Don't Knock the Hustle

good friends a support system help assistance encouragement and strength i ask that you would do for them what your word says and supply are their needs according to the riches of your glory in christ jesus teach us as young people that poverty is not a lasting matter but that is a strong chord that this generation has the power to tear down give us the power to overcome everything that stands in the way of our learning give us the victory as only you can in the name of jesus we pray amen lord god we thank you for the opportunity and ability to learn the new skills and stretch our understanding your words tell us in the proverbs 427 that wilson is the most important thing therefore make sure you gain knowledge wisdom and understanding during this school year give us victory over exams tests and pop quizzes i'll lay before you all the hopes and fears we have about the outcomes may you place a peace within us now while inspiring us to study hard set high goals and achieve them thank you that you have already given us victory over everything we will encounter this year in the name of jesus we pray amen dear heavenly father we thank you and we praise you for everything that you've done and especially for what you're about to do father god we are here with open arms and open minds so that we not only hear you lord but allow us to see and feel you father god times are changing like never before and we need you your children need you i need you you're the only one in control lord allow my teachers to be my teachers and not have to put their lives on the line allow my peers to replace fear with happiness this school year cover each and every student from all ages to grades father god help my peers and i to remain focused on our education and grant our parents peace lord anyone who is hurt and wants to harm others heal them lord and have mercy on their souls allow our leaders to do their jobs so that we can all breathe we pray that the injustice of this world that goes unseen that you bring it to the light father god watch over my pastor his family and most importantly this church we thank you and we praise your name amen hi everybody my name is janelle fitzgerald hi guys i'm growing up it's so nice to see everybody i am in absolute awe of our future generation i am in love with kids i love them i love them i love them and i think it is very important to go into this next season with prayer so let's go to god thank you lord for the opportunity to be able to impact the children of today thank you for shining your light upon all of the administration faculty and anyone who reaches your children please guide them to be the man and woman that you want them to be please keep them safe from any evil and grace their minds to know that you are the one in control teach them to be accountable diligent and hardworking please keep their parents hearts and minds safe as they send their babies off into the world thank you for the love that you have granted into this world and please help the children to shine the light of your kingdom into the world i pray for safe travels for everyone students and faculty that they may reach the destination that they are meant to arrive please keep the teachers mind strong and help them to teach our children gently please help their patients and make them to be teachers that reflect you please help students to stay confident and stay strong-minded thank you for your love mercy and for your presence we love and praise you amen we got next lord we thank you for this day thank you for allowing us to see another sunday and giving us this day so we can serve you thank you for your goodness and your mercy toward us thank you for keeping us protecting us blessing us and loving us lord i pray for every young person in our church i pray for their families friends associates peers and teachers i pray for school success good grades victory and athletics health in our relationships strengthen our bodies and your blessings for our souls bless our college students keep our college campuses safe plus our high schools middle schools elementary schools even preschools lord may this school year be the best school year yet we believe you for victory in the name of jesus amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] morning people of god good morning to the people of god let the redeemed of the lord come on the word says let the redeemed of the lord say so i want anybody excited to be in the house of the lord just one more time come on it's uh the old people would say it this way it's just another day's journey i can't hear nobody and i'm just glad about it then somebody would grab the text the psalmist that the text of the psalmist said i was just glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord as we gather in the month of september as a congregation we gather from the theme of taking care as we talk about our social responsibility our social witness and so what it means as a congregation to care for our communities to care for our church to care for the earth an environment and an ecology that is in distress what does it mean to take care of ourselves to discover and to discern the power of self-love that's a powerful journey that we are on together as a church family amen and so we ask that god would anoint our teaching and our preaching this month as we endeavor to discuss and to delve into what it means to take care if you're joining us this morning in the digital space you can hear us we're excited that you're gathered here with us from around the country from around the world you may be in your car somebody might be at their dining room table but wherever you're watching us from however you're watching us on whatever device we are glad that you are here shout out to the zones on wrong we are so glad that you are here with us this morning do us a favor hit that like button yeah we need you to hit like and then we also need you to hit share because somebody needs the word that is here in this place today and we're going to consecrate this moment in prayer let's go to god lord we love you and we thank you today because you have been better than good to us lord you gave us a reasonable portion of health and strength lord you cloned us in our right minds and you gave us a heart to worship and so we come to the house of worship with a praise on our lips with worship on our minds with a hallelujah in our hearts lord because you are worthy to be praised from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the shame lord from sunday to sunday you kept us you provided for us you kept a roof over our head you protected us from dangers seen and unseen lord you gave us warring angels lord you were offense all around us every day all day and all night angels kept watch over us and so lord it's only right that we would come to the house of worship not to be cute or to be on the record but because you've been good and because you were good and lord because you've been kind we come just to say thank you lord if we had ten thousand tons it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy the goodness and the mercy that god has extended toward us and so we come into the sanctuary prepare to lift up our hands prepare to open up our mouth and prepare to shabbat you as we go higher in the lord and so we say lord have your way we say lord have your way lord show up in a mighty way lord get into the musicians lord lord get into the choir lord stand up in your preacher lord we ask that your spirit will be translated into the digital sphere and lord let somebody