Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: a Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life. I bless you to see the new.
so vividly. that you forget the old. It's God's promise. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things. shall not be remembered, or even come to mind Isaiah 65, 17.
The radiance of spring makes you forget the gray of winter. The power of grace makes you forget the gray of shame.
So may God give you eyes to see all that is freshed. to be enthralled with all that is hope.
So the old must of darker days Doesn't even come to mind pastor author and bible teacher alan wright this person's right on my bumper And I'm thinking of all the things that I would want to say, and not one of them is a blessing. Not one of them. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt.
Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, The Power to Bless, taken from Pastor Alan's book of the same title and as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org.
or call eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four. forty eight sixty More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here.
is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? You are a collaborator with God. Uh collaborating to Shape. the world because in Christ you have been given The power to bless.
The Power to Bless. It's the title of the book that I've written on the subject that's come out this month. We're all excited about that. And you know how much goes into the selection of a title on a book? It's very interesting.
The publisher gets to decide finally what the title is. And so the author is making input all along the way. And we probably had at least 200 different titles we considered. At one point, I was considering giving it the title Beyond Hashtag Blessed. You know, the hashtag blessed thing that's like, Had a great meal tonight, hashtag bliss, you know.
And people started using hashtag bless as just a way to brag, you know.
So glad I was, you know, I was the prom queen, hashtag bless. You know, so glad to report I made straight A's. And but we've shifted away from that because it's not really about. About it. The move from the trivial to the not trivial is about, it's really more about a power.
And so eventually, the publisher said, Well, we call it the power of blessing. And I thought about it long and hard, and I said, could we call it the power tube lefts? And there's a difference in my mind between the power of blessing and the power to bless. We're still speaking here about something that's a great power, but if you say the power. To bless, then it is implying a great promise.
That You now now it's you and me. We're We are entrusted with This great capacity, we are given this tool.
So in preparation for The winter storms of the past week or so, we bought a couple of new battery-powered lanterns. Um I opened it up to put the batteries in. It was very interesting. I never seen this before. It had slots for three of the larger D sized batteries, and it had slots for double A batteries had both A, three double A's, and three double A.
batteries. And I thought, well, that's the strangest thing I've ever seen. I put the A batteries in. And then I went to put the D battery in, and I pushed it in, it didn't quite go in. Of course, I just pushed harder.
And it didn't go all the way into its slot, so of course I pushed a little harder, right? That's what you do. With these things, and I said, Honey, it's wedged in here. She said, Have you already broken one of the lanterns? I said, No, I haven't.
Yet broken it, I don't think. I put my finger up under the battery and tried to lift it out and leverage my thumb on the top, tried to pop that D battery out. And I was pretty sure it was one of those moments like. I'm gonna hurt myself here. I'm gonna cut something, scrape something in a minute.
And so I said, I'm gonna have to get some pliers.
Now, thankfully, though I'm not a tool man, Thankfully, because of pandemic and sheltering in place last summer, I actually straightened up my garage and I knew where the pliers were. I went and I got the pliers. And I was able to grab the D battery that I had overly wedged in there, pull it out, and I'm happy to report that I discovering that this strange lantern can run either. on D batteries or AA batteries, but not both at the same time. That I was able to get the light to shine, the tool.
I feel like that. And even a lot of us as Christians. that we spend too much time trying to force something into a a a slot that we think it should fit. to make it be the way we think it ought to be. instead of taking this powerful tool that God has given us and use it.
Blessing is like that. It's like A basic tool. Like a pair of pliers. Is so basic that it honestly is a fundamental of the scriptures. I was speaking to a men's group this Past week, the New Cane Society, and able to talk to them about the power to bless.
And it was sort of an interview format with the guys on the Zoom event. And the moderator said, First, let's talk about what do you mean by a blessing? You know, it's interesting, every interview that I do, that's what it goes, well, what do you mean by blessing? And there's a part of me that sort of chuckles because It's such a fundamental. And I thought, could you imagine going, you know, I'm going in to speak to a group.
a men's group on prayer. And they say, okay, before you start, Tell us, what do you mean by prayer? We wouldn't ever say that because it's just so. fundamental We would be interested in the angles that you have to share from the scripture about prayer and powerful prayer, effective prayer, spiritual prayer, intercessory prayer, whatever it might be. But we don't have to say, what do you mean by prayer?
