5-16-21 | Sunday Worship | 1PM

[Music] i think then i know what i must do [Music] [Music] is yes i will yes i will [Music] everyone [Music] jesus christ [Music] no one knows the day [Music] but just yes i will go is will [Music] open up my yes [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus come on and call that great name jesus jesus jesus the way the truth and the life jesus is the way jesus has always been and will always be we celebrate that name on this day come on lift your hands give him glory bless his high holy name this is our call to worship jesus christ the one and only [Music] the lily of the jesus we celebrate the name of today come on open your heart give me glory give him praise and everyone around you [Music] hallelujah [Music] jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus [Music] oh bless the name of jesus bless the name of jesus oh exalt the name of jesus magnify the name of jesus lift up the name of jesus hoist the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hey [Music] hey jesus jesus jesus that's a prayer somebody's praying right now if you can't say anything else you can call on the name of jesus hey he's not only the way but he'll take away jesus jesus [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hey bless your name jesus we just want everyone to know we just we just want everyone to know we don't do this out of the routine and the ritual we're just trying to let somebody know about the way the truth and the life the savior of the world is jesus the one on whom we call is jesus our deliverer our keeper and this this day we invite you to pray in that great name there are names that are scrolling on the screen these are individuals who have asked us to pray for them and we counted a privilege [Music] who to call on the name that is above every name on your behalf and so we remind you if you have prayer requests you can even go to our church website go to wheelofbc.org there's a prayer wall there scroll down leave your requests intercessors pray every single day somebody's praying in the name of jesus oh that name that has power to save heal deliver so we want you to call on that name with us right now right now keep worshiping keep praying call in his name call his name call his name hallelujah oh great god of heaven and earth father of our lord and savior jesus christ matchless king of the universe creator and maker keeper sustainer of all living things oh we come to you blessing your holy name oh how we thank you o god for your might and your power your blessings your new mercies that greeted us this morning oh how we thank you for the way that you made uh hey hey the way you became hey you set forth your word wrapped in flesh and we thank you for jesus we thank you for the sacrifice that was made for our redemption oh we thank you for the bloodshed at calvary oh god we thank you that it's still powerful today just as it was over 2000 years ago and and because it's never lost its power we thank you that it cleanses even today covering our sin covering our iniquity oh thank you for jesus well thank you oh god that you didn't deal with us according to our sin but your word said as far as the east is from the west that's how far you've removed our transgressions from us and so we come boldly in the name of jesus by faith in that great name by faith in the blood that was shed in the work that was finished at calvary for our redemption we come oh god we're humbled but we come boldly as your children because you said we can come and we thank you o god that you hear our cry when we don't have the words we thank you for the intercession of the holy spirit we thank you for the groaning and the sighs and the tears that you know how to interpret for every one of the needs in our lives oh god we praise you today we give you glory and honor because we know we can cast our cares on you you care for us you are near those that need you right in this moment god somebody has been asking you for direction and guidance and for wisdom and for you to order their steps lord we're asking you to do it only you can do open doors that cannot be closed and then close the doors that cannot be opened somebody's wanting you to just shut down some things god just close it up seal it up because they're confused lord clear up the confusion in the name of jesus there are bodies that need healing oh lord we thank you that by the stripes of jesus we were healed he took in his body all of our sin all of our disease all of our sickness oh we thank you oh god that there is still healing for you said it is the children's bread so we pray boldly uh we pray boldly jehovah right for hill all over this land we're still fighting a virus here lord god we're still battling cancer here lord god somebody's dealing with ms and lupus and heart disease and my great headaches got healed all over the land oh god somebody's stretching out in faith to you right now heal of god being unto them according to their faith oh god see your children right now o lord give grace to those who are caregivers the care providers the ones who are maybe even suffering in silence lift them up encourage their hearts give strength to their spirits revive their souls oh god pray for our children and youth lord i pray for the young people who especially those who train to live right would you remember the ones who know your word and they're trying to live according to your word and they get picked on and they get ostracized but i'm praying oh god that you give them power in the name of jesus remember oh god the parents who are trying to lead and guide them in the way they should go give them grace and wisdom lord you gave them the gift to steward to to nurture to support give them the wisdom the discernment and the grace to lead them in the way that they should go god i pray for those who are in very tight and strange circumstances my god our health care professionals oh my god our governmental leaders locally and nationally god i pray for the men and women who are making decisions that affect our lives lord lead them and guide them and give them wisdom and discernment and if if any place in any way they are not leaning on you lord rope them in oh my god put your hand on them anyhow turn the heart of the king the leaders o god is it's in your hand it's in your hand you can turn in any which way you so desire to accomplish your kingdom purposes lord we pray we humble ourselves right now and ask you to heal the land change our minds change our hearts oh god some things that you you only you only can do it oh god it's not going to be by law or legislation it's going to be by the law of the spirit changing us from the inside god i pray for the men and women who lead your flock every pastor every every bishop every every leader assigned to a place to care for your people major decisions are being made god we need your discernment we need to hear your voice we need you to order our steps we need you to make it clear which way we should go we've never been in a season like this we don't know what to do but our eyes are on you oh god uh we fix our gaze on you oh god preach through your preachers oh god that there'll be a prophetic word in the earth we don't need the regular the same old same old we need to hear from the lord god almighty speak lord and your servants are listening saturate us oh god fill us again with your presence