First Baptist Church Broad Virtual Worship Service 9.19.21

[Applause] [Music] we all help you with this one come on look on your feet and help me with this one come on everybody get it up come on check it out [Music] [Music] you were there [Music] you don't [Music] put your hand on it right [Music] all here my help comes [Music] from you come on [Music] [Applause] i know too much [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] nowhere to go [Music] what's up [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] when you're feeling low when you feel [Music] no [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] beloved there is safety in a multitude of wise counsel this is scripture and this is what the word of god tells us so we continue to seek wise counsel about when to reopen the church we recently held a meeting here in the sanctuary of many of the leaders of our church from our deacon board our trustees and others who are advising us those who are on the health advisory panel as well as well-informed sources listen here's what we know the fda met on friday and they're meeting also again next week to discuss the efficacy of vaccines it is extremely important that we know whether or not to take a booster shot when they will be available but certainly for those who are immunocompromised we want you to go ahead now and seek that third shot the question of whether or not others will need them or when they will be able to receive them is being decided right now next week after tennessee has once again led the nation we are meeting with the secretary bakara kuchar from the white house to talk about vaccine distribution this is extremely important we are expecting a vaccine for children between ages 5 and 12 in the winter months but what you will hear in the upcoming excerpt from the today show is that the president of moderna questions what will happen over the winter take a listen to this information and please remain prayerful as we decide moving forward this morning the battle over boosters is intensifying after both pfizer and moderna released new research in a 52-page report pfizer calling boosters an urgent public health issue citing data from israel pfizer says people vaccinated this past january had a more than two-fold increased risk for breakthrough infection compared to those vaccinated in april modernist president telling nbc news its vaccine also shows waning protection over time and that he expects more severe breakthrough cases will start to crop up the question is not about how the vaccines are doing today or last month it's really how are they going to do this winter so far fda staff have declined to take a stance on booster shots saying u.s regulators haven't verified all available data cdc advisors are set to meet next week to discuss boosters which some top healthcare experts believe are not necessary yet we ought to keep focusing on getting the first dose into people who haven't received vaccine yet many people haven't been vaccinated in places like tennessee which has the most covet cases per capita right now in tarrant county texas health officials say almost every pediatric hospital bed is full so are icus because of the latest surge of covet patients and doctors at alaska's largest hospital say er patients have had to wait in their vehicles for hours and medical teams have been forced to ration care you will not get the care that you deserve it is happening the delta variant is also fueling heated debates as schools reopen you right there you clown in council bluffs iowa police were called to a school board meeting after parents erupted in protest over the district's decision to mandate masks [Applause] meanwhile here in new york there is a fierce legal battle unfolding over vaccine mandates for health care workers savannah all right gabe gutierrez advisor headquarters thank you [Music] it is another beautiful sunday morning in the city of memphis tennessee and i'm coming to you from the sanctuary of the first baptist church 2835 broad avenue so glad you joined us so glad that you are here listen i want you to take this moment as you center yourselves and prepare uh for worship and the word in song and as god comes into our hearts and our homes so call somebody text somebody tweet somebody tell somebody we are on the air we're bringing god's house into your house [Music] you need to move [Music] you need to move while [Music] [Music] [Music] should [Music] love [Music] i [Music] hey yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] calling all volunteers do you like working with children are you available anytime after school do you have a device if you answered yes to any of these questions then you can assist with our academic chat room due to cover we are not able to have our after school program what better way to keep our youth engaged and offer homework assistance if you'd like to assist please contact me at kendramore.fbcb gmail.com congratulations to our week one fantasy football league winner sheena freeman if you would like to be a part of our fantasy football league simply email info fbcbra.org to sign up [Music] [Music] i also have to give you the news on today of the passings of two more of our church members mr nesbitt hart a longtime member of the first baptist church a valiant fighting warrior smiling face man his entire family worships with us and i want to extend prayers to miss jennifer hart and the heart family in the passing of mr nesbahar and i also want to reach out to our friend and our brother-in-law don dickerson don's brother passed on this week and we are most certainly praying for him in this hour as we know more we will share it with you so that you may reach out to them and be in prayer as well [Music] i can't [Music] he is [Music] [Music] this morning [Music] gave me the victory [Applause] [Music] gave me a testimony [Music] victory [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] as we go to the lord in prayer today i invite you to turn in your bibles to second chronicles chapter 20 as we continue in the elevation series and this is part two of a sermon that i began on last week elevation above our fears i want to talk today lord elevate my prayer life lord elevate my prayer life lift me up so that my focus my intent and my perspective in prayer is all about you father thank you today for the gift of prayer it's holy communication from human hearts to a sacred god i thank you lord that you hear our prayers and not only do you hear our prayers you answer our prayers lord we don't always know what to pray for but we do know that we can pray and i pray today that as you elevate us in so many aspects of life that you would also elevate our prayer life this is our desire our prayer in jesus name all of those who love the lord said amen second chronicles chapter 20 is the prayer of king jehoshaphat i dealt with the first four verses on last sunday let's look at verses 5 through 12. then king jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of judah and jerusalem at the temple of the lord in front of the new courtyard and said lord the god of our ancestors are you not the god who is in heaven you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you our god did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people israel and give it forever to the descendants of abraham your friend they have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your name saying these words if calamity comes upon us whether the sword or judgment or plague or famine or covet or anything we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your name and will cry out to you in our distress and you will hear us and save us but now here are men from ammon moab and mount seir whose territory you would not allow israel to invade when they came from egypt so they turned away from them and did not destroy them see how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave to us as