Christ Missionary Baptist Church Live

[Music] [Music] [Music] me in my house we shall serve the lord welcome to christ's missionary baptist church our church where everybody's stopped by and i'm pastor gina m steward and i agree with ryan and lauren come on let's worship the lord hallelujah praise the lord everybody come on we're excited to be here god is awesome and he's breaking to be praying we are blessed to be in the presence of god we just want to give god some praise anybody feel his presence his power and his glory his spirit hallelujah we're gonna start with his chant ready [Music] come on put your hands together down [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me hey [Music] is me [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] he's good [Music] i in this moment lift your hands here we've heard the need we've heard what's going on we know where we're still at but we know him to be away a miracle worker light in the darkness do we trust him to be a waymaker gonna say something here [Music] we oh [Music] you are here moving in this place [Music] you are here moving in this place [Music] you are here moving [Music] you are here [Music] [Music] help us [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] you are here [Music] you keep turning my eyes around hey [Music] [Music] [Music] oh that is who you are oh foreign yes [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] impossible can we give him glory [Music] [Applause] [Music] what is that [Music] the call to worship this morning will be found in psalms 33 and 1 psalm 35 and 9 psalms 68 and 3 sing joyfully to the lord he righteous it is fitting for the upright to praise him then my soul will rejoice in the lord and delight in his salvation but may the righteous be glad and rejoice before god may they be happy and joyful the word of god for the people of god praise be to our god [Music] good morning it is time for our centering moment this morning we want to lift up those have been bereaved we want to lift up in a very special way sure a car lock julius and monique holly and family and ashley connolly we want to pray for those that are currently in the hospital velma williams and jane tuggle we want to pray for those who have upcoming surgeries and that will be deacon freddie payton but we also want to give thanks to god for those who have been released from hospitals or rehabilitation centers and those who are those that those will be jewel robinson and laurie james streeters please let us continue to pray for pat broadnax alexis jenkins i'm sorry lori's jean streeter thank you pastor alexis jenkins the johnson family the jones family crystal stewart monroe and family and please in a special way continue to pray for reverend dr carolyn knight let us go to god in prayer eternal god our father in heaven your word is said that we should enter into your presence with thanksgiving and come into your course with praise and so this morning first things first we want to say thank you thank you just for another sunday morning rising thank you for just for another opportunity to come into your house of worship and just thank you for life in life itself heavenly father we want to just cast aside all those distractions all those things that was on our mind when we woke up this morning that drew us away from you those things that we were thinking about on our ride here that caused us to not focus on you but but god remind us that when we come into this sacred space it's really to just worship you for who you are to praise you for the things you've done and to give thank you thanks to you for all the ways that you've blessed us now god we use this moment to intercede for those that need special prayer so this morning heavenly father we stand in the gap for those that are bereaved as we've called out the names we act as a church family that you wrap your loving arms of compassion around ashley and julius and cheryl like never before let them experience you even the more that's jehovah shalom god we pray that you give them peace in accordance to your word which passes all understanding given that peace that that makes no sense even in moments like this and then god just allow us to serve them in a manner where they'll know that not walking this road alone god as you offer peace and bereavement we pray for for those that have suffered loss through natural disasters we pray for the folk of new orleans and we pray for the people in haiti and we pray for the folk in the northeast god let them know that your eyes go to info that you see them and that they're on your heart and then god we also even now standing together for those that are facing sickness we pray for our family our church members that are facing surgery god we pray even now that you let your spirit just rest rule go in all the hospitals to those patients and god to the doctors and the nurses and custodial staff god let there be a bomb of gilead in everything that they do whether it's performing surgery administering medicine or even cleaning the building and then god we ask that your presence of emanuel will be found today for those members of eyes that are homebound for those people that may be in nursing home who don't have anyone to come see him let them feel your presence even now god and then god we pray even now for the pastor of that of this church we lift up to you in a very special way our pastor reverend dr gina stewart god we pray that you will continue to anoint her for a season such as this god we know that she's our pastor but god you have given her other roles and we just ask that you give her the anointing that makes all those roles easy as well now god as we intercede on behalf of those people we even now invite your spirit into this place continue to give this church this local congregation let us live by the great commission you've given us let us go out into the world spreading the gospel of jesus christ and then god we pray that the harvest will be found so that