FBCEP Worship Service 09.26.2021

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] good morning first baptists and welcome we welcome those of you worshiping here in the sanctuary and all of the viewers worshiping with us virtually to this very special day in the life of this church today the members of first baptist church east point celebrate the 133rd anniversary of our church for more than a century first baptist church east point defined by the distinctive gravestone building on the corner of east point street and thompson avenue has been an imposing presence in the city of east point georgia first baptist church of east point was constituted as a church on may 5th 1889 only two years after the city of east point was established how our membership became first baptist church of east point is a story of the lord's faithfulness and love for a group of believers in the early 2000s a newly organized church which called itself the fellowship group was in need of a permanent church home dr emmanuel l mccall senior retired pastor of christian fellowship baptist church college park georgia and a member of the fellowship group contacted the pastor of first baptist church who was a former seminary classmate regarding the possibility of the fellowship group sharing its facilities guided by the servant leadership of dr mccall our interim pastor and other fellowship group leaders the church engaged in discussions with first baptists and a partnership was arranged beginning in 2006 and for subsequent years the officially constituted fellowship group baptist church worshipped here in first baptist church of east points facilities in 2009 a covenant agreement approved by first baptist church of east point expressed their desire to leave the entire facility to our former church the fellowship group baptist church as a gift years later in april 2014 after first baptist church of east point experienced a great decline in membership the members ended their ministry and the occupancy of the facility at that time the church was celebrating 125 years of service to the mission of christ in june 2014 the fellowship group baptist church voted to change its name and become first baptist church east point two years later in april 2006 our pastor at the time reverend montel a crawford resigned with dr mccall as interim pastor again the church voted to empower a new group of leaders who would comprise a discernment committee which would contact conduct the search for our new pastor after the committee completed its work a pastoral call meeting was held and in august 2019 reverend kamu i welcher was voted our next pastor originally from august augusta georgia reverend welcher is a laude graduate of morehouse college a graduate of emory university's candler school of theology and the former executive pastor of green forest community baptist church in decatur georgia during the pandemic reverend welch's laudable leadership has led our church to continue to serve the lord through virtual prayer virtual sunday morning and wednesday evening bible study and sunday morning virtual worship services also members continued to fellowship through our deacons family ministry gatherings engaged in missions outreach opportunities and participated in the distribution of homeless survival kits for those in need in the community our youth and young adults joined together in numerous activities including vacation bible school in january 2021 our church began a year-long bible reading plan to read the new testament and joined with visionaries spanning all 50 states to participate in the 40-50 project 40 days of fasting in all 50 states designed to address systemic racism our theme for this anniversary celebration is nothing can separate us taken from romans 8 35-38 through our long rich history the lord has been with us and he continues to guide and direct us even during this pandemic psalms 127 1 tells us that unless the lord builds the house its builders labor in vain unless the lord watches over the city the watchmen stand guard in vain as kingdom builders god has allowed our needs to be met and granted us the desires of our hearts we have faced many difficulties over the years individually and collectively as a church we have been separated by the departure of loved ones by false doctrines and worldly interests by attacks of the enemy and more recently by covet 19. nevertheless in spite of everything god has blessed each of us with his loving kindness and tender mercies and he has caused the ones of us who started this journey together and who still remain to be inseparable and able to declare today like paul in romans 8 30 5-38 that nothing shall separate us from the love of god in christ jesus we thank god for allowing us to celebrate this anniversary and we pray that he will bless us to continue to make church history in his name [Music] [Music] good morning first baptist family and happy anniversary it's great to see all of these smiling masked faces in front of me and yes i can see you smiling through the mask i ask that you uh take a little bit of time and pray with me this morning please bow your heads dear lord thank you for creating this beautiful day and thank you for allowing us all to see it we understand that without you there is no us we thank you for your grace and your mercy through all that we do and we thank you for all of your blessings that you've bestowed upon us in a time of half truths and misinformation we understand that the one undeniable truth comes from you understand and we recognize that it's because of you that we're here [Music] we also understand that in a time of false idols and fights idolatry that you are the one true god [Music] on this day of anniversary through the pomp and circumstance we understand that we are all here we are here to praise and to serve you we thank you we love you and we appreciate everything you do in your name we pray amen [Music] [Music] to the burden [Music] there's a place of rest that you can come into [Applause] heavy laden don't keep waiting hear the tender voice that's calling out to you [Music] later peace [Music] [Music] to the fallen he is calling and he says there's nothing that his life to cannot broken he has spoken let him pick you up and give your strength again [Music] later and i will give you rest peace [Music] take my yoke upon [Music] i is easy and late he weary says heavy laden and i will give you rest and i will give you [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Music] do [Music] greetings first baptist church please join your fbcep family via computer or by phone for our powerful virtual prayer and bible study you can join us by phone at 301 715 715-8592 or by zoom with the meeting id number 939-8191-2054 with the passcode 962133 you can find the zoom link on first baptist church east point website let's love learn and grow together congregational prayer is moving from monday morning at 7 00 a.m to tuesday at 12 noon we have a lot to be thankful for the phone number and access are the same but our meeting time has