Annual Assembly Opening Session

i'm to thee oh lord do we give thanks unto thee do we [Music] give unto thee o lord do we give thanks all hail and shalom and good morning to the house of israel to all my brothers and sisters in the tabernacles in the united states and elsewhere it's certainly a an honor and a privilege to uh to declare at this time to declare the 2021 virtual annual assembly to be open or open for business but the first order of of any business is to give thanks and praise to worship and adore the god of our salvation the god of abraham the god of isaac and the god of jacob we can't thank him enough for all of the many blessings that he has already bestowed upon us upon the house of israel on the communities which we serve and on the world in general the lord has certainly been good to us it's an honor and a privilege to address the uh the rabbinical counsel uh the board of presbytery the evangelist at large the evangelists elders of israel grand general and district officers of the church of god and saints of christ on this first day of the feast i'll go i'll go ahead and say it the feast of the lord's assembly and we hope it is is just that we hope it is the lord's assembly and we certainly invoke the presence of the almighty god invoke his spirit to be with us during these sessions during the devotional sessions as well as the as well as the business sessions and other activities for it is by the power and spirit of god that we can be successful in the in all of these things the theme for this assembly behold i will do a a new thing uh you can find that expression over there in isaiah somewhere over in isaiah chapter chapter 42 i think it is but verses verses 9 and 10. verse 10 says behold i will do a new thing but verse 9 says the former things i think the former things no i'm sorry remember ye not the former things remember you're not the former things of old in other words put those old things behind you why behold it says in verse 10 i will do a a new thing and we are certainly looking forward to the god of our salvation of course he was addressing our forefathers who were emerging from babylonian captivity when he gave those comforting words we are emerging from a kind of captivity the covet 19 captivity and so i'm asking the lord to reiterate the blessing that he gave to our forefathers and give us that blessing to do a new thing for us as we emerge from covet 19 captivity i i suggest to you that there's a companion there's a companion scripture that might accompany this uh isaiah um the 40th oh it was 43 i'm sorry it's 43 18 i'm sorry it's 43 18. pardon me 43 18 and 19 is what i meant to say 18 says remember ye not the former things and then 19 says behold i will do a new thing and i'm suggesting to you that there's a companion scripture that might accompany that scripture and it goes back to isaiah chapter 42 verses 9 and 10. and isaiah chapter 42 and verse 9 says behold the form of things are to come to pass and new things are to be declared but then the first verse 10 is the one i'm interested it says the lord says he's going to he's going to do anything verse 4 verse 10 says sing its instructions to us sing unto the lord a new song you know i'm going to do a new thing and now i want you to do a new thing i want you to sing a new song of praise and and that's that's a that's a valid uh instruction for us to to be like the 144 000 that that john saw in his apocalyptics in his apocalyptic scriptures and these folks after they after they were deemed redeemed in his vision after they were redeemed and had their father's name written in their foreheads what did they do they sang a new song what before the throne of god and and that's our task and and and i'm and i'm giving preliminary statements here and i'm giving kind of introductory statements to bring a spiritual tone right here at the beginning a spiritual tone even though this is a business session a spiritual tone to what we do during this assembly for without god's spirit lord have mercy god without god's spirit we cannot be successful and prophet william s crowley back in 1903 understood it because in that in that original annual assembly in the state of kansas he had those folks singing and praying and preaching and doing all kinds of things and praise and worship as they did the business the original business of the church of god and saints of christ as they wrote the constitution as as he set up the daughter's quorum and the sabbath school department as he was doing all that he was praising and worshiping and thanking god all throughout so that the spirit intertwined itself wound its way through all of their sessions and i'm hoping and praying that we can do do the same thing this morning's session is our introductory ceremonial session we'll have a keynote address coming to us from rabbi james young the rabbi of the diocese of africa we'll have a few songs and some scriptures and this afternoon we will begin our reporting session for this virtual this historic uh virtual assembly who would have thought a few years ago that we would be observing a an annual assembly over the airways who would who would have thought but but but the lord knows best and and i have said and i will say that anything anything the lord does is good and it's all right with me and years from now we'll look back on this historic assembly and we'll rejoice at what the lord had done for us to bring us through this this pandemic worshiping and praising his name and doing the business you know holding our our family together and doing the business of the church of god and saints of christ so so let us now be begin let us begin our opening ceremonial session with our net with our anthem i love thy church oh god oh [Music] my [Applause] [Music] my [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] love and praise [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh oh ah [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Laughter] will be led in invocation by evangelist judah a person of elizabeth city north carolina i will save my people and i will bring them to jerusalem and i will save them from the east country save them from the west country i will be their god and they shall be my people let us pray sovereign lord of the universe thou that rule it in righteousness thou who art the very source and ground of our being thou who art the creator a very good and perfect gift thou who are present at every point in time and space in your entirety father as your children we confess our sins and transgressions and we ask pardon and ask forgiveness for not always doing the right thing at the right time and being in the right place at the right time for not being where we should be for not doing good deeds and presenting and preserving and performing good stewardship lord take us back try us one more time in your word father through your prophet isaiah you said behold i will do a new thing almighty god we thank you for the advent of prophet william saunders crowdy who came in the spirit and power of elijah lord we thank you likewise for the succession of leadership and for the leaders from prophet william s crowded to our present leader chief rabbi philip e mcneil grandfather abraham prophet of the almighty god these prophets these captains of this old ship of zion with this precious cargo of saints these harbor masters dear god have guided and navigated this ship of zion through troubled waters and have held it steady through stormy seas preaching and teaching and leading us in thus saith the lord keep him father hold him shield him from every hurt harm and danger father god while in this communal prayer mode we ask that you remember the experienced