9.12.21// “No Turning Back ”Hebrews 12:1-3 Reverend C. Diane Johnson

[Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] thank you jesus [Music] so [Music] um i think [Music] come on [Music] thank you [Music] i just [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] oh [Music] please [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] yes i just [Applause] [Music] i was so glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord lord our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth you have set your glory in the heavens through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger when we consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place what is mankind that you are mindful of them human beings that you care for them you made them a little lower than the angels and crown them with glory and honor you made them rulers over the works of your hands you put everything under their feet lord our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth good morning and blessing second baptist and friends we have come this wonderful morning to give thanks and praise to our god for this new day and to celebrate and recognize this blessings overflowing day that is grandparents day it is indeed a true blessing to have grandparents and even for some to have great grandparents in the midst and in our lives whether you are a true grandparent or someone's play grandparent or that older role model that fits the bill in someone's life we say to you today thank you for just being you we don't want to ever take your presence for granted for truly what your eyes have seen and your ears have heard are lessons that give a history that is rich with golden nuggets of life and living and again we say thank you let us pray oh gracious god of all creation the king of kings and ruler of all people on earth we bless your name this morning we bless you this day for who you are and each and every day we exist on your earth we welcome you to come on into this sanctuary to abide with us in our homes or wherever we may be be it in a dorm room in a hotel or the home of others as we visit family and friends but most of all we welcome you into our hearts holy spirit come on in and get comfortable within these willing vessels who are here to praise you and worship you until you have fed us so much of that rama word that we want no more be in waiting holy spirit for that someone who is present but who doesn't know you who will be full of a need to inquire from either a keyboard or a phone call asking what must i do to be saved what must i do to be a follower of the christ who offers me the way to the redeeming god and as always through our love we give you the glory the honor and the praise it is in the mighty name of jesus christ we pray amen and amen [Music] god uh [Music] make me oh [Music] through and she [Music] is bread of heaven hello [Music] so [Music] yes [Music] keem [Music] just [Music] oh [Music] good morning second baptist church family and friends today is grandparents day happy grandparents to all of our grandparents even to your old age i am he when you turn gray i will carry you i'm i have made and i will bear and i will carry and will save you that's coming from the book of isaiah 46 4. let us pray dear god look with love on grandparents the world over protect them grandparents are a source of enrichment for families and for all society support them as they grow older may they continue to be for their family strong pillars of gospel faith guardian of noble domestic ideas living treasures of sound religious tradition make them teachers of wisdom and courage that they may pass on to future generation the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience even at the darkest moment as in these months of pandemic the lord continues to send angel to console our loneliness and to remind us i am with you always god said this to you and god said it to me may every grandfather papa daddy granddaddy every grandmother nana little mama big mama mother and every older person especially those amongst us who are not alone receive the visit of an angel in a world that grows increasingly dark help us hold up the light give us the courage to speak up boldly as mary magdalene did and never be ashamed to proclaim your good news these times are frightening lord headlines daily deliver troubling news if we dwell there father we will lose our hope thank you for your protection and the promises we have in your word nothing separates us from the love and the victory achieved by christ at the cross he is our hope ever pressing help in the time of trouble thank you father we have no need to fear you will never leave us nor forsake us oh god you made each one of us in your own image and redeemed us through jesus your son we pray for our sick and our shouting members and continue to pray for our breed family members the payne family pastor neighbors and his family the pickens family reverend zolliwell and the friendship baptist church family reverend patricia ephron and that family we ask god that you keep pastor neighbors and his entire family safe field pastor neighbors cup until it overflowed as we looked up our prayer concerns to you hear our prayer o lord hear our prayer thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord now lord as we bring this prayer to a close let us pray the prayer you first taught your disciples in saying our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our deaths as we forgive our death lord and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen happy grandparents day [Music] me [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Music] is i need to keep your um [Music] good morning second baptist and friends this is the day that the lord has made and we shall rejoice and be glad in it we first of all want to say happy grandparents day to all of the grandparents who are here and who are out in virtual land we wish you a wonderful happy grandparents day this is a special day and we have a note here from the white house which is a proclamation on national grandparents day and i'm going to read part of it i think it's appropriate for this moment on national grandparents day we celebrate the important role grandparents play in providing love wisdom and strength to their families and fostering greater understanding across generations grandmas and grandpas abuelas and abuelos nanas and pop-pops through their wisdom their perseverance and their unconditional love strengthen our family bonds they share with us who we are where we come from and the experiences that have shaped