The Power of One - No Fear [You Make a Difference for the Kingdom of God]

[Music] you know one of the lies that the enemy uses against us is that the pressures we feel are unique that nobody's ever had pain like i do or the challenges that i do just a casual review of history will help you understand that's not true folks cancel culture is not new people have been trying to shut people up from telling a jesus story since jesus was here and they're still doing it we've got to decide if we have the courage to stand for the truth to tell our god story to stand up for jesus of nazareth as our lord our friend and our king i want to pray for you that god will give you his boldness not recklessness but he'll give us his boldness father thank you for your word for the truth it brings to us for the hope it brings to our lives you have changed us use our lives and our words may they be pleasing in your sight in jesus name amen god bless you the power of one i interact with christians in our community and beyond on a regular basis and some of the prevailing attitudes are of despair you know i just don't feel like i can make any difference or some people are just trying to wish away the current trends you know the beginning of last year in 2020 without notice or warning we all embarked on a journey we didn't volunteer for it we didn't know that it was going to be thrust upon us but it was we we left the place of the familiar and at this point in our journey it seems abundantly clear that we're not returning now that isn't a statement of dire circumstance it's simply a reality the world we lived in at the beginning of last year has shifted and our ultimate destination is not yet clear and i'm not talking about heaven or hell in the midst of this social change the outcome is not yet clear and so one of the responses that's prevalent is the despair i i feel like i i don't make any difference my voice isn't being heard i don't know what to do and the other response that is most common is just trying to wish it away if i don't talk about it if i act like it's not there maybe we'll go back to where we were before and neither of those responses are helpful and really the the fundamental idea is one person cooperating with god listening to god can make an enormous difference in our world but it means that it begins with us we can't point our fingers at someone else or the wicked or the immoral or somebody that you think is the causation or somebody that was elected that you didn't like or somebody that wasn't elect whatever it's the hearts of god's people no more excuses we can no longer afford to yield to fear don't welcome fear into your heart or your home treat fear as an uninvited guest that's eating everything in the refrigerator and pushing you out of your space think of fear as a person without a body and begin to speak to him in the authority of jesus name you have no right over my thoughts you have no right over my life i will not be dominated by fear in jesus name you go i am not a slave to fear there's another spirit at work in my body so the real goal of this little series of messages and if you're newer to the church or newer to listening uh wednesday night saturday night and sunday are each individual talks but the real goal is to combat that despair and that fear and that indifference if you have i think you can insulate yourself you can cocoon in a state of ambivalence not my problem i'm doing just fine my income is held up but my family's doing okay i'm going to take care of me and mine and the rest of it's not in my business you're forfeiting your kingdom assignment and so it's those those responses i really want to address we're looking at some troubling things it really was introduced to us with a coronavirus that originated apparently in wuhan china not a criticism of wuhan we typically identify diseases based on their origin [Music] one of our goals is to begin to tell the truth again but it's had an enormous impact upon schools and businesses out of that has come censorship in a way that we've never known it or at least not in decades and decades and with censorship with limiting the free flow of ideas or preventing the truth to be told and trying to control what is being said comes with that then a very intentional effort towards propaganda which is overwhelming these days an escalation in hatred and violence manipulation in some of the broadest ways we've ever seen from monitoring your data and tracking what you do and using it as a weapon to broad broad-spread advocacy for immorality ever-increasing intolerance lawlessness violence being unleashed in our cities immigration crisis the religion of woke and that's just a quick overview underlying all of those things underlying all those expressions and we could have made that list three times as long something is happening that's beyond logic it's not simply about following the science i'm a person of science i'm quite willing to do that science is reproducible science posits a theory and evaluates it in reality and then adjusts the theory and corrects it that isn't what we're watching for the most part there's more to the story underlying all of those things there's a spiritual reality there's a response from the church that is essential and vital and necessary your life and your choices are of great significance the power of one godly person makes a difference stop agreeing with the enemy and i don't mean a political party stop agreeing with the kingdom of darkness that whispers in your ear you don't matter you do matter the creator of all things knows your name he sent his son to die on a cross for you you do matter i've been encouraging you for