FBCLG Sunday Worship 3/14/21

[Music] [Music] [Music] i don't know [Music] [Applause] everybody [Music] is [Applause] [Music] one more time one more time everybody said i [Music] [Music] [Music] i said i got the victory [Music] we gonna give a praise this morning because he's away makeup we're gonna bless his name this morning because he's a heavy load sharing kind of god he'll never leave you nor forsake you that's exactly why i came to do this and he yeah [Applause] i [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] said i don't know [Music] i said [Music] i don't know praise praise [Music] praise [Music] jesus christ [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] lean on jesus [Music] christ [Applause] the bible says let everything that has breath praise the lord for this is the day the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it let us pray gracious god we invoke your spirit in this place lord god we invite you to be present with us today lord god open our minds open our hearts that we may be receptive to your word recepted to your voice and your love god bless us on today in the name of jesus we pray amen and amen [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] do not pass me back [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] say me [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] hear me [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] do not [Applause] [Music] do not catch [Applause] let's keep on [Applause] don't pass me [Music] [Applause] say [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord welcome first baptist good morning to all of you who are worshiping with us this morning it is a pleasure to be back with you in worship and we are so thankful and grateful for your continued support of the ministries of this church now if you are worshiping with us for the very first time we invite you to join us in the virtual lobby immediately after worship just go to our website at fbcsomerset.com and we will be there to greet you now on today we have a very very special birthday we want to shout out sister mary barnes a faithful servant of this church today is her 96th birthday we bless you and we honor you today sister mary and now we have a special message from our pastoral search committee good morning i am oia husbands your church clerk and i'm here with another announcement from the psc when you look at the history of fbclg the ability to vote for its pastor by its eligible members is an essential ingredient to our years of successfully doing god's will today i am here to announce two important save the dates the first is for april 22nd on this day we will conduct a church-wide mock election to ensure all will go smoothly for the real election over the next few weeks more information will come regarding our voting process the second is for may 22nd this will be election day for the pastor designee again april 22nd for the mock election and may 22nd election day for our next senior pastor as trustee wilson has mentioned change in leadership is upon us and we are endeavoring to make this transition as smooth as possible below are many ways by which you can contact us for prayer assistance or if you have additional questions about the election process our god has a new season for us let us rejoice and be glad in it thank you and god bless [Music] it's prayer time the old saints who used to sing a song they would say lord keep my body strong [Music] help me to do no wrong lord give me grace so that i could run this christian race lord keep me day by day [Music] because i want to live i want to live on in a building not made by hands lord keep me [Music] [Music] [Applause] way i want to leave in a building not paid gracious god we come before you this morning thanking you lord for your mercy and for your grace we thank you this morning lord for keeping us and watching over us god there is no love like your love lord and we come before you this morning god thanking you for what you have done for us lord you have kept us through this pandemic god you have strengthened us god and you have guided us along the way so we thank you this morning god we praise your name for your goodness we glorify you this morning god father we come thanking you for answered prayer this morning lord when the doctor said that we wouldn't walk or talk god we are walking and talking that we are singing your praises this morning lord father when the doctor said there is there was nothing they could do god you stepped in the gap god and you gave us breath you gave us life lord we thank you this morning lord father we pray for those who who are still waiting on you this morning god those who still need a touch from heaven this morning god lord we call upon your name god we ask that you would touch those who are sick among us god those who are laying on their in the hospital rooms got on their sick bed god we ask that you would just touch and heal this morning lord father we pray for those who have had surgery this this week of god we thank you that they are well this morning god we ask for a full recovery lord lord we know that it is only you who has the power that we need god we call upon your your power this morning god we still believe in miracles lord lord god we pray for those who are in the nursing homes god we pray for the caregivers this morning god give them strength god comfort them god in a special way lord god we pray for those who are grieving this morning god whether it was this week or last month or last year god we pray now that you would comfort god bring peace in the midnight hour god we call upon your name because it is in you we have our hope god we bless you on today god we thank you for this church lord we thank you for the leaders of this church god we thank you that we are still serving the community god we thank you that we are still feeding the hungry god and closing clothing the naked god we thank you god for giving us resources god you told us to love our neighbor god so that is what we are doing lord we thank you this morning god you blessed us in a special way god we pray that you would continue to watch over us and guide us through dear god father we lift up our pastor this morning god encourage his spirit strengthen him on every side we pray for the sorry's family this morning god protect them and watch over them god we ask a special blessing upon them this morning lord and father we thank you for those who are worshiping with us god we ask that you would speak to their hearts that they would be receptive of your word lord [Music] god we thank you for another day we thank you that we were able to see the sunshine this morning god we thank you god for your glory for your honor we worship you this morning god and we thank you for jesus this morning god in the name of jesus we pray this prayer amen and