9-5-21 | Sunday Worship | 7AM

and mercy and the power of the blood i'm so glad that my freedom wasn't based on what i've done it's just goodness and mercy and the power of the blood it's his goodness is [Music] my freedom wasn't based on what i've done is is [Music] [Music] power in is blood it still kills today yes it does oh oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] i is is is oh beloved bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name bless the lord o my soul and forget that all his benefits who forgive us all thy iniquities who heal us all those and jesus we are they that have shifted our role in the lamb's blood and are overcomers by the word of our testimony we testify we glorify we magnify the lord is our life and our salvation whom shall we hear the lord is the strength of our life of whom shall we be afraid so let the redeemed of the lord say so whom is redeemed out of the hand of the enemy clap your hand all ye people and we shout unto our god with the voice of fire from the rising of the father to the going down of the thing his name is in the [Music] the blood i'm so glad that my freedom was not based on what i've done but his goodness and his mercy [Music] it was his goodness and his mercy it was his mercy [Music] it was [Music] it's this goodness and his mercy and the power of the blood i am so glad that my freedom it wasn't based on what i've done [Music] is [Music] that we are not consumed great [Music] is his [Music] faithfulness i don't know where you are but it's because of the lord's mercy [Music] that we are not consumed [Music] we have entered with a heart of worship whether you're in your home in your living room in your kitchen in the car [Music] won't you join us for prayer while we pray for names that are scrolling be mindful of his goodness be ever mindful of his mercy and be ever mindful that the blood that jesus shared for you and for me way back on calvary it has not lost one drop one ounce one millimeter of power it's the power of the blood so abba our father hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done even now on and in the earth as it is in heaven we come to you great i am we come to you great elyon we come to you great god humbled that even before the foundation of the world the lamb was flying so if you've been good to your people all around the world the blood still saves the blood still redeems the blood still sets free the blood still revives the blood still refreshes this blood we still rejoice you took the penalty of sin death and the grave and repurposed them you conquered them and now we are they that testify that it's because of your power now around the world we need you wars and rumors of wars floods hurricanes tornadoes fires pandemic and panic in the land mental anguish trump tremors of trauma so much is pulling at our minds but you said you would keep us in perfect peace if we kept our minds staying on thee so even in this moment no matter situation nor circumstance i thank you that there is still a name that's above every other name in that land in this land and we call on that name so now by the power in the name of jesus surely there are many things that we can pray about surely there are many things we can ask you for but right now god in the presence of your holiness i pray that we would shout that sweet name that blood saving name that joy given name that humble name that precious name the name of jesus for there is no other name given amongst men whereby which we must be saved say the name jesus christ of nazareth son of the living god so in that name throw your weight around in that name bless us with your presence in that name same houses save hearts save hands in that name we bless you receive our worship receive our adoration receive us and our offerings in the name of jesus hallelujah and amen [Music] we love you jesus we love you jesus because you first loved us and yet while we were yet sinners christ died word of god says for the glory set before him hallelujah [Music] how we love [Music] yes we love you [Music] jesus we love you [Music] [Music] love [Music] oh how we love you are the ones [Music] jesus [Music] oh [Music] [Music] that's the posture of your heart sing it since [Music] [Music] come on open up your heart and cry out everything we are [Music] are [Music] this is the song from the heart of the worshiper jesus [Music] you have an adventure [Music] [Music] [Music] poured [Music] jesus oh and there's nothing that can change [Music] [Music] greetings brothers and sisters please join me in today's scripture reading found in first corinthians chapter 11 verses 23-34 the new revised standard version for i received from the lord what i also handed on to you that the lord jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body that is for you do this in remembrance of me for in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the lord's debt until he comes wherefore whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable to the body and blood of the lord examine yourselves and then only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup for all who eat and drink without discerning the body eat and drink judgment against themselves for this reason many of you are weak and ill and some have died but if we judged ourselves we would not be judged but when we are judged by the lord we are disciplined so when we come together would not be condemned along with the world pardon me so then my brothers and sisters when you come together to eat wait for one another if you are hungry eat at home so that when you come together it will not be for your condemnation about the other things i will give instructions when i come let us pause for a moment of meditation for as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes amen [Music] years i spent in vanity and [Music] he died foreign i had is yeah oh now i've given to jesus [Music] one day it's gonna sing [Music] oh the grace that brought it down god [Music] yes my gosh oh yeah [Applause] hallelujah thank god for the cross of calvary we thank god for this lord's day this first sunday of the month of september this first sunday of this church year we thank god for each of you who worships with us as we worship our one true living god this great savior of ours who has given to us mercy that was so great that is so great and grace that was free thank god for the sacrifice of our savior we pray that right where you are you're worshiping us with us you're praising our great god thanking god on this day for jesus christ who died that we might have life we thank god for the blood on this first sunday we praise god for your presence and pray that you would let us know where you're tuning in from we want to hear from you but we want to keep praising god on this lord's day so let's worship the lord in the beauty of thank holiness one minute [Music] have you listened to the words have you listened to the words have you heard what the singers have been singing have you been singing it you want to know what happened at calvary mercy was there and it was great for every one of us grace was given to us free of charge pardon was multiplied to all of us we ought to thank god every time we get a chance for what happened at calvary somebody today who still appreciates the work that was finished at calvary ought to celebrate the fact that you have redemption through jesus christ and it was given at calvary mercy mercy then was great and grace was free pardon there was multiplied to me at calvary there my burden soul found liberty yes yes come on come on [Music] pause your eating and sing pardon them put the phone down and shake my burden somebody ought to thank god for galilee that calvary everybody right there right there was multiplied one last time one last time everybody everybody everybody [Music] somebody thank god for calvary somebody thank god for the cross somebody thank god for that good friday afternoon somebody thank god that it is finished and that we are now redeemed by the blood of the lamb somebody thank god for calvary thank you lord [Music] time i think about calvary my soul gets happy and i tell the lord thank you [Music] [Music] [Applause] somebody ought to celebrate the fact that your soul got saved at calgary your sins were washed away at calvary he took your place at calvary yeah salvation was secured at calvary somebody somebody's about it thank god for the finished work of jesus christ that was done at council we say it over and over again but may i remind