Community Worship Center | Sabbath Service | July 24, 2021 | Dr. Abraham Jules - "Show Me The Leaf"

[Music] we want to welcome you to sabbath school here at community worship center of seventh-day adventists in new york city here we are in sabbath school studying again god's word we want to take another look and review and i trust we are all studying our sabbath school lesson oh there is so much to learn as we study god's word today we are looking at the subject of cost the cost of repentance up arrest the cost of rest as the subject we're looking at the cost of rest and our verse it would be nice if we would all say together and that's what it is it's a memory verse we hope you are committing it to memory if you didn't know this one by heart then you are not trying at all because this is only one line and it says together create in me a clean heart oh god and renew a right spirit within me that's a part of david's prayer our father and our god as we once again opened the bible we ask that you would come by and make your presence felt remind us of what we've studied lord as we discuss your words may we do so with an aim to be of one mind we ask in jesus name amen the cost of rest david was the king of israel the defender of israel david occupied a special throne you notice even today the throne of david is referred to when many other thrones are not referred to and israel had many kings but special mention is made of the throne of david the throne of david that was because he occupied a messianic throne later on we're going to go into that the throne of david that's one of the reasons why jesus was referred to as jesus thou son of david that's because that is his messianic title that's the messianic name that jesus had jesus thou son of david messiah and wherever jesus heard that he stopped and pays full attention to it blind bartimaeus cried out jesus thou son of david and they said bartimaeus shut up and he hollered laura and jesus stopped what he was doing and paid attention to bartimaeus and to others why because that's his messianic name jesus thou son of david and the throne of david being messianic pointing to the time when the lord jesus would come as the messiah of the world so david occupied a very important throne at a very important time and the lord blessed david abundantly look where he took him from out there in the field hillsides of bethlehem when he was just a little boy anointed him to be king over israel and here it is god doing so much for david david was now to be out there in the field with the army fighting the amalekite defending israel against the amalekites but he got tired and he decided to go home and get some rest and he left job he said job you carry on carry on the army there and i'm gonna go again went in the house and got some rest and then the old devil wake him up and said come on follow me up on this rooftop here and he walked up to the rooftop high up on the throne where he had a good advantage of looking around while king david was up there he looked around he saw a beautiful girl down there taking a shower beautiful girl oh and he turned around walked downstairs servant of the lord says while he turned around and was going downstairs he could have made a different decision from the one he made the spirit of god was appealing to him while he was going down but he wasn't listening then he got down he said now servant i want you to go down there and bring that girl up here to the palace those days people belong to the king but sheba could not refuse when the king said come to the palace you come to the palace so there she came up she was brought to the palace and we know the story from there we trust you are studying the bible you see what happened david live she was a man's wife she was uriah's wife uriah was a faithful soldier out there defending israel while the king is at home resting that's why the subject of the lesson is the cost of rest this one was a very expensive rest david went down and ordered her and she came and he lied with her and she went back home but then the bad news came david i am pregnant i never want to hear that but remember people belong to the king well now when you do wrong when you disobey the lord you lose all sorts of consciousness you lose you give way to fantasies and to what the devil is suggesting rather than the voice of the holy spirit the great king of israel made a great mistake and in the midst of that now he is trying to correct it what can i do to correct the shame this stuff all right the thing to do is send for uriah bring him to the palace and say uriah you go sleep with your wife go stay home tonight durian says well scripture says uriah went out there and he stayed in the palace he did not go too far away from the presence of the king he stayed in his palate and slept all night long i can't go home eat and drink and sleep with my wife when israel is at war faithful soldier i stayed there oh you know what david hope david had hoped that he would have gone there and slept with his wife and then covered the pregnancy and when he found that the stuff is not working he gave uriah a little note he says uriah go on back to war and that note said johab put joriah in the hottest battle put him in the front of the battle and by so doing in obedience to the king job sent him to the front of the battle and what happened david murdered uriah now he is the king did he have to do that who is going to what is uh what is uriah going to do to the king i think this is bigger than that in terms of this is one incident but the whole concept is how do we respond to the promptings of the holy spirit he was told by the holy spirit speaking to him to leave this alone but he abused the power and the privileges that he had and then he had to turn around and cover up how many we will look at david if it was me i would not have done that is that so how many times do we refuse to listen to the promptings of the holy spirit many times we don't even call it the holy spirit and as christians we know that we say something told me not to do this or not to do that so what is the application for us because this is sabbath school and we are supposed to learn something out of these lessons what is the application for us today when the spirit speaks to us what do we do how do we reject it or do we accept it and look at how far it took david away from god when he refused oh what a powerful point the prompting as david walked to give an order to bring that woman the servant of the lord says the spirit of god was appealing to david and isn't that applicable to us sometimes we find ourselves facing sin something and back in the whole country in jamaica somebody says one mind tell me to do this but the other mind tell me not to it's not no mind it is the promptings of the holy spirit but we don't listen and we find ourselves doing that look at what god did for david and here he is causing pain to the heart of god not even the king is above god's law the law of god is a transcript of his character and the lord says thou shalt not commit adultery that applies to king david also thou shalt not kill that applied to king david also and king whosoever it is and it is applicable to all of us because it is who god is and he wants us to be like him a transcript of his character so david was resting when he should have been working we've got to be careful what we do as god's children careful where you go and how you go but now the sin was committed and he did decompound the problem by committing murder and his conscience is gone and here comes the man of god here comes the prophet now david was well aware of nathan they were they were quite familiar they know each other because on several occasions nathan had to give information to the king but here comes nathan before the king of israel and i trust you see from your bible study this week perfect diplomacy in winning soul in your winning souls the bible says you must be wise some of us in an attempt to win a soul we are raw and we condemn people and we send people to hell that's not what god wants us to do he wants us to be wise so nathan told david a little story standing in the presence of the king the servant of the lord says david nathan took a chance he risked his life because david could have killed him instantaneously and had no explanation to anybody you telling me about me something i did wrong your neck is gone but oh that was not david nathan said david here is a little story diplomacy he told him about a little lamb you know why he give him that sheep lamb story because david was a shepherd david was a shepherd and it meant something then and as he listened and the story got wider and wider david got mad he said i won't kill that person right away bring that person to me because he's dead and what did the prophet say prophet said david you are the man oh lord me king david committing adultery and murder me no one of the reasons why god called david a man after my own heart two times the lord called him so in spite of the sin twice the lord called david a man after my own heart the reason was when david was confronted with his sin he recognized his sin and he asked god for forgiveness he repent that is the thing with david and that is the reason why before nathan left this presence before nathan finished the story he says david don't worry god has forgiven you why because that very moment he was sorry for what he did and that is what the lord wants us to do we need to repent if i am sorry for what i have done and i confess my sin immediately servant of the lord says get up from your knees knowing that the lord has forgiven you david was forgiven but now the woman is pregnant and a child is going to be born and nathan before he got finished he warned him he said david the sword shall not depart from your house and did it did the sword depart from his house words that was god speaking through natan the prophet the sword shall not depart from and they would live to see his son attempting to take the throne from him his son get a having an affair with his sister and all the rest of that they run from the house and the worst part about that god says david you're not going to live to see that little child grow i'm gonna take the child and that was the greatest pain of david's heart for a whole week david fast and pray lord don't take the child don't take that child he loved that little child and wanted the child to live but our next speaker is going to tell you that there is something called the consequences of sin we might be forgiven but the consequences remain all right elder yes my portion this week is tuesdays which says forgiven and forgotten the first lesson we can learn of this when we look at second samuel um 12. there are some lessons to be learned first we see what one of the and the the point that i really want to draw out from that is david was a special king he was not an ordinary king david was known as the warrior king and we see when we are distracted from our assignments what can happen because david was definitely distracted from his assignment he was a warrior king his army was at battle and he was absent so he find a lot of time on his hands and the devil make good use of that time because he was distracted from his calling two one and next point i want to bring out from this is sin every sin is a sin against god it's not really a sin yes your sin hurts others but the sin primarily is a sin against god because sin is the transgression of god's law you broke god's law and that is sin so every sin is a sin against god could that be the reason why david says i have sinned against god not necessarily against uriah or bathsheba but i have sinned against god right because sin is against god yes when you commit a sin is directly against god because even his confession david did not mention uriah at all he addressed god i have sinned against you not against uriah who i murdered not against his wife or commit adultery not against anybody else but it was a sin against god and every sin is a sin against god amen the other point i want to draw from this is sin demands justice you see you have it there in second samuel second samuel 12 10 to 12. dear david was the one who was pronouncing judgment he was he was judged over israel where