warriors the experienced armor bearers yet living remember them for their good works for bearing the burdens in the heat of the day in the high noon sweltering part of the day for they knew that night would come when no man could work although whorey-headed and feeble they work while it was day and now lord bless also the armor bearers who hold their places now today give them courage of heart strength of hand and confirmation of will to ensure that this glorious banner never touches the ground oh holy one of israel as we convoke this 2021 assembly to examine plan and report and govern concerning our stewardship be in our midst be that guiding force that drenches that saturates that permeates our thoughts and our actions with the dynamic god consciousness that is needed now we already know my father that this week there will be praying there will be preaching that will be singing there will be shouting there will be rejoicing and lord there may be even some clapping over what you have bestowed upon us and now lord behold they're threatening and grant unto thy servants from the pulpit occupants to the pew dwellers that with all boldness they may speak thy word lord lord lord as we close this prayer we thank you now right now for what you have already done we go out confident that the victory is ours that satan is on the run that hearts have been changed decisions and rulings have been made that we know not of in our favor and thy canopy of peace is now over us for thine is the greatness for thine is the power for thine is the glory for thine is the victory for thine is the majesty forever forever forever hallelujah so be it truth praise thee oh god amen amen amen [Music] unto my supplications hear my prayers [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] me hear my prayer [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] has [Music] [Applause] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] god tribulations [Music] temptations oh i will see [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] amen amen oh lord i was i wish you were here i wish you were here so we could enjoy that beautiful song together and that song says it says so much through hard trials and tribulations nevertheless canaanland has survived has has persisted and it's still our happy home and we'll have it somebody said if we can keep it when ben franklin said what what kind of govern through is it's a republic if you can keep it thanking the lord for this fine invocation coming from evangelist judah person i'm going to make a number of appointments during this annual assembly and i might as well start right now with the first one evangelist judah person you are now the grand chaplain of the church of god and saints of christ by my word right now by my word you are stepping into some some huge footsteps evangelist benjamin quattelbaum who faithfully executed that office evangelist frank johnson carried on that tradition now you are next in line to carry on the tradition of the grand chaplain of the church of god and saints of christ i ask the lord to bless you and to be with you put his arms of protection around you give him his spirit form the duties of this office congratulations i kind of gave a half-baked welcome in my own in my broken english but now we turn to someone who's going to give you a formal welcome namely our own brother eliezer carey of belleville virginia who will give us the welcome unto the church of god and saints of christ giving honor to god thanking god for sending proper william saunders crowding and also giving recognition to our leader today chief rabbi philippe mcneil grandfather abraham to the rabbis evangelist at large evangelists ministers grand general district officers delegates and saints of the most high i say all hail and welcome first i like to thank god for sparing our lives to experience canaan land our happy home and to reach another assembly lord knows what has transpired within the past few months covert numbers have fluctuated society has been in a state of constant turmoil and our faith has surely been tested but regardless of all these things we the house of israel can take solace in the fact that we are still here our time is not over yet and there is still a work to be done on june 24 1898 prophet william saunders crowdy called the first national assembly for the first annual assembly in emporia kansas it was at this assembly that the inner workings of this spiritual organization were set up the presbytery board was appointed the constitution was drafted and the daughters of jerusalem and sisters of mercy were set up needless to say the work was getting done regardless of the times chief rabbi gave to us for a theme behold i will do a new thing and as chief rabbi said earlier there is a verse before that says remember ye not the former things neither consider the things of old in other words forget the past or one may even say don't worry about your current conditions for behold god will do a new thing and i believe that that new thing that god will do will be done through us you and i through the work we do now during moments such like this week last week's sabbath day i had the pleasure of visiting with chief rabbi or attending the service with cheap rabbi with the saints in africa the service was beautiful the songs were great the ceremony was splendid and the sermon was awesome but beyond all these wonderful things one statement made by elder david rambiwa of the gauting district stood out to me the most he stated that the glow of our future starts with the flame we like today simple yet so profound as i said before that the first assembly in 1898 was an assembly of work saints remembered not the turmoil of that day nor did they consider the conditions they were in they lit the flames of this organization and new things were done things of which we bear witness of today so during this assembly remember ye not the former things neither consider the things of old light your flame saints during this assembly remember ye not the coven 19 pandemic neither consider the social unrest of today light your flame by engaging in the events of this week devotion leaders remember ye not the nervousness you might feel neither consider the the doubt you may place on yourself to deliver light your flame by giving an inspiring and enlightening word from the lord committee members and boards remember ye not the effect coven may have had on your numbers neither consider the disagreements within your commission light your flame by giving thorough and accurate accounts of our stewardship delegates remember ye not the stress of trying to attend every event neither consider the obstacles you may face while trying to attend these events online light your flame by attending what you can and taking your gleanings back to your local tabernacles this assembly let us all remember not the hardships of the past nor consider the difficulties of the present but let us light our flames this week and hope for a brighter future and as chief rabbi said earlier in all things that we do this week let us do it in the name of god and to the betterment of our fellow man and let us all pray that a new thing will be done in the days of our life and the life of all the house of israel speedily yay soon and let us all say amen so from los angeles to belleville from africa to the island of jamaica from alaska to miami and everywhere in between i say welcome to the 2021 annual assembly i asked the house of israel to please pray for me [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] did rejoice [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] their eyes [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] said