months now to watch and to listen to think and to act and you can't interrupt that progression if all you do is watch and listen you're just a voyeur and if you watch and listen and think you're just a pseudo-intellectual it takes action church we've been passive for long enough we are a nation with the christian heritage the values that have shaped our legal system our schools our universities the environment in which we have done business the character of our nation has not been perfectly but has unquestionably been shaped by a judeo-christian worldview and i will not be quiet when someone moves in and says we're going to replace that nor should you be and our action is directed towards the spiritual tools that have been handed to us there's a great temptation to be silenced i'll just stay below the radar let somebody else go let somebody else speak let somebody else use their voice it's a tremendous deception to imagine that you're powerless unable to affect outcomes in this world i would remind you of our lord he was born in a barn a stable he had no wealth to speak of no access to power no exemplary education he lived as an exile in egypt when he was a young child because powerful forces sought his destruction and in spite of all the things he didn't have he changed humanity for time and eternity and that same spirit indwells you now what will be said of the church in this generation the answer is not clear yet our response is incomplete it was unsettling last year when the voices said that you're non-essential shut up and stay home and we said thank you how dare they well i want to walk through this with you a little bit tonight we started on the last session i want to continue and i want to identify a couple of points that i think will help ground us we are on an assignment and we are under authority we tend to think of it as my life my days my schedule my calendar my money my dreams not if you're a christ follower those are the words of someone who's not a christ father those are the words of someone who was sitting on the throne of their life to be a christ follower says that we have offered ourselves as living sacrifices that we say to our lord and king what would you have me do with this day how would you have me spend my time this year what would you have me do with my resources and my talent and if that hasn't been your understanding and it hasn't been the way you've approached your life i would encourage you just to quietly not in this moment but for the next just begin quietly to say to the lord lord i'm sorry i really have not had any intent of serving you didn't want to go to hell and i didn't really want to be a buddhist it wasn't that i was choosing another religion but i've had no intention of laying my life before you i've just asked you to bless my plan bless what i wanted i've asked you to use your power to give me my wants and now lord with humility i would like to offer whatever my life represents for your purposes folks we're on assignment this is our watch this is serious stuff we're under authority first samuel 2 and verse 9 says he keeps the feet of his godly ones but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness for not by might shall a man prevail we've got to be certain we start to talk about the power of one we think about i'm not very strong and my contacts are limited and my resources are small and nobody cares about my opinion the creator of all things does it's not by might that we will prevail it's by the spirit of the living god church that's our story zechariah 4 and verse 6 says this is the word of the lord to zerubbabel bless his heart was he 14 before he could spell his name anybody remember zerubbabel he rebuilt the temple in jerusalem man of great significance not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the lord almighty you see the scripture invites us to the imagination that the spirit of god is involved in history jerubal's not offering some theoretical discussion he has a task that's impossible israel at that time is an occupied nation they're under foreign domination and yet he's going to rebuild the temple in jerusalem not by might nor by power but by my spirit you believe the spirit of god is still involved in history i hope so we can either align our lives with god or in opposition to god it's your choice but there's no third option where you work where you go to school where you engage in your neighborhood you're either aligned with the purposes of god or you're in opposition to them again just to be clear we're being invited to align our choices and our behaviors with something beyond our physical world what we're watching in the daily news cycle are symptoms of a spiritual conflict that's raging throughout the earth second chronicles 32 and verse 7 hezekiah is king in jerusalem there's a threat from a foreign king his name is senecarab harder to spell than zerubbabel and this is the message that hezekiah gives to the people they're outnumbered the the military technology of the enemies that have come against jerusalem exceeds the capabilities of the the armies of israel the armies of judah and this is the message be strong and courageous to not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of assyria and the vast army with him for there is a greater power with us than with him with him is only the arm of flesh but with us is the lord our god to help us and to fight our battles and the people gained confidence from what hezekiah the king of judah said again i'm asking you to begin to meditate to think about to reflect upon the power of one who is in relationship to the king of all kings we are not powerless some of you prefer