their nation and in many cases shaped our lives the covet 19 pandemic has been particularly devastating to seniors and too many families have lost grandparents to the virus we mourn them as a nation to honor the memory of those who have been lost and to protect those who are most vulnerable we mobilize a historic vaccination effort already we have vaccinated over 82 percent of all seniors and over 64 of all adults allowing grandparents and their loved ones to get back to normal or measure of normality my administration looks forward to the release of a report that will come soon now therefore i joseph r biden jr president of the united states by virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution and laws of the united states do hereby proclaim september 12 2021 as national grandparents day amen amen so i have to give a shout out to my own agente naja jordan jada amen trace lennox and kathleen seven grandchildren amen i'm happy and excited about it amen and further we want to um offer a word of thanks to second baptist and friends we appreciate your prayers for sydney and i and the loss of our aunt and sister we're out to new jersey and back on thursday and friday for our aunt's funeral service and my sister's service will be forthcoming so please keep keep us in your prayers my sister bobby was 10 years my senior there were nine of us i was the youngest but she was my protector so i want you all to know you know she was the toughest she was the strongest stronger than my two older brothers amen and if any of them picked on me it was my sister bobby who came to my to my support so we thank god for a life well lived and please keep us in your prayers other announcements for the day the honorary street name unveiling of our own deacon in training dorothy head will take place this tuesday september 14 at 3 40 at the corner of prairie and grant in front of kingsley school if you are available come on out with your mask and social distancing in mind and let's celebrate our own sister dorothy head also second baptist church is launching a study and struggle virtual reading group this fall study and struggle is a mississippi-based organization that works to combat criminalization and incarceration through mutual aid political education and community building our own minister danny prophet will be leading this effort and you can sign up and register through your worship folders we are grateful for our second baptist church ensemble this morning you all started us off with a wonderful praise there were no announcements on the screen at the beginning of service but those announcements will take place at the end of service we also ask that you would please remember next sunday begins a workshop a series of workshops on faith justice and reparations hosted by several churches in the evanston community also you can find this zoom link in your worship folder please don't forget the naacp having their annual virtual freedom fund event it will be saturday november 20th once again we are honoring local evanstonians for the outstanding civic and community service we'll give those names soon but particularly their service during covet 19. but i want you to know we are also hosting this is our virtual but we're also hosting a workshop on critical race theory the naacp everybody's trying to throw that away everybody's trying to say how it's bad for the nation we say it's the best thing for the nation and you'll hear experts that will talk about that and finally we have had tragedy in our evanston community we mourn the loss of two incredible ministers pastors ali webb who was pastor of friendship baptist church for nearly 40 years pastor webb service will be thursday september 23rd a visitation will be from 10 to 11 and the service will be from 11 to 12 at first church of god next thursday not this thursday on the 23rd um pastor webb's body will lie in state at his own church friendship all day on september 22nd you can go through and visit we also mourn the loss of reverend dr patricia ephem who was pastor of ebenezer amy church for about eight or nine years before she went on to become the chief diversity officer here in evanston her funeral service will be this saturday september the 18th also taking place at first church first church is hosting all of these funerals and we appreciate that they have a very very large um sanctuary so we want to give a shout out to pastor monty dillard and offer a word of thanks for their willingness uh to serve this entire community during this time at this time we will move further into our worship service before we do again as grandparents day we have an outstanding preacher in the house none other than reverend c diane johnson she is a candidate for the doctor of ministry degree at garrett evangelical theological seminary don't ask me why she's already got more degrees than anybody i know but she's gone she's working on her doctor of ministry degree she's going to bring us the word today so god bless reverend c diane johnson amen [Music] it's giving time church there is so much happening around us from the fires in california the flooding as the aftermath of hurricane ida in some of the southern states then it spawned tornadoes and storms that damaged regions and major states of all along the east end of new york and new jersey even worse the hurricane season is far from over officially it ends the end of november which means there's be more to come haiti is still in recovery mode from its earthquake and is in the line of much more many more storms threatening to come before any major work repair work can be completed to home flooding and serious property damage from high-level winds from thunderstorms that blew with the ferociousness of that of tornadoes in the further northern suburbs and in northern indiana the need is great but where and which do you determine to give your assistance which organizations to trust there are so many out there and no we can't do it all we can't be everywhere but thank god here at second baptist along with our regular care of helps we do have a functioning body our missions ministry that does make a difference with assistance and care helps to many to those locally and helps in need to those afar this is that time we here right now can make the difference right now amen will the virtual trustees and ushers please come forward thank you [Music] foreign [Music] all right [Music] [Music] [Music] sometimes [Music] a little wick at night tonight [Music] me foreign [Music] hey [Music] see [Music] father god in the name of jesus we thank you god for these