that i have had not been told [Music] i [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] thank you rejoice [Music] [Applause] [Music] is worthy to be [Applause] praised [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] then [Music] amen hey hey man what a beautiful beautiful song and now let us move to hear a response to the welcome which will be given to us by saint erica hurt of wilmington delaware all hail first giving humble and insufficient praise to the almighty god thanking him for today and every day he allows us to breathe breath of life thanking him for not letting or leaving us comfortless and blessing us with our re-establisher prophet william saunders crowdy thanking him for the succession of leadership through and up to our current day leader chief rabbi philip e mcneil grandfather abraham to the entire ministerial body and to you the beautiful sons and daughters of the god most high thank you brother eleazar for embracing us with that encouraging welcome light our flag as the song says it is good to be here perfect love that drives away all my fears now although we did not travel through the highways and byways we made it through the meeting ids creating passwords password resets zoom invites the glitches the mutes and unmutes the host letters letting us in and for those of us who participate making sure our background setting is just right we have been tried we have been challenged we have been through the fire we have lost loved ones we have tried to get people to understand that our lives matter and we are still travailing through this virus and its streams and variants but now our leader is echoing the command of god through this 2021 assembly theme behold i will do a new thing this command this call to action god is demanding our attention and telling us as they would say in the streets it's about to go down when the commander in charge gives us the command the response is to act we act confident we act hard we act swift and we make a profound statement what statement will we make from this time forth and moving forward when god does this new thing what will our response be will things remain the same within us or will there be a new thing that's something to ponder on this 2021 assembly now we know we must handle our financial business because that is essential to this work but nevertheless we must stay ready so we don't have to get ready to receive the new thing that is already in store for us as it is written in isaiah chapter 3 and 40 and verse 19. so how do we stay ready we stay ready through our worship we stay ready by living god's word we stay ready by praising god's name we stay ready by following god's ten commandments we stay ready by singing the sweet songs of zion we stay ready by genuinely loving one another and building each other up we stay ready so we don't have to get ready all of this is so vital as we transcend in anticipation for god to do a new thing house of israel my peace be with you [Applause] he lets me live [Music] he lets me see the hand he works he lets me [Music] he lets me [Music] [Applause] up [Music] how beautiful upon the mountains [Music] peace [Music] he [Music] is [Music] [Music] and prosperity within god [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh amen what a beautiful sound beautiful harmony beautiful ensemble and beautiful words behold i will do a new thing the lord is already doing a new thing right here in this service just to hear those two 19 year olds give the profound welcome and the outstanding response to the welcome praising god and laying down principles that we all should be following during this assembly and thereafter yes a new thing is in the air these two new 19 year olds attest to that fact thank you lord for your many blessings and now it is my privilege to bring before you elder joseph c denson of belleville virginia the general church secretary of the church of god and saints of christ who will give us the scripture for the day all hail to all the scripture reading comes from the book of isaiah the 3 and 40th chapter verse 19 which reads thus behold i will do a new thing now it shall spring forth shall ye not know it i will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert thus ended the reading of the scripture i am hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] isaac i am [Music] god i am [Music] who calls israel to cross over jordan into the promised land he called abraham alone and blessed him and gave him the land foreign it's hard [Applause] [Music] [Music] god [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] abraham his son he said it is [Music] [Music] [Music] and do what he [Applause] [Applause] god [Music] and the lord said that he would bring of [Music] the [Music] [Music] amen what what a one what a wonderful sound they say the sound would never leave belleville but it has to leave belleville right now in order to go across the airwaves to you so that you can enjoy them the lord said that he would bring us and he is faithful to his promise he will bring us he is bringing us he's doing a new thing right before our very eyes and it's now my pleasure to introduce to give the opening address for this 2021 annual assembly this virtual historic virtual assembly rabbi james young of greensboro north carolina who is my representative for our tabernacles in in africa he is doing a beautiful job of coordinating me and you and with the with the african diocese he travels over there sometimes preaching funerals and sermons encouraging uplifting the people in the motherland his phone's ringing off the hook sometimes it's it's a thankless job but i'd like to take this opportunity to thank you rabbi young for the wonderful work you are doing heading up our activity of the land of without any further ado i bring to you rabbi james young thank you sir to the annual assembly of the church of god and saints of christ to chief rabbi philip e mcneil grandfather abraham to the rabbinical council the board of presbytery the evangelists at large evangelists elders grand general and district officers delegates members and visiting friends i say to you all hail good morning good afternoon good evening depending upon the time zone in which you are living now take a moment to pause to recognize our family uh and members who are on this platform hailing from zimbabwe escuatini eastern cape kwazulu-natal halting province south africa malawi and mozambique if there be any including of course botswana i am blessed to serve with you your praise is beautiful your worship is sincere your faith is great great your your faithfulness is great i draw strength from you now yesterday about this time one of our young brothers from zululand he sent me a whatsapp message and here's what it says i'll share with you in relevant part he said we try our best to keep prophet william s crowdy's light shining and we will die waving the flag of the church of god and saints of christ and its teachings goosebumps came all over me water i have to admit came to my eyes because it reminded me of what rabbi j hugh august crowded junior grandfather abraham said while in south africa he said in relative part never have i seen a greater faith so i say to central and southern africa spiritually we are joined at the hip there is nothing you can do about it and there is nothing that i would do about it if i could i pray for you and i send a constant stream of healing and comforting thoughts your way now of course the assembly is about accounting for our stewardship which includes analyzing the business of the church but as members of the faith community our first order of business is always to honor god i'm thanking god the supreme god for