Ash Wednesday

[Music] [Music] great afternoon new birth great afternoon to our virtual family we're so grateful that you decided to join us this afternoon on this ash wednesday it's a beautiful day this is the day that the lord has made and we just want to worship him together gather your family gather your children and let's worship him wherever you are just speak well of him he's an amazing god and we worship him this afternoon in spirit and in truth we want to say that we are available to him this afternoon god we glorify your name we lift your name up thank you lord let's worship together family lord i'm available to you yes my will i give to you i'll do what you say do use me lord to show someone the way and enable me to say yes i want to say my storage is empty and i am available [Music] to you lord yes lord yes lord [Music] from the bottom of my heart [Music] yes lord yes we is [Music] [Applause] [Music] my soul says yes yeah i'll say yes lord yes to your will and to your way i'll say yes lord yes i will trust you and obey following your spirit when it speaks to me with my whole heart i'll agree and my answer will be lord yes let's do it again family come on i'll say yes lord yes to your will i'll say it you your way in this season i'll tell you yes lord yes i will trust you and obey for when your spirit speaks to me with my whole heart i'll agree and my answer will be yes lord yes and my answer and my answer will be yes lord yes we'll tell you yes this afternoon and our answer will be yes it's gonna be lord yes yes it will and my answer will be yes lord yes thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you lord we tell you yes this afternoon thank you lord thank you lord there's no one greater than him he's awesome in all of his ways and we bless him we honor we say yes to his will and to his way friends i am all together overwhelmed at the magnificent sacrifice of our loving lord and savior jesus christ this is the ash wednesday and all over the world people are paying homage to uh the gift of humility you'll notice that this season of lent is a one of very few christian holidays that have not been commercialized thanksgiving has been turned over to pilgrims christmas has been kidnapped by santa claus easter is somehow hopping along with a bunny rabbit but lent is an unpopular holiday why because it is not about what we can give it is about what we can give up this marks 40 days from this day excluding sundays that will get us right to the foot of the cross and while we are marching triumphantly towards the cross we are mindful that it is about self-sacrifice it is about leaving self-indulgence and for this 40-day journey it is going to require a lot from you because this 40 days is representational of how it is that jesus had to fast in the wilderness coming out of that fast is where the enemy tried to gnaw at his conscious and at his self-esteem we want to undergird you in prayer over these 40 days and so behind me you'll notice that i have a prayer wall some of our intercessors are standing with us in this day i want to put your prayer on this wall and knowing that over the next 40 days that we are going to be crying loud and sparing not and so i need you to do me a favor please i want you uh to type on the screen number one your name and number two what is it that you are believing god to do before resurrection sunday what is it that you want god to do before resurrection sunday i need your name i need your prayer requests and i am believing that we're going to be circling around this wall believing that whatever mountain is in your way that god is going to have it tumble this is not the time for you to be shy or corey or embarrassed but i need you to know that in this hour we serve a prayer answering god type your name right now not just uh your name tika i'm standing with you believing that over these 40 days god is going to save your entire family sheila barrels i am believing that god is going to release your son fiona white i am believing that god is going to give you a home phyllis hicks i am believing that god is going to heal every area of mental health strain watch god do it he's not going to do it for one of us but he's going to do it for all of us he's going to do it for denise brown he's going to do it for alisa mcdaniel he's going to do it for misha jordan he's going to do it for tamara emerson smith i'm believing that god is going to do it for you all that i'm asking you to do in this moment is i want you to send in your name and i want you to send in your prayer requests and allow us to stand in the gap with you we're standing with linda bolton right now who's standing i believing for complete healing for her dad uh jill fulton we're believing the exact same thing for your body now many things are happening in this moment all simultaneously all at the exact same time how just a small remnant of our intercessors are standing behind me how they're putting your names on the wall as well as they are praying over those names how but just a hundred feet from where it is that i sit uh our pastors our deacons are outside and we are applying ashes to those who will peel up her friends if you are within driving distance we're going to be outside today or for the next hour or so for those of you that want to receive ashes as well as as well as we'll be back in this exact same position at 7 00 pm tonight i need you if you can't get to me now i need you to get to me by seven o'clock on tonight i have a couple of things that uh i