God is Moving [Let’s Join Him] | Pastor Allen Jackson

God is moving in the earth he is it's good to be with you would very much appreciate your prayers for the conference on Friday and Saturday there are people coming from across the country more than 40 States the last time I looked and many of them are leading in various ways in their communities or their churches and it's an opportunity not simply to try to acknowledge what's happening in the culture but to understand that the only real solution comes from our faith from yielding to the lordship of Jesus we may see outcomes you I remember back in Co saying that we needed a breakthrough from God to deliver us and that the Breakthrough might be delivered through the medical community or the scientific Community but we would understand that God had initiated the Insight or the understanding and we're in a similar place now we need a change of Direction a change of momentum we need a change of thought we need many changes and they may be delivered through those systems that you would think of in those ways but I promise you that what will initiate it is spiritual change in the hearts of God's people and without that spiritual change I have no hope of changes being implemented through those other systems because what we're watching is not an ideological conflict it's not a conflict between the urban and the rural it's a it's a spiritual conflict and the more we understand that and the more we intend to engage with that the more effective we can be and that's really the reason we're doing the conference we believe that our nation is unique and has been blessed by God and is worth standing up for the liberty and freedoms that we have enjoyed I assure you they're not Universal I have had the privilege of traveling many places in the world and the things that you and I consider to be normal are not typical and I believe they've come to us from God and I believe if we maintain them for the generations who follow us it will be in direct proportion to our willingness is to yield to the authority of God we have never been a a completely Christian Nation we've never had a state religion it's never been mandated by the government that you Worship in some form or fashion nor have you been prohibited from worshiping in the in whatever form or fashion you chose that we have unmistakably been a nation who has had a Christian Heritage a biblical worldview A judeo-christian worldview however you choose to label that has formed our legal system and our educational system it it framed the the conditions upon which we did business it has been the single most unifying factor in our history as a people because we are a nation of immigrants we have come from the nations of the world we weren't bound together by a language or by our appearance or by hundreds of years of shared anything we had come from the nations of the world in most cases because we were barely surviving in other places and that faith gave us a fabric through which we could interact and grow stronger it made us one of the most diverse nations in the world it wasn't required that you be Christian but the ideas of Tolerance and understanding have emerged from that biblical worldview if you go in the places in the world where there is not that they tend to be far less tolerant how much trouble do I want to get in what time is it if you visit the Muslim nations of the world where Islam is the predominant faith you don't find them to have anywhere near the diversity that we would consider to be normal where we are and so because of that understanding what has enabled us to flourish is essential for every generation and we really put this conference together hoping to begin to strengthen a voice for some people that have not had as many birthdays as I have it's not exclusively for them but there are very few voices speaking to them what we have clearly seen since October 7th is Academia in our nation has failed us because the most elite universities seem to be incapable of finding a voice and I assure you that the universities that are lesser known many many of them take their cues from those Elite schools the faculty member hold in high esteem the people that have appointments and positions in those places so the the standards being set from those places influences academics across our nation not completely not entirely fortunately there are some very notable exceptions but it's an important time for us to have a voice and to lead with our faith only only Jesus can Deliver Us From The Bondage of sin only Jesus so for our operatory prayer tonight I'm going to ask you to join me in praying that God will bring an effective Effectiveness to this far beyond anything we could do or orchestrate does that seem reasonable people are traveling a great ways I'm amazed at what God is doing in the hearts we baptized a couple this weekend who came from Alaska I just to be sure I wouldn't check the map there's actually water between here in Alaska but so the Lord is doing some things why don't you stand with me if you're joining us digit someplace else you can stand as well we'd be delighted it's a way of expressing honor to the Lord and we want to learn to show honor to the Lord W with greater frequency than we've ever known before isn't that true we don't want to be just churched or religious we want our lives to honor God Amen in every way we know how when God thinks about us we want him to smile amen yeah right father thank you I thank you for your people for your church for every person that names Jesus as Lord I Thank you for them Lord I know they're precious in your sight I thank you for what you've done in our congregation in our community the lives we see changing Lord what you're doing in our own hearts and homes we praise you for it and for the opportunity that is ahead of us this week Lord as we complete our Spring Festival and we