continuing to be a healer i can't hear your amen but somebody out there knows what i'm talking about some of us have found ourselves praying to god to stay the death angel's hand as quietly as we may keep it some of us we had a prayer that went something like this god i have children to raise a spouse to love humanity to serve life to live and with tears melting into our pillowcases we turned our face to the wall as did hezekiah said lord please extend my life remember me for my good works i'm thanking god today for being a comforter some of us have realized that no matter how strong and accomplished we may be life will pull the tears from the strong man's eyes and the strong woman's eyes sometimes some of us have been forced to say farewell to loved ones well before we ever thought we would or should have to do so skilled human hands and skilled minds toiled to prolong their lives but to no avail we found um the empty comfort in the sincere attempts to console us oh oh if folks say things like well he's better he's in a better place or or god knows what's best kind words as kind as they were could not replace the heart that was ripped from us it could not stop the unexpected and uncontrollable outbursts of grief the bible says in jeremiah's eyes whereas a fountain of tears where guess what babies so were ours some of us thought we would lose our mind but by the grace of god and the select few angels hand-picked angels he left on earth we found enough strength and mortal fortitude to get out of the bed first of all we found enough strength in fortitude to get out of the bed and put one foot in front of the other we found enough strength to be able to navigate the fog press onto the unspeakable grief and endure the pain that no physical injury has ever caused us it's not just about my pain but it's about africa's pain it's about the us's pain because what some of you don't realize is i can feel a part of your pain god did it i'm honoring god today as my provider through the prosperous times he's my provider through the lean years he's been my provider he's been consistent all good fathers take care of their children my grandfather told me before he left this earth he said a man a man will dig a ditch if he has to take care of his children come on brothers let us handle our business i'm thanking god today for being a provider answer is my prayer give us this day our daily bread it may not always be exactly what i want or we want but god continues to provide us with safe and suitable housing and god knows i haven't missed a meal or a mortgage payment yet god did it the first order of business is to honor god today my protector when the weekend come on when the weekend even mine enemies came upon me to eat up my flesh you know what happened they stumbled and they failed and it wasn't one of those greats before where you kind of jumped you fall down and get back up no i'm good no no no they were ugly falls and don't hold and camp against me and this will i be confident one thing have i desired of the lord especially one thing have i desired the lord that i may seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in this temple the first order of business is to honor god today he is the light that cannot be extinguished he is certainty in times of uncertainty and i take comfort knowing that my redeemer liveth and he's been my help since my youth hallelujah let's move to the task at hand now giving the opening address at the assembly of courses is the task at hand for me and i was told that this is going to be broadcast all throughout the world on youtube they say so allow me to take a moment to share a few things about me and relevant part that may uh help to establish my credibility or perhaps answer the silent question that all of us have when someone appears before us as a speaker or presenter those questions are number one who is the speaker and number two why does the speaker merit my attention well you'll decide the latter but let me share a few things about who i am what shapes my thoughts what regulates my being what orders my steps and what what significantly contributes to the sum total of who i am rectitude is my ambition justice is my calling and i detest the fallacy of the red hair you know what i'm talking about those who who try to distract us from the issue at hand by espousing irrelevant information i hate that and i was taught skillfully how to deal with that number one if you're interested you simply say one that's not the issue number two you tell them why it's not the issue and you return them to the original line of discussion i hate the fallacy of the red hair equity is my nature seeing humor in the mundane is my blessing laughter is my medicine compassion is my ministry my angelo said i've learned that people will forget what you said they will forget what you did but people will never forget how you make them feel family is my joy heaven is my destination and god's acceptance is my ultimate reward nice to meet you let's get down to business the theme given to us by chief rabbi phillip e mcneill grandfather abraham behold i will do a new thing and i will preach from this subject my sheep know my voice and a stranger they will not follow the purpose of this message is a call to prepare ourselves to receive the imminent blessings of the new thing that god is about to do and this is backed up by scripture god deals in newness lamentations chapter 3 says his compassions fail not they are new every morning god deals in newness so here's what we're going to do number one we're going to briefly examine isaiah chapter 43 or 3 and 4. we'll flesh it out a little bit secondly we will briefly examine the subject my sheep know my voice and a stranger they will not follow lastly we will draw a connection between both the theme and the subject hopefully leaving us in a better place than we were before this assembly commenced let's get at it behold i will do a new thing this is another instance where god speaking through prophet isaiah declares his sovereignty to a people who had gone through prolonged suffering they were emerging from babylonian captivity let's keep it simple god he first established his sovereignty or or reasserted his sovereignty he said i am he before me there is no god before me there'll be no gods after me i am the lord besides me there is no savior i have declared i have saved i have showed thee he said you all are my witnesses for your sake i went down to babylon i brought down all of their nobles i brought down the chaldeans whose pride is their ships you all are my witnesses somebody here knows what i'm talking about we need not stay in antiquity to talk about being a witness for the lord somebody knows what i'm talking about somebody can testify that god can tear down kingdoms somebody here can give credible testimony that god has the power to move the very folk who stubbornly declare i shall not be moved somebody can testify that god's faithfulness is great he said we are his witnesses we're working through isaiah chapter 43 of 3 and 40. somebody can offer unteachable testimony about that bomb and gilead that makes the wounded whole somebody here can testify that god can wipe the tears from our eyes god in isaiah 43 said you all are my witnesses somebody knows that god can prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies somebody knows that god can stop the dealer from dealer the pusher from pushing the attic from using the alcoholic from over consumption and he can restore the dignity of the loose woman and the loose man hello god said you are my witnesses so in essence why has your countenance fallen why are you acting like you don't know why are you feeling like you