am encumbered to share with you on this afternoon i and i want to walk you through uh just a couple of things that i believe are critical uh to your life's journey for where it is that you are in this moment and for where it is that i believe that god is calling you i want to share a couple of things and not only do i want to share a couple of things at the end of our coming together we are going to pray together at the end of our coming together we are going to pray together and so i need you please i want you please to do all that you can uh to uh not just uh share this post and this thread but i need you to please share the wondrous gospel of jesus christ you're able to do that by letting people know not just what i gave to god but what did i here it is give up for god how we have dealt with any level of unaddressed trauma and strain and weight that has beset us over these last years of the last two years dealing with this global pandemic dealing with unemployment are dealing with uh eight hundred thousand casualties of death uh dealing with uh having to move abruptly having to deal with life changes having to have hours snuffed away from you on your job i am yet grateful that we are standing for the very first time audibly i am able to share with you uh because uh covet numbers have dramatically decreased i am glad that i can share with all of you for the very first time that triumphantly we are moving back into the sanctuary we're moving back into the sanctuary and i am excited about it uh we're doing it to end our fast we're ending our fast collectively and corporately in celebration i need you to please hallmark your calendars because even those of you who are cyber members i need you to be here i want you to be a part of it on that resurrection weekend all manner of great things are going to happen on our campus uh that is uh april uh 15th through the 17th april 15th through the 17th uh we will be here in our sanctuary can you believe it not in the parking lot uh not streaming well we'll be streaming uh as well but for the very first time we'll be engaged and involved in corporate worship let me announce to you for the very first time that on that good friday uh we will have uh a giant of the gospel bishop t d jenks will be here at new birth for the very first time in over 10 years but not only will bishop jakes be here how but legendary living a gospel legend pastor john p key will be here in our sanctuary and i want you to be here and to be a part of it resurrection sunday i'm telling you y'all gonna have to come pull out the james brown cape and throw it on me i'm gonna preach till times get better and i want you to be a part of it my dear friend one of the novel voices of this age for this era and for this generation vashawn mitchell uh is going to be singing that's all resurrection uh weekend so make all the plans that you need uh to get here to be at new birth cathedral in stonecrest georgia tiffany i'm gonna ask you uh to come just one moment to prepare the hearts the minds and the spirits you can come uh for the word of god that god has given me in this hour uh and she is preparing uh to share and to minister here's what i need for you to do here's what i need you to do continuously send send send send your names and your prayer requests they're going on the wall in real time as well as i need you to share this because i want as many people to have access to what it is that god is doing in this hour would you warmly welcome our residential gift she's a gift not just a new birth but she's a gift to the body of christ she's going to prepare our hearts i want you to detach and disassociate from every distraction so you can be clear about what it is that god is calling you to do in this season here it is of celebrated suffering in a season of celebrated suffering i want you to begin praying about what it is that god is calling you to do and i'll be right back jesus at the cross at the cross where i first saw the light and the burdens of my heart rolled away they rolled away it was there by faith high received my sight and now i am happy all the days [Music] where i first saw the light [Music] it was there by faith i received my sight and now i am happy [Music] [Music] to the cross where thou where thou hast died lord jesus [Music] precious [Music] [Music] lord i need thee oh bless bless me now bless me now my shame my savior [Music] [Music] thank you on this ass wednesday we are just uh one week in to the conflict that is taking place in the ukraine seven days ago an ill legal invasion took place russia crossed over into the borders of the ukraine with all military power with troops helicopters bombs missiles but here's what has happened in that week is that he gave them ammunition but not munitions gave them ammunition but not munitions and so a week later the soldiers are finding themselves a derelict of strength because they have run out of food they're not making any progress on the ground because they have run out of food vladimir putin sent his army to invade another country but didn't make provisions to be able to feed them properly thousands of russian soldiers are just sitting on the side of the road because they don't have fuel for the tank and they don't have food for their body as it turns out the russians are discovering that you cannot fight when you don't have food that is in the natural it does not apply to the spiritual for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are mighty unto god for the pulling down of strongholds