after we get finished praying when we get finished when we get finished praying and preaching we want to hear somebody ask lord what must i do what must i do what must i do to be saved this is our prayer this is our expectation and we prayed in the name of jesus through the holy spirit according to your word let the people of god say come on say amen [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] and he can make [Music] jesus jesus made the blind to see [Music] set us free there's so [Music] the sweetest i can tell it wherever [Applause] [Music] so much power in the name of jesus so much power in the name of jesus don't you know that there's power [Music] in the name don't you know that there's power in his lane and the power is the love [Applause] [Applause] today [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he's got the power [Applause] [Music] [Applause] love in the name of jesus [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] power [Music] [Applause] our power [Music] but that's not how the story is he's got power to save give the power to set free he's got power he can fix it with his power whatever you need he's got he's got power sick in your body power you need some money power whatever you need power he can fix it for you with power he's got power thank you for your power we bless you for your power [Applause] [Music] hallelujah there's power wonder work in power in his name let us go to god and prayer god we thank you and praise you for your wonder working power we thank you and praise you for how that power even shows up manifest itself in the blood of jesus christ there's power in the blood power to save us set us free heal us deliver us direct us we thank you for the power of the blood of jesus christ and now god we thank you and praise you that you loved us enough to look beyond our faults and see our needs and so now we gather on this first sunday around this table of communion and commemoration to celebrate what you in love did for us we thank you that your word reminds us afresh that you showed us your love and that while we were yet sinners while we were yet a hot mess jesus died for us and for that we thank you and we praise you that we gather this day online and in the house in the power of the blood that gives us another chance and so in the name of jesus we thank you for his body which was broken his blood which was shared in jesus name amen i hope that you online have your utensils your crackers bread liquid juice whatever it is that reminds you afresh of what happened two thousand years ago the bible says on the very night christ was betrayed he took bread and wine symbols of a sacrifice that was to take place on calvary's cross and said do this in remembrance of me let us now reflect on him remember his sacrifice rejoice in the love of god that all of us baskin lived in there's power in the blood and power in his love let us now take eat the body which is broken for you [Music] and let us now drink the new testament covered of my blood which is shared for you says our lord [Music] let us silently pray now god having experienced afresh what took place on calvary we simply say thank you for loving us for not giving up on us believing in us and giving us another chance thank you now forgive us for our sins give us that same spirit of forgiveness towards those who have wronged us as we have experienced from you fill us with your holy spirit and may our lives reflect the love you have for us as we also extend love for others in jesus name we pray amen and hallelujah please make sure you dispose of the utensils in a way that honors the house of god [Music] so [Music] what [Music] silver or gold [Music] a tragedy [Music] [Music] is set me free [Applause] [Music] i wanna get him free [Music] [Music] [Music] is wow [Applause] [Music] yes [Applause] yes [Music] why can't you make me [Applause] it was amazing [Applause] [Music] that is [Music] [Applause] have you been covered [Applause] [Music] that is [Applause] [Applause] come [Music] [Applause] i'm [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] he keeps me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're healed you're protected is foreign [Music] have you prayed for the protection of your family over your job over your life have you asked for your [Applause] okay say it watched tell the world tell the enemy [Applause] [Applause] out there free from [Music] from [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah yeah thank god for the blood thank god for the blood thank god for the blood hallelujah for the blood blood from day to day it will never ever lose its power because of the blood i'm saved because of the blood i'm set free because of the blood god gave me another chance because of the blood i'm going to be all right because of the blood you're going to be all right because of the blood healing is possible because of the blood deliverance is possible because of the blood you can live your blessed life and it's all because of the blood and guess what the blood ain't going to miss you because the old folks saying it reaches from the highest mountain it flows to the lowest valley the blood that gives us strength from that today it will never ever lose its power anybody know about the blood yay [Music] [Applause] the cause of the blood [Applause] because of the blood yes lord yes lord [Applause] [Music] hey yeah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah praise god with me for our amazing choir y'all on fire thank you thank you thank you so much and praise god we got a new lead soloist in the choir uh pastor david malcolm [Music] [Applause] yeah [Applause] all right we can take him on the road [Music] [Applause] uh i want to begin a new series today uh this is september uh annually we we do a stewardship month in september and so i want to uh in this stewardship month uh used as an overall fame right on the money right on the money got to be right on the money so i want to talk about right on the money uh this month and i want to lift up in this service luke chapter 16. luke chapter 16 [Music] beginning at the first verse we find the words of the text for our message luke chapter 16 beginning at verse 1. i'm going to read in your hearing from the freddie haynes remix of the greek new testament uh don't have it published yet but is on the way uh so so luke chapter 16 beginning at verse 1 it reads jesus told his disciples this story a rich man was living his best life he had made paper accumulated property and possessions malicious charges and false accusations were brought against his estate manager for mismanaging his resources the wealthy landowner called him in and say what is this i've heard about you you're fired and i want an audit of your books the estate manager thought to himself this is horrible what am i going to do i've lost a pretty good job i am no ditch digger i don't have the strength i'm too proud to be reduced to begging i've got a plan to set me up in the future because of the friends i'm going to make right now he extended an invitation to those peasant tenant farmers who were in debt to the wealthy estate owner to discuss their situation and renegotiate the debt he asked the first one how much do you owe he replied i owe him 800 gallons of olive oil the estate manager said hurry up and write down that your bill has been reduced to 400 gallons your state manager asked the next person in line how much are you behind in debt to the absent landowner i owe him a thousand bushels of wheat he responded the estate manager said here take the bill