he was pronouncing judgment not knowing that the judgment he was pronouncing was upon himself but as i said forgiveness covers sin and the other point when nathan looked at david and said the sword shall not leave your house although david was forgiven he still have to deal with the consequences of his sins god did not hold it against him he was forgiven but sin carries consequences carries a penalty and that must be paid jesus covers our sin but we can see it in time and time and time again because even look if you live a certain lifestyle eat a certain way don't exercise don't take care of yourself although you might be forgiven you're still going to be sick so you're still going to pay the price although you are forgiven forgiveness requires repentance and second somewhere we're looking at second samuels um second summer 12 13. david said to nathan i have sinned against the lord and natan said to him the lord also has taken away your sin you shall not die although god pronounced that up on david he did that because he saw david was truly sorry for what he did so now and when god when one sin against god he says forgiven and forgotten god does not always hold it over your head and let's just look for one we take a look for one minute and first kings 14 verse god 798 and eight and god he was talking about jeroboam the lord said god of israel first go tell jerubram that thus set the lord god of israel for as much i have exalted thee among the people and have made the prince over my people israel and rent the kingdom away from the house of david and gave it to thee and yet thou has not been as my servant david who kept my commandment and who follow me follow me with all his heart to do only which was right in mine eyes sometimes we wonder when you read this which david god was really talking about you know because we all know what he did and god said in a sense david pretty much was perfect before me because because he was repentant of what he did he was completely forgot forgiven and god did not hold it against him anymore isaiah 43 tell us that if i even i am he that blatant thy transgression for my own sake i will not remember thy sins so is god here saying to you when i'm when i forgive you i'm done but how do we react when we have done wrong and we ask god to forgive us sometimes we still beat up on ourselves and i have heard people on many occasions say i will never forgive that person till i die what attitude should we take as sinners who have been forgiven also towards others and towards our relationship with god you see um we sometimes pronounce judgment on ourselves without even taking time to figure it out because in the in the lord's prayer he said forgive us off our sins as we forgive others oh lord so if we are not forgiven that's a judgment against ourselves because god said i will forgive you as much as you forgive your brothers that's strange oh forgive us folk you need to listen to that closely lord forgive me of my sins as i have forgiven or if the lord ever answered that prayer sometimes we're in serious trouble aren't we if god should forgive you the way you forgive others i have some forces i forgive you but i never forget it i always remember what you did me is that the way god forgive us yes as it says the topic says when god forgives he forgets he put it away and now we're looking at something new when god forgives you he's creating something new already elder before you go there i know you guys touched on this before but do you think it's it's by chance that the the whole lesson starts with the fact that this was the time in israel or in the in that part of the world where kings went out to war but david was home do you think it's it's they could have just started and said david was walking on his roof yes and looked down why do you think they included that right because as i mentioned before well david was a special calling david was a warrior king okay you understand but god what the what this is pointing out that david was not in his place it was not where he was called to be he was in the wrong place he was in the wrong place how do we apply that to us boy that we should be where we are supposed to be we need every day to seek god's guidance for our activities and for what he wants us to do and if we do that david would have known that he was supposed to be where he was supposed to be and as elder alcock pointed out the devil finds work we have a familiar saying for idle hands to do so he was there not doing what he where he was supposed to be doing what he was supposed to be to do but i think this brings us back to some of the things that we studied previously regarding rest remember rest is more than just lying down in your bed you have emotional rest you have physical mess you have spiritual rest what type of rest was he having that he was so able to be so busy so quickly you see he was restless he was not having genuine rest restless because maybe his conscience was bothering him everybody's out there in the field and i am the warrior king and look at where i am and so the enemy supplemented that restlessness with evil you know and so for us when we get very restless and agitated why and what can we do to correct that appropriately if we go to god what have we neglected the study of his word have we neglected witnessing have we reflected our responsibilities as adults in life what it is why are we restless believe me the enemy will find something for us to do that may not be for anyone's good yes as the as the people of god trying to live a christian life we need to recognize the presence of the devil at all times satan wants to trip you up he wants you to be lost david was directed by the devil servant of the lord says satan motivated him to leave that bedroom and walk upstairs that was directed by the dev so it is with us sometime the devil direct us to do some things we must always be conscious of the fact that there is a devil that's out to get you and when he comes run to jesus yes thank you just one more minute all right and in psalms 51 7-12 david here there are a couple of lessons we can draw from this quickly one forgiveness require cleansing god does not cleanse us in our sins he cleanses us from our sins so when when we realize that something is wrong as we do from day to day we must first be sorrowful and be forgiven because and because of our godly sorrow for sin god forgives us right right isaiah time is running okay isaiah 1 18 god said come let us reason together saith the lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow they be red like crimson they shall be as well so yes god is calling us to be repentant in and quickly joy in lord psalms 51 8 he says god will not give you joy in your sin you must first get out yes sir all right thank you sir okay i'll quickly summarize thursday and friday thursday lesson speaks of the fact that david in order to be forgiven he he realized that he needed to have a broken spirit and a contrite heart he needed to come to god in such a manner in order to be forgiven and god forgave him and the lesson then brings us to a japanese art called kinsui where they value uh jars and vases so much that if one falls and breaks they take to these people who specialize in this art and they put it back together using goal and silver and when they're finished this broken jar now looks so beautiful that it probably values more than it did before it broke and the parallel there is when we sin we're like that broken jar or vase and when god puts us back together he uses his holy spirit to work on us and to mend us and we become something new worth more to him than we were before because we came to him with a contrite heart and that's how we need to view forgiveness when we sin and god makes us new we are new creation we have a fresh start we need to go out spread that word and let others know that yes i know i sinned but god forgive me sometimes when we sin the devil waves it in our face sometimes when we sin our own members pointed out to us but we saw when nathan went to david how he used diplomacy he did not condemn him but he showed him and made him realize that he sinned and needed to go back to god so when we counsel people we should not condemn them but we should bring them closer to god and that's what natan did and that's what god wants from us so that when we come to him he can forgive us now friday speaks of the fact that david's repentance was sincere and deep there was no effort to hide his crime no desire to escape the judgment threatened inspired threats or whatever inspired his prayer he saw the defilement of his soul he loated his sin it was not for for pardon only that he prayed but for a purity of heart friends when we kneel to pray as was pointed out before we not only supposed to ask for our forgiveness but we're supposed to forgive those who have sinned against us for the lord's prayer as was pointed out says you know the forgive forgiveness that we need should be bestowed on those who have wronged us and it was such a spirit and such a heart that if we come before god we know that he will forgive us david was forgiven that instant yes there are consequences as was pointed out and we may suffer the consequences of our actions for every action causes a reaction but if we come to god with a contrite heart we can rest assured that he will accept us renew us and make us better than we were before so that god is looking at us will see him within us and realize that yes we are all sinners but christ died to save not only myself who might have sinned but died to save those of you who are looking at me a sinner amen amen i do want you to notice something here before nathan left the presence of david he told him david your sins are forgiven right that's what happened because he saw the lion lord in his presence talking with him he says god has forgiven lord told nathan to tell him i forgive your sin and yet for seven days after that david prayed and asked god for forgiveness and for help what was happening there the man is already forgiven but here is david praying seventh day no food nothing in the temple you should read psalms 51 what was happening well at the end if you read the following chapter pointed out to you that david was hoping that god would spare that little child's life while the child was alive i'm not going to eat anything but now the child is dead all right i will eat but note what david says in his prayer create in me a clean heart oh god renew a right spirit within me and then he says restore unto me the joy of thy salvation sometimes when you lose your way when you turn away from christ the joy of salvation is gone but come again god is forgiving he wants to save you more than you want to be saved all we have to do recognize that we have sinned and come short of god's glory repent of our sins plan to turn away from it and run to jesus god's big arm is just willing to forgive and forget although consequences will be there and i studied in my lesson here it says someday even the consequences of sin will be washed away that's how much god wants to save us let's be faithful one day the story is in the bible not just because david did it but it is there for us so that we might learn god has not changed he is the still the same god forgiving abundant in mercy and he will forgive us for our sins if we will only turn from sin and turn to him he will forgive you for your sin thank you dear lord what we have learned from the bible as we study this week we ask now that you will bless us keep your people together lord when it is yours to come may we hear from you the well done we ask in jesus name amen god bless you see you next sabbath same time same place when usain bolt is running on the tracks one of the strongest support that he gets is from the crowd of people cheering him on he will tell you that when he looks in the crowd and see people calling his name cheering him on it gives him strength to run the race all of us are in a race called life and the good thing is that we don't have to be as fast as usain bolt to win this race all we have to do is to keep running while we're running this race we have to ensure that we don't have anything that will endanger or derail us from the path that we're on hebrews 12 tells us that