welcome guests from other places Lord we ask that you would move that you would direct what's said that you would direct each interaction Lord I pray that the people's hearts will be stirred to trust you more completely to listen to your voice to Humble ourselves in Repentance and humility and choose obedience to you as never before forgive us for our idolatry in imagining that institutions or organizations or governments or papers or anything else would bring freedom to us you are the author of Liberty and freedom and we turn our faces to you and ask ask that you would move on our behalf I thank you for what you're doing and the great honor we have of joining you in this time of great change may Jesus name be lifted up it's in his name we pray amen amen hallelujah you may have a seat my clock's out I hope you received an outline when you came in we're going to I I hope to wrap up I I think your outline is deceptively short my intent is to to get to a stopping point with this little series we've been doing on God is moving and this is really a session about an invitation let's join him you know I don't like to be complicated whenever possible you can always tell if I don't know what I'm talking about I'll use bigger words because the things I truly understand I can explain to a third grader and we don't have to use big words but if you have a sense that God is moving and by that I mean he's initiating that their change is coming and they they God initiated my my simple desire and my suggestion to you is raise your hand and say I want to move too Peter in the boat with the disciples when he recog when they decide it's Jesus actually walking on the water and Peter alone amongst the others says Lord if it's you I want to walk too now Peter got a little bit more water than he wanted but he got out of the boat and I I would submit to you that we want to cultivate that Heart Lord if you're moving I want to move too amen we live in a season of tremendous shaking and I I find comfort in it because I believe God is the one initiating the shaking certainly a there was a big trimmer with Co not too many years ago I think we had another trimmer in October with the homas attack on Israel I didn't recognize it at the time I thought it was another terrorist event and of murderous hatred in the Middle East but since then I I have seen it's not too difficult to see if you're paying any attention at all that it it became a day of Separation another parting I never imagined on October the 8th that tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or large numbers of people would decide to support the murderous behavior of Hamas and yet we see it and it it's God shaking he's bringing back uh these choices that we have to choose which path we're going to go when you recognize that God is moving understand the significance of saying no we're going to talk about some characteristics of God In Motion but as you watch October the 7th we're closer to it than Co CO's in the rearview mirror now and our memories get a little hazy and we forget the anxiety that was there those days and how much division it brought to people depending on how you chose to sit and what you wore and where you went but the October 7th is still very relevant it's still very much in the news it's indefensible it's inexcusable there's no moral equivalence it's absurd to me that our nation would insist on a ceasefire for humanitarian P purposes in Gaza when they don't demand the same in the Ukraine it's it's irrational it can't be understood simply in humanitarian terms I can explain it in terms of geopolitical issues or petroleum do dollars or upcoming elections but it's not about humanitarian reasons that the the kind of attention being turned to express hatred towards the Jewish people is is truly remarkable not news it's a repetition of history that we have seen many times but I didn't imagine we would ever see it in America to the degree and the extent we're seeing at places that are thought leaders that are incubators in shape values and societal responses God is shaking the earth I was very surprised we were in Israel for just a couple of days a week or two ago and we were having lunch with some friends just simple Israelis not sophisticated down in their homes very near Gaza and we having lunch and one of my friends whose English was his English is much better than my Hebrew but his English was broken but he made the sign he said God is shaking Israel and I thought no God is shaking the whole earth and Israel is being included and and that shaking brings about separation that's what shaking does so when you recognize God is moving here's the suggestion let's go with him let's just go with him let's go with him you know how many invitations do we have to have so I've just built some characteristics of God in motion and we've been working on this a little bit if you can understand the characteristics it helps you understand that it's the Lord because it's not always simple uh I didn't understand when we first about heard about a virus from Wuhan what the Lord was doing any more than I understood on October the 7th exactly what was happening I'm not suggesting that I in anticipation of these events have this Clarity but what I want to develop is the ability in the midst of the changes to say oh I think God's at work here I want to cooperate with him and our our previous experiences are only modestly helpful in doing this so I've built a list of some characteristics I started with Gideon in the Book of Judges but I want to step into the New Testament P because some of you will value it more if we add the New Testament you know the New Testament makes no sense apart from the Old Testament it's an indecipherable book without the Old Testament they're not really separate it's the same presentation but the first thing I suggested to you is that when you recognize God's moving