your spirit we need you in these days we need you like never before god oh god oh god we need you to lead us and guide us we need you to honor our steps we need you god to light the pathway before us and we will follow we will follow we will follow for every person lord right now that has extended their heart and their hand and their their spirit to you o god and spoken some things that only you know about and only you can handle hear our prayer oh god we trust you lord we declare today we'll trust you we trust you we'll trust you to take us by the hand we'll trust you to carry us through we'll trust you oh god to do what only you can do now we give you praise o god not just because we are closing this prayer moment but because you're worthy not not not just because we know you to be faithful but we know faithful you will ever be not not just because we got a track record with you but because we know that you never turn or change there is no shadow of turning with you so we give you praise now for what is yet on the way we give you praise and glory now because we know when we pray according to your word when we pray according to your will we will have what we ask of you in prayer and so we thank you in advance have your way o god have your way in jesus mighty name we ask it all amen and amen [Music] me me [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh with me [Music] yes [Music] me [Applause] [Music] [Music] good day beloved family of god the word of god for this days of worship comes from acts chapter 1 verse 12 to 26 the niv translation then the apostles returned to jerusalem from the hill called mount of olives a sabbath day's walk from the city when they arrived they went upstairs to the room where they were staying those present were peter john james and andrew philip and thomas bartholomew and matthew james son of alphaeus and simon the zealot and judas son of james they all joined together consistently in prayer along with the women and mary the mother of jesus and his brothers in those days peter stood up among the believers a group numbering about 120 and said brothers and sisters the scripture had to be fulfilled in which the holy spirit spoke long ago through david concerning judas who served as a guide for those who arrested jesus he was one of our number and shared in our ministry with the payment he received for his wickedness judas bought a field there he failed headlong his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out everyone in jerusalem heard about this so they called that field in their language a kildema that is field of blood for said peter it is written in the book of psalms may his place be deserted let there be no one to dwell in it and may another take his place of leadership therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the lord jesus was living among us beginning from john's baptism to the time when jesus was taken up from us for one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection so they nominated two men joseph called bar sabbas also known as justice and matathias then they prayed lord you know everyone's heart show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry which judas left to go where he belongs then they cast lots and the lot fell to marathias so he was added to the 11 apostles thus ends the reading of the word of god thanks be unto god [Music] just a closer walk with me jesus if you please [Music] i am weak but thou art sworn jesus keep me from all wrong [Music] and that is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] me if [Music] [Music] oh yes come on saints look at your [Music] voices [Music] will be no more i [Music] [Music] singing this song [Music] with me [Music] me [Music] [Music] day [Music] is me oh yes god that's what i want jesus that's what i want hallelujah come on put your hands together [Music] in your [Music] yes [Music] [Music] yes [Music] i'm in the lord's army i'm going into battle and i've got the victory my weapon's on that corner it's in my praise i'm pulling down strong hulk come on [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] is yes is is no no oh hallelujah [Music] [Music] is [Music] is it won't [Music] jesus hallelujah hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah this is the day that the lord has made and we've come to rejoice and be glad in it we've come to celebrate the fact that whatever this week threw at you it was imperiled impotent ineffective because of the power of god that just means it won't work no weapon formed against us shall prosper and we've come to praise almighty god as a consequence of his great greatness his power his authority and the work of him in our lives we've come to worship the lord this day we pray that the spirit of the lord permeates your atmosphere even as it does in this place we thank god that you are worshiping with us on this lord's day we know that you could have gone virtually anywhere so we're so glad that you chose to worship with us at wheeler avenue baptist church we're uh the avenue everywhere where wheeler wherever so we thank god that you are tuned in virtually we pray that you would be blessed if it's your very first time worshiping with us we want to hear from you let us know that you're a part of our streaming congregation on this day and we would be the better we're going to serenade you now with the selection so you know just how delighted we are that you opted to worship with the family of faith at wheeler avenue baptist church you my sister you my brother are welcome to the avenue [Music] we welcome you to oh and all we do [Music] we welcome [Music] victory experience everything that the lord [Music] come back you are most certainly welcome at wheeler avenue baptist church and we honor the lord this third sunday of the month of may for the wonderful privilege that each of us has to worship the lord wherever we are in our several spaces we're so grateful that we can worship the lord in the beauty of god's holiness and in his presence there is fullness of joy so i hope that you're experiencing the joy that comes from being in the presence of the lord right where you are to god be the glory for all of the great things that our god has done already in worship today thank god for these magnificent musicians and singers who have lifted us on the wings of song and we thank god for these preachers who have prayed for us let us in the scripture reading and have welcomed us into the virtual presence of the lord and i'm so grateful for the opportunity now to look forward to the great things that god will continue to do through the ministry of wheeler avenue baptist church we're in revival season and what a season it has been wednesdays in the word have been absolutely phenomenal and we thank god for all of the great things that god has done for us as we have welcomed back to wheeler avenue both dr clayton lee and dr f bruce williams both of them have blessed us in phenomenal ways and we thank god for the word of god that has come forth from their lips now this coming wednesday the reverend pastor h.b charles will be with us all the way from florida and we're excited that he has consented to return and share with us it's been a few years since he's been with us but i'm so grateful uh that god has is ordering his steps back to wheeler avenue baptist church and we look forward to what god will say through him to us this