in this lenten journey of 40 days while you are absent of food i speak over your life you will not be absent of strength you will not be absent of focus and you will not be absent of energy because god gives a power to the faint and to those who have no might he increases their strength i am calling you those of you who are friends of a new birth those of you who are members those of you who are partners and those of you who are supporters i am giving you two different strands of which i want you to take this 40 day journey the first one is the champions of fast i want you to write this down i need you to have it in the thread the champions fast the champions fast if you so elect to do so is over these of 40 days you are abstaining from sugar the champions of fast is while it is that we are so journeying towards the cross not only are you giving up sugar but you are giving up starch i need you to hear me i need need you to hear me well that the champions are in fact going to uh make a tremendous stride not only away from sugar not only away from starch but consuming absolutely no soda that is the champions fast but there are others who are partnering with us today viewing us today watching today worshiping electronically today where food is not your achilles heel and so we have the conquerors fast conquerors fast different from the champions fast the conquerors fast is over these 40 days you are safeguarding your ear gate so that the only thing you will listen to hear this is sacred music no secular music for these 40 days this is the conquerors fast not only am i giving up secular music here this i am fasting from social media fasting from social media unless you are coming to social media to worship and listen and partner to new birth or other platforms that are elevating your spirit nothing for entertainment all for empowerment so in that conqueror's fast i am giving up social media giving up secular music last but not least i am giving up streaming platforms whether that's roco whether that's uh netflix whether that's amazon prime uh whatever it is that i am giving it up uh with the exception of spiritual impartation if it is not spiritual impartation you are abstaining from it over these 40 days i need to ask you which fast are you doing i need you to type it in the thread for me now which fast are you doing the conquerors or the champions the conquerors or the champions i thank you ernesto barnwell for uh being one of our conquerors uh thank you vicky harper for being a conqueror you are either a conqueror or you are a champion um sister bombwell thank you so very much sheila barrels you are my hero you are doing both of those tasha renee thank you you are doing uh both of those vicki harper thank you so very much phyllis hicks i thank you so very much my big sister caller henry hopkins thank you so very much two different fast the champions fast and the conquerors fast again the champions fast is no sugar no starch no soda the conker is fast no streaming no social media and help me tiffany no social media no secular music thank you dana we all we got uh so i need you to please i do one of those christopher parker is doing both of those uh danielle uh uh joseph is uh a champion uh donna is a conqueror uh nancy bray is doing both of those lisa douglas is doing uh both of those i need you know you're gonna need prayer no sugar you're gonna need prayer i'm gonna need prayer i'm i have signed up to be one of the champion fasters i am going on record as one of the champion of fasters and i want you uh many of you who can and will uh to do one or both of those uh you are going to find out what your strength really is matthew chapter 17 uh something amazing happens because a jesus turns logic on his head turns logic on his head because a man brings a son who is afflicted with a demonic principality i talked about this yesterday uh yesterday's prayer if you missed it i need you to go back and hear it i need you to devour it the boy had an evil spirit and none of the men uh who were the disciples could help them but jesus was able to do it in a moment and they asked of him how come we couldn't do it and jesus responded because this will only happen through prayer and fasting lin is about three different things for those of you who are taking notes i want you to please write these three components the three prongs of which constitute linton season it's about praying it's about abstaining and it is about giving it's about praying is it about it is about abstaining it is about giving i've given you our two different tricks two different paths for fasting the conquerors and the champions now i want you to know about the giving i am asking all of us to have a concerted effort of what will be our sacrificial gift on resurrection weekend this has nothing to do with our standard tithes and offerings this is our over and beyond sacrifice i'm asking for 100 of you 100 of you to make a covenant for 1 000 100 of you i am one of them so i only need 99 more to make that covenant for resurrection weekend that i am going to make a sacrificial seed for 1 000 that's 100 giving 1 thousand but i'm asking one thousand of you to give one hundred one thousand of you who can hear my voice will give a special sacrificial seed on resurrection weekend over and beyond your tithes of 100 i'm asking for a hundred of you to give a seed of 1 000. i'm telling you with the kind of strength that you're going to receive strength not just in your body strength not just in your mind strength