Antioch Fellowship Church | 12 September 2021

in our lives we have become so settled [Music] me [Music] in our lives we have become so settled [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning family and thanks for joining us for this week at antioch tonight we're back with the joel 2 project these evening sessions are a time for our associate ministers to share the gospel this evening at five o'clock we will have ministers joe colbert and juanita dab sharing so come on out and show them your support sisters you don't want to miss this month's gathering on saturday september 18th at nine o'clock a.m we are so excited to be able to gather in person again after over 16 months we are finally back please join us for a morning of worship fellowship and fun breakfast will be served and we can't wait to see you for more information on the sisters ministry you can contact us at sisters afnbc.org and also please take a moment to register on the app or visit afnbc.org senior saints we hope you enjoyed painting with a twist here at the church this past week this month mark your calendar for thursday september 23rd for your movie day if you're in the building please stop by the ministry connection station following today's service or you may also contact the church on sunday september 26th we will have our baptism celebration as well as baby dedications if you would like to participate in this day of celebration please register at afnbc.org or call the church and yeah this month we are celebrating 35 awesome years of ministry and as we've been saying we are what that's right we are unshakeable the party doesn't end today and we're keeping this going all month we'll have a few friends to celebrate the entire month with us as we mentioned earlier today we will have our very own dr brianna parker who is the curator and founder of the black millennial cafe sharing with us for the rest of the month we have dr f james clark and of course pastor jimmy baldwin senior joining us for our sunday services our fall revival will be september 27th and 28th with pastor baldwin continuing to bless our hearts which he always does every single time and lastly we'll have a special ordination service on wednesday september 29th for our new deacons and associate ministers at which dr delvin atkinson will be our guest speaker so many great things in store for us ahead right that's right so you don't want to miss out and finally on saturday october 16th join us for our 35th anniversary legacy luncheon this will be an afternoon of celebrating our trailblazers of antioch and get ready one of our favorites pastor beverly crawford will be our guest thomas tickets are 35 and are on sale now please visit afnbc.org to register we promise you don't want to miss this event family we're excited to celebrate 35 years of ministry and we would love for you to join us for the celebration we are partying all month long y'all so dust those quarantine feed off and come on and join in on the fun well that's all i have for you for this week at antioch i'm lashandra anderson tate have an awesome week [Music] for the kingdom of god is [Music] [Music] well done welcome [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on [Music] [Music] we've come to glory [Music] [Music] sorry [Music] dance [Applause] oh [Music] and we've come is glorify [Music] for you this week [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] get back up [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] give me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we want to live [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] so many wonderful things he's done for all of us [Music] so many great things i can't thank him enough i don't have enough praise in me if i give him the best i have i still owe him more hallelujah because he's been just that good to me so take this time and just think on some things that god has done for you just today just today new mercies morning after morning new mercy and he extends his grace to us the word says he lavishes us with his grace hallelujah and so we just want to worship him today [Music] [Music] [Music] we have come to this house [Music] [Music] him have coming to this house [Music] [Music] so come on [Music] we [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] we is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] father god we come to you right now concentrating on you putting all those things that might be worrying us or that might be disturbing us we're putting that to the side because we want to remain in your will and we want to never forget to keep the main thing the main thing which is you and so right now lord god would you please would you please just hear the cries and the prayers of your people whatever it is lord god that might be plaguing our minds whatever it is that we might have came in with lord god i asked right now that you would help us to just forget about all of those things because it's hard it's hard and it can be challenging but lord god if we can just learn how to put our affections on you if we could just learn how to focus on how good you've been it's mighty hard to worry about the things that might be troubling us why because you've been more than good you've been faithful to us you've come through time and time and time and time and time again and so lord god because of that we can't just think of thank you we want to tell you thank you [Applause] lord you've been so good to us [Music] if we had 10 000 tons it still wouldn't be enough to give your name the glory that you deserve you deserve all of that and more so we give our problems to you we cast our cares on you we give you our worries we give you the things that might be troubling us and ailing us and might be causing tormenting things to happen lord god we just want to give it all to you because only you can handle those things they're too much for us to carry we weren't designed to carry baggage we were actually designed to give them to you by your divine power lord god would you take it would you please honor the prayers and the cries of your people all over who are worshiping in your name today would you bless the preacher that is going to stand before you today and deliver your word would you make our hearts palatable to be able to receive what it is that thus said the lord and lord god we will be careful to forever give your name all the glory and all the honor i said all the glory and all the honor it is in jesus christ's name that we pray amen and amen [Applause] [Music] in our lives we have become for settled [Music] me [Music] oh my gosh [Music] um [Music] was like my bestest friend [Music] when i think about antioch and my time here i guess i gotta think about everybody to look at pastor chris carl tia everybody just we have to be our former pastor's wildest dream i know people think they're building their future but antioch was legit building its future in us 35 years ago 31 years ago is when my parents joined we had an amazing upbringing it was community i grew up with uh quinisha plouche and brother plouche and sister blue shea i didn't have grandparents growing up i only had one grandmother i had grandparents in dallas because of the blue shade family but i also can't forget reverend donald perry believed in my gifts i remember he let me teach sunday school to the children i remember being with pastor wesley and walking through and laying hands on people who were sick because he always believed in my gift of intercessory prayer in fact that's why i was in the pulpit i think it was like once a once a month on youtube sunday people just believed in you listen i