you he was wounded for our transgressions at calvary he was bruised for our iniquities at calvary the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him and calgary and because of calvary with his stripes we are healed church come on and thank god for calvary yes lord yes lord he shed his blood and calvary and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin somebody ought to thank god for calvary [Music] at calvary he hung from the sixth to the ninth hour at calvary the sun refused to shine at calvary the centurion said surely this must be the son of god somebody somebody somebody ought to help me thank god for calgary [Music] [Applause] [Music] my soul rejoices because at calvary he said it is finished at calvary he said i did what you told me to do at calvary he finished the work of salvation for all of humanity somebody somebody wanna help me [Music] oh no no let's just celebrate calgary right now [Applause] thank you thank you that you took my place thank you that you showed your love for us in that while we were yet sinners christ died for us at calvary one more time let all the redeemed saints thank god for calvary hallelujah hallelujah thank you so much church thank you singers and musicians for reminding us of the great work of jesus christ mercy was there my god grace was free pardon was multiplied to me sometimes we sing these hymns and we don't process them we don't think through the words that we're singing yeah right there my burden soul found liberty that calvin whom the sun sets free is free indeed and that happened at the moment yes lord thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus we must move on but i want to thank god for calvary that work that was completed by our sacrificial savior who is jesus christ the lord hallelujah god bless you please be seated in the church house i thank god if you choose to you don't have to but if you choose to be seated in this house or your house as i want to give a few announcements and we're going to move on and worship the lord some more for all that he has done for us to god be the glory to god be the glory many of you know that this is the first day of our church year for sunday of our church year this past wednesday we began a church year that moves us forward to the place where god wants us to be as a church and i'm so excited about this new church here and thank you so much for sharing with us in prayer all day long we had four watches of prayer and many of you are with us starting at 6 00 am you continued with us at noon you continued with us even at 6 00 pm and some of you although you were at noon you watched again at 7 00 pm and those of you who did not get a chance to be with us at noon you were with us at 7 so thank you so much for being with us we had a record number of people in prayer all throughout the day uh on our our prayer call we had more than 2600 people in prayer and we thank god for that hallelujah during the midday hour we had so many people viewing us and we thank you so much for that at six o'clock we had a record number of people in prayer on our on our zoom webinar i want you to continue to do that dr barnett and the prayer ministry is there every uh every wednesday at 6 00 p.m so continue to share with us in prayer we're going to be a praying church a believing church because we believe that god still answers prayer somebody say amen amen amen amen so please continue to join with us we'll be in prayer 6 a.m and 6 p.m this coming wednesday 6 a.m and 6 p.m and we'll resume bible study at 12 noon and 7 p.m so please join with us as we return to our normal and traditional pattern of wednesday experiences 6 a.m 12 noon 6 p.m and 7 p.m prayer and bible study please know that we are still concerned about the coronavirus and all of its effects on our people and so please continue to keep your distance from those uh from whom you are not in with whom you're not in a regular bubble please make sure you practice the protocols that are necessary for safety keep those masks on and uh be in be sure that if you've not yet gotten your vaccination that you go get it as quickly as possible so we can move back to some sense of normalcy as quickly as possible as well i want to celebrate the birthdays that i have no let me go to one other thing before i do the birthdays um this this past week has been a week of epic proportion with regard uh to natural disasters natural disasters have been across our country for the last two weeks to be sure as hurricane ida has just has just done so much devastation across our land uh when we first heard about the work that ida had done or the the horrific work that ida had wrought in louisiana we as a team decided we were going to make sure that we go back to our pattern of taking care of those who are in desperate times and so we said we're going to do do a work of recovery for louisiana and we're going to name it loving and lifting louisiana that's what we were going to do you remember when we did our project called loving and lifting lake charles where we want to expand it all to all of louisiana because of the challenges that they are facing and we made that decision before all the water fell on the northeast and all of the devastation that was done in the northeast so we'll be making our decisions over the next several days about what is to be done uh to help those all across this country whether in the north east or in the uh in the in louisiana area gulf coast so we might make sure that we can help those who are in such dire and devastating circumstances right now we know that the president went to louisiana on friday and we thank god for his presence there and we know that so many people are crying out for assistance so when we get ready to give in just a few minutes we're going to make sure that we give to ensure that those who have dealt with these disasters might be made better you may see a tab on the giving platforms called loving and lifting louisiana that may be a platform there if it is we want you to use it if it is not there just your missions and mercy gifts we're going to take a good deal of the missions and mercy offerings this month the entirety of this month and we're going to send them to all of the devastated locations across this country all that you give this month we're going to take a good portion of it what did we say what was the what was the all of it okay all of it i'm thank god for that i didn't know if it was a percentage or all of it so everything you give to missions and mercy this month will go to help those who are devastated across our country you're a giving church and because we've been blessed we have to be a blessing to somebody else amen so praise the lord for that opportunity and we look forward to doing that it's the month of september the first sunday thereof and it's time to celebrate september birthdays there are so many in our church who are celebrating this month and i want to thank god for each and every one of you all september babies born in the month um this month please stand in the sanctuary i see the reverend dr lakisha barnett raising our hand our trumpeter brother james williams is raising his hand our psalmist duncan is raising his hand our organist bk is raising his hand any others in the sanctuary and no others in the sanctuary but we're so excited about all of these who are celebrating here in the sanctuary and for those who are in the cyber sanctuary as my friends call it across the country we want to celebrate with you as well we especially want to thank god for one of our nano generations she just is turning a nano generation as a matter of fact she did that yesterday mrs lillian wood first lady lillian wood she is the wife of dr virgil wood and she celebrates 90 years this month and we thank god for her she is the only nanogeneration that i know of in this month if there are others we certainly celebrate with you all as well but we celebrate with every person who turns 90 i'm sorry every person who turns any age this month any person who serves any age this month we celebrate with you come on let's serenade all of our sisters and brothers this month [Music] happy birthday everybody [Music] wait wait a minute wait a minute we have never heard james williams play happy birthday like that before that man over there playing like it's the last time he'll ever get to play and you serenading yourself huh that's what you do i see i sing well praise god for you and we certainly wish all of you a very happy birthday in this ninth month of 