there will be someone that will heed to your great invitation that says come unto me all you who will labor and heavy laden and i'll give you rest so on today god through this worship experience whether in the church building virtually let someone come to jesus asking the question what must i do to be saved in doing that god we will continue to give the glory the unknown praise that do your name and we thank you for all things in the name of the one who died for our sins and saved our soul in the mashless name of jesus christ who say thank god and amen [Music] home to god's unchanging hand him number 248 is a new national baptist symbol we will sing it in its entirety [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] trust in him who will not need you [Music] if my earthly uh [Music] see [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] everybody [Music] me me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] good morning stay tuned for your weekly updates weather permitting we will host a back to church sunday drive by today immediately following worship grab your family load up the car and meet us on the parking lot of cnbc for food fellowship music and fun masks are required we look forward to seeing you join us online for emerging generations sunday sunday september 26th our very own sharnika thomas will be the guest speaker minister courtney richardson will be our musical guest face time with pastor will be held for those who celebrated birthdays in august and september on sunday september 26th at 5 30 pm central time please make plans to attend please note that the administrative services office will be closed monday september 27th through friday october 1st the office will reopen tuesday october 5th save the date for women's weekend october 15 through october 17th join us for the times of refreshing prayer call each wednesday at 8 pm central time wearing a mask keeps you your family and your community safe remember to mask up your gifts make a difference and help us to facilitate local and global ministry if you would like to be a part of this kingdom work we invite you to invest in this ministry as you are able follow us on social media to stay up to date with what's happening at cnbc stay connected via text by texting cnbc to 55469 thank you for your attention have a great day well can you put your hands together and bless the lord in this place today come on you can do better than that you can give god a great big praise for a great big god who is worthy to be praised hallelujah come on clap your hands all you people and shout to god with voice of triumph for the lord our god is a great god and we greet you today in the name of our lord and savior jesus christ thanks to all of you who have joined us on this national back to church sunday uh via live stream or facebook live or youtube and i want to ask if you haven't already done so to take a moment and like and share this service on facebook subscribe to our youtube channel like and share this service with a friend a colleague a family member who may be in need of a word of encouragement a word of to uplift them a word to give them just what they need to run on a little while longer to see what the end is going to be we give god thanks for all of you who have gathered with us and we ask that you have if you are visiting with us that you take a moment to complete the digital connect card in the comment box or in the comments section uh on our website take a moment and do that now we don't know who you are but we'd like to know who you are we are grateful that out of the all the options that you have today you chose to worship with us and we are extremely glad about it we also invite you to list or name your prayer request in the comment section as well we believe in prayer we are proof that prayer works we've seen the evidence that prayer not only changes things but prayer moves god and so we ask that you would place your prayer requests in the comment section on facebook or in the feed on facebook or in the comment section on the website our intercessors are prepared to respond to your prayer request well as you can see our announcements are recorded early and we recorded that we would be hosting a drive-by today but due to the increased probability of rain and the rain that is already started we will postpone the drive-by of until a later date please stay tuned for additional details we don't want to waste time money or resources and so we don't want to take the chance of trying to set up and then being drenched in rain the probability is enough to give us pause and so we will notified you of the uh the date that we will re when we will reschedule help me wish a happy anniversary to deacons felicia and terrell layrock they celebrate 17 years of marriage and we celebrate with them on this day we are grateful for both of them they are faithful deacons faithful members and faithful servants of christ missionary and so it gives us great joy to rejoice with them as they celebrate black love of 17 years of marriage i want to ask that you remember ashley conley in your prayers ashley is a faithful member of our music ministry and her father went home to be with the lord on yesterday on this past friday i'm asking that you would particularly pray for ashley during this time pray for her strength pray that god will sustain her during this time of bereavement we're also in prayer as it has been mentioned for julius holly and family and for sheryl gatewood carlock who recently lost her husband on last week our prayers are with them we also want to thank you for your support of this ministry it is because of your support of this ministry that even though the building is closed the doors of the church are open and we are still open for business this past week we served almost 200 boxes of food to members of this community and we do it every week somebody shout every week every week every week every week that we are able and every week that the weather