God is Moving [New Heroes] | Pastor Allen Jackson

we're going to talk about when God moves this morning but spoiler alert you know we use the word Revival and Awakening pretty Loosely and I'll tell you I'm grateful when there are Gatherings of people and there's baptisms and there's a turning to God I'm very much appreciative of that I I work hard to see that happen wherever I'm engaged but we start to talk about that on a broader scale I'll tell you what to look for more than baptism numbers or the size of the audience you want to start to look for the fruit of that that if it's a college campus you want to watch start to watch the fraternities and the sororities have fewer participants in their ungodly activities if it's in a community you want to watch the immoral Behavior begin to deteriorate and the places where people gather for that to be less busy you want to see the fruit of it and not just photographs of a few dozen of us going through religious rituals and again I've given my life to helping people make professions of faith and be baptized and gather for services I believe in that but the fruit of turning to God is reflected in the behavior of the culture we won't have to have meetings to say get the pornography out of the elementary libraries the people with authority will be removing the books and Reporting that's what we're watching for so your prayers matter amen amen I would very how many of you willing to join me this week and pray that Friday and Saturday the Lord does something Beyond us okay awesome our operatory prayer today gee what could we pray for there doesn't seem to be anything on the list does there we've been praying for the Peace of Jerusalem amen and we had a miracle last Saturday we gathered for church on Saturday and that happened to be it was Shabbat in Israel which means everything is typically closed and shuttered for the most part and there was a direct attack from Iran I read a report last night I won't read it to you again but from a Israeli physicist that had worked in their defense systems and he said for the the the number of missiles and drones for the scale of the attack that was launched on Israel and for it to have been unsuccessful because of the interception of that and because of their defense system he said was could not be explained on the basis of science this was me quoting he said the success rate they had was impossible without the imagination of God's Sovereign intervention and he said in his words not mine he said it was a greater Miracle than the victory in the Six Day War or the war of independence and he likened it to the par parting of the Red Sea so why don't you stand with me for operatory prayer if you're at home put your bagel down we're going to pray I think we ought to thank the Lord that he's moving in the earth you know it's so easy to look at the darkness and get heated up I'm far more encouraged about what we see God doing keeping his promises watching over his people I can I can hardly believe people are coming from 40 states to a conference to talk about how to let Jesus be more clearly presented in the world we live in that's remarkable that if you don't think it's remarkable you haven't tried to gather a group of people lately we're busy and we're addicted to entertainment and what we're doing is not entertaining and to see God moving in those ways you should know we're living in the midst of something that is not normal and so I think an appropriate response is to say Lord thank you doesn't mean our lives are perfect or we're without problems because that isn't true we have problems in the world we live in the Brokenness is is rather apparent but almighty God the creator of Heaven and Earth is moving in our generation and for some reason in his Providence and his wisdom he called your name in my name amen he said here's the Baton this is your season you carry it for me can you imagine can you imagine one day you and I'll see Peter and James and John and Gideon and whole bunch of folks and you'll say oh I know your story I read about you in the book and they'll say well tell me your story we're working on it we're working on it we're not going to say I went to church a lot oh is awful preacher talked forever you should see the lines micro print I don't think they will empathize with you we have much to say thank you for amen and if this morning you came and you're desperate and there's a heaviness that is tangible around you the best path I know towards freedom is taking a moment and say God I thank you that you watch over my life that you're close to the Brokenhearted that you'll never leave me nor forsake me Lord I don't feel like it but thank you the evidence isn't lined up yet where I can see it but in you I'm triumphant thank you Lord I'm battling fear I got a horrible diagnosis but God thank you that you're my protector amen you created me I say thank you today can we do that yes you got your bagel down yet let's pray Lord thank you we come today I thank you for your church in the earth that you calling men and women from every nation race language and tribe to serve you and to honor you we thank you for the great privilege of being included with that number but I thank you for the good reports from Israel that in the midst of the hatred the anti-Semitism and the murderous intent of others that you are keeping your promise and you're watching over the people of that land I thank you for your love for the church that you are preparing a bride without spot or wrinkle and that in your mercy you're bringing conviction and you're shaking us Lord to awaken us to see our reality that we might turn to you in humility with a fear of God that has been absent in our hearts for too long we praise you for it today Lord we come to say thank you to give glory to you and honor to you and praise to you because you are Lord of all there's nothing too difficult for you there's nothing beyond your imagination there's nothing hidden in darkness that you don't know we praise you