you want to watch listen think and act I believe that I know it makes you uncomfortable because in the church World we're not used to acting we're used to watching and listening and thinking considering and pondering maybe we'll pray and we'll seek the Lord and we'll listen some more and I'm an advocate for all of those things but those first three are intended to inform your actions and what we should all understand is that to make no decision is to make a decision if you choose not to act you have made a choice if you choose to be silent in the face of evil you have made made a choice amen if you choose not to use your voice when you recognize that evil is shouting in the streets you have made a choice so the watching and listening and thinking throughout the scripture from Genesis to Revelation one of the single most important characteristics of the people of God is that they listen to him they listen to him when we used Gideon his example there were multiple places in Gideon's Journey between his Recruitment and the battle with the midianites where Gideon had listening experiences from prophetic visits to Angelic visits to opportunities for God to confirm or affirm the assignment to him folks we want to get better at listening I'm not even sure we've imagined it was necessary we've talked about that previously I'm not going to stop then we talked in a previous session that we need new kinds of Heroes that when God is moving it's going to bring a realignment to your life and the places and the things you've championed the places you looked at always with steadfastness there will be some realignment and we used Paul as an example of that God recruited Saul of Tarsus he's the champion of the Pharisees the bright Rising Star trusted by them not only in Jerusalem to be their enforcer but they give him papers to travel Beyond Jerusalem as an enforcer and on the way to Damascus he has an encounter with Jesus and when he returns to Jerusalem a few days later he doesn't go seek out the high priest nor the same Sanhedrin or his Pharisees none of his friends he goes and tries to find Peter and Paul and John the crew they're afraid of him they know who he is they takes an intermediary but Paul is establishing some new heroes in his life and one of the challenges that we face one of the reasons I think there's such weakness and impotence in the church is we have made Heroes out of ungodly things out of ungodly people and immoral people I'm not saying you can't say they're talented or gifted or remarkable but if you teach your children to make Heroes out of ungodly people why are we surprised when they they cultivate ungodly habits and a lot of that has to do that we we have been so critical and judgmental and harsh don't let your children one of the most destructive things you can do to your children's faith is to let them hear you be critical of the Christians you know all the time I'm not saying that you gloss over failures and flaws and I'm happy for you to have honest conversations but but if you fill your children with your dissatisfaction with Christians you give them permission you don't fill them with that same dissatisfaction about their secular Heroes because you want them to like you you want them to be your friends you want to be cool you want them to understand that you're up to speed and up to date and whatever the language is for all of those things we've got to have some new Heroes the third principle will pick up now is I believe that when God begins to move there's a there's a separation that comes and it happens with enough consistency that I think of it as a principle when God begins to move there's a group of people that move and there's a group of people who choose not to there's a decision made I assure you that not all the Hebrew slaves left Egypt because I promise you that not all of them put the blood on the doorpost not everybody received Jesus message Jesus didn't treat all 12 disciples the same he had three that were given unique opportunities I mean that there is just we have had this kind of homogeneous notion that if we all recite a simple prayer and we do this we're all going to go get the same thing I don't know where that imagination comes from it isn't biblical the first chapters of Genesis introduced to us the big rock ideas of the Bible the ideas that are unfolded throughout the remaining pages of scripture and in those early chapters we meet Cain and two brothers given instructions by God on how to present a sacrifice one is obedient and one is disobedient it's a principle when God is moving not everybody chooses to move not a threat not trying to incit you to figure out who isn't moving it's an invitation in Judges 7 and verse 7 the Lord said to gide and with 300 men that laughed I'll save you and give the midianites into your hands let all the other men go each to his own place so Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the 300 they took the provisions of the others Gideon started with a with a volunteer force of thousands and God said you've got too many men I can't do what I intend to do with all the people you have we need to lose some people remember the story so the first thing he said listen if you're afraid go home well they are numbered about 10 to one by an enemy if you if you have the IQ of a rock that's frightening so before they even got started all the smart people left Gideon's left with the people that are too stupid to be afraid and then God says to him you've still got too many people so tell them to go get a drink and the ones that drink the way I show you you choose them he he was winnowing down the crew to 300 people again it's a consistent idea in Luke chap 13 then Jesus went through the towns and Villages teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem someone asked him Lord are only a few people going to be saved and he said to them make every