and let's change it to 800 bushels the rich man was impressed and admired the shrewd hustle and money moves of his estate manager that's the point the street smart children of this world have so much more gain than the children of light they think things through and survive by their wits here's the moral of the story money is a means to an end so use what you've got to benefit those who don't have and make friends for yourself in the process then in the end you'll be welcomed with open arms to the eternal home that was good huh yeah i like that uh you may be seated in god's presence i want to put a tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers i want to talk about don't knock my hustle don't knock my hustle my hands are tied is an anguished cry of helplessness in the midst of a threatening crisis a paralyzing or painful predicament where one has concluded that there is little or nothing they can do have you ever felt the paralysis of powerlessness in the face of a problematic predicament you wanted to change it you wanted things to get better but you knew that you didn't have the wherewithal to make it happen it happens to you it has happened to me all of us find ourselves from time to time in this thing called life up against a problematic predicament that causes us to feel that our hands are tied were your hands tied as you stood at the bedside of a loved one as the incurable disease ravaged their body did you feel that your hands were tied when you found yourself in the doctor's office receiving a diagnosis because the test had come back positive and of course for you that was negative a nightmare of negativity if you please and at that moment you felt that your hands were tied every now and then i'm sure you feel your hands are tied as we deal with systems of inequity inequality and injustice that remind us that we are less than and not equal to in a in in a hierarchical system that continuously reminds us of what professor eddie glaude jr referred to as the value gap and that value gap will cause you to feel that your hands are tied pastor our recession several years ago i believe it was 1967 that psychologists did a series of experi of experiments and they came up with what is known as watch this learned helplessness learn the helplessness dr wall is when you have according to psychologists experienced a series of traumatic failures disappointments or events and you found yourself watched this not only disappointed in the outcome but you felt that there was nothing you could do to remedy resolve or rectify the situation and as a consequence you learn helplessness and when you experience learned helplessness whenever you come into a situation that is insufferable whenever you find yourself under the pressure of a predicament where the clock is ticking in the walls of your world are closing in on you learn helplessness kicks in and you immediately conclude that there is nothing you can do because you feel that your hands are tied i'm still not coming through of course i'm in the bible the bible lets us know that down at what tradition calls the red sea moses had extricated and emancipated the enslaved from egypt and the book says that led by yahweh they find themselves don't miss this they find themselves being led into what by what what what what is called a geographical cul-de-sac in that there was what tradition called the red sea in front of them and rising majestic mighty mountains on both sides of them rising apparently kissing the turquoise sky and so with mountains on the side and the barrier of the sea in front of them it's bad enough but then they look in the rear-view mirror only to discover that pharaoh has changed his mind and here comes his army check it they are on foot and harry and pharaoh's army is being driven or they are riding on chariots this is mind-blowing because the odds are overwhelming weight they've been led by god god led them to this code set god led them to what appeared to be a trap their hands are tied and the book lets us know that they cry aloud to moses a cry of anguished helplessness their hands are tied apart here parenthetically because somebody has tuned in or you're in the house and if you're honest with yourself i'm in your kool-aid i've called out your flavor because you found yourself in a predicament precarious no you found yourself in a crisis that is threatening no you find yourself feeling that your hands are tired you want to do something but you feel helpless you want to make a difference but you don't have what it takes to make a difference and when you find yourself up against it and your hands are tied the question is what do you do this happened to a brother by the name of ronnie i read his story and the story was so moving i had to download it on my mental computer and now i'm somatically printing y'all the copy ronnie experienced the situations where his hands were tied first his mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer weight it's not just stage four cancer it's pancreatic cancer and ronnie is feeling helpless as he tries to console and comfort his mother i'm not done he gets to work and discovers that because of restructuring on his job he has experienced what amounts to a demotion and some who he had trained are now the ones he is reporting to and the micro aggressions have continuously added up not to mention that ronnie has had to deal with the structural injustice that lets him know that he is valued in terms of the contribution that he makes but he is not valued in terms of the money that he makes and so ronnie feels that his hands are tied and i parked here parenthetically because god had somebody show up or tune in and the bottom line is you know what it's like to feel that your hands are tied well our sagacious storytelling savior from the streets in the book of in the book of luke shares a series of amazing parables jesus could tell stories jesus told stories with stories i like that you'll catch that later on and as jesus and luke share stories of what the samaritan on the road to jericho who did something that was good as an outsider was a blessing to one who had been beaten in a structure watch this that was designed for that kind of mess wait i'm not done because luke also has the parables of lost and found in the preceding 15th chapter but now in chapter 16 jesus turns from addressing the scribes and pharisees and their hypocrisy to addressing his own disciples bible readers know that jesus is on his way to jerusalem and the book lets us know the clouds of controversy and crucifixion are now gathering and darkening our savior from the streets now lets his disciples know as bad as things are about to get i don't want y'all to feel helpless i don't want you to feel that your hands are tired you better learn how to hustle as a matter of fact jesus now tells this story it's a shocking it's a startling story have you read the story it's mind-blowing let me replay it for you jesus tells the story of one in a situation where he is critiquing by exposing an economic system of exploitation because wealthy land owners were often absentee and they lived high in the hills where the weather was cool and they also watched this would hire estate managers and they engaged in a game of economic exploitation by charging not just rent to peasant farmers but they also would charge interest and the peasant farmers basically paid their bill with whatever they grew and so that was how their bill was paid but it was a system that was designed to watch this for exploitation check out the system it was so