am because of antioch i don't know i don't know who i am without antioch i don't know i don't even know if i'd be a preacher today i know that probably sounds crazy but i don't know that i would know what i was called to do without antioch to know me is to know i love my church i don't just say that with my word pastor chris will tell you i'm always trying to find a way to resource the church and to do more for the church as young as i am maybe i'm still young i even look at my will and stuff like that to make sure antioch is in it if we don't owe anybody else we owe the next generation their future a new future so the best way i say thank you is to keep giving back and so sometimes it's with data because that's my company and sometimes it's always going to be in tithe but i always look for a way to go back and make sure i'm securing the future and the legacy of my church that matters i am our former pastor's wildest dream and i'm certain of that in our minds we have become so settled [Music] [Music] [Music] listen [Music] [Applause] disappointments [Music] but i've got some good news [Music] oh yes it is [Music] [Music] but i got some good news listen this is not the end of the story i'm gonna say that one more time i got some good news [Music] this is not the end of the story it's gonna work oh yes it is [Music] [Music] oh yes it is [Music] how many of you all believe that today it's gonna work whatever your issue is it's still gonna work yeah yeah yeah yeah [Music] is [Music] whatever whatever whatever it is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] he's doing it for you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] situations [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he's [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's [Music] it's [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he already [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm [Music] [Music] [Music] okay [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it comes from [Music] i know [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] me [Music] with me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] weakness in my [Music] body me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] house [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] hey [Music] [Music] when the pressure take me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i guess you can only really rejoice in god being the lifter of your head if you know what it's like to have a bowel head not a little bit of embarrassment because you made a little bit of a mistake but i'm talking about the stuff that keeps you up late at night the stuff that wakes you up early in the morning wondering if people are gonna find out wondering if you're gonna have your house on monday wondering if you still got a job on tuesday you can really only rejoice about the lifter of your head if you know what it's like to have a bow down heaven lift up these heads o ye gates and be ye lifted up so the king of glory shall come in who is the king of glory o the lord strong and mighty mighty and bad to lift up your head [Music] tremal knows what it's like for the lifter to lift up your head somebody else knows what it's like to not know if you get to see next week but god stepped in oh with grace and mercy and allow just one more day i love the lord [Music] for just one more time and if this is my last time in the house of the lord it's going to be my best time here i will bless the lord at all times his praises shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make her bolster to the lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad oh you got reason to magnify the lord with me and it got god's name together [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] trouble on every hand and god keeps keeping us 35 years later i can't imagine [Music] everything we have to thank god for after 35 years i can't imagine how many times my forever first lady had to make a sacrifice and another sacrifice and another sacrifice and another sacrifice without a whole lot of celebration [Music] all that the kids gave up because their father was committed to the work that he was called to do that their mother would walk committed 35 years of god's grace and mercy of victories over battles you may be seated [Music] you know how many times this beer had to whisper lift up your head kerry lift up your head kerry i'm gonna carry you through where you want to go you know how many you know how many times it must have seemed like it was over or it didn't look like what god promised and here we are god's grace and mercy i love and will always support if i end up on another continent i will always support pastor chris [Music] he is indeed his father's wildest dream and every time church people make it look like a nightmare you remember there's a dream you have to be the dream and the dreamer to be all that god has called you to be to my forever first lady for the rest of my life i will love and serve you because i can only imagine what it meant to serve this church i never forget one time we were in the choir you said is that gum or candy i said gum you said okay spit it out i said in your hand spit it out so when i left and met boujee first ladies i didn't know what to do with them because you were so accessible to the first family thank you for every sacrifice to carl and his genius charles and his commitment i just want to let you know that your church family loves and supports you because this is anniversary to the deacons to the founding members of this church we're grateful for the sacrifice we're grateful for the vision that you had to see this one day [Applause] my mother's in memphis with her friend who just lost her husband but my dad and my cousins are here so i just always want to say thank you for being supportive i knew what missions looked like when my dad would drive the van and my mom would be back there cutting hair for the less fortunate because of my family and so i'm grateful to everyone who has served this amazing church to my peers to the people i love so much sister cummings i haven't seen him forever sister freda lockhart who i miss so much who made everything funny and serious all at the same time to everybody to the paris joe colbert and berlin all of y'all i'm gonna miss somebody but i love you and to my peers i want you to know this um if you would give me a little bit of grace i am clearly who i am today because of antioch ministry and the youth ministry helped my parents to raise me and so if we could make 35 years i think i can do 3 500 to this ministry above my tithing offering and i don't do that to brag i do that because i've learned that generosity breeds generosity and part of being a leader is showing people how to give back and so i want the children who are here or watching or their parents to know that they're in good hands here and one day they're going to look back and rise up and call you blessed in their church blessed [Music] but there is indeed a word from the lord this morning it will come from the book of exodus chapter eight verses one through eleven is what we'll look at today sorry it's so long you like the bible and it reads like this then the lord said to moses go to pharaoh and say to him thus says the lord let my people go so that they may worship me if you refuse to let them go i will plague your whole country with frogs the rivers shall swarm with frogs they shall come up into your palace into your bedchamber and your bed and into the houses of your officials and your people and into your ovens and your kneading bowls the frog shall come up on