before we start the race we need to lay aside everything that will hold us back from running effectively the race has already started and god is waiting at the finish line all we need to do is to detach the weights and to keep running the lord [Music] [Music] [Music] hello [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] so oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] so is us [Music] [Applause] [Music] us keep us [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Applause] ah [Applause] [Music] let there be lights out of the darkness shining let there be light and the light was good soon and stars out of the darkness shine and the light was good and the light was good i [Music] let there be lights out of the darkness shining let there be lights and the lights was good [Applause] is [Music] i [Music] says and the together started they shouted together [Music] and the light was [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] no [Music] oh you all mind worshiping with us this morning there's a there's a good old song um it's it's simple we used to sing it a lot it says give me that old-time religion [Music] [Music] come on say that one more time [Applause] it was good for my dear mother come on put those hands [Applause] good together it was good for my dear [Applause] father it was good for paul and [Music] was silas [Applause] just give me that [Applause] this is good enough come on let's sing that one more time welcome to cwc my name is lavona and we are so glad that you've decided to join us for worship this morning before we join the service i would like us to reflect on revelation 3 verse 20. behold i stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door i will come in and will sup with him and he with me it is my prayer that you will answer that knock and allow jesus to enter into your heart we pray that you are blessed by the servant this morning and that god impresses something special on your heart now let's join the service already in progress [Music] presence with thanksgiving enter into his courts with grace [Music] um [Music] is [Music] [Music] huh [Music] [Applause] [Music] everybody [Applause] [Music] is [Music] and [Music] soon [Music] oh [Music] one [Music] gather ye gather ye god's children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings so will the lord encompass you round about take trust in the lord and he will show you his salvation this is your call to worship [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Music] loving lord great father who art in heaven hallowed be thy most holy name your children come in your presence once more lord after being beaten up and be burdened by the activities of the week we come lord to worship you because he has kept us in spite of it we invite your presence among us this morning lord i pray that you will take full control of everything may all our burdens be left at your feet transform us we pray in jesus name amen [Music] as was [Music] [Music] [Music] please be seated happy sabbath children of god oh what a blessing it is to just lay aside all our toils and care and come and worship our maker and king the privilege is mine to welcome you all near and far our online viewers we love and appreciate the fact that you take the time out to worship with us week after week and to all the wonderful people in the house especially our visiting friends will all of our visiting friends please stan all our visiting friends please stand and what the church say oh it's truly a blessing for us to gather together once more in the house of the lord to worship his name we just want to tell you how much we love you and we are glad you are here so on behalf of our pastor dr abraham j jules and all the wonderful members of cwc we want to say thank you once thank you twice thank you in the name of jesus christ god bless you all have a wonderful sabbath thank you so much charmaine for that wonderful welcome we have today some folk we want to recognize from our vacation bible school we are grateful to the leaders of our church our sabbath superintendent our vacation bible school coordinator sister ruth shaw and sister preetha and those who worked with them uh we'll turn it over to them now as they call for these young people who are with us who will be recognized today come on up everybody at this last two weeks we had such a wonderful wonderful time we had studies in heroes this year we did superheroes the children the children studied about the superheroes of the bible jesse who gave his lunch to the crowd miriam looking at his little brother and and they were very happy at this time sister sarah doyle will conduct them for the theme song so give us your air so [Music] do everything right together [Music] uh what's up um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] okay we have we have our team facts every day the children said it and they're gonna say it for you now amen amen we will recognize now our children this is some of the children all couldn't be there so alan garvin daniel emmy matthew gavin noah lee [Applause] keinel riley [Applause] faithly david may lisa emmy [Applause] michael gavin and rihanna young we've this is a little bit of who was there we had a wonderful time a great time we had some other people who came in gloria sylvester elizabeth sims norma mingle and parents we have one parent here sister gavin so stand stand we have one parent at the back mother emmy would you stand oh she's right there we had sister sharon small and of course tyra every day we had a wonderful time so until next year with our vacation bible school and sister rudy we've hey man i want to thank our superintendent and all those who worked with come sharon you wanted to say something go ahead go ahead just wanted to say put it to your mind it was a pleasure to work for the vacation bible school with the children and we really appreciated sister jack amen really appreciated sister jack and the deacons who came by and fed the children thank you very much the gift is for you thank you all to all of our teachers our director our superintendent and to congratulations to all of our children um [Music] he promised us he promised us that he would be our father he would love us that would not cease well i tried him and you know i found his promises their truth is everything he said that he would be [Music] much [Music] he's more wonderful he goes beyond my highest cost [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] much [Music] is [Music] i stand amazed when i think the king of glory would come to live within the hearts of man [Music] and who i am [Music] is he's more wonderful [Music] [Applause] he's promised [Music] is [Applause] [Music] he's promised and so much more than [Music] that's what it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] for me [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is the first reading voted to elect brother kevin williams and sister natalie williams as family life directors recognize this as the first reading or next step with the second read right we should vote that right away i think we ought to vote that right away uh is there a motion that they be accepted as recommended they are second and properly seconded all in favor aye ohs that's carrot thank you sir this is the second reading for um transfer of membership first we have lithia campbell from mount vernon sda church in mount vernon sister campbell if you're here please come up and then we have brother robert tucker from the first alice sda church in queens new york brother tucker please come up as well that's the second reading is there a motion that this accepted as read been moved is there a second and it is properly seconded all in favor please say aye those opposed that's carrot all right elders would you please join us as we welcome these dear ones to our fellowship the combs and the elders would you come will uh and the board members would you extend the right hand of fellowship to sister campbell and brother tucker we're delighted to have you join our family today [Music] members of the board who are here if you would join us in welcoming them please [Music] um okay [Music] so [Music] hello [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] than the wow [Music] you're bigger than the sun and the stars you're bigger than the universe you're bigger than the sun and the stars you're bigger than things [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] you bigger you're so much bigger jesus than what this life [Music] you're great feel so great [Music] bigger bigger jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] you're bigger than cancer jesus bigger than diabetes this trumps on your back makes you bigger this trucks on your back they make you bigger your blood makes you bigger and that makes you bigger that makes you bigger you want to open up your mouth right here and we get stuck out this morning tell em [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] situations [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] girl [Applause] pastor we have two babies to be dedicated to the lord today cairo malachi robinson and bryce ari taloxing [Music] all right families can come right here come right here me okay we're delighted that little bryce and cairo have brought their parents and family and friends to the altar and this is a good place to be it's a place of surrender it's a place where you surrender your will to god's will we want to welcome all of you today to this service and to this very special service for your little ones and we are delighted that you have seen fit in your mind and heart to put god first last and best in everything you do and that you're giving an example to your little ones that christ is first one of our parents came all the way from south carolina peter peter south carolina came all the way from south carolina and asked to be baptized [Applause] as his little one is presented to god he's presenting himself to god and listen i praise god so i want to challenge the tilak singh family and the robinson family today to understand that a prayer at this all to today has efficacy but it does not have an eternal efficacy you have to keep going back to god day after day present your little one to christ we are only as strong as the prayer we had this morning and your child is only as protected as the daily prayers that surround him we'll pray for his life today that god will grant him a bright future a blessed life but you have to do the right things by not only sending them off to church with grandma and grandpa but you need to bring them to church pray with them sing the songs of zion to them and be an example in godly and christian living teach them the stories of creation and the flood and about the coming of jesus to this earth as a babe in a barn teach them that when he grew up they crucified him on an old rugged cross teach them that he died and on the third day as he had said he rose again and was ascended into heaven and now makes intercession for us teach these children that jesus is coming again and teach them that they have a heaven to gain and a hell to shun and teach them and lead them to the baptistery like you are today like you have lead them to make a commitment to jesus christ i know you want to give your children all of the wonderful brand name clothing and the best education and all these things are good but the best gift you can give to your children is a knowledge of our lord and our savior jesus christ and his claims upon their lives i'm going to tell you this we may leave the church we may go off and wander and do our own thing but i'm going to tell you something that will never leave you you know what will never leave you the truth you heard while you were in church the songs you used to sing will never leave you some of the sermons you heard preach most of them you will never remember but some you will remember some things said that will impact your life for eternity in so doing i am encouraging you brother and sister tillerson make sure you let bryce know about what you have been taught teach him about christ and his amazing grace and love you do the same the robinson family teach little cairo about god's amazing grace and when he shall have come to the age of