offerings we thank you god and we ask that you use them to build your kingdom we thank you god for all they have the desire to give and for those that didn't have blessed them we thank you god in the name of jesus we pray amen [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] [Music] our scripture is taken from the book of hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 through 3 again the book of hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 through 3. it reads as follows therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us let us fix our eyes on jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart the word of god for the people of god thanks be to god amen do [Music] is me [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] he's is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] oh yes [Music] is [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i'm [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] my stuff [Music] [Applause] me [Music] me [Music] and i rejoice [Music] hello [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] taking it back it back [Music] we are rejoicing we are rejoicing in this day that the lord has made [Music] glory i'm so grateful i am indeed rejoicing thankful for this great church second baptist church of evanston thankful for my pastor the reverend dr michael c our neighbors grateful for this music ministry now minister of music reverend vernon clark grateful for the media team frank devin victoria thank you and i'm grateful to all of you tuning in for your grace extended to me and receiving me in this hour i'd like to lift up the scripture one more time hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 to 3 again hebrews chapter 12 1-3 since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on jesus the author and perfecter of faith for the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart this is the blessed word of god let us pray oh lord our god your grace it's with my whole heart that i love you i worship and praise you and thank you for another opportunity for this specific opportunity to be used by you to proclaim your word and deliver your message before your people gathered in this sanctuary and wherever they may be touch my mind my heart and mouth so i think your thoughts i feel your heartbeat as i speak your message open our hearts and minds to listen and receive what you have prepared for us individually and collectively we thank you in advance for what you shall do in these moments divine and beyond it is in the name of jesus christ i pray and thank you god amen a few years ago my mother gave me a handwritten speech authored by my late grandmother one who faithfully served second baptist church of evanston as a deaconess and missionary and that the time my mom gave me my grandmother's writing i was in the midst of preparing my own sermon at my first read of a zillion reads filled with emotion i held the papers in my hands just staring at them i closed my eyes having a mental image of my grandmother to me the words that were on that paper and even though i was not present at the time that she gave this speech i was transported to the space or room where she did give the speech i imagined she had on a white dress and hats that she liked to wear cocked to the side and shoes white shoes her what she would call quote sunday clothes end quote i could even see the white quote pocket book that she carried that probably held that very speech and in addition spanking white gloves i was so excited and i read through it quickly and i read her letter again and again and again her letter was about faith specifically her faith in jesus oh she did highlight people in the bible and expressions of their faith the most interesting to me was to read what she said about her own faith and development in jesus i'll tell you a bit more about that later the book of hebrews was actually a letter written to jews who followed jesus christ the author of the letter is not known and still today many biblical scholars debate about who was corresponding to this community what is understood are the primary themes of the letter that highlight the supremacy of jesus christ the son of god and his superiority and greatness over all the book is a thorough writing of encouragement encouragement offered to the jewish followers of christ who suffered persecution for their belief in jesus these jewish christians were oppressed ostracized and displaced and put out from their jewish communities because of their faith journeys and their decision to follow jesus they encountered persecution through insults and imprisonments punishments and the plundering of personal properties trials and tribulations were regular occurrences and life was comprised of inevitable harm and hardships feelings of weariness fell to just plain all worn out and testy attitudes were the norm having them endure test after test after test suffering and struggling suffering and struggling the jewish christians were second guessing their decisions to follow jesus questioning the reward of following him and maintaining their belief in him they were placing serious consideration on turning away and to turn back from following jesus you see when the going gets tough oh it's human nature to say you know what i got to go i am so out of here i got a jet the why and how long questions come to the forefront why should i continue down this road that could lead to my demise why do i need to take risks that open ways to troubles and terror why put myself at risk let's reconsider this journey and get back to what we know to traditional covenant and observance of old testament law let's turn back yet the writer of the letter continued to express encouragement motivation and rationale for why they needed to persevere in the previous chapter the writers spoke about many great people with examples of faith highlighting these people who had endured and persevered through challenges disappointments and hardships they remain faithful to and confident in god the writer continued by adding that in order to effectively run the race that god has set they must free themselves from the heavyweight that deters and bogs down their pace and certainly the weight of sin that causes trips and stumbles have you ever been teased ostracized bullied and beat up for a decision you made oh maybe not to the magnitude of the jewish christians but you were wronged and mistreated due to your race your gender your ethnicity and however way you self-identify and some of the greatest persecutions throughout history have