don't know why are you thinking like you don't know you all are my witnesses as to my saving power so israel get yourself together turn off the noise of the distractors shake off the dead spirit of doubt shake off the impotent spirit of cynicism check your temperature as to the lukewarm commitment to your calling it was charles wesley he wrote a change a charge rather i have to keep and a god i have to glorify get ourselves together he said i'm getting ready to to do a new thing and god is urging us to follow he goes on to say fear not i have redeemed thee these are all familiar scriptures to us fear not i am with thee i am the lord besides me there is no savior when they'll pass us through the waters i'll be with you when you walk through the fire i'll be with you you are my witnesses i'm getting ready to do a new thing get yourselves together for this blessing it's going to spring forth it's going to be quickly it's coming forth i will make a way in the sea i'll make a path in the mighty waters i know what you've been going through i've heard the wailing of your morning i've seen every tear that has slid down your cheek i've watched you as you watch others with disdain and disturbance as seemingly the wicked prosper as a green bay tree he said but you are my witnesses by now you should have learned you should have learned by now that i will use their proclivity for evil and deception to strengthen you you are my witnesses genesis chapter 15 verse 20 says but as for you ye thought evil against me but god meant it unto good so we say they meant it for evil but god made it good he said you're my witnesses come on now you're my witness it was maya angelou who said after you have learned teach now let me take a break it's kind of heavy here let me quickly tell you how i discovered my angelo and how her wisdom has nourished or nurtured me for decades so for those of you don't know i was raised in a small town small town values we knew our neighbors we would speak to pastors by we would speak to strangers we would say hello good morning we would engage in a friendly uh small talk and you know for example if someone was in reasonable proximity to you you could have been on public transportation as little as we had it was expected that you would say god bless you we lived at a leisurely pace we didn't walk fast we didn't talk fast there was no hurrying there was no rushing but i moved to washington dc to study and no one told me that the rules weren't quite the same in washington dc or big cities i had a clerkship at the general counsel's office at the national labor relations board and i found myself herself having to get on the metro i think it was the orange line those of you all in dc you all helped me out with my geography but i think it was the orange line and i think my stop was fairy god west so i took my small town half country self and my uh similar experiences with me as i boarded the metro trying to get to my clerkship and i would uh give the metro and i would sit down i would stand if there wasn't enough room to sit and i'd say you know the person around me good morning you know how are you a busy day ahead let the metro's on time you don't want to be late for work or you know small talk to pass time right wrong not in dc not in not in the big city i didn't know they would look at me with both consternation and suspicion there was a cross between what's wrong with you and what are you trying to do so i quickly learned that was not an isolated incident that's just how it was in dc but the straw that almost took me over the top i was on the orange line trying to get to fair god west my stop and i sneezed and listened to this did you know nobody said god bless you and i wanted to holler out what is wrong with you people were you raised under a rock everybody says god bless you right wrong so i began to assimilate i boarded the metro just as the others did attentive quasi-suspicious of everyone non-verbal stone-faced and i did as many other ones did i just buried my head in the book and it just so happened that uh the book that i was burying my head into so to speak was i know why the caged bird sings and the back cover says amongst other things poetic and powerful i know why the caged bird sings it touches hearts and it changes minds and that's exactly what that book did for me her wisdom resonates with me today so you may hear another reference later on it spirit depends on how spirit leaves me let's get back to work god is getting ready to do a new thing and he beckons us to follow him remember not the bible says the things of the past in other words let's not drag the hurt and the burden of the past into the present calm our anxious fears let us get rid of the what gifts god has taken care of all of that and he will take care of all of that what god needs us to do is to prepare ourselves he says get ready to do a new thing he beckons us to follow him well that sounds easy enough you hold out do a new thing we like new things right well hold on for a minute maybe not so much we like new things new cars new jewelry new clothes new houses new furniture perhaps new investments new stocks new bonds new cryptocurrency new mutual funds new shoes so on and so forth new hair dudes so on and so forth but that's just scratching the surface let's go deeper the scripture is about new things it's about god doing something different or something new and the truth of the matter is we as members of the community of faith that's the last thing we want is something new go ahead and say amen our history shows it not peculiar to any particular denomination our history shows that communities of faith are the last to embrace new things so my question was lord are we on a collision course with you or what do we need to do that scripture was just a little bit too easy to outdo a new thing oh sure let me give you an illustration about a community of faith not wanting to do new things there was a christian minister who gave a presentation to a civic club of which i'm a member and the younger members of his congregation they wanted a new thing they wanted to change when service began the time they wanted to change the mode of and style of worship they were tired of the pipe organ it wasn't speaking to them they wanted to do some of that psalms 149 and 150 praise they wanted to praise god with the loud symbols they wanted to praise god with the high sounding symbols they wanted to praise god with the trumpet they wanted to praise god with the timber or the tambourine they wanted a new thing well you can about imagine how well that went with the traditionalist the pipe organ still speaks or spoke to the senior members the senior members were armed with precedent we don't do it that way here we never have they were armed with influence over the pastor they were armed with the power of the purse they were armed with culture and tradition and there was a clash over this new thing the young people ask well if we're wrong the bible is wrong read psalm 149 and 150 we're wrong the bible is wrong the old folks said well the bible says you can't praise him with loud symbols but you don't be doing that here the young people say well you know what all right you don't want to change guess what we will change our membership that's when the pastor stepped in he said now wait a minute because he had sense enough to know that if he didn't ask god for some direction and take that in 15 to 20 years there'd be nobody left to play the pipe organ or listen to it somebody knows where i'm going behold i'll do a new thing so the pastor he said this is what i did i said you know what we'll have two services we'll have a contemporary service for the young folk and