that we're not alone that we're not isolated that you secure our future we give you glory today because you are worthy you are worthy of all praise and honor and Glory that your name may be lifted up that your kingdom be extended we thank you for it we praise you for it in Jesus name amen hallelujah Give the Lord a hand huh you may have a seat if you can stand it I hope you received an outline when you came in if you're joining us online or in some other location you can download that from the websites or the apps it'll give you the scriptures we're going to use it'll help you today we've been doing a little study on the theme of God is moving and I believe that I believe the the the activity of God is more evident in recent months and years than at any time in my lifetime now for fairness I also have to say the expressions of evil seem to be more blatant and Brazen than ever I believe that fits a Biblical pattern that we've talked about in other settings I won't revisit that so that it requires of us a purposeful intentional focus on what God is doing and you won't primarily get that from the the typical news sources bad news tends to gather more attention attract more clicks and so most sources lead with news that is disruptive and frightening you'll pay more attention to the weather reports if they sound some siren and tell you there's a storm headed your way than if they tell you it's going to be clear and sunny so they warn us about storms that never come well your opinion on that not as relevant it's just a fact it's an observation Bad News Garners attention more quickly than good news because of that we have to purposefully focus our attention and our thoughts to identify the good things that are happening cuz you'll just kind of assume you deserve those you'll gobble them up and take them for granted and think well why don't I get more why don't we have more Sunny cool days why are there so many storms and what I'm submitting to you is that God is moving and if we're going to cooperate with him and participate with him and make the journey we need to learn the characteristics of those Seasons so we don't get caught up in the reporting that is not driven from a Biblical worldview as no intention of honoring a judeo-christian perspective their intent is to manipulate so God is moving I'm going to suggest in this session some some characteristics for some new Heroes I think that would be helpful but first of all I want to start with a little window into another one of those Seasons when God is moving moving we've been using up to this point the Book of Judges and we've been focused principally on Gideon the Book of Judges is a cycle it's a cyclical book the same thing happens over and over and over again God's people living in his land land under the blessings of his Covenant his watchful care wander into the weeds of ungodliness and when they do that they forfeit the protection that comes from living in cooperation with God and it gets very painful and they cry out to God for mercy and God raises up a deliverer a judge it's a cycle in the Book of Judges and quite candidly it's a pattern throughout the history of the people of God both the Old Testament the New Testament it's just as evident ayle in the story of the church typically the church is most effective when it has the most freedom and the most Liberty and the most influence amen says the most free and affluent group of Christ followers the world has ever known we should understand that makes us vulnerable well in this session I want to go to the New Testament um not because the character of God is any different but in the city of Ephesus the spirit of God begins to move and I believe we can some learn some things that we might understand what it looks like in the cities where we live the Bible gives us insight and understanding if we have the courage to read it in Acts chapter 19 it describes Paul is in the city of Ephesus and he's been ministering and the the Jewish one of the Jewish priests has seven sons and they've observed what what's been happening and they decide they want to get into the ministry not necessarily in an appropriate way and that they haven't necessarily yielded themselves to any Authority they just like the fireworks you understand Ministry is not principally about what's done in public Ministry is overwhelmingly something that is personal it begins from your relationship with the Lord it begins from the relationships you have with the people around you and to the extent that it becomes a public thing it's a reflection of those other things but in Acts 19:14 there were seven sons of SAA a Jewish Chief priest and they were doing this there were Deliverance Services people with unclean spirits were finding freedom in Ephesus so one day the evil spirit answered them Jesus I know and I know about Paul but who are you always makes me smile do you have the imagination that unclean spirits are aware of the persons and the Personalities in the world said I know Jesus and I know Paul but you I'm not familiar with warning the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all and he gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding one man overpowers seven men somehow in the altercation they lose their clothing they're frightened enough they run through the streets in that condition not really clear how it happened but somehow it stirred the city I could understand it I mean I think in the community where I live seven naked men that had been beaten and were bleeding running through the street would probably get a comment so they they the passages are separated in your notes but it's one continuous story The very next verse verse 17 says when this became known to the Jews and the Greeks so it's it's to the Jewish community in the non-jewish community when this story got repeated they were seized with fear and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor now some people will read that and say those seven sons were doing something they shouldn't