:20.982
  • Uninterrupted.
  • 00:13:20.982 --> 00:13:23.952
  • It's a very disruptive invitation, and not only that,
  • 00:13:23.952 --> 00:13:27.222
  • It's costly in both time and treasure.
  • 00:13:27.222 --> 00:13:30.758
  • Imagine a two-year vacation in the name of the lord, think
  • 00:13:30.758 --> 00:13:34.629
  • Of all they're gonna step away from, all they're gonna leave
  • 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:36.831
  • Undone, and all of this in search of something or following
  • 00:13:36.831 --> 00:13:41.669
  • Something no more concrete than something they have discerned
  • 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:45.006
  • From the stars.
  • 00:13:45.006 --> 00:13:47.508
  • But i think we could safely call it they're willing to follow
  • 00:13:47.508 --> 00:13:49.911
  • Unconventional wisdom.
  • 00:13:49.911 --> 00:13:52.280
  • Conventional wisdom is a metaphor for what the majority
  • 00:13:52.280 --> 00:13:55.116
  • Of the people are doing, what the herd is going to do.
  • 00:13:55.116 --> 00:13:58.553
  • And these particular characters are following
  • 00:13:58.553 --> 00:14:00.855
  • Very unconventional wisdom.
  • 00:14:00.855 --> 00:14:02.724
  • There's only three, i have no doubt there's an entourage
  • 00:14:02.724 --> 00:14:05.960
  • Traveling with them to make it easier, but--and when i read
  • 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.530
  • The story, i wonder how many declined the opportunity,
  • 00:14:09.530 --> 00:14:13.334
  • How many people in their sphere of influence?
  • 00:14:13.334 --> 00:14:14.769
  • They're wealthy people, they're powerful people,
  • 00:14:14.769 --> 00:14:16.771
  • They're influential people.
  • 00:14:16.771 --> 00:14:18.106
  • There are, no doubt, other people in their sphere
  • 00:14:18.106 --> 00:14:19.674
  • Of influence that they extended the invitation to.
  • 00:14:19.674 --> 00:14:21.809
  • I wonder how many people said, no, not a good time for us,
  • 00:14:21.809 --> 00:14:26.781
  • We're too busy, it's too expensive, you're too weird, no.
  • 00:14:26.781 --> 00:14:32.153
  • So here's the first piece, do you have room in your
  • 00:14:32.153 --> 00:14:34.589
  • Imagination that an invitation from god could be disruptive?
  • 00:14:34.589 --> 00:14:41.596
  • Allen: i wanna take just a moment to say thank you.
  • 00:14:45.667 --> 00:14:48.336
  • In a year of political turmoil and confusion and wars and
  • 00:14:48.336 --> 00:14:52.206
  • Rumors of wars, because of your partnership, your generosity,
  • 00:14:52.206 --> 00:14:55.743
  • Your prayers, your encouragement, we have done more
  • 00:14:55.743 --> 00:14:58.813
  • For the gospel than any year in our ministry so far.
  • 00:14:58.813 --> 00:15:01.716
  • We started a whole new genre of programming.
  • 00:15:01.716 --> 00:15:04.052
  • "allen jackson now" does a daily review of headlines
  • 00:15:04.052 --> 00:15:07.155
  • From a biblical world view.
  • 00:15:07.155 --> 00:15:08.523
  • We started a new podcast, "culture & christianity," to
  • 00:15:08.523 --> 00:15:11.125
  • Help stabilize god's people in the midst of all the confusion.
  • 00:15:11.125 --> 00:15:15.163
  • All of that because of your faithfulness, your generosity,
  • 00:15:15.163 --> 00:15:18.099
  • Your prayers, thank you so much.
  • 00:15:18.099 --> 00:15:20.435
  • As we come to the end of this year, i wanna ask you
  • 00:15:20.435 --> 00:15:22.503
  • To prayerfully consider making a sacrificial investment
  • 00:15:22.503 --> 00:15:26.074
  • In what's next.
  • 00:15:26.074 --> 00:15:27.408
  • We wanna take those programs, share them in new places
  • 00:15:27.408 --> 00:15:30.545
  • With more people.