for the future of the church and we will keep the traditional service for those who've been around and to whom the pipe organ still speaks let's go deeper while researching this message i encountered an unexpected parallel as it relates to traditional economies stay with me and contemporary or modern economies now now my son got me on this path so he did it blame him so he said wait a minute dad what you're talking about and that sounds like traditional economies versus modern economies what are you talking about not in congress what are you talking about he took me to cambridge dictionary he took me to youtube and here's where i understand the the parallel to be traditional or old economies are characterized by doing what you did in the past they are centered around passing down customs and time-honored beliefs the individual has no freedom and economic questions are answered by the tradition by tradition and the elders so for example if you were raised in a family of cattle raised cattle ranchers that's what you're going to be and the method you use to raise cattle would be exactly the same method with slight to no variation than your parents did and their parents and theirs and so on and so on follow me there's little room for innovation or change communities of faith would not ostensibly say we're going against a new thing but but our song would be give me that old-time religion it was good enough for paul and silas lord it's good enough for me the advantages of traditional economies uh religion so to speak is that they purport certainty we know what to expect and that can be comforting to some on the other hand the disadvantages of traditional economy slash religions no change no new things stagnation can occur it can begin to smell kind of funny we don't see innovation and perhaps worse people who have new ideas their ideas are discouraged and they are pushed out of those economies slash churches they are rejected it's unacceptable to go against the status quo stay with me please this can cause economies church churches or congregations to stagnate no economic growth in those economies the fear is that the economy slash the church if it's not growing if they're not growing it may be sick and it may be at elevated risk of dying follow me god said i'm gonna do a new thing but the truth of the matter is we as members of communities of faith we're not so keen on new things let's be honest about that we tend to cling to the old things and those who are less inclined to cling to the old things they're looked at asking right now here's how we do it in our congregation we'll say things like this if we're not if we're not for a new thing we'll say well i want you all to help you fill in the blank we'll say well the prophet didn't bring that right we'll say it wasn't so from the beginning right we'll say well bishop z plumbers said rabbi levious plumbers said rabbi j yoga's probably grandfather abraham said right and all of us of course we are certain that those statements that were under 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 years ago are directly applicable to the issue today we're confident about that right sure we are god said i'm going to do a new thing and what god is looking for us to do is to follow but we have to really openly acknowledge that new things can bring about joy but they can also bring about uncertainty new things right some welcome the newness but guess what all don't necessarily do that but god said i'm doing a new thing right this message our leader has given us god is doing what a new thing and god beckons us to follow stay with me if you would getting through this thing the heart of the message saying just god is saying i'm getting sick i'm getting ready to do a new thing it's going to spring forth but follow me right my sheep know my voice and a stranger they will not follow and we're okay with the references to sheep right the lord is my shepherd i shall not want right psalms 103 know ye that the lord he is god it is he who has made us and not we ourselves we are his people and the what sheep of his pasture we're fine with that right but the truth of the matter is sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish god's voice amen sure and we find ourselves all of us regardless of race religion creed tall short robust then it doesn't matter at some point all of us find it difficult to navigate life's winding roads some of us we need help at times to figure out which way to go and what to do some of us we will go to our leaders we'll go to friends therapists counselors go on youtube looking for answers but god said i'm going to do a new thing he's beckoning us to follow right my sheep know my voice and a stranger they will not follow we acknowledge that life sometimes generates more questions and answers and we find ourselves struggling with new problems and old ways of thinking cannot solve yes god is doing a new thing winding down so quickly he's doing a new thing it's imminent expecting us to follow sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish god's voice at least it is for me at times so let's talk a little bit about voice recognition now watch this hey siri what time is it it's 11 37 a.m so how did siri know to recognize my voice right i had to spend some time with siri i had to tell siri two or three times as i set up my phone i had to talk to her so she could recognize my voice and my younger son he tried that last night it didn't work for him no because siri didn't recognize his voice yeah let's go deeper that young mother right she's trying to do it all she's trying to hold down her career she's trying to raise children she's trying to have a husband she's trying to do it all right so she's sometimes forced to drop her children off right child care trying to do it all amen and then after work she finds herself moving briskly trying to get to that child development center or pick up her children and sometimes she can hear children crying right she can hear children crying and her attempt of her distinguishing ear it makes her to move a little bit quicker towards that room to find out if that's her baby crying or not and that young mother she gets the point where she can distinguish out of multiple children crying she can distinguish the voice of her baby why because she nurtured that baby from the womb she heard that babies cry when that baby was hungry the baby was thirsty the baby was cold the baby was uh had a sore diaper the baby wanted to be held the baby just wanted mommy's attention she had learned to distinguish the voice out of all the noise she was able to distinguish the voice of her baby follow me follow me we're talking about voice recognition let's go deeper when i was in college i don't know what day of the week it was i had finished class it was around 12 to noon and i went home to take a nap back back to my apartment because i love to sleep i could sleep right now now i hope you all aren't thinking that but i could sleep right now and i took a nap and in my dream i heard my mother's voice and for those of you all who knew me pre rabbi elder young folk close to me called me jimmy i could hear her voice and she said jimmy but she said it in a way i knew something was wrong i was in i was asleep in my dream we're talking about voice recognition stay with me and i was so disturbed i woke up i woke up and i called i said mom is everything okay she said i was just in a car accident i'm talking about voice recognition in the spirit stay with me stay with me let's go deeper i was told that bishop ac plumber left on record when he was ministering to the flock of his day he left on record if you don't dream of me sometime you're too far away