you and your people on all your officials and the lord said to moses say to aaron stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers the canals and the pools and make frogs come up on the land of egypt so aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of egypt but the magicians did the same by their secret arts and brought frogs up on the land of egypt then pharaoh called moses and aaron and said pray to the lord take away the frogs from me and my people and i will let the people go to sacrifice to the lord moses said to pharaoh kindly tell me when i am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses be left only in the nile and he said tomorrow moses said as you say so that you may know there is no one like the lord our god the frog shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people and they shall only be left in denial if we could pray together i would love to use the title the failure of a pharaoh faith the failure of a pharaoh faith god we love you we bless you we believe in you and we've come with great expectation that you would move by your spirit in this place remove every distraction that might keep us from hearing from you god i've done what i could in preparation and i've set to hear revelation so god the burden of proof of my calling in this moment rests on you oh god we believe in you and we expect to see you in ways we've never seen you before so move right now god in the name of jesus and we can't give you glory because it belongs to you we can't really offer you praise cause it's yours anyway but we want to be obedient we want our hearts god to be fertile to hear from you it's in your servant it's in jesus name that your servant prays amen the failure of a pharaoh faith i must admit i've heard this scripture preached a number of times and i love the way it's preached usually it's preached with the title something like one more night with the frogs it's usually preached and talked about how we become so comfortable with even uncomfortable things that we can't give it up immediately that even when deliverance is near we can't give up on it so we want one more night with the bad thing one more night with the uncomfortable thing one more night with the thing that we should be kicking out of our bed one more night tomorrow when i started to travel a lot i became almost obsessed with one thing that was packing everything that i normally use to take with me it was difficult for me to find out how i'm going to get a whole bottle of nivea into my suitcase it was difficult for me to find out how i'm going to get hairspray to make sure my lace lay right into my bag it was difficult for me to make sure depending on how i was feeling i was going to have every kind of hair i might have wanted to wear i became obsessed with finding these travel size mini versions of everything i wanted so that i could take it with me because i found value in the products and accessories i wasn't willing to go without them but i was okay with having less of it so it could come with me my uncle used to say am was better than nan and obviously i believed it because i was always searching for the shrunken version of my favorite things oddly enough toiletries aren't the only thing we want a shrunken version of we know the value of god but to accommodate our needs and to soothe our disappointments we're willing to take a shrunken god with us wherever we go shrinking god makes god more palatable for us it helps us to make god marginally better or more powerful than we are we treat god like a pantologist or a jack of all trades we make god a 2.0 version of ourselves and if you have a whole lot of faith it's a 6.0 but you believe you're constantly gaining on god in this context frogs were normal to would normally be at the nile but normally frogs would have receded in december so to have frogs there in these summer months was abnormal their presence in this text was abnormal because they were normally not present at this time this time they left the nile where they would normally stay and they invaded the land because the nile after the first negotiation and warning the waters were turned into blood when the waters were turned into blood all the fish died and even the frogs had sense enough not to want to live with no dead fish this caused the frogs to swarm the land and find a new place because even the frogs know that there's going to be no living with the dead while this was uncomfortable it was not dangerous see some things will create discomfort and not dangerous not danger and because it's discomfort and not danger we keep it around a little longer they had frogs in the bed and in the bowls in the nooks and crannies and in the kitchen in the bathrooms and in the basements in the living room and all over the land when bad goals are worse sometimes it's about god's active presence and not god's absence this time god's hand was in the bad thing god was actively working in this bad thing and so sometimes we stop and ask god where are you why are you not near me and every now and then god will answer you and say i'm actually in this the egyptians thought of frogs as divine and having divine power because of this frogs were usually off limits for murder and their presence was actually appreciated every now and then you can have too much of what you think you love in this situation god caused their deity or their god that was always held in high esteem to be a curse and not a help i'd like to stop here and tell us that sometimes when we find other gods these gods will become our adversary sometimes we wonder why relationships fall apart and jobs seem to slip away from us opportunities we love become chores we hate it may be because we turn people opportunities and careers into god's whenever we talk about this story we use the word plague as a translation but plague suggests it was out of control or could not be contained it was actually more like a signal a strike or a warning god more so smites the land as a consequence the reason it wouldn't really be more like a plague is because it was completely controlled it was contained to impact pharaoh it's not like the delta variant wandering to and fro highly contagious to see where it may what it may devour instead this was controlled to a certain land when god removed the frogs from the land back into the water this wouldn't simply remove the problem this would be god solving another one in order for the frogs to go back into the water god had to remove the dead fish sometimes we ought to thank god for the things we are paying attention to that god is doing on our behalf i'm here to tell you today that god is working in your river to give you peace in your residence god restored the nile and the land to its norm the frogs will leave every place except denial because that's where it belongs when god fixes things nothing is left undone even the things you've forgotten about giving up on and put to the side god ties up loose ends you see we can repair but god will restore and i believe restoration happens because there is a purpose for your deliverance there is a purpose to liberation in this part of the text when god is demanding freedom god says let my people go so that they may worship me previously it was so that they can hold the festival or worship god in the desert but this time those specifics are gone and it's just about worship it removes the idea of a particular event and it hits toward a permanent freedom them being under new management or leadership this time it feels like less like a negotiation and more like god is like pharaoh stop playing with me this first verse kind of turns everything