Better Together // Pastor Sonja R. Dawson

[Music] [Music] good morning church family and friends as we prepare for morning worship please take note of our morning announcements join us tomorrow evening for church-wide prayer at 7 pm in person and online pre-registration is no longer required everyone is welcome to attend in person and mass must be worn at all times everyone is invited to join us for grow discipleship institute every tuesday at 6 30 pm this week pastors bible study will conclude their living with lost series on youtube and facebook and meno mission meets via conference call our noon bible study is each wednesday on conference call pre-registration is no longer required to attend our on-site worship experiences seats are limited and face masks are still required for admittance we look forward to worshiping with you each week our early morning worship experience takes place on sundays at 7 30 a.m via conference call the worship service is led by our ministerial staff deacons and deaconess join us every sunday at 9 30 a.m as we study god's word together in sunday school via conference call and our youth and young adult classes meet via zoom we have also excitedly launched our sunday evening sunday school class it's every sunday at 6 00 pm on youtube and facebook we believe that sunday school still matters and we would love for you to come grow with us well praise the lord everybody this is the day that the lord has made so go ahead and put those hands together and rejoice and be glad we've come for no other reason to bless the name of the lord come on keep clapping come on go on go ahead and usher in the presence of the lord god we thank you god we thank you i'm gonna go ahead and read our opening scripture on this morning and that's psalm number 150 and the bible reads praise ye the lord praise god in his sanctuary praise him in the firmament of his power praise him for his mighty acts praise him according to his excellent greatness praise him with the sound of the trumpet praise him with the sultry and the harp praise him with the timbrel and the dance praise him with the string instruments and organs praise him upon the loud symbols praise him upon the high sounding symbols let everything that have breath i'ma say it one more time let everything that had breath let everything that had breath praise the lord praise ye the lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah and let us pray gracious god eternal god our father in the name of jesus by the power of the holy spirit we thank you we thank you so much for this opportunity right now to gather in your name lord god i pray that as we prepare to to have a service in your name and to and to and to discuss the word lord god that and to listen to the word that you have given our pastor on this morning and to fellowship with one another lord i pray that we receive what you have in store for us lord god i pray that you correct us i pray that you encourage us i pray that you convict us lord god it is all a privilege and an honor it is a pro it is an honor to do anything in your name lord god and we thank you for the opportunity so lord god i pray that someone right now who walked in discouraged i pray to someone who's listening right now discouraged i pray that if someone is listening with anxiety i pray that if someone is is filled with heartbreak someone is filled with grief someone is filled with uncertainty i pray that you give them peace and comfort because you because they have a god of all certainty they have a god of all power and lord god even when things are out of our control we know that it is still in your control and we trust your will and we trust your way so lord god i pray that you have your way in this service lord god i pray that you have your way in this room have your way in the in the person's car whoever's driving around have your way in the household where someone's washing it in their living room have your way lord god if someone is cooking dinner right now lord god i pray that they catch the holy spirit right now lord god in the name of jesus because we want to serve you we want to live for you lord god in the name of jesus so we thank you in advance for what you're going to do in this time and we thank you more importantly for what you're doing in our lives and we say this prayer in jesus name by the power of the holy spirit amen did you come to give him praise did you come to glorify him come on clap your hands everybody come on come on come on [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Music] oh you sound like you came to praise god [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] come on [Music] salvation and glory salvation [Applause] [Music] oh it feels so good to praise them [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] deliverer he's strong he's the mighty [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah hallelujah wonderful savior hallelujah well good morning everybody it's good to see you and it's good to see those of you who are worshiping with us online as well i'm pastor dawson and i just came up to say good morning and to thank you for supporting this ministry in any way that you support we are so grateful for how god has blessed us to continue to be able to worship together week after week that means a lot i know during the time when we weren't here i i missed you we missed one another and so i'm glad that we're here for those who are uh feel comfortable and want to be a part of the on-site worship there is no registration you can come to any of our services and if you are worshiping online we're grateful for you to be there as well we're all one church family so far today we have been blessed with the early morning service at 7 30 a.m i want to give a shout out to minister morrison for a great message at 7 30 and she continued talking about missions and then to win thank god for deacon and deaconess webb who also gave leadership at that service this morning it's a conference call service so you know anybody can call in help us grow that service and be a part good way to start your morning on sundays we are praying for the sick we have many sick in our congregation we're continuing to pray for them we know that god is able and uh even our friends of our church not just our congregation we're praying for you as well i bereaved families appreciate your support i want to thank all those who were there on yesterday morning as we said farewell or should i say see you later uh to brother hillburn brother hillburn passed away it was a beautiful service so uh keep please keep the hillburn family in prayer i also want to mention that mother silverson went home to be with the lord i mean many of us remembered her beautiful poems so mother silverson uh went home to be with the lord just a couple days ago i'm in touch with the family and we'll have some updated information in the next couple of days as far as services are concerned congratulations to the men and women's fellowship i know you guys had a good time yesterday i was out on another assignment