effort to enter through the narrow door because many I tell you we try to enter and will not be able to you don't hear that passage discussed a lot Jesus said make every effort make every effort don't leave any stone unturned don't be casual don't be Lac lacad isical they'll be part-time make every effort do everything you know how to do well Pastor I thought we were saved by grace and not by works duh I'm not s I'm not trying to to counteract that but we have this sloppy notion of Grace that there are no expectations of us no response of us that we just bask in the love of God Moses didn't bask in that love David didn't bask Jesus the Bible we'll read it in just a moment it says he learned obedience in an earth suit the Incarnate Son of God learned obedience I could not agree more completely you don't earn your way into heaven but you had better focus it frightens me it frightens me for the church I'm not trying to raise the bar I'm not moving the tithe to 12% there's no commitment cards taped under your chair but please don't live presumptively with the Lord there's a separation that comes when God is moving go with him there's a fourth characteristic I believe when God moves there's a very visible expression of his Grace Grace is the Merit the the kindness of God that comes to our life apart from anything we have done it's just God overrides all of the reasons he should be something other than than kind and he expresses kindness to us we see it over and over and over in the scripture God responding to the needs and the oppression of his people when it has been that the oppression or the need has emerged because of their own ungodliness and yet God responds and I believe now we see God moving in his grace in the earth as devastating as Co was and for all the loss of life that it brought and the disruption it brought it has brought an Awakening yes we're aware of things that we were not aware of we weren't aware of what was happening in our schools to the extent that we are now we weren't aware of the the lack of Integrity in some of the institutions around us unfortunately some of those include even churches but God and His Mercy began to awaken us we could have spent decades sliding further into the abyss with no awareness whatsoever and God began to turn the lights on I didn't understand until recent weeks the depth of the anti-Semitism around us it seemed simple to me it seemed like a pretty straightforward biblical principle that's informed my journey as a Christ follower since I was a boy it's stunning to me to see people side with evil as we as Kathy and I were walking through the streets along near Gaza it was it was the most the evil felt physical to me I understood that it wasn't about governments or ideologies or peoples that evil exists and its intent is the destruction of human beings that's right that it's driven by a spirit and that Spirit May manifest itself through all sorts of labels you can call them fascist or commun you can call it whatever but it's a spirit that intends to destroy Humanity Jesus said it it's in John 10:10 it's not in your notes but it is in the book he said I'm come that you might have life and have it abundantly but the thief comes to steal to kill and destroy evil exists and God in his expressions of Grace intervenes judges 6 and verse 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites this is Gideon's generation that they cried out to the Lord for help and when the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian he sent them a prophet if you prefer the New Covenant Romans chapter 5 and verse 8 God demonstrates his own love for us in this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us amen you see the great expression of the mercy of God the grace of God the kindness of God He sent Jesus when we didn't care we weren't asking we didn't know we needed something we didn't want an intervention and God intervened on our behalf it's amazing to me I hear people angry at God they say I can't believe God would judge I'm like God has done made every provision possible that nobody would stand in before him and receive wrath if you stand in that place you have chosen it heart open intentionally don't do that it's not a prudent Choice God's grace is tangible around us and the fifth characteristic I could tag it seems to me when God is moving that there is a high value on discipline the Gideon story helped me with that I spent days walking around you know my my habit when I when I take a a passage like that is I try to insert myself into it and imagine that you know you went to ball games with Gideon how would I felt when Gideon rolled up and said I had a visitor yesterday or how would I felt when Gideon started recruiting people to go fight the midianites would I've gone home when he said listen if you're afraid really you get a free pass how would I felt that morning when the towns people woke up and said who tore down the altars I want to kill him would I have said oh I know Gideon or would I have just been quiet or would I've gone along with the crowd because after all I needed those people to do business I mean I I live with all of that and so when I I think about the high value know discipline when I get to with Gideon and these 300 men I mean it it is go time Gideon's crept down to the edge of camp and he's he's heard the midianites discussing that somebody named Gideon is coming and he leaves that with the confidence to complete what God has asked him to do and he divides the 300 men into individual companies but he gives them specific instructions that at the appointed time this is what you to do it wasn't like he said listen yall just charge it was a very disciplined environment because by this time there there's been a winnowing down they've lost the majority of their Force thousands and thousands have withdrawn and the last cut was made simply by how you chose