have been I'm not really arguing that point they were certainly in over their heads out of their depth the personal trauma for them was significant but God took that traumatic event and he caused it to create a fear of God in the community and the name of Jesus was held in high honor many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil Deeds that's a very significant sentence many of those who believed not the unbelievers not the pagans not the people on the periphery but amongst the believing Community there was a practice of ungodly things and with an with an extension of growth of the fear of God and the name of Jesus being elevated in everybody's estimation the Believers came to repent of their ungodliness a number who had practiced sorcery brought their Scrolls together and burned them publicly when they calculated the value of the Scrolls the totals came to 50,000 dras without doing a lot of cultural mathematics it's millions of dollars in this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power in that in that little passage there and there are seven things identified with when God moves and I think we should have some imagination that that's still a part of God moving in the earth Ephesus is confronted with a spiritual reality the reality of spiritual things in a very personal way a tangible way shook the city now the outcome of that is there was a segment of the the community both Jewish and non-jewish who gained a much greater fear of God the name of Jesus was held in high honor it's it's been a long time since we've seen that we've been told not to mention his name I am asked when I go in public to say an invocation or a prayer of dedication I have been asked in our community this is like the buckle on the Bible Belt to not use the name of Jesus so please don't be so naive as to think the name of Jesus is held in high esteem many of you work in places where you wouldn't go to work with Jesus on your clothing it has to change it's not always been the way it isn't helpful I don't imagine everybody's going to respect Jesus that everybody wants to identify him but why should he be banished from the Public Square and why have we been silent when that happened I don't understand then fourthly it says many Believers began to openly confess their evil Deeds we've got to stop imagining that the wicked are the problem it's the lukewarm people of God that is really the root of this we are going to have to make some changes and then there's public separation from ungodly Behavior they'll come in public and say listen I've been involved in some ungodly stuff and I will make this is number six the financial sacrifice that's necessary for me to repent wow we want private repentance we want everything to be quiet we don't want to be embarrassed by the fact that we've been living dual lives and in Ephesus the one thing that happened out of that old seven fellas story was this broke public and then the outcome is in verse 20 it says the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power now if we stopped there I could probably motivate you into kind of a joyful happy woohoo let's go I mean I could probably convince you we could have a bonfire this afternoon and you could find something to bring and I'm not saying that's wicked but that's not the whole story same chapter verse 23 says about that time so the same window with chronologies holding together here this is same story same article same summary there arose a great disturbance about the way now the way is simply a label for those who believe Jesus is the Messiah there's a great disturbance about this in Ephesus now and a silver smith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of emus he brought in no little business for the Craftsman so he called them together along with workmen in related trades he is mobilizing the unions and I'm not do disparaging of the unions I'm just telling you it's a significant group of people that he is mobilizing men you know we receive a good income from this business and you see and hear how this fellow Paul is convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia he says that man-made gods are no Gods at all attaching labels to people that you don't agree with is not a new habit mobilizing public opinion to oppose what God is doing is not a new thing somehow we have accepted the idea and we've been coached to it that our goal is to never cause confusion that our presence should never be disruptive that the message we have should always result in a group hug and very clearly in scripture there's a difference of opinion when Gideon did what God asked him to do when the sun came up the people of the community who knew him intended to kill him in Ephesus when God supernaturally began to move there is a very coordinated effort of a broad section of the community that says what's happening is completely inappropriate there is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name but also the Temple of the Great Goddess Artemus will be discredited and the goddess herself who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world will be robbed of her Divine Majesty when they heard this they were Furious and they began shouting great is Artemus of the Ephesians so big picture there's a there's a display of the power of God in Ephesus from a very unlikely Source Paul's been there ministering this really wasn't elicited primarily from what Paul was doing there's a demonstration of the power of God and there is a a remarkable response from the people in the city across all the boundaries that would have separated them Jew and Gentile whether you worshiped in a synagogue or you worshiped in the temple of Artemis there are Jews and Gentiles coming and saying I've been involved in things I shouldn't be involved in public Al I want to separate myself to the point that they destroyed millions of dollars worth of their possessions that they had used in ungodly ways and on the heels of that this person who's a silver smith a man of enough