2021 to god be the glory come on and celebrate all of our september babies again well generally you know dr barnett is still celebrating back then we praise god for her listen it's time to give unto the lord it's offering time in this house and in the lord's house and so as we prepare to give we want to honor the lord with our substance and with the first fruit of our increase and as we do our tithes our offerings our gifts to missions and mercy which are going to help all of these devastated locations across the country i'm privileged you know we live a life that is supposed to be rooted in first our relationship with god and then relationship with other people i'm blessed to have relationships with pastors and leaders across this country and so we can connect with sisters and brothers who have been devastated over these past weeks and months and so i'm excited that we as a church family get to reciprocate what people have done for us in time past they have blessed this church when hurricanes have come through texas they blessed this church when we were in dire straits and i'm so excited that we get to return to our sisters and brothers the kindnesses that they have shared with this congregation so as we give this lord's day i want us to remember as we give our tithes and offerings please don't ever neglect those as you give to missions and mercy so i give our times and offerings our gifts to missions and mercy and our gifts to the building effort and as you sacrifice an extra gift for those who are devastated we praise god for you and pray for you that your resources will continue to be expanded as you continue to assist other brothers and sisters in this way we remember that our founding pastor was the one who instituted missions and mercy offering to help other brothers and sisters who are dispossessed and disenfranchised and while we're remembering him we pray for him today he is not with us it's a very very rare moment when he is not with us on the first sunday of the month he's been a little ill over the past several days and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment for some for an opportunity to be restored and recovered and so we want to be in prayer for our founding pastor emeritus he is not in dire straits right now but he needed to be taken to a place where he could be restored in a better way so please be in prayer for him and for his beloved family as they attend to him all those caregivers who do the same i want to pray now for all of the resources that we bring to the lord's church this sunday and as we pray let's believe god for great things even as we give unto god a gracious god how we love you and thank you for your goodness toward us we honor you for who you are for what you've done hallowed be your name we pray that your kingdom will come in the earth as it is in heaven and that you will use us as your emissaries as your witnesses as your vessels to bless the world as we witness to your great glory now oh god we pray that you will receive these gifts that we bring to you and i pray that as we use them here at wheeler avenue baptist church this congregation will be expanded and improved for your glory and then the world might know that there's a congregation at 38 26 wheeler in houston texas that loves you and loves your people and we want to be a blessing to them as you have so richly blessed us so take these gifts from our hands and use them for your glory use them to bless somebody's life use them so that your kingdom may come in the earth as it is in heaven we pray that no one will go lacking as a consequence of what they give but you'll continually return to your sons and daughters so we might have the testimony of our elders that we can't beat god giving no matter how we try we thank you great god for victory in our finances and we claim it done in jesus name and all of god's people together said amen let's give it to the lord as the music ministry shall lead us in worship because we are his and he is ours we have everything we need he is our inheritance he is our portion and he is more than enough healing is our portion deliverance is the children's bread and we find it in the blood of jesus thank you for your blood hallelujah i found healing that's my portion in the precious blood of the that's my portion [Music] in the precious [Music] allowed it [Music] [Music] that's my question [Music] healing flows it is is yeah that's my portion [Music] that's my portion [Music] [Music] and he did it by the power in the blood of the lamb i found redemption [Music] time yes he's the protector of it [Music] [Music] is he is salvation [Music] i find selfish [Music] come on if you're just glad to be safe let's worship eventually [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] and it's in the flood of the land [Music] [Music] [Music] in the present is is [Applause] is thank you for the blood somebody [Music] we do thank god for the blood of jesus christ the atoning blood of jesus that makes us at one with god and we honor the lord this first sunday of the month of september for all that he continually does in each one of our lives to god be the glory for the great work of salvation that was wrought at calvary to secure us and to set us free and how we honor the lord today for it thank god for this time together to god be the glory you may be seated in the presence of the lord here in this sanctuary wherever you may be this lord's day i want to take some time now to prepare us for our next church year or this church year in which we now find ourselves it is my custom each first sunday of the month of september to try to chart the course for the next several months of our work as a congregation and so on this first sunday of september i want to do the same it has been my tradition since the first sunday of september 2004 to try to preach from the exact same subject today is no different i want to talk today from the subject where do we go from here part 18 where do we go from here part 18 our church is poised providentially positioned for great things god has used us to do great things for these 59 and a half years and i have no problem believing that god is going to continue to do that through us in the years to come i'm excited about who we are as a congregation i'm excited about what god has done even in this challenging season we've had to deal with setbacks as a congregation with regard to a pandemic and a proposed date to return to the lord's house so that we might inhabit this cathedral that you by your generosity and god by his grace has allowed us to erect we're in a unique space right now we're in that space where we don't necessarily know what's going to happen from week to week and so i asked us to come together as a congregation on the first day of september so we could pray so we could believe god for great things so we could trust god to order our steps to do for this congregation what he's done since 1962 as guide us and guard us protect us and provide for us to show us his favor and his faithfulness and i don't know about you but i believe god to be the same yesterday today and forever and so just as god has done that for us in time past i believe he's going to do it in time present and in time that is pending i believe god's going to show himself strong show himself powerful show himself faithful in the life of this congregation and not just ours alone but every congregation as the elders would say every church door has opened in his name and so the question resounds again this first sunday of september the question reverberates again on this first sunday of the ninth month of 2021 where do we go from here and by faith church family with confidence in god with total dependence upon him i say to you that in this church year 2021 2022 we're going back to church we're going back to church i i can't give you the exact date but before this church year is over i'm going to see your smiling faces in the cathedral that you have built and before this church here is over we're going to shake glad hands one with another and if we don't shake hands we're going to fist bump or elbow up or hug one another so that we can see each other in the lord's house we're going back to church so for these next several weeks i want to i want to deal with some saints who make their way back to church for these next several weeks in worship and in bible study i want to deal with some folk who make their way to the lord's house i want to look at my favorite book of the bible the book of psalms