  • 00:15:30.545 --> 00:15:31.879
  • We wanna continue to be creative in how we share the good news of
  • 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:35.416
  • Jesus christ, a generous partner makes it possible.
  • 00:15:35.416 --> 00:15:38.519
  • Every gift you give will be matched, it doubles your gift
  • 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.155
  • Between now and the end of the year.
  • 00:15:41.155 --> 00:15:42.790
  • Let me thank you in advance for what we've been doing
  • 00:15:42.790 --> 00:15:45.593
  • And what god's going to do with our lives and our partnership
  • 00:15:45.593 --> 00:15:48.496
  • Together in 2025.
  • 00:15:48.496 --> 00:15:50.665
  • Thank you, and god bless you.
  • 00:15:50.665 --> 00:15:52.867
  • Female announcer: god is moving in major ways in the ministry
  • 00:15:52.867 --> 00:15:56.037
  • And our world.
  • 00:15:56.037 --> 00:15:57.672
  • As we watched the 2024 election unfold, we witnessed a miracle.
  • 00:15:57.672 --> 00:16:02.377
  • God has heard our prayers, he has shown us his mercy.
  • 00:16:02.377 --> 00:16:06.814
  • We're entering a new era with new leaders, but it's not a time
  • 00:16:06.814 --> 00:16:11.119
  • To rest.
  • 00:16:11.119 --> 00:16:12.453
  • Our assignment hasn't changed.
  • 00:16:12.453 --> 00:16:14.422
  • In fact, it's as urgent as ever.
  • 00:16:14.422 --> 00:16:17.191
  • You and i have been set apart by god for his purposes,
  • 00:16:17.191 --> 00:16:20.795
  • And there's a lot for us to do.
  • 00:16:20.795 --> 00:16:22.964
  • Allen: i believe when god shows you mercy, he gives with it
  • 00:16:22.964 --> 00:16:28.102
  • An opportunity.
  • 00:16:28.102 --> 00:16:29.971
  • I want us to quietly say to the lord, here am i,
  • 00:16:29.971 --> 00:16:39.647
  • Let me go.
  • 00:16:39.647 --> 00:16:42.083
  • Let me go back to where i work in the name of jesus.
  • 00:16:42.083 --> 00:16:45.953
  • Let me go back into my neighborhood in the name
  • 00:16:45.953 --> 00:16:48.189
  • Of jesus.
  • 00:16:48.189 --> 00:16:49.924
  • God himself has shown us grace, and it will require of us
  • 00:16:49.924 --> 00:16:57.932
  • Greater strength and greater courage than we have ever had
  • 00:16:57.932 --> 00:17:02.303
  • To attach to our faith before, let's go, let's go.
  • 00:17:02.303 --> 00:17:09.410
  • Announcer: let's set our hearts on preparing for what's next
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  • Allen: see, i think we've kind of flipped the script,
  • 00:18:16.410 --> 00:18:18.312
  • And we think god should pay attention to what i'm doing
  • 00:18:18.312 --> 00:18:20.681
  • And what i want to do and what i intend to accomplish,
  • 00:18:20.681 --> 00:18:23.784
  • And he should help me.
  • 00:18:23.784 --> 00:18:25.653
  • After all, that's what i want him to do, do my business
  • 00:18:25.653 --> 00:18:28.156
  • To make it easier.
  • 00:18:28.156 --> 00:18:30.024
  • And when i read my bible, the invitation that god extends
  • 00:18:30.024 --> 00:18:33.294
  • To human beings is that we might join him in what he's doing,
  • 00:18:33.294 --> 00:18:38.499
  • Which is something of a realignment.
  • 00:18:38.499 --> 00:18:41.936
  • No matter what your day job is or what your job description is,
  • 00:18:41.936 --> 00:18:45.173
  • We can be engaged in god's purposes.
  • 00:18:45.173 --> 00:18:47.475
  • The second observation is in verse 3, it says, all jerusalem
  • 00:18:47.475 --> 00:18:50.711
  • Was disturbed.
  • 00:18:50.711 --> 00:18:53.981
  • All jerusalem.