coming wednesday evening and then friday and saturday is our social justice conference friday and saturday social justice conference justice rising faith dismantling injustice it's going to be a great time as we listen to one another as we share with one another as we hear how we might continue the fight for social justice for all of god's people and i hope that you will share with us now listen you have to register for this conference and when you register you need to know that space is limited so you need to register as quickly as possible today would be a good time to register go on to our website and you can register there but know that the spacing is limited because of what we're trying to accomplish so we will not be able to uh just keep the registration open indefinitely we need you to register until all spaces have been filled and then we will make sure that we have a great time together and it will not be streamed so please please register as soon as you possibly can and that will be a blessing to us and i know that the conference will be a blessing to you as we welcome to wheeler avenue baptist church the reverend doctor senator raphael warnock amen we're praising god for his reception to our invitation we likewise want to know let everyone know that we're excited about all of the 2021 graduates it's graduation season and we're excited about those who have completed their courses of study and as you complete your course of study and prepare for graduation we want all of those who are graduating from the youngest to the eldest to know that we will have what is known as a grad a virtual graduation and when we have that virtual graduation you're invited to send in a video letting us know who you are from whence you are commit commencing and be prepared to uh we will be prepared to put all of that together and be sure to have a great virtual graduation the reverend richard boone our minister uh to uh youth and college students will be assembling that making sure that it is prepared for us and we're looking forward to that go to the website for more information and you will be a part of that uh that virtual graduation that is to come i want you to be in prayer with us this coming wednesday morning as is our custom we will be in prayer you are keeping us above our 2021 number and we thank you so much this past wednesday we had 2086 persons and call in for prayer and we're so grateful that god continues to energize our church through the power of prayer we're praying at 6 00 a.m and 6 p.m every wednesday and then of course we'll be in revival worship at 7 p.m i want to congratulate a few people right quickly i know this list is not exhaustive but i have received this information over the past couple of weeks and i do want to celebrate with a couple of our members not the least of whom is dr antonio tillis dr antonio tillis has been named chancellor of rutgers university in camden and we're so excited that our brother beloved is now going to go and serve there he has been at university of houston at both campuses and i'm so grateful um that he is now making his way to rutgers it's going to be our loss but it's going to be rutgers gain and we uh we celebrate you dr tillis and may god bless you as you go and uh late well early in the pandemic i mentioned to you that we have to use this time that we've been isolated and quarantined in a very positive and progressive way i even referenced writing books and buying houses there was that text in jeremiah chapter 29 i said be productive be productive and so many of you took me up on it i'm so grateful that sister elizabeth habit and brother jd oliver have recently published new books and we are grateful that that book and those memoirs from those individuals are being provided to us god bless you the habit god bless you brother jd i hope that you all can make make my major productivity as a consequence of those new books we likewise want to celebrate with dr rita walker who is being honored for her work in mental health awareness is mental health awareness month and she is continuing to help us uh to be aware of how we might be better suited in our mental health and so we're certainly grateful that god is blessing all of these members of our congregation they're winning awards they're writing books they're doing great things they're starting businesses so much is going on in this season of quarantine and i thank god that you can prosper in a pandemic let the church say amen you can prosper in a pandemic amen well church family it's offering time and we're excited about giving to the lord we are excited about giving to the lord and now as we give we get our you our devices in our hands and as we use them uh we honor the lord with the tithe and with the offering and with the gifts to the building effort it is the third sunday of the month and every third sunday for the last several years we've had commitment sunday it's when we make a pointed effort to give our gifts to the work of the building effort and so we're so grateful that each of you has done that and we're delighted that we have a wonderful building that has emerged that has been constructed and the the christian education complexes a complex rather is continuing to um to be uh be fitted inside and now that it has been already constructed outside and so there's so much that is going on at wheeler avenue baptist church because of your commitment to stewardship in this place thank you so much i cannot thank you enough may our god continue to bless you as you continue to bless god's church and then we give to missions and mercy we want to make sure that sisters and brothers who are disenfranchised and dispossessed and aren't quite prospering during this pandemic can make some headway because wheeler avenue baptist church is here to assist that's what we do and i hope that you will help us to help somebody else as we give in this day's offering and i want to pray that all that we give will be consecrated to the lord so that he might expand it and multiply it for the building of the kingdom of god here in the earth let's pray together gracious god how we do give you thanks for all the great things that you continue to do for each and every one of us today we honor you for the privilege of worshiping you through these tithes and offerings and we pray that as you receive them from our hands through these devices that your name will be glorified in all of the earth because of the work that wheeler avenue baptist church shall do with these gifts these offerings these tithes that your people shall give i pray in the name of jesus that no one will go lacking as a consequence of what they give today but that you will return to your sons and daughters as you see fit so that we will always have the testimony of our elders that we can't beat god giving no matter how we try here it is we thank you for victory in our finances in jesus name amen let's worship the lord through our giving as the ministry of music works helps us to worship the lord through song and prepare us for the word of god [Music] lord you are good you've been so good lord you are good you've been better than good i can't praise you enough i owe you my life i can't praise you enough even if i try lord you've been so good [Music] lord you are good you've been so good [Music] [Music] to me [Music] you've [Music] oh to me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is