permits uh unless it's a holiday or some other event interferes we are out on the front line serving this community because food insecurity is still a major problem in america we may take it for granted because we have food but there are many people who don't i'm grateful to all of you who support this ministry that makes it possible for us to not only support this community through food boxes but to financially support the unemployed to financially support those who have fallen on hard times and who are in need of assistance emergency assistance with our economy and our society being in influx with this coronavirus so many people there are many people who are living with um very with very uh unpredictable levels or ways levels of insecurity financial insecurity and so it's a blessing to be a blessing and so we want to thank you for your support of this ministry the media ministry has placed the giving options on the screen and i invite you as you are able to support and invest in this work this work that helps us to transform lives with transforming love not just locally but also globally we are able to invest and be a blessing as god has blessed us and so the bible tells us that on the first day of week of the week we should lay aside according to how god has prospered us i would ask that you would bow your heads now with me as we offer thanks to god for these gifts faithful god thank you for not only the gift of abundant and eternal life but we thank you for zoe life the kind of life that you provide for us that transforms the qualitative nature of our existence you are a good god and every good and perfect gift comes from you you are the giver of every good gift your generosity overflows into our lives everything we have is a gift from you we don't take it lightly we say thank you and in this moment that we set aside to bring our gifts to make our gifts to offer our gifts to pay our vows back to you we give back to you out of the abundance with which you have blessed us may our gifts be acceptable in your sight you said you give us the power to get wealth so that we might establish your covenant and so god we pray now that you would bless these gifts bless every giver and god may these gifts be more than enough to extend your witness to the ends of the earth even in a pandemic thank you for your faithfulness blessings and glory wisdom and thanksgiving honor and power and strength be to our god who gave first and the gift that you gave us was the very best you had his name is jesus and it's in his name we pray and all those that agree with this prayer said together amen receive now the music ministry and anita taylor anitra taylor who is our musical guest this morning as they come back to bless us in music [Music] [Music] to [Music] god has not promised me [Music] to be [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] makes me appreciate the good times [Music] i've learned [Music] [Music] feel your [Music] he feels [Music] [Music] oh [Music] how else would you appreciate the time [Music] hello [Music] much worse off than you'll be great [Music] is [Applause] me oh baby [Applause] yay me [Music] halloween [Music] [Applause] and the grateful folks in the house integrate with people watching the live stream come on turn your dining room your great room into a sanctuary [Music] [Music] oh yay [Music] me well somebody give god a praise somebody give god a praise come on and clap your hands and give god glory for the lord is great and greatly to be praised in everything give thanks for it is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you notice that the writer didn't say for everything give thanks because there are some things that that you really can't thank god for when you're in it but the bible says in everything one word makes a difference in everything give thanks so let's try that again put your hands together one more time and everything everything not for everything although you can thank god thank god for some things but in the midst of what you're in right now can you put your hands together and give god a thankful praise but there is nobody like our god it's about eyes are closed god we thank you today we thank you for calling to our remembrance the primacy the importance of being grateful the importance of gratitude the importance of not taking you or your blessings for granted help us even now god to remember that no matter where we find ourselves or no matter where we are in life we yet have so much to be thankful for so help us even now to cultivate an attitude of gratitude we bless you and we give you praise now for this preaching moment thank you for all the ways that you have blessed us for all the things you've kept us from for all the things you brought us through for every mountain you brought us over we say thank you our lips give you praise for it now and as we approach this preaching moment we ask oh god that you would just have your way in this space i've done my study send your spirit i've prepared send your power spirit of the living god fall fresh now in this place send your anointing take a cold from the altar and anoint my lips of clay that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart might be acceptable in your sight and that these words may be eternally relevant and significant for the living of these days save a soul salvage a life and when you do it we'll give you praise in fact we go ahead and praise you on credit in jesus name the people of god said together amen i want to invite your attention to habakkuk habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 through 19 and you may just have to go on to the uh table of contents for that one just go on and use it don't be shame just touch yourself and say ain't shame ain't shame just going to the table of contents amen that's what it's there for habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17 and i'll be reading from the new international version of scripture habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17 habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17. and i'll be reading from the new international version of scripture though the fig tree does not bud and i know you all at home and all of that just read that out loud with me i can feel you reading it let's start over again read it with me those of you that are in the sanctuary though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit there'll there be no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls yet i will rejoice in god my savior the sovereign lord is my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer he enables me to go on to tread on the heights this is the word of the lord the grass withers the flower fades but the word of our god shall stand forever i want to ask that you would entertain with me this thought for just a few moments how do you do that i want to talk about how do you do that a friend and i were lamenting complaining expressing our rage and indignation the other day about the conditions of our world we noted that we are in what seems to be an extended season of dis-ease not just disease but dis-ease so many conditions popping off in the world that cause us to wonder what is happening to our world and more specifically what is happening in our nation or even our communities we see caretaking and sanctuary for certain people groups yet outright rejection and refusal to assist others particularly those of deeper shades and hues in our world of live viewing our world of voyeurism our world of streaming we see with our eyes violence and destruction and unlawful death and then there are those who try to make us feel as if we are crazy because they tell us that what we see and we know we saw it because we saw it on film in real time really didn't happen even a small dose of the news is enough to make us dizzy but more importantly it can make us despondent and some days delirious because once you see you can't unsee once you know you can't unknow once you see you can't pretend to be crazy once you see you cannot pretend that what you saw come on here didn't really happen perhaps this is why the first verse in the king james version in the book of habakkuk begins with the words the burden which habakkuk the prophet did see habakkuk could be described as a person who has seen too much for too long too much violence too much pain too much sorrow too much evil too much injustice too much disappointment he has seen the perversion and of and the twisting and bending of justice and corruption in judean society he is seeing the abuse of power in the administration of king jehoiakim he has seen the ruthless accumulation of wealth by political officials at the expense of the poor he has seen the marginalized and the poor oppressed and exploited as a cheap labor source and he has seen a general breaking down of the social order habakkuk had seen too much for too long and so he in this they really really need to read the whole three chapters in these first two chapters he complains to god because one of the great legacies of the prophetic movement was their concern for social justice they're concerned for the ways that things in the world were out of alignment with god's intention for human flourishing he's concerned because authentic religion according to the prophets was not merely a matter of personal spirituality or the ritual activity of worship but it required a public declaration to principles of fairness and equity in judicial and economic life and so in a blistering critique of the social landscape habakkuk stands in solidarity with the victims of injustice and he questions who he knows to be the omniscient which means all-knowing the omnipotent which means all-powerful and the omnipresent which means god is everywhere this god who permits this kind of stuff to go on who permits this kind of corruption to exist because habakkuk like many of us has seen too much for too long too much hypocrisy too much devastation too much frustration too much fragmentation too much marginalization some of us know how seeing too much for too long can impact your outlook on life seeing too much sometimes seeing it too soon and seeing it even too early or seeing it before you are mature enough or grounded enough to handle what you see can impact our outlook on life too much bad news too much death too many miscarriages of justice too many disappointments can present challenges to our optimism our idealism and even our faith because at our core we are very idealistic at our core come on talk to me somebody we want to believe that people are good at our core we really want to believe that if you do right and live right right comes back to you at our core we really want to believe that if you do good and you live right good is going to come back to you at our core we are people of faith we are people of idealism and we are people of optimism we err on the side of positive but you can see too much and you can see it for too long and it can present a challenge to our optimism our idealism and even our faith and unfortunately we nor habakkuk have the option of opting out of the inescapable harsh realities of life now i know that interferes with some theology that some of us have heard because there are people that want you to believe you can opt out of trouble and that you can opt out of hardship and that you can opt out of financial difficulties and you can opt out of sickness and that you can opt out of the devil is a lie you can't opt out of nothing life does not come with a remote control just because you're a saint life does not come with a remote control that gives us the option of changing the channel or in this virtual environment clicking and going to another service because we don't like what we see the truth of the matter is is that life can be hard life can be unfair and sometimes we don't often times we don't have the option of opting out of the inescapable harsh realities of life somebody say this with me life