accountability is our prayer that he would accept jesus as his lord and savior and be baptized into this remnant church and prepare to meet his god in peace we'll now pray for these little ones as we present them to the lord let us pray gracious god and our father today we lift up little bryce arie t look sing to you in dedication mom and dad have brought him to this altar to present him to you in faith god they are giving him to you as a gift that you have given to them they recognize that this gift is given to them on consignment and they are returning to you that which you have gifted them with we pray for your blessings upon little bryce's life we pray that angels may protect him day and night from hurt harm and danger we pray that he having learned at his mother's knees about your amazing grace and peace and the gift of life eternal will embrace you and the truth for these times and accept you as his lord and king and prepare to meet you in peace we pray that you may protect his young and tender body from the maladies that are so common to infancy it is our prayer god that the influence of a godly home will be with him for the rest of his days on this earth bless mom and dad provide them with strength and health and opportunities for labor and employment so that they in turn can provide for his necessities i ask god that his home will be a little heaven here on earth where jesus will dwell where his name will often be uttered and where the peace of god will reign it is our prayer god that when time on this earth shall be no more and you shall come in power and majesty and glory the little brice along with mom and dad and with all those whom he would love and be attached to and care for will be saved in your eternal kingdom to live with you throughout the eons of eternity may your blessings rest upon him now and may your blessings be eternal in his life in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit we pray amen let us pray loving father we present in dedication to you this day little cairo malachi robinson we present him to you because we know god that every good gift comes from you and this family mom and dad are presenting him to you in dedication this day we pray for the ministry of holy angels to surround him day and night to keep him from hurt harm and danger we pray god that you may protect his young and tender body from the maladies that are so common to infancy we pray that his home here on earth will be a little heaven here on earth we pray god that he'll always be food upon his stable and a roof over his head we pray for mom and dad that you'll provide them with strength and health and avenues of employment so that they can provide for his daily necessities granted this home your peace your grace and your mercy we pray father that as he's dedicated to you this day that your purpose will be lived out in his life that your calling upon his life will be realized we pray that little cairo having learned of you at his mom and dad's knees when he shall have come to the age of accountability will accept you as his lord and savior be baptized into the remnant church and to live for you may the influence that he will spread wherever he goes be a godly one grant him your gift of life eternal we pray in dedication we present him to you and his parents and we pray this prayer with thanksgiving in the wonderful and the blessed name of our lord and our savior jesus christ amen and amen congratulations [Music] i see you would you say hardy have been for these wonderful families who presented themselves today my brothers and sisters we have just opened fully this month starting on the first sabbath july the 3rd and there are a number of individuals who played a pivotal role in seeing us through the pandemic through the maze of it all we didn't know what we were doing but there were many who joined us and came and helped and did their part today we want to recognize a few others all right let's recognize some individuals who helped us and as your names are called please come quickly so that we can recognize you if you're not here we will not call your name but if you will try yes the first person is dr carlisle woods all right let's go the second one is wesley cato wesley cato this this certificate is presented to wesley cato in acknowledging your dedicated service and helping to reduce stress lessen anxiety improve mood and provide comfort through music during cold winter amen amen [Applause] next we have lisa mitchell presented to lisa mitchell in acknowledging your dedicated service in keeping the singers of our church inspired empowered and enriched during covet 19. next we have tara brown presented to tara brown in acknowledging your dedicated service and keeping our community educated and inspired through the summer literacy program and the social justice outreach initiative during call with 19. amen amen next we have natalie andrews then we have margaret charles [Applause] dr dominique jules she's late ludwig's destined joseph she's coming this certificate is presented to lewis dustin joseph in acknowledging your dedicated service in keeping the children of our church connected inspired and encouraged during covet 19. [Applause] teamwork then we have medina alexis pierre next is mervis anderson [Applause] certificate is presented to mervis anderson in acknowledging your dedicated service in keeping your church family and the seniors of the community nurtured during covet 19. next is deborah charles this certificate is presented to deborah charles in acknowledging your kindness and generosity during covet 19. [Applause] we have one last one and we're going to ask the elders to come up please [Music] elders please come forward quickly very quickly okay now we don't want to close this recognition without thanking one special person so um the people people who have been recognized are those who kept us vigilant in um and connected as brethren and inspired and encouraged not to give up but to continue the good fight of faith we just want to echo the sentiments of the elders the deaconess the officers and members at large we want our pastor to know that while he's focused on thanking us for being his errands we want to carve a little time out of this moment to thank god for our moses you see this pastor you see standing here is an invaluable and priceless gem to us [Music] [Applause] he's not looking for accolades and praise from us but we truly appreciate his dedication and commitment to us pre and post pandemic he provided a virtual place of refuge for us and the world church he made sure that we remain connected and nurtured with the undiluted word of god he has nourished us with spiritual food and made us fat this is fat that we want to hold on to he got fully dressed every sabbath morning and drove over two hours to come to the church just to make sure that we had a constant something that made us know that our church was still in operation he preached with zest to what seemed like an empty sanctuary but he was preaching to angels we lived for every sabbath morning thank you pastor he never skipped a beat the song says i don't need my name in lights i'm famous in my father's eyes make no mistake he knows my name i'm not living for applause because i'm already so adorned it's all his stage he knows my name i'm not meant to stay quiet i'm meant to be a lion i'll roar beyond a sermon with every moment that i've got make no mistake he knows my name those are his sentiments exactly on behalf of all of us we present the small token which is a citation and it's coming from our hearts and pastor goth will read the citation to you i'll read it this way by saying from the entire church family community worship center of seventh-day adventists i present this to our loving pastor dr abraham j jewel [Applause] it says community worship center citation whereas a great city is only as great as those persons who give exemplary service to their communities whether through unique personal achievement in their professional or other endeavors or simply through a lifetime of philanthropy and community service and whereas such service which is truly the lifeblood of the church and the community so often goes unrecognized and unrewarded now therefore be it resolved that as duly ordained members of the community worship center of seventh-day adventists elders board deaconnet board members at large we recognize that in dr abraham j jules we have an outstanding pastor one who is worthy of the esteem of both our church body and the world at large in witness whereof we have here on to set our hands july 24th 2021 all right you see she just doesn't want to stop amen congratulations my pastor thank you so very much thanks dr coombs pastor garf ingrid the board of elders our entire church family and all of you i am much more comfortable giving it out than receiving it but today i am grateful to all of you for your kind words and certainly for your love and support god bless you thank you so very much i'm honored [Music] nice happy sabbath church well it's a good thing to be in the house of the lord this morning amen amen praise god he is worthy so wild why should i be discouraged and twice shall i share [Music] [Music] should my heart being lonely and long for heaven out home but when jesus yes he is my portion [Music] is [Music] and i know that he watches over me so i see i am happy thank you god yes i am foreign [Applause] [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] oh thank you jesus thank you for watching over by jesus thank you for breaking up with jesus thank you for watching [Music] thank you jesus thank you jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] let's go quickly now it is saying in worship to the lord him number 434 him number 434 we speak of the realms let us stand [Music] so bright and soft [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] to be there [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] and shortly i also [Music] is [Music] jesus himself what encouraging words that beckons us to make our calling and election sure it's time for prayer i'm gonna ask sister smith uh who is going to jamaica this week to bury us and if she would come forward first sister smith would you come and join us up front please she's coming someone help for one of our elders just go back and help smith the rest of you if you would join us at the altar those of you who have special needs today and you want to come here for special prayer we'll remember to pray about your needs today with you as we sing our prayers i'll make your way to the altar come close to the all to leave room for those coming behind which is you are my [Music] [Applause] fortress [Music] [Music] night angels [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] where i call you [Music] i trust you [Music] [Music] [Applause] your age [Music] gracious lord father of mankind for whom all angels veiled their faces and cried daily holy holy lord god almighty we your children have come this morning recognizing full well in whose presence we stand been with us throughout the week that has drifted off into eternity day after day as we went about our task you were with us night after night as we slept you watched over us we put food on our tables giving us a good measure of health and strength we are still clothed in our right minds oh lord we thank you this morning come with hearts well up with gratitude to you for your goodness your mercy your long suffering with us oh lord we have come today lord not to tell you what to do but in humility lord we bow before you asking you for forgiveness of sin where we have come short of your glory o loving father we have miserably provoken you we promised that we were going to be faithful but somehow we failed but oh lord we present ourselves to you this morning casting ourselves upon your mercy asking lord for forgiveness of sins so that as we worship you today our worship will be accepted pray loving lord that you would hide your servants behind the cross as he declared a message of hope and courage to your people lord hide him behind the long shadow of the cross may jesus be exalted and self be lost remember your children today they have left their seats they have come down to this altar you alone know why they