to drink water and now it's go time and there's very specific instructions there's a discipline God didn't just say listen whenever you're ready go get them sick them and I think we've lost to a to a unfortunate extent the notion of discipline in the body of Christ and I'm not talking about passing judgment on one another I'm talking about the self-discipline you know self-discipline is a fruit of the the spirit yielding to the holy spirit means a different kind of discipline in our lives we should be different from the world amen we should we should be different from our secular friends more discipline in our lives well Pastor I'm saved stop already it's a false gospel to suggest to someone you can recite a prayer and then lead your life apart from the influence of God and be at peace with him now I'm an overwhelming advocate for the new birth but when God is moving Hebrews 5 and: 7 I think we could agree that in Jesus the days of Jesus life on Earth God was moving is that one of those Seasons when we could say hey God was up to something right the Virgin birth the Incarnate Son of God Miracles pretty liberally sprinkled around God was moving so it's a noteworthy time for this conversation and verse 7 it says during the days of Jesus life on Earth I love that phrase cu the implication is that Jesus had a life when he wasn't on Earth but for a while he was on Earth and during the days of Jesus life on Earth he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from Death that Jesus didn't pray polite prayers and simple prayers and just rational prayers he prayed prayers that elicited significant emotion to the one who could save him from death and he was heard wow how do you process that he died on a cross he was tortured to death brutally inhumanely it was an expression of evil directed at Jesus and the author of Hebrew says he prayed about that with tears and Loud cries and God heard [Music] him and said I need you to walk this path now I don't believe God asks very many of us to be martyrs but I do believe God will ask us to do difficult things to stand in unpleasant places to persevere to overcome those are all biblical words and biblical mandates and to do that requires discipline let's finish what it says about Jesus it's important he was heard because of his reverent submission and although he was a son he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect he became the source of Eternal salvation for all who obey him there was a fruitfulness to his choices but even though he was a son he learned obedience from enduring from suffering from difficulty from something that was unfair and illegitimate and unjust and if he was the only example of that in scripture we might cut that out as an anomaly because he was the the Messiah perhaps that was his path but we could go to passage after passage and individual after individual who had to deal with difficulty and things that were unjust and unfair and that had to be overcome and had to be negotiated Joseph's brother sold him as a slave David was hunted as a fugitive for many years I mean the list goes on and on and on the discipline to serve the Lord in Matthew 8 and Luke 7 there's a story of a man who comes to Jesus he's a Roman Centurion some of you remember it he needed Jesus to to he was pursuing a miracle he needed healing for someone he cared about and he met Jesus and Jesus said I'll come to your home which which fried the circuits of everybody in the crowd he's going to a Roman Centurion and the Centurion said something that the Bible it says that Jesus was astonished he said Lord I don't deserve to have you come to my home I'm a man under Authority I can say to a servant do this and do that or to a soldier do that and they'll do it and he said I recognize an authority in you an authority that I don't have and if you'll just say the word my servant will be healed and it says that Jesus turned and addressed a crowd a crowd of Jewish people who who were already annoyed with Jesus for agreeing to help a Roman Centurion and he said to them this I haven't found Faith this great in all of Israel I'm a man under Authority what I'm suggesting you is that when God begins to move one of the things you want to do is submit to the authority of God in your life in a new way with fresh eyes with a purposefulness with an intentionality eliminate the places you've been sloppy maybe change your prayer habits maybe you begin to fast with a bit of regularity begin to seek the Lord God is moving and you want to be able to hear you want to recognize what he's doing you want to be sure you're in the group that's moving with him amen and often before you understand all of those components you begin the process of responding Lord I it seems to me you're moving let's say you're wrong and all you did was change your prayer schedule and up your fasting schedule and spend more time in the word of God that's not a bad thing but if your inclination if your sense if your discernment was right and God was moving you've already got some momentum the next thing I would tell you when God is in motion there's also enemies present I didn't get this I thought for a long time if God was moving the enemies would be vanquished it'd be like skipping down a yellow brick road woohoo be like a parade be like running a 5k and everybody's clapping and giving in your orange slices have a cup of Gatorade you look hot and both biblically and my life experience suggests to me that even when God is moving your enemies are present getting in story makes no sense apart from the backdrop of the midianites and the people from the East when God is moving it's not that the adversary has vanished typically it's quite the opposite is true God is moving because without his movement we would be overwhelmed by the enemy amen see I think that's what we fail to understand if God is moving in our season it's because if