not just in your heart but i am believing your resources will be strengthened will be equipped and will be empowered how jesus gives us the secret of this level of power is that this secret of this level of power it is not a natural gifting you were born with it is what perrier calls and acquire taste that you are going to be able to traffic in the supernatural you are going to breathe in the dynamic and the unusual you are going to be able to exhale the gifts of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit he said how through prayer and through fasting now every day borrowing sundays we are going to be engaged in corporate prayer two times i need you to write it on the screen for me two times will we be praying together every day except for sundays every day except for sundays we'll be engaged and involved in corporate prayer this begins tomorrow 6 a.m and 6 p.m 6 a.m and 6 p.m will be involved and engaged in corporate prayer one of my pastors one of our leaders one of our elders uh one of those who are a part of our intercessory prayer ministry unit team will be leading prayer at 6 00 a.m and at 6 00 p.m that call in number will be available to you on the platform that you're watching it will be available to you at 6 00 pm tonight we will post that number so that you can have it uh it is not a secret i want you to share that number with relatives with friends with neighbors with loved ones with co-workers i want all of them to know at six a.m and at six pm that we will be praying together he says can you imagine what kind of force you are going to be 40 days from now can you envision the undeniable evidence of the fingerprint of god rested so heavily on your life that satan and all of his imps will second guess ever speaking your name or causing havoc on your life because he is fully abreast and apprised of the cachet of strength that you walk with hear this because you've been praying and you've been fasting jesus then exposes something that now i have the responsibility to reveal jesus they worked with jesus they ate with jesus but what jesus exposes in matthew 17 is the disciples did not have a prayer life not only did they not have a prayer life they have not adopted the lifestyle of fasting it is my hope it is my intention it is my aim that something will be stirred in you that you won't just fast when the church calls for it but whenever it is that you feel distant from god in any occasion when you feel like you need to amplify your relationship your go-to will not be drugs it will not be trips it will not be shopping but there will be a light bulb that goes off that says i've got to get close to god i don't want you to claim to be christian which means to be christ-like you not subscribe to the secret of power that he whispered into the lives of the disciples and i now scream into the heart of every believer you want to cast out a demon you want to break a stronghold you want to disrupt generational curses you want to embrace generational blessings you want to have signs and wonders to follow the very shadow of your life here's the formula what is required of you is that you would go into a season of praying and fasting here is the discipline that is so required you're not going to believe it but praying is found more often in the bible than shouting praying is found more often than singing you're not even gonna like it your home pastor might be upset but i have a responsibility to give it to you praying is found more often in the bible than giving but prayer somehow or another has lost its centrality in the church says i need you to be able to eradicate whatever presence of demonic perversion has found itself alive in the life of your children and all the more in your family i uh stop here to tell you that uh ash wednesday is so critical to your sojourn today we begin our journey to the cross we begin our valiant walk to an empty grave forty days from now we'll come to greater joy to greater peace and the greater power but in order for us to get to that power we have to go through the suffering my father bishop john richard bryan often would say uh in our home church bethlehem baltimore here's what he said that everybody wants the crown but nobody wants the cross everybody wants easter sunday but nobody wants good friday jesus said to reign with him you gotta suffer with him so the ashes is put on our forehead why because we embrace his was gonna be alien to your ears we embrace humiliation ash wednesday i'm allowing you to put it on my forehead because i will not be embarrassed for the sake of the cross i'm walking around it here it is for we are not ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ i can't believe that i have to say it but i'm compelled to declare it this 40 days of lent i am inviting you to suffer can you imagine that jill nelson wrote a book many years ago called volunteer slavery but now you are in a precarious plight and predicament to volunteer to suffer you're getting those ashes 12 noon and 7 pm hear this is that to the believer he does not give diamonds to the believer he doesn't give roses to the believer he does not give bags to the believer he does not give spools of silk he gives ashes why give ashes did you forget what was the last thing you heard when you went to your family's funeral ashes to ashes did you forget genesis chapter 3 that when he thought of creating a man in his moment of loneliness he created him what out of the dust of the ground out of his image and out of his likeness i celebrate