is hard sometimes life is hard that's why it's better to stay a child because when you grow up and you start adulting come on here you find out that life is hard you find out that life was hard because your parents come on here and whoever your guardians were were making life easier for us they didn't tell us that when we came home asking for stuff on the day before we needed it that they didn't have any money but they just made it appear life is hard adulting come on here is hard paying bills is hard of making sure that there's enough the food on the table and that there's enough to eat and that there's enough to cover all the extra life can be hard life is difficult and unfortunately we don't always have the option of opting out of the inescapable harsh realities of life we can't escape life's harsh realities with the click of a button and change the channel to something that is less anxiety producing or disenchanting what habakkuk sees and what we often see in our public and private lives is real somebody shout this is real and it's happening in real time some days it's so real we want it to be a nightmare some days it's so real we hope that we're gonna wake up somebody gonna shake us come on here and tell us that it's just a bad dream and we can go back to sleep some days it's so real that it makes us not only want to opt out of the harsh realities of life but some people have gotten to the point that it's so unbearable that they make the decision to to use a long-term solution for a short-term problem because you can't opt out of the harsh realities of life bad things do happen to good people i can't get no help bad things happen to godly people we've seen all the evidence of the evil in our lives we've all been touched by it we have the scars to prove it we're often dominant by our broken world and downtrodden by a god who often seems to be apathetic disinterested and disengaged from what's going on disengaged disengaged emotionally disengaged disengaged disinterested not paying any attention you seeing all of this and you saying god i know you see this i know you got to see that you you praying and god still ain't saying nothing you fasting and god still ain't saying that you you you turning your plate down and god still ain't doing nothing we are downtrodden because we have the scars to prove that we live in a broken world and sometimes we are waiting on an answer from a god who seems to be disinterested apathetic and disengaged and so habakkuk raises the same question that we often raise habakkuk wants to know from god what's your e.t.a what's your estimated time to address this matter give me a deadline i mean i can deal with anything for a minute but i need to know that this here ain't gonna last forever what is your eta how long you go what's your estimated time to address all the madness and the insanity that's not just going on in the world but in my world how long you gonna stand by and see some and not say nothing why don't you intervene all seeing all knowing all wise oh omnipotent god i know you got to see this habakkuk complains against the blind apparent blind eye that god turns to the triumph of the wicked over the righteous because from his perspective from where he sits and i need to tell you from where you sit does make a difference from where you sit your vantage point does make a difference in how you interpret life from where you sit from your position from your purse where your perspective it makes a difference in your interpretation of life and from where habakkuk sits evil and wickedness seem to be winning and then to make things worse when god finally responds because god does respond in the text when god finally responds thank you dr bustle he does not respond with a disclaimer but god responds by declaring the reason why it's happening is because i let it happen god responds by telling habakkuk i let it happen i orchestrated the growing political and military dominance of the chaldeans or the babylonians whom nobody can stop even though eventually i'm gonna hold guilty these babylonians for their idolatry and for their power mongering the fact of the matter is in the meantime it doesn't provide habakkuk with very much comfort because at the end of the day even though he knows that things are going to get worse before they get better here it is he can't pretend that this ain't a hot mess why don't you just say that i can't pretend that this ain't no hotness he can't pretend that all hell ain't breaking loose he can't pretend that he does not see what's happening and that it is disconcerting to him and disconcerting and disorienting because once you see you can't unsee once you see the madness you can't pretend you don't see the madness once you see january 6 on capitol hill you can't pretend you didn't see that once you have seen it on every major network on cnn and msnbc in public till you can't pretend that you didn't see people scaling walls you can't pretend that you didn't see people breaking out glass in the capitol and coming after people with flags and poles and threat you can't pretend that you don't see that you can't pretend that you don't see poverty you can't pretend that you don't see depravity and marginalization you can't pretend you don't see the violence and the sadness that envelops all of us even when we don't know the people when we find out about another child that has been shot and their life has been we can't pretend that we don't see the foolishness with people shooting folk on the expressway for no reason at all and then you can't even find them when the police go looking for you can't unsee what you see and habakkuk has been on a personal journey in these three chapters from a place of questioning doubt and confusion because the public realities what he sees affects what he says i can't get no help in here i said what he sees his public reality affects his personal perspectives this is why this last two verses three verses in this periphery our preaching