changed join us for tuesday noon congregational prayer our sunday morning bible study is fully virtual log in from 9 45 a.m to 10 45 a.m sunday morning to deepen our relationship with the lord and with one another go to firstbaptistchurcheastpoint.org for additional details and login information we need your fateful generosity luke 6 38 reads give and it will be given to you a good measure press down shaken together and running over will be poured into your lab for with the measure you use it will be measured to you we are able to serve faithfully because you are so faithful we have four convenient ways for you to share a financial gift and support the ministry of the lord your first way to give is to text to give for any cell phone text fbcep27325 and follow the prompts your second way to give is by mail you may mail or drop off your contribution to the address below your third way to give is by paypal click the paypal gift button on our website firstbaptistchurcheastpoint.org and your last way to give is by cash app type in cash tag dollar sign s-b-c-e-p-g-a we are ready to connect with you and we are excited about what god has for us go to firstbaptistchurcheastpoint.org and click the blue connect with us button we're looking forward to it [Music] good morning first baptist friends and visitors and happy anniversary we have just a couple of items we'd like to give emphasis to this morning our journey together through the new testament is continuing throughout 2021 and for this week our scheduled reading is second corinthians chapter 13 through galatians chapter four again this week's new testament reading second corinthians chapter 13 through galatians chapter four as many of you are aware our sanctuary is again open for in-person worship we are continuing to practice safety precautions including wearing masks socially distancing and there are hand sanitizing stations throughout the facility if you would like to come for in-person worship the only ask is that you please be fully vaccinated the deacons council and worship and arts council several weeks ago established a rotation of ministries throughout first baptist to ensure that all of our members have opportunities to worship in person today worshiping here in the sanctuary are members of the facilities council the facilities council is led by sister aina sherman what all members of facilities who are worshiping here today please stand [Music] in just a few moments we'll see a special presentation regarding the ongoing work and all of the efforts of the facilities council those are the items we wanted to give emphasis to this morning pastor welcher will likely have additional items to share with you be blessed and stay safe [Music] hey amen amen amen good morning family oh do you know what today is it's our anniversary amen amen now y'all stay in the spirit amen amen i ought to be able to recognize when god has done a good job you ought to be able to recognize when god has brought you through hills and valleys you ought to be able to get up on sunday uh-huh and not think that it was you that gave yourself that breath [Music] this morning family i want to pause to thank you thank you for your faithfulness thank you for showing up in 50 new ways and doing church like we never have before thank you for wrestling with mute buttons and and downloading go to meeting and as soon as you figured it out switching over to zoom and as soon as you figured it out going back to calling for thank you for dealing with all manner of unknowns to make sure we still keep serving the lord thank you for being faithful to give into god's house through ups and downs so that we've not had to cut off any of our staff haven't had missed a day of our food and our donation thank you that we're still doing the building upgrades we need so we can be safe when we return to full capacity thank you i thank god because what that means is god's been working on the members of this house since before we were even members of the same house faithfulness comes out after a while by and by and this morning i want to really just reiterate the the deal with this scripture i was if god is for us who can be against us young folk if if you're if you're entering thinking about going into marriage if you're thinking about a long-term relationship the old heads will tell you uh-huh it's not the happy pretty days when the bubbles are in your stomach that let you know you're gonna make it [Music] it's it's going through some hard times together getting some stripes together that's why you know your mama love you you know all you did that your mama put up with and she still kept loving you anyhow i thank you because realistically nothing will break apart what god has brought together the the blessings of this house this house looks very different than it did 133 years ago [Music] the meetings going on in the basement of this church are very different than the ones that were going on 120 years ago the bodies that we've been baptizing in this pool look on the outside different but god says they're all his children in the name of the lord god demonstrates faithfulness even across where we think there's division where we think there's no manner of reconciliation god is and will continue to be and i want to declare now the best days are yet to come i thank god for the servants in this house that have been blessing us from generation to generation sister mccall pastor mccall god bless you in the name of the lord to all of our members who've had loved ones who graduated over the last year the two bless you and your house in the name of the lord we didn't do this on our own god has been blessing us ever since but through any season i i want to declare god has shown he'll never leave us nor forsake us so we need to show we'll never leave nor forsake one another so whether we've got the park in the front yard and pull out lawn chairs and and be 18 feet apart while we smile at each other and tell jokes or put the game up on a big screen and all sit on different sides of the room and talk trash across the room about the new orleans saints and how they ain't whatever we got to do to keep loving each other we're going to do it because nothing will separate us from the love of the lord or from loving one another amen amen amen y'all pray with me this morning lord thank you thank you for 133 years and more of faithful faithful covering thank you for redeeming the time thank you for uh washing away sins even of this house in jesus name we confess any things that were taught or preached in the 100 133 years of history of this church that did not align with your perfect will for this world we confess any division or or any hatred that was ever uh taught in the name of your in your name lord we confess it we repent from it and we preach unity we preach love we preach acceptance we preach understanding we preach reconciliation we declare that nothing will separate us from you or one another in the name of jesus we confess every way that we've fallen short of your will for our life every sin