  • 00:18:53.981 --> 00:18:55.316
  • Herod and all jerusalem are disturbed.
  • 00:18:55.316 --> 00:18:57.151
  • Now, no doubt, the three wise men roll in with
  • 00:18:57.151 --> 00:18:59.287
  • Their entourage, there's some pomp and circumstance.
  • 00:18:59.287 --> 00:19:01.622
  • Jerusalem's a relatively small city.
  • 00:19:01.622 --> 00:19:03.491
  • They've come to the capital city searching for the king of
  • 00:19:03.491 --> 00:19:05.893
  • The jews that's just been born.
  • 00:19:05.893 --> 00:19:10.831
  • Herod's disturbed, the whole city is disturbed.
  • 00:19:10.831 --> 00:19:13.234
  • What are they disturbed by?
  • 00:19:13.234 --> 00:19:15.836
  • I would submit to you they're disturbed by the spirit of god,
  • 00:19:15.836 --> 00:19:19.640
  • That it's a heavenly prompt.
  • 00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:22.276
  • That the disruption in jerusalem, the disruption
  • 00:19:22.276 --> 00:19:24.812
  • For herod is an awareness that's been brought to them
  • 00:19:24.812 --> 00:19:28.015
  • By the spirit of god.
  • 00:19:28.015 --> 00:19:29.383
  • They had the prophets to give them dozens of reasons to
  • 00:19:29.383 --> 00:19:32.420
  • Understand the birth of jesus, but they're oblivious, they're
  • 00:19:32.420 --> 00:19:36.057
  • Unaware, they're disinterested.
  • 00:19:36.057 --> 00:19:38.793
  • So what i wanna invite again into our imagination is
  • 00:19:38.793 --> 00:19:41.896
  • This disruptive role of the holy spirit.
  • 00:19:41.896 --> 00:19:46.400
  • That when the spirit of god interaction with--interacts
  • 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.869
  • With you and your life, there are times and seasons
  • 00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:51.472
  • When it will be felt and understood to be disruptive.
  • 00:19:51.472 --> 00:19:54.275
  • One of the words we use for that is conviction, he convicts us.
  • 00:19:54.275 --> 00:19:58.346
  • He makes us a little ill at ease with our life circumstances,
  • 00:19:58.346 --> 00:20:02.083
  • With some aspect of our life, maybe not blatantly immoral
  • 00:20:02.083 --> 00:20:05.119
  • Or wicked, but he begins to deal with us about some aspect
  • 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:08.289
  • Of our life.
  • 00:20:08.289 --> 00:20:09.624
  • And what i've come to understand from the spirit of god is that
  • 00:20:09.624 --> 00:20:11.492
  • Is an emerging process.
  • 00:20:11.492 --> 00:20:14.695
  • When he disrupts my life, he may be disrupting me about something
  • 00:20:14.695 --> 00:20:17.498
  • That's been a part of my life for a long time and i was great
  • 00:20:17.498 --> 00:20:19.767
  • With it two years ago, but now i'm a little less at ease with
  • 00:20:19.767 --> 00:20:23.971
  • It, it's just not okay anymore.
  • 00:20:23.971 --> 00:20:27.441
  • That god is inviting me to a new place with him, to a new walk
  • 00:20:27.441 --> 00:20:31.312
  • With him.
  • 00:20:31.312 --> 00:20:32.647
  • See, i think we probably have a little prayer we ought to offer.
  • 00:20:32.647 --> 00:20:35.783
  • I don't mean right now, but in the privacy of your own life,
  • 00:20:35.783 --> 00:20:38.919
  • We've wanted to do business with god on kind
  • 00:20:38.919 --> 00:20:40.488
  • Of a one and done basis.
  • 00:20:40.488 --> 00:20:42.490
  • We've wanted to repeat a sinner's prayer, make
  • 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:44.158
  • A profession of faith and think, okay, the rest of the journey is
  • 00:20:44.158 --> 00:20:46.794
  • Mine, i can do whatever i want.
  • 00:20:46.794 --> 00:20:50.831
  • I wanna go to heaven, i don't wanna go to hell.
  • 00:20:50.831 --> 00:20:53.067
  • Where's the contract?