And yet, we as Christians, we just know so little about blessing, and it's the way it is. Everywhere I travel, everywhere I interview, it's the same question.
Well, blessing is so fundamental that if you were to talk to Anyone in ancient Israel or any Jew in Jesus' day, and you say, What do you mean by blessing? They'd look like you were from outer space, like you don't know what we're talking about, blessing. You know, in the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, He blessed them. It's the very first thing God did with humanity. That's what we're going to be looking at today.
And then the whole story of Genesis. The patriarchs, Abraham, who was called and blessed to be a blessing. Who had Isaac, who then blessed In this strange story, the wrong son Jacob instead of Esau. And Jacob, who once reunited with Joseph, after this long, torturous journey of Joseph's, Joseph brings his boys, Ephraim and Manasseh. to be blessed by His father Jacob, and the whole story, you see, it's this golden thread, and it just runs through the whole Bible.
It's about this mysterious thing called blessing. And then you just see it regularly. It's almost like the Bible doesn't ever stop to even tell you. Everything we're talking about here just assumes that we know what blessing is all about. David blesses his household.
Moses lists the blessing and curses that are before the people of God. The prophets are just filled with statements of blessing. And Jesus comes. And it's very interesting as an infant This strange figure named Simeon. arrives on the scene and takes the baby Jesus and blesses him.
At his baptism, The Father speaks from heaven a blessing. This is my beloved Son. and whom I'm well pleased. before Jesus goes into his ministry. Or faces the devil in the wilderness, even Jesus, the sinless Son of God, needed to be blessed.
He started his ministry with a series of blessings. Blessed are the poor in spirit. They shall see God and And everybody always wanted to bring their children to Jesus so he could. Bless them. It didn't say they were bringing their children so that they had some specific prayer need, they just wanted him to bless them.
It's so important that both Paul and Jesus say you should even bless your enemies. And the last thing that Jesus did. As he was on the earth, the last thing he did on the earth before ascending was he lifted his hands. Lifted his hands like I do at the end of a service, as a symbol of the laying on of hands. And he blessed his his disciples.
So people say, well, what do you mean by blessing? And what I'm saying is, it's a fundamental.
So it's a real holy privilege to be in an opportunity to write a book about this. That when I go talk to people, they go, what are you even talking about? This is how important, this is how important it is. And people say, well, why did you Why did you write it?
Well, that's part of it, is that Well We we need to know about this. We need to know about that. Yeah. But you know another big part of it is y'all You know, the more I know, the more I know I don't know. The more that I learn about blessing and practice blessing, which I have for 30 years.
The more I know that I don't know about blessing and that I don't always practice it that well. I mean, like last week. When my wife and I were coming home from something at the church, it was in the evening. And I was in the left-hand lane going a little bit faster than people in the right-hand lane. And I had two more cars to get by before I'd get back in the right lane on I-40 heading west.
When all of a sudden some sedan pulls up behind me, starts, you know, tailgating about a foot from my bumper. Like they're gonna push me out of the way. Butcher they're going, oh boy, you know the feeling. That's Alan Wright. and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series.
This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is the Untroubled Heart, a powerful digital bundle including audio messages and a digital study guide. In this series, Pastor Alan unpacks Jesus' promise from John 14, 27. I leave you peace. My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does, so don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
With practical insight and biblical encouragement, You'll discover how to quiet anxious thoughts and rest in Christ's peace that endures. When you give today to support Alan Wright Ministries, we'll send you the Untroubled Heart digital bundle as our thanks. Call us at 877-575-845-8525. Five four four. 4860.
Or come to our website. PastorAllen.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. I don't know what this is.
I don't know if it's worse for men or just worse for me. But it's like my entire lifetime of walking with Jesus gets thrown out the window right in that moment. And this person's right on my bumper. And I'm thinking of all the things that I would want to say, and not one of them is a blessing. Not one of them.