oh [Applause] god [Music] so many times [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] right now oh many doors [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] you've been better than i've been to [Music] myself [Music] [Music] [Applause] somebody know that the lord he's been better than you then you've been to yourself he's been good to you in the middle of the path [Music] god lord we lift our voices [Music] [Music] so good you've been so good jesus you've been so good to me [Music] he's open so many ways he's made so many times he's here too he's been better come on [Music] times [Music] [Music] to me thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you jesus [Music] if we were all together i would probably ask a question like has the lord been good to you and all around the church everyone would exclaim in the affirmative that the lord has been good i like the way this song suggests he's been better than good to me been better than good to me and i thank god for his extreme goodness in our lives extreme goodness he's the god who does exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think that's what better than good ought to look like in your life and we thank god for being better than good to us in the name of the lord jesus amen listen we're in this series this season i've been asking us to prepare for pentecost we're preparing for pentecost that's the exp expression of god through the holy spirit who births the church into existence we're preparing for pentecost it's next sunday next sunday is pentecost sunday the 50th day after the resurrection of the lord jesus christ when the holy ghost comes and the church is birthed into existence we're excited about preparing for pentecost so we've been walking through since the resurrection celebration we've been walking through what happened in that meantime experience between resurrection and pentecost and i want to look now at this last impartation of the scripture that lets us know what was going on between resurrection sunday and pentecost sunday you heard dr dinkins read to you from acts chapter 1 verses 12 through 26. i want to look at those last verses verses 23 through 26 as we prepare for pentecost on this sunday the new international version translates the greek new testament like this chapter 1 verse 23 of the book of acts so they proposed two men joseph called barsabbas also known as justice and matthias then they prayed lord you know everyone's heart show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry which judas left to go where he belongs then they cast lots and the lot fell to matthias so he was added to the 11 apostles that's enough amen praise god for his holy word those of you who are standing here in the lord's house you may be seated as well as those who choose to be seated in your house so they proposed two men joseph called by sabbas also known as justice and matthias then they prayed lord you know everyone's heart show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry which judas left to go where he belongs then they cast lots and the lot fell to matthias so he was added to the 11th that's a lot going on in those verses verse 23 says they proposed two men another translation says they nominated they nominated two men verse 24 says then they pray verse 26 says then they cast lots and the lot fell to matthias so he was added to the 11th apart so they proposed in verse 23 they nominated and then verse 24 they prayed then they prayed after they proposed and then they cast lots after they did all that and matthias was added to the 11 apostles i want to talk today from the subject why we need the holy ghost why why we need the holy ghost it's almost time the promise of the father to send the gift of the holy spirit is about to be fulfilled the advocate is on his way another comforter another counselor the one who is to guide us into all truth is on his way it's almost time for the church to be filled with the presence and the power of the holy ghost it's almost time it's almost time for the church to be birthed into existence everybody's going to experience some powerful move of god on that 50th day after the resurrection it's almost time for us to experience what the lord christ said to peter when he says upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it it's almost time but it's not time it's not yet time for them to experience what they've heard so much about it's not yet time for them to to embody the presence of the holy spirit it's not yet time and so they're in this mean time experience they're in this waiting season they're in this season that to be sure must be uncomfortable you know how long 50 days can feel it can feel like an eternity when you're waiting on something special to occur in your life and so they're in this mean time experience there in this waiting season and in this mean time experience it's almost time but it's not time so in the meantime the disciples these 11 remaining ones who walked with the lord jesus christ decide they have a bright idea to move ahead with the process of apostolic succession they believe they have a good idea they are led by the one who is supposed to be the leader at this time his name is peter and peter is the one who is intended to give leadership when the time comes is almost time but it's not quite time but in the meantime these disciples get antsy and they feel they know what's best to be done in this season this waiting season can move you to do things you didn't intend to do or weren't instructed to do and so in this season of waiting anticipating they are they have now decided that they are going to fill the spot that was left by judas they have 11 apostles now but they understand from the old testament even through the words of jesus that they have to have 12 individuals to ensure that they are able to fulfill the prophecy of preaching to and ministering to the 12 tribes of israel they understand that they have to have this 12th individual and so they are deciding amongst themselves to fill the position that was left by judas if you were listening to dr dinkins as he read you heard him say that they through peter stood up who stood up and began to spout some scripture and say we got to fill the position we've got to make sure that there are 12 apostles and so when he does that they fill the position watch how it happens did you hear it verse 23 they proposed they nominated and in verse 24 they prayed and in verse 26 they cast lots they voted yeah like the republicans this past week they voted wasn't a good vote then wasn't a good vote this week but they voted and as a consequence of voting the bible says that the lot was had fallen to matthias matthias they nominated justice and matthias and by the time they finished voting casting lots which was something that was traditionally done from the old testament to be sure by the time they finished casting lots the bible says that the lot fell to matthias and the last phrase of verse 26 the last phrase of chapter one goes like this so matthias was added to the eleven apostles and that's the last time you hear anything about matthias after you hear what happened in verse 26 you never hear one more thing about matthias because matthias was not the choice of jesus because matthias was not the one that the lord had led them was going to lead them to incorporate into the