of omission or commission and now lord we ask for revival we ask for renewed passion we ask for renewed dedication we ask for renewed discipline we ask for renewed commitment to doing all of the things you've called us to do thank you for ingenuity thank you for new ideas thank you for new ways of loving and being a church family that go beyond what we've ever imagined we bless you lord we give this house back to you we give glory to your name we thank you and we praise you thank you for 133 more years of faithful loving faithful giving faithful service in jesus name we pray amen amen [Music] all right [Music] i really don't have much to say everything has been said our anniversary 133 years [Music] there was only one thing i can halfway add to it we've been tasked besides i'm offering to give for the anniversary to give 133 dollars you know we don't have to do it all at once we can add it on month by month until we complete completed i know we gonna i know we're gonna accomplish this [Music] medicaid chapter 3 verse 10 bring the whole tides into the storehouse that there may be food in my house test me in this says the lord god almighty and see if i would not open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it thank you lord yes we thank you lord at this time let's pray oh lord we thank you for your stand fast love and mercy on us father we believe that every word in the bible was breathed out by you that we believe your promise that you will bless us when we are obedient to your word and so without haste we gladly give to you what is yours bless this tithes and often we love you lord amen [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning first baptist church of east point my name is aina sherman the co-manager of the facilities and grounds council progress in the midst of peril for the past 133 years first baptist church of east point has not only been a landmark in downtown east point but also a beacon of hope at the corner of east point street and thompson avenue and doing research and preparing this presentation i began to see parallels between what is going on today with the spread of the covet 19 virus and what was going on some 32 years after the church was organized and when the actual church building was erected in 1922 the spanish flu pandemic which was once considered the worst global pandemic occurred from february of 1918 to april of 1920. nowadays with advanced building techniques it takes about two to three years to construct large buildings so i would suspect a church of this size being built back in the early 1900s was obviously under construction during that time i can only imagine that the surrounding community had to have been faced with trouble hardship famine and peril and looked to this church as a place where people could come together to praise and worship god for what he had brought them through a place where people could fellowship and interact with other brothers and sisters in christ and a place where the needs of so many that had fallen or hard times could be met today we are in a unique position to continue to be that beacon of hope despite of the danger and peril we are currently experiencing the theme scripture for our church anniversary comes from romans chapter 8 verse 35 which reads who and if i may paraphrase what shall separate us from the love of christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sworn despite all of the challenges we have been through over the past year and a half we have not allowed the circumstances we are currently experiencing hinder us from making progress at our church although some things may not be moving as quickly as expected we have made progress as the pandemic prayerfully is coming to a close we need to continue making progress so the church building will be in good condition to meet the needs of those who want physical and spiritual help because of your faithful giving facilities and grounds has been able to have technology integrated into the facility by adding wi-fi as well as cameras and tv monitors to enhance the ability to live stream our weekly church services over the internet and to be able to hold virtual sunday morning and wednesday evening bible study and church conferences to name a few we have also been able to replace and repair the roof to allow for the preparation of interior renovations such as repairing the balcony that will allow for members to have even more areas to practice social distancing when we return to church service lastly architectural drawings have been prepared for renovating and adding new bathrooms to provide additional places where hands can be washed to make sure that we are able to stay clean and safe in conclusion there are several accounts in the bible and second kings and chronicles as well as in the books of ezra and numbers or the instructions were given to repair or rebuild the temple of the lord and to celebrate after the repairs and rebuilding have been done what a perfect day on our 133rd church anniversary to do just that it is our responsibility and duty as christians to help repair the lord's house i am honored to be a part of this process and we thank god for the process progress we have been able to make with an aging sanctuary such as this there's so much more that needs to be done therefore we need your continued prayers and financial support if you're interested in learning more about the facilities and grounds ministry feel free to contact us at property mgr at fbcepg [Music] or call the church office at 404-762-9451 thank you very much [Music] [Music] good morning first baptist i will be reading today's scripture which is romans chapter 8 verses 35-38 who shall separate us from the love of christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we face death all day long we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for i am convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future nor any powers thank you [Music] good morning first baptists our speaker this morning is the reverend william l strickland reverend strickland began his walk with the lord at a very early age upon accepting god's call into the ministry reverend strickland preach his initial sermon entitled i am what i am on november 26 2000 at brown chapel baptist church in atlanta georgia reverend strickland is a visionary and he believes it is his role to help guide and equip both the young and the seasoned followers of jesus christ while serving at brown chapel reverend strickland helped to institute and directed the young gifted and saved youth ministry reinstituted and directed vacation bible school organized and instituted an annual thanksgiving outreach meal program and assisted the pastor in various ministerial duties it was at brown chapel that reverend strickland was ordained on november 24 2002 as he served the church as interim pastor until october of the following year in january of 2004 reverend strickland was overjoyed to find himself under the tutelage of pastor w j lawson as a member of the cornerstone community baptist church