8:30am Worship Service - Bishop RC Blakes, Jr. “EMPATHY, THE BASIC CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE”

[Music] [Music] your strength is made perfect in your weakness his power shows up in your pain [Music] he knows every test and trial you face he'll shelter you from the rain when your back's against [Music] oh his promises his mercies are new every day he knows what i need before i even ask his chris is sufficient when i stream when you don't understand remember god your struggles will soon be [Music] one by one time will run out before you're done look at all of the victories you've won if you did it back then he'll do it again his strength is made perfect in your weakness and this power shows up in your pain [Music] oh just hold on just hold on [Music] hold on my sister just hold on that it won't be long just hold only foreign it won't be see you through that's all you've got to do hold on [Music] and is are here in the new home family it's a new home family it's a positive place [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] positive place [Music] good morning and welcome to new home tv i'm lisa blakes and i'm excited again to welcome you to worship this morning would you take just a second and would you just invite someone to come and share with you as we get ready to go into a powerful worship services get your pens get your paper you know that bishop is going to give us some points that we need to take a note of and we are going to experience an amazing time today let's get ready to go into worship i love you [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] the psalmist says bless the lord o my soul and all that's within me bless his holy name and he says bless the lord o my soul and forget not all his benefits towards me and then another portion of the song the moment he said what shall i render unto god for all of his benefits towards me i believe i'm like the psalmist i've got to give him praise i've got to give him praise i owe him [Music] should be lifted for what he has done if we had ten thousand hands [Applause] [Music] should be raised giving god praise if we had one million voices [Music] [Music] [Music] 10 000 is [Music] is today come on is [Music] praise god is oh oh oh [Music] where would i be without you where would we be without you we owe you this place need to be lifted right where you are just begin to reach back and just open your mouth and give god the root of your lips today god is still good [Music] we couldn't raise them enough [Applause] [Music] [Music] and [Music] [Music] just raise it and just [Music] well good morning family good morning good morning good morning this is your pastor r.c blakes jr and i am so happy today to be able to share with you now i have um something that i need to talk about today um that is prophetically in sync with the times that we are in uh i think this is a pivotal time for the body of christ i think the the body of christ is being tested i i believe that the goats are being ship being separated from the sheep and this is a season and an hour that the true christians must stand up and what i want to talk about today is empathy the basic christian perspective in any situation if you're really saved if you're really in relationship with christ your perspective should always turn back to what is empathetic now we've seen in the news of late we've seen how the haitian refugees have been handled on u.s soil and i do understand that we are a nation of laws and i respect those laws i do understand that we have a process and i absolutely understand the process of entering this country but i cannot understand how we handle human beings as though they are cattle and then claim to be a christian nation and to hear some of you make excuses for that behavior instead of saying well there are laws there are processes that they must go through literally try to justify handling human beings as though they are cattle broke my heart because as believers if we are nothing else we must be empathetic and the definition of empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another when we get through with all of the legalities when we get through with all of the rules if i'm really saved i am able to put myself in a position where i can feel what you're feeling and i never want to get to a place as a human being that i cannot look beyond my own interest and not be able to say or not be interested rather in how must this make you feel when we do that we have moved far far far away from christ and with all of the the emphasis on the gifts of the spirit all of the emphasis on charisma if there's no love which is the engine of empathy it's all a waste of time if you look in hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16 it says for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities our weaknesses our struggles but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need the bible says that christ was touched with our feelings in other words he became empathetic to us watch this even though he did not relate to our condition you see you cannot minister to people you have no empathy for if i can't feel you if i can't put myself in a place where i can emotionally or psychologically feel you or consider your thoughts or your feelings from your perspective i'm not qualified to minister to you this is why when jesus came the bible says he came and made himself the friend of publicans and sinners i thought it was interesting that jesus came and intentionally connected himself to publicans and sinners and then i began to think it through did jesus ever go into an outrage an outburst of anger with sinners and i really couldn't find it but i did find where jesus went into an outrage relative to religious hypocrites he became the friend of those that he came to minister to you cannot minister to people you have no empathy for maybe