and for these next several weeks i want you to journey with me through what the theologians and bible scholars call the songs of ascent the songs of ascent in your bible they are known either by the songs of ascent or the songs of degrees but the more appropriate title is the songs of ascent a-s-c-e-n-t songs of ascent meaning the saints were moving upward they were going higher they were on their way somewhere above and beyond the normal the ordinary the plane on which they found themselves they were moving up psalms 120 through 134 give to us the collection of psalms known as the psalms of ascent psalm 120 to psalm 134 give to us the songs of ascent that hebrew word ascent literally meant steps it literally meant steps and they the saints of god the hebrew worshipers would be singing celebrating shouting as they took steps toward the holy city of god as they took steps toward the temple that they would inhabit and so we make our way this word steps or ascents meant at least four things to the hebrews one was that it was music that went up in pitch they were always singing they were singing saints they were celebrative saints these are the ones while in captivity said how can we who are singing saints sing the lord's song in a strange land and so when they talked about ascents their music was that with which went up in pitch but not only that alone it meant that once they got to the temple steps they would sing on the steps that ascended into the temple that before they walked in to the lord's house they would sing on the steps that went up to the temple of the lord they didn't wait if you've been around me for a while you know when i talk about these hebrews i always tell you they didn't wait to get to church to have church but while they were making their way to church they sang a song of jubilation unto the lord this was also my brothers and sisters the singing of those who understood they had been in captivity but god brought them out and so as they took steps out of their captive setting they started singing did you catch it they're stepping out of the captivity the exile from which they had found themselves and they began singing you missed it let me give it to you a third time while they're stepping out of exile they start singing songs unto the lord they do not wait until they get out of exile while they're stepping out of exile they begin to sing and then fourthly and finally this word steps literally means that as the pilgrims are gathering up on the mountain of zion they are all singing together to head to the house of the lord catch it while they're gathering on mount zion slippery slopes they're all singing as they head toward the holy city of jerusalem to bless the name of the lord i want to on this sunday and a few subsequent sundays deal with those last two meanings of ascent i want us to think about how the saints of god made their way out of captivity lord have mercy and began to sing on their way we've been in captivity for nearly 19 months now but i need 10 or 12 people who haven't lost their song or who are willing to regain their song not to wait till you get to the cathedral to sing your song but while we're taking steps baby steps or big steps while we're taking steps on our way i want us to sing about the god who has sustained us and secured us and kept us safe even when we had to endure some strife somebody ought to thank god that while we're stepping we can start singing i want to thank god that as we're gathering together we can clear our throats and begin to give glory to god because god is about to bring us back to church i need somebody yes lord i need i got some eyes of faith working on today i need somebody who has some eyes of faith to help me celebrate the fact that god is going to do it and he's going to do it in his own time but he's going to do it in this church year so that we can get back to church all right well brothers and sisters i invite your attention now to psalm 123 because in psalm 123 we are exposed to some people who are not yet there but they know they're on their way by the time we get to psalm 123 i told you the psalms of ascent start in psalm 120 go all the way to 134 but right there in psalm 123 we are introduced to a psalmist or to a group of saints who understand that although they're not yet there they're making their way and they have to deal with the reality that while they're making their way they have to deal with some unpleasant circumstances they have to deal with the fact that everything's not going their way i'll not read the entirety of the psalm to you right now i want you to open it up and follow along with me as i tiptoe through the tulips of the text and help you to understand that there is some profundity even in the midst of our peril that god knows how to teach us some things even in trying times can i find 10 people who understand that god knows how to teach you some things before you get to the place he's taking you so that you'll know how to truly worship him once you finally get there these are the brothers and sisters before us who understand that circumstances are not quite favorable right now but they're making some progress somebody say progress that circumstances are not what they want them to be but they're making some progress the only challenge with the saints in psalm 123 is that they have to deal they have to deal with what i call a contemptible dilemma a contemptible dilemma is right there in verses three and four of the text you'll find in those verses the word contempt used twice in the text that in two times two different sections of psalm 123 just a little short four verses the psalmist makes it clear that the saints are dealing with contempt with scorn with ridicule with dishonor with disgrace with some circumstance that does not allow them to properly be the people of god they've been called to be most scholars pastor aj called this a post-exilic psalm it is a communal lament where all the people of god who are gathered together are able to express their lamentation and be able to be honest about their feelings they don't like what's going on they are dealing with exceeding contempt says the scripture exceeding scorn it's a bad situation pastor jd is so bad that they have to express it in no uncertain terms look again at what happens in psalm 123 verse 3 have mercy upon us o lord have mercy upon us for we are exceedingly filled with contempt our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease and with the contempt of the proud here it is he uses that word to help the people understand help god understand while they're talking to god that the circumstances that they are dealing with are so far out of control that they need god to step in and do something about it i don't know if you've ever been in that space of time in your life church family but somebody knows what it means to have such pressure such weight on your shoulders that all you can do is cry out to god now here's the interesting thing chairman hicks he never the psalmist never delineates or specifies what the issue is he never says what the contemptible dilemma is we never find out with specificity what exactly the psalmist is describing some have purported that it was probably the fact that they have been dealing with the exile in babylon some have purported that maybe it was some malady or some disease some have purported reverend janella piles that they are so upset with the fact that they haven't gotten back to the holy city that they are just expressing their lamentation to god and they're doing so with everything that is within them the text never said never says to us exactly what the issue was maybe dr barbara williams it was the fact that the state of texas their state had passed so many silly bills on the first day of september that now people are being set back in a way that they don't know whether or not we'll ever be able to come back that we are being set back as a consequence of texas legislators passing a permit permit-less gun carry bill so that people who have had no training are now able to walk around willy-nilly with guns on their sides and now we have to deal with whatever will be the after effects of that and it tripped me out i learned something mother dear i learned that even cosmetologists in texas have to spend a thousand hours of training and now we're giving people glocks and sidearms and firearms that have no training whatsoever if you got to get trained to to press and dry some air surely you ought to be trained on how to