prominence in the community that he can Marshal the a broad group of the community to agree with him and he says our livelihood is being threatened if this continues we're going to lose lose status we our place will be diminished it will have an economic impact upon us this cannot continue so that the moving of the spirit of God didn't result necessarily in overwhelming Unity it it resulted in a rather Stark division so I want to submit to you is is one observation that when God begins to shake a community the Earth a nation that it tends to cause us to have to decide what we truly believe there's a group of people publicly burning destructive things spiritually unhealthy things and there's another group of people who are Furious and shouting great is Artemus the the Ephesians now that seems a little quaint to us we can't imagine standing in the Public Square shouting great is emis of the Ephesians but if you go home today or pause and look at your phone on the way home you can find with very little effort some angry Furious group of people shouting from The River To The Sea and if you persist for a moment longer you can find another group shouting that no one can tell me who to love or it's my body and my choice or somebody else shouting that an open border is an act of compassion or that parents shouldn't have authority over their children or on and on and in the face of those angry shouts the church seems [Music] confused addled a bit as if we've lost our balance and there's enough voices that saying that we should be a Voice of Unity that it's not always easy to understand so I want to take that Ephesians narrative and take the balance of our time and talk a little bit about cooperating with God what would that look like for you and me because at the end of the day this has to get personal you know it's really easy for me to say the people in the White House need to do better amen that the people in the house of Congress need to do better but I'll tell you my most honest answer to that I don't think it's appropriate to want the people in the White House to lead with a greater morality than we lead in our house if we're not willing to deal with it in our house and here's what we know in our house that is difficult it isn't easy CU it brings stress and strain and life is messier than we would like it to be and so we just rather not do that we'll just Overlook it and we've been doing that for so long for so many decades that we've almost lost the muscle that's necessary and we we've become so familiar with that we've become so familiar with the pattern that we elect all sorts of people that they'll just Overlook anything if they can maintain their power because what you want to do in your home when you're overlooking it is you want to maintain the status quo so I think we need a little recalibration on cooperating with God in the previous session I suggested essential to that is learning to listen not one time not learning to listen so that you get saved and then you stop listening but that you lead a life that reflects the little pattern I have submitted to you for a while now watch listen think and act if you're watch listening thinking and praying and you're leaving out acting you're not cooperating I'm an advocate for prayer but I can't tell you how many people have taken that little phrase and they've cut off act the point of watching and listening and thinking is so that we can act like Christ followers that's the target the second thing I want to submit as we're going to think about what it means for you and me to cooperate with God is it's going to require us I believe my opinion to cultivate some new kinds of Heroes and when I say hero I'm talking about the people whose lives we point at and go wow there are the people that we watch their lives we think you know i' I'd like a big chunk of that to be the future for my kids or my grandkids amazing people we celebrate them because the reality whether you've done it consciously or not is the people that you make make heroes are the people that speak into your behavior if you're not thinking about that I promise you your children are our heroes have changed a great deal I have been around a bit I remember a time when our heroes in in Hollywood and the media and those public venues tend to help us shape those you may have personal Heroes I'm not talking about them nearly as much as I'm talking about the ones that have higher profiles Once Upon a Time Hollywood cranked out movies that made Heroes of military victories there's a whole genre of movies we call them westerns and the typical pattern in in those movies was the bad guy loses and the good guy wins prime time TV has changed dramatically in the last 30 years a lot of things have changed I'm not really boning it I'm just telling you there's a shift in what we make Heroes of the hero movies now that are being cranked out of Hollywood I see them on airplanes because I'm scrolling through the list going really most of them are are are are very brilliantly presented presentations of cartoon characters Our Heroes now have capes and wear spandex because we're not championing things like patriotism and honor and sacrifice and dignity so we don't make Heroes out of those things so I want to I want to push on that a little bit further with you if you'll allow me I'm going to use Saul of Tarsus who becomes the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter n we're stepping into this narrative and I'm introducing it to you backwards I know that but I think you know who Saul is and you know a bit about of his story right he's a Pharisee he's angry at people who believe in Jesus he hates them he will imprison them men or women or whomever else he's murderous and then Jesus comes for him in Acts chapter 1 Jesus went back to heaven but in Acts chapter 9 he's standing on the road to Damascus and he has a message for one Saul of Tarsus and after Saul has that Jesus experience he goes on into Damascus and that's where I step into your notes