the new testament it's not an either or choice but in acts chapter 5 the peter and john and the crew are trying to figure out what to do jesus is gone and they have this message to tell and they're having some exciting results but they're meeting some pretty significant opposition in fact they've been arrested and they wrought before the same body of people that orchestrated jesus execution and peter and the other apostles replied we must obey god rather than men folks it's the same today we have to obey god we have to obey god you need to let that settle on your heart we have to obey god if we don't what makes us think we are god's people a plaque a certificate they're on trial here this isn't a theology session they're not in a class in the university or a bible study or a small group or even a sermon they're standing before the people that executed or orchestrated the execution of jesus we must obey god rather than men the god of our fathers raised jesus from the dead whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree they're not going quietly down this path god exalted him through his own right hand as prince and savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to israel we are witnesses of these things and so is the holy spirit whom god has given to those who obey him boom that is not a conciliatory response that is not an olive branch now it's true and look at the response when they heard this they were furious and they wanted to put them to death the power of one most of us think well i hope it's another one i want to walk through john's gospel with you and we'll need to do it pretty quickly [Music] there's a perspective that john presents us there's a there's a phrase and a perspective that he uses repeatedly it's rooted in this notion of afraid of the jews and there's different reasons given and different responses presented but what's consistent through john's gospel is that time after time after time there were responses presented because of the fear of the jews and it's not the jewish population it was the power brokers the ones who established what was politically correct what could be said in the public square and what could not it was an issue and i'll start with one and i've tried to either give them an explanation or a little bit of a label we're going to start in john chapter nine it's where we meet a man who is born blind i hope most of you know the miracle story the man doesn't ask jesus for anything in fact the disciples called jesus attention to the man with the theological question they could have cared less about the man and jesus is in an expression of mercy and kindness pauses and he he spits in the dust makes some mud and smears it on the man's face and says go wash in the pool of siloam and the pool of siloam is at the bottom of the hill of the city of jerusalem all the city is is uphill from that point the man's got a bit of a journey there was water within an arm's reach but jesus said you go wash in that pool it's almost as if he's picking on him and the man offers no explanation he doesn't say that you're mistreating me he doesn't tweet out how unkind jesus is he go the bible and in john it very in an understated way it says he went and washed and he came home seeing i would submit you dude came home seeing don't you think huh whole cities stirred so it comes to the attention of the power brokers in the city and they don't want anybody saying that jesus is doing miracles and doing good things so they bring the man in they've got to shape his story what we're watching is not new it is not new the question is what are we going to do and what are we going to be john 9 18 this is the back side of the story the jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents they just weren't going to accept his personal testimony it didn't matter how many of the shopkeepers near where he'd been when jesus interacted with him affirmed the story that it was the man that was blind they're not going to believe it we're not accepting that it doesn't fit the narrative go get his parents verse 19 they ask is this your son is this the one you say was born blind you say was born blind how is it that now he can see and the parents answered we know he's our son that's our boy and we know he was born blind but how he can see now or who opened his eyes we don't know ask him he's of age he'll speak for himself what supportive folks these are huh i mean this isn't what you're expecting right their son who's never seen is looking at them maybe they're a little happy right maybe they're going take us to the man that did it we want to thank him we want to buy him dinner we want to we want to celebrate everybody this is our son he can see no no no no no that's our boy yesterday he couldn't see and apparently today he can [Laughter] oh you better ask him about it i mean he's so wrong you need the next sentence his parents said this because they were afraid of the jews for already the jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that jesus was the messiah would be put out of the synagogue and just in case it was lost on the reader john adds the next sentence that was why his parents said he's of age ask him they're not about to give up their place in the synagogue the second time they summoned the man who'd been blind give glory to god they said we know this man is a sinner and he replied whether he's a sinner or not i don't know one thing i do know i was blind and i see you he doesn't care where they put him out of he's not going to toe the party line i label this country club syndrome when you're overly interested in the privileges of membership now i'm very conscious i read