handle a glock in your hand is there anybody who is filled with contempt maybe it's because they have now set in motion better voter suppression laws that will keep black and brown brothers and sisters so burdened that they will not be able to have ease while trying to vote in the upcoming elections i don't know what it is about people in the legislature who want to make it more difficult for people to vote instead of more easy for folk to vote i don't understand if that's supposed to be our democratic the law of the land how in the world can we set people back instead of pushing them forward i don't get it child of god we don't even want women to decide what to do with their bodies and wherever you stand on the issue i want you to know that it is still the will of god that we choose for ourselves in which direction we're going to go it's a difficult circumstance isn't it that they don't even want people in the state of texas to learn critical race theory because they just might find out how abhorrent their ancestors were to people who have skin color like ours i don't understand but they gotta deal with a contemptible dilemma that they cannot get away from and so they say have mercy lord oh my goodness you missed it in the midst of this contemptible dilemma they say have mercy lord the words are be gracious that's what they mean it literally means god we need you to preserve our lives in these life transitioning times says there are people who are trying to take our lives and so we need you to preserve our lives and here's our request have mercy you see it it's twice there in the text did you see it it's right there in verse three first verses first first words of the verse have mercy upon us o lord and then because it's so contemptible he says it again have mercy upon us i don't know how you feel church family but every now and then there comes some circumstances in life where you can't handle life and it's it's contempt all by yourself and your only recourse is open up your mouth throw up your hands and say have mercy lord maybe your life has never gotten so difficult that you couldn't handle it by yourself but there are some people listening to my voice on this first sunday of the month of september who can testify that every now and then you have to go old school with the saints and say lord have mercy anybody ever hear that mercy suits my case anybody know that his mercy endures forever anybody in church today can help me promote the fact that the mercy of the lord is so significant that uh it it is renewed every single morning i don't know if you know about it but this morning you woke up to brand-new mercy and i'm grateful that the mercy of the lord is so great upon us that we are able to ask him to have mercy in our situation they say lord be gracious unto us lord show us your kindness lord ensure that you your people have some life in the midst of this life-draining circumstance there is contemptible dilemma that is a contemptible dilemma that is presented before us in this text and it's interesting to me saints that the psalmist decides to end the song with the contemptible dilemma it is interesting to me that he shuts it down with a con he literally says it like this lord i'm leaving this one in your hands no no you missed it if you had heard me heard what i said you would have at least said hallelujah one good time he says it's bad on me right now it's rough on me it's tough right now i can't handle this so this is what i'm going to do lord i'm leaving this one in your hands now now listen you got to hear this because usually digging pending nobles usually the psalmist resolves the issue by the end of the song yeah they'll give the contemptible dilemma up top somewhere and by the time they get to the end they resolve it that's not how this psalm works there is no resolution at the end of verse 4. he literally suggests i want to suggest brandon booker ricky boone he literally suggests lord here you take this one when i deal with what we're going through as a church family everybody keep asking me when and how and what day and what month and what time i don't have an answer right now all i keep doing what i tried to do on wednesday what i try to do every day i wake up say here lord it's in your hand work this thing out i don't have any answers right now i don't know which direction to go right now i'm clueless right now yes i'm your pastor i hear from the lord i talk to the lord but i don't know right now all i know is it's in your hands [Music] sometimes you got to stop trying to have every answer for every situation there comes some points you don't have all the answers for your issues you don't know how to work everything through sometimes you just gotta say here lord i'm laying this before you it's in your hands my family in your hands my finances in your hands this job situation in your hand this old age concern is in your hand these circumstances i'm dealing with is in your hand my sickness is in your hand so he just leaves it out there but he doesn't just leave it out there because in verses one and two he's already helped us to understand that he has what i call complete dependence on god yeah he doesn't resolve it at the end there is no real resolution but he makes it clear where he stands on the situation can i back you up from verses three and four into verse two because in verse two he says what's this behold as the eyes of the servants look into the hand of their masters and the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress so our eyes wait upon the lord our god until that he have mercy upon us there it is again he is as just as servants depend on their masters for everything just as maidens depend on their mistresses for everything just as those who work in the employ of the others depend on them for their sustenance for their provisions for their life's care so he says our eyes are on you and we're going to wait on you to have mercy on us wait wait he didn't ask for mercy to the next verse but he has such dependence upon god that he knew god was going to have mercy going to be gracious even before he asked him for well church folk don't know when to shout i said he didn't ask the lord for mercy until verse three but he says we're gonna wait on the lord until he shows us mercy in verse two and i wonder if your dependence is so complete so significant upon god that even when you don't know how he's gonna work it out even when you don't know how he's gonna fix it for you you have such dependence upon him that you just wait on him until he does it i know why some of you got quiet you're not rejoicing like you once did cause you don't like to wait for anything you want everything on your timetable i know why you stop shouting you're not even talking back to the tv anymore because you want it on your schedule and god says now i want to know can you depend on me so much that even when you don't see it the way you want to see it you keep your eyes on me it's what it says our eyes wait upon the lord our god if you're with us in prayer at 12 noon or 7 p.m you heard me read a passage of scripture that has sustained me throughout many years it is second chronicles chapter 20. in the second chronicles chapter 20 where jehoshaphat the king has three groups of people coming to make war on him at one time the more about the ammonites and the muniz the people of mount seir are coming to make war on jehoshaphat and he decides since he did not have the answers for the people he was going to call a prayer meeting he called everybody to the temple he said let's pray and when he said let's pray he began to pray and i read for you this past wednesday from that passage of scripture where he says we do not know what to do yeah but our eyes are on you oh child of god i wish i could get every saint listening to me to understand that there will be some seasons with your super-educated self where you will not know what to do there will be some seasons with your self where you will do not know what to do as long as you've been a parent as long as you've been a spouse as long as you've been on that job there will come some moments in time where you do not know what to do but can i find 10 people in this house and a few more people at your own houses who can testify i've learned how to just wait on the lord i've learned how to turn my gaze toward the lord and i found out that he is still able to do exceeding abundantly above all i can ask or think that's why at this point i have complete dependence on him [Applause] complete dependence on him that's why the psalmist david says with my father and my mother forsake me then the lord will take me up because sometimes god has to remove those folk you've been dependent on so you can completely depend on him when my finances run out i got to turn to the one who's my provider when my when my good health runs out i got to turn to the one who is my healer when my joy seems to be depleted i need to run to the one who can restore my joy when everything around me seems to be going crazy i need to return to the one who's a mind regulator who who's a heart fixer who's a problem solver can i find 10 people who say here god here here i have complete dependence on you now they're singing this song while they're headed to church i got to close they're singing this song while they're headed to the temple they're they're taking baby steps preachers they're not taking big giant steps no they're taking baby steps headed to the temple but they believe they're on their way somewhere they got complete dependence on god they know that god is taking how do they know this i don't know where they learned it but the text reveals that they know it catch it i don't know where they learned it but the text reveals that they know it how do you know preacher because i read the whole song and psalm 123 verse 1 helps us to understand that these people have made a conscious decision i'm closing with this conscious decision watch the text unto thee i lift up mine eyes oh thou that dwelleth in the heavens okay you missed it unto thee lift eye up might eyes oh thou that dwelleth in the heaven okay last time third time's the time unto thee lift i up mine eyes oh thou that dwelleth in the they're making baby steps they are ascending up to the holy city of jerusalem they're leaving their captive state and they're making baby steps up to the holy city of jerusalem as they move up mount zion slippery slopes and they say despite the contempt of our situation despite not knowing how you're going to work this thing out despite not knowing when you're going to do this for us here's our conscious decision we're going to lift up our eyes to you because you the one who dwells in heaven can handle this better than we can that's my whole little message for you that's where we're going from here part one part apart eighteen part one we're going to a place where we keep our gaze fixated on this god we serve we are not going to be dependent on everything else around us because everything else around us is opinion and i can't depend on opinions now i need to depend on the truth of a god who says i will lead you i will order your steps i'll take good care of you can i find 10 people who will help me preach on this sunday and begin to testify i got to lift up my eyes now oh i've been too consumed with everything else around me i've been looking at cnn and nbc and cbs and abc i've been checking stats i've been checking facts and all that is good but at this point because the facts keep changing at this point because the stats keep changing at this point because opinions keep changing i've decided to lift my head to the god who is in heaven does the god who is in heaven still has the final word and somebody may be thinking i'm only talking about a pandemic that's one thing i'm talking about but somebody's been asking everybody in your friendship circle how should i handle this situation how should i handle this relationship how should i handle this financial matter and although they may have some good advice they don't know the end from the beginning and i need somebody to turn to the one who knows all things because his omniscient power still gives him rulership over everything and i need 10 or 12 people to turn your gaze towards your god in glory and begin to fixate yourself on that god whom you love and serve i need you to testify to your neighbor that every time i get a chance i'm going to turn my gaze in the direction of my god notice i said every time i get a chance cause in our humanity even when we look toward god on sunday we have the tendency to turn our attention on monday come on and talk to me brother peter the bible says while he was walking on water he began to get distracted he started looking at the winds and the water and when he looked at the wind he got distracted and he needed the lord to save him i understand in our humanity that we can get distracted by every other attention but i need somebody to testify even if i get distracted on monday by monday evening i'm gonna turn my attention toward god i'm gonna make a conscious decision that i refuse to allow everybody in my community to make decisions for me i'm going forward believing that god knows what's best for me is there anybody who can testify you serve a god who knows what's best for you and even if times get tough even if times get trying even if times get tumultuous we still serve a faithful god so unto thee do i lift up mine eyes o thou the cities in the heavens unto thee i lift up my eyes psalm 121 says it like this i will lift mine eyes to the heels from whence come with my help my help comes from the lord which made heaven and earth and somebody on this sunday needs to turn your attention towards your almighty one i know everything you see around you is not real good right now i know what you see around you can make your waiver and falter i know what you see around you is sometimes sinking sad that's why my hope is building on nothing less than jesus blood and his righteousness i dare not trust the sweetest frame for the holy land on jesus name do you know the refrain oh christ the solid rock i stand all over the ground i said all of the ground is sinking sad it was this past wednesday i was on my way to 12 noon service i was ready to pray for the saints we had had a great time at 6 00 am i had anticipation for the 12 noon service and i told the saints on wednesday that before i walked into 12 news service my phone was blowing up from all across this country my dear sister my professor carolyn and knight had fallen in the gym her life was snuffed out in a brief moment another gym buddy put his hands on her did some chest compression got her pulse back rushed up to the hospital they put her in icu they put her on a ventilator and they kept telling me cosby is looking real bad cause we don't know what's gonna happen are you gonna be able to get to atlanta because doc is now in a space where is touch and go i said thank you for the information i came in with my spirit racing so by the time i got midway through wednesday's prayer service i started turning my attention to that god in glory and the burden got a little lighter the situation got a little easier my wife said did you think she was gone i said no something in my spirit said everything's gonna be all right and thursday night while i was preparing this message i got a phone call from the guy who did chest compressions on my sister carolyn he said cosby i need you to know that i got carolyn on the phone i said what you say he said i want you to talk to her she's on the phone and the woman who had lost her pulse and lost her heartbeat on wednesday morning never lost any brain activity never lost any heart activity she is still all right she got a little ways to go i said doc i'm coming to see you don't worry about me she said don't worry about me maybe she had lifted up her eyes to this god in heaven and even on her back in the hospital she could testify i completely depend on him anybody listening to me who completely depends on god i don't know what the next course is going to be i don't know what the recovery process is going to be but i heard the voice of my prophet fred and i can testify that when you learn to trust in him you shall be as mount zion that cannot be removed i need some warriors i need some believers i need some saints to help me lift up jesus to help me point somebody to the god who's up in heaven lift up your hands oh ye and the king of glory shall come in won't he do it [Music] i said won't he do it somebody shout here [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] we trust you lord we trust you lord we trust you lord we wait on you lord we wait on you lord we believe in you lord we're believing in you lord we're waiting on you we're waiting on you we're expecting you we're expecting you to [Music] and anyway you bless us lord where do we go from here go back to church [Music] before we get there we're going to go back to acting like church [Music] i'm acting like you don't