after many days had gone by the Jews conspired to kill him imagine that he has a personal Encounter With Jesus and he begins to sh share the story and there are believers in Damascus ananas is one he goes to see him he's part of a community of Believers there so in the face of Saul's dramatic conversion instituted by Jesus himself the response is murderous hatred directed at him again that goes against the narrative that tip tends to emerge from the people of faith today but Saul learned to their plan day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him this wasn't like some momentary emotional thing they've got a scheme they're going to shut him down it will be harmful to the cause if his message goes out broadly let's kill him but his followers said Saul you've got to change your message you've got to become a little broader in your perspective I'm sorry that's in my imaginary Bible it says his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall when he came to Jerusalem that's his home that's his base of operations when he came to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples but they were afraid of him he's a real enough threat that Peter James and John don't want anything to do with him they don't want to be seen with him they're afraid to be with him that's a pretty strong statement not really believing that he was a disciple they know his methods they know he's deceptive they know he's dishonest but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and he told them how Saul in his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus you can turn your page now that that passage was Acts 9:23 I want to go back to the beginning of Acts chapter 9 I want you to read the attitude with which Paul left Jerusalem and he headed to Damascus says meanwhile Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples and he went to the high priest and he asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any there who belonged to the way whether men or women he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem that's Paul's mindset when he leaves Jerusalem he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus he goes on into the city blind ananas prays for him his sight is restored he begins to advocate for Jesus with such Clarity that the same community that he represented is trying to assassinate him and the Believers have to sneak him out of town what intrigues me is that when he goes to Jerusalem after that escape he tried to join the disciples he's got new Heroes his career is totally tied to the blessing of the high priest and the Pharisees everything about his education every year he's invested all the momentum of his existence all of his future is invested in the blessing of those people he is the rising star he's the poster child he's the lead story in their advertisements and he's met Jesus and like the people at Ephesus he's burning whatever was a part of that old life he's saying listen there's a cost to this there's a sacrifice to this but I'm going to separate myself from that I need some new Heroes I need to go meet Peter and James and John they're afraid of him he didn't go back to the Sanhedrin and said I want to give you my testimony and it didn't soften it into language that was so difficult to understand that you don't know whether you're for it or against it he's making new Heroes Saul completely realigned his life you see repentance means a change of thought and a change of behavior that's right Behavior and values change as an expression of repentance repentance is not saying I'm sorry I got caught can we mitigate the consequences repentance says I was thinking wrongly and behaving badly and I have changed how I think and I'm going to walk a new Direction now if you'll allow me I know it isn't Universal and I'm sure there are exceptions but I'm going to suggest suggest to you that our heroes have too often been people who lead ungodly lives and we have given that to our families we've helped with that we've spent money to promote that because there were voices speaking to them that were helping shape their expectations and those external voices were more profound than the influence in our own homes and it's really difficult to stand against that because there's disappointment and there's disruption and there's all sorts of stuff and so rather than deal with that we just think well I'll take them to church and we'll figure it out and we've allowed Heroes to form values to be celebrated behaviors to be looked up to I I you know I started making lists and I thought there's no end to this one that's been pretty prominent lately and I'm not trying to pick on anybody particularly but Taylor Swift is like a phenomenon she can change the ratings in the NFL that's not easily done and I don't know a great deal about her but I don't have the sense that she's a poster child for a Biblical worldview but I'm not you don't have to pick on her uniquely Diddy's in trouble these days you know his scenario is not great talented capable amazing gifts Lady Gaga I mean the list goes on on the Rolling Stones if you're older we'll wear their merch we'll celebrate him we'll promote him gifted musically okay gifted musically and ungodly I'm picking on musicians we could do the same thing amongst athletes we could do the same thing amongst professional Christians you see we emulate the behaviors of ungodly people because they're Our Heroes and it isn't helpful and we do this in the church I don't mean just this congregation I mean the church in general I would subit you that Christian musicians should present differently than secular musicians but because we aspire to that kind of success churches have a few people in them a few hundred people in them and the secular musicians the good ones they play to almost unold numbers of people and we aspire to that for ourselves or our children so we want to act like that even if every once in a while we're singing Jesus we're going to have to change our heroes I don't believe