ash wednesday because it takes me to my formation takes me to my foundation it takes me to my beginning these ashes are not merely a symbol of sorrow they are not just about suffering but it is our need for contrition dana i need you to bring me one of those vials of ashes here it is we wear the ashes to remind us of our need thank you for brokenness realizing that i thought the cross would be enough but it was not enough he had to be wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace had to be upon his shoulders and by his stripes is how it is that we became healed we come to that resurrection thank you so much how about in order for us to get to the cross in order for us to get to the resurrection we first have got to traffic in ashes no parent wants their child in ashes anybody who lives in hawaii will tell you after you leave the beach you got to make sure you stay away from the volcanic the volcanic eruption it ain't the fire that can kill you first it is the ashes any firefighter will tell you i couldn't believe it i had to tell this to you more people die from smoke than die from fire and yet we are called to be in the ashes historians will ask pastor where do these ashes come from i'm glad you asked these ashes ladies and gentlemen come historically from the palms that were burned a year ago in other words you are called to put down praise you are called to walk away from affirmation the late maya angelou said this if you pick pick up people's praise you can't put down their criticism so many of us want the praise but we do not want the critique and so it was the call of pope gregory that they would burn the palms because part of our responsibility is can i live without the praise of people can i live absent of affirmation can i live here it is when i have been inoculated away from encouragement my fast is not so that you would be impressed so these 40 days nobody's gonna tell you good job these 40 days nobody's gonna tell you keep it up these 40 days nobody is going to check on you there are no accountability partners in an authentic fast i'm not doing this for the group i'm doing this here it is because i need this i need somebody to type it i need you to hear it i need your spirit to resonate it i am doing this because my spirit needs this i'm gonna be better when i come out of this fast i'm telling you people are not going to recognize me because of this fast the bible gives us evidence of shadrach meshach and abednego turning their plate down and the bible says that their skin was better their countenance was stronger their mind was sharper they were head and shoulders above the competition why because they found the power of the sacrifice when was the last time you said to your spirit i deserve better notice the distinction not when did you say to your bank account not when did the last time you said it to your living arrangements did you say to your soul we should be doing better than this we should not be grappling with depression we should not have angst and anxiety we should not be overcome with low self-esteem this is the 40 days for a soul check it's the 40 days for us to be able to glean what's going on on the inside of me david caught in one of the lowest moments of his life cried aloud create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me i am not giving you permission in this hour of volunteered suffering to lament this season is your invitation to work on yourself this is your invitation for self-improvement this is your invitation to set here it is internal goals this is your invitation to not play the victim but to hold yourself into accountability i'm consecrating myself unto god why because i am not blaming supremacists i'm not blaming the tea party i'm not blaming the russians but to thine own self be true what in me the apostle paul said o wretched man that i am who can deliver me your prayer and your fasting is gonna bring you so much closer to god than you've ever been in it amazing that we only talk about discipline when it comes to athleticism but nobody wants to be disciplined with our walk with god i want to be disciplined my father has an uncanny prayer life that every day he wakes up at 4 30 in the morning for prayer and then gets back into bed he is so disciplined that he now does it without an alarm clock that's discipline many of you have discipline but you have it in the wrong area you are disciplined to shop you are disciplined to spend money you are disciplined like clockwork i i wish i could say it to you this way can you imagine god being jealous of coffee you are so committed that i can't go to work without it i can't produce without it i can't start my day without it so coffee is more important than the creator i want you to have discipline in areas that you have never subjugated yourself in authority to do this is the time that we remember that sacrifice hear this sacrifice is what saved us i need somebody to type it i need somebody to write it i am alive because of a sacrifice i have access to salvation because of a sacrifice i am the recipient of favor because of a sacrifice because jesus laid himself down on the cross and said no man takes my life i lay it down and if i lay it down i can pick it back up again and because he lives i can face tomorrow because he lives all of my fears are gone i receive salvation because of a sacrifice i got to ask you a critical pivotal question what do you think god is going to bestow on you because of this 40 days of sacrifice we already have the template