designed for exploitation that the wealthy landowner basically entrusted that the estate manager would be responsible not only for collecting from the peasant tenant farmers but the wealthy land owner expected the estate manager to do everything in his power to get something under the table to make sure that he got paid and so you had a system here where the wealthy landowner was already charging exorbitant interest rates it's almost like a payday loan scam it's almost like going to a check cashing store it's almost like going to a car title loan company that's the kind of setup this is but wait it gets worse because the estate manager was the middle person and the middle person if they wanted to get paid they had to skim some off the top and get paid under the table and the ones who were left messed up watch this were the poor tenant peasant farmers and so as a consequence you literally have a set up via a system for exploitation and underhanded sabotage and maneuvering one biblical scholar talks about the weapons of the weak in systems of exploitation in that the weapons of the weak include what sabotage and lying and doing things to ensure that the a wealthy landowner did not continue to exploit them you have a sharecropping system going on right here and that my brothers and sisters makes it bad for all involved except for the wealthy landowner and so you have the have got and the have not you have a wickedly widening wealth gap all of that is going on right here and jesus uses this parable he uses this real life situation to let the people know to let his disciples know y'all don't have to be helpless you don't have to feel that your hands are tied as long as you know how to hustle hustle hustle hustle hard closed mouths don't get fed on this boulevard y'all still not getting it jesus is simply saying you better learn how to hustle quit acting like a doormat and rolling over for situations and people quit playing dumb as if you don't have a mind that you can use to think your way out of the situation you find yourselves in you better learn how to hustle i love this because don't forget the context the disciples are in a situation up against the power of rome and the power here it is of the religious leadership but jesus says your hands are not tied if you know how to hustle i'm still not coming through your hands are not tied if you know how to hustle that's the word right there listen this bless me during the time off i'm reading through the book of job and while reading through the book of job i come to chapter 38 y'all know job's story don't you job's hands are tied in helplessness because he's lost everything and then on top of that folk are talking yin yang to him and they're talking all of this yin yang to job and job the book lets us know is so tired and worn out he wants to call god on the carpet and say to god i want to treat you as a hostile witness in a court of law and look at chapter 38 verse 1 it's enough to shout you by itself it said and then god answered job out of the whirlwind y'all didn't shout i'ma come over here the text says then god answered job out of the storm y'all still didn't get it the bible says a storm was raging and god gave job an answer god spoke to job in the context of a storm and y'all it dawned on me that's exactly what god knows how to do when your situation is stormy when life has gone real bad on you god says that ain't no time to give up and act like your hands are tired because i specialize in using storms as my microphone preach freddie haynes i specialize in using the hell you're going through as a microphone to get a revelation to you about how you can navigate and negotiate what you're going through i will answer you out of your storm is there anybody who can say that's my testimony it's while i've been going through that god got a word to me and so john or whoever wrote the book of revelation the bible says it's banished on the isle of patmos but john says i was in the spirit on the lord's day while banished on happiness sentenced to death but god gave me a revelation while i was on patmos and while i was sentenced i'm trying to let somebody know god is trying to tell you something i'm letting somebody know god is speaking to you even in the midst of what you're going through [Applause] okay okay all right god is saying in the midst of hell and hardship don't knock the hustle okay in the midst of what you're going through god wants you to get your hustle on hustle don't knock the hustle what does it mean i'm almost done the text says when you when you don't knock the hustle is because you recognize and i love this right here you recognize that god has a way of of of letting you know it starts in your mind and then their strength in makeshift that gives you a sagacious message that's where i'm going it starts in the mind don't you love the text jesus said as soon as the steward the estate manager learned that he had been fired the text says he thought to himself that's hot uh he thought to himself he had a meeting of his mind no a meeting in his mind with himself because every now and then when you can't talk to anyone else you better have a conversation with yourself you need to have a meeting in your mind and when you have a meeting in your mind look what the text says the text says that the brother thought to himself and did a self-assessment he said i'm too weak to dig ditches i'm too proud to beg and so i can't do any one of those things and out of that he came up with a plan but it all started with his thinking it all started with his mind and i'm trying to let someone know that no matter what may happen to you god says as long as you retain the power of your mind there is something about your mind that gives you strength in the midst of stress there is something about your mind y'all think i'm making this up that will give you peace when you're under pressure there's something about your mind that will get hold on to joy in the midst of jeopardy there is something about your mind that will give you assurance in the midst of adversity there's something about your mind that will let you know you're blessed in the midst of brokenness there's something about your mind that will keep you cool in the midst of chaos there's something about your mind that will let you know you can be delivered in the midst of your danger is something about your mind that basically says god ain't gonna take you out of the situation god can deliver you in the midst of your situation god can keep you together when your world is falling apart as long as you keep your mind right yeah that's it that's it when life goes wrong keep your mind right y'all we need that we need that because this thing is going wrong we in texas with a crazy governor who is evil and mean-spirited this thing is going wrong because sadly you have those who are in power who are all about power and as a consequence their theme is if i can't run it i'm going to ruin it if i can't control it i'm going to create chaos around it that's the mindset and as a consequence the president is on point democracy is in trouble democracy is in intensive care this thing is looking real bad do you not know a few weeks ago that civil war was trending on social media because there were those who find themselves so caught up in trump's uh assurance that they cannot get themselves to believe that somebody can run this country other than donald trump y'all to catch that later on i'ma say it one more time for this slow they are so up in his ass assurance that he should be the president of the country that they're