this is why everybody's concerned about the church seeming to be in decline in the numbers are falling in in all of the churches black white all of the various denominations the numbers are falling maybe we can't minister to this generation maybe it's because we have become so religious we have disconnected from the heart of christ and maybe there's no longer any empathy in the church without empathy you'll be limited to people who look walk and talk just like you the main reason that our churches are so segregated is because black people don't put themselves in a position to connect with white people white people don't necessarily put themselves in a position to connect with black people so on sunday mornings we go to our own little cliques because we do not have the true heart of christ that crosses the out i don't know i don't know about you but i'm disappointed with the church at large because on both sides all races we have allowed politics to rule the day we may need to pull the cross down from in front of our buildings and maybe we need to put up donkeys or maybe we need to put up elephants because it seems as though our political interest trumps our biblical position responsibility obligation it seems as though we're no longer christ-centric and it seems as though now we are either uh liberal-centric or conservative-centric which at whatever that means on either side cold language in most cases but empathy empathy is the it is the heart of it is the basic christian perspective when i begin to move away from that which is empathetic and i no longer can touch or feel people i remember i was in a situation and i'll get to my points and i'll be done i remember i was in a situation where there was a heated discussion about race and you had people of my persuasion black people who were talking about the ills and the the struggles and then you had you know white people who were talking about how they couldn't understand it and they didn't relate to it and i was able to look beyond the language i was able to look beyond the actual discussion and the differences and as a black man i was able to look across the aisle and i was able to feel a white man who did not have any malice in his tone a white man who did not uh possess any racism but simply said i i don't i don't understand i'm not responsible i didn't i didn't i didn't do this i've never wanted to enslave anybody i've never wanted to oppress anybody and it was my empathy that helped me to connect with the heart of that man though he's not locked into my personal experience or my personal feelings i was able to step out of my situation and i was able to understand how he must feel when he hears language that may suggest that somehow he's responsible for the ills in the black community all i needed was for him to do the same and if if if he can step out of his situation and look across the aisle to understand or to feel me you don't even have to understand it just feel me and and and i feel you and i recognize that your feelings are legitimate and valid and you recognize that my feelings are legitimate invalid that's all we're looking for is just somebody to say your feelings are legitimate your feelings are valid that's all anybody's looking for presently because empathy has not ruled the day we have great people at odds because no one's training us anymore in the basic christian ethic of empathy that it's not always about you sometimes you have to step outside of yourself and look across the aisle and just intentionally connect with somebody's experience that you've not had and ask the holy spirit to help you to discern we discern everything else why can't we discern the feelings of one another how is it that i can do so much to hurt your feelings and claim to be a man of god and and never feel what i'm doing to you how can i crush you and not know i'm crushing you i have to be honestly if if i'm that kind of an individual and claim to be a christian and i'm doing things constantly to crush you and i never feel that i'm crushing you i have to be the opposite of what would be empathetic which would be narcissistic i have to lack the capacity to be to be empathetic whatsoever and i have to be fully and entirely immersed in my own selfish interest now number one empathy does not need to identify to relate empathy does not have to be in a person's position empathy makes you put yourself in their position and then empathy has you to ask yourself if i were there where they are how would i want to be treated it is empathy that makes a husband connect with the feelings of his wife he's never been a wife he'll never be a wife he's never been a mother he'll never be a mother he's never been a woman he'll never be a woman but if he's a man and if he's mature and if he's a man of god he has to possess the capacity to relate to the feelings of his wife if he's going to effectively be the head of that household because empathy does not need to identify to relate matthew chapter 7 and verse 12 says therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do you even sow to them for this is the law and the prophets when you check that thing out fuller you discover that the mosaic law contains a parallel commandment which states this whatever is hurtful to you do not do to any other person so before before i make statements before i [Music] pass judgment which i usually try not to judge anything before i make moves i ask myself now if i were them and they were me how would i want them to treat me especially when i'm in a position that is above them i handle my i handle my church family very gingerly and carefully because i'm in a position of authority i tried to handle my children wisely and carefully because especially when they were minors because i was always in a position of authority and so before i would say something or before i would do something or before i would refuse