occurred and still happen today by someone taking issue with how individuals celebrate and practice their faith many have suffered shame and exclusion even retaliation because some person or some people had a problem with the choices and decisions they made and then that person or those people proceed to intimidate threaten one's person or property harass and hassle and be stripped of one's right to just be to just live their life or maybe maybe you even mentally beat up your own self because of a decision or a choice that you made and now live to regret why did i make that purchase why did i invest in that well why did i get with that man why did i get with that woman you know you are regretting and trying to figure out why did you choose this way or another i shoulda i woulda i coulda and then proceed to try and figure out how to turn back the hands of time to the way things were when the consequence of a choice brings suffering naturally we don't like it we say to ourselves uh i didn't sign up for this i didn't commit to enduring pain and suffering like this i can't take it it's just too much and i'm tired of the fight i'm tired of spitting my wheels and ripping and running and seemingly getting nowhere fast we may then set out to do whatever it takes to release ourselves from the trials even if that release is defined as giving up quitting and turning back to our old ways of living and being and surely we as jesus as followers of today can attest to the plight of the jewish christians in one form or another everyone has asked god the quote wide question and had a conversation with god praying for understanding i'm certain every one of us can recall circumstances when we were suffering and or some of us may be suffering right now we know how it feels when life throws situations our way that sucker poncho hit us square in the gut indeed we fell beat down and battered and probably question our abilities to persevere to hang on and to endure yes we've all faced fierce challenges challenges that seemed unending and relentless in fact this health pandemic has caused great struggles and suffering for every single one of us covet 19 has brought and prompted circumstances in our lives that have held us captive confined and quarantined our faith has been and continues to be tested over and over again we too ask the why and how much longer questions because we want to return to our pre-covet lifestyles we want to gather and visit we want to talk to each other without sounding muffled and feeling breathless we want to go places and see and do things we want our get up and go back we want to turn back and yet to compound matters in our individual and collective responses to covet folks are in battle over people's decisions to vaccinate and wear masks how can this be it appeared we as a people had come together we were compliant to taking the actions necessary to keep others and ourselves safe we made the shifts we closed down we sanitized social distance and shielded ourselves in the best way we knew how we followed the guidance we had great praise and appreciation for those who were still out in the trenches so to speak those who continued to help us do the things we could not do for ourselves we were thoughtful of doctors and nurses and technicians we learned to better appreciate delivery drivers and grocers and all the people that pre-covet we may have taken for granted or for some they were just invisible parents around the world are saying extra special thanks be to god for our teachers and educators and all the staff and administrators maintenance teams parents were recognizing this depth of work with our kids they realized oh this is a lot uh our soul helping with homework is one thing but six to seven hours of kid oh keeping them on track and then they don't go anywhere they still at home many of us who worked in office buildings had to make the adjustments to work from home full-time family interactions changed we we couldn't visit family members like we used to we couldn't travel like we used to our get up and go was sit down and stay home our day-to-day functioning our lives as we knew it had drastically changed and we all had to do a lot of shifting turn up turn down or just run idle and in so many ways we simply just turned off we disengaged our faith was and continues to be tested every single day days turned into weeks weeks to months too close to two years and we're still in the battle and the battle is compounded with people at war with one another over whether to give vaccinations and continuing to wear masks some people are engaging in verbal attacks and physical assaults how did we get ourselves so twisted and tangled up and i believe we're all tired tired tired we're tired of making adjustments tired of zooming tired of video conferencing tired of being in the house tired of being anxious about leaving the house tired of the uncertainties the doubts the unknowing tired of the masks we wear every day for safety and tired of the mask we wear pretending everything is all right [Applause] we're tired of suffering by screaming we're tired of suffering in silence we're just plain old tired and our strength and endurance our faith is shaky and fading fast we're tired of having to learn technology we're tired of saying something oh i was on mute too bad i said something profound [Music] we're tired of that we want to gather we want to gather we love our technology and we thank god for it but we also love congregating together let me return to the text and so the writer not only says to the people to recall those people of faith who witness to you but put aside every weight the writer says the most important thing to do is to keep running keep it moving and that is to look to jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith one translation says look to jesus the author and finisher of faith the writer continued by providing clear rationale and emphasis on focusing on jesus look to jesus stating that the fact that jesus did not give up jesus knows all about what it means to endure suffering he suffered shame and death on a cross he knew of the joy that would be his later now he's sitting at the right side of god jesus knows about hate and hostility he endured that haste hate and hostility from senators against him he persevered so they his followers followers would not grow weary and give up so that they would not turn back remember my grandmother's letter like the writer to the jewish christians she too spoke about faithful witnesses in the bible like abraham and his son isaac the centurion who asked