amen [Applause] [Applause] [Music] i want to live [Music] on [Music] keep my body i can go lord give me grace [Music] [Applause] in a building [Applause] [Music] right good morning family i'm brianna and this is the bullets in your weekly fbclg announcements it's women's history month let's continue to take the time out to celebrate all women check out this week's spotlight hi and good morning my name is anzamor and i'm here to tell you about the untold story of the guitar playing gospel singing sensation that paved the way for elvis little richard chuck berry and influenced everyone from miranda lambert to bob dylan she is the godmother of rock and roll the dynamic sister rosetta tharp sister rosetta was born in cotton plant arkansas in 1915 and her family moved to chicago illinois shortly after by the age of six she was performing gospel with her mother and traveling to perform at church conventions by her teens she moved to new york city and played with duke ellington and other greats by her twenties she began touring the south with gospel icons the dixie hummingbirds in 1945 her single strange things happening every day with its guitar solo became the first gospel single to cross over on the billboard charts she began breaking racial barriers and touring with white artists across the nation sister rosetta tharp was a pioneer in her guitar technique and among the first popular recording artists to use heavy distortion on her electric guitar that was a precursor of rock and roll on december 13 2017 rosetta tharp was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame as an early influence today we salute this great black woman behind rock and roll now here's a look at this week's announcements adult bible study will be back for their spring 2021 session starting on sunday march 21st courses consist of disciplines and desires keeping company with jesus excellent success small group new members and more visit the church website for further details on class schedules and register today are you good in math if so volunteer with our academic excellence and become a math tutor our youth need your support visit the church website to sign up today the academic excellence ministry is hosting the youth leadership public speaking program it's a four-week workshop that will take place every thursday starting march 18th at 7 pm you must be ages 14 to 18 to attend our teens will develop public speaking skills leadership skills and more for more information email academicx fbcsomerset.com good friday is near join us for worship at 12 noon on april 2nd following our service we will have our annual fish fry from 2 p.m to 5 p.m register on the church website and purchase your meal today resurrection sunday is april 4th and we're headed to rutgers university football stadium parking lot in piscataway new jersey to have church worship with us right from your car as we host a drive-in service at our regular time 10 a.m experience worship like you never have before for directions visit our church website our annual arts in the afternoon hosted by the scholarship ministry is here join us today at 3pm as we celebrate our own with music art dance oratory and more hear from authors reverend christie adams and chantal song bembry we have so much in store and you don't want to miss it join us virtually on facebook live youtube or fbcsomerset.com be sure to follow us on facebook instagram and twitter so you can learn the latest and interact with us and don't forget to sign up for our weekly e-blast newsletter have a great week everyone i'll see you next time on the bulletin now here's our offertory prayer and a list of all the ways you can give let us pray our offertory prayer together eternal god thank you for the privilege and opportunity to present these tithes and offerings before you amen [Music] and then [Music] they all belong to you blessing and glory [Music] [Music] they all belong to you thank you jesus [Music] two [Music] [Music] two [Music] speak to my heart holy spirit give me the words that will bring new light words on the wings of the morning the dark nights will fade away speak to my heart speak to my heart holy spirit message of love to encourage me lifting my heart from despair how you love me and cared for me speak to my heart [Music] will fade speak to my heart [Music] careful [Music] speak to my heart oh [Music] speak to me [Music] then i know what to do never go on my own just let your spirit die and let your word abide speak to my heart lord [Music] i know what to do speak to me jesus [Applause] is foreign me [Applause] myself [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] every hour speak that word so i can hide it in my heart that i might not go astray from you yeah keep on keep on keep on talking to me [Applause] yeah if you don't speak lord i won't go i'm waiting on you lord [Music] [Applause] and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory we need that word every minute every second we on need to me [Applause] [Music] we need a word we need a word we need a word that will some people need to shut up but lord i need to hear you [Music] [Applause] [Music] you shall see me i need you to see me until i want no more feed me lord feed me lord keep on talking to me [Music] talking today [Music] yes yes what's the matter with jesus he's all right all right he's all right let the church say amen amen amen speak to our hearts lord [Music] we thank you god for another day we thank you for your willingness to speak to our hearts clothe our minds with your wisdom and saturate our spirits with your power we thank you for what our ears have heard what our eyes have seen and for what our hearts have already felt we praise you and honor you and recognize and respect your presence now god continue to speak [Music] hide this vessel behind the old rugged cross that these words might illuminate your will for our lives illustrate your intent for our lives and lead us to jesus in his name we pray amen as bible students know the original text of scripture was not divided into verses and chapters the old testament written primarily in hebrew the new testament primarily in greek and the division of verses and chapters came much later after many many hundreds of years passed from the original text and so today i take the liberty of starting in one chapter and ending in the next chapter in recognition of the fact that this inspired word flowed in ways that sometimes defy the literary divisions that we call chapters in the bible and so we begin in isaiah chapter 52 starting with verse 13. and we read through for our consideration today isaiah chapter 53 verse 3. beginning in isaiah chapter 52 verse 13 see my servant will act wisely he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness so he will sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths because of