  • 00:20:53.067 --> 00:20:54.402
  • I'll sign.
  • 00:20:54.402 --> 00:20:55.770
  • What do you need me to do?
  • 00:20:55.770 --> 00:20:57.104
  • But i wanna submit to you that the scripture suggests to us
  • 00:20:57.104 --> 00:20:59.674
  • That the spirit of god will continue to engage us,
  • 00:20:59.674 --> 00:21:04.145
  • To disrupt us, to redirect our attention towards
  • 00:21:04.145 --> 00:21:07.281
  • What god is doing.
  • 00:21:07.281 --> 00:21:09.083
  • Herod got the prompt, all jerusalem got the prompt.
  • 00:21:09.083 --> 00:21:12.353
  • See, at this point in the narrative, i'm thinking
  • 00:21:12.353 --> 00:21:13.988
  • There'll be a parade, there'll be hundreds of people who want
  • 00:21:13.988 --> 00:21:17.258
  • To stream from jerusalem to bethlehem.
  • 00:21:17.258 --> 00:21:20.061
  • Not so much.
  • 00:21:20.061 --> 00:21:24.031
  • The spirit of god will redirect our attention towards what god
  • 00:21:24.031 --> 00:21:27.201
  • Is doing, the real question is, will it hold our attention?
  • 00:21:27.201 --> 00:21:32.506
  • Will he elicit our cooperation, or will it make us angry?
  • 00:21:32.506 --> 00:21:38.913
  • Very frequent response when you first bump into the activity
  • 00:21:38.913 --> 00:21:42.249
  • Of the spirit of god, is it makes you angry
  • 00:21:42.249 --> 00:21:45.353
  • Because it confronts you a bit
  • 00:21:45.353 --> 00:21:46.954
  • With the holiness of god and the purity of god
  • 00:21:46.954 --> 00:21:50.057
  • And the call of god.
  • 00:21:50.057 --> 00:21:52.660
  • Verses 4 and 5, matthew quotes for us the prophecy from micah.
  • 00:21:52.660 --> 00:21:57.765
  • There's actually instructions provided, there was advance
  • 00:21:57.765 --> 00:22:00.968
  • Warning of jesus's birthplace.
  • 00:22:00.968 --> 00:22:03.504
  • Hundreds of years earlier, micah had said: "but you, bethlehem,
  • 00:22:03.504 --> 00:22:06.474
  • In the land of judah, are by no means least among the rulers of
  • 00:22:06.474 --> 00:22:09.176
  • Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who'll be the shepherd
  • 00:22:09.176 --> 00:22:11.912
  • Of my people israel."
  • 00:22:11.912 --> 00:22:13.814
  • It wasn't unknown, this wasn't hidden.
  • 00:22:13.814 --> 00:22:16.650
  • When herod asked the scholars in the palace that he had access
  • 00:22:16.650 --> 00:22:20.154
  • To, they said, oh no, messiah is coming from bethlehem.
  • 00:22:20.154 --> 00:22:24.525
  • I know i'm reading it from a long way away,
  • 00:22:24.525 --> 00:22:26.527
  • But i'm thinking if i had lived in the 1st century
  • 00:22:26.527 --> 00:22:29.397
  • And i knew the prophet said the messiah was coming
  • 00:22:29.397 --> 00:22:31.766
  • To bethlehem, it's a small village,
  • 00:22:31.766 --> 00:22:35.069
  • I'm thinking every monday morning, i would have wanted
  • 00:22:35.069 --> 00:22:37.004
  • To review a list of the new births in bethlehem.
  • 00:22:37.004 --> 00:22:39.707
  • Just give me a list of the new baby boys born, and i'd like
  • 00:22:41.675 --> 00:22:44.245
  • To review the list.
  • 00:22:44.245 --> 00:22:45.679
  • Anybody from the house of david?
  • 00:22:45.679 --> 00:22:49.884
  • It'll narrow the list.
  • 00:22:49.884 --> 00:22:51.252
  • Maybe it'd even be better--can we put up a video camera in the
  • 00:22:51.252 --> 00:22:53.687
  • Nursery in the hospital in bethlehem?