jesus to heal his son but she also talked about when she was a child and i quote when she was first converted there was a prayer meeting with the candidate at the church every wednesday night she said her mother and her mom's friend were talking to the children and taught them that they should continue to pray my grandmother said the first prayer her mother taught was to ask god to increase her faith and double her determination she wrote she has been praying for more faith ever since she said times will come when you feel you need more faith because you never can have too much faith and she ended by writing some of the lyrics to a song she'd like to sing and the first line to that song is my faith looks up to you oh lord well there you have it both the writer and my grandmother and the great cloud of witnesses and that includes these witnesses who have gone on to glory and those journeying with you today to encourage you to cheer you on and tell you to lift up your head fix your gaze on jesus stay the course don't turn back don't allow setbacks to turn you back follow jesus follow jesus run with endurance with a persevering faith a tenacious faith in jesus look at god focus on jesus and don't focus on the things that turn us away from him don't focus on the things that set us back focus on jesus focus on his enduring love for us don't turn back for his love gives us hope when hope is elusive and we are hopeless don't turn back for his love affirms us when we feel unlovable and unworthy don't turn back his love sustains us when pains of life are relentless and unending his mighty love protects us when we're afraid and faith in him gives us courage when fear is menacing and intimidating don't turn back his peace watches over us in our seasons of grief and sorrow don't lose your focus don't take your eyes off jesus don't turn back keep running keep moving keep enduring keep focused and as pastor neighbors reminds us week after week keep the face persevering god's power be encouraged knowing the lord jesus christ the author of faith the perfecter of our faith and your lifelong letter of faith continues to be written by him thanks be to god and amen [Applause] amen let the people of god say amen we thank god for the message and we thank god for the messenger and the reverend see diane johnson reminding us no matter what we're facing there is no turning back we have come too far from where we started from at this time we are going to extend the invitation to christian discipleship there may be someone in virtual land who has not accepted jesus as their lord and savior some of you may be looking for a church home i've talked with so many people during the week who say that they're going to join they're waiting for the white moment well this may be your moment and if you have joined us in virtual land today we invite you to contact us at www.secondbaptistevenston.org [Music] or give us a call at [Music] of a 847-869-6955 that is determined according to reverend johnson that there is no turning back now the doors of the church are open for you wherever you are us a call [Music] pick up your phone and call us right now 847-869-6955 [Music] [Music] here we go [Music] [Applause] jesus for jesus amen amen again for those of you out in virtual land we thank god for our music ministry today you are outstanding ensemble you all can sing for me anytime amen if we go out on a corner somewhere and get a big kentucky fried chicken bucket we gonna be rich by the end of the day with you all singing amen amen so we just thank god for the gifts that you all have and that god has anointed you that we might in turn be a blessing we thank god for the reverend see diane johnson who blessed us on this day we thank god for our media ministry for our musicians you all have been wonderful and we thank you so much for that we want to remind you a couple of special days are coming up on the fourth sunday of this month september 26th we will again have an outdoor service we are going to be at evanston township high school again in the rear parking lot it is also going to be hbcu sunday remember to wear your gear i am going to wear either hampton or spellman amen i'm not sure which [Laughter] amen amen amen but you all wear your gear we're going to have a wonderful time and then on october 12th the second sunday in october we'll have another outdoor service weather providing another outdoor service again at the high school and we are going to tell you more about that service but that's going to be a wonderful service we're going to kick something in at the end of that service and fellowship together so at this time if there's nothing left less that we have to if there's nothing else that we have to do at this time we will prepare for our benediction thank god for you all and now unto god who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the lord's throne with exceeding joy to the only wise god be glory majesty dominion and power now henceforth and forevermore and remember second baptist and friends wherever you are keep the faith baby [Music] [Music] foreign uh [Applause] [Music] good morning second baptist family today's announcements are as follows we're signed to inform you of the passing of sbc member grace pickens general services will be held on thursday september 16th at 10 30 am please see your worship folder for the condolence address children youth and teens need your help as we plan and prepare to continue to meet the needs of our youth we'd like you to complete a registration form so that we can get to know our youth better we serve youth ages 0-5 with little sprouts and ages 6-17 with you church this information will only be shared within the ministry to communicate activities and other information to you and their families if you have any questions or ideas on how to serve our youth better please contact us at youthchurch.secondbaptistevenston.org join us today for sunday school from 10 45 a.m to 11 30 a.m via zoom or by phone to join by phone call 312-626-6799 the meeting id is 881-6649-4615 join us for intercessory prayer on wednesdays at 6 pm we praise god for all his blessings pray for those in need of healing and cover our families church nation and individual concerns to join by phone call 312-626-6799 the meeting id is 868-5662-9323 wednesday bible study will resume on september 15th at 7 pm thank you for joining us today have a blessed week you

Channel: Second Baptist Church Evanston

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Length: 80min 28sec (4828 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021