him for what they were not told they will see and what they have not heard they will understand who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him nothing in his appearance that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by humankind a man of suffering and familiar with pain like the one from whom people hide their faces he was despised and we held him in low esteem amen the word of god for the people of god our topic today focuses on a savior as sufferer some years ago when we looked around this neighborhood there was an abandoned warehouse whose demise was a threat to the economic vitality of a nearby industrial area had this area gone all the way down it had companies moved out had buildings been abandoned the economic base of this neighborhood would have been decimated and we decided that our community development efforts required that we not only rescue this neighborhood but that we focus on that building the building cost approximately two million dollars our newly formed community development corporation had no money at all but we were determined to buy this building ownership of this building would save hundreds if not thousands of jobs and ownership of this building would position us to serve the neighborhood in ways it had never been served before and so a few of us took money out of our pockets and invested personal money in putting the deposit on this building and then we looked for financing to secure ownership and no bank would lend us money in the first instance our community development corporation was too young to have any financial history we had no projected revenue that could guarantee a bank that repayment was possible and as the weeks and the months unfolded the owner became restless and threatened to sell this building to someone else and then to sue us for liquidated damages the tension was rising the threat was more and more serious and although the church had committed to taking some of the church's building fund money to help secure this building for the purpose of community revitalization we had very few options left every contact that i had had been exhausted every institution that i knew had been contacted and finally i received a call from someone that i knew and someone who sought to give us advice and he suggested that he had a friend who could help us secure the money that we needed it was almost two million dollars we raised a meeting for this fellow to come and chat with me it was at the marriott hotel at newark airport i was waiting to catch a flight to go out of town for speaking engagement and as i sat there i prayed to god that this contact in this meeting would resolve my problems because not only was this a stressful matter for us organizationally i had put money from my own bank account in to secure this building and i didn't want to lose my money and as i sat there in the lobby of that hotel praying that god would bring through this individual all of the answers to our problems and all of the financing that we needed when this young man walked into the lobby of the hotel and approach where i was sitting my next prayer was god i hope this is not the man i'm waiting for he had run over shoes he had a wrinkled suit that looked like he had slept in it all night long his shirt was disheveled his tie was not tightly tied he he violated all of the rules of proper apparel that my mother had taught me thank god she wasn't there his his clothing the closer he got clearly had been worn excessively he had those little round balls that pop up on your clothes if you wear them longer than they should be worn he just looked like he was broke and he was the exact opposite of everything one would think when one is having a meeting with a person who can get them access to two million dollars and when he sat down i couldn't finish the meeting quickly enough until he began going through all of these papers that were in his briefcase at least he called it a briefcase this bag in his hands and they were wrinkled and they were disorganized and chaotic but i hastened to report that we bought that building we partnered with saint peter's hospital and between that day and today because we were able to secure ownership of that building thousands of women who otherwise would have had no prenatal care have been able to see a doctor and we provided health care for people with and without health insurance and the man who seemed to be the most unlikely suspect to help us not only organize the transaction but rescued us from what could have been a financial disaster i thought about him immediately when i considered this text today because as almost all of us know by now the people of israel had been looking for a messiah from the time they had gone into the promised land and encountered all of the various enemies that they did through all of the struggles the ups and the downs the seesaw experience they had traveling through all of the journeys of their lives in all of this god had made a promise and god used the prophet isaiah in a particular way to promise the people of god that their weeping would not endure forever but that in fact as the psalmist had said their joy would come in the morning he used the people of israel to demonstrate the fact that god may not come exactly when we want god to come but god always comes on time it was through this prophet isaiah that god gave not only israel but people who would live forever the encouraging words the kind of words we need to hear now that it looks like we can see a little light at the end of the covet 19 tunnel they that wait on the lord shall renew their strength he used isaiah to prophesy that that god's people would mount up and have wings like eagles they would walk and not get weary they would run and not faint and it was this isaiah that portrayed for the people of god this imagery that prophets and poets and historians and theologians describe as the suffering servant restarting around isaiah chapter 42 all the way through isaiah chapter 53 and you'll see four distinct songs as it were poems that describe this suffering servant and the suffering servant became a metaphor for the deliverance and for the messiah for the messianic presence that god would place among god's people and my brothers and sisters it was not simply israel that was in captivity that was in need of deliverance but at every stage in our lives and every generation of our experience in every corner of the earth every person every group every tribe has encountered a moment when they we need deliverance our story is a dramatic story but our story is not the only story in where people have found themselves on the bottom of history where those have found themselves in slavery where those who are of the female gender have found themselves uh working the same jobs as men their counterparts and being paid less money god