reverend strickland served the cornerstone community baptist church family as the youth pastor on january 12 2008 reverend strickland was called as pastor of the zion hill missionary baptist church in atlanta georgia where the church is reaching in to reach out for christ reverend strickland is not only a resounding pronouncer of the gospel of jesus christ but he is also a veteran educator reverend strickland earned a bachelor of arts degree from dillard university in new orleans louisiana and he also matriculated at the state university of west georgia where he earned a master's degree in education leadership reverend strickland is currently the principal of skyview high school in college park georgia reverend strickland is the proud son of william and the late harleen strickland he is married to the love of his life la kenya dikes strickland they are the devoted parents of a son zion i a strickland and a daughter adora i strickland reverend strickland possesses a servant's heart and desires to walk only with god as he faithfully serves the zion hill missionary baptist church following the next election we will hear from our speaker reverend william l strickland pastor of zion hill missionary of baptist church so [Music] there's a quiet place that gives me peace when i'm along with you [Music] and there's a hiding your place always there when i'm confused [Music] only you can pure all this world can ever satisfy my heart [Music] my song [Music] water and my soul [Music] i need your lord i i need you lord [Music] i'm a stranger here thirsty cause i know it's not my home [Music] like a desert here [Music] i need your living jesus up again [Music] with your presence flowing deep within my heart [Music] [Music] [Music] i need you lord i need your love [Music] i need you lord i need your love i need you [Music] this place with [Music] holy one rain down on [Music] and fill this space with heaven like of love holy one rain down [Music] [Music] [Music] you're the living water [Music] i need you lord i need i need you lord [Music] i need you i need you alone i need you [Music] so [Music] amen i greet you in the name of the father who is the maker of both the heavens and the earth i'm thankful on this morning that it was he who made us and not we ourselves i'm thankful on this morning that he is the sheep we are the sheep of his pasture yeah because that means if we're the sheep he's the shepherd and from what i read if the lord is our shepherd we shall not want even during times like these we have so much to be thankful and grateful for that god has allowed us another opportunity to come and to worship him so i invite you on today to just lift up the name of jesus make sure i'm in the right place at the right time anybody love the lord in this place anybody got a hallelujah or shout for jesus can you make a little holy noise for me so i can know i'm amongst believers anybody got to cry or shout for jesus amen amen i thank god for being here on today being here with my friend and my brother beloved none other than your own pastor welcher i am delighted to be in his presence delighted that he has asked me to break unto you the bread of life now know this i am an evangelist turned past so i believe in taking and toting the gospel wherever i go and so it is my hope and my prayer that during this church anniversary you be you be able to take something that is said and allow it to help you along the way on your christian journey amen join me for a word of prayer eternal god our father it's once and again lord that we come humbly behind your sacred desk father god we don't come for form or fashion but we come to declare your holy and your righteous word father god i pray in the name of jesus that you will take a burning hot coal from your altar and press it against my impure lips so that i might be used by you father god use me now as a vessel between your word and these your children allow your word to go forth with both power and with clarity and lord be ever so careful to give you all the praise all the honor and all the glory the lord god you and you alone are worthy to be praised lord this is your servant's prayer in jesus name amen [Music] all right can you hear me yeah i don't think they can hear me i better just use this microphone hey man i'm kind of old school i have to hold the mic i might get get loose y'all all right all right so out of the book of acts we've been studying out of acts for most of the pandemic for i believe that we are going to recommit ourselves much like the early church i believe that the church will never be what it once was so you will hear me refer to the pre-pandemic church so let us entertain the book of acts chapter 10 beginning at verse number 34 the book of acts chapter number 10 beginning at verse number 34 reads on this wise then peter opened his mouth and said of a truth i perceive that god is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him the word which god sent unto the children of israel preaching peace by jesus christ he is lord of all that word i say ye know which was published throughout all judea and began from galilee after the baptism which john preached how god anointed jesus of nazareth with the holy ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for god was with him and we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the jews and in jerusalem whom they slew and hanged on a tree him god raised up the third day and showed him openly not to all the people but unto witnesses chosen before of god even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of god to be the judge of quick and dead to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sin i want to talk from the subject connecting a disconnected world to christ connecting a disconnected world to christ obviously the world in which we live is disconnected from christ as we look at the events that take place around us mass shootings crime in our own neighborhoods trouble on every side and chaos that is busting loose itself we discover that we live in a world that is disconnected from christ but i would like to present the argument on this morning that it's not the world's fault see it's the job of the connected to be the light for the disconnect in matthew chapter number five jesus said ye are the light of the world he also said let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven so if i flunk on this morning and you don't remember anything else i say know this you are the light of the world now as we encounter our text in chapter number 10 we find this devout man named cornelius verse number two describes cornelius as one that feared god gave arms to the poor and prayed to god always it was cornelius that received a vision while praying during the ninth hour in this vision an angel of the lord told him that his prayers and arms have become a memorial to god in other words the angel is telling him because of the work that you're doing because of what you've done you've gotten god's attention then the angel tells him he gives them some instructions he