a lot of the literature of the church and try to stay aware of what's happening in the broader church world we have lots of words to excuse our silence we talk about being covert operatives we're bridge builders we have a greater opportunity for good if we're not disruptive so we turn down the volume on jesus we don't talk so much about what we believe because after all we're trying to win hearts and minds with what deception it feels awkward to me [Music] there's a blind man in this narrative without resources without support from a broader group and he manages to stir jerusalem to its core to consider jesus in a new way because he has the courage to tell his god story the pressure wasn't just on his parents the pressure was greater on him just say what you're supposed to say stop with that narrative already the parents priorities are greatly misplaced their son who is formally blind can see gratitude would be a better response we have to guard our hearts whose approval do you want how happy are you to be invited into some circle to be included for yourself or someone you care about so that you'll be silenced what we're walking through these days is not new folks the canceled culture is not a new thing it's as old as human civilization john chapter 12 different context different story verse 37 john 12. even after jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence they still wouldn't believe in him this was to fulfill the word of isaiah the prophet lord who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed isaiah said this because he saw jesus glory and spoke about him yet at the same time even many among the leaders believed in him in jesus but because of the pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue for they loved praise from men more than praise from god it's a little blind we're removed by a couple thousand years and the culture is not immediately apparent to us but the power brokers in jerusalem were the most powerful and the wealthiest people in the nation i wish i could pick you up and take you to jerusalem this evening we could walk through a 5 000 square foot house complete with beautiful tile floors and multiple bathrooms a lavish home on the side of the hill overlooking the temple mount and the scholars agree the jewish scholars agree that it was most likely a home of one of the the religious leaders prime real estate beautiful house so when it says they're not willing to to believe that they're not willing to acknowledge in spite of the miracles that they love the praise of men it's not just affirmation they like the life they're leading and they're not about to use their voice to put that at risk they understand there's a consequence because the people who are standing in opposition to jesus tell them blatantly boldly repeatedly if you are affirming of him you'll forfeit your place sound familiar we're not the first generation to face this it intrigues me verse 41 says isaiah said this said what said lord who's believed our message and whom is the arm of the lord to whom has been revealed isaiah said this because he saw jesus glory if you don't know the timeline from the whiteboard bible you could miss this you read that you think isaiah lived next door to mary and joseph isaiah lived 500 years before jesus isaiah had a revelation of jesus hundreds of years before his birth and he believed in jesus and now there's a problem in jerusalem because even after all the miracles jesus has done the people who have seen them will not believe we have a little idiom a little expression where you seeing is believing no it's not you can see and not choose to believe they saw the miracles and chose not to believe belief begins with a decision you decide to be a believer you decide to yield to the authority of scripture you decide to yield to the the lordship of jesus christ if you're stubborn and skeptical and rebellious and an unbeliever you can't see enough evidence to cause you to convert you have to choose to believe it takes courage and strength to believe in god we're not the first generation to be threatened if we stand up for jesus this is not the first time the world has seen this it's an old song i mean it's wrapped up in some new delivery systems we've got some new forms of technology and some new forms of communication but the threat's not new the question is who are we going to be the power of one what you choose to believe makes a difference let's go on john chapter 12 verse 9. meanwhile a large crowd of jews found out that jesus was there and came not only because of him but also to see lazarus whom he'd raised from the dead they're in bethany i doubt you know the geography of the area too well jerusalem there's a valley just to the east of jerusalem the kidron valley and on the opposite side of the valley to deep valley on the opposite side of that valley is the mount of olives you probably know the mount of olives it's where the garden of gethsemane is it's where jesus went with his disciples when he ascended back to heaven well from the crest of the mount of olives on a clear day and they're not always clear because the dust from the desert sometimes hangs in the air but on a clear day you can see the dead sea it's just barely 20 miles away but just on the other side of the crest of the mount of olives is the village the city of bethany today in arabic el lazaria after lazarus and it's in bethany where mary and martha and lazarus lived so it was in in bethany where jesus raised lazarus from the dead now why does that matter jesus has done lots of miracles in the northern part of israel in the galilee we used contemporary us geography kind of like saying you