we know about deliverance on his head freedom is not for wandering but for worship or a better translation is service freedom is purposeful since we've been in the pandemic we've heard a lot about freedom and about our liberties but being free is not about being free for freedom's sake god doesn't free you so that you die we want to be free we want to be delivered we want god to to to loose the chains why if you've been in church long enough somebody who is not the pastor has probably caught you up in the corner for a little moment of deliverance to set you free from the devil's lair but usually they miss one thing the reason we talk about deliverance this way is because god isn't just saying let him be free god says give them on back to me usually when you're watching a movie especially if it's a black father and he's giving his daughter away he says if you can't treat her right if you happen to change your mind if you don't want to know more don't harm her bring her back where you found her the writers in this moment are attempting to say i did not neglect my responsibilities i am transferring responsibility to you you see because there's one thing to be free and the bible has a number of times when god promises deliverance from something but this time they're being delivered to something deliverance is a process and then this text is very much complete this time they are being delivered from something to something psalms 34 17 says when the righteous cry for help the lord hears and delivers them out of their trouble deliverance then psalms 107 6 says then they cried to the lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress psalm 34 4 you know i love it i sought the lord and he answered me and delivered me from all of my fears but then there is purposeful deliverance psalms 50 verse 15 says and call upon me in the day of trouble and i will deliver you and you shall glorify me colossians 1 13 says he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son deliverance is purposeful things are delivered to something to an address to a person to a purpose of service or worship sometimes i think we should just take moments to think about our own plea for deliverance and investigate the purpose i want to be delivered from dead and jobs so i can stun on the people when i walk into church i want to be delivered from this horrible relationship so the next relationship i get and i can put the city girls up by one i want to be delivered from my sinful act so i can be holier than whoever she is it's one thing to want deliverance but we should investigate our purpose of what we want to be delivered into i heard god say a lot of stuff never stun on them god they never said compare yourself to someone else but usually our purpose for deliverance is not divine we know how leadership impacts our living right we know what bad leadership looks like as a matter of fact when we were running the data on state of the black church the one thing number one thing that mattered most to black church church-goers was the leadership of the pastor to be in the leadership i didn't know amen now to be in a leadership deficit makes it clear why leadership is necessary because bad things can happen to communities with bad leaders and i'm in the text i didn't i didn't make none of this up pharaoh was a bad leader it wasn't about the residents it wasn't about the people he was responsible for it was his own arrogance and disobedience that caused them to live in discomfort this is why it's important for you to make a decision about your leadership following leadership is not about what they do in the moment but it's about the vision that they can see in the long run [Applause] as soon as people don't like data and they want to argue they say what's your methodology as soon as they don't like the standards set by a leader you have to make a decision on leadership so when it seems like things don't make no sense and you really can't see where it's going you have already made a decision to trust your leadership and you know good leaders one leader lets things plague or seem to ruin a community and another leader even against your liberties and freedoms will make sure you're taken care of i'm not making it up pharaoh was a horrible leader and god was trying to get the leader to learn who god was and if you remember if you've ever read exodus i want to i don't wanna make it seem like everybody should have listened exodus one pretty much explains to us why we find ourselves here by exodus seven because the old generation was gone and pharaoh did know nothing about that history so you cannot serve a community well when you don't acknowledge the history of the community if you don't know the works that were done before you you cannot create a vision for a community that's going to benefit them the first step of poor leadership is to forget [Applause] but the best step is not just to remember but to remember accurately cause when somebody comes to tell you how to erase what was before you or how to scratch one name out and put your name in you got to let them go because it's not just about remembering it's about remembering accurately 20 years from now it will be easy for them to say look at all your built and they gotta go because in order to know where you're going you have to know where you've been not just about rules and standards you gotta know the favor that rests on the place [Applause] if you don't know the favor that rests in the place then you'll never be able to find your footing in that place i remember being at the old church and we were talking about tithing i said mama why do you tithe say because the bible says in it because i i believe that god is going to multiply that god blesses me but i also believe in what's happening at the church now let me tell you something the lord loves a cheerful giver sometimes i had to be a tearful one because i didn't have the money that i thought i should have sometimes i didn't always like the place where i was given but i felt called to that place i then said to my mama well mama how you know what they're doing with the money she said because you can see the work here [Music] but she said let me be clear i don't care if pastor wesley buys popcorn with my money and buries it the word of god is true and the principles of giving are true and so i pray for my pastor and my pastor's works but i'm gonna be obedient no matter what [Applause] because bad leadership will impact your living but it's not enough to just not forget is to remember accurately the other thing that's clear in this text is that evil initiates what it cannot eradicate magicians could imitate the entrance but could not bring deliverance magicians could call frogs in but they couldn't get them out they could duplicate what they did not have the power or grace to dismiss because the same people and things that get you into something can't get you out of them you know i've been working last time i saw y'all i was chunky but i've been working to lose weight what i learned is the same cookies peach cobbler with crust made from scratch and bluebell ice cream pound cake dressing turkey and collard greens that got me there could have no part in delivering me from 20 pounds because it's easy i'm still making pound cake for you daddy i ain't forgot about you it's easy he didn't want to lose weight to slip in to simple activity it is much easier for something to enter your life than to exit it [Applause] the black boy can't get you into an addiction and put you through rehab [Applause] the arrogant leader can mentor you into arrogance but bring you back to a place of humility bae can walk