he weren't moving we would be without hope lost and undone and he's moving and he's inviting us to change and to refocus and to step towards him and to begin to listen to submit to his discipline and we're sitting I don't want to I don't want I like I'm okay I'm good and the Reason God is moving is it isn't good the Reason God sent Moses is the condition of the Hebrew slaves wasn't just wonderful God sent David sent Samuel to get David a little Shepherd boy because the leadership Israel had was not good on and on and on and if God is moving in our generation it's because we need his movement we don't stand apart from this going well you know that's not quite how I believe how we believed is what got us in this fine mess oi so we're going to make some changes we saw it in Ephesus we looked at that in a previous session there was a Revival in Ephesus a powerful move of the spirit of God shifted the attitude in the city people came in publicly confessed their sins and destroyed millions of dollars of valuable assets that were attached to their expressions of ungodliness and wickedness significant life change taking place in the Public Square and in the same passage buted right up against that good news is a riot why because the the unclean spirits in Ephesus were stirred like well wow I would think if the spirit of God was moving hundreds or thousands of people were responding the evil would be quiet no why do you think that not from scripture because we would prefer that I'd prefer everybody to make the change but then Jesus didn't tell us the truth when he talked about the narrow gate and the broad gate you see I've wanted it on my terms I I've let my imagination shape this I haven't allowed the invitation of scriptures to Psalm 23 one of the best known Psalms in the Bible you prepare a table before me with all of my best friends right wow I don't want to go to a small group of people I don't like why would I do that I don't want to work with people that are ungodly it's hard send my kids to a public school they're Wicked you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies I don't want to eat with my enemies well if you want to sit at the table God prepared you will some of us have worked really hard never to sit at a table God prepared that could get very metalsome if I pushed it you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows surely good goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever so when you see God moving don't imagine the enemies will disappear God's moving to help you he'll provide a way he'll enable you to overcome he'll give you the strength you need he'll bring the breakthroughs that's the story but he doesn't do it absent the adversary the next one is when God moves the status quo is redefined if you prefer conventional wisdom is amended you see I think a part of what God is doing is conventional wisdom the status quo has become increasingly less welcoming of a Biblical perspective in the world we live in does that seem right I mean those are the standard answers in the Public Square and the public schools and Academia in the business world you can advocate for almost any sort of imagined possible ungodliness or perversion but if you advocate for Jesus of Nazareth as Lord Christ and King you got to as you're offensive and a part of what will happen as God moves is that status quo is going to be redefined it's going to change the point of Gideon being a leader in the midst of that season was that the hearts of the people were redirected to God for a season well they wandered Back In The Weeds again the reason the apostle Paul would come to town and begin in a synagogue or begin to speak as he was redefining the status quo I'm going to tell you a new way of Salvation he said so when God begins to move and you recognize he's doing that understand a part of that outcome I believe if it goes to its completion or to its full expression is the status quo will be changed Acts chapter 2 is a great example of this this is the day of Pentecost Jesus in Acts chapter 1 goes back to Heaven Acts chapter 2 is the first public event EV they have absent Jesus and Peter stands up to preach and very near the end of his sermon he said let all Israel be assured of this God made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiah you understand those are very harsh words th those are not bridge building words those aren't compliant words those aren't words trying to extend inclusivity God made the man and you murdered the Messiah they've been longing for a messiah praying for a messiah waiting for a messiah and Peter stands up and said you murdered him very insightful very incendiary language when the people heard this this is the god part they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the other Apostles Brothers what shall we do it wasn't very many days ago when when pilate said this is Jesus and this is a a murderer I'm going to release one who do you want and they said give us Barabas and what do you want me to do with Jesus crucify him now Peter has pushed it into their face and they're cut to the heart and they said what shall we do and Peter replied this is bizarre repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins you talk about a re redefining the status quo he didn't say go show yourself to the priest he didn't say tighten up your kosher rules you're sloppy on how you're observing The Ten Commandments he's giving them a message they have not heard they've never imagined that the way to Salvation to spiritual Freedom had anything to do with that Jesus from Nazareth character we screamed kill him a few days a ago I wonder if we're prepared for the status quo to be realigned in a Godly way I think it would make us really anxious I think we have been caught in the cultural drift so far that just the notion of saying that I know what happens when I stand in a room full of