have any faith in the midst of these trying times stop acting like the same god who wasn't with you who was with you on the mountain is not with you in the valley when we go back to talking like the church we're not going to be pessimistic we're going to be people of faith we're going to trust god to work all things together for our good we're gonna do what we're supposed to do what we can do and when we finish doing what we can do god's gonna show up and do what we can't do i don't know why you think this pandemic is bigger than god god is still god where are you heck neil you're in heaven with the lord god is still god why do we put more confidence in everybody else than we do in god as soon as you get broke you start calling people instead of turning on calling on god he's your provider he's your source all these other resources around here then now you stay good i'm not taking anything away from him from them but i need you to learn how to lift your eyes to god who is in heaven [Music] this sunday my friend i want you to begin to trust him more depend on him more make a conscious decision to trust him every day of your life don't don't let anybody around you have more faith than you and they're not even a member of a church they don't even have a relationship with god they still believe that some way it's gonna work out come on you need to know that that god is the way he and i honor him today i honor him today i glorify him today he is the way by which salvation has been given to all humanity for he because of his love for us gave to us his son our savior jesus christ if you've never accepted him as your personal savior on this sunday i want you to do just that and i want you to do it right now i want you to be made better as a consequence of having a love relationship with jesus christ who is the lover of our souls sister brother give your life to the lord jesus christ and then you can with your eyes wait on him to do wonderful miraculous great and mighty things that word weight in the hebrew i love talking about it it literally means trust means i trust you god that's why i wait on you that's why i sit still and expect you to do something that's why i don't get in your way because i trust you complete dependence so sister brother i want you to trust in him i want you to trust him with your whole heart with your whole life with your whole being with your whole soul and if you do that i want you to email us at new members ministry wheelerbc.org and when you email us there some sister some brother will get back in touch with you almost immediately to make sure that you're engrafted into the family of faith and fellowship that is gathered at and known as wheeler avenue baptist church sister brother make this your day this first sunday of september make this your day to show to the world that you are in relationship with a god who loves you with an everlasting love sister brother man woman child no matter who you are no matter your age or stage of life i want you to commit your life to him completely depend upon him and despite whatever contemptible dilemma you may face you can make the conscious decision to trust him and not everything you see around you if that's you my friend email us right now right now before we go to the table email us right now and let's trust god for great things our leaders are coming now to stand with me because it is time for us to remember the selfless sacrifice of jesus christ and as we remember the sacrifice of jesus christ we are reminded that he paid an awesome debt to secure our salvation we spent an unusual amount of time dealing with it at the at the hymn moment of the church earlier in this service we began to talk about what happened at calgary so i want you to remember reflect upon the mercy that was there and the grace that was free the pardon that was multiplied unto you and to me reflect on the fact that there right at calvary our burdened souls found liberty at calvary as we remember that his grace is so great we now come to the table to rehearse remind ourselves remember the selfless sacrifice of jesus christ so my friends as we rehearse it we have to remember that jesus consecrated these elements in the upper room with his disciples on that thursday night just before his crucifixion on friday afternoon [Music] and as we consecrate these gifts our chairman of deacons deacon hicks is going to gang goes to the lord in prayer as he consecrates them for our use church let us pray our god and our father which sits in the heavens father god you have heard we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you our eyes are especially on you today lord as we remember we remember the great sacrifice of your son jesus jesus the precious lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world who died so that we might have life everlasting and abundantly father we thank you lord god for jesus our help where goodness and mercy can be found lord that is where we're looking today and remembering that by his stripes we are healed and so father god we thank you for your loving kindness for your grace and for your mercy we thank you lord god that you have given us the wherewithal and the grace to come before your presence today to remember the death of jesus thank you we praise you father god for these elements that represent his broken body and his shared blood we pray lord that you would bless them and consecrate them for our use as we remember and then lord god that you would bless us for your service as we go forth until we enter your church once again in jesus name we pray with thanksgiving and expectation amen amen thank you sir thank you sir surely by now you have prepared your elements if not as we serve these who are in the sanctuary please secure some element that represents the broken body of jesus christ some element that's that represents the shed blood of jesus we've done this now for these many months and so as the loved community is a family we're going to commune one with another so let's prepare our elements even as we serve here in the lord's house [Music] for god so loved the world [Music] very gay [Music] that whosoever [Music] should not perish what the shell has [Music] solo that he gave [Music] that whosoever [Music] shoot that what's marriage [Applause] [Music] god could have chosen let fallen man just go on his way now [Music] foreign [Music] god [Music] he knew the prices [Music] is is hey thank you jesus we hold these elements in our hands as symbols of the sacrifice that was made to secure our everlasting life [Music] with all these elements in our hands to remember that our salvation was bought with a price [Music] we hold these elements at our hand to remember that god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever thank you lord for that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life so as we remember the broken body of the lord jesus christ as we remember as has been standing in worship already he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquity as we remember that the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him and with his stripes we are healed we take this bread as a symbol of the broken body of the lord jesus christ and let us as a church family eat together [Music] in the cup is a symbol of the shed blood of jesus christ it has been said already in this worship service that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin today my brothers and sisters as we hold this cup in our hand whatever whatever liquid may be contained in that cup it is now consecrated so that you might remember what jesus christ did as he died in our place as his blood was shed for you and for me so this sunday my friends on this our first sunday of a new church here as a church family i want us to think soberly about the sacrifice of jesus christ i want us to think critically about how the lord jesus christ allowed his blood to be shed yeah and as we think about it this sunday i want us to remember with joy and with gratitude that the lord commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners christ died for us i love that he didn't wait for us to get our acts together while we were yet sinners while we were still a ways off christ died for us and as you think about it on this sunday let's take up the cup and drink in remembrance of the lord jesus christ whose blood covers and cleanses all all of our sin let's drink together as the body of christ [Music] gracious god we love you because you first loved us [Music] and