doing everything including setting the stage for civil war civil war civil war i'm hanging out there civil war whose side you on civil war are you ready civil war our communities are unhealthy unprotected and the nation is unhinged what do you do get your mind right the text says he thought to himself and there's something powerful about your mind jesus told his disciples behold i'm about to send y'all forth as sheep in the midst of wolves you already know sheep to wolves the odds are overwhelming the sheep are underdogs the wolves are destined to win a fight with sheep and wolves but jesus said but you chill out be of good sheer because you are to be wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove y'all miss your shout right there jesus is basically saying you make sure you hold on to the power of your mind that's why paul could write christians in rome and simply put it like this be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind do you know everything going on as there were those who are trying to hijack education it's because they want to steal your mind they want to control your mind that's why carter woodson wrote about the miseducation of the negro and now we're going through the miseducation of the nation because the nation that is becoming stupid to its history because if you control the past you control the present if you control the present you're going to control the future and that's why they're trying to miseducate us but i'm here to say when you know god for yourself god gives you power in your mind [Applause] you know what uh isaac is the sagacious afric sage and african storyteller he told the story about this this land animal a turtle and this turtle watch this looks up and beholds in a tree a bird that has some bread in its mouth and the turtle looks up and says oh my god what a beautiful bird that is with amazing feathers i wonder who painted the feathers on that bird and that bird opened up its mouth and the bird said i am responsible for the feathers on my body and the moment it opens its mouth the bread fell from the bird's mouth to the ground where the turtle was because the bird opened up its mouth even though it was up here the turtle who was down there esop's message is even when folk are up there if you have the width of your mind you can talk them out of the privilege they think they have over you is there anybody here who knows we serve a god who will put power in your mind wisdom in your mind and give you what you need to get through what it is you are going through the text says he thought to himself that that there's a subaru commercial and and uncle 10 4 remind me y'all used to have a subaru and this subaru commercial is crazy because the subaru it it's on a highway and suddenly it turns off the highway and it's going through rugged and rough terrain the terrain is rugged and the terrain is rough and then the narrator says about the subaru it says subaru designed from within stop right there because the shell is the subaru says i can handle smooth roads i can handle rocky roads because i've been designed from within the one who made me let me know i can make it because i can handle the rough terrain not because of what's outside but because i'm designed from within i don't care how well you dress god made you not from the outside god designed you from within and when god designs you from within you can handle the rough road hold on it starts in the mine but then there's the sense to makeshift makeshift m-a-k-e-s-h-i-f-t in case you were concerned makeshift look it up i did this week and the word makeshift is it's a killer the word makeshift has to matter of fact what i want to do is share share a line that really inspired me because it's not it didn't even come from me but this line came from nipsy hustle nifty hustle was so cold he said black owners in this game of powerful racists young n words in the set that's doing it makeshift makeshift makeshift hustle is saying is something that is done using whatever is available when you find yourself in an emergency it simply means i don't have a whole lot but little becomes much when you place it in the right hands and so i'm going to make do and make shift out of a miserable situation and i guess that's what i'm trying to say to somebody today and that is we've got to have the sense of our ancestors our ancestors didn't always have a whole lot but guess what they built black colleges by pooling their pennies our ancestors didn't have a whole lot but they did build black wall street our ancestors didn't have a whole lot but they built communities because they knew how to take the scraps of leftovers and converted into a gourmet meal and i think that's what i'm trying to say faith can take the scraps that life leaves you and transform it into a gourmet meal where god allows you to fulfill your purpose and live a life of fulfillment i'm trying to let somebody know that the good news of the day is you can have the sense to make shift what did the what did the estate manager do the stewards said you know what i'm gonna do i can't dig ditches i'm too proud to beg i love that right there and so what i'm going to do i'm going to call in the folk who are in debt to the owner and i'm going to cut their debt he calls them in one by one how much do you owe and they say we owe this he says we'll cut it to that and the text lets us know when the wealthy landowner found out what happened he said o m to the jesus i gotta give you props for this because what you did was smart you made do with makeshift you made do with what you had left over and now my hands are tired because if i tell them it's a lie they gonna get mad at me and i'm going to lose their good favor if i go along with it that simply means i gotta cut my losses but i'm still the wealthy landowner and so since you put me in this predicament i can't do anything but go along with you because the landowner was saying i had the best hand but still lost watch this watch this uh what was it uh church anniversary church anniversary was hilarious because we had such a good time out under the awning out there and then playing basketball over here and i showed y'all i'm chef curry and and and then check this but when i came back and we had water balloon fights and i said it was a lot of fun but here's what happened i come back when i came back under the awning there were a lot of card games and domino games and y'all we got some members here i i prayed i prayed so bad i prayed so much for y'all afterwards because they talk some i mean i mean they they highly talk they ali talk and so i go by one table where they're playing dominoes and so one brother name escapes me right now but one brother is talking big smack and so i go behind him to check his hand and i said how you feel about your hand he said i always feel good about my hand i said okay if you say so he said because what do you do when you have a bad hand i said i don't know what do you do when you have a bad hand he said make sure your bad hand is in a thinking hand because if your bad hand is in a thinking hand it's always the right hand and then he threw down the bone and said bam and y'all do you know the brother won the game with the hand that looked real bad it looked real pitiful but he still won the game because he in essence said even with a bad hand i know how to make do and make and when i make do and makeshift i can pull something good out of something bad it dawned on me that when you know god for yourself every now and then life gives you a bad hand i think kendrick lamar puts it