brings a message through isaiah and that has resonated through the generations that that that the ark of the universe is long but like dr king said it bends towards justice at the end of the day god is on the side of those who are down and whether you're down physically whether you're down politically whether we are down financially whether we're down culturally whether we're down spiritually god is on the side of those who are down and as long as there is a god in heaven those who are down have hope if they but look up and do as our ancestors said lift every voice and sing and sing father i stretch my hand to thee no other help i know and jesus became this suffering servant but described by isaiah as having an appearance that was so disfigured beyond that of any human being his form was marred beyond human likeness and i know this violates a lot of our sensibilities because we we like to think of a good-looking long-haired olive skin jesus i've never seen a picture of an ugly jesus every picture of jesus i've ever seen whether it's an afrocentric rendition where jesus has african attributes or whether it's a european depiction of jesus with blond hair and blue eyes every picture of jesus i've ever seen has a good look in jesus deep eyes smooth skin handsome in appearance and i'm not mad at the artists who make jesus look good in fact uh being good looking becomes somewhat metaphorical for the fact that the lord is good and there's nothing wrong with a depiction of jesus that makes him where he in instagram personality uh the subject of what some young woman might say he's somebody's son now jesus is appropriately placed in a long line of good looking people vashtai was so good looking that as a jew she became a persian queen rachel is described as being so good looking not only was she fine but she had a lovely figure sarah was so beautiful that abraham lied and said she was his sister to avoid losing his wife to pharaoh job had daughters that were described as being beautiful and of course bathsheba was so fine that that david saw her from his window and conspired to get rid of her husband so she could become his wife the bible is not is not short of people who were absolutely good looking but my brothers and my sisters jesus this messianic figure as prophesied hundreds of years before he was ever born is not described as a fashion king not described as a physical role model no the prophecies concerning jesus had less to do with his physical attractiveness than it had to do with the disfiguring of who he was because of his willingness and his call to serve don't get me wrong i love good looks i've worked hard all of my life to live up to my mother's standards to make sure my colors match to make sure that my my hair is combed to make sure that i meet the the mitsy sorry standard i recall one time doing a television interview in north jersey and my mother watched the interview those were the days when i didn't really wear suits i was in the revolution i wore jeans i had on a suede vest i had on a turtleneck sweater had long hair had had a necklace around my neck and when i came off of the tv set the producer said there's a telephone call for you and when i picked up the phone it was my mother and she said i saw you on tv don't you ever embarrass me again like that the tv interview had on a nice suit and tie and matching jacket and my mother said don't you ever go on t wearing jeans and sneakers and a turtleneck and although i was raised to to to allow all of my personal habits and and my lifestyle and my dress to conform to a certain standard what i realized was that what we look like on the outside is not as important as who we are on the inside and no one demonstrates that better than jesus himself by the way during women's history month it would behoove us to recognize the fact that this emphasis on the external this emphasis on how people look has had devastating impact on on women all over the world and it's particularly brutal during this time of mass marketing where advertisements will follow you everywhere you go because of algorithms you look at a pair of shoes on your phone and those shoes will follow you for the rest of your life if you're not careful but women are used as sex objects to sell everything and women have been have been reduced down to objects of pleasure to the extent that young boys grow up understanding that the value of a woman is not necessarily in how she thinks or what she believes but in her measurements in her physique and women sometimes have so much pressure put you have so much pressure put on you that you'll paint your face you'll buy other parts uh to add to your physique you'll have surgery to fix yourself as if when god made you god made a mistake you'll find the way god made you you don't need paint or pictures or surgery to become somebody but this emphasis on the external has penetrated our psyche to the point where even our spirituality is saturated by this focus on the outside but jesus jesus is described not only as having served to the point where his physique was marred but jesus also presented himself in ways that defied the expectation of those looking for a messiah someone who could stand tall and look caesar eyeball to eyeball and speak truth to power someone who could liberate the people of his family and of his heritage from the abusive taxation that was occurring in rome someone who would be a liberator and a redeemer someone like perhaps the persian king cyrus who in 537 bc signed uh writ of liberation allowing the jews to go from persia from babylon all the way back to jerusalem someone like like judas maccabees who he and his son took the the desecrated temple out of the hands of the greeks that that had invaded and taken over holy property the jews were looking for a messiah who was strong and strapping who perhaps had graduated from the west point of the the israeli time someone like king saul but here came jesus here came jesus a humble child born in a homeless shelter to a single mother who had a carpenter as a foster dad and isaiah predicted it and because of this prediction he said now who who has who has believed this for he here was jesus people asked where was jesus between ages 12 and 30 up to age 12 we know a little bit about jesus we see him at 12 in jerusalem teaching the teachers and we see him at 30 going down to the river being baptized by his cousin where was jesus between 12 and 30 and of course non-bible readers say well we don't know isaiah answered the question he said he grew up before him like a tender shoot like a root out of dry ground in other words jesus grew up he was right there people saw him but they didn't recognize him as messiah he was there all the time he didn't disappear and go to a different planet at 12 and come back at 30. but there's no record of jesus being identified as