passage are so intriguing to me check out what he said though the fig tree does not bug and there are no grapes on the vine and though the olive crop listen here what you're good at fails and the fields produce no fruit though there be no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stall check out the transition yet i will rejoice in the lord i will be joyful in god my say how does habakkuk make such a shift from fussing to giving god praise how does he go from complaining to doxology how does he go from feeling frustrated to declaring his faith in god the thought of scarcity in the wake of an invasion gives rise to a positive statement of confidence where habakkuk makes this dramatic shift in the middle of his complaining he begins with a complaint that yahweh had delivered him but at the end he ends with an acclamation he begins with frustration but at the end he ends with an affirmation god is my deliverance how do you do that how does one face a complicated future with that kind of result how do you rejoice in the lord even when all hell is breaking loose around when you're so broke you can't pay attention when you're so tired you don't even you can't even sleep when you're so tired of being sick and tired how do you continue to rejoice in the lord even when circumstances around you are falling apart in an economy like israel in an ancient society you got to understand what what habakkuk is really saying he said even though there's no fig on the tree no cattle in the stall no fruit no grapes on the vine no olive crop the fields producing no food no sheep in the pen no cattle in a stall it's not just referring to a bad year he's not just referring to a bad day anybody can have a bad day come on here some of us have had some bad days and then the bad days pass he's not just talking about an isolated instance he's talking about a season where times are going to be bad he's talking about a season i wish i could get some help where it's going to be difficult and there's going to be depth and there's going to be famine and there's going to be uncertainty and it's going to be an awful time and yet in the midst of this come on here in anticipation of this habakkuk opens his mouth and gives god a full-throated song of praise he goes from lament to praise he says in spite of everything that's getting ready to happen despite all the stuff that i see that makes me mad and ticks me off it makes me wonder where god is if god has forgotten about all the all the possible responses that he could have chosen despair which is the conviction that the future is bleak or he could have chosen fear which is the attitude that induces anxiety or distress caused by a concern over a threat to one's future or cynicism which is a scornful or jaded negativity or distrust or pessimism a feeling that things will turn out badly a disposition to take the least hopeful view of things a view of the world as being without god and a loss of faith in god hear me with your good ear that despite all that habakkuk sees and despite the calamities that are devastating both the land and the economy of israel the prophet says yet i will rejoice i will be joyful in god my savior habakkuk teaches us a lesson and i'm basically through he teaches us a lesson and here the lesson is and it ain't nothing profound but it's what the holy ghost gave me in my prayer time the lesson is this when you got all these questions and you got all these things that you're bringing before god to this god who seems to be apathetic disinterested and disengaged the answer is this that we live by faith and not by answers i can't come back and get somebody i said ain't nothing deep it ain't nothing profound the answer is this to all of this that what what we what we can really uh uh extract from this conversation we can extract from this text we can extract from this preaching moment is that we live by faith and not by answers now let me tell you why that's deep let me tell you why that's deep because we always want answers y'all ain't saying nothing who among us is not looking for answers you came to church looking for an answer you got on the stream on the on the live stream looking for an answer it's one of the reasons why we love prophets so much because we want somebody to tell us some answers when i get married come on here when is my wealthy place coming am i going to be healed of this we need answers come on here to our questions who among us does not look for answers so many things in life perplex us so many things in life we don't understand so many things ways that god doesn't make sense and we won't answers because it's our doubts that lead to the questions and it's the questions that make us want answers and you know i'ma tell you the truth about this i was looking at this and i said lord i don't i'm past the point of giving folk pet answers i'm past the point of trying to give people cliches i'm past the point of trying to give people pious platitudes that are designed to act as a band-aid to sustain them through life because the truth of the matter is life is more complicated than that the truth of the matter is is that life is really real complicated there are ethical complexities there are moral complexities there are all kinds of complexities in life for which we look for answers but there seems to be no resolution and i was praying about it and i was telling the lord about it and as i was talking the lord gave me the response in my mouth in my mind when i was praying and what the holy ghost said to me was the reason why you can't really give them an answer the reason why faith seems so elusive the reason why it seems so difficult to understand what it means to live by faith the bible says in habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 habakkuk got the answer to his questions in verse chapter 2 verse 4 it says the just shall live by faith but faith is such an elusive term it seems so difficult to define it's hard to explain it's hard to grasp it