you away from your relationship with god because it's toxic but could never usher you into a healthy one you know how they say that's toxic you gotta lead them people alone they were just trans delivering you from one toxic situation to another i don't want to tell you this we're called so he can walk me to my car when i'm done i don't want to tell you this but married people can lie you into a relationship with them but they ain't never releasing you into the truth your friends will walk you into a hot girl summer but they ain't gonna dismiss what you picked up and can't shake making you feel warm in the winter the people who walked you into a scam with the irs so you can hit a lick can't represent you when you got them federal charges [Applause] they can get you fluid out but if you go too far they ain't gonna reel you back in [Applause] because it's easy to get into a situation oh but it's difficult to get you out you see magicians brother whitfield manufactured what god manifested you see what was real to god had to be manufactured by magicians i guess i'm just trying to say miracles from god and matched by the magicians in your life ain't nothing but a knockoff when someone draws you away from god with comparable abilities that ain't nothing more than a gucci bag with c's instead of g's [Applause] cause can't no imitation of god deliver you without power and grace to get you out of it god however is powerful enough to remove what others can create see magicians could get them into something but couldn't even dismiss what they created god can indeed step in and get you out of something that god didn't even create because god will deliver us from what pookie started from what you slipped into for what you asked grace for for what you said you was only gonna do one more time i'm just saying god's deliverance is unmatched and unrestricted all imitations have inabilities people can bring you an imitation of a thing but they're always going to end up showing their inability or lack of capacity when they start the party but can't stop the problem if they can't fix the problem don't let them start the party trying to imitate or be god brings double the trouble when the magicians came in all they did was duplicate the distress did you ever think about that in order for the magicians to try to match what god did all they did was double the distress in their life because you got to be careful who you call in to fix your situation you thought life was bad and then all of a sudden it's double what you expected [Music] cause you called in the wrong help and i know you don't left you know food in the crock pot so we almost done deliverance ain't always delayed the people of god still got to believe in the god of suddenly again sister wesley we let our disappointment make us imagine that everything god wants to do has to be delayed no delay is not denial but god is able to do it right now [Applause] when god does not do it right now it's either for your good or for the hood it means maybe it doesn't impact you directly but there's still a community of people or other people that can't benefit from a right now that doesn't mean god is not the god of suddenly indeed god is but god understands timing and in this text we see that god even appreciates the need for proof the proof of god's power and existence is not in pharaoh's face the proof of god's existence is in god's follow-through and it's the follow-through for me because i know i mess up and i don't want to have the burden of getting it perfectly right on my shoulders so i could actually shout over the fact that the proof of god's existence to an unbelieving pharaoh was not that pharaoh could say tomorrow but in that god would do it and follow through pharaoh was supposed to learn in this text that there was a god it seemed like pharaoh would have been desperate but instead he was disillusioned by his own lack of power because we honestly limit god based on our own limitations and sinfulness the most powerful god in pharaoh's life was pharaoh whatever pharaoh didn't believe he could do it was difficult for him to believe god could do it if pharaoh could have done it he would have but what he did was try to give god a little room to make it work just like we do that's like we become the hype man for god we lie on our resume but god gave me a job we got somebody printing up pay stub so we can get a car guy gave me a car [Applause] doing our kids homework so they can go to school my baby got into harvard no sugar you got into harvard at 35 [Applause] because we want to help make god look good just in case god doesn't come through we got to be the hype man but that's just about our own feeble minds our own lack of faith that doesn't believe god can do much more than we can and if i gotta pray to the god of brianna i'm gonna stop praying her track record ain't good for miracles we have to believe in the all-powerful god the god of suddenly the god who can do it right now and the wisdom of a god who might not do it right now sometimes our lack of faith can keep us hostage longer than necessary pharaoh could have been delivered immediately the conversation could have gone like this okay but so that you know there's a god tell me when you want to be delivered i would like to believe i would have said right now the answer tomorrow extended discomfort and left him in a disgusting existence he may have even believed that moses and aaron need to do some kind of ceremony to conjure up some power when people don't have power they assume you don't either [Music] that's the reason why people are so amazed by what's happening in your life because of the way it's happened because they thought you needed a head start to win they thought you had to go immediately to an ivy league and that's the only way to be successful they thought you had to live a picture-perfect life and be a step for christian always making good decisions it is difficult for people to believe that you with your background and your actions your past and your history can get a blessing from the god of suddenly [Applause] pharaoh couldn't imagine a god who could do more than him it looks like it's a desperate disposition but really it's pharaoh attempting to negotiate pharaoh wasn't repenting he was negotiating you know it's just like somebody with no power to act like they're going to give you the terms and conditions now i'm a dude no no no no no in verses one through four god had already said what it was gonna be like all pharaoh could do was acquiesce but he hoped god could deliver but he couldn't imagine it without delay child of god how dare you not believe in deliverance without delay the rest of the world should be waiting for a process but you should believe god is able and willing to do it right now pharaoh isn't a believer and so this would be expected of him but for believers we shouldn't try to negotiate with god we should trust god enough to move in our lives god was not proven true in pharaoh's faith his ask but in god's follow-through the manifestation your ask gives god the opportunity to move in your life not the power god looks for opportunities to show us a miracle working god but there has to be a transaction where you ask now god does things without us always asking for it but you didn't set a time limit you didn't ask for it so you don't see it as a miracle you just say every time i look up the lord is blessing me but when there is a ask it gives god the opportunity to show god his control is in control of the bad bad that god is still caring about timing that god still understands our need for proof you you can go ahead and if i were you just