tells them to send some men send them to joppa and request they that they get into the presence of a man named simon whose surname is peter and tell him you need him to come so here we have this fellow named cornelius the bible says he's a centurion soldier of the italian band don't forget that he's a centurion soldier of the italian band yet he embraced the jewish philosophy and held to the mosaic law he prayed the prescribed hours of the day he honored the sabbath day he gave money to the poor but there was something missing there was a person that cornelius had not yet encountered and that person was the great i am jesus was missing he was disconnected from christ he wasn't doing things the wrong way a lot of times in our world we like to think because they're not in the church that makes them a bad person not so there are a lot of good people a lot of good people in the world who are still disconnected from christ so our job we we we have to carry the gospel message so in our text the angel of the lord tells him to go get peter so peter can come and share the gospel with cornelius now while god is preparing cornelius he's also preparing peter a lot of times we like to thank god not answering our prayer god might be preparing somebody else to be the answer to our prayer but here's god preparing peter and you know he he's he's peter has this this this vision god puts him into a trance and he sees this sheep descending from above with all of these animals that according to the law he shouldn't even touch and god the voice of god tells and rise peter kill and eat and peter said no no no no no i've never even touched an unclean thing but see god was purging peter he was making peter understand that nothing i have my hand to is unclean in verse number 15 he said where god has cleansed that called not thou come so in our text we discover peter in the presence of cornelius and now peter has a new attitude he has a new attitude toward the gentile people peter have been given a message that would connect a disconnected world to christ now i believe we as the 21st century post-pandemic church we have an obligation to connect those who are disconnected i discovered three truths in the text and the first truth needed to connect a disconnected world to christ is found in verse number 34. it says then peter opened his mouth and said of a truth i perceive that god is no respecter of persons so the first thing you ought to write down or put in your mental rolodex is this god is no respecter of persons see a major flaw of the pre-pandemic 21st century church was based on the fact that we had a view of the disconnected people that was not pleasing unto god see many church folk we we see folk who not in the church is some kind of menace i came to tell you anybody who come through the doors they're not going to look like you they're not going to act like you they're not going to smell like you they're not going to talk like you why because they're disconnected and our job is to connect those who are disconnected see god is not a respecter of persons see the disconnected come to the church looking for deliverance and we as the church our job is to be the light that connects them to the life see peter had just learned this hard lesson when the sheet descended it was teaching peter that nobody's disconnected you can't just take the gospel to the jews you got to take the gospel to the gentiles as well see from a jewish standpoint gentiles were heathens and from a pre-pandemic 21st century church our theology would have us to think if they weren't in the church then they're healed but i came to tell you that we ought to be glad we are under the dispensation of grace we ought to be glad that the holy spirit has made it possible for us to be accepted into the family of god the bible says it matters not if you're a jew or a gentile bond or free male or free male if you want to be you can be connected why because god is not a respect a person that's what we do we like to gone and respect based on somebody's station or their class but god said he's not a respecter of persons why look at verse 35 say but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him so listen second thing you ought to recognize is this jesus christ is the great equalize i like the way the new living translation said it said i see very clearly that god shows no favoritism in every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right see in our text peter is teaching those who fear the lord and do what is right are accepted by god it doesn't matter whether you're a democrat or a republican they're not if you're black or white doesn't matter if you're baptist or lutheran what does matter is that you fear the law work righteously and then god will accept us see the lord not interested in that stuff that that stuff don't make us righteous our party affiliation our church denomination no the lord jesus is the only person who can make us righteous when we truly have a fear of god a reverence for the lord is he jesus who makes us fit to be made righteous jesus is not concerned about any of that stuff that man is that's what makes him our equal lies see it doesn't matter it doesn't matter if i've been in the church 20 30 40 years or if i ain't been to the church since the last funeral i had to go to god loves us just the same see in the pre-pandemic 21st century church we like to set ourselves apart we like to think we can thumb our nose at those who aren't in the church but our job is to connect they're disconnected and what we ought to be telling them is that jesus is our equalizer see i'm standing here before you but ain't nothing so good about me the only thing i got going for me is jesus why because he's my equalizer so you know they got all them tv shows they had about 500 shows called the equal life but it's all about somebody not being see somebody's the underdog and so the equalizer has to come alongside the underdog and make them equal with their adversary and i can't tell you today i was the underdog yes somebody had to come alongside and he has a name his name is the lily of the valley the bright and the morning star had to pull up on side of me and become my equalizer yes i can't tell y'all today it's only because of the precious blood of the lamb that i'm able to say i've been made righteous i don't know about you you might be too cute to tell about it but you know all of us been somewhere somewhere along the line and somebody made you feel like you couldn't get yourself together but there's an equalized and his name is jesus see the bible say all have sinned you can be holy all you want to the bible say all have sinned and come short of the glory of god all of us need an equalize i tell you what if you ain't never did that wrong stand up let me sit down right we all need an equalize and so if we gonna disconnect those who if we're gonna connect those who are disconnected we gotta tell them that jesus the lord that i serve he's an equalizer he can make you whole he can bring you out of whatever you're going through