apostolic successors matthias was not the man you never hear another word about either justice or matthias in all of the rest of recorded scripture because the holy ghost didn't lead them to choose matthias and today my brothers and sisters i want to suggest on this third sunday this sunday right before pentecost sunday that you and i need the holy ghost in times like these i want to suggest that you and i need the presence the power of the holy spirit of god to fill our lives and to lead our lives so that we might be in alignment with the will and way of god for our lives i want to suggest that if you don't want to find yourself in the same place as these individuals where nothing else is said about you then it might be a good idea to hook up with the holy ghost of god and begin to move at god's command i submit church family that we have to understand the significance of the holy spirit in our lives we've got to understand the significance of the holy spirit yes these are the men that jesus christ has deputized to be his apostles the 11 but not this 12th man and i suggest to you this sunday that sometimes we want to engage divine authority before we've been empowered with divine ability i said that sometimes we want to engage divine authority before we've been empowered with divine ability and whenever you engage divine authority without being empowered with divine ability you're going to find yourself in a mathias situation where nothing else is said about you where everything about your circumstance is erased from the history books i want to suggest today my church family that we need the holy ghost and not it's not just a good idea to have the holy ghost it's not just a novel thought to have the holy ghost it's not just something that on certain denomination needs i submit that every believer every child of god needs the holy ghost and may i submit that we need the holy ghost for several reasons i can't exhaust the list of why we need the holy ghost in this little 30-minute message but may i suggest that we need the holy ghost first of all so we won't move too soon we we need the holy ghost church family so we won't move too soon ah we won't we won't get out ahead of god we won't move too soon i know i know it's been two weeks since we were in the book of acts at chapter one but if you can remember back two weeks ago we looked at the first half of chapter one and when we looked at the first half of chapter one we found out that when jesus met with these men and women for the final time before he was taken up into heaven we found out that jesus said verses four and five wait in jerusalem until you get empowered with the holy ghost until the gift my father has promised has come to you i want you to wait in jerusalem don't you move don't you go anywhere don't you make any decisions until you get the power of the holy ghost he says i want you to wait right there until you get the gift that the father has promised and by the time we get to verse eight the preachers made me preach verse eight on the second on the first sunday of the month and by the time you get to verse eight jesus makes it clear you will receive power after the holy ghost has come upon you and then you will be my witnesses in jerusalem judea samaria and until the uttermost parts of the earth oh child of god i need you to hear me when i tell you timing is everything to god timing is everything to god that's why over and over again in scripture you'll hear phrases like this in the fullness of time that's why over and over again in scripture jesus makes statements like when the time comes when my time comes because we have to understand that timing is everything to god because if you get out ahead of god you might your progress you might mess up the next season of your life or be completely erased and nobody knows anything else about you timing is everything to god he says stay right there until you receive the gift that my father has promised oh child of god did you hear what jesus said he said stay right there until the time is right notice notice dr dinkins notice what he did not say he did not say take it upon yourself to nominate two men he did not say decide what church governance ought to look like for the next season of this ministry he did not say choose some folk that you think fit your criteria he did not say determine for yourselves what my will is and what my plan is he did not tell them do whatever you feel like doing it's your thing do it he did not tell them that he said stay there till you get some power and church family i want to make sure that you and i get the holy ghost of god in our lives so that we won't move too soon we won't get out ahead of god and mess up the plan of god for our lives can i ask a critical question on this sunday how many of you have ever gotten out of here to god i know i know you wouldn't want to testify about it if you were sitting around all the church folk but since you're in the house with just one two or three of y'all around there let me ask the question when do you remember the last time you got out ahead of god yeah yeah yeah you moved too soon yeah you married too soon i saw that shoulder of the night's daughter and you did something that did not please god you moved too soon you married too soon you mouthed off too soon you did that which did not honor the lord because you weren't being led by the lord did you hear the hymn this morning lead me guide me along the way for if you lead me i shall not stray yeah yeah so my brothers and sisters we've got to be real careful that we get the holy ghost of god in our lives and that we that we make sure that the holy ghost of god instructs us and directs us so we won't move too soon so so we won't mouth off too soon so we won't make too many mistakes too soon that's that's where this text leads me they've chosen they've chosen these guys that they nominated you did you hear them they nominated justice and matthias and then they prayed about it and then your bible says they they they they cast lots they voted for brother may matthias and he was added to the eleven and nothing else is said about him because they moved too soon ah and so i submit my brothers and sisters that you and i need the holy ghost so we won't move too soon but may i suggest in the second place that you and i need the holy ghost watch this so we won't make bad choices yeah so we won't make bad choices um i'm still in your bible i haven't left it yet but if you were reading with dr dinkins you know that in verse 21 he began to read something that is very unique to me i want to look at what what he said in verse 21 it says therefore it is necessary for us to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the lord went in and out among us and so they they they chose for themselves it's necessary for us to choose and then they proposed to men then they prayed then they cast lots do you see what's happening here they they they set up the criteria this is this is what we need for this apostolic succession and after they set up their own criteria then they proposed these two guys these are nice guys i think they fit the bill and let me be clear i'm pretty sure matthias and justice are goodfellas i'm not going to take anything off of them they just were not the choice of jesus yeah and so we got to be real careful uh that we don't do the wrong thing the right way got to make sure