take a second to tell god thank you because you've been thinking it was in your perfection but it was actually not in your perfection or your perfecting faith but in god's through i'll never forget i got into a bad accident and i was less than two inches away from decapitation and um i was very afraid to drive again i should have called you brother woodfield come got a car huh so i go to the dealership and they want to drive me around and they want me to test drive a number of cars my parents were with me and i was too embarrassed to tell the dealer that i was actually traumatized and didn't want to drive again so he starts to talk to me about everything that's in the car so he starts to tell me you know what makes a mercedes benz and mercedes-benz i said the price tag he said no i'm gonna show you what makes us exceptional i said if it's under the hood forget it i don't know nothing about that he said no he said have you ever seen a mercedes-benz on the side of the road i said no he said you know why not i said cause y'all caught so much i don't break down he said no you won't find us on the side of the road because we have a commitment that no matter where you find yourself no matter who's behind the wheel no matter how many miles you've logged no matter what caused you to break down we are going to come get you off the side of the road no matter what i said to him that is so amazing that you care so much about your customers that you would never leave them stranded on the side of the road but pastor chris you know what he said to me we actually don't do it for our customers we do it for our namesake [Applause] because we have a reputation to uphold because we have to make sure every time you see a mercedes-benz you imagine that it's cared for that it's produced well it doesn't break down and it's worth the sacrifice of the money you pay and i just might be here to tell you that if you believe mercedes-benz can do it for their namesake you ought to believe that you serve a god who is going to take care of you who's going to come and get you off the side of the road then it doesn't matter how many miles you've logged it doesn't matter who's behind your wheel it doesn't matter why you found yourself on the side of the road it doesn't matter what you did to make it a mess god is gonna come deliver you not because you've been so amazing and not because you've been so faithful and not because you've tithed so well not because you've always been kind or holy but god is gonna do it for god's namesake [Applause] pass me not oh gentle savior hear my humble cry and while on others thou are calling do not pass me by but i think it's only fair before i go that if i serve a god of another chance that you get another chance and i'm going to clarify the question for us not do you want to not when do you want to do you trust god to do some things in your life and i'm going to ask you and then you're just gonna say when because everybody needs a little practice to be obedient [Applause] do you trust god enough to heal your body when right now do you trust god to make provision for you when right now do you trust god to take care of your leader when right now do you trust god to take care of your family when right now because the people of god have got to believe in the god of right now [Applause] because it ain't about your faith it's the follow-through for me [Applause] what a word what a word what a word the truth of the matter is there are a lot of us who claim to believe and trust in jesus but have pharaoh faith we call in the wrong people to fix problems we've only negotiated with god not trusting him and given the opportunity to ask god to turn it around we delay because we don't believe and interestingly when pharaoh is talked about in biblical context and antiquity we know him as an enemy of god yet people who claim to love god got that kind of faith and we we ought not believe to the level that pharaoh believed we ought to trust god more we ought to trust god more so before i open the doors to church and extend the invitation can we just pray for grace to trust him more can we ask god to deliver us from pharaoh level faith lord we repent for only trusting you to the level that makes sense to us we repent for only trusting you in the context that we feel like we could see we forgive you we ask that you will forgive us for only trusting you to the point that makes sense to our own strength and ability lord we ask that you would give us the grace to trust you more to have the level of faith that honors you god stir our hearts to believe in sudden miracles again stir our hearts to trust you to do the miraculous in a moment we choose to trust you we choose to trust you now forgive us for not believing in who you've proven yourself to be time and time again but thank you that your history proves who you are and thank you that you don't do it because we're good thank you that you don't do it because we deserve it thank you that you don't do it because we get everything right but thank you that your name matters so much you take care of the people who bear your name thank you for coming through for us time and time again in fact we still owe you praise and god there are some of us who are sitting in a moment where we need a miracle there's somebody under the sound of my voice that needs you now and thank you that you're able to do it now and even if you don't do it on our time frame we pray and ask that it does not impact our ability to believe in the god of suddenly but thank you that your timing is so impeccable that you work it out in the right time dr sister said for our good and for the hood that you're gonna do it in a way that doesn't just bless us but you'll do it in perfect timing so that we can be blessed and those around us can be blessed we trust you to do it now but most of all we trust that you will do it in jesus name somebody give god praise in the room let's thank god for the message and let's thank god for the messenger my doctor big sister [Applause] dr big sister i'm dr brianna parker the officers are coming the decision team members are coming um i want to invite you to come y'all hold on come on officers come on the season team members um we're gonna we're gonna open the doors of the church we're gonna open the doors of the church we're gonna invite you to come you are here under the sound of my voice and you have not committed your life to this god who is able um you might have fallen for a counterfeit you might have trusted your life to a counterfeit but today is a day to trust the one true and living god who is able to deliver as a matter of fact few of us can testify because we've seen him deliver and in fact our lives are proof that he is a delivering god and now is a good time for you to come into relationship with this guy who is able to deliver if you're here in the building there are some decision team members ready to safely talk to you about a decision for the lord jesus today and if you're online all you have to do is email membership afnbc.org or send us a direct comment just say i want to be saved and somebody's ready to talk to you right now we're in the building and the lord is uh put it on your heart that this is the place where you were to unite you don't you don't need to put it off the lord calls us to do this in community we would love to be the place where you are mature and where the lord delivers you to to serve and worship him be honored to be the place where the lord develops you and we i'd be honored to be your pastor all you have to do online is email membership at afnbc.org or you can come now um so we're going to invite