we got to tell the disconnected how we got connected we got connected because jesus is our equalizer yeah i thank god for the blood of the lamb so in verse number 34 he said god is no respecter of persons then in 35 we learn that jesus christ is the great equalizer but our final truth needed to connect a disconnected world to christ it's found in verse number 38 it says how god anointed jesus of nazareth with the holy spirit and power who went about doing good and healing all listen that were oppressed of the devil for god was with him so our final point is this jesus is our hope for our troubled past can you imagine sharing that good news with someone who is disconnected tell them jesus is our hope for our troubled past see most of us would be willing to admit we've had a troubled past there been some things sometimes some moments that we're really ashamed of and most people who are disconnected from the church believe that because of what they've done because of what they've seen because of the way they behave that there's no hope but if we are going to connect the disconnect we're going to have to tell the truth we ought to tell them listen man the enemy had a grip on my life the devil had a stronghold mercy on my life but when i accepted jesus as my personal savior jesus set me free now it ain't that i've been so good right now i ain't been saved sanctified and filled with the holy ghost all my life it's just that jesus presented hope from my troubled past look at what peter said about jesus first he said he went about doing good you do know he fed the multitude you do know he opened blinded eyes even spiritual eyes you do know he unstopped deaf ears even spiritual ears but most of all jesus showed interest in those who were lost no let me help you jesus showed interest in those who were disconnected see the bible says jesus said if i be lifted up i'll draw all men unto me and so our job is to just show interest in the disconnect if we show interest in the disconnected then we can get back to what we read in the beginning see when we let our light so shine that they may see our good work notice the word out then they will glorify our father which is in heaven so we have to be willing to share the truth look at what jesus did the bible said he heals all that were oppressed of the devil you do remember the woman by the whale right he was being oppressed by the devil but jesus allowed her to be set free you remember the woman who they brought because she had committed adultery but what no man will see jesus healed her from her sin sick ways if you remember legion the man who lived out amongst the tomb see jesus became his hope for his troubled past and i came to tell you we got some witnesses in here on the day we'll be able to testify that jesus set you free from the oppression of your past so i came to tell you on today the only way we can get connected is that we have to have a connection with the one who has life the bible tells us he who has the son has life and jesus said i am the way the truth and the life so if we're going to connect the disconnected to christ we got to stop telling them about how great our church is mercy why because not the church but jesus is the way know y'all play real good but we got to stop telling them how good the croissant because not the quiet but jesus is the way mercy don't even tell them how wonderful the preacher here because jesus not the preacher here's the way see we gotta get connected and then when you get connected you got to stay connected stay connected because god is no respected person stay connected because jesus is our great equal lies stay connected because jesus is our hope for our troubled past i came to tell you don't let anything disconnect your soul from your sake i brought a charger with me because the other morning my wife she said man you didn't plug up my phone and i said yes i did i i remember coming in the room you were asleep i got your phone out the bed and i hooked it up she said yeah but the other end it wasn't connected and so i came to tell you on today we got to connect to the power source see our job my job and your job is to stay connected see when it's going good we got to stay connected when things real smooth we got to stay connected when the going gets rough we got to stay connected see stay connected to christ stay connected when you don't think you're going to make it stay connected when you got to go all by yourself stay connected when the doctor gives you a bad report stay connected when you got a battle to fight why stay connected because jesus said i am the vine ye are the branches he that abides in me and i in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing so the question becomes are you connected are you connected to the true vine are you connected to the bread of life are you connected to the shiloh and the prince of peace are you connected to the light of the world are you connected to the lily of the valley i came to tell you stay connected stay connected to the one who marched down the via de la rosa stay connected to the one who took our whip stay connected to the one who shed his precious blood stay connected to the one who took our nails in his hand stay connected to the one who took our rivet in his feet stay connected to the one who hung up on the old rugged cross anybody know his name stay connected to the one who hung up from the sixth to the ninth hour stay connected to the one who allowed the earth to rock and reel like a drunken man stay connected to the one who said father forgive them for they know not what they do yes you ought to stay connected to the one who died on that cross anybody know he died yes he died for my sins he died for your sins and that's why we ought to stay connected yes even though he died and they took him down off the cross laid him in a borrowed tomb he lay there all night friday and all day saturday but i came to tell you stay connected to the one who got up while the dude was still on the rose stay connected to the one who rose from the grave it was early sunday morning stay connected to the one with all power in the palm of his hand yes we got to get connected church we got to stay connected so we can help those who have disconnected some need reconnecting some need an initial connection but they'll never be connected unless we do our part they say if you're getting electrocuted and somebody grabbed me it'll jump on them well i can't tell you it's no different with the holy spirit yeah if you get too close it'll jump on you we as a church have a duty to perform it is our job to connect or disconnected world to christ that's why the bible said if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves turn from their wicked ways pray and seek my face then will i hear from heaven and heal their land yeah while we still going through because my people that's what god's saying my people haven't done what i told them to do and i believe this time right now is the best time for us to connect a disconnected world to jesus christ to god be the