like this for generations we've been dealt bad hands with bad plans and kendrick is right about that but every time we had a bad hand look what we did with that bad hand they gave us slavery and we produced the spirituals they gave us jim and jane pro segregation and we produced the harlem renaissance and black wall street the more they gave us bad the more good we produced charles adams helped me out right quick they gave us hell and we produced harvard uh we produced howard they gave us pain and we produced paul quinn they gave us danger and we produced dillard they gave us brokenness and we still produce bishop college whatever they gave us we produced something good out of it they gave us the blues and we put rhythm in front of it and now you got rhythm and blues they gave us hardship and hell and we produce hip hop why because when they give you a bad hand if you still have a thinking hand your bad hand can overcome other hands and i'm trying to let somebody know don't you give up right now you keep your head up you keep your head thinking and make do and make shift [Applause] because the sagacious message the moral of the story is i love it and i'm done and that is money is a means to an end and not an end in and of itself and so you must have a worthy end that you apply to the monetary means and the worthy end always makes friends for you in the future how do you make friends in the future look what the uh state manager did the stewards said i'm going to help those who are suffering i'm going to help those who are in debt that way if this firing goes through what's going to happen is i've got a place to stay in the future i've got a place to stay because i bless those who did not have i blessed those who were in debt i'm done but that's my word to someone who is tuned in or you're in the house and that is god is so good the bible says when you give to the poor you are lending to the lord whenever you bless those who can't do for themselves you're not just blessing them you're blessing god and god says if you give to those who don't have i'm going to be in your debt i like being in god's debt because i know that god is my supplier and since god is my supplier i ain't tripping on my supplies that's good right there if god is your supplier you ain't got a trip on the supply ying because god is never delinquent on support god always comes through god always makes a way god will take care of you god will see you through oh i know i know that's why i love y'all i missed y'all and y'all still got it because y'all ready to shout the celebration is about to jump off but y'all say hold on what about ronnie ronnie his mom had cancer ronnie is faithful in church ronnie catching hell on his job is that all ronnie is left with in your story pastor you said it was powerful and you downloaded it but you left us hanging with ronnie here it is and i'm done story concludes like this ronnie my sisters and brothers faithful member of his church that sunday goes to church and when he gets to church it's almost as if everything in the worship was tailored for him and his situation is there anybody who can relate to that have you ever gone to church and while in church the praise team sang your song while in church the choir minister to you in a very personal way almost as if no one else was there and then on top of that the preacher gets up and preaches a message and you swear somebody told the preacher what it is you were dealing with and going through anybody ever had that experience i'm just letting you know god has god's eye on you god knows what you're going through god knows what you're up against and god has a way of setting you up when life goes wrong to experience the right word and get the right praise at just the right time to keep you going and let you know you're not in this thing by yourself ronnie gets to church church is like that but the song that got him was god will take care of you god will see you through ronnie at the time of the invitation goes down tells the pastor pastor you gotta know that my mama has stage four cancer she tells ronnie ronnie we gonna pray right now because cancer ain't bigger than god and the next thing you know she got down on her knees and prayed and that pastor prayed until heaven came down that pastor prayed until ronnie knew earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal that pastor prayed until the choir broke out what a friend we have in jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege it is to carry everything to god in prayer the choir is happy ronnie is happy the church is happy and then ronnie decides it's time to go check on mama he drives to mama's house and mama is up fixing dinner he says mama shouldn't you be in bed the doctor has you on bed rest mama said ronnie i don't know what happened about an hour ago something in me felt like it passed out of my body i feel like i'm gonna be all right right now an hour ago ronnie said that's when pastor prayed for you and when pastor prayed for you i began to sing i've got a feeling everything's gonna be all right and mama said the holy ghost told me everything's gonna be all right i'm done and then ronnie said well thank you jesus but mama i'm concerned about you she said don't worry the next day drives mama to the doctor they run tests and the doctor said we got to run some more tests later this week because something is strained here i can't find what was there left two weeks ago i can't find it no more we gonna run some tests and mama said you want all the text you want to i serve a god who's the great physician and god made a way out of no way ronnie testified he's driving back home and has one of those moments brothers you get this but he can't help but he's got to use the bathroom and so he stops at a funeral home and he runs in the funeral home and there's a picture of the deceased that's in the particular parlor and ronnie bowes pays his respects sees no one's name on the guest list signs his name leaves his address and number goes to use the bathroom and then ronnie gets in his car and leaves only to discover a week later his phone rings and the estate person or the estate attorney says listen your name is ronnie such and such he said yes it is then you come to the funeral of so and so well no but i did stop by and pay my respects while using the bathroom i felt it was the least i could do he said well this young man had no friends and he had no family left and his father made up in his will that when the son died whoever attended the funeral would be evidence that the son was really someone that was loved by them and so even though you didn't know the son the good news is you acted like you knew the son and because of your relationship with the son listen there's nothing no one else to receive the estate and so it's the will of the father who preceded the son in death that whoever showed up for the sun is going to get everything that was left for the son by the father i don't think i said that right because that's a shout right there the wheel said the father said whoever shows up for the sun if you show up for the sun the good news is the father said you did everything that the son had y'all gonna catch this in just a moment if you show up for the sun the father has wielded you did everything that the son had undone but is there anybody who keeps showing up for the sun if you show up for the sun the good news is god says i'm leaving you everything that's for my son you have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places it's from my son my son gives you grace my