have done so oh lord you who read the hearts of men those who know you know the circumstances surrounding all of your children oh god i present them before you today and i ask that you would answer prayers according to their faith oh lord those who are watching over the year wave o precious lord jesus in that living room driving in the car wherever they are this morning we asked lord that you will bless your children once again those who are sick lord we ask that you would go to that bedroom that hospital room just now and remind them that you care be to them the great physician you have always been to your children bring them back again lord jesus because you have brought healing to your children i ask lord that you will remember sister smith this morning as she travels to the island of jamaica grant her traveling mercies and as she go lord we ask that you would comfort her comfort that family as they mourn their loss oh lord we ask that you go to this hospital bed this morning of brother morris he lay there lord his mind i am sure just now is on you this thoughts lord is here in the house of god when he was well he was able to be here so in our lord we ask that you will go by his bedside send angels to comfort him help him to know that we care what is happening to him but you who you have never lost the case the great physician pray lord that you will bring him back to us again good measure of health and strength and there are those today who are right here in this congregation they did not come they did not leave their seats but their hearts are lifted up to you just now they are pleading with you for help oh lord we ask that you will remember your children come soon lord take us home to live with you forever in the land where there been almost sickness no more death no more with joy and happiness at the feet of jesus forever and forever based on that day we pray the blessed name of jesus our savior and friend amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] i'll trust you [Music] oh i'll trust you [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] holy [Music] mighty [Music] [Applause] [Music] holy holy [Music] holy mighty [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] faith [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] our old testament scripture reading today is taken from psalm 31 verses 1 to 7. in the o lord do i put my trust let me never be ashamed deliver me in thy righteousness bow down thine ear to me deliver me speedily be thou my strong rock for and house of defense to save me for thou art my rock and my fortress therefore for thy name's sake lead me and guide me pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me for thou art my strength into thine hand i commit my spirit thou hast redeemed me o lord god of truth i have hated them that regard lying vanities but i trust in the lord i will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble thou hast known my soul in adversities and now the new testament scripture reading is taken from luke chapter 4 16-21 that is luke chapter 4 16-21 i will read in your hearing and he came to nazareth where he had been brought up and has his custom was he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up for to read and there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet isaiah and when he had opened the book he found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me because he had anointed me to preach the gospel heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the lord and he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fasting on him and he began to say unto them this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears may the lord add a rich blessing to the reading hearing and doing of his holy word happy sabbath again church [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] your day [Music] as i look around and i see [Music] all the things your heads have made the awesomeness of you and how your love will never fail my words cannot express what i feel inside i can't describe your glory to find but as i've choken out [Music] magnify your name [Music] your name there's not enough words that i can say to tell you how much i appreciate age all the wonderful things you've given me your love and kindness your sins and mercies it's my desire to praise your love i tell you how much i love you lord you're worthy of all of the honor and you're worthy of all the [Applause] [Music] why would you grace me give me so much mercy you didn't have to suffer and die for me a way back way back on calvary father my heart cries thank you i've got to say thank you we've got to say thank you thank you [Music] [Music] [Applause] god of everything [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my god [Applause] holy holy we worship you today [Music] [Applause] is today jesus we give honor to your name jesus we love you jesus we thank you jesus come on kept keep clapping for jesus but he alone is worthy he alone deserves our praise this morning he brought us through he brought us through a mighty long way he is holy hallelujah he is holy come on keep laughing for jesus hallelujah we bless your name jesus we magnify your name in this place this morning jesus we thank you we love you we honor your name today jesus hallelujah thank you god hallelujah [Music] lord with our tithes and offerings will the deacons please come forward proverbs 21 27 says the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind and luke 16 10 to 12 says he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much if therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to your trust the true riches now these texts were put out there just as a guide for us so that we understand the value in giving with a worthy hand in giving with a generous heart now just a reminder to you all that your tithes go out to the mission field to spread the gospel message and your offerings remain here to keep the lights on to keep our broadcast media going to address our mortgage and every other need that the church has and we have provided several means by which you can give so that everyone has an opportunity to do so that information is on our screens so please take note of it somewhere whether you take a screenshot you take a picture of it our post office box is po box three four zero eight seven zero jamaica new york one one four three four we have our online giving site where you create your username password if you go to cwcsda or dot org you create a username and password and you will use it going forward and just be mindful that when you get to the place where you are submitting there's a note with charges on the top those charges have absolutely nothing to do with you they're just a notation so please do not hesitate to use that site you can mail it directly to the church's address at 145 90 4176 street jamaica new york 11434 you can call one of our deacons our elders or treasurer someone who will receive it from you but we want you to be sure to give we also have a zell site and the zell site is cwc treasurer at gmail cwc sda treasurer gmail.com so please utilize any of those means of giving bringing you all the tides into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith saith the lord of hosts if i will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it and i will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field saith the lord of hosts and all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land saith the lord of hosts let us pray loving father we give you thanks for your continued mercies towards us we give you thanks lord for your protection we give you thanks lord for your provision in our lives and as we receive these tithes and these generous offerings that were provided dear lord i ask that you will take it now and add to it multiply it lord bless it and lord may we honestly use it in precisely the manner in which it's intended to be used may your word be spread amongst your people may it go into all the world so that everyone will have heard of you may your coming be hastened we give you thanks and praise and honor and glory in jesus name [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] one [Applause] [Music] [Music] take away the sounds i sing [Music] the man i am today say the words you need to say [Music] let them see you in me and let them hear you when i speak let them hear you when i sing let them see you [Music] another smile another [Music] i gave my life an offering i gave you all and everything let them see you in me and let them hear you when i speak to let them feel you when i seek to let them see you [Music] sing a single melody but i want a this and a song in me and me [Music] let them see you in me and let them hear you when i speak [Music] let them see you let them see you [Music] when i think let them see you let them see you in me [Music] and let them see you in me [Music] [Applause] [Music] let them see you let them hear you let them feel you let them see you [Music] [Applause] [Music] beautiful [Music] you are my source everlasting father prince of peace and a mighty god the great higher an eternal wonder king of kings i worship you always you [Music] peace [Music] i you [Music] all the things of our salvation you are my source foreign [Music] king of kings [Music] a revelation of our [Music] revelation of our salvation [Music] is [Music] [Music] is prince of peace [Music] i worship you always and [Music] you oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] my [Music] is [Music] straight to the heart of god [Music] our souls may seem to [Music] our wills they seek to serve straight to the heart of god [Music] our worship [Music] our souls received [Music] straight to the heart of god [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] from [Music] is [Music] oh who is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] god from the death [Music] we wish to thank our praise team for blessing our worship as they do each and every sabbath thank you so very much ladies and uh band russell the guys thank you all so very much do want to recognize those who enhanced our worship through the musical renditions today we want to thank brother phil smart for blessing us thank you phil gabrielle joseph this is tanisha walcott again thank you so very much sister seraphin we appreciate your ministry of music i don't think i left out anyone would you put your hands together for all these wonderful individuals who blessed us please i understand that sister barrett is leaving us this is her last sabbath she's moving to south carolina sister barrett would you stand please so the folk can see you i was told that she's here what is the name barnett okay sister barnett thank you for correcting me sister bamboo all right sister bonnet you're leaving us and we want to wish you god's blessings as you uh relocate certainly your presence will be missed here and we appreciate you our prayers will be with you and may god bless you and your family and your loved ones all right let's remember to pray for sister barnett as she leaves us this is her last sabbath uh with us okay also this is the last sabbath but my daughter and probably some other students will be with us my daughter is going off to oakwood university and this is the last sabbath we're going to jamaica on tuesday for vacation you're all a bunch of haters you should be saying amen come on say amen all right that sounds a lot better all right okay so um uh my daughter is gonna we'll be going on vacation when we get back uh that very morning they leave and my wife and family members they'll be flying off to huntsville i will leave that same morning but i'll be driving my daughter's car to huntsville um so that she'll have her call with her there but you know it's a funny thing when you get married they say bone of your bone flesh of your flesh it's a mystical spiritual union of bone of your bone flesh of your flesh it's mystical it's spiritual but when your children leave you that's actually bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh physically you all know that so a big part of me is leaving me you all would love to see that don't you i'm not gonna let you see it no sir i'm too macho for that that's right that's right that's