ministers should look and behave in the same way as ungodly leaders we have a message that's different it's derived from a different Authority I have a question do we hold aspirations that our children serve the Lord do we imagine that that is a profession as a as a direction of their lives as a utilization of their talents and their abilities to be a a high expression of opportunity and potential for them and I'm not suggesting everybody should I don't believe that but it seems to me that that's a diminished notion just the general notion of the helping professions once upon a time there were whole professional classes of people who understood that to to participate in them was a yielding of service to your life meaning you would forfeit some things Ministry was certainly one of those helping professions so was healthc care long before we had big Pharma and the government there was so much money in healthc care that the government wanted it again I'm not opposed to being compensated fairly for what you do teachers are a helping profession our First Responders are helping professions if you take that list they have been systematically deconstructed questioned in the public Arena told they're unimportant we need them we need our children to understand how valuable they are my time's about gone that's not good I'll take a minute I think we we can take this one step further in cooperating with God and crafting these Heroes and I'm talking about you and me it has to do with our expressions of belief and faith and faithfulness belief faith and faithfulness in the language of the New Testament the Greek language it's very clear they're all very closely related ated you can't be a person of faith and be an Unfaithful person you can't be a person who believes and be an Unfaithful person they go together so when when I I have this conversation about faith or belief I'm really talking about the expression of that in faithfulness it is not inconsequential when you choose to be unfaithful plain language if you refuse to believe if you refuse to cultivate belief if you say well you know I don't believe that and you kind of shut the door and you're not will to explore or listen or grow there's a consequence to that in the kingdom and Hebrews chap 3 and: 18 says to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed so we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief it's the Exodus generation he's talking about same numbers 14 it's the same group of people very different locations in the Bible but the same group of people the Lord said to Moses long will these people treat me with contempt how long will they refuse to believe in me in spite of all the miraculous signs I've performed among them what I would call your attention to is the momentum of unbelief you see if you start that ball rolling down the hill I don't that's not how I believe that's not how we did it or you give yourself license to be less faithful less faithful to worship less faithful to generosity and giving less fath faithful to serving less faithful that gains momentum because it's much easier when you're two or three weeks out of the pattern to be four or five or six weeks out of the pattern then it takes seven or eight weeks to establish a good pattern there's a momentum to unbelief and it leads to the forfeiture of God's future that's what God Said how long will they refuse to believe and the New Testament commentary in Hebrews 3 is they weren't allowed to enter in they left Egypt the message came to them as slaves in Egypt I am here to deliver you to take you to a land that flows with milk and honey and God's commentary on them is you are stubborn in your unbelief so suggestion let's not do that let's decide to become a people willing to be tutored by the spirit of God let's be a people who will grow in our belief who will grow in our faithfulness the grand deception that I think has contributed to our paralysis is the idea that you're born again and you're going to heaven and nothing else matters now for clarity I'm an advocate for the new birth in the same way I celebrate the birth of a child but I understand when I look at the newborn child that the future is yet before it it has not lived fully when I celebrate the new birth in the life of a person a spiritual birth I understand that the opportunity is before them not fully experienced so the alternative to being less faithful with diminished belief is to encourage one another help one another to be Believers look at Hebrews 3:12 I've skipped in your notes just a bit it's under be see to it brothers that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart you thought being unfaithful in an unbeliever was value neutral that's not the biblical description it's sinful that turns away from the Living God the alternative encourage one another daily as long as it's called today so that none of you may be hardened by sin sin's deceitfulness we need that encouragement the voices that speak to you to give you license to be ungodly to be immoral to tell you you can choose your own path that you're better than most people that you're not that or that those voices are numerous and loud and unrelenting there in the literature we read in the media we watch I mean they're just almost endless and there are very few places that will give to you a Biblical perspective with Clarity so if you choose people in your sphere of influence that will encourage you towards godliness that is profound who love you enough to say this is a better way and then you need them to love you enough to say come Walk This Way we need one another in fact it says we have to encourage one another How often daily we leak and the adversary you know how often do you bathe occasionally when I'm in the mood if I have time if I recognize the need hopefully the only time you bathe isn't when someone does an intervention and says Thou stinkst well encourage one another not just at that point of intervention where it's desperate and the rest of us can't bear it