already have the example knowing that it is necessary one of my favorite writers saint augustine said that in order to go higher you have to go deeper i want to say that again in order for you to go higher you have to go deeper to go up you have to go in the deeper things are the things that save us ash wednesday is uh the begging of what howard thurman called the inward journey and the journey to inwardness is not an invitation to be selfish it is rather the path that we take not to be a slave to the things of this world but to be an indentured servant to the savior the goal is to overcome the world to be bigger than food to be bigger than my job to be bigger than a check to be bigger than my own ego bigger than my own ambition to be bigger than family expectations i am in fact going lower because i see god making me bigger can you imagine that the fast here is uh the hypocrisy and the contradiction the fast slows me down i better say it again the fast is gonna slow me down but while i am slowing down is going to speed the things of god up i'm excited because praying fasting worship and studying meditation singing and shouting all of that press us towards the mark of the high calling in order for us to forget those things which are behind in other words after these 40 days you will outlive the last 40 months i'm excited about what god is going to yield to your bumper crops and i want to glean your maturity will you celebrate with the same fervor with the same prowess with the same enthusiasm if what you receive after this 40-day fast is nothing tangible after these 40 days nothing material after these 40 days nothing that is capitalistic in consumption but it is an inside job i want to call you to those two areas of fasting number one again it's the champions fast no sugar no soda no starch it begins today if you already ate or consumed any of those i'm grating you on the curve you didn't know you're just starting right now the conquerors fast no social media no streaming no secular music our intercessors are behind me they're putting your name on the wall whatever it is that you are believing god for no preaching is complete without a practicum when we return back into our sanctuary resurrection sunday i'm asking 100 people to give a seed of one thousand one hundred are giving a seed of one thousand and one thousand are giving a seed of one hundred beginning tomorrow we're going to pray every day together 6 a.m and 6 p.m excluding sundays that number for you to call in will be on our platform at 6 tonight beginning tomorrow 6 a.m and 6 p.m call into that number share that number liberally so that we can pray together so that we can walk together and so that we can blossom and grow together for those of you are just coming in how we are in our season of consecration because we are marching back into our sanctuary resurrection weekend on good friday april of the 15th 13th uh bishop t.d jakes will be with us along with john p key on resurrection sunday i'll be preaching along with vashawn mitchell providing the music it's going to be an amazing time an incredible encounter an undeniable force of nature is ready to blow your way let me pray with you let me pray for you and let me pray about you for what it is that i'm believing that god is going to do you still have time we begin giving out our ashes at 7 00 pm tonight and i want you to be a part of it good and gracious god give us the strength give us the power give us the grace give us the mercy we need you to help us endure because quitting is not an option and we don't want it available make us discipline for the things that previously were challenging to us we believe you for it in jesus name amen sister tiffany is coming she's going to sing us out i am excited that you were sharing with us on today i want you to share this post i want you to give a sacrificial seed in this moment i ask that you will sow a seed of 40 dollars i need you to do it saying pastor i am believing that god is going to walk with me all through length uh all through lent that god is going to undergird me he's going to prop me on every side uh there's no way that i can fail if god is for me who can be against me i want you walking this journey with us i belong me even now are all of our giving apparatuses give levi push pay text to give our own secure website is available to do it but on this the first day of lent i want everybody to sow that seed of 40 even after i go off the air our intercessors will remain here and so whatever is your prayer concern i need you to please type it on the screen right now type your name and your prayer concern and let's watch god work next 40 days we're so grateful for our pastor sharing teaching and just sharing the word of the lord with us so we're going to leave on this note it just says i love you i love you i love you lord today yes because you cared for me in such a special way that's why i praise you i lift you up and i magnify your [Music] why name heart is filled with praise [Music] that's why [Music] that's why our hearts are filled with praise we praise with praise so much praise that's why our hearts are filled with praise we lift your name we magnify you lord yes we do that's why our hearts are filled with the thank you jesus with the lord we love you yes it is yes that's why our heart is filled with praise you

Channel: New Birth Mbc

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Id: rLzxdR-CSt8

Length: 55min 32sec (3332 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022