this messiah that people were waiting for because he just looked too normal like like any other twig growing up and then when he became a man isaiah prophesied that there would come a servant who would be despised and rejected by humankind and unlike this image this image like the image i had of the person who could hook me up with two million dollars there are people who have this image of what the messiah would look like yet isaiah said 700 years from now because this man does not fit your image he'll be despised and rejected he'll be exposed to suffering he'll be familiar with pain he'll be someone from whom people will hide their faces and he'll be held in low esteem my lord what kind of messiah what kind of messiah is this no beauty no majesty to attract us to him we prefer good looking handsome beautiful fine shapely individuals whatever the role is there are people who get jobs simply because of how they look there are people who get access to social events simply because of how they look they're people whose looks get there into fraternities and sororities yet isaiah said that whoever the messiah becomes and whoever the servant is that god uses to liberate god's people don't look for that person don't don't decide who that person is because of his external features but assume that this person is going to be someone who suffers someone who's acquainted with grief someone who is rejected it is absolutely stunning to me that after all of these years and all of this preaching and all of the philosophy and the theology and the christology and pneumatology and eschatology surrounding christian faith we spend too little time talking about the rejection of jesus he was rejected in the first instance by the pharisees isaiah said he'll be rejected by everybody but there are three groups of people that stand out throughout history as being the most significant rejecters of jesus because they are the same ones that make it difficult for us to be connected to god right now first the pharisees in other words the religious crowd the pharisees were the religious leaders of the jewish community they should have been the ones to recognize jesus they should have been the first ones to identify jesus as messiah they were the ones who had been teaching people generation after generation that the messiah was coming isn't it ironic that the people who should have known didn't know and it was the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the blind that saw jesus depending on your tradition depending on your relationship with the church depending on your background the pharisees of that day would represent the deacons or the diaconate or the elders or the episcopacy or the conference of your churches the pharisees the religious leaders these were the ones that sat on the front pew these were the ones that serve communion these were the ones that prayed for the sick these these were the religious leaders they were scholars they had they had been steeped in jewish history and tradition they knew more about messiah than anyone else these were the ones who possessed the scrolls these were the ones that had had immersed themselves in prophetic arteries they knew about isaiah and they knew that isaiah had prophesied that the servant messiah would suffer these were what i call the adjudicators of orthodoxy these were the ones who determined what was right what was wrong what was good what was bad what was biblical what was not biblical but but the pharisees the religious people who knew the most about the coming messiah gave jesus the most grief it was the religious leaders the messiah the the pharisees who criticized jesus for healing on the sabbath it was the pharisees who criticized jesus for socializing with sinners it was the pharisees who asked the question through nicodemus how could you be the messiah coming from a place like galilee and my brothers and sisters i'm i'm here to report embarrassingly and quite unhappily that sometimes it's the religious leaders that become the biggest barriers between folk needing god and go and folks finding god it's the religious leaders that will criticize you because of how you dress and say you're not dressing the way they think religious people are supposed to dress it's religious people who will criticize the way you pray and if you don't pray the way they pray if you don't dress the way they dress if you don't preach the way they preach it's the religious people that can be the greatest barriers between people who need god and people who find god i get i get a lot of compliments uh team about the music that people here and the people uh that miss church are often people they don't miss me but they miss you they miss the music they don't miss the preaching in fact we used to have back in the old days we used to have a few people that would come and they listened to the music or we had choir members who sang in the choir and when the music was over just before the preachers started they went home i had to put in a rule for choir members if you're not going to stay for the sermon you can't sing in the choir first of all the choir can do fine without you if no one's ever told you your one voice is not making that much of a difference but there are people who miss who miss the church because of the music and i the lord knows i love the music but i've got a little secret for you there were religious people that didn't want this kind of music in church tommy dorsey almost got ran out of the church edwin hawkins and the hawkins singers the weinings well bibi probably should have been left out anyhow but but at least cece's kirk franklin came out talking about stomp and they almost stopped him out of the church and so if you just look at music as an example there were religious leaders that almost killed gospel music the way we hear it today didn't want drums in the church didn't want guitars in the church as though a guitar has a demon spirit a guitar is an inanimate object and whether it's anointed or not depends on who's playing it how ignorant can you be a microphone is not on spiritual a drum is not unspiritual it's the person that has the spirit not the drum but the pharisees looked at jesus and he didn't dress like a messiah he didn't behave like a messiah and you would have thought that they understood jesus better than anybody because they had read they had studied they had memorized isaiah isaiah said look y'all he's coming but he's going to be despised and rejected he's going to be acquainted with grief and sorrow he's going to be a man of low esteem y'all looking for somebody riding way up here and in a few weeks we'll see jesus ride into jerusalem on the back of a donkey he's not driving a bentley he's coming into jerusalem like a man of low esteem the pharisees the religious leaders rejected jesus when isaiah predicted that this