glory may heaven continue to smile upon you this is my prayer now somebody ought to give god a handclap of love somebody ought to bless the name of the lord anybody got a shout for god on this morning you do know we can praise god in this place right somebody shout hallelujah somebody shout glory hallelujah [Music] his name precious name glory glory glory me glory glory hallelujah lord god it's a unique space in this post-pandemic 21st century church right now is usually when we would open the doors of the pre-pandemic now is when we ask you to tap your neighbor and make sure that they know the lord and and if they need somebody to walk down the aisle with them then you tell them i'll come down with we come down and and give you a little path to fill out but now we stretched all across the world now we've got to find a way to make sure that folk have a a tugging and a and a pulling and know we care about them even though they're not in the same sanctuary with so i'm going to say this as a conclusion connecting isn't easy connecting is a simple process it may not be many of us know we came kicking and screaming and god had to chase us around the corner and pass three two joints and he had to pull us on him but but it's simple once you decide you want to be connected here the scripture says in the book of romans that listen all have seen all have sinned and come short of the glory of god none of us is better we're all on equal playing field because we all have sin on our hands the wages of sin are death but the gift of god is eternal life so that if you confess with your mouth the lord jesus and believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead you shall be saved so you don't have to go get all the good suits before you get your salvation you don't have to have a rotation of your dresses your bow ties and other ties we're asking you to pray a prayer with us a prayer of confession a prayer of acknowledgement a prayer of receiving the lord and i'm going to ask i'm going to begin this prayer and i'll just come to a point where if you believe that jesus is lord if you're willing to accept him as your personal lord and savior i'll ask that you repeat after me is that all right lord we bless you and honor you in this place and this space we ask that you reach out not only through this room and in this atmosphere but all across this world and even in recordings at any time that anyone is watching this word we pray that your holy spirit is active and that you will activate if there's anyone under the sound of our voice that does not have a personal connected relationship with the lord or that needs to get back in the right fellowship lord we pray for them now in the name of jesus and now if you believe that jesus is lord repeat after me lord we confess we have sinned we confess our sins we acknowledge jesus is lord we accept the lord as our personal lord and savior we pray forgiveness and we and invite you lord to be lord savior god and god in jesus name we pray a man a amen amen listen if that's your first time praying this we're inviting you please send us an email please kick click the connect button on the website please call the office so that we can celebrate you so we can hook you up with some other christians who can show you how to walk during the rough days and the hot days but we want you to know your life insurance eternally that's locked up now you got some good work to do before you leave now i don't want you floating on off to heaven today now watch this but your eternal life is based on your belief and your confession we bless the lord for this space in this place we thank the lord for a word from on high and we give glory to his name amen amen amen [Music] [Applause] me [Music] [Music] thank you lord i just want to run and run and clap my hands and but i'm prone for falling and all right so i just thought i just sort of slide up here normally so that you don't have a common relief on me today so i just praise god give god the glory i'm slated to for the acknowledgement okay and the thing is is that my clapping of my hand and this big green on my face it's acknowledging you already acknowledging our great god who is mighty and awesome who provided hallelujah this environment who provided this space who provided everything and continues to provide everything that we need so i'm still wide up here but this is how i am i i think that first baptist uh church each point probably got used to it this may say she needed a little medication but it's okay but i can't help but being excited but our lord and savior jesus christ and i just want to give honor and thanks also to our guest pastor this morning pastor william strickland thank you for bringing in the connectivity to our congregation to this community i thank god for that thank you for connecting with our pastor because we love folks who love our pastor as well but first of all you love the lord because you couldn't love him right if you don't love the lord right is that not right amen i thank god for your wife who help you to remember the connection connect the other end she's the part of your sermon hallelujah for her amen amen is that all right amen so we want to thank each and every person that has participated in this service now the connect connecting is very critical the only way that we are able to come in and do what we do it starts first at the connecting and we know that in ii timothy the lord lets us know that his foundation stands firm and is sealed it seemed with him and said with his powers said with his inspiration we are sealed in christ jesus that's the only way that we can do what we do that's how the sermons go about that's how uh reverend elves make the keys stand up and and dick brother dixon over there do the the what is that drum by the way the bells are ringing and uh sister glenn and sister travis i tell you the truth y'all are awesome but the thing about about acknowledging we're not praising just like uh pastor strickland said we're not trying to praise people but we are praising the spirit of god within them that he allow them to be used to be uh just fall back do i like call a bungee fall into the arms of god and let holy spirit do what only holy spirit can do amen because when we clap for sister maya up there about to sing the chandeliers down we are clapping because she allowed holy spirit to you say amen is that not right that's what i'm talking about we thank you we thank you that we acknowledge the fact that everybody in this space has contributed immensely from the little children on up to us more mature children yes that everything whether you prayed whether you just gave a hand clap whether you say thank you jesus everything that's ungiven unto the lord is in knowledge whether no one that sees it god sees it we thank you so much for everything that you've done and are continuing to do you've already heard about the marvelous works that god is doing through our congregation even within the pandemic middle of the pandemic post pandemic what damn it ever give me that god is