right that's right yeah but um not only would my daughter be leaving there are others i will not be here uh to wish them goodbye to so to all of our other students who will be leaving us uh between this week and next week and the following week i want to wish them all god's blessings we are proud of our young people [Applause] we are proud of our young people who pursue high education who achieve their goals who finished their course who take their place in this world who take the baton from so many of us and they continue to lead and strive for excellence and are aspirational in their goals we are proud of them and we bless the name of the lord for all of our young people but not only that we are very proud of the parents who inspire our young people to do much with their lives and to all of the godly parents sacrificial parents we applaud you today uh let me see all of our students who will be leaving us in the next couple of weeks if you're here if you would stand i don't know how many of you may be here but i know there'll be those who will be listening uh who will be leaving us all right i know my daughter is here she wouldn't even stand yeah but there are those who will be leaving us all right so we want to remember them in prayer would you remember to pray for our young people please do all right stand with me for the reading of scripture and for the word of god today turn in the bibles to the book of genesis chapter 8 verses 6 through 12. when i'm through preaching after we would have had our prayer of consecration dr coombs will come on up she and pastor goff and they will lead us directly into the baptismal service that we'll have here today would you put your hands together for our beloved brother brother robinson who will be baptized today where is he he's over here right over he's with our deacons over here we're proud of him proud of him and if there's any one of you who wants to join him you still need to be baptized you can join today we will baptize you that's a biblical thing people got baptized the same day they heard the word of god that's biblical all right genesis 8 let's read verses 6 through 12. and it came to pass at the end of 40 days that noah opened the window of the ark which he had made and he sent forth a raven which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth also he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground but the dove found no rest for the soul of a foot and she returned unto him into the ark for the waters were on the face of the whole earth then he put forth his hand and took her and pulled her in unto him into the ark and he stayed yet another seven days and again he sent forth the dove of the ark and the dove came into him in the evening and lo in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off so no one knew that the waters were abated from off the earth and he stayed yet another seven days and sent forth the dove which returned not again unto him anymore i'm going to bring to you a message today it may not make sense to you the title but i have to have would have preached it would show me the leaf show me the leaf now one other verse of scripture matthew 3 and verse 16 and the jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and lighting upon him show me the leaf loving father please bless this word to the hearts of your children today may jesus be seen and jesus only as we lift you up may hearts be thrilled and challenge and change for eternity i pray in the name of jesus our lord and our savior amen amen be seated everyone i didn't ask them to turn off the ac did you did you all turn it off i saw you all cold so i asked him to adjust it a little bit for you you all were cold weren't you all right if i could summarize what the church is supposed to be about these are the two words i would use changing lives whenever a preacher stands behind the sacred desk he or she should always give you something you could believe because belief affects behavior if you can think differently you can live differently if anyone would ask you why does the christian church exist you can say my church exists because we are in the life changing business and in some areas of our lives we all need to change in fact the biggest room in every life is the room for improvement without equivocation the question that most people internally ask themselves is why can't i change i thought that time would bring about a change but time is neutral just because you grow old does not mean you grow up there are a lot of people who are 50 going on 15 and the reverse is you got to be careful how you treat 15 year olds expecting them to dress and act like they're 50. that's why a lot of young people get turned off by church folk because church folk who were once 15 now day 50 they act like they forgot what they used to do and say and dress and look like at 15. i do not expect a 15 year old to wear your 50 year old dress some of you like to complain about these young people a pastor work on those praise team take those dresses down a little long be careful you're the same folk who come and cry and say pastor pray for my daughter she doesn't want to come to church anymore why because of miserable old people like you all right i didn't get done doing the sermon but i just felt like saying it so time and the passing of the years do not necessarily mean you will experience a life change that is the reason i love this story about noah this story is inexhaustible in terms of its life lessons and its life applications and one of the lessons we learned from noah is how authentic change takes place and this truth is illustrated here in the story of two birds noah had been on the ark about a year and after being cooped up and quarantined in the ark i said cooped up and quarantined in the ark i said cooped up and quarantined in the ark which was nothing but floating zoo noah decided to carve a window into the side of the ark verse 6 tells us he did that and he knocks open that piece of gopher wood that the ark was made of and for the first time in almost a year he sticks his head out and you know that ox smelled pretty bad all those skunks all those animals in there even though they had ventilation in the top of the ark there's no ventilation that could properly ventilate an ark that was 75 feet wide 450 feet long and 45 feet high he made the window because it was his desire noah's to get an assessment and evaluation of their status he wanted to know where were they have the waters been abated is there any dry land so what he decided to do was he used a raven to scout out to fly above the waters to see if the raven could bring back any sign that new life forms had appeared unless you think that this sounds preposterous would you please consider this we do not speak spanish today as the dominant language in this country because of birds did you know that because in 1492 when the nina the printer and the santa maria were out there on the atlantic ocean and had been out there for months columbus's men were threatening a mutiny on the bounty and they wanted to take over the ship until columbus said look look look at the sky and there were birds and every sailor knows if there are birds in the sky there has to be land somewhere and guess what they decided to do follow the birds and the birds flew south toward the southern hemisphere and they landed in cuba remember they came from spain and that's why they speak spanish in cuba today because of birds millenniums earlier there are birds that noah is depending on to help him assess what's going on around him and he sent out a raven and the raven the bible says went to and fro i read to you it's in the text the raven went to and fro until the waters were dried up from there which is to say when the raven went out it did not come back and he said since the raven is not coming back he goes and gets another bird a dove and he sends the dove out to do some reconnaissance to scout out the status of the flood to see if the waters had abated and verse 8 tells us to see if the waters had abated from the face of the ground but the dove found no rest for the soles of her feet so she returned seven days later he sends the dove out again and this time the dove returns in the evening but this time comes back with a leaf plucked from an olive branch in her beak and noah sees the leaf and realizes that land disappearing and plant life is coming back seven days later he sends the dove out again and this time we are told that the dove did not return back to the ark that's the story and you want to know what does this have to do with change you're saying to yourself the pastor said the purpose of the church is to change folks lives it teaches us about how change happens also first whenever change takes place there's got to be an awareness that change is needed why did noah carve a window in the side of the ark because he was in an ark in a bad situation in a zoo and he needed to get out of that situation he was evaluating what was going on because he was aware of the fact that there was a need for change no one will ever change make a window send out a raven send out a dove until they recognize this situation is not for me right now some of us are sawing a window because we've been cooped up in an awky situation and you're saying this is not for me now let me tell you what the worst thing that could happen it's for you to be cooped up in an ark and you've learned to adjust to it you didn't hear me did you and there are a whole lot of folks who are in a cooped up situation and they have made peace with their dysfunctionalities they have adjusted to an ark-like situation you cannot help somebody who likes being cooped up in the ark you cannot help anybody like that some mom or some daddy some wife some husband is mad at you because you've got someone you love and you know they need to make a life change and you're trying to open the window for them but they wouldn't stick their heads out until they feel the need and don't get mad at them because nobody could tell you anything either let me tell you this you can't change anybody unless they want to be changed i'ma tell you this further i meet a lot of women i meet a lot of women who believe they can change men if you met him if you met him a certain way he's not changing and please stop telling yourself you've got enough lips and hips to change him are y'all hear me you don't have enough charm to change him if god can't change him you can't in fact somebody said your children they are your parents way your parents way of getting back at you and i hear you talk my child is so hard-headed i wonder where did he get it from i'm just wondering you can't change anyone against his or her will why do you think the prodigal son's father did not go out into the far country and get his son by the way you don't know this or maybe you do the prodigal son's father knew exactly where his son was staying even when he got in the pig's bed remember the father was a rich man he had a lot of folk that worked for him so he sent out people to look after his son and to see where even when he was in the pigs pen elder his daddy knew where he was he knew the address but his daddy never went and got him [Music] he never said to him son come home look at you in the pig pen i got i got a mansion you used to live in a mansion he never said that he always knew where his son was but he didn't go because the boy wasn't ready to come home the far country where that boy was is a mindset and nothing changes until you say to yourself i've got to change when i got married i was about 30 35 pounds heavier than i am now but i still thought i was sexy it was all in my mind until one day i decided enough is enough i gotta push back from the plate i've got to eat less than i normally eat i gotta cut out eating at midnight i gotta cut out drinking sodas and juices i just help somebody right here right now i just gave you the prescription i just gave it to you secondly sometimes we don't change because we don't know enough we are just ignorant i know the right word i'm just we just don't know any better and if you don't know any better you can't do any better some people are not bad they're just blind thirdly we change because we have enough hurt in our lives a woman will