we don't make bad choices even when we feel like we're going in the right direction and so they chose they set up their own criteria and then they proposed nominated then they prayed and then they cast lots now now they they proposed then they prayed oh my now that you know that's a problem all by itself don't you they they they said these are the guys who are best suited for this work and then watch their prayer listen to their prayer verse 24 says then they prayed lord you know everyone's heart show us which one of these two you have chosen hold up wait a minute flag on the play something man right they just chose these guys and then they're gonna try to make their prayer retrofit a choice from god now this doesn't make much good sense to me god has not had anything to do with their selection process heretofore they did everything themselves and maybe i'm talking to somebody who knows good and well that you made some choices and then ask god to bless your choice is there anybody in here who can testify i made some decisions i've made some choices and then i was like all right god now i need you to bless this mess that i just made is there anybody who knows that there are some seasons when we have to be real careful with our choices they it's interesting to me that they are going to choose the 12th man it's intriguing to me it's intriguing what qualifies them to choose the 12th man dr janella what qualified them they didn't choose the other 12. they didn't choose the fellas who had been originally selected so what qualifies them to make this choice of the 12th individual jesus says don't bring me into your stuff when you all the way down the road you made all these decisions and now you want me to bless the mess you made yeah here it is he he he he he he now decides to pray i'm okay with him i praise god that they pray we ought to pray but my brothers and sisters don't make the first thing the second thing you ought to lead with prayer you don't follow up your decisions with prayer you lead with prayer god if you don't tell me what to do i won't know what to do god if you don't guide me i will just stand right here until you do god if you don't talk to me i don't know anybody else to talk to i need 10 or 12 people who can testify that the holy ghost knows how to lead us and guide us that's why the bible says even when we make bad choices he's the one who convicts us he convicts oh may i please tell you you can recover from your mistakes i said you can recover from your mistakes pentecost sunday is going to be proof positive that peter who was a repeat offender recovered from his mistakes oh is there anybody who can thank god that your mistakes don't have to outlive you is there anybody who can testify that god will make you live long enough to recover from the mess you made yes lord yes lord yes lord and so i guess i need to ask the question have you ever made some choices that you knew good and well you didn't need to make that you shouldn't have made you you can look back over your life testified chose the wrong job chose the wrong school chose the wrong mate but i'm so grateful that god gave me the opportunity to recover somebody say recover oh that's the blessed gift of the holy ghost the holy ghost gives us the opportunity to recover because he convicts us and then we can make some decisions that are better suited for the will of god for our lives so we need the holy ghost i'm not suggesting that that he's a good option for your life i'm not suggesting that the holy ghost might be something you want to look into by the time you get to retirement years no i'm saying right now you need the holy ghost need the holy ghost we make too many silly mistakes we need the holy ghost we can't operate without him resident in our lives so so you need him you need the holy ghost need the holy spirit so you won't move too soon we need the holy spirit so we won't we won't make bad decisions bad choices yeah and i close now when i tell you we need the holy ghost watch this so we won't miss the lord's will we need the holy ghost so we won't miss the lord's will um uh it's obvious from the text that matthias was not the lord's will how do you know that how you know that because once you read verse 26 of chapter one we never hear another word about mathias as a matter of fact watch this past aj you never hear another thing about casting lights jesus like i'm setting up my church and i'm not going to give you the option of messing it up they never cast lots again in all of new testament scripture it's done it worked for a season but seasons change i've been telling you all that all pandemic it worked for a little while but that was then come on help me somebody this is now there and and god says i'm doing a new thing do you not perceive it can't you tell this ain't the same old same old i didn't have you stuck in 15 months of quarantine for you to go back to doing it the same way you've always done it i'm doing a new thing you should have taken this time to seek me and know me and get intimately acquainted with me so you could hear my voice and move at my command i'm doing something different next chapter will be at pentecost that no one ever experienced before they had been doing pentecost from the old testament but the pentecost of chapter 2 will not ever be the same kind of pentecost that they have been used to experiencing no it won't be that because god is doing a new thing oh my goodness god is up to something i wish you could feel it like i feel it i wish i could tell you the way i'm experiencing it god is doing something and we want to be open we want to be receptive to whatever god is up to in this season don't go back to what he pulled you from and here is jesus saying that messiah's a good man he's a good guy i mean he's fella he's been with me for a while you've been walking with us for a long time he's seen some things he's experienced some things but he's not the man for this job he's not the guy for this assignment he's not the guy for this dispensation that's the little churchy word he's not the guy for right now and uh um so so it is not until you get to acts chapter 9 reverend richard boone the fourth that you find out what the will of god is for the 12th man uh yeah now now you got to go an extended period of time because some god sometimes god has to make us wait yeah it just takes time that's what we said it just takes time for the revelation to come to fruition it just takes time and so they are waiting not chapter one not chapter two when this explosive moment of pentecost takes place not chapter three when peter and john are doing the work that they've been tasked to do not chapter four five six seven or eight it is not until chapter nine that we're introduced to a guy that most folk would not hire for the job it is not until we get to chapter 9 that we find out who the will of god what the will of god is and who he's going to impersonate embolden to do the work that he's called upon him to do and when we find out who he is we learn that he's a guy who's been persecuting the church he's a guy who's been trying to take christians out anybody following the way he wants to persecute them kill them he has been known to hold the clothes and garments of individuals while people were beating them down and martyring them in the streets he's been known for ensuring that nobody who follows the way had a