you to come uh let's let's do this old school come on pass midnight [Music] why don't you hear [Music] this is a congregational song y'all [Music] oh [Music] why don't you [Music] wow [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] sweet beliefs [Music] oh [Music] come on church let's lift it together i'm calling savior [Music] why don't you [Music] come on let's lift it again [Music] come on lift it with me like a church come on i'm crying [Music] why don't you hear [Music] [Music] is [Music] one more time [Music] [Applause] [Music] sounds good in here why don't you hear [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that sounds like church dude [Music] now whitfield you know i love these old songs like that that feels like church though [Music] i see your fit i see your fit help yourself guys we getting ready to give come on [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i don't mean [Music] he'll turn his ear to you [Music] and he stepped in just in time i just need two or three of y'all that y'all know don't do this dude i just need two or three of y'all that can testify he'll step right in just when you need a motion he won't walk past you he'll come to you do i have myself a witness in here [Music] i'm trying to [Music] but i know i can pull the room and i can see two or three witnesses that know he will [Music] all right i'm saying i was gonna act right but if you know he will if you know he will [Music] there's a couple of y'all in here that still believe in the god of suddenly anybody seen god do a suddenly thing i didn't have to ask him for tomorrow i asked him for right now and he came through right there i just need two or three of y'all that still believe in the god of suddenly some of y'all that believe in the god of immediately that believing that right now god will go act like you think when will he come through when will he make a way when will he open the door when will he meet the need when will he pay the bill when will he bring you out when will he do it right now right now so can i encourage somebody matter of fact y'all help me encourage somebody turn to somebody around you don't touch nobody but tournaments say neighbors i got good news for you he is able now and if you know he's able now don't wait till the battle is over don't wait till he does it you can clap your hands you can open up your mouth and shout shout wind preacher shout now shout now shout down [Music] [Music] [Applause] all right let's get ready to give y'all [Music] too long we gotta get out of here [Music] all right all right officers if let's let's make ready to receive the lord's side of your offer if you need an envelope raise your hand we gonna move through this all right the only reason pharaoh was still waiting is because he wanted to some of our delays is because we asked god to wait some delays aren't divine they're rooted in our own disbelief what if you were only waiting because god was waiting on you to want it now [Music] some of us are still waiting because god is waiting on us to have a sense of urgency about the miraculous [Music] if it don't matter that much to you why would i move fast for something that's not an emergency for you but mama christie i love the way you say it nobody casually walks out of a burning building if it means something you'll run out screaming [Applause] i'm not waiting to come out of this i'm running out now and i'm running out yelling all right don't know all right all right [Music] the page is turning now i refuse to go home and it'd still be the same not again i refuse to go home and the thing not change it's happening now i refuse to leave this building the same way i showed up now is when my heart gets fixed now is when my mind changes now is when the door is opening somebody shout now [Music] [Applause] [Music] i ain't gonna be tired another day i ain't gonna be broke another day i ain't gonna be bound another day i ain't gonna be sad another day change happens now so now is when imma start praising for i ain't gonna look for it i know he's gonna do it so i will thank him for it now i need folk that believe to lift the praise i mean i need some folk to help me if you dance dance if you run run if you scream scream if you clap clap but everybody put some feet to your face and show me what now looks like [Music] all right [Music] my [Music] [Music] i don't care how long you've been waiting all right and let it be said that faith rises in this house and we gonna trust god in this house we gonna trust god [Music] and i declare that this is a house of suddenly [Music] matter of fact i believe that there's a grace on this house and i just need y'all to believe this with me will y'all believe this with me i need y'all to link your faith to mine i'm making a declaration that i need you to link your faith with here's what i need you to start believing as far as what this house is concerned i can't speak what they do other places but we gonna believe that this is a place where sudden shift happens this is gonna be a house where people who have been waiting show up here and it happens here and chris that don't say no we don't believe for sudden stuff to happen here that's what i believe god for i need you to link your faith to mine and i thank god there's gonna be some testimonies this week to come back and say i saw my suddenly happen this week [Applause] [Music] do you agree with me can we just make that declaration in this house that this is a house of suddenly so that the world might know that we serve a risen savior it happens suddenly here can we decree that together y'all open your mouth join your faith with me say this house is a suddenly house this house is an immediately house this house is a straightway house it happens here now if you believe it give god praise [Music] that's what we're believing god for here all right y'all sit down let's sit down if you can sit down we're gonna move let's take let's take let's take what we have to give and thank god that we have it together [Music] my lord my lord let's gather what we came to bring dr bree reminded us that god is attracted to generosity generosity is attracted to generosity and we can testify that you cannot beat god's giving no matter how you try no matter how you try you know whoa um [Music] all right uh [Music] sheesh if you agree with me let's pray about that lord we we believe your word we trust your ability [Music] we know nothing with you has to be delayed you can turn things around immediately we see it in scripture we see suddenly we see immediately we see straightway we see it in scripture and you have not changed so we believe by faith for sudden shifts to happen here for immediate miracles to happen here and folks show up sick and are healed in the building that people show up dealing with a lack and leave with abundance we just we're crazy enough to believe it can happen because you're able to do it that fast and lord thank you that we're gonna witness that this week so that we might have a stronger belief we're not gonna have a pharaoh faith we're gonna have a faith that knows you're able to do it right now and thank you that you're gonna allow us to see that happen here we believe it by faith and thank you that his testimony start rolling in we'll share them with each other so that our faith can be increased and we can hold on and believe for our immediately now lord bless our gifts as we bring them to you thank you for what your word says concerning it that you we give it'll be giving back to us press down shaken together and running over so lord bless the gifts of your people open up the windows of heaven for our blessing that