finally get up after 25 years in a marriage and walk out and you say but i thought she had a great marriage she's been going through hell for 25 years she just knew how to fake it on the outside and sometimes a man for the brothers here sometimes you're going through hell for 25 years you don't normally handle it the way she would she'd move out and go get you go get yourself a little young woman that's what you do so you look like the bad guy you got to be smart when you move out stay by yourself for a while because that's what she does she see everybody thinks he's a victim you understand you must learn to play the victim role brothers see i know why his marriage broke up is that young girl he got i'm helping you all gotta be smart we changed because we have heard enough why does the man go to aaa why does the gambler go to counseling it takes a painful situation to get us to change our ways there's a story in the bible of a mother eagle who builds a nest and when she builds a nest she builds it with thorns and thistles but she laid a soft covering of grass around the thorns and thistles and when the little eaglets emerge from the eggs they lay around the nest but they do not feel the thorns and thistles mama comes back with worms and the eaglets are just eating the worms and as they grow older she keeps bringing home the worms week after week month after month and the eagles have their beaks out to receive the worms and as they grow older they're just laying around the nest and they got ps5 and remote controls and they're clicking and watching netflix all day long just laying around the house as mother goes to work bringing home the worms and mother says you know what the nest is getting kinda dirty why don't you all just pick up your clothes from off the floor the dishes are piling up why don't you all just wash the dishes the garbage needs to be taken out we're gonna do it mama just a little while let me finish this and they're clicking clicking clicking clicking and mama is out getting the worms until i'm gonna tell you this the longest rough has an end be careful how you take advantage of people who are good to you one day mama comes home and she sees the dishes piled up the rooms in the nest are a mess and the bible says in the book of deuteronomy mother eagle hovers over the nest and spreads her enormous wings and begins to stir up that's a good uh eagle impression when she stirs up the nest guess what happens to the grass it moves and every time they lay back down these eaglets they get stuck and it's piercing the sticking makes them declare we got to get out of this nest we've got to learn how to fly on our own and the reason why some of our children lay around the nest at 45 is because you become the enabler and you wouldn't stir the nest and there comes a time when you're going to tell your kids you're either going to get a job or you're going to go to school but nobody is sleeping around all day long sometimes god allows us to be in an arky situation to say i am sick and tired of this enough is enough and too much is too much because change takes place when you have an awareness of change a sensitivity to change now look at some of the signs of change here are some definite signs that you're changing notice the raven went out and did not return it said he went to and fro the dove went out and she came back and verse nine says she could not find a rest for the souls of her feet both birds are in the same world one stays away and one comes back are you over with me one goes to and fro one returns to the off because she said i could not find a rest for the soles of my feet why is it that these two birds one is going to and fro the raven and one returns the dove and says let me back in the ark because i cannot find rest for my feet and the answer has to do with the nature of the two birds listen you gotta be careful who you're trying to get milk out of a whole lot of you are at a dog's pen and you're waiting for milk to come out it will never happen the nature of these two birds the raven is carnivorous he is kin to buzzards and vultures and crows and ravens feed on what's called carry on which is dead flesh so when that buzzard the raven flew out of the ark flew around he saw dead stuff floating on the water human life animal life and plant life were all destroyed in the flood because of the judgments of god god was starting creation all over again and that buzzard the raven looked around and he saw dead elephants dead hippos dead giraffes dead people and something about the deadness appealed to the raven and the raven went to and fro he just could not get enough from one dead animal to another eating art that's how some of you all eat and he's a happy buzzard didn't think about the ark anymore because he was going two and row he's going from one bar to another bar he's going from one woman to another woman he's going two and row he's going from one she's going from one man to another man to and fro but the dove what turned on the raven turned off the dove what the raven found wholesome the dove found loathsome and one of the signs you're changing is you've got changing appetites things that used to appeal to you don't appeal to you anymore you don't have an appetite for that and don't look at me like you never used to have it but when you get saved god changes your taste buds when my son was a baby they used to put him up on the high chair and open up curb a little butt bottles little gerber bottles of peas and onions i know because i used to have to go buy them they had all kinds of meals and those gerber bottles all mixed up they had onions and peas and all kinds of stuff and they would take a little spoon and put it in my son's mouth and it was good to him when he was finished eating gerber was on the chair on his face on his chin and he was happy but one day somebody reached onto their own plate and took a pinch of some nice vegetarian food and put some food in his mouth and ever since that day he has never gone back to gerber and once you get a taste of jesus you lose your appetite for certain things say amen somebody or test and see that the lord is good and another way you know you're changing is because you're changing associations you're not hanging out with the same folk you don't have much in common and now you've got to understand out in that world outside the ark there were only two living things the raven and the dove and the raven was going to and fro back to different animals and he had to see the dove flying up in the sky and he said eating on dead stuff he how does that sound like i'm eating on dead stuff he's eating dead stuff smoking doing his nose like this high undead stuff and he looked up and saw the devil hey debbie what's up debbie are you going back to that ark with that preacher you would rather go back to that church that stuffy ark that stuffy church than be out here in the world with all this stuff you can eat and he said come on davey come and hang out with us but one of the ways you know you're really changing is you delete buzzards from your phone somebody you really never see a zebra hanging out with lines or birds of a feather flock together cattle hang out with cattle in something called a herd and when you are saved not only does your appetite change but your associations change you're no longer hanging out with buzzards and crows he may be cute but he's a buzzard she may be pretty but she's a crow you don't hang out with those same jacked up folk you used to hang out with they called you and said would you be my friend on facebook no you don't hang around buzzard shops i know you all call them beauty shops do you want to know why folk don't speak to you it doesn't have anything to do with you it's because you've changed you're not the same person you used to be when you change your appetites change your association change and you change your awarenesses that dove could have stayed out there with the buzzard but he said noah needs some help noah needs some hope because he has been in the off for a year he needs some hope that new life is emerging and so he intentionally blocks an olive leaf and brings it back to noah and when you're changing it's not always about you you want to help somebody else you want to give someone else hope and i just believe that when that dove flew back and noah saw him coming and saw that he had a leaf in his mouth his eyes lit up and brought the dove back into the ark and noah shouted over a leaf i'm gonna tell you this you know there's some small things in this world that on other occasions mean nothing but in certain occasions when that thing comes into your life it changes your moment and your destiny on other occasions a leaf meant nothing to noah but when a a flood came and when light seemed decimated at best and there was no life on the outside a little olive leaf gave noah hope that there was a future that there was life on the outside and that he could make it off his arkey situation i'm gonna tell you that you know one of the first summons i ever preached in my life was a sermon uh i entitled and i just obviously got it from somewhere uh you never miss the water until the well runs dry there's some folk who've got some leaves and they're not appreciating their leaves some of you don't appreciate your children the way you should and your children don't appreciate you the way they should but when mama is gone and daddy is gone and they got nobody to run to they wish mama was still here and wish daddy was still here it's too late too late to show up and put your arms around mama too late to pick up that cell phone that you can call everybody else on but just a checkup on mama you're too busy too late to buy a gift and take it to mama to bring us some joy too late and you're the same ones who want to go inside the casket hypocrite you're the same folk we've got no money to buy a plane ticket to go visit mama and you can't get time off from the job but when there's a funeral you get time off money for the ticket big black new black skin fitting dress and a black hat and sunglasses you think i don't see you all i see you all all the time i do 100 funerals a year and all of y'all are the same you all know the lord really blessed me you know the lord blessed me i had a rough time preaching to nobody it was rough god brought you all back in the building so now i'm i'm like a kid in a candy store amen i'm not gonna be long let me finish this up for you the dove wants to give somebody hope and so noah got this leaf out of the beak of a duck runs to his wife and said baby here's a leaf then he ran to his sons and says here's a leaf no he didn't have the whole tree he just had a leaf he didn't even have a branch he just had a leaf and when you've been cooped up in a jacked up situation sometimes you don't need the whole branch and you don't need the whole tree sometimes god will pluck just a leaf and says if there's a leaf there is a branch somewhere and if there's a branch there's a tree somewhere and if there's a tree somewhere things are getting better and if you're a child of god you don't have to wait to see if all the waters are gone all you got to do is thank god for the leaf some of us need to give god some leaf phrase because we waiting till we get it all you're still here you're still walking you're still eating you're still lit on a bed last night you still got a job you still got a little hooptie same in somebody it's just a leaf but you're waiting for the whole tree before you shout thank you jesus all you got to do is thank god for the leave you need some leaf praise you don't have a career yet you just got to leave you're flipping burgers at mcdonald's but you're on your way to your tree it's just a leaf you don't have full health yet you just gotta leave it's showing you that things are about to change and your presence state is about to change listen to me folk you gotta believe some things in your heart when you face that mountain when you face that valley when you face that wall when you face that locked door you gotta tell yourself god is going to take care of me i don't know how i don't know when but i do know that he will because what he's done for others he can do for me and what he's done before he can do it again your nightmare