know you did some miracles in murfreesboro but it's a different thing to go to madison square garden because lazarus was dead several days and he was raised to life again that kind of a story would get around and lazarus is close enough that he shops he walks the markets in the streets of jerusalem so there's finger pointing and whispering that's the one now jesus has come back and he's in bethany and he's had a meal with his friends and a large crowd finds out that jesus is there and they've come because of him but not only because of him they've come to see lazarus i mean not very many people know people that were dead for three or four days and you can have coffee with them so the chief priest made plans to kill lazarus as well for on account of him many of the jews were going over to jesus and putting their faith in him i labeled this one a desperate attempt to hide the truth if we can't deny it if we can't say he wasn't born blind if we can't intimidate you not into not saying something if we can't put so much pressure on you with so much economic threat or physical threat that we can't get you to withdraw we will hide the truth we will bury it and if it means we have to silence you ultimately we'll do that too it's illogical this isn't a foreigner amongst them it's not a roman centurion who's using his power to abuse children or mistreat women or to exact wealth he's fulfilling dozens and dozens of the prophecies that are in their own books he's the answer to their prayers but he's inconvenient because he's challenging their power and their comfort and their convenience and we will shut him up and we'll shut up anyone who is an advocate or for him what we're facing is not new john 19. and following we're just doing this chronologically this is after jesus death later joseph of arimathea asked pilate for the body of jesus now joseph was a disciple of jesus but secretly because he feared the jews there's that line again john just keeps pushing it back at us now joseph is a wealthy man not anybody can just walk into the governor's office and ask for the the body of somebody he's an influential man he's a powerful man he's a believer in jesus but he's been bullied into silence he's a secret believer and now jesus is dead and in his brokenness it's as if joseph says you know i just don't care anymore pilate can i have his body with pilate's permission he came and took the body away he was accompanied by nicodemus the man who earlier had visited jesus at night some of you may and some of you may not remember in john chapter 3 a man comes to see jesus under the cover of darkness his name was nicodemus john tells us that he was a leader amongst the jews and he said rabbi i know nobody could do the miracles you do unless he came from god and jesus said to nicodemus how is it that a ruler of my people doesn't understand that you can't see the kingdom of god unless you're born again how can it be and nicodemus steps back into the shadows after that little interaction we haven't heard from him until we get to john chapter 19 and jesus has died on a cross you have to have the imagination that the horrors that jesus has gone through perhaps brought out some of these secret people don't you know there's a brokenness in them joseph goes to pilates i want his body i don't care what people say i don't care who knows and nicodemus comes he was accompanied by nicodemus the man who early had visited jesus at night nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrhs and aloes about 75 pounds expensive we're told that in bethany back in john 12 a woman poured perfume on jesus feet and she was criticized for it he said we could have eaten with months of the cost of that perfume what do you think 75 pounds of that would be worth nicodemus doesn't matter care what it cost taking jesus body the two of them wrapped it i think it's safe to say that joseph and nicodemus didn't prepare a lot of bodies for burial this is personal to them they wrapped it and with the spices and strips of linen this was in accordance with jewish burial customs at the place where jesus was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid when i read that i can't help but think that their hearts were heavy because of the opportunities lost the times they didn't say i know him i'm for him i think he's okay i'm on his side and now that day is past as far as they know and the only way they can express their devotion is treating his dead body with dignity and respect not allow it to be thrown into a pauper's grave folks we don't want to be in that place we want to be advocates for him the very next chapter john 20. this time it's the disciples it says on the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked here's our phrase again for fear of the jews this is john 20. we followed this phrase all the way through john's gospel the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the jews jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you and after he said this he showed them his hands and his side and the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the lord just think the bible has this crazy gift for understatement you know the blind man in john 9 he came home seeing and the disciples after they're hiding because they think they're next and they're going to a roman cross because their best friend the most powerful man they ever knew got executed by the romans and they watched him suffocate on a cross and now they're in lockdown because they know they're next and jesus steps into the room and john said and they were overjoyed when they saw the lord i don't know what words you use were like out of their mind ecstatic [Music] beyond reason but on sunday they have a private faith for fear of the jews it seems to me that contemporary christians have a lot of private faith like our political leaders talk to us about freedom of worship that they will allow us freedom of worship that we can gather in our buildings and do whatever we want to as long as we do it in our buildings just to be clear what the constitution affords us is freedom of religion very different thing we've had our little polite sunday morning faith for too long don't tell me jesus isn't welcome in the schools and don't tell me he's not welcome in the business place don't tell me he's not welcome in the public square don't tell me that how dare you say that our heritage is unacceptable that it has to be silenced we're not afraid of the jewish power brokers we're afraid of different things the power of one you make a difference you matter this isn't somebody else that needs to stand up it's not somebody else who needs to find a voice it's not some other group who we wish would change or be different it's us now i want to wrap this up or let me start to wrap this up this is not my final ending don't get excited but the nature of being a believer in jesus is an assignment that is inseparable from overcoming it's just it is a distortion of the truth it's a distortion of scripture to imagine that you can be a christ follower a believer and not be required in time to be an overcomer jesus said if anybody would be my disciple you have to take up your cross daily and follow me not a cute little piece of jewelry to hang around your neck or to ornament your ears with a cross was a tool of execution in revelation chapter 12 and verse 11. i put in parenthesis the definitions of a couple of phrases that were used without having to unpack the entire context they the believers on earth overcame him satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony and they didn't love their lives so much as to shrink from death that's the distinction from so many people we just looked at in john's gospel there were things they were holding on to so they couldn't find their voice for jesus there were approvals they wanted or permissions to be given or they wanted to be included in some groups of people and so they couldn't find their voice for jesus the book but the book of revelation is a book that tells us how we can not only survive but how we can accomplish god's purposes at the end of the age when things get pretty tense it begins with letters to seven churches and there's a diagnosis given by jesus himself to every church in the in the first chapter jesus is standing in the midst of his church these seven churches do you know jesus is still standing in the midst of his churches i promise you and to each of those seven churches he said these are your strengths and these are your weaknesses and these are the course corrections you need to make and to the one who overcomes everyone is told they have to overcome and then at the end of the book of revelation it says though who's welcomed into this kingdom those who overcame that's our assignment it presupposes difficulty and obstacles and challenges and hurdles and resistance and unwanted things and uninvited things it presupposes difficulty the book of revelation is a difficult book and right here in the middle of it in chapter 12 it says the believers on earth overcame satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony and they didn't love their lives so much as to shrink from death the power of your god story is irrefutable there's much i don't know about god there's much i don't know about my bible but i can tell you what i know he's done for me you can believe it you can choose not to believe it but you can't talk me out of it it's my story and you've got a god's story how he's forgiven you and helped you and delivered you we've got to use our god stories you've got to give voice to it you've got to express it don't let anybody that knows you not know your god's story and i hope you're not telling one that's 40 years old that may be your entree but i hope you got one from last week it seems to me there's a parallel with revelation 12 and what happens in the book of exodus the passover you know that story they're about ready to leave egypt so far the challenge has not worked out so well there have been a lot of demonstrations of god's power but the pressure on the hebrew slaves has increased and finally god said it's time we're going to finish this tonight death's coming the firstborn in every house in egypt will die whether it's human or animal the only exception or the houses were the blood of a lamb has been captured in a basin and splattered on the doorpost of a house with hyssop it's a common weed in the region if there's blood on the doorpost of the house death will pass over it's where we get the word passover but if there's no blood on the house the firstborn will die whether human or animal can you imagine what would happen in rutherford county if in every house tonight the firstborn died can you imagine the fear and the cry in the streets before the sun came up there's only one pocket of exceptions it's where the the blood was on the doorpost it's exodus 12 take a bunch of hyssop dip it in the blood and the basin and put some on the blood on the top and both sides of the door frame not one of you shall go out the door of the house until morning and when the lord goes through the land to strike down the egyptians he'll see the blood on the top and the sides of the door framing will pass over that doorway you'll not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down well couldn't god have just softened