but i thank you to the women and the men their leadership that make sure that we have fellowship every month zoom conference call whatever it is you've been faithful you've been consistent and i'm so grateful the fall revival we know is on the way why am i saying all this because you got to tell everybody everything over and over and over it's just the way it is after 10 almost 11 years i know i got to say everything five times it's on the way somebody say it's on the way pastor streeter is on the way and we're looking forward to him being with us on the second sunday in october plans are being made now to accommodate on larger crowds we're still figuring out which the best way to go just watch your email we'll make sure your text you need to know what the plans are but let me say this i want you to come here reverend streeter but you got a pastor right here every sunday hallelujah and i'd love for you to come i love you to come see her too well i feel better so much better since i laid [Music] there is a survey going out right now to all of you a survey to all the members of new mile calvary and friends as we're preparing for what i'm calling our homecoming whenever sanctuary opens and i want to know your intention you know you're going to a lot of people keep saying i'm coming as soon as you open the door so okay let me know so we can plan for that so when you get that survey make sure you only fill it out one time so we don't mess up the data just one time and i will report those findings at our next church update meeting which is the second saturday in october all right with that being said let's have a good time let's look turn to the left to the right say hello to those who are here worshiping together on site if you're online please say hello to one another reach out if you're a guest make sure you put your name or the word guest in the chat so we can say hello to you we are so glad that you're here and if you are watching at home what don't watch alone find somebody in your house in your neighborhood tag somebody let's get our 50 shares and 50 likes today do it right now share share share because i promise you as you worship god you will be blessed amen amen welcome to our church let's hear from our music ministry how many of you know that things change when you call on the great name of jesus that you become free when you call on this name we're gonna teach you a new song it's very simple but you know what we don't want to sing along so we want you to get with us and praise god with us is that okay it just goes like this it goes we love to call your name there's something we cannot explain that happens when we proclaim your great name your great name we love to begin it call your name there's something we cannot explain that happens when we proclaim your great name your [Music] is jesus [Music] we [Music] your great [Applause] [Music] jesus christ [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] there's power in the name of jesus yeah power in your name i think you could get that say there's power in the name of jesus so much power [Music] [Music] resurrection power saving safe and changed things change when we do [Music] found in me [Applause] i'm free [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] when i [Music] [Music] i'm [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] as [Music] you turn me around when i call your name call [Music] jesus [Music] when i call your name [Music] i call you jesus the only help i know jesus jesus [Music] [Music] come on [Music] we believe we believe you we believe [Music] everything about life changes when you call the name of jesus [Music] when you call the name jesus jesus oh somebody has gone through something right now i invite you to just call the name of jesus [Music] over my jesus jesus said over my body jesus over my situation jesus over my family jesus over my finance jesus over my future jesus when i call your name come on just lift your hands just call g jesus [Music] jesus [Music] somebody has experienced the supernatural power of god in your life when you stop trying to fix it all on your own and you just said jesus [Music] jesus he's so faithful oh my gosh he's so faithful he doesn't ignore us he doesn't leave us hanging he don't leave us out there but we say jesus and it's like ah i've been waiting i've been waiting i've been waiting for you to realize that all you have to do is open up your mouths just call them oh songwriter said you don't know what he's done for me but he gave me the victory i called him and he answered me and that's why i love him i love him i really love the lord if you love him just lift up your voice in your own words in your own way and just express your love oh come on take advantage of this opportunity this space that he has permitted us to have to be reflective of his goodness of his faithfulness of his mind-blowing extraordinary power in our lives some of us are reaching back 10 years some of us are reaching back five years some of us are reaching back just to yesterday just yesterday just this morning not just that you woke up but that you woke up aware of the day aware of who you are aware of where you're headed this place oh that's significant y'all that's big that's big i'm thankful not just to be alive but to be alive and aware god did that god did that and that's why we sing oh i really love the lord if you know a single with me i really love the lord you don't know what he's done for me anybody with a testimony yeah he gave me the big story what did he strengthen you to overcome i really love the lord [Music] oh let's be one big choir today [Music] he gave me [Music] oh [Music] [Music] that with all of who i am [Music] gave me the victory [Music] [Music] you don't know don't know you don't know what he's done for me come on [Applause] [Music] i love him is that your testimony i love him i love him [Music] [Music] come on put your hands together and bless the lord you really love him thank god for our music ministry done for me go ahead [Music] here [Music] you don't know what he's done for me [Music] [Music] you don't know what he's done for me [Music] the victory him i love him [Music] i really love together [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah well it's preaching time amen it's preaching time and we are going to move on to the word because this i want to preach while it's hot i love the lord how about you do you love him today do you love him today are you excited to be in worship one more time whether it's online or on site i'm excited because i don't know about you but there's something about just being in the fellowship and the gathering of the saints it just gives me more strength more joy and more peace and i'm excited to share with you this morning it's hot in here it's hot in here [Music] go ahead and get it out go ahead and get they're running in here they running in here go ahead on and get it out we don't have we got plenty of time hallelujah you don't know what he has done for me he gave me the victory and that's why that's why