people that are gather because they're Christians and I say there is no other way into the kingdom of God other than the of Jesus of Nazareth you can feel the room get quiet when I say God created US male and female and he didn't give 16 other options or that marriage was God's idea and he implemented marriage between a man and a woman I mean I can go on and on with the statements you feel the you see we have drifted so far from those fun fundamental biblical values and when God begins to move he will realign that status quo it'll mean we will get in alignment with him we'll have the courage to say that at our kitchen table what Peter and the crew were willing to say in the streets of Jerusalem is stunning to me it's a completely new response to a very old question and now it's no longer centered on sacrifice or kosher rules or whatever it is very difficult to realign our thinking it is very difficult it is the struggle throughout the Book of Acts it's the struggle through the balance of the New Testament Paul writes the church at galatia church that he helped to birth and he said what has happened to you he said you were running such a good race and you've lost all your momentum who has Bewitched you you're under a spell he said when God moves the status quo will be redefined the next one and there'll be some resistance on this one but I believe it's true when when God begins to move if you're going to move with him there'll be effort required significant effort we've lost this just in the contemporary culture work is a four-letter word as in one you shouldn't use it's threatening it's diminishing it takes away from things that are really important folks when we're introduced to God in the very first chapter of the Bible the thing we're told that he's doing most frequently is working every day until it's time for a day of rest I would submit to you that work is an expression of worship and if you don't live with that notion you are robbing yourselves of the Dignity of every day in your life whether you're a butcher a baker or a candles stick maker we go to do those things in the name of the Lord and when God begins to move it is going to require effort of his people Abraham had to leave that's a lift go to a land that you don't know I'll show you when you get there Moses I need you to go help these people they're in a hole I don't want to go Moses I want you to go I'm really good thank you they won't believe me I'll give you some tricks I don't care I don't talk plain Moses I'm going to kill you maybe I'm available I mean you choose the character Jesus assignment he laid aside the glory of Heaven to come become one of us to feel the weakness and the Frailty that comes with an earth suit to be rejected mistreated ultimately tortured to death when God is moving it's going to require a different Cadence from us and again I'm not recruiting I want you to be aware and prepared there's more shaking ahead of us it's not a bad thing it's a good thing there's a dignity in work 2 Corinthians 11: 27 it's just one verse out of a much lengthier discourse but the context is the same Paul said I have labored and toiled and have often Gone without sleep I've known hunger and thirst and have often Gone without food I've been cold and naked all of those things not because he was a poor planner and his business model failed not because he invested in the wrong thing not because he was cheated all of those things are descriptors of how he chose to serve God his people wow we get jacked up if the parking spot's too far away somebody sits in our seat the sermon is too long I mean not you but those other people that come Paul's no longer a leading voice among the Pharisees he lost the place that he'd spent the first years of his life he began studying as a small child and all the prestige and opportunity that came with that he turned he said I considered as nothing I considered it as D he said he said I was willing I I jettison jettisoned it overboard Paul is hated by his former peers and his companions that's hard work it's much easier to choose a path that brings Applause than a path that brings rejection we all understand that Paul creates a new future he has a message for the Gentiles he travels to non-jewish centers with his message he goes into the synagogue and in city after city after City some believe and some don't and those that don't are mad at those that do and Paul usually faces the brunt of that he's beaten repeatedly he's stoned he's left for dead and at the end of his life we meet him in a Roman jail in second Timothy and it looks like the fruit of his life's labor is just hanging by a thread under threat of the people trying to put them back under the law and reject the message of Acts 236 and Paul says in second Timothy 1:12 it's not in your notes but he said I'm Timothy don't be ashamed of me that's a hard letter to write you're an old man and you're alone and you're cold and you're hungry and you're friends have abandoned you and you write a young man that you've been coaching and you say please don't be ashamed of me because I know whom I have believed and what I've usted to him against that day when God is moving it'll require some effort on our part if you don't believe it just meditate a little bit of Jesus on the cross that was not an easy days Bible study and then finally I'll crap up with with this one I would submit to you that Victory tends to make us vulnerable after Gideon's great Victory and all the went with that when God recruited Gideon he's not a military figure he's not a national figure he doesn't have that reputation he doesn't have an influence over all the tribes there's a lot of things that come out of that but one of them is Gideon fashion something that became an idol for the people he didn't do it intentionally he didn't imagine that would be the outcome but he's standing in a place he hasn't stood