Not one. And it's like in that moment I turned to my wife and said, you know, I can understand road rage. I can understand, you know, what right now. And eventually I got over, you know, and the car go by. And then we noticed that, ooh, wait, what's up?
And it was a young woman, and she had her flashers on, and she started weaving. She got over into the shoulder, was flying down, going to use. Yes. You know, we say, well, maybe she's got some medical emergency. Maybe there's something that we don't know about.
But you just see, like, I mean, I've been doing this a long time, and there's still like this part of me that, like, the instinct wasn't to bless.
So that's part of the reason I wrote is I need it. I need it. I need it. You know, and but I want people to understand that There is something that is so profound about it. I want people to know there is something more than This is what you say when somebody sneezes, or something you say before you eat your meal.
This is the very collaboration. The cooperation with the Holy Spirit. to help shape the world. We were heartened to learn that David Hastings, who's our care coordinator at our Clemens campus, is back in good health after 16-day hospitalization for double pneumonia. David has always had a very positive outlook despite A lot of health challenges, 25 hospitalizations in the past 14 years.
And he really stays positive. And part of the reason he stays positive is something he wrote and posted after he was out of the hospital this time. And he told a story I had never heard him tell before. He said that years ago, man called him aside and spoke a blessing to him. It was quite prophetic to him.
It was from Isaiah 43. And the fellow said to David that he believed this was a word for David's life, that Isaiah 43, 1, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I've called you by name, David Hastings. You are mine. And when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
And when you walk through the fire, you'll not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you, since you are precious in my sight. You are honored, and I love you. And David took this word, you know, into his spirit, and he just said that's one of the things that's guided him. And so he said, you know, it's always. Had this belief in the sovereignty of God to bring about good and um.
So you can trust him.
So that's a powerful Blessing that you see how God could just shape his life. And so you hear a story like that, and you go, Well, yeah, okay, well, that's great.
Somebody who's got a real prophetic gift, but I don't feel like I hear from God like that, and I don't get those really specific words like that. And so maybe the power of blessing is not something for me. No, no, part of the reason I wrote the book is I want people to understand this something that's just like. It's like uh Prayer doesn't have to be big and And complicated, and doesn't have to sound spiritual. You just talk to God.
Well, blessing is something that God means for us to have just in our daily speech, just the way that we interact. And just, and what I want you to see is that the littlest moments Not just these moments you recognize as Powerful prophetic moments, but just the little moments carry enormous spiritual power. I don't know why it came to mind. I was thinking of This past summer a little moment in a store. We had gone to and I had gone to a shoe store in Greensboro because she had a coupon.
And uh so uh she needed a pair of shoes and uh Yeah. You know, when you men don't try to figure out why your wife needs another pair of shoes, she just, you know, she just needs another pair of shoes. It's like the other night, I was watching a basketball game between two teams that I didn't care much about. And my wife walked through the room. She said, Why are you watching that game?
And I didn't understand the question. I was like, uh. It's a basketball game. And so it's kind of like that. Why do you need that pair of shoes?
It's shoes. And so anyway, we're going to get some shoes. And she definitely worked to the clearance section and got the coupon. And we came up to check out at the cash rack. And the lady that was serving us there at the cash register, the clerk that was attending, she wasn't happy.
She wasn't having a good day. She was a little rude. wasn't really looking at us like it was just a big inconvenience. And You know, honestly, that's a pet peeve of mine because I grew up working in my granddaddy's clothing store, and I was taught that the customer is king, and you put on a happy face no matter what you're feeling, and you serve him. And she wasn't doing that, and so I was trying not to get a little irritated.
And then my wife, my sweet wife, she She spoke very kindly to this woman, happened to be an African-American lady. And she looked at her name tags, and my wife said, Well, Um that's a that's a beautiful Beautiful name. How do you pronounce your name? I don't remember what the name is right now, and and the lady said pronounced her name. And Anne said, I love that name.
That's beautiful. Um And uh all of a sudden a woman picked her head up and she said, Well, Really? She said to me, I'm not sure I've ever liked it. My mother, you know, named me this because of thus and such. And he answered, well, I think it's a beautiful name.