chance to make it past him he is a persecutor of the church he's throwing him in jail for knowing jesus and loving jesus and calling on the name jesus he he makes sure that anybody who says that name finds some trouble and some challenge in their path and that's the man that the lord said is the man for my for this season he he's the one who is according to my will now this this doesn't makes good sense to most people as a matter of fact by the time we find him in chapter 9 jesus sees him on the damascus road and he's on the damascus road headed headed headed to persecute some christians he's on his way to make sure that this process of christian development and expansion does not continue and jesus knocks him off his horse he blinds him he says saul saul that's what his old name was why do you persecute me and by the time he gets up off the ground he is blinded the scales are on his eyes he cannot see but god guides him to a place that is down the road of peace and he tells a man named ananias go down there and find saul of tarsus and i want you to lay your hands on him cause he is my will this doesn't make sense lay your hands on him he is my will he's the one i've chosen now you got to understand ananias puts up some pushback he says no jesus you must not mean that guy he's been persecuting the church he's been doing everything he was big and bad enough to do to make sure that the christians did not continue to flourish and thrive and jesus says to him that's my man as a matter of fact by the time you get to acts chapter 9 at verse 15 he says to ananias this man he is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the gentiles and to their kings and to the people of israel you mr xu let me give it to you again jesus says listen here i know he doesn't fit your qualifications i know he's not according to your standards i know his baggage is so significant that you would never choose him to do the apostolic service that i'm calling him to do but watch the words that jesus uses this man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the gentiles and to their kings and to the people of israel he says the passion the zeal that this man has to persecute the church i'm going to bathe it and baptize it and turn it around and use it for my glory you thought he was only good for nothing but he is good for something in the kingdom you thought it was just for evil but i'm going to turn it around and work it for good and is there anybody who's ever seen god do something like that in your life you've seen him take the ugly you've seen him take the nasty you've seen him taking the broken you've seen him take the mistakes and by the time he finished baptizing it and working on it it worked out for your good and for his glory by the time you get to verse 17 the bible says that ananias lays his hands on the man and when he lays his hands on the man the scales fall from his eyes he can see clearly now and then this is what he said received the holy ghost and the bible says in verse 17 that paul is filled with the holy ghost no longer saul of tarsus now he's paul the proclaimer now he's paul the preacher now he's paul the apostle and can i find 10 people in here who know good and well that that's something that has happened in your life that god found you in a state where you did not need to be well you should not have been but some kind of way he turned you around he paid you in his will he paid you in the holy spirit and the reason you rejoice the way you rejoice and worship the way you worship and serve the way you serve is because you recognize you should not have been chosen but it was the lord's will to choose you for such a time as this and when paul tells his testimony in first corinthians chapter 15 he says you need to understand he called me to be his apostle and i'm the least of the apostles i was a persecutor of the church i'm the last one who should have been chosen but here's his testimony by the grace of god i am what i am and can i find 10 people in the virtual space who can lift your hands to glory and tell god thank you that even though you didn't deserve it and your baggage was too significant and your mistakes were abundant that the lord chose you because it was his will to prove to somebody that nobody is beyond the grace of god that's what i've been trying to get to i said nobody is beyond the grace of god so don't you give up on that child don't you give up on that spouse don't you give up on those people because nobody no matter how bad they've been no matter how many mistakes they made i said nobody is beyond the grace of god and it is his will to save to the uttermost it is his will to redeem those who have been caught up in situations that they shouldn't have been caught up in it is his will to take the ones who are a long shot and do the work that needs to be done so they can lift up the name of jesus i don't know about you but i thank god that they were not the ones responsible for choosing the last man i know matthias was a good guy i believe justice was a good guy but i'm so grateful that god looked on the road to damascus and found saul of tarsus because it lets me know that no matter what state you're in god can turn your situation around and give you victory because that's his will is there anybody in here who can help me praise god that the will of the lord is that you shall be saved that the will of the lord is that you shall be redeemed that the will of the lord is that you shall be delivered that the will of the lord is that you shall prosper that the will of the lord is that you shall have victory even over adversity somebody somebody ought to thank god that the will of the lord is that i might be the head and not the tale that i might be above and not beneath that i might be the lender and not the borrower if you know that's the will of god for your life you ought to be rejoicing right where you are because the will of god is bigger than your mistake the will of god is bigger than somebody's opinion the will of god is bigger than your worst chosen chosen situation the will of the lord is what's best for you i heard the singer say the safest place in the whole wide world is in the will of god is there anybody listening who says let your will be done i don't like everything you call me to do but jesus said nevertheless not my will but thy will be done i feel i feel the power of the holy ghost i feel the fire of the living god that i'm grateful today that the will of the lord is able to lift you to redeem you to liberate you set you free i'm closing him down but i'll say yes lord yes to your will and to your way i'll say yes lord yes i will trust you and i'll obey when your spirit speaks to me with my heart i'll agree and my answer will be yes lord yes i've been trying here for these last few months to get an unqualified unrestricted yes from your lips i'm gonna try it one more again but i've been assigned to this work to make sure that the wheeler avenue church gives the lord an unqualified unrestricted unlimited yes i don't know how you're going to do it i don't know what you plan to do but anyway you bless me lord satisfied somebody somebody shout here [Music] yes lord yes though yes lord yes when i feel like it yes what i don't feel like if it's your will my answer is yes lord [Music] yes lord yes lord [Music] yes lord [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Music] i