still using his children i just want you to know it's a heart that the first giving is from your heart when your heart is or whatever it is that you give it is coming authentically genuinely from your heart god takes it and he must multiplies it and use it to make things look that you look like we cannot make it but god said let me show you something let me show you something when you're connected what i will do in your life through your life with your life i want you to know that we are all continuing now this is my second um heart connection to our anniversary amen whatever that is do not discount your prayers do not discount anything that you do because we don't want finances to be thinking that you know we got to do the practical thing but what helps us to do the practical thing is what we do spiritually now the final thing pastor for pastor pulled me from up here in my fearlessly and i heard sister farmers in my ear i'm called out but anyway our wonderful leader of the worship and arts team ministry i want to thank sister barbara jones and her awesome team amen the art worship and arts i know you're here and i know you're trying to stay seated and don't want to be here she's trying to hide up under her under husband's arms but i see her and we thank god that for her leadership and i thank god that she allowed me to be part it's a wonderful thing we've been here two minutes and you feel like you've been here all many many not 133 none okay but we've been here many many years god bless each and every one of you again know that every person from the child on up on up and up you are seen and you are welcome to in this place amen god bless you we love you [Music] amen amen amen y'all um i know some of you tired you know and in this post-pandemic uh reverend strickland they they're not used to normal lymph services no more uh-huh yeah yeah yeah yeah they they start looking by 12 noon they start wondering if we coming up right now y'all remember we plenty of time got out got out of church at one o'clock it's anniversary uh-huh so if you if you're still online with us bless your heart amen now one that's the good thing about it once we get you in the building with your good clothes on you you got to stay uh-huh but you know unfold at home turn the rest that stuff off amen we almost we are almost finished thank you all for worse thank you all for counting it not robbery to come together to celebrate a lord who deserves to be praised every day now make no mistake about you we don't need an anniversary to say thank you to our lord but you ought to be able to acknowledge that it's a whole lot of struggle triumph and testimony in the years that make us that have that have cultivated what is first baptist church east point amen i speak blessings to this young brother over here i told uh reverend strickland uh the deacons that we have that are in training hit it toward ordination and told them that the church is the only place that we pastors and deacons are still young [Music] i don't want them to get carried away because you know folks will say hey you know they want to they were looking for the young deacons and i said well listen that's that's church you know that's got a curve on it now don't you think you can run without stretching just because they called you young that's church young amen amen we we we young preachers but that's that's church age amen amen i i bless the lord because you all this brother uh has been a friend of mine for years uh uh and and i want to say one thing to brag on him i bump into him in service when i'm down in the city of east point when we've coordinated with other folk when shaquille o'neal and celo are coming and giving out toys to make sure every child in east point has a toy i don't catch him over in the line trying to take pictures with shaq i bump into him running trying to coordinate at the cars to get these toys handed out to those who we see are in need trying to figure out a way in a pandemic to still be safe but these folk couldn't afford a car so how do we get some toys to them even though we're not supposed i bump into him in the trenches trying to do what the lord told us to do and it's good every now and then when when you've got a friend and you've been by his church but you ain't never heard him preach it's good that the lord been working on a good word too i have my fingers cropped i bless the lord for you blessings to you please give your wife your children all of them our love and blessings and tell them we're sending you back home that uh as he told me the first time i preached over there there are no job openings here amen i i want to acknowledge reverend holder has already done a wonderful job from top to bottom for our worship and arts committee our chair reverend elves this this young maya this y'all give her one more hand with a gift that god has within this body uh but but i i thank you all from our folks who are working behind the scenes y'all may the lord reward you openly for what you've done in secret for our ministry who consistently shows up to make sure we're safe for all of our medical leaders our trustees our finances oh and sisterhood i remember i got some edits that i need to give you on that history amen i i sent them last year y'all didn't send this at the high tower amen so but but in in every way shape form or fashion whether this is your first time celebrating anniversaries in first baptist or this is your 12th 13th 14th time thank you for being a part of the family we pray that we will continue to be connectors in a land and a space that needs connecting now i am going to pray the benediction but i ask you to hang in with us there's a video presentation from our babies and y'all know that uh red meds got to tear them keys up one more time on our way out but this is our official benediction y'all pray with us as we go forth and hang on as the lord does a little bit more lord now unto you who's able to keep us from falling who's able to cleanse us to mold us to make us into the image that you've created us to be to the only wise god be power majesty and dominion now henceforth and forevermore amen amen and amen did you hear that first up this east point is carrying 133 years old wow that's a long time happy anniversary 133 years hello first baptist church east point i'd like to wish you a happy 133rd anniversary i love you all and thank you for everything you do for us happy anniversary [Music] [Music] oh to jesus freely i will ever love him in his presence day [Music] is [Music] [Music] i surrendered oh [Music] [Music] [Music] ah surrendered [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] one [Music] thank you so much for worshiping with us today please remember to visit our website for updated church information and please join us next sunday for our online service take care and have a blessed week

Channel: First Baptist Church East Point Media

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Id: a6wDvq9N_rY

Length: 110min 38sec (6638 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021