that's why that's why we love it that's why we praise them that's why we serve them that's why we give him glory that's why we press our way that's why we show up when we're tired that's why we give the best of our service you don't know you have no idea what the lord has done for me and for you you don't know you don't know how he kept me you don't know you don't know you don't know can i preach you don't know the doors he's open you don't know you don't know the ways he's made you don't know the healing of my body you don't know you don't know you don't know if you know you'll be running if you know you'll be shouting if you knew you'd be excited if you knew you would be clapping but you don't know i'm not mad you just don't know but i know i know i know i know the way he made i know the doors he's open i know the piece he's given i know come on put your hands together [Music] give him your best praise all hey [Music] oh i feel it [Music] yeah all right you got one more minute you got one more minute i got to move on [Music] if you're online put your hands together you might be in your living room you might be in your bedroom you might be at work you might be watching on the replay but if you know god's been good to you put your hands together raise your feet live for joy [Music] dance like david days but i'm happy today listen if you don't know what's going on that's because you don't know what the lord did but i know and you know and we're giving him praise and we're blessing him and we're honoring him and everybody doesn't do it the same way but what you seeing me do i'm dancing in advance see it's not all worked out in my life just yet it's not all worked out in the church just yet i don't know where everything is gonna come from but i do know that god is faithful i do know that if he gave me a vision he's gonna bring it to pass and so i'm dancing even before i see the reality and the manifestation now is there anybody that can dance [Music] whoa that's what i'm doing yes thank you lord i know you're gonna work it out i believe you're gonna work it out i know you're gonna meet the budget hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i know you're gonna send the help hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah oh god hallelujah oh god i know you're gonna do it so i'm blessing you in that day maybe for you maybe for you you've been waiting on a job can you bless him in advance maybe for you you've been waiting on him to heal your body can you bless him in advance can you say hallelujah can you say glory to god can you say thank you jesus i see it coming i know it's coming i know you're gonna do it i know you're gonna make a way i know you're gonna open doors i trust you glory glory glory glory glory glory glory yes i got myself down got to calm myself down got to calm myself down got to calm myself down got to calm myself down [Applause] i know what comes next i know what comes next i just gotta calm myself down see i don't know about you but these last 18 [Music] i moved from what i knew in my mind to what i saw god do [Music] i moved from just a book knowledge [Music] there's nothing wrong with the book i moved from a book knowledge to where i really began to understand that if god said he'll do it he'll do it i found out he was faithful elder i found out that if i trusted him [Music] he would take care of his church and he would take care of his people and so when i get excited i run around here in my way of running it might be slow but i'm running in my spirit [Applause] [Music] if you see me running it's because i i've seen the faithfulness of god [Music] and i can't help but tell somebody how about you have you seen how guys kept you this last year and a half oh god how can you be quiet when what god has done oh father we thank you and so because of that we're just going to keep on trusting him keep on praising him and now as we're getting ready for the word we're going to ask him to speak to our hearts speak to our hearts holy spirit i believe the lord has sent this word today and it's a different kind of word and i'm fine with it i've got all my shout out i might just talk yeah just just kind of sing a little bit of it right there where you guys are it's fine speak to my heart let's be ready for the word come on center yourself center your mind wherever you are [Music] [Music] that's my prayer every week lord speak to my heart [Music] of love message of love to encourage me to encourage lifting my heart clean my heart [Music] anybody out there you want god to speak to you this morning speak to my see he knows what you need to hear today better than i do asked him even in advance [Music] say what i need to hear from you oh god [Music] to my heart lord yeah give me your holy word if i can't hear from you then i know then i'll know divine [Music] then i'll know what to do [Music] we're going over to john chapter 17. [Music] john's gospel chapter 17 familiar texts but i believe is pertinent for what things that are going on in the world today and in the church today john 17 verses 20 through 21 i'm going to read from the king james version and then later on i'm going to read it from the king the niv again thank you everyone for being here today online and on site let's bless the lord for our music ministry haven't they just blessed us today elder thrash and our music ministry and all those who are here serving we thank you word of the lord says in verse 20 neither pray i for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one as thou father art in me and i in thee that day also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou has sent me these are the words of jesus as he prayed this what is referred to as the priestly prayer he prayed that god would make his disciples the church us that he would make us one as you take your seats i'm going to talk about better together you know i've been talking about being better all year so i figured i would jump back into that i lost my monitors though i thought i would jump back thank you i would jump back into that a little bit talking about how to be better we've been saying about being better and better so how how are we better today i want to talk about we're better together somebody say better together there's a quote that says what creates a real and lasting unity in the church is the love of god among us as we focus on that love we have the opportunity to become a community that lives in such a way that the world may believe jesus in this prayer he was praying that the disciples would live in a way that when people would look at the church and would look at christians they would want to become christians that we would live in such a way that people would say i want to be a part of what's happening at that place or among those people if you were here for the last sermon that i did before last week the holy spirit began to move and shift in the area of encouraging us to stay with the ship do you remember that and this message kind of connects with that one because right now honestly i have a real burden