son gives you peace my son gives you joy my son gives you love my son gives you freedom my son gives you a blessing it's all for my son and because you showed up for my son you get everything meant for the son listen don't knock my hustle i serve a god who puts it like this god says don't allow those who hustle after evil to out-hustle you doing good get your hustle on i know you go to church but get your hustle off i know you love jesus but get your hustle on hustle hustle hustle hustle hard closed mouths don't get fed on this boulevard [Applause] [Music] listen every head about every eye clothes god thank you for the power of your word that comes to us even out of the whirlwind god right now our world is in a whirlwind planet burning nation in a nightmare of division hostility white savagery dysfunction economically in our community the whirlwind is raging but i thank you that you speak to us out of the whirlwind right now god i pray i pray your blessings upon everyone caught up in a situation that has left them filling their hands are tied god in the name of jesus empower them with hustle in the name of jesus give them the strength to do all they can and then you go ahead and do what they can't but god speak to them [Music] out of their whirlwind speak to them in the midst of the situation they find themselves then speak lord speak lord speak in such a way that the lost are saved speak in such a way that those who you will to connect with your church come running giving their lives to you and their fellowship to the church speak in such a way they oh god no longer feel their hands are tied but that their hands are transformational in jesus name as christians continue to pray if you've tuned in and you're ready to give your life to jesus christ if you've tuned in and you want to know this lord who speaks out of your storm who speaks to you in the midst of your storm and gives you the the hope to hustle the strength to be street savvy if if you want to know this savior dial that number 469-498-0210 or your deal is this i want to join this church i'm filling this worship dial that number 49 469-498-0210 we'd be happy to have you i'd love to serve as your pastor hobot has allowed us to do it where we are friendship west wherever and everywhere so won't you dial that number right now 469-498-0210 or you're in the house glad to see you in the house listen here's the good news you're here are you ready to give your life to jesus christ you're here you're tired of feeling lost lost in yourself lost in your sins lost in your mistakes lost in your bad choices lost in systems lost just lost don't you don't don't don't you want liberation from lostness deliverance from yourself listen because self will make you get in your own way but jesus will save you even from you save you from lostness save you from anything that keeps you from being the you that god wants you to become and so if you're here you're not saved you're here ready to give your life to jesus christ here's what you do stand up step out of the eye you're in come on down front give your life to jesus christ don't wait hesitate or vacillate do it right now god is speaking god's spirit is moving you came to church you're not here by accident god planned it so since you're here stand up step out come on down give your life to jesus christ i see y'all coming that is fire right there bless your heart bless your heart bless your heart that's a beautiful thing you know why that excites me because that literally sets you free because some of y'all are sitting in the balcony in the risers or main floor and your thing was this i want to go but i don't want to be the first one to go and so god touched them and now you ain't even got no excuse you know it's the right thing to do so here's what you do stand up step out come on down give your life to jesus join church do it right now preacher here's my deal in all honesty i got the first part right but i feel led to join this church you want to join this church we'd love to have you i'd love to serve as your pastor you're ready to join church here's what you do stand up step out come on down and join church preacher i just moved to dallas fort worth from another area i got a church home back there but now i work here go to school here i i don't have a church home here listen we'd love to have you i'd love to serve as your pastor stand up step out come on down and join church or preacher i used to go to church i stopped going i think i need to get back in church you got that right stand up step out come on down and let's get back in church preacher here's my deal in all honesty i feel like you ain't really got to go to church to be a christian i got it you really don't have to go to church to be a christian but the bible lets us know the church is the body of christ christ is the head of the body that means we operate best in connection connection that's all we're saying connection and don't you want to feel connected life is hard enough when you move through it connected imagine how hard it is when you are disconnected christ left a community a fellowship we discover our identity and possibility in the context of community you need community so here's what you do stand up step out come on down join church let's do it today i see you coming bless your heart somebody else come on let's do it right now here's here it is here's your signal we're getting ready to all stand when we stand that's your cue don't wait hesitate vacillate stand up step out come on down give your life to christ and join church y'all ready let's do it shall we stand and won't you come right now come on [Music] [Applause] wow [Applause] yes [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] all right y'all do the uh rest of it right all right all right thank you listen let's welcome home our new family members welcome we are so glad to have you welcome home god bless you god bless you let me pray for you guys thank you so much for new life in christ for new possibilities thank you for the gift of community in church i pray your blessings now upon these your children god afresh connect them with you grant them healing where there is brokenness freedom where there is bondage connection with your church use us as their family to love on them build them up where the world has tried to tear them down may they experience a sense of purpose and new possibility in jesus name amen and god bless you welcome home welcome home please go with our ministers they're gonna minister to you in a private area okay thank you so much come on y'all let's go up to my new family members home amen all right all right be seated right quick okay i want to share this with you you're such an amazing congregation what's up zip you're such an amazing congregation i love you so much and i appreciate the fact that i can just trust that uh you gonna come through so you know what's happening in jackson mississippi it's real jacked up and so i know people on the ground in jackson and uh so i said listen what can we do and so i talked to pastor tony montgomery greater saint james baptist church in uh jackson and he said man we need water we need bottles of water and so i said okay cool and listen deb and i are off on vacation chilling and joining so i make a few phone calls back here and we sent to jackson ten thousand dollars worth of water we sent that we sent that we sent that and and they gave it out yesterday and i'm gonna get the video to snoop so they can show it because they were just happy calling friendship west friendship west in jackson in jackson