encourage one any good thing you see happening you blessed me with that that was helpful for that I'm going Saturday night to the festival why don't you come go with me I don't like to sit outside oh come help me I don't like it either it'll help me stay if you go encourage one another stop encouraging wickedness stop making Heroes out of the ungodly stop saying Wicked people are good people you can say they're talented people you can say they have some amazing gifts they have some abilities that you don't have but I don't want their future and if being that is necessary to get to where I see them standing I'm choosing another path encourage one another Jesus gave us the nuts and bolts of it in a little Parable it's the parable of the sewer you know it farmer sewing seed four kinds of ground only one of the four has a good outcome Jesus disciples didn't understand they weren't the brightest in the box so they ask for a private explanation and Jesus gives it to them I gave you two categories there gerain to our conversation the one who received the seed that fell on Rocky places is the one who hears the word and receives it with joy not grumpy not angry not stubborn not with gritty teeth they receive it with joy that was awesome spoke to me ministered to me tears but they have no root and they last only a short time because when trouble or persecution comes because of the word the Assumption in Jesus explanation is that because of the word of God because of your faithfulness because of your belief system that trouble and persecution will emerge if you don't expect it if you don't anticipate it you're caught off guard and you're not prepared Jesus anticipates it as a part of the journey you hear the word you receive the word trouble and persecution will present well I don't like that duly noted when you see the king have the conversation in the interim prepare yourself the alternative is in verse 23 the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it he produces a crop Jesus said that the differentiation you can receive it with joy and great emotion and not hold it because the persecution robs you of it the good soil is the person who actually has productivity because of it there's a transformation in their behavior so what you and I want to do is become more than accumulators of information we want our lives to reflect that relationship it's a change it's a fruitfulness I've been talking for two sessions about recognizing what the presence of God brings to a life or a community or a group of people not language not religious words but the fruit of the presence of the spirit because I desperately want myself to be good soil in God's economy and I desire that for you so here's my invitation let's take the two primary components we've looked at when God's moving there's a willingness to repent there's a there's a growth with that of the fear of God a respect and a reverence for God and then there a willingness to ask God to bring a new Effectiveness to our lives so if you're in either of those two camps and it may be both you may need to repent and say I want to be more effective and what I would really ask you to do is give the Holy Spirit permission to say if there's anything in me that is limiting my Effectiveness if there's any place I've been unfaithful we're not always unconscious we're not always willing stubborn resistant rebellious people but you know I've learned in my life any Endeavor you pick up if you're going to move from being a novice to somebody of Greater Excellence there is continued refinement right if you've never exercised at all and you go to the gym and say I want to exercise they'll give you one regimen if you've worked out six days a week for six years and you go to the gym and say I want to improve they're going to give you a completely different regimen and many of us have not given the Holy Spirit permission to say is there anything I could do to make a difference in my Effectiveness because we've been holding up our credentials for the new birth you with me so are you willing to give the holy spirit that permission today go into training woohoo God's moving folks let's go with him huh AR you stand with me father I thank you for your word for it truth and authority and Power in our lives I thank you that you're moving in the earth that you haven't stepped away from us that you haven't condemned us but that you have made a way that we might be restored and reconciled to you and we come today in humility Lord any place where we have been willingly purposefully living in compromise or tolerating ungodliness Lord we repent yes we will not call good that which you have called wicked and we will not bless those things that you have stepped away from forgive us Lord we all come today to ask that by your spirit you would guide us lead us show us those places where we can cooperate with you more fully where we can align ourselves with you more completely where we can take our place in your purposes as you're moving in this generation Lord we don't want to step back we don't want to be stubborn in our unbelief we don't want to excuse our unfaithfulness we want to cooperate with you as fully and as completely as we know how I thank you for it we praise you for what you will do and we will be careful to give you the glory and the honor in Jesus name amen hallelujah God bless you and

Channel: World Outreach Church

Views: 25,353

Keywords: World Outreach Church, World Outreach Church Murfreesboro, Pastor Allen Jackson, Pastor Allen Jackson Sermons, Online church service, live church service, christian sermons, Murfreesboro TN, Jesus Christ, Interdenominational Church, God is Moving [New Heroes], Acts 9, Acts 19, Artemis, Barnabus, Saul, Saul's conversion, the road to Damascus, Paul, Chrstian nationalism, cooperate with God, Demetrius, encourage, Ephesus, Gideon, Hebrews 3, heroes, Judges, Parable of the sower, repentance

Id: d_E92z9gOdE

Length: 51min 27sec (3087 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 22 2024