for the church and i don't think i'm the only one have you been praying for the church i've been praying for the church and i hear your prayers at prayer meeting and on the uh early morning prayer line i hear that i'm not the only one that has a burden for the church now when i say a burden i'm not saying i'm worried because we know not to worry right we talked about that but christians can have burdens things that the lord places in your heart so that you know you need to pray for and my burden right now is for the post pandemic church what is not necessarily asking the question what is the church going to look like because the blueprint for what the church is supposed to be is already written in the word of god we just really have to get back to basics and that's what a lot of this time away has allowed us to do but my burden is that if we are not um staying together the enemy is going to come in and he's going to sift us as wheat and so my prayer my concern is how do i and how do we because i don't have to do this by myself that's why we're a body of believers how do how do we communicate that even though there may be messaging that says that it's okay to be on an island and be by yourself and still be a christian we are actually better together we're better together see our unity is not just what enables us to have a good time on sundays or to make some friends it's not for a social connection but it helps us to establish our connection to god so that we can make an impact around the world all month we've talked about missions what's the goal of missions the goal of missions is to spread the gospel right we've been hearing about that spread the gospel to the the left out the lost the less fortunate etc etc and all of us can fall into one of those categories at some time the the goal of missions is to share the gospel so we do acts of mercy we raise money we you know give out food and water and all these various things we go down and we feed the hungry and all these various things we do that so that it creates an opportunity to share the gospel if we just went down and gave out water for giving out water's sake then you're just a charity we would just be just like the red cross and everybody else but we do acts of mercy so that it opens up an opportunity for somebody to hear the gospel and we do that so much better when we are working together this world needs to know that jesus still saves i don't know if you have a lot of friends who are who are not christians but i have some friends who are not christians even as a pastor i have some friends who are not christians and in fact now people don't mind telling you they're not a christian they're actually wearing it like a badge and they want people i don't believe that stuff i don't believe that stuff i'm i'm religious but i'm not christian i'm spiritual that's it but but i'm not christian i i seek a higher consciousness you know you know all and that's that's what they believe so having those people around because hopefully they see a light in my life or in your life that when they come to a time where buddha can't help them and they come to a time where these crystals and ouija boards cannot help them when they need somebody to pray to the god that that that hears and answers with fire come on somebody when they need that guy they'll reach out to you and what we want to make sure is that we're strong enough so that we can deal with this world where we have been placed we got to be strong enough and that strength comes from each other somebody say we're better together we're better together so i'm not worried about the church but i'm concerned i have a burden i have a burden and i'm glad to know that i'm not in bad company actually i'm in good company because jesus had a burden listen when this text is written he's on his way to calvary he's on his way to a cross he's on his way to the worst type of death you can imagine he's on his way to be executed he's on his way to be tortured he's on his way to be and because he's god he already knows all the things they're going to do to him but yet he did not spend that time praying for himself come on he prayed for what was on his heart he prayed for the church so if you have a burden for the church you're in good company because jesus had a burden for the church look at what he says in john 17 20 and 21 and i'm just going to reread it in the niv in his prayer time he says my prayer is not for them alone but i pray also for those who will believe in me through their message that's those who are going to come those who are going to come because they see how we live our lives and because they hear the gospel that all of them may be one father just as you are in me and i am in you may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me so that's in the niv and we get a little more understanding of what he is saying and he is as he's pouring out his heart to god about about those his followers his his his believers those that he has trained up he wants to make sure that they're ready to deal with the world that he's leaving them in well the gospel of john is different from the three other gospels just for a little background john makes it very clear that his purpose in writing this gospel is to prove the deity of jesus christ and in other words that jesus was truly god the gospel of john here it was written by john who was a disciple of jesus christ who later became an apostle and a leader in the early church writing the books of first second and third john who was also later exiled saint john on the island of patmos where he wrote the book of revelation now i said all that to say that john and jesus were close john and jesus were like this especially according to john john saw him jesus in every stage of his earthly and heavenly existence on the mount of transfiguration you'll find john at the cross of calvary you'll find john he was the last remaining disciple male disciple to whom jesus entrusted his very own mother at the resurrection john the garden tomb john the ascension john in all of these critical moments you find the apostle john why am i telling you this because i find it interesting that in all of the gospel writings this prayer is only recorded by john matthew didn't talk about it mark didn't talk about it luke didn't talk about it but john talked about it why because when you have a true friend they know what's on your heart ah if you've ever had a true friend you can they can tell you when you just by the way you pick up the phone you say hello they say what's wrong a true friend you you say oh i'm fine no you're not what's going on with you that's okay you don't have to tell me i'm gonna figure it out cause i know you you have any friends like that i know you well john was that kind of friend and he knew that this moment where jesus was talking to the father was critical that this is what was on his heart he wasn't worried about the roman soldiers he wasn't worried about going up golgotha's heel he knew was going to be hard he wasn't worried about any of that he was