to do something i would ask myself now if if they were me and i were them how would i want them to handle me in this situation because empathy does not need to identify to relate number two empathy makes my brother's pain my pain you have a you have a very serious spiritual crisis going on if you can be the source of deep emotional and psychological or spiritual wounds in another person and not be concerned if you can say things and do things that breaks a person's soul and you can go home and you can just sleep like a log empathy makes my brother's pain my pain sometimes this you know just the spirit of empathy even when you are standing on your rights and watch this even when you're doing exactly what god commanded you to do your heart will still hurt for those that maybe came out on some end of the deal that did not leave them in a favorable position as a pastor sometimes i have to preach stuff it's just truth i have to preach it like it is and god tells me to say it and i have to say it and i have to obey god and though i feel fulfilled in obeying god there are many days i go home and my heart breaks because i know that some of the things i had to say hurt certain people ultimately the hurt is going to bring a healing and a repentance and a restoration but empathy makes my brother's pain my pain i can't see my brother hurt and not feel that when we truly operate with a christian conscience we don't only relate to our brother's feelings we also feel their pain first corinthians chapter 12 verses 25 and 26 it says that there should be no schism in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honored all the members rejoice with it whatever my brother's feeling i'm feeling because we're what one body not a black body not a white body not a hispanic body not an asian body not an in we're all one body and my brother's pain should resonate within me if i have the heart of christ any person or group you do not have empathy for empathy for you do not honestly view as brothers if i'm sitting here and you know and i i don't like white folks come on man am i saved no ma'am no ma'am if it doesn't matter as much because you know i'm i'm not i'm not i'm not white it doesn't matter so much you know i'm i'm not i'm not mexican it doesn't matter so much you know i'm not this or that any person or group you don't have empathy for you do not honestly view as brothers the text says that there we should have empathy that there should be no schism in the body you cannot seriously think that people are god's children and handle them maliciously and be authentically saved and i pause right there for a reason because i'm afraid that there are many of you who are not authentically saved because you got too much stuff that comes before the biblical precedent of empathy the christian precedent of empathy your politics comes before it your race comes before it and see if you caught up in your politics in your race you know you're not saved you're not under the influence of the holy spirit you're not you're religious toxic you you're practicing a toxic religion but you're not saved because your religion and your politics prevents you from seeing a white man as a brother or a black man as a brother the same people who cannot who do not express any empathy for these haitian brothers and sisters are the same people who would be outraged if that were uh a herd of dogs that someone was on a a horse with what seemed like some kind of whip corralling the dogs it would be an outrage it'll be a mass protest and you want me to sit here and you want me to say i understand i don't understand that i don't i understand we have laws and rules i get that part but i don't know how anybody can say they're saved born again and can try to justify that behavior first john 4 7 and 8 says beloved let us love one another for love is of god and everyone that loveth is born of god and knoweth god he that loveth not knoweth not god for god is love we know that you know god by the love you have for people not black people those of you that's trying to buy into this you know racial righteousness you you're righteous because you're black that's the same thing the clan did the clan said we're righteous because we're white it's the reverse it's the same coin you're righteous because you know jesus christ and when you know jesus christ there's a certain spirit that emanates from you that makes you love people nobody's gonna back me into no corner box me and you you're not gonna box me into these little boxes and make me no no no god called me god brought me into the world for people i love people i have friends of all ethnicities all around the world and then finally empathy does what is necessary to help there's sometimes that they're very tricky and i want you to hear this they're very tricky and delicate issues that i am asked many times to address and in a lot of cases i declined to address it because my words if i cannot see where my words can bring healing or help i will just be silent and pray because empathy does what is necessary to help there are a lot of things that i don't address because for me to address it will not make it better in a lot of cases it will make it worse because empathy does what is necessary to help empathy steps outside of me and it crosses the street it goes into my neighbor's house and it gets a panoramic view of how this particular thing may make my neighbor feel and listen to what the bible says in romans 15 1-2 we then that are strong or to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification do those things that will help if you can't help it be quiet pray about it don't pour gasoline on the fire because empathy always does what is necessary to help i'm reminded of a story that my father used to tell of a lady that was working to receive jesus she had seen jesus in the marketplace a few days prior and she said jesus will