suffering servant would be rejected by everybody he didn't say by some people he said everybody that included jesus own friends you know jesus own friends didn't know who jesus was this is quite instructive because many of us many of us have been locked up in our houses it's now been over a year when we've been sheltering in place we've been working at home eating at home all of our entertainment has been at home and as this cove it begins to lift as the vaccine is increasingly impacting the country some of us are going to be so excited about just getting out of the house that i'm afraid we might grab the first thing available now that's not really what i'm afraid of let me just say straight i'm afraid that we're going to be so excited we're going to grab the first person available amen it's not the things i'm concerned about it's the folks i'm concerned about and we've got a lot of cove and 19 babies popping up now but we're going to have a lot of post covert 19 babies popping up if we're not careful coming out of covet 19 we better be careful that our loneliness and our depression whether it's low-key or hockey and our isolation does not drive us to making irrational decisions because we don't recognize who people are the disciples that spent time with jesus they had traveled with jesus they had listened to jesus they had seen jesus perform miracles but then around matthew 16 when jesus finally asked the question who do men say that i am uh they say well somebody says you're a prophet somebody says you're a different prophet and then jesus asked upon your question who do you say that i am 12 disciples only one had an opinion thou art the christ said peter the son of the living god everybody else scratched their heads jesus friends didn't recognize jesus jesus had told them i and the father are one jesus had told them nobody comes to god but to me jesus had tried and tried and tried to tell them who he was and my brothers and sisters if you're honest about your life if you look back just over the last few months if you think about your circumstances god has tried to tell us who god is god has spoken to us if by no other means to the weather we have summertime in the winter snow in the spring fires in california floods in the south heat wave in arizona and there's nothing we can do except wait god has spoken to us not only through the weather god has spoken to us through the virus another one one of my dear friends died just a few days ago young man who just turned 50 years old and when i spoke to his wife she said what was predictable i've never questioned god before but this time her husband was a bishop and i said to her perhaps god wants us to surrender to the reality that there comes a time in each one of our lives when we've done all we can do we've fought all we can fight we've traveled as far as we can and to continue on this side would be worse than being healed on the other side that each one of those 553 000 deaths represent a prospective message from god and after all we've been through they are still those who question if there is even a god to question jesus friends didn't didn't understand they had traveled with jesus just like many have gone to church year after year after year but it wasn't until the buildings were closed that they discovered they really didn't even know who jesus was for nathanael was the one who asked the question can any good thing come out of nazareth right there before jesus was on his way to calvary there was a woman who came to anoint his feet and his head and his body with burial oil because she believed he wouldn't stay dead long enough to do it after the crucifixion and his disciples tried to stop her because even they didn't realize what was happening and when jesus said i'm going to jerusalem they tried to stop him because it was dangerous and jesus said you missed the whole point that's why i'm going during this season when we approach easter and when we think about good friday after all of these years and all of these parades and all of this dressing up that we used to do before pandemic there are still so many who call themselves friends of jesus who like the prophet said what happened deny that he is the savior and don't recognize that he's the messiah not only did the pharisees and jesus friends reject him and deny who he was the reality is the reality is that jesus family didn't even recognize jesus isaiah said people hit their faces that jesus was despised who who will believe us i remember in the third chapter of mark jesus had had healed the pharisees came for him and jesus family got together and they asked this question about their relative has he lost his mind jesus own family denied that he was who the prophet said would be the one to deliver his people he was he was the one who would be despised and rejected among men and women but one would think that jesus own family that jesus mother and jesus siblings would embrace who jesus was my my brothers and my sisters it is it is predictable and manageable when the religious leaders deny you and reject you it is painful but manageable when your friends reject you but when your own family when your own family treat you with disbelief when your own family breaks your heart when your own family denied that you are who you are when your aunt and your uncles snicker when you share with them your dreams when members of your family want you to settle for what you have instead of aspire for who you you can be when family flesh and blood you can pick your friends you can pick another church but your family a terrible thing when your own mother looks at you and says you're no good just like your father it's a wretched thing when your father looks at you and says i'm sorry you were ever born it's a wicked and cruel thing when your aunts and your uncles give up on you before identifying the potential that you have family we we don't talk enough about family we like to talk about what what white people do to black people we like to talk about what republicans do to democrats we like to talk about what communists do to americans but we need to spend a little more time talking about what family does to family there's a demon that seems to run through all of history and a lot of what israel experienced was the consequence of family destroying family joseph made the terrible mistake of sharing his dream with his brothers joseph was not kidnapped by strangers and dragged into egyptian slavery joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery it was his brother who stole his birthright when jacob was hungry it was his son who rose up in an assassination plot against his father david absalom tried to kill david it was cain that killed abel because abel made god his priority and jesus owned family not only rejected jesus but jesus own family abandoned jesus when jesus needed