worried about his people and i don't know you but i i have felt some of that this year worried about the people that god had assigned to him ah see he was a true friend and so john tells us about this prayer that he overhears in this intimate moment when jesus and the father are just talking one-on-one we find that jesus is praying for the church well i'm not the only leader that's ever prayed for the church i found him pastor prayed for this church he prayed for this church up until the time he went to glory we will tell you the family will tell you my mother will tell you this church was on his mind i remember the day coming home after we uh had talked about me coming into this position and he's going to make sure other people are right are the people going to be okay he called his pastor he talked to pastor thomas he talked to others and his concern and he and i remember him saying those words and and i don't want to get i don't want to cause any emotion for my mother but i remember him saying how how important it was to him that he had given the best that he had to offer to the lord and to the ministry he was concerned and he wrote a song that we sing every week based on this particular text lord make us one just like jesus and just like dr dawson he knew that if the enemy came in he would sift us as we dr dawson didn't know about a pandemic but he knew that we were gonna have to be one he didn't know what was gonna happen in the world he didn't know what's gonna happen in politics he didn't know what was gonna happen with this vaccine and how he was gonna try to divide the church between those who have it and don't have it he didn't know but he knew that we were going to have to pray that the lord would make us one my brothers and sisters i'm inviting you i'm encouraging you to join me as we pray for the church because we got some challenges we got to overcome can i take my time i got up early so i can take my time we got some challenges we have to overcome first of all we got to overcome the world's view of the church as intolerant we got to overcome the world's view of the church as hypocritical we have to overcome the world's view of the church as being distracted we have to overcome the world's view of the church of being off track with god we have to overcome the world's view of the church to conform that the church wants to conform to the world so to keep all of people coming to our church well the pandemic kind of took care of that we have to overcome the challenges of denominations we have to overcome the challenges of infighting we have to overcome the challenges of gossiping and backbiting we have to overcome the challenges of church gang banging we have to overcome the challenges of church pride when it becomes idolatry we have to overcome jealousy in the church we have to overcome competition in the church anybody praying for me we have to overcome advancing different agendas in the church that's why we need the lord to make us one because we are better we're better together we're better together i mean this thing we're better together don't you know the enemy comes in every week with some more stuff of how to divide us how to how to how to how to move us into silos and separate little churches all over the campus but the devil is a liar we are better together so in this prayer we find three three tools three tools that jesus gives his uh that he says in his prayer three tools that we can use if we want to stay together and we will stay together and how we can how we can work together and serve together and build together here's the first thing that we learned from this particular text and it's very simple i talk about it all the time but it always bears repeating the church that prays together stays together that's why we pray every week that's why we opened up prayer service on monday nights because i don't want anybody to say that they can't come pray we can come do everything else we can go to walmart we can go to target we can go to the bank we can go to the movies we can go but so you you can come pray if you can do everything else you can come pray church that prays together does what stays together so the first thing is we have to pray together somebody say pray together jesus said my prayer is not for them alone but for all those who would believe in me he says what their their my prayer is that those who will come will be together and that they will know me because they will look at my people and by the love that they show to one another they will know that they are my disciples dr h.b charles says prayer is our christian duty it is an expression of submission to god and dependence upon him for that matter prayer is arguably the most objective measurement of our dependence on god the things you pray about are the things that you trust god to handle and the things you neglect to pray about are the things that you trust yourself to handle is there anything that you're not talking to god about see that's what we have to worry about because those are the things that we think we got it all under control we got to talk to him about everything james 5 16-18 says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much elijah was just a man who was subject to the passions as we are but he prayed ah he prayed and it did not rain and then it rained when he prayed again and and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit when jesus prayed in the garden of gethsemane that prayer was different than any other prayer he prayed in his life it was a prayer of submission and acknowledgement that he needed the father jesus was preparing to be crucified he was preparing to complete his ultimate mission on this earth which was to pay the debts for our sins and to redeem us from the hands of the enemy but even jesus knew that he could not do it by himself he needed he needed to talk to the father he he needed to to pour out his heart his fears and his anxieties and i want somebody to know that for us to stay together for you to stay together in your households and in your families you got to pray together sometimes in life we run into situations that let us know that we need god there are some problems that are too large for us to handle the reality is we really need god in every area of our life can i get somebody that's praying with me we need him morning noon and night prayer helps us to realize all that god has for us as believers and for his church prayer helps us to realize ah that we have victory in jesus christ so often we live defeated and empty lies when jesus said i have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly it is in that prayer time ah that he'll talk to you it's in that prayer time that he'll whisper in your ears and tell you don't worry about it i got you everything is gonna be all right it's in that prayer time have you ever heard him talk to you i in the midnight hour when nobody else was around and you heard his voice saying i'm we're here with you my child have you ever been there you got to pray about it you got to you got to keep