we don't have room enough to receive according to your word we thank you that as we sow seed you protect us from lack you rebuke the devourer for our sake so lord rebuke the devourer according to your word and thank you that you will make our resources our remaining resources stretch and be multiplied we've seen you do it for others we know what your word declares you can do so thank you for the miracles that will come from our sowing today in jesus name amen [Music] hmm [Music] all right family so here's your this week at antioch recap don't forget to join us this wednesday for bible study beginning at noon we'll continue our church 101 series with pastor chris the joel 2 project will continue tonight at 5 00 p.m tonight we will have ministers joe colbert and juanita dab sharon come and show them your support on sunday september 26th we will have another baptism celebration as well as baby dedication if you would like to participate in this day of celebration please register at afnbc.org or call the church anya this month we are celebrating 35 years of ministry and as we've been saying we are what that's right we are unshakeable the party doesn't end today and we're keeping this thing going all month we'll have a few friends to celebrate the entire month with us for the rest of the month we have dr f james clark and of course pastor jimmy baldwin senior joining us for our sunday services our fall revival will be september and 28th with pastor baldwin also we'll have a special ordination service on wednesday september 29th for our new deacons and associate ministers dr elvin atkinsons will be our guest speaker and finally on saturday october 16th join us for our 35th anniversary legacy luncheon this will be an afternoon of celebrating our trailblazers of antioch and wait for it okay one of our favorites pastor beverly crawford will be our guest thomas tickets are 35 and are on sale now visit afnbc.org to register and we promise you don't want to miss this event sisters you also don't want to miss this month's gathering on saturday september 18th at 9 o'clock am we are so excited to be able to gather in person again after over 16 months we are finally back please join us for a morning of worship fellowship and fun breakfast will be served and we can't wait to see you for more information on the sisters ministry you can connect with us at sisters afnbc.org also please take a minute to register on the app or visit afnbc.org senior saints don't forget to register for your movie day on thursday september 23rd as well as our annual state fair of texas outing on thursday october 14th sign up at the ministry connection station following today's surface happy birthday to you yes that's right if you're celebrating your birthday this month you don't want to forget to register for our birthday celebration on sunday september 26th we promise you don't want to miss out lastly if you haven't picked up your copy of dr carrie dunn wesley's reflections of a life well lived you may do so on today following worship the author is our very own sister cheryl wesley and she will also be there to greet you as well as personally sign your copy well that's your recap antioch have an awesome week [Music] thank you lasandra thank you for those announcements govern yourselves accordingly hey man please please join us make plans to join us for all of those things that are taking place um let's make sure we're staying connected any birthdays this past week including today you are up quick that's it sister evans and happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday birthday ceo make sure you register for the end of the month birthday celebration uh we have a good time at those so make sure you um do that any wedding anniversaries wedding anniversaries this past week including today oh come on what is what did the shirt say happy anniversary happy anniversary y'all what what what the shirt saying now y'all know i can't hear y'all got all matching shirts that's precious happy anniversary y'all i mean that's my kind of carrying on anybody get a job or a job promotion oh bless him all right bro sitting there all right won't he will amen anybody get a chance to retire praise the lord congratulations now y'all be encouraged by that testimony same god did it do it for you y'all hang on he's able um am i missing anything military any military get a chance to come home all right we'll continue to pray let's also pray for all of our first responders our uh those in public service um those front line healthcare workers let's pray for our teachers and church i mean school administrators lord pray just had a had a um teacher friend tell me that even the rules in the schools are changing because a child in their school protected administrator but they couldn't suspend the child because they don't have like in-school suspension or they're not allowing out of school suspension anymore so the kid was back at school the next day now i couldn't be a teacher oh y'all laughing i'm crazy so anyway let's pray for him here pray pray pray and pray for our students so much going on moral of the story is be a people of prayer it's part of our dna if you did not catch our dna series you should it's what we stand for as a church all right if there's nothing else let's stand to be dismissed i know y'all thinking football starts today he held us that long yes cause the cowboys don't play today they play thursday so i'm not in no hurry to see none of you other teams i said what i said [Music] matter of fact i believe the god of suddenly can suddenly make my cowboys good again won't he do what ain't he able [Applause] suddenly not a dance on that all right let's pray god i would thank you for what our eyes have seen right what our ears have heard what our hearts have experienced thank you for your word thank you for the promises of your word it will not return unto your void it will always accomplish what is set out to do now we thank you for reverend dr brianna parker thank you for allowing us to be a part of her journey in some way and lord thank you for the impact that she's making in the world through her research thank you for the doors that are being opened to her lord thank you for what you're allowing her to do as an entrepreneur and what you're allowing her to do to build the kingdom through data and research lord bless everything you've assigned to her hands god we pray that her business boom in this season we thank you for success we thank you for supernatural favor god we thank you for what you're doing in her thank you that her gifts are making room for her opening doors for her thank you for the gift that she is to the body thank you for our commitment to her local church this church continue to bless her according to your word i pray your riches and choices blessings on your people today pray that you would open the windows of heaven i pray that you would open doors i thank you for sudden and immediate miracles this week because that's who you are we know you're able to do it thank you for traveling grace and mercy as we leave this place and we thank you that things will be better than we left them when we arrive at our various destinations now lord as we pray to leave this place but never from your presence sweet communion of the holy spirit ruling about henceforth now and forever now unto him who is able to keep us from falling within us faultless before his majesty with exceeding joy to the only wise god our savior be glory and honor dominion and power both now and forever and we all said together amen [Music] you

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Published: Sun Sep 12 2021