really means the fidelity the steadfastness the steadfastness that fastness the integrity of god but even that is difficult to articulate how do you help people to understand that they live by the integrity and the steadfastness and the and the fidelity of somebody that they cannot see and the holy ghost said the reason why is because you can't explain it you have to experience it i wish i had somebody could hear me if you really can't explain what living by faith looks like until you live it i know cognitively you want a definition i know cognitively you want a formula i know cognitively you want an explanation but the fact of the matter is is that the only way i can explain it to you is to tell you you can't explain it you gotta experience it it's like the blind man that jesus met that he gave back his sight and he gave him his sight on the sabbath and they were about to put his parents out of the synagogue because they were trying to determine whether jesus was a sinner or not and they asked the blind man who had been given back his sight they said look tell us if he was a sinner tell us who this man was he said whether he is a sinner or not i don't know but what i do know is that yesterday i was blind can't get no help but today i can see i wish i had a few people in here they could just say i don't know who he is and i don't know what you talking about but all i do know is that yesterday i was broke and today i got some money in my pocket i don't know what you talking about and i don't know what you got to say but all i can say is that yesterday i was depressed but today i got joy down in my soul i wish i had a few people that have walked with god long enough to say i don't know what to tell you but all i can tell you is that yesterday they gave somebody up but today they're still alive i wish i had somebody in here that could just put your hands together and there's some things you got to experience for yourself i wonder do i have a few people in here that can look back over your shoulder and give god some praise for your experience you found out for yourself that god is a keeper that god is a waymaker that god is a miracle worker that god is a sustainer that god is even a bill peter that god is the lifter of your head that god will be a bridge over troubled water that god is a shelter in the time of storm i wonder do i have at least five people that are here in this sanctuary with me that can give god your best praise that sometimes the best way you can explain it is by your experience i wish i had a few people that have walked with god long enough that could stand on your feet and testify that if it had not been for the lord on your side you ought to look at yourself and say look at me i'm a testimony i didn't make it on my own i'm not standing here alone but it was jesus who gave me this possibility this opportunity look at me i'm a testimony can you put your hand together and give god your best praise now faith is the substance of things hoped for is the evidence of things not seen and without faith it's impossible to please god for he or she that cometh unto god must believe that god is who god says he is and that god is a rewarder you miss your place to shout i said he's a rewarder of those that diligently seek him if you know it's the truth don't wait for the battle to be over go ahead and shout now don't wait for manifestation go ahead and clap your hands now don't wait till you see the evidence go ahead and give god glory give him glory now yeah yeah how you do that how you do this how you do that how do you do that habakkuk you do it by living by faith and not by answers cause what if i tell you that sometimes there is no answer that the only answer that you will get is no answer at all can i give you another news flash that's why you need faith you don't need faith when you got answers help me holy ghost you need faith for the times that you don't y'all don't know when to clap or shout i said you don't need faith for the times that you have answers you need faith for the times that you don't when you're on a vent and you don't know whether you're going to get off it's janine saying pastor chuck is going to live and not die when they give you a diagnosis and they tell you you don't have lung and even though you hear what the doctor says because we believe in medicine and god we believe in science and god you tell the doctor thank you for telling me but i'm still going to trust god it's sandra graham [Applause] she came to worship this morning works in the in the sound december 4 2019 diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer some of you don't know what metastatic means it means it has moved not just from one organ but to the rest of her body but she here today come on walk across the front come on walk across the front sander so they can see what it means to live by faith and not by answers come on somebody give god some praise one day at a time don't always know when the end is gonna come don't always know how long it's gonna be but one thing i know come up here on this stage they can't see you on the camera i want the saints to see what a miracle looks like come on up here chuck and walk across this stage i want people to see what it means to live by faith and not by answers because sometimes the answers don't always come ah but if you just take one step at a time just one i need some other people that have had to learn how to walk by faith to just come here and walk on the stage with me come on christine with your cancer surviving self come on up here phyllis with your cancer surviving lost your husband uh to an aneurysm with two children one in college one still in high school come on walk across there i need some mofo come on pastor dunnigan with that tumor on your brain you didn't know whether you were gonna live or die but you walk by faith come on deneen with your cancer survive himself come on just walk across the stage i need the people to see this this sermon i need people