praying prayer will change our politics prayer will end our homeless situation prayer will stop gang violence prayer will combat poverty prayer will deal with the sins of the individuals and in the church prayer will deal with the issues of the day prayer will deal with all that we have that we need and we want and we depend on from god jesus said it this way it says for where two or three are gathered together that's why i don't worry about the room being full so i don't worry about you i tell you i will preach to two people y'all know that's right we we we've had recording sessions where was nobody but me in the camera and i would get happy by myself and it's not just because i like it because this is not easy work but what the thing is i do know that where two or three are gathered together in his name he is in the midst you don't need a whole lot of people to get your breakthrough you don't need a whole lot of people to get your deliverance you don't need a whole lot of people to get a miracle you just need two or three people that don't mind coming together and saying if you pray i'll sing if you pray i'll preach if you pray i i'll make sure everything is all right so so so praying is the substance of keeping us together church don't forsake the prayer life of the church don't forsake the prayer life of the of the church it's too important i believe it's the prayer life of the church that's keeping this world from going straight in a hole i believe that and the bible backs me up if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and it starts with us turn from your wicked ways he says then i will heal they will hear from heaven and i will heal the land the church if we pray together we can bring change we pray together we can work out these situations we just got to pray together have a little talk with jesus tell him all about it we've got to pray together secondly secondly secondly he says not only jesus and his prayer he says i want them to pray together but i want them to serve together somebody say serve together see jesus prayed that the church the baptized body of believers past present and future will be united and we'll be able to serve together because when you serve together that's how you grow together when you serve together that's how you grow together we you can listen you can read the bible from now until and that's good you can come to prayer from now until and that's good but it is by serving that you grow you grow in the area of relationships let me explain what i'm talking about when you learn how to submit to leadership when you learn how to work with people who you don't understand help me jesus when you learn how to talk to people that don't talk to you when you learn how to deal with the ugly stuff that you got to deal with to stay together that's how you grow oh is there anybody in here that knows what i'm talking about [Music] you don't grow by staying at home and saying i'm not gonna ever do that again i'm never gonna get i'm not gonna help i'm gonna just quit that's not how you grow i can remember i told my dad a lot today i don't know why but i can remember i can remember i got so mad one time i was an associate you know associates get mad too i know y'all get mad they don't want me to know but i know that man i was so mad one day i'm stomped in his office was crazy right then [Applause] and i said i quit he said you quit what i did i did i lived to tell it i did i walked in i said i quit a man folks won't listen to me they won't do what i say i'm just telling them what you told me to tell them but i don't have the authority i don't have you know i'm a girl whatever i was mad and he said resignation not accepted does not sound like him he told me you're not quitting anything he said if i let you quit you're going to be a quitter and you got too far to go to start quitting you can't afford for these people to know you even want to quit listen i don't know what i'm talking to this morning but you have decided you want to quit some things and the spirit of the holy ghost is saying he's not accepting your resignation your post is still open your job is still available nobody is putting out an ad for your position get back to work your resignation is not accepted [Applause] you won't grow if we coddle you that's what i learned you're not going to grow if we just let you do whatever you want to do but we got to grow so we have to serve together and this happened in the church before there were two women in the church in philippi bible talks about them by the names of euodia and senteki these two women were leaders in the church but they got into a terrible fight so much so that it got to paul now you know that's a terrible fight when the bishop found out that's ridiculous it got to paul and he even writes in this letter in chapter four verses two through three he says i'm begging you work with these women help them so that they can get back together because they helped me to spread the gospel and when the enemy comes in and divides us and stops us from serving he is actually stopping us from advancing the gospel can i say that again when he stops us from working from serving from loving from being together he is stopping us from advancing the church advancing the gospel and advancing the kingdom of god it's a trick of the enemy it's a trick of the devil it's a trick of the devil and he'll use anybody i'm not just talking about lay people he'll use people with whole big titles trick of the enemy but we want to serve together because we want to keep growing together listen this is not a seminary what this is not just a place where we study study study study study this is a place where we serve the bible says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling so unity in the church requires work requires you got to work on it all the time i was so proud of the men and women on mission yesterday listen they showed up at that funeral they had about three or four roles anybody else saw that those brothers and sisters showed up together they came to me and they said pastor listen we want to be one group we don't want to be divided anymore by women and by men we want to come together because we're better together and i salute them i didn't ask them but they were spiritual they were listening to what god was saying and saying the only way we gonna stay together is we gotta come together so i salute them i salute them i salute them i salute them i salute them for serving together so we gotta pray together we to serve together and then we can be restored together that's what god told me that's what he told me it helped me it helped me it helped me he said if you do all these i'm going to restore you together not one by one but all together and i said well lord what do you mean he said well well see just as it says here father jesus prayed just as you are in me and i am in you may they also be in us that when we come together we can be restored together we know the revival is coming and we're excited about the revival and i'm excited because that's a chance