And uh they They talked for uh a few moments. As we left, my wife just said, Well, you have a blessed day. And the lady said, You have a blessed day, too. And I look back over my shoulder at the way she was interacting with the next customer was totally different.
Now here's what you gotta decide. Is that just a sweet pastor's wife having a moment where she brightens somebody's day? Or is that powerful spiritual warfare that just pushed back the darkness and won a victory in the name of Jesus? Because let me tell you about some of the layers of a one-minute conversation like that. Here's one of the layers is that listen.
People are in pandemic, people are anxious, people are tired, and the simplest gesture of blessing. can be transformational. Let me tell you the other thing that was going on all throughout the summer, as you know. all kind of racial unrest everywhere, right? And so here's something.
Now, Ann wasn't thinking about all these nuances. I'm just saying, wouldn't you just follow the Spirit? The Spirit knows all these things. And here's the nuances to this. And part of the nuances is that different cultures have different Ideologies about naming their kids.
You know, so I grew up in a white culture. And the idea was name your kids the same basic names that everybody else has named in everybody. You know, I mean, as I grew in this culture, like, wherever you do, don't wind up with an unusual name. That somebody might make fun of.
So I'm Alan, my brother's Mark, and my old brother's David. We got about 15 s letters between all three names. There was one time in this church we had three important leaders all at the same time named David Smith. We had two deacons on the board named David Smith and our music minister, David Smith.
Somebody say, who you contacted, David Smith? Which one? And uh and it's you know, it's just that's part that's part of that. But then there are other cultures and there are segments with that African-American culture. where there's a lot of creativity in the names.
Yeah. Naming is something that is very important. And you know what? If you've ever been, could ever try to identify with a people that had in any way been disenfranchised or were not the majority and not the ones setting all the standards. you know, naming your child, that's something that nobody can do that for you.
So you get full sway on that. Be as creative as you want. Follow your own heart and that, whatever, you know. And there's a lot more depth to all of this, you know, and not just our culture, but cultures all around the world, right? People have different, in different cultures and segments and micro sets of cultures within cultures.
People name things differently. And here's what, you know, we can get real judgmental on one another: like, the way I name is better than the way you name, and you have unusual names, right? You know, all of this, you see?
So when Ann says That's a lovely name. I'm interested in your name. She's also saying that My way of naming my kids is not better than the way your mother named you. I like that name.
So she's not only affirming a person she's affirming a whole culture. And she's affirming when you affirm a name, you're affirming... and identity. Alan Wright, today's good news message. See it to be it.
From the series The Power to Bless, also taken from Pastor Alan's book of the same title. Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day. Stick with us. This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is the Untroubled Heart, a powerful digital bundle including audio messages and a digital study guide. In this series, Pastor Alan unpacks Jesus' promise from John 14, 27.
I leave you peace. My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does.
So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid. With practical insight and biblical encouragement, you'll discover how to quiet anxious thoughts and rest in Christ's peace that endures. When you give today to support Alan Wright Ministries, we'll send you the Untroubled Heart digital bundle as our thanks. Come to our website. PastorAllen.org.
Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day as we place a bookmark here. See it to be it in this particular teaching that comes from the pages of Pastor Alan's book, The Power to Bless, but also as we're hearing a sermon. series by the same title. Pastor Alan, what's your parting good news thought for today?
So In the world, um We are given the message in a thousand different ways. If you can accomplish something, then we'll call you something good. Maybe you could get a good name for yourself if you do enough. With God and the power of blessing, it's exactly opposite. God calls us by who we really are.
And out of that identity We're empowered to live The destiny that He's given to us.
So God doesn't withhold blessing. He. He creates, he forms, and then he blesses. And that's what he did with Adam and Eve. He made...
Man and woman in his own image, and he blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply.
So, this is the way of God with us, it's completely countercultural. And yet it's the way we're changed. And When you are in Christ, this is the way you can learn to help others.
So, the people in your lives around you that really need to take next steps of flourishing. Remember these two things, that we're not formed by just looking inside ourselves for some inner voice. We're formed by blessing that comes spoken over our lives, and that blessing comes first. And then comes the fruitfulness of our lives. That's really key.
and you've been given the power to bless others. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