stay with me i'm talking about voice recognition let's go deeper so for us to recognize god's voice he's doing something new and we have to be able to hear it before we'll begin to accept it he's doing something new voice recognition we have to understand and accept that being able to understand god's voice it requires more than the traditional sound bites that we hear from the pulpit and it requires more than proper attire it requires more than keeping the schedule it requires more than wrote keys and commandments and wrote prayers at the right time it requires more than repetition of religious rituals as important as those disciplines may be it requires us to be on guard come on to be on guard for those within our religious circles who stress paying more obesity to the rules of god to the rules of the institution rather than the rules of god it requires us to develop a distinguishing spiritual ear by fasting by praying by fully owning our mistakes and our mess no it wasn't so and so i did that it was on me i did it and i'm godly sorrowful for what i did i said it and i'm sorry we're talking about spiritual maturity such that we can recognize the voice of god it requires periodic self examination moral examination it requires self discipline it requires the avoidance of indulgence it requires that we graduate from merely following rules to start following god's compass yes god is doing a new thing we were told it's imminent it's right now not just right now and he's beckoning us to follow him to listen to listen let me give you an illustration we're going to close out so i recall very clearly a time in my life when a critical decision had to be made and this decision could have changed the trajectory of my life but here's what's interesting i didn't have to do anything about it god spoke to me it was an a b directive there was no room for speculation no room for loss for philosophy no room for man's reasoning it was direct testimony from the word of god and a well-intentioned friend said well uh how do you know god is telling you to do that and frankly i forgot my response but in retrospect i would have said i recognize god's voice and i've been taught that when god speaks man's word should be few closing the scripture given to our leader it's a scripture of hope god speaking through prophet isaiah he declares his sovereignty he reiterates there's no savior besides him he reminds us of what he has done for us he identifies us as his witnesses and he says lift up your head and stop acting like you don't know that i am that i am we should have a certain way about work certain spirit about us a certain energy about us even in spite of all the noise that goes on around us no the scriptures clearly state that god is about to do something new yeah and there's a blessing on the other side of that newness so let us let us prepare ourselves for this imminent blessing whatever it may be such that when god speaks we recognize it's our duty and our blessing to follow please pray for me as i pray for you it is good to be here it is good to be here perfect love that drives away all my fears perfect truth coming down makes my pathway all clear it is good for us [Laughter] [Music] love that drives away all my fears [Music] it is good for us all to be perfect makes my pathway all clear [Laughter] is [Music] is to be [Laughter] [Music] is amen and amen thank you so much rabbi james young rabbi of africa i got so much out of that out of that sermon behold i would do a new thing new new new i hear you i heard you and i heard i heard rabbi young from the the wisdom that he has achieved because of his broadened perspective dealing with people in another country so his gaze his perspective has to be broadened to include many different types of ideas many different types of problems and and it comes through he speaks to us from a a worldwide scope a worldwide impact of the gospel of any gospel and linking the the newness notion with the requirement to know the voice for the sheep to know that for the sheep to know the voice linking those two notions is brilliant my sheep know my voice the voice came to our forefathers in a certain context but it's the same voice that has to come to us in a in a new context it's the same god but it's but it's a god and i think that that was the point of is god coming to us in a different in a different context the the three major goals that our form our two former leaders gave us years ago are still operative in the church of god and saints of christ by by my edict those are still our three major goals but how we actualize those goals how we apply ourselves to those goals can be altered must be altered in a new in a new context bring back the glory of the church bring back the glory of the church well what what what what what is the glory of the church what do we bring back well in this context we we bring back the the notion that the prophet brought us together uh into one loving family that that that notion is age-old into one loving family dedicated to a loving god and keeping his commandments as the as the path to our individual and corporate pursuit of the of soul salvation we we we we don't we don't alter that now the glory of the church can't be restricted to to uniforms and singing i was kidding some of my brothers here about the the the modern singing of that last group it is good to be here bob that hey they're still saying it's good to be here but they're adding a little bop to it and one of the brothers said perhaps they are to compose their own song and i encourage them to do that but it's not just singing it's not just uniforms it's not just prancing and marching indeed it's not necessarily just preaching but it is to find a way for us to come together in unity as as a single family prophet brought us together as one family loving and caring for one another and and concerned and concerned and dedicated to doing the best that we can for suffering humanity that's that's bringing back the glory of the church and true to his sermon and his theme it it it has to adjust that that goal has to adjust with with the context of of the times but but the goal is still the same a unified loving family all dedicated to god loving god and keeping god's commandments those commandments are universal those commandments are eternal keeping god's commandments and loving ourselves and loving our neighbors to the point where we do the best we can for our neighbors that that that that's that's the glory now i i'm putting that glory into my own my my own context you put it in yours increasing the membership not not just seeking numbers so as to make the financial burden lighter right so as to source to look good with numbers in public but in but but extending and sharing uh the the good news that came to us through prophet william son of christ sharing it with others letting it have an impact on others sharing the gift the gift of the good news that we have giving others the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the glory that that's mentioned in in goal number one love loving them seeking greater opportunities to love and to share and to and to and to promote growth in our in our own congregation and in the communities around us the the goal the goal is the same in increasingly increasing the impact increasing the reach and increasing the benefits that we enjoy by engaging in the revelation that god gave us through i want everybody to enjoy this so i so so i strive to increase memory now other things will accrue as the numbers grow of course but but but the idea is not not a selfish one it's it's the idea of wanting to share loving somebody enough where you were loving somebody enough where you would