for us to be restored together somebody today together we can sing we can preach we can pray we can encourage one another together we cannot afford to get weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not we will be restored together it's kind of like my laptop or my cell phone or any of my gadgets when i forget to put them on the charger at night which i do almost every single night when i wake up in the morning they have no power and if you have been working and working and working and working and we have not been praying and we have not been reading our word and we have not been studying and we have not been uh involved in confession and repentance and all those things we need to do then we get empty and we must continue to stay connected to the power source so how are we restored together well just like my laptop my cell phone and all my other devices they have to be plugged into an outlet and through that outlet they receive power so that they can keep going now initially it doesn't come right on right i'm looking at it it's looking at me i'm waiting on it it's waiting on me but after a couple of minutes the light comes back on the power comes back on and i'm able to keep working well we had 18 months where we could get restored we had some time away where we could get refreshed but now i need some of us to get back connected into the power source so that your light can come back on jesus said it this way let your life so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the father which is in heaven if you want to keep working you must be connected to the power source ah that's how i make it people say pastor how you make it i'm trying to stay connected to the power source i'm trying to stay connected to the one who gave his life for me that when i did not have the opportunity and did not know any better he gave his life on calvary's cross i'm trying to stay connected to the one that some may call the bread of life i'm trying to stay connected to the one that some may call the rose of sharon i'm trying to stay connected to the one that once i may call the wheel in the middle of the wheel i'm trying to stay connected to the one that they may call the seed of jesse i'm trying to stay connected to the one that we call a strong tower i'm trying to stay connected to the one that came down through 42 generations i'm trying to stay connected to the one that my grandmother called a waymaker i'm trying to stay connected to the one that my father called wonderful i'm trying to stay connected to the one that my mother said is a burden bearer i'm trying to stay connected to the one who holds me in the midnight hour i'm trying to stay connected to the one who gave his life so that i may live i'm trying to stay connected to the one that early on a sunday morning he got up with all power in his hand i don't know about you but every day i'm trying to stay connected to the one who loves me when nobody else loves me i'm trying to stay connected to the one who picks me up and turns me around i don't know about you but i'm trying to stay connected i'm holding on by faith but i don't have to work so hard because he said in his word that he will hold me in the palm of his hand that weeping may endure for a night but joy is coming in the morning so church i need you to be encouraged pray together stay together be restored together to know how good and how pleasant it is for brethren and sisters to dwell together any unity we hold each other up we keep each other accountable we encourage one another we support one another we're there for one another i need you to stay together we're better together we're better together we're better together we're better together we're better together we're better together we're better together yes yes yes yes yes i'm committed you're committed we're gonna run on and see what the end will be i got you you got me we are all a part of god's family i walk with you i talk with you i share with you i pray for you you pray for me we are better together say yes say yes say yes say yes jesus died so we could be the church jesus died so that we could have a right to the tree of life jesus died so that you and i could be connected and so i'm so glad i'm so glad i'm so glad i'm so glad he's keeping us he's holding us up he's with us say yes say yes say yes [Music] thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord for your keeping power thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord for your peace thank you lord thank you lord for your joy thank you lord thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah oh yeah oh yes [Applause] you lord jesus thank you lord jesus i'm burdened but i'm not worried god always takes care of his church i'm not worried but i know we got to pray the bible says when the enemy rushes in like a flood he'll lift up a standard and he's trying to come against not just this church every church he's trying to come against it he's trying to close as many as he can that's right but jesus said upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it but we have to be grateful for what god has given us we have to protect it we can't let the people on the outside turn us against once and one another and we can't let the people on the inside turn us against one another when they come to you with that stuff just say you know what we praying about that you know that shut up down why why why is this going on and why why are we not back in the sanctuary why we praying about that we'll be there when god says we're praying about that why why we can't do this and why we can't do that we're praying about that god god will lead us if we pray god will lead pastor if we pray we're going to pray together we're going to serve together and if you know that you can do more do more if you know you can do more if you're waiting for somebody to call you we don't have time for that right now i'm looking for people who will show up and say put me in coach wherever you need me to be i'm available we need you to serve more and then i believe god will restore us together as one church family in the only way that he can so this is what god gave me to share today and i thank god for it and i hope that you were encouraged in some kind of way and i just ask that you continue to pray for us because i know god's going to take care of everything and i know that we are better together so we're just trusting him now to do what only he can do thank you god to me i need you to survive i need you i need you you need me you need [Music] if you're in the building would you stand for the invitation it is [Music] [Music] [Music] either you want to get connected to that power source the holy spirit empowers us or you want to become a christian through belief on the lord jesus christ if that's you today and you have never heard the gospel message let me make it very clear though all were born with sin the bible says we're born in sin and shaped in iniquity that the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life john 3 16 says that