  • 00:22:53.687 --> 00:22:56.123
  • I'd just like to see those little rascals when they put
  • 00:22:56.123 --> 00:22:58.058
  • Them in there.
  • 00:22:58.058 --> 00:22:59.894
  • Somebody's assigned to watching the birth records in bethlehem
  • 00:22:59.894 --> 00:23:03.364
  • So we don't miss the messiah.
  • 00:23:03.364 --> 00:23:07.034
  • These are god's covenant people, the chosen people of god.
  • 00:23:07.034 --> 00:23:10.304
  • The temple is in jerusalem, the daily sac--i mean, it's all a
  • 00:23:10.304 --> 00:23:13.040
  • Part of their life, and they have the word of the prophets
  • 00:23:13.040 --> 00:23:16.744
  • And they're paying very little attention.
  • 00:23:16.744 --> 00:23:19.613
  • It's why in 2 peter chapter 1, the fisherman that jesus
  • 00:23:19.613 --> 00:23:22.850
  • Recruited gives you and me some counsel.
  • 00:23:22.850 --> 00:23:25.085
  • He said: "we have the word of the prophets made more certain,
  • 00:23:25.085 --> 00:23:27.721
  • And you'll do well to pay attention to it, as a light
  • 00:23:27.721 --> 00:23:31.091
  • Shining in a dark place."
  • 00:23:31.091 --> 00:23:32.560
  • That it would be good for us to pay attention to the prophets.
  • 00:23:32.560 --> 00:23:35.963
  • Now, we've been reading our bibles around here
  • 00:23:35.963 --> 00:23:37.631
  • For a few years now.
  • 00:23:37.631 --> 00:23:39.333
  • What's the one part of the reading that we get
  • 00:23:39.333 --> 00:23:42.336
  • The most--what, the least enthusiasm for?
  • 00:23:42.336 --> 00:23:47.374
  • It's the prophets.
  • 00:23:47.374 --> 00:23:49.743
  • We don't know the words.
  • 00:23:49.743 --> 00:23:51.078
  • We don't know the names.
  • 00:23:51.078 --> 00:23:52.413
  • We don't know if they're people or insects we should spray for,
  • 00:23:52.413 --> 00:23:55.983
  • Just doesn't matter that much to us.
  • 00:23:55.983 --> 00:23:57.585
  • And peter is saying we should pay attention, it will help us.
  • 00:23:57.585 --> 00:24:00.454
  • Let me ask you a question, what do you know of prophecy
  • 00:24:00.454 --> 00:24:03.557
  • That could impact the season in which we're living?
  • 00:24:03.557 --> 00:24:07.695
  • It's not a trick question.
  • 00:24:07.695 --> 00:24:09.763
  • The counsel of scripture is there would be a benefit for us
  • 00:24:09.763 --> 00:24:12.233
  • To be aware of it.
  • 00:24:12.233 --> 00:24:13.601
  • Ask a different question in a different way, what's the next
  • 00:24:13.601 --> 00:24:16.270
  • Big rock item in god's prophetic calendar?
  • 00:24:16.270 --> 00:24:20.875
  • Not the subtleties in the new, what's the next big rock issue
  • 00:24:20.875 --> 00:24:23.744
  • That we know is ahead of us?
  • 00:24:23.744 --> 00:24:26.280
  • It'd be the return of jesus.
  • 00:24:26.280 --> 00:24:28.949
  • He's coming back, the king is coming back.
  • 00:24:28.949 --> 00:24:30.985
  • Now, the skeptics will go, well, that's been the next big rock
  • 00:24:30.985 --> 00:24:33.754
  • Issue since he left in the 1st century.
  • 00:24:33.754 --> 00:24:35.623
  • Not really, obi-wan.
  • 00:24:35.623 --> 00:24:39.193
  • Because one of the things we knew from scripture was
  • 00:24:39.193 --> 00:24:41.462
  • The nation of israel had to be reformulated, and the jewish
  • 00:24:41.462 --> 00:24:44.231
  • People had to be collected onto that piece of land that god gave
  • 00:24:44.231 --> 00:24:47.701
  • To abraham way back in the book of genesis.