calling friendship west friendship west and so uh it was real funny because uh i didn't call vita uh who's my ceo i called uh cornell and i called uh a globe and flow in uh our health human services i called vita because i didn't want to know what the money situation was uh because i know when i'm gone that uh some of us take vacation uh financially uh and physically and so i said i can't call vita cause she's gonna hurt my feelings and so i'm just gonna do this by faith and we're gonna pay this money and and then i'm gonna come to church sunday and ask y'all to pay for it okay so so so cause we wrote a check uh for that money and we want to make sure it's clear so uh so uh so uh so so we got we got that to them now here's the deal i talked last night to the president of state convention state baptist convention in mississippi and he gave me even more details i'm saying you know this is a justice issue and if y'all need me to come you know i'm there uh and we will raise some hell in jackson uh and so uh he said pastor uh yeah we do need that but in the meantime uh we got to keep we we need water because we're going to be in this predicament for the next two to three months the water is so bad david suggested that they get water filters and we're going to buy some filters for them like we did up in uh flint and he said the experts in jackson say the water is so bad they don't know if filters will work now how jacked is that how jacked is that so so here's the deal uh we're gonna keep buying water i'm i'm also connecting jackie thompson called me yesterday what are we gonna do for jackson and so i said we're gonna do something and so that's why i went to i'm making all them calls and so we're gonna do all we can to help jackson i'm asking you friendship west i'd like to send some more water okay i'd like to send some more water uh because there tomorrow they're gonna take water to the senior citizens homes to schools and to churches and to areas where people don't have transportation okay and so i'd like to make sure they have the water necessary now now now now please i'm i'm asking you because jesus said we got to make friends in the future by doing right now for those who do not have this is an opportunity for us to make friends in the future for our eternal home and so i'm gonna be talking uh i read to the uh dallas uh black clergy so that we can do something big together uh because we y'all jackson is 80 black and you know that's the state of mississippi as beautiful as it is when you look at the uh topography uh ugly policies keep that state with texas last in everything okay that that's a structural systemic issue that has got to be addressed and so uh we're looking at ways to address that but in the meantime i need you all in a big way to give today to tithe off the top i need you in a big way to say okay on top of the tide i want to give and i'm asking everyone to give think because what we sent i think we sent like 60 i forgot we sent a lot okay we sent a whole lot we sent a 18 wheeler full of water okay bottled water i want to send some more 18 wheelers there okay here's what's jacked up i've talked to pastor buckley last night pastor buckley said this he said pastor the funny thing is you all are real concerned and we appreciate that but we've been dealing with this a long time this ain't even the first time we've had this crisis he said this is the first time we've got national attention about this crisis but we've been dealing with this so our state convention we own an 18-wheeler we're about to get some forklifts because we're gonna need to help with the water we're gonna get the water deliver the water but we need forklifts and we need people to work the forklifts not volunteers so we want to pay them so we need money so friendship west you know what we do i'm asking you to make good oh what we what we what we already sent and let's do something for the future and i'm asking us to tithe okay will you help me with that please if you're online if you're online here's what you do here's what you do uh you can text to give you see right there you text to give you can also giblify app download the giveaway app search our friendship west you can give via friendshipwest.org and the fwbc app there's also the qr code scan it and give through that vehicle here's what i'm actually to do peter what should i say about uh how do they get from mississippi a tab that says special offering okay now please on the tab that says special offering that's what everything you give to that is going to mississippi okay but i'm also ask you to give everything you didn't give last month and allow it to collect interest okay allow it to collect some interest that'd be on your tithe and then the mississippi offering okay i'm sorry for taking all this time but i really am asking us to be a blessing let's do what friendship west does okay let's be who friendship west is and then y'all next sunday i have a huge announcement man i i want to announce it right now but i can't do it i can't do it i can't do it so i'm not going to do it i'm gonna wait till next sunday okay i'm not gonna be like my daughter and just spill everything out my daughter can't hold water i'ma hold water right now okay so uh so it's offering time [Applause] some of y'all just kind of sat there after all that i just shared i need a little excitement i'm do it one more time it's offering time all right all right so please prepare your gifts and let's give lovingly and uh also next sunday we're gonna do some real fun uh with the sisters jumping rope that's next sunday after church so be ready to jump rope sisters okay that's next sunday also i want to recognize and thank god for the members of the harrison family reunion who are worshiping with us today from chicago the show and mississippi this is the family of our amazing longtime member my girl who i went to bishop with penny petry is a member of the harrison family where's your family where's your family stand up i see your hat penny it's beautiful listen y'all welcome we glad to have y'all i see you in the balcony that's what's up that's what's up listen we glad to have y'all welcome welcome we love us some penny okay that's my girl we went to uh school together penny harrison i heard that name in a long time good to see penny you are wearing the mess out of that hat okay that is clean all right choir man y'all did y'all thank you thank you all right i missed y'all and i forgot to when i got up you know what i forgot to do i've got to do this where's my organist uh no jay-z allow me to reintroduce myself my name is [Music] thank you thank you thank you y'all will not let me go until we do birthdays and anniversaries because we cannot mess up september this is september the roses september september if you were born in september would you stand up right now september birthday it's your birthday it's your birthday we're gonna praise them like it's your birthday happy birthday september did you get married in september do you remember september please stand if you got married in september september happy anniversary let me pray for you god bless in a special way your september babies bless in a special way september marriages in jesus name grant them healing where there's brokenness in jesus name grant them strength where there is weakness in jesus name make this this ahead year

Channel: Friendship-West Baptist Church

Views: 773

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Id: h2uDnQYTEu4

Length: 97min 58sec (5878 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 09 2022