for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have everlasting life it is because of the gift of jesus christ that the sin condition was dealt with once and for all we no longer have to sacrifice the blood of goats and rams and all these various animals but jesus christ was the perfect sacrifice and he gave his life in place of ours it was a substitution he paid a debt that we could not pay all of that to say that there is for you an opportunity to make jesus your choice and if you've never done that we do that by faith just ask them to come into your heart become lord of your life ask them to forgive you of your sins sins that you know about sins that you don't know about if you want to do that today then i invite you just to lift your hand and if you're here in the audience and our ministers will come and they'll minister to you in a safe manner so if you'd like to accept him as lord and savior and you're here in the house just raise your hand if you're online put the number one in the chat our ministers will reach out to you and if they don't i'm trusting that there are some members there that will reach out and make sure that they get connected now if you're already a christian but you're looking for a church home we would love for this to be the place where god is leading you to become a part as long as god is leading you here then we accept you and we'll work together and we'll pray together and we'll serve together and we'll trust god to be restored together so if that's you today then i invite you to raise your hand our ministers are watching and they will come and they will minister to you in a safe manner finally if you feel that you need to rededicate you want someone just to pray for you then again i also invite you just to raise your hand um and then we will come and we will pray with you in a safe manner or you can come up at the end of service and we'll pray for you in a safe manner thank you so much for your time you may be seated we're going to prepare now to be a blessing in our giving and then we'll have benediction and thank you to those who are online don't forget that we have sunday school at six o'clock this afternoon or this evening on facebook and youtube and reverend yvonne tyler is our instructor tonight praise the lord everybody praise the lord everybody what a word what a word what a word amen amen my prayer to do my character as a whole let's pray let's pray that we stay together the reason why i say let's pray do we stay together because new my character is a great church new mind care is a good church and most of all we have a fantastic great pastor let's give her a hand amen amen amen praise god for pastor dawson so as i speak not only speaking to the one that he on site but also to the one on youtube and facebook the reason why i said that is because we may be in different places right now but we're not a divine church we all are one church amen even though we are here and you are there but we all are one church but maybe next sunday you may be here and we be there but we all are praying that we stay together and new mind carry i stand to say to you you know exactly what we've done here on this corner and i want to say thank you thank you thank you it is your faithful that brought us this far by faith and i'm not here to say as i date but i can say we not as far as we have been for being complete amen and through your faithfulness and you being if you continue being faithful we have promised you we'll be stepping in to the end very very soon and we're just going to shout for joy because you have been faithful and we all been working hard to get to that point and when we get back in we won't be divided we will be all be able to come back together and we can say hallelujah hallelujah praise the lord we made it because you know what he didn't bring a will leave us he did not bring us there for us he gonna see up through he gonna see her through so don't give up hope and we as you continue to be faith and give at the lord have blessed you so far in many ways you can give just look at the stream and you can give many different ways so we ask you just continue give and we thank you thank you very very much in advance [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] me [Music] well the lord has blessed us today and i'm grateful i don't know about you but sometimes you just need to feel his presence to encourage you and we've been encouraged today by everything by the beautiful songs by the prayers that have been offered scriptures that have been read and just by being together it's been a blessing so thank you for joining us online and on site we're going to prepare to go down from this place we'll be back here next sunday of the lord says the same and we're here tomorrow night at seven o'clock and you are welcome shall we stand for the benediction lord make us one [Music] lord makes us [Music] is [Music] [Music] and we're growing as one [Music] [Music] we're throwing together [Music] [Music] father we thank you for what our eyes have seen what our ears have heard and what our hearts have felt you're so good to us each week you've sent a word either of challenge of encouragement but you always speak to our hearts now i pray that as we leave this place lord we know we never need never leave your presence so go with us go before us make our way straight cover us with your blood protect us from the hand of the enemy now may the grace of our lord and savior jesus christ the sweet communion of his holy spirit rest rule and abide with us both henceforth now and forevermore and god's people said together amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] join us tomorrow evening for church-wide prayer at 7 pm in person and online pre-registration is no longer required everyone is welcome to attend in person and mass must be worn at all times everyone is invited to join us for grow discipleship institute every tuesday at 6 30 pm this week pastors bible study will conclude their living with lost series on youtube and facebook and meno mission meets via conference call our noon bible study is each wednesday on conference call pre-registration is no longer required to attend our on-site worship experiences seats are limited and face masks are still required for admittance we look forward to worshiping with you each week our early morning worship experience takes place on sundays at 7 30 a.m via conference call the worship service is led by our ministerial staff deacons and deaconess join us every sunday at 9 30 a.m as we study god's word together in sunday school via conference call and our youth and young adult classes meet via zoom we have also excitedly launched our sunday evening sunday school class it's every sunday at 6 pm on youtube and facebook we believe that sunday school still matters and we would love for you to come grow with us [Music] you

Channel: New Mt. Calvary Baptist Church

Views: 323

Rating: 4.75 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: BiXumQDBf7s

Length: 99min 58sec (5998 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021