to see that sometimes the best sermon that you can preach is the one you live the best sermon that you can hear is the one you see i just need the saints have walked by faith they just walk across the stage come on gene show them how to walk through tragedy show them how to walk through discipline come on skip show them how to walk through prostate cancer come on show em show up sometimes you just gotta walk you gotta walk you gotta live you gotta trust god you gotta take it one step at a time i just wish i had some folks that could just praise him now they could just give him glory now come on lauranet this is how you do it this is how you do this you don't have answers but you just take one step at a time i don't know how god's gonna work it out but because i trust god because i believe god can be trusted with the detail i'm gonna walk i'm gonna live by faith and not by answering ain't got no answer but i'm still walking with come on here jackie i remember your season we remember that we cried of many days we shared a whole but look at you now look at you now aren't you glad aren't you glad aren't you glad you stuck around for the conclusion when it got dark when it didn't look like things were gonna work out i just wish i had some people to just just walk just walk come on get in your house and just start walking around your house just walk it out walk it out walk it out walk it out walk walk walk how you do that how you praise god and you don't know how it's gonna work out you don't know how to feel it's gonna be paid you don't know how you're gonna make it somebody walked out and left you you won't you take one step at a time kabul can't be trusted and ray-ray can't always be trusted and shanika can't always be trusted but god can be trusted he's the keeper of my soul he's the sustainer of my mind he preserved my going out and my coming in he's the lifter of my head he's a present help in time of trouble i wish i had somebody that could just worship him they could just give him glory come on lift those hands come on lift those hands come on lift those hands come on tell him thank you let everything that help breath give him glory let everything that happened lift your hands in the sanctuary and everything that happened he kept your mind you should have been cuckoo for coco puffs you should have jumped off a bridge or slit your wrist [Music] thank you cause i don't always have answers but i always got god i always have god and god has promised that he'll keep that which i committed to him when you lost your mama come and walk up here on this stage we don't have a mama's but how much of a mama's boy you were you weren't expecting your mother to die sometimes when when we lose loved ones we feel like our life has literally come to a screeching halt but i'm standing here to tell you today that god will keep you i say he'll keep you i wish i had somebody could just lift your hands and say god i'll keep you just lift your hands and say god kept me he kept me he kept my mind he he preserved my life he preserved my going out and my coming in he preserved he's been the lifter of my head and so god now in the name of jesus we offer this word we we receive that we ask that you receive this word receive this word let it be a sweet smelling savor first of all to you and then let it touch somebody's life help somebody today who's looking for answers to know that sometimes the only answer is no answer and that the only answer that can be provided is the answer that we have to keep on giving when we decide we gonna trust you in spite of what we see even though we can't unsee we can't unsee a test result we can't we can't unsee divorce papers being served to us we can't unsee a pink slip that's been handed to us we got bills to pay got children to try to raise tuition we gotta we can't unseat tragedy and trouble but what we can do is trust god so today we declare we gonna trust god because we got the proof from our experience [Music] from our experience of walking with you that you'll keep that which we have committed unto you we give you praise we give you glory now god don't let the birds steal this word don't let the weeds choke it out don't let the seed be destroyed but let it find a resting place in our hearts and bring forth fruit that lasts to your honor to your glory to your praise save somebody today save a soul savage of life and we'll give you praise for it in fact we go ahead and praise you for it now we go ahead and give you our best praise cause we got the proof that you're a faithful god come on somebody bless the lord in this place somebody give him glory somebody clap your hands somebody clap your hands and thank him somebody bless him today you need a church home the media ministry is placing it on the screen as the music ministry leads us in a song of praise i invite you to come and become a part of this ministry because you need somebody to help you walk by faith and not by sight you need to be a part of a community to help you walk by faith and live by faith and not just by answers if you'd like to be a part of this community go ahead and take that step now come on do it now do it now you need jesus you need jesus you need jesus you need jesus don't let this moment pass you by thank you jesus hallelujah [Music] is [Music] the answer for the world today [Music] one more time let's say that together jesus jesus [Music] go ahead and take that step don't let this moment pass you by above him [Music] and the people of god said hey man meet us next sunday 11 a.m central daylight time same time same place praise god somebody coming to jesus come on clap your hands and give god some praise hallelujah come on come on come on come on jesus hear the answer jesus is the answer for the world oh above him there's no other you

Channel: Christ Missionary Baptist Church

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Id: TBys6RjVb58

Length: 87min 56sec (5276 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021