you have demonstrated that love through the sacrifice of your son and our savior jesus the christ so as we move into another month even farther into it as we prepare for this church year headed toward the church's 60th anniversary thank you for being so good to us thank you for being so faithful to us thank you for being so long-suffering so kind and compassionate so caring and committed to us and we pray oh god that as we have remembered what you have done for us through jesus christ we might emulate you and do as you have done by being kind and caring and compassionate being loving and long-suffering being loyal to you and to one another we pray great god that these elements that we have now just received would not simply be some traditional routine through which we go on the first sunday of a month they might serve as reminder for us even though we were unworthy you paid a debt that you did not owe so we thank you so much for that and now we pray that we might represent you well in the month of september we pray that we might represent you well and where we get distracted put our attention back on you put our focus back on you help us to lift our eyes unto you we pray oh god that you will order our steps every step that we take it might be pleasing in your own sight we give you praise for this experience of worship now we thank you that we leave this virtual space and even this physical space to serve the lord with gladness and we thank you for the privilege in the strong and precious name of jesus we thank you for what we have experienced in worship and now what we will experience as the month continues to ensue in the name of the lord jesus christ we pray this prayer with great thanksgiving and expectation and all of god's people who agree shout hallelujah let the church say amen well we praise the lord for another opportunity to worship the lord and we remember what the scripture says that after they had eaten and had that drink together the bible says that they sang a hymn and they went out into the mount of olives we're going to sing together now as we conclude this time of worship and i want you to go forth and be a blessing to somebody who cannot bless your back let's give glory to his name come on down at the cross where my savior died for clinton from the sin i cry come on come on oh oh happy i'm jasmine yates and this is your avenue news it's time for bible study that's right grab your bible and catch us on the website facebook youtube or our app this wednesday at noon and 7 p.m as we're letting a powerful time of study with pastor cosby in a new series entitled songs of ascent after the funeral when the cards calls and flowers have stopped coming most of the people around you return to their normal lives while your grief continues often friends and family want to help but may not know how let us walk with you in your journey through grief griefshare is an 11-week support group sponsored by congregational care where you will find warm compassionate support we will walk with you in your journey through grief toward hope and healing for the future the next virtual session of grief share will start monday september 13th at 7 pm group space is limited so visit the events page to register make the decision to begin healing today join us for griefshare the countdown is on and awana is coming back last year's virtual awana bible study was a huge success and we are excited to begin a new year wednesday september 15th registration is required so head over to the wabc website to make sure your child is ready to take part in a year of learning about god's word the children's ministry is looking for more volunteers to join our virtual team there are opportunities to share god's word with our children in awana bible study as well as children's sunday school classes if you are gifted in working with children and would like to share those gifts with the children of wheeler avenue please contact sister kim washington at k washington wheelerbc.org [Music] please join us on september 23rd at 12 noon for the mental health moment as we present dealing with mine and theirs at the same time the presenters will share how they maintain their mental health while dealing with personal challenges and with the challenges of others they will share their journeys and how the love and power of god has brought them thus far attention singles ages 40 to 59. it's time for singles weekend 2021. join the prime of life adult ministry as they welcome pastor marcus d cosby on friday september 24th from 7 to 8 30 pm the discussion will be focused on choosing god's best from a singles perspective and on saturday september 25th from 7 to 9 00 pm party with prime and dj forbidden during their virtual meet-and-greet show you're repping with your city church fraternity sorority college or pro sports teamwear join wheeler prime's singles for a weekend of conversation fun dancing and prizes registration is required and you can do so by visiting the events page on our website parents do you have a child away at college we value our college students as a part of our church family and we want to stay in touch with them we want to keep abreast of their advancement as well as keep them aware of what's going on here at wabc register to be a part of our college connection program students will receive communications and care passages that we hope will encourage them while they are away and let them know that their wabc family is praying for their spiritual as well as their educational success our next care package will ship on october we need your student's name phone number college or university name and their college mailing address please email that information to deakin miami white at m white wabc gmail.com you can also contact reverend richard boone the minister to youth and college students at rboon wheelerbc.org for more information on how your college student can stay connected if they are attending college in the houston area welcome to the brand new media site for wheeler avenue baptist church where you will be able to access all of our weekly live streams along with years worth of worship experiences and other programs to access the site go to www.wheeler once you're on the homepage you can create a free account by clicking subscribe now you may also download the mobile apps for iphone and android by clicking on their respective icons at the bottom of the screen or by searching wabc media in the app store once you've created your free account click join and all of our online content will be made available to you after you've logged in you will see everything from worship services to black history month programs and more all of our content is separated into categories and can be seen by scrolling up and down the page once you arrive to the category of your choice you are able to scroll and swipe left or right to view the available content in that section if you are looking for a specific moment from a worship service all you have to do is click on the video and you will be able to choose between individual songs from the service sermon only hard of hearing which includes sign language interpretation throughout the duration of the service and as always the full services are available as well when searching for a particular video users can click the search button at the top of the page and type the name of a person song sermon or date [Music] if you are logged in you are able to enjoy additional features such as continue watching this allows viewers to pick up where they left off without having to start over each time there's an interruption you can also add content to your list by hovering over the video and clicking add to my list doing this will put all of the videos that the user wishes to view in one spot so that they can go back and watch at a later time [Music] make sure you participate in this exciting new way to stay connected and experience jesus christ from anywhere in the world once again download our app wabc media visit our website create an account and worship with us as we continue to be wheeler wherever [Music] there's so much taking place and we hope you stay connected for more information join us on flock notes facebook instagram or twitter i'm jasmine yates and this has been your avenue news remember we are wheeler wherever

Channel: Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church

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Length: 121min 11sec (7271 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021