family the most my brothers and sisters this is an ugly picture forget the physical features of jesus and deal with the dynamics of jesus but they had 700 years to get ready every time they talked about messiah every time they anticipated liberation every time they talk about deliverance somebody should have included the words of isaiah read the old the new testament and isaiah 53 is perhaps the most frequently quoted scripture from the old testament in the new testament somebody should have said let us not be among those that reject jesus but the word of god came true and the pharisees and the friends and the family rejected jesus he just didn't look like a messiah he he didn't dress like a messiah he he didn't speak like a messiah he didn't hang around people that would suggest he had any kind of messianic call on his life he was that he was like that young man that walked into that hotel lobby who did not depict the kind of presence that would result in me getting the money i needed for my project but god but god knew who jesus was and that's really all i came by to say today that that the psalmist was right when he said if my mother or my father put me down the lord will pick me up and what i love about jesus is is what somebody said that that that isaiah 53 describing jesus as being despised and rejected is kind of like a scriptural description of of a spiritual mount everest and when jesus was described by that mount everest description he went from mount everest to mount calvary and so the question is if if the religious leaders reject you and your friends reject you and your family rejects you how on earth can you accomplish anything how can you be a successful entrepreneur how can you graduate from college as the first in your family how can you aspire to political office how can you build a great ministry how can you become a great recording artist if everybody's against you if the church is against you if your homeboys are against you if your girlfriends are against you if your mama and your daddy are against you if your auntie and your uncle are against you how can you expect to do anything in your life well thank god jesus has the answer jesus said well if i be lifted up i will draw all men unto me if i was a real baptist preacher i'd sing that song all the way from heaven down to savorettes like me jesus knew who jesus was and when the church didn't know him and when the friendship didn't know him and when his family didn't know him jesus knew who jesus was and i just want you to know that the church does not respect you and if your friends do not protect you and if your family leaves you by yourself there is a god somewhere and the bible says that he'll never leave you and he'll never forsake you and so my jesus went into a garden and prayed father let this cup pass from me the church doesn't like me my friends don't know me my family turned their back on me but then jesus prayed this prayer nevertheless not my will but thine be done that's the answer call on the name of god and say god use me god bless me god deliver me god save me nobody else knows the trouble i see but god into thy hands do i commend my spirit and because jesus knew who jesus was he was rejected and despised among men yet he was lifted up and now has drawn men women boys and girls from all over the world for 2 000 years right to his side covet may not be the worst problem we've had and covet is not the last barry will face after the masks are gone after the distancing has stopped after the vaccinations have run out there's going to be a religious crowd that will put you down you'll have friends that are not that's what friends are for type friends you'll even have family that'll disappoint you and so i recommend jesus who's a friend that sticks closer than a brother i recommend jesus who may surprise you that he suffered he bled he died but thanks be to god he got up with all power in his hands and in so doing he promised each of us that we can rise above all rejection and hold to god's unchanging hand that's the jesus that isaiah preached about and that's the jesus who's knocking on the door of our hearts right now asking you to accept him into your life and he will insulate you from the attacks from the negative surroundings he'll protect you from not only what others will seek to do to you but he protects us from giving up on ourselves in the midst of all of this chaos and covet in the midst of all of this defeat despair and death watching people live on the edge of life watching friends of mine succumb to the power of coronavirus i don't know what i would have done without jesus so if you're ready today to rise above the rejection that is predictable that is formidable i don't want to minimize the power of rejection i just want to introduce you to or remind you of a jesus whose presence in our lives allows us to rise above rejection he was despised but he is lord if you're ready to embrace the promise the purpose and the power of that jesus would you pray this prayer with me dear god thank you for loving me more than my rejection [Music] can cause me to stumble thank you god for giving me one more chance [Music] to close the gap that exists between my life and your purpose forgive me god for giving up on you forgive me for giving up on jesus forgive me for giving up on myself [Music] god i want jesus to be my personal savior i want him to live in my heart [Music] and i want him to manage the rest of my life [Music] i've been rejected by religious people i've been rejected by friends my family doesn't seem to understand me and so god you are all i have and i love you i trust you i need you [Music] and i promise to shine for you [Music] thank you god for deliverance thank you for salvation thank you for loving me even when i didn't love myself take me now into your future and make me a bright light to shine in the darkness of this world [Music] in the name of jesus amen now if you prayed that prayer just take a few seconds and click the yes button all yes means is i prayed the prayer that's all it means and if you do hit the yes button we will contact you to pray with you and to explore ways we can serve you if you're still without a church during this season you can click the join button and the join button simply says i like to be part of your fellowship your membership i'd like to study with you i'd like to celebrate with you i'd like to serve with you so you have two choices you can say yes i prayed the prayer or you can say join i want to be a part a member [Music] of the first baptist church of lincoln gardens is your choice take the next few seconds to prayerfully consider your options and then choose one in the name of jesus the rest of you who have prayed that prayer and who are members of the church please pray pray for those who are deciding pray for those who are wrestling