  • 00:24:47.701 --> 00:24:50.504
  • And for 2,000 years, that was not a historical reality.
  • 00:24:50.504 --> 00:24:55.876
  • In fact, the jewish people said a prayer annually that said,
  • 00:24:55.876 --> 00:24:58.412
  • "next year in jerusalem."
  • 00:24:58.412 --> 00:25:00.147
  • And for two millennia, that was for them like saying once upon
  • 00:25:00.147 --> 00:25:02.850
  • A time or long, long ago and far, far away.
  • 00:25:02.850 --> 00:25:05.553
  • And today, the nation of israel exists and within the--in
  • 00:25:05.553 --> 00:25:10.190
  • The--in recent history, within the last two years, jerusalem
  • 00:25:10.190 --> 00:25:13.427
  • Has been recognized by the united states as the united
  • 00:25:13.427 --> 00:25:16.664
  • Capital of the jewish people in the land of israel and put
  • 00:25:16.664 --> 00:25:20.768
  • Our embassy there.
  • 00:25:20.768 --> 00:25:25.072
  • That's a big deal.
  • 00:25:25.072 --> 00:25:26.407
  • However you feel about the politics, from a biblical
  • 00:25:26.407 --> 00:25:28.375
  • Perspective, that's a big deal.
  • 00:25:28.375 --> 00:25:31.145
  • And it's a precursor, it was a necessary occurrence before
  • 00:25:31.145 --> 00:25:35.049
  • We could talk about next up, being the return of the king.
  • 00:25:35.049 --> 00:25:38.819
  • Not making the jewish people a means to an end, just a way
  • 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:42.189
  • To understand what god is doing in the earth.
  • 00:25:42.189 --> 00:25:45.759
  • It might be worthwhile knowing what scripture tells us about
  • 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.663
  • The season before jesus returns.
  • 00:25:49.663 --> 00:25:53.233
  • Some of you who wanna do a little extra reading,
  • 00:25:53.233 --> 00:25:55.469
  • Matthew chapter 24.
  • 00:25:55.469 --> 00:25:57.137
  • The greatest of all the hebrew prophets is jesus,
  • 00:25:57.137 --> 00:25:59.707
  • And in matthew 24, jesus gives you more
  • 00:25:59.707 --> 00:26:01.809
  • Than a dozen characteristics of the season before he comes back.
  • 00:26:01.809 --> 00:26:06.180
  • And for you overachievers, luke 21 is the corresponding
  • 00:26:07.781 --> 00:26:10.951
  • Chapter in luke's gospel.
  • 00:26:10.951 --> 00:26:14.588
  • I brought you a prayer.
  • 00:26:14.588 --> 00:26:19.093
  • Why don't you stand with me?
  • 00:26:19.093 --> 00:26:21.762
  • It's really a prayer of commitment.
  • 00:26:21.762 --> 00:26:25.933
  • If i weren't interested in the commitment, i probably wouldn't
  • 00:26:25.933 --> 00:26:28.168
  • Read the prayer because i have this notion that god
  • 00:26:28.168 --> 00:26:32.339
  • Takes us seriously.
  • 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:37.778
  • Let's read it together.
  • 00:26:37.778 --> 00:26:39.513
  • Heavenly father, i choose to listen, to follow, to obey,
  • 00:26:39.513 --> 00:26:44.518
  • To cooperate, to participate and in all of these things--
  • 00:26:44.518 --> 00:26:48.722
  • To honor you.
  • 00:26:48.722 --> 00:26:50.057
  • I turn away from ungodliness and repent of those things
  • 00:26:50.057 --> 00:26:53.927
  • Which i have withheld from you.
  • 00:26:53.927 --> 00:26:56.163
  • I want to know christ in the power of his resurrection
  • 00:26:56.163 --> 00:27:00.134
  • And the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.
  • 00:27:00.134 --> 00:27:02.936
  • Holy spirit, you are welcome in my life, amen, hallelujah,
  • 00:27:02.936 --> 00:27:08.375
  • God bless you.
  • 00:27:08.375 --> 00:27:09.943
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:09.943 --> 00:27:09.943