i [Music] with [Music] listen somebody may need to give his or her life to the lord jesus christ if you don't know the lord jesus as your personal savior if you're not connected to and committed to a congregation where you can grow and develop and mature and be productive in ministry and service we'd love to have you as a part of the family wheeler avenue baptist church we'd love to let you know just what it means to be a part of a loving community of christians not perfect but being perfected so we might please god in all that we seek to do if that's you my sister my brother i want you to email us at new members ministry at wheelerbc.org new members ministry at wheelerbc.org and we'll be in touch with you almost immediately to make sure that you understand what it means to be a christian who is a committed member of the wheeler avenue congregation sister brother i want you to email us right now because i want you to be connected to a group of brothers and sisters whether you can see them or not we're we will or wherever and wherever you are if you want to be connected to this family we want you to know that we love to love you care for you walk with you along the journey of discipleship we want you to give the lord right now right now an unqualified unrestricted yes and if you do that i promise you that he will make your life worth the yes if you're listening to me if you're watching me right now and you've never said yes to jesus christ you don't even know what that means email us we'll clear it up for you so you can be engrafted into the body of believers worldwide if you need a church home and you need somewhere where you can grow and mature and develop or you can be taught the word of god and you can live that word out with your bumps and bruises with your failures and faults if you want to live that word out in a community of brothers and sisters who will love you to life i want you to email us right there that email address that you see on the screen and as you do that you're giving the lord an unqualified unrestricted yes and i'm so excited about that and so we're going to sing this song one last time and we'll be ready to get on out of here and we'll make our way throughout the rest of the week i'll say yes lord yes i'll say yes i will trust you when your spirit speaks to me with my whole heart [Music] [Music] god's people said amen amen amen amen listen we're going to have a wonderful week this week and i hope that you'll be engaged in it involved in it participate in it we have revival on wednesday but that's not how our day starts our day starts in prayer yeah we're gonna start at 6am calling on the name of the lord 12 noon will be off because this is our revival month but at 6 pm we'll be right back in prayer calling on the name of the lord and at 7 pm we'll be in revival i hope that you will share with us in that regard the other announcements you'll see them in just a moment but we thank god for this wonderful experience to participate in the worship of our god who is worthy of our worship and our praise and as we leave from this place this day we praise god from whom all blessings [Music] flow praise him all creatures [Music] brings him above the heavenly hosts three and one [Music] and now may the lord our god bless you and keep you may the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you may the lord lift the light of his countenance upon you and give you his peace and you're going out and you're coming in your labor and in your leisure in your joy as well as in your sorrow and your laughter and likewise in your tears until that day when we meet the lord face to face and cry holy holy holy to the lord of hosts until that day my brothers my sisters go in peace go in love go enjoy and may the very god of peace love and joy go with you now and forevermore in jesus name as we all sing together with uplifted voices let the church sing amen ah god bless your church family have a great week until wednesday it's may and you know what that means it's revival time we've already been blessed by dr claiborne lee jr and dr f bruce williams and this week we're going to be blessed by pastor h.b charles senior pastor of the shiloh metropolitan baptist church in jacksonville and orange park florida lastly but certainly not least we'll hear the word from dr john r adolf senior pastor of the antioch baptist church in beaumont texas you won't want to miss this time of powerful word and worship as we're blessed by these dynamic preachers for our anniversary edition of wednesdays in the word morris care is a god-centered ministry it has as its foundation the word of god for the people of god the most important thing for you to know is that you are not alone the ministry is here to assist you in seeking the ways of god through what may seem like one of the most challenging circumstances of your life divorce care meets every monday at 8 pm through july 5th registration is available on the church website save the date mark your calendars for friday evening may 21st and saturday morning may 22nd as the social justice ministry of wheeler avenue presents justice rising faith dismantling injustice this two-day virtual forum will feature panels with prominent politicians community leaders and activists breakout sessions hosted by our ministry subcommittees and a dynamic keynote address that you won't want to miss given by u.s senator reverend dr raphael warnock look to be educated and elevated as we continue the mission of christ to put an end to oppression we believe justice rises when we use our faith to disrupt systems of injustice and oppression you can register for this event on the church website at wheelerbc.org forward slash events [Music] are you on the verge of branching out and starting your own business learning how to weather the cyclical nature of being a business owner or just looking for new ideas to re-energize your existing business well join the financial empowerment ministry on saturday may 22nd 2021 from 9 00 a.m until 2 p.m for entrepreneurial ship 2 0 1 from purpose to profit during this interactive virtual event we will explore topics like turning an idea into reality creating a business plan business finances and funding options marketing your business building a sales funnel leveraging global platforms and more to register visit our website and or contact empowerment at wheelerbc.org for more information attention graduating high school seniors it's now time to apply for the wabc educational grant and this year is completely online the application deadline is friday may 28 2021 at 5 00 pm a list of this year's educational grant requirements as well as the application can be found at www.wheelerbc for additional information please email reverend richard boone iv at rboone wheelerbc.org [Music] join the marriage ministry for spring pre-marital zoom sessions each second and fourth saturday at 10 a.m through june 26th please register at wheelerbc.org forward slash events there's so much taking place and we hope you stay connected for more information join us on flock note facebook instagram or twitter i'm bryan keach robertson ii and this has been your avenue news remember we are wheeler wherever it's

Channel: Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church

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Length: 106min 44sec (6404 seconds)

Published: Sun May 16 2021