before and I think we need to understand we need a humility as we see God begin to bring breakthroughs we need to be listening we need to take all of these characteristics we've talked about and be certain that we keep them in place judges 81 the ephraimites asked Gideon why have you treated us like this why didn't you call call on us when you went to fight Midian and they criticized him sharply are you stinking kidding me stinking is a Greek word that means really the scripture judges 6 tells us the midianites and the peoples of East would come to Israel like Locust they would cover the landscape and plunder the people and they did it year after year until the nation was impoverished and the people were starving and hiding in caves and after Gideon and the crew that he took took with him win this great Victory one of the tribes says why didn't you invite us why didn't you go do it before Gideon got there we all knew there was a problem they're just sharply criticizing Gideon because now the victory's been won and everybody's trying to decide who caused the Victory and they don't want to be left out of the parade so you didn't invite us no I'm pretty certain you were being really quiet when we were looking for help go back to those earlier characteristics we've been talking about your willingness to move to let your status quo be redefined the value of discipline not shrinking in the face of the enemy but then after all of that same chapter judges 8 Gideon made gold into an ephan which she gave to Oprah and she started to tell teleion show and I'm kidding it's a city it's a location and all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping worshiping it there and it became a snare to Gideon into his family see as God begins to move we have to be intentional purposeful in maintaining our humility and understanding the one upon whom we're dependent God gives us the breakthroughs God is the one who brings the victories that enables us to overcome to persevere and we want to be careful to continue to give him the glory and the honor and the praise and the Thanksgiving amen amen historically the most vulnerable times in the church are when the church seems to be victorious the more freedom and liberty we have it's not unique to us the Book of Judges as I've told you is this pattern this cycle that is repeated over and over and over again where God comes and delivers the people and then they begin to wander back into the weeds thinking they've made themselves free and the enemy overwhelms them and they begin to cry out to God it's a the the the fancy label is a cycle of Retribution but the same pattern has occurred throughout the history of the church and the same is true in our own personal lives when God blesses us and good things happen it's very easy for us to imagine we worked hard we made good choices we honored God and God blessed us one of the great lessons of my life it came when I was a young man was that good people doing the best they know can find themselves in desperately difficult places we want to walk with the humility to know that only God ensures our future and that if he asks us to stand in a difficult place he will give us the strength we need to stand until he makes a way of Deliverance and when he makes a way of Deliverance he made the way of Deliverance amen amen amen so I have an invitation for you God is moving who wants to go with him now be careful because he's going to readjust some things he'll change your schedule he'll change some of the things that you've thought you didn't want to change but there's no more remarkable way to live than to give your best to the Lord so why don't we stand and give God that invitation but I'm really glad I'm not in Philadelphia it's good to see you father thank you for your word for its truth and power and authority Lord you are moving every day when we listen to the news or we read a headline or we hear a report it's evident that you're moving in the earth I thank you for that we praise you for it that you haven't left us alone or you haven't stepped away from us but that you're moving to bring freedom to those who will stand with you and Lord we stand in your presence tonight to say here we are send us Lord give us understanding hearts and receptive ears and the ability to perceive what you're doing Lord in our homes and our neighborhoods and our places of employment in our as as we worship together Lord in every aspect of Our Lives May we have the courage to stand with you and to stand for you to choose the truth for ourselves and to encourage one another may not one of us turn back may not one yield to the discouragement or the Temptation may we choose you with our whole heart Holy Spirit help us you're our teacher you're our guide Lord when you prepare tables for us may we be willing to take our place at the table and to see through to completion what you give us I thank you for what you're doing I praise you for it I thank you for the victories that we see for the lives being changed for the breakthroughs that are coming for the healings that we hear reported for the people yielding to you as never before we praise you for it Lord and we thank you that you would call us to such a time may we be faithful and may you be pleased in Jesus name amen amen hallelujah God bless you

Channel: World Outreach Church

Views: 22,068

Keywords: World Outreach Church, World Outreach Church Murfreesboro, Pastor Allen Jackson, Pastor Allen Jackson Sermons, live church service, christian sermons, Murfreesboro TN, Jesus Christ, Interdenominational Church, God is Moving [Let’s Join Him], God Is Moving — Let's Join Him, 2 Corinthians 11, Acts 2, awaken, centurion, Covid, Gideon, God is moving, grace, Israel, war in Israel, shaking, Peter, Peter in the boat, Saul, work

Id: ggOCKkDys0A

Length: 55min 19sec (3319 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 25 2024