you come to my house for lunch and jesus said i sure will i'll be there about noon and so she was in her kitchen from nine in nine a.m in the morning and she was preparing and she cleaned the house up and she had the table set in about noon a little boy who had fallen and then bruised his knee knocked on her door and said ma'am ma'am i fell do you have a bandit bandage that i might be able to put on my knee the lady said little boy please get away from here i don't have time to put a bandage on your knee i'm waiting for jesus the little boy dropped his head and walked away crying about 12 15 a homeless man rung the bell and said well ma'am i'm i'm starving and i smell food coming out of your house may i have just a just a little bit and she said sir sir please don't ring my bell i don't have time to deal with the likes of you i'm waiting for jesus about 12 30 her mother called and her mother said may i i i have some medicine at the drugstore is there any way for you to be able to get in a nerves or bed at this time mama i told you that i'm waiting for jesus she said okay i apologize for calling you dear jesus never showed up one o'clock two o'clock three o'clock four o'clock finally she put the food away she was angry the next day she heard that jesus was going to be down in the town square teaching she went there angry and she said jesus i prepared all of that food and i went through all of that trouble waiting on you to show up and you never showed up she said wait a minute i showed up i showed up three times he said i showed up in that little boy at 12 o'clock i showed up in that starving man at 12 15. i showed up even as your mother mother at 12 30. you just didn't have a heart to receive me now my prayer for you is that when you get through all of this stuff that they got going on in this world and you get through all of this ridiculous politics we have going on in the united states of america you need to make certain for yourself that you're not turning jesus away and that your heart is right towards god and it's hard for you to prove that your heart is right towards god when our hearts are not right towards each other i hope you got something out of this listen family as we prepare to honor the lord today in our giving i want you to get the lord's tithe [Music] get the lord's tithe and i want every person today that will sow a 42 seed i want you to prepare that restoration seed [Music] and i want you to sow it corporately today i mean let us just sow this those of you who've never sown before i want you to sew this corporately today with us all of the giving mechanisms at the bottom of the screen use one of those those of you that are mailing you may mail your tithing and or your seed and let's honor the lord in our tithe with our tithe and with our offering today i know that there's some of you that need to really see god do some you know unbelievable things in your lives there's some things that do not happen until we put seed in the ground i want you today i want you to get your seed and i want you to sow it today in the name of jesus christ father i thank you for every person that is under the sound of my voice and now god as we prepare to honor you hallelujah as we prepare to honor you with our tithe and with our offering god i thank you now for breathing upon the seed and causing the seed to multiply i thank you for you know honoring the tithe and opening the windows of heaven pouring out the blessing that there will not be room enough for us to receive thank you for that now in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name now listen if you're in the city of new orleans today i want you to meet me for nine o'clock i'll be at our new home family worship center east new orleans location today for nine o'clock uh at our uptown location we have 10 30 service i want you to meet us for 10 30 at our uptown church in new orleans 1616 carondelet will be across the street at our 1605 address in the parking lot those of you in houston texas 11 a.m today 4805 sherman road i want you to meet first lady and pastor washington there today i'm looking forward to god blessing us in an un common way today and i want you to be a part of it those of you that have not seen in a long time i want you to make your way to church today so your pastor can put his eyes on you there's a blessing i want to leave on your life and i want you to know that i love you with all of my heart in my prayers that god will open up the treasures of his best blessings and pour them out upon you in jesus name god is going to give you strength for the journey no weapon formed against you will prosper every tongue that rises against you you shall condemn and the spirit of god will bless you in ways that will blow your mind and confuse your enemies i call you blessed today meet me today meet me today meet us today in one of these services and know that we love you god bless you until next time i'm your pastor r c blake saying to you once and again you're on top and you're going higher god has more in store for you god bless you my babies i'll talk to you soon family the word was awesome today i know it blessed your life so let's do this let's sow a seed into the man of god's life we can do that by sowing on the giblifie app new home family worship center you can sow into his personal cash app robert blakesjr his venmo rc blake's and of course on his own personal website rcblakes.com let's sow a seed you'll be blessed [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: New Home Family Worship Center

Views: 2,491

Rating: 4.9698114 out of 5

Keywords: New Home FWC, NHFWC, New Home Ministries, New Home Family Worship Center, RCBLAKES, SRBLAKES, SAMUEL BLAKES, SAMUEL R BLAKES, RC BLAKES JR, NEW HOME NEW ORLEANS, HENRY BOLDEN, HENRY W BOLDEN

Id: te0fHNi3peQ

Length: 51min 37sec (3097 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021