share the gospel loving somebody enough so you you are wrong and i'll tell you why i i'll give you some good loving news to tell you why and how why you're wrong and how you can write the ship in your life that that's that's that's the center of that goal and increase the membership and and as as rabbi young says we we may have to dream up a better ways of of doing it the lord has certainly provided a powerful vehicle for us with with this with this technology for our for us to extend our reach to share in to share in an extended way the love that we have for others by sharing the gift of the coming of god's prophet william saunders crowd this this thing is good hey this thing is good for me and it's good for you and it's good for anybody that we encounter in and outside of our congregation and thirdly to make certain that belleville canaan landed headquarters of our organization is is self-sufficient why just to show just so we can be financially fiscal fiscally correct and upright well not not only that but but but but to pull our resources so that we can make not only belleville productive not only productive but extensively useful and productive to the community in which belva resides indeed to increase the the productivity and the value of the tabernacles that are under the all spices of headquarters why why so that so that having reached sufficiency we can now use the excess and the lord will give us an abundance in excess to finance and to promote the other two group the other two goals you see what i'm talking about not just money for money's sake but money and wherewithal in order to promote the glory promote the sharing uh promote the goodness and the glory of god to ourselves and to our communities those are those those goals are still the missionary goals of the church of god and saints of christ as as given to us by rabbi levi and and by rabbi j.u and now as as and now by rabbi phillip i've never called myself that before it has a nice ring to it but but young's point is is relevant here it all has to be done under the all spices of a loving a caring god who is able to bring us to the place a perfect truth coming down young gave us perfect truth that this afternoon coming down and our pathways should be straight they they may they may be there may be new pathways you know the the truth is that the truth is solid but there may be different pathways and you and i have got to be prepared to enjoy the the blessing of newness not not just newness for newness sake but newness to promote universal universal goals and objectives but bring bring back the glory those early saints had a kind of a loving camaraderie amongst them we've we've lost it we've lost it a loving camaraderie they cared for one another they looked after one another we got we got to get back to that that that's that's the glory that's the glory that prophet william sanders crowded brought and and they thought so much of the prophet that that they went out on the street said hey come come come here i want you to come to hear a man who can set your soul on fire and who can bring joy and gladness and uprightness to you to your life so so so come on come on join me you know that that that's the that's the membership increasing notion so far but but but you you get to you get the gist you get the gist thank you rabbi young for that titillating and inspiring and sometimes troubling and that's the way it ought to be sometimes sometimes troubling a message but but but but the lord knows hey the lord knows what he's doing he he says he says he said i'm gonna i'm gonna do a new thing i'm gonna do a new thing before i do a new thing now you can join my newness or not you can hear my voice if you want to or not but if you hear my voice and if you join me it's going to bring a newness of life to you you will sing a new song your life will be new you you'll enjoy a kind of newness of life if you attach yourself to my newness but as as young suggests you you got you got to be true you got to be transparent with god you you can't fool him you've got to be repentant repentance is repentant is the first step and as i said on yesterday i believe he's giving us space giving us opportunity to repent and start on a new path you believe it well pray about it pray about it thank you rabbi young you uh you you you touched the nerve you touched the nerve in here and i know you touched a nerve in our brothers and sisters the lord used you today that the lord has many vessels now and then he'll he'll pick one and use him as he did with rabbi young today i'm certainly i'm certainly happy and appreciative of the work that you are doing in the motherland and and they are appreciative i get many texts and many telephone calls thanking me for you i said you ought to thank him he's the one he's the one that called you up when you were sick he's the one who came over and administered to you he's the one that preached the sermon for your for your loved one i didn't do it but he did it in my name and in the name of the god we serve so i i give you my blessing rabbi to continue the good work that you are doing in the motherland yes sir and one day you and i will cross over the waters to the shores of our people over there and we will bring your message and mind to them bring comfort to them as you have brought it to us god bless you and keep you thank you that is my prayer thank you so brothers and sisters we we we we have we have a good we have a good start here for this historic annual assembly we justifiably begin and begin this assembly with praise and with worship and i'm suggesting to you that we that we start all of our sessions as we go along during this annual assembly with praise and worship thanking the good lord and invoking the spirit of the good lord to come in to assist us with the work that we are about and if we pray earnestly and open our minds to the god of our salvation we will we will be successful the business of our organization will begin this afternoon during a reporting session i think at 1 30 by way of the zoom platform um we encourage you to come and hear the reports from um from some of the rabbis and from some of the district offices and i'll give you a little report of my own during that time um but the reporting session will occur at 1 30 this afternoon by zoom and i think you have the the links already already sent to you so thank you good lord thank you my father for letting us assemble on this beautiful the beginning of the feast of the lord's assembly thank you for lending us a portion of your spirit heavenly father we invoke your spirit to be with us as we go through this this week of business sessions for the church of god and saints of christ so if there's no other announcements nothing else for the good of the order we will close this session with with our with with our congregational mizpah the lord watch with us and for us while we are absent one from another amen shalom alaikum alaikum shalom see you at 1 30. peace be unto thee you

Channel: Church of God and Saints of Christ

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Rating: 4.9087949 out of 5

Keywords: Church of God and Saints of Christ, COGASOC, Temple Beth El, Belleville, Phillip McNeil, William Crowdy, William S. Crowdy, Howard Plummer, Howard Z. Plummer, Israelites, Black Jews, Judaism, Hebrew, Sabbath, Bible, Torah, Commandments, Passover, Pesach, Jewish, holiness, William Saunders Crowdy, Jews for Jesus, Messianic Jews, Prophecy, Saints, Robert Grant, Robert Stallings, Corey Hendricks, Bishop Stallings, Bishop Grant, Bishop Hendricks, Church of God, Bishop Plummer

Id: ad-Imn7jJhE

Length: 121min 40sec (7300 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 25 2021