pharaoh's heart and with him all i suppose i don't know why but i know he required obedience of his people do you think there's any chance that some of the jewish people chose not to cooperate with moses before you answer let me ask you another question did everybody cooperate with moses after that hardly you would think if you had seen the passover you'd do whatever moe said right if moses said don't ever eat chocolate again you've been burning your chocolate stash i mean after everybody in the whole nation died except where the blood was i'm thinking he's got a good list of good followers no they grumbled their way within 72 hours they're complaining i promise not everybody cooperated ephesians 1 7 in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of his grace that's our story we weren't redeemed from egyptian slavery we were delivered from the slavery of sin through the blood of jesus we're not moralists or ethicists we didn't find a good church because we like to sing the choruses jesus changed our lives and he can change your life do you know him well they'll think i'm goofy they already do you're good if they think you're a goofy ut fan they haven't won a championship since jesus was here and we don't care we keep wearing orange and white because this is our year and if you represent vanderbilt you're in a whole nother category god bless you overcomers but understand this there are different choices this isn't automatic not everybody sits under the umbrella of the church not everybody that you know is going to get this acts chapter 5. we've already looked at that a little earlier they called the apostles in they had them flogged fancy word for beaten they ordered them not to speak in the name of jesus and they let them go and the apostles left the sanhedrin rejoicing because they'd been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name and day after day in the temple courts and from house to house they never stopped they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that jesus is the christ now they've been marked up their backs have been opened up but they said we're not going to stop contrast that matthew 28 resurrection day a lot of drama at the tomb where joseph and and nicodemus have placed jesus angelic visits rocks rolling angelic messages a lot of drama and while the women were on their way some of the guards went into the city and reported the chief priest everything that had happened they saw the angels remember what they did they acted like dead men they knew when to be quiet they played possum they know what happened they saw the rock rolled away they saw the angel they they saw it and now they've gone to give a report to the chief priest over everything that happened when the chief priest had met with the elders and devised a plan they gave the soldiers a large sum of money this is what you're supposed to say his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep if this report gets to the governor we'll satisfy him and keep you out of trouble that's important because they were assigned to guard the tomb and if the thing they're guarding escapes if the person they're guarding escapes they'll to be they'll be executed so this is a really awkward place and they they said you tell our story we will cover for you with the governor so the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed the story's been widely circulated among the jews to this day we've got two scenarios here folks peter and john are beaten their backs are laid open don't mention his name again they're not offered any money they're threatened if you keep this up we'll finish what we just started do you hear me and they know they have the power to do it they watch them execute jesus and it says they left that place to thank god we're worthy to suffer for our lord and day after days in place after place and from house to house they never stopped telling their god story now the guards on the other hand they've got some roman authority behind them they could look at these jewish power brokers and say you mean you're you are ordering a roman soldier how dare you they took the money they took the money different choices i'm really inviting you towards a different attitude i've spent my life in the church since i was about 10 years old i have gathered with christians in the craziest places church buildings motel ballrooms on beaches in tents and various nations i spent my life around the church but what started last year and what we're walking through now is calling for a new attitude amongst us i think it's pretty accurately described in second corinthians 4 we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from god and not from us we are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed we are perplexed but not in despair we're persecuted but not abandoned we're struck down but not destroyed we always carry around in our body the death of jesus so that the life of jesus may also be revealed in our body before last year a challenge for us before last year a challenge for us is when somebody sat in our seat in the context of our faith are they parked in our parking place or we didn't like the worship set our pastor's sermon was too long again we're in a different place and i'm not even offering that as a condemnation of where we were maybe it was adequate for the season we're in but we're in a new season and it's going to require a new cadence from us a new response from us a new courage from us but god's given us what we need he's kept us and he will help us i want to close with this and this is true i'm really in now i think it's important to acknowledge that as in our overcoming even heroes