is about to change and i'm not i'm not a baptist preacher trying to just give you false hope i'm basing this on the word of god the sun is getting ready to shine again has a way of giving you some hope that better days are on the way and the reason why you're not praising god right now is because you're waiting until you see the whole tree sometimes god is not going to send you a tree he's just going to send you a leaf in the beak of a dove but a child of god discerns the times sometimes it's just a friend who will call you with a word and the word is just the word you needed that is god's way of saying get ready because i'm getting ready to do exceedingly abundantly more than you're able to think or ask anybody got a leaf you don't have the car but you got legs that's your leaf you just have a piece of a house it's your leaf things could be worse someone may be saying i may not have carpet on my floor but at least i got a roof over my head just believe god is sending somebody a leaf right now weeping here is a leaf we pick man to offer a night but joy comes in the morning can i throw out another leaf for here i believe it's just a sign of some evidence that something is about to happen or something is about to break for you and when you're a child of god you don't wait until you see everything i'm gonna praise god because he's getting ready to get me up out of this ocky situation i'm all praise him cooped up in an ark not knowing where i am a floating zoo with skunks and dogs and monkeys and donkeys and some stinky folks and chameleons a chameleon is an animal that changes this way one minute and the next minute he's something else but guess what with all these animals around you and you survive and i declare the name of jesus he said he would do it and he would never leave you something is about to break in your life and you got to believe it give him some leaf praise and give him some leaf testimony the dove flew out and the raven did not come back the dove came back the raven did not come back noah sent the dove out three times first time he found no rest for the soles of her feet she found no rest for the soles of her feet second time she brings back a leaf third time she does not come back last time she leaves she just flies around she can't find any rest the text says for the soles of her feet when you really got your mind together when you really got peace and satisfaction no devil in hell can mess you up and it doesn't matter what folk may do and say it doesn't matter about the job about the bill's money you're just looking for rest she kept on looking for rest for the soles of her feet for somewhere where she could say i got rest and she would not be satisfied with superficial and artificial stuff there comes a time when you get tired of okie dokie folk in your life there will come a time when you will want the real deal it's time out for landing on stuff that wouldn't give you rest she kept on flying this dove for the rest for the soles of her feet you should not be ashamed to declare i'm looking for some rest for the soles of my feet so she kept on flying and she saw abraham and she said i'm gonna land on abraham but then abraham lied and tricked his wife and the dove said i can't land on him because i can't rest find the rest for the souls of my feet so she flew past abraham and she saw moses but moses killed a man and moses was disobedient to god and god says moses speak to the rock but moses struck the rock and said must i bring water up for you rebels so the dove said i can't land on moses i can't find rest on moses so she kept on flying and she saw somebody writing the 23rd psalm a man by the name of david until david came out of bashiba's house and she said i can't land on david and kept on flying trying to find a rest for the soles of her feet she went past the prophets ezekiel isaiah jeremiah amos joel have an eye haggai and malachi but she could not find rest someone who could satisfy her soul's need and rest for the soles of her feet until one day she flew over the jordan river where jesus was being baptized by his second cousin john the baptist and when he came up out of the water the dove said look at here look at here look at here i found rest for the souls of my feet [Music] somebody who could give me peace he's a doubt settler storm chaser mercy provider wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace cinderella heart healer needs supplier company keeper body mender bridge over troubled waters on the wings of a snow by dove amen amen jesus keep me near the cross there's a precious fountain free to all a healing stream flows from calvary's mountain in the cross in the cross be my glory ever till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river listen to the words of this song i'm going to come back quickly as we bring this service to a close [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] if you believe in something with [Music] miracles i'll see miracles [Music] [Applause] [Music] miracles helping me if you believe in something long and hard if you believe in something with all your heart [Music] miracles [Music] miracles [Music] it you gotta speak [Music] [Music] don't you ever don't you ever let it go [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] stay right there where you are keep thinking it keep speaking and keep faith i believe i believe i believe i believe i believe i believe i believe i believe i believe yes [Music] [Applause] yes i see miracles amen hallelujah [Applause] everyone stand to your feet please someone listening to this message today either online or in person here today you want to say pastor i want to experience that miracle of a changed life and i want jesus to do something special for me if you're in this audience or even online you can register your commitment to christ today you could go to our website cwcsda.org and fill out that decision card for us we will get in touch with you somebody else who has come to this house today and you want to say pastor i want to give jesus an opportunity to change me from the inside out and you want for us to pray for you even now just raise your hand wherever you are god bless you to the back god bless you somebody else god bless you god bless you god bless you someone else you want to make that commitment to christ today our elders our clerks are coming they will give you a call to fill out make that commitment there's somebody else who wants to say pastor i want to experience a newness i want to find rest for my very soul i want to find a place where i can rest my life on christ and find security and peace and contentment you may be a believer you may already been baptized but you want to come to this altar we're going to pray for you today get out of your seats wherever you are come we're going to pray for you as you make that commitment to christ believers are coming to reconsecrate themselves to christ this day those who want to commit to the lord come make your calling an election sure come close to the altar come come quickly we're going to pray for you come quickly come quickly i see you all have gotten this accustomed to coming to the altar so let's go let's try it come come quickly we're going to pray for you just sing a song for us quickly please one verse we want to bring the service to close there's someone who wants to be baptized on this day you tell us we will make that possible for you let's go quickly sing a song for us everybody sing sing with our praise team [Music] in the cross be my glory ever till my raptured soul shall find rest let's think that one more time same thing in the cross in the cross sing it everybody sing it everybody in the cross be my glory ever till my raptured soul shall find rests beyond [Music] every head is bowed every eye is close our pastor will pray a quick prayer of dedication for us today amen wonderful loving god we praise you we honor you we lift you up you are all god you woke us up this morning you put food on our table you bless us god we come to give you honor and glory and praise to you for all you have done for us lord we are thankful and grateful for the time that we have spent in your sanctuary oh god didn't you oh you bless us and we have come lord to let you know that for the rest of our lives we want to give all ourselves and our lives to you we want to travel this good old pathway with you oh god we thank you for the service today we thank you for your manservant and the words that he has given to us we thank you for those who responded to the call and of the side that decided that they want to walk closer to you and they want to be saved in your kingdom oh god we pray that your power may fall upon us we pray that your love may cover us oh god we pray that you will keep us nearer and nearer to the foot of the cross oh god bless us and keep us in may your spirit continue to reign upon us oh god we give ourselves to you we thank you we praise you we honor you we lift you up on this day of rest and black gladness oh god be with us we pray in jesus name amen let's sing as we go back to our seats you may be seated everybody in the cross in the cross [Music] [Music] [Applause] gross [Music] uh [Music] yes [Music] wow [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] for the baptismal service family and friends who want to join us you can come to the pulpit area be close you can take pictures you can enjoy the festivity of this moment you will not be getting in our way our cameras will capture everything so feel free to come and join us a pastor the person to be baptized today is brother carl robinson carl robertson [Applause] brother carl robinson has a whole lot of friends and family who have come for this wonderful day he has dedicated his child to the lord and now he's dedicating himself all on the same day and we praise god all right pastor god will administer the vow at this time now brother carl robinson because of your faith and confidence trust in the lord jesus christ we as ministers of the gospel now baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit be thou faithful until death and when jesus comes he will give you a crown of life [Music] i stay no longer with you the rest of my life i stay no longer with you goodbye everybody stand let's sing this as our [Music] closings [Applause] someday [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] thank god i'm bored again [Music] thank god i'm born [Music] i'm born again thank god i'm bored again thank god i'm born again [Music] it [Music] someday [Music] just by way of reminder at 4 30 we assemble here again with dr diana ryan for our seminar that continues today and concludes our next sabbath all of our elders deacons deaconesses nurturing team members and caring team members i asked to be here along with any member from our congregation who would love to know how to make a proper visit how to what to say what not to say when you visit someone's home or you're visiting the sick or those who have had death in their families it's a good seminar that teaches you what to do and what not to do also we want to remind you that every sabbath we serve lunch here you can stay and fellowship with us the ladies of our congregation our hospitality team they prepare each week for all of you please stay by fellowship with us come back to our afternoon services and uh be blessed by all of it all right let's bow our heads come elder just give us up closing prayer please leave here today in jesus name amen [Music] so [Music] please be seated for a moment of meditation [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] thank you for worshiping with us today we pray that as god knocked on the doors to your heart you opened up and received him if you were blessed by the content please follow us on facebook instagram youtube and twitter at cwcsda we look forward to worshiping together with you at our next broadcast remember to stay safe and god loves you have a blessed week [Music] you

Channel: CWC SDA

Views: 5,088

Keywords: CWC, SDA, Community, Worship, Center, community, worship, center, sda, Pastor, Abraham, J., Jules, Dare To Be Different, Clifford Manie, Pastor Clifford Manie

Id: GY3g9sRgDGs

Length: 236min 52sec (14212 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 24 2021