pray for those who are attempting to trust god to take them over barriers and while you pray you can join the choir come on i love you [Music] [Applause] [Music] just jesus to tell you i just want to tell you that i love you i worship and adore you [Music] come on everybody i love you jesus one more time [Music] [Applause] everybody [Music] i love you amen amen thank god for you thank you for your financial support thank you for your prayers thank you for your participation in all of our ministry events we do see some light coming down this tunnel and i believe that in the not too distant future we'll be able to see each other once again eyeball the eyeball flesh to flesh in the meantime get ready for easter sunday we will be worshiping at rutgers university football stadium this is a drive in service there'll be no what you call them things where folk eat in the parking lot tailgate there's no tailgate parties if you plan to shout you have to shout in the back seat this is a drive-in service and we'll give you details in the next we have one more meeting tuesday to work out the details but we'll be we're outside and we've got some great surprises for you but this is going to be our first live worship in over a year we think east is the time to do it and then by easter we hope to have more information about using the church facilities don't forget that this afternoon we're together at 3 p.m for our arts in the afternoon program two of our young geniuses who have written wonderful books will be presenting their books and we expect you to support that take some time it's still covert time so you don't have many places to go so go ahead and log in to the church website and participate in our scholarship ministries program let me join with minister holmes and say happy birthday to mary barnes 96 years old she's living in florida now having a wonderful time and we say happy birthday reverend gibson i hope you represent the whole church in celebrating mary barnes 96th birthday i'm i'm i'm a little concerned because i think this virtual ministry has begun to wear off on some people and so we're down a little bit in bible study we're down a little bit in our bible study uh you know the bible says don't become weary in well-doing for in due season we shall re we shall reap if we faint not this is not a time to get weary this is a time to get stronger this is a time to be more excited this is a time of preparation last year this time we had no idea of what we were about to encounter now we know exactly what we're dealing with and we think that the future is going to be completely different than the past and we should be getting ready for the future so i don't want you to slack off i don't want you to give up i don't want you to wear out i want you to faint not if we don't faint the word says we will reap we will reap and i believe that god is a god who keeps god's promises so don't don't faint finally as as we close live for those of you who are worshiping with us live you've probably seen on the news and you've heard through various means that first baptist began doing vaccinations yes i believe in us taking the vaccination i'm not afraid of the vaccination i don't believe white people put something in the vaccination to exterminate black people last room i heard charles was that that the white people have put something in the vaccination so they can track black people why do white people need to track us i mean to what end where are we going what are we doing i mean we got something they want i mean what what would what would the purpose be what would the outcome be of white people tracking black people see it gets so ridiculous when you first when you when you hear the first line you're inclined to think about slavery and racism and all of that and get nervous but then just go to the second line ask the question why why would white people need to track black people would somebody please tell me are we building some kind of bomb somewhere that i mean please take the vaccine and but my point is we're doing vaccine at the church but but i have to warn you the vaccinations that are happening now just in case we're on the news again or the governor comes back this is the second shot of those already vaccinated that's what this is so starting in about two hours people will be coming back and so if i could just beg you don't call the church wanting vaccine if you didn't get the first shot now hopefully if if the need arises we'll be able to expand and we we still have people on the first list that haven't been vaccinated yet so the first thing i want to do is make sure everyone who signed up three weeks ago or four weeks ago for the vaccine gets their vaccine not everybody got it during the first round and so we want to make sure everybody that's my commitment everybody who signed up who still needs vaccine will get it but this is not new vaccine we're still focused on the people that registered the first night when we invited people to come get vaccine and then if we start over if we expand more we'll let you know i've gotten calls from everywhere wanting somebody to get vaccine our vaccine technically is over except for the people who either got their first shot or the people who signed up and never got called that's who we're focused on all right all right listen i i i want all of you to pray i want all of you to pray for um people still struggling we have a lot of people on our on our sick list and if you get my email if you please read it if you read the attachment you'll see not only the order of worship but you'll see the names of the people that we're praying for people in nursing homes people in rehab centers people who are sick and still at home and bereaved families for read families pray for them because we believe that the effectual and fervent prayer of the righteous avails much amen amen thank you team for your constant service get ready for easter because it's going to be a big one every praise is to our god every word of worship [Music] every praise is to our god every word of worship with one our course every phrase every praise every praise is to our god every word of worship with one accord every grace every praise [Music] is yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you may the lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace now henceforth and forever let the church say amen and amen [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] [Applause] everybody [Music] we're so glad you chose to worship online with fbclg remember that even in these uncertain times god is still on the throne for more information on our ministry please visit fbcsomerset.com we hope you join us for worship again next week

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Length: 110min 20sec (6620 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 14 2021