wrestled with fear so that it's not a weakness in you or an inadequacy in you when you when you pause to say you know do i have the courage to do this or i'm tired of standing it's not a failure of your character it's a part of the human condition don't give in to it don't yield to it but understand even those who make heroic responses still wrestle with fear i gave you it's first kings 19. i'll just summarize it's elijah immediately preceding this he's called fire from heaven on command not like sometime in the next 90 days let there be a lightning storm he called it on command and he's challenged the whole nation to repent of their idolatry and he's executed personally hundreds of idolatrous prophets of baal tremendous victory tremendous courage but then the message comes to him the jezebel says by this time tomorrow i'll have your head and look what it says he was afraid and arose and ran for his life until he came to bereshev you probably wouldn't know the geography that confrontation took place on the mount carmel if you go to a modern day map of israel find the port city of haifa it's on the northern part of israel mount carmel is right there next to the port city of haifa and then you can find bershev on a modern day map he ran from mount carmel to bercheva he went a long way into the desert and he didn't stop there he kept running he is struggling and just just look at the last verse there verse 7 the angel of the lord came a second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great for you god sent angels to help him he said i know you've stood in a hard place and i know you've done heavy lifting and i know what you've accomplished is beyond your physical strength folks i'm not asking you to stand up just in your strength i'm not asking you just to marshal your courage or to summon your fortitude i'm asking you to be more aware that we are children of the king and the power of one when you choose to cooperate with the spirit of god has a significance beyond anything we know how to estimate we're not just church attenders or quiet people we're not being trained to be polite or tame we're here on an assignment and the future of the place where we live is not really clear at the moment i don't think the outcome has been decided and i think there's a great deal still in play and i think outcomes have an enormous part to do with the heart of the church not to be angry not to be violent not to be accusing of others to humble ourselves before the lord and say forgive me amen i've wanted to be accepted i've wanted to fit in i haven't really wanted to be ostracized because of my faith so i haven't said much i've been kind of quiet but it's a new day if you read the disciples in the book the gospels they look like keystone cops or the three stooges or something you wouldn't bet the future of our faith upon that but after the day of pentecost they're a different group of characters all together and we can tell our story in the same way you know prior to that we were one thing but god changed us we'll sit outside and have church let it rain it's okay we'll go where we need to do we're going to be together i brought you a prayer really what i brought you is the doxology to the book of jude it's the conclusion of the book of jude but the language is so beautiful i wanted you to have it it's worth repeating it's worth memorizing honestly let's stand together and say these words together is our conclusion have you found it they'll put it on the screens too look at that you don't have to be smart if you have smart friends that is so good i couldn't turn those projectors on if i needed to but it's let's say this together to him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only god our savior be glory majesty power and authority through jesus christ our lord before all ages now and forevermore amen i think we ought to say that again that's really good stuff to be declaring over our lives can we do it again and then i'll let you go i promise to him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only god our savior be glory majesty power and authority through jesus christ our lord before all ages now and forevermore amen hallelujah join us every week for another exciting message from pastor alan jackson and until then visit us online and discover remarkable information and resources to help take your christian life to the next level and if you're visiting the nashville area we'd love to see you at world outreach church in murfreesboro we're easy to find so look us up when you're traveling through and don't forget to connect with pastor jackson every day through social media thanks so much for joining us and being a part of this ministry we'll see you again next time for another encounter with pastor alan jackson hey this is pastor allen thank you for watching this video if you enjoyed it like it and most importantly share it with your friends if you want to be notified when there's new content we post new material if you'll just subscribe to my channel and hit the bell you'll get the notification most of all i pray god blesses you as you continue on your spiritual journey and open your heart to the lord god bless [Music] you

Channel: Allen Jackson Ministries

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Keywords: Pastor Allen Jackson, allen jackson ministries, world outreach church, alan jackson, sermons, preachers, how to be saved, Finding Jesus, pastor allen jackson sermons, The Power of One, No Fear, Making a difference for the Kingdom of God, fear, anxiety, depression, truth, scripture

Id: 6wMU860XbBI

Length: 55min 51sec (3351 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 30 2021