an inheritance our god will you not judge them for we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us but here's what he says in verse 12. we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you i want to talk this morning from this thought my eyes are on you our eyes are on you in second chronicles as you have looked at over the last few weeks with me verses one through four uh jehoshaphat the king after leading many reforms has now found himself faced with an enemy he is faced with a problem as a matter of fact his enemies have gathered up and they are coming at him the moabites the ammonites and those who are in mount seir those who are the descendants of lot those who had been evicted and from the land or the lord allowed the israelites to pass through and told him told them not to harm them as they went through these people have now gathered themselves and they are now pledging war against jehoshaphat jehoshaphat gets the news on last week as you remember from one of those soldiers and he said fear began to grip his heart i shared with you on last week that fear is a real thing while many people say it's false evidence appearing real i want you to know that fear can manifest itself it did not come from god god did not give us a spirit of fear but when we are faced with foes and the unfamiliar we don't always know how to respond we need to be real with ourselves about that and stop judging people and laughing at people because fear embeds itself in our psyche typically at an early age and comes into our life and manifests itself somewhere later on down the line fear can be a real intimidating thing it can be a paralyzing thing but i like what jehoshaphat did he did not let his fears get the best of him that's right when he did his work he went in and he said yes even though fear is real he acknowledged the fear of what he felt in verse three but he did not stop right there the bible says that he determined to seek the lord that's right he decided i'm going to go and see what thus saith the lord and i told you that if you're ever going to win the battle you got to first talk to the one who was able to give you the power it is what we do in our personal devotion and dedication to seek after god's will that will make the greatest determination it was jehoshaphat who said i'm going to seek the lord before he invited the faithful to fast with him as he did in verses three and four he said i'm going to go after god as the leader as the one in charge and then when i hear from the lord i'm going to invite the faithful to go with me and that's what the songwriter said though no one joined me still i will follow there are some times you have to make up in your mind that you're going to do what you have to do even if there's no one with you i told you on last week when you invite folk to fast with you make sure you invite the faithful folk to fast with you not the folks who are fearful and not the folk who don't keep focus but you need to invite the faithful to hang out with you because you're going to need some encouragement when you get weak you're going to need some people to lift you up when you're going down don't you go into surgery with folk who are still checking email when they ought to be praying somebody will catch that in a moment you need to go with people who understand that even though it may sound like a simple procedure to someone else it's still surgery to me when i'm knocked out when i'm out of this world and i don't know where i am and someone's opening up my body i don't know what's minor about that when i hear people say it's just a minor procedure i need you to know that anytime you don't know what's happening inside of you that's a major thing going on so you need faithful folk to be with you in your greatest hours of fear well jehoshaphat is here and now we're at verse number five which i love because i know you want to get me down to the point in this sermon series where we say the battle is not yours but i told you on last week until the lord speaks it is your battle it's a battle in your heart it's a battle in your mind it's a battle over your emotions it's a battle to see where you're going to stand but i like this man this king jehoshaphat this is one of the most pious and most sensible elegant prayers offered in all of the old testament here is what he does he realizes that war has been waged against him but instead of him going to go and fight with an arsenal he said i'm going to fight because the weapons of my warfare are not carnal but mighty in the pulling down of strongholds i wish i had somebody because when a stronghold shows up at your door your first inclination is to try to fight it with what it brings to you but you better learn how to pray your way up and out of your situation good god almighty i feel my help in here already because what happens to us is that we gotta learn to how to pull down every thought into captivity into the obedience of jesus christ anything that exalts itself into the life and the mind of our god we gotta learn how to pull it down i wish i had somebody in here your job ain't never paid you enough money to live as well as you live right now it's been the lord taking care of you all the time do i have anybody in here quit thinking that because you don't have a job that you're not gonna make it you need to pull that strong hole down quit thinking because you don't have health insurance that you're not gonna be well pull that stronghold down quit thinking that just because somebody left you you're not gonna make it pull it down into the power of god rises above it because it has no dominion in your life here's what happens instead of jehoshaphat returning fire for fire he said i'm gonna pray about this thing oh i wish i had somebody who could just type that in there i'm gonna pray about this thing i'm gonna go ahead and i'm gonna pray about that i'm gonna exalt my i'm i'm gonna elevate my prayer life right now instead of me trying to get strategic and count money and move dollars and see how i can get back on top i'm going to start praying about this thing and when we use our powerful asset in the battle prayer when we face it and use it this is not the last resort it ought to be the first resort the first thing you ought to do is pray about it and when the disciples went to jesus and they said master teach us to pray they did not say teach us how to pray they said teach us to pray in other words when a problem shows up teach us how to make prayer our first activity who do i have in here this morning that you didn't try everything else but tell somebody i think i'm gonna try some prayer right now i'm gonna fall on my knees father i stretch my hand to thee no other help i know no other help i won't no other help i need if thou withdraw thyself from me whether shall i go all of my help comes from the lord all of my help my shade on my right hand my keeper day and night all of my help comes from god here's what happens here is we're in verse 5. the bible said jehoshaphat stood up after he got the people together joseph stood up in judah in jerusalem at the temple of the lord and he began to have a conversation with god he said lord god of our ancestors are you not the god who is in heaven he said you rule over the kingdoms of the nation power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you the first thing you need to do is affirm god's power in all of the earth who am i talking to in here see we made a mistake to think that god only runs the church but can i tell you that god runs everything the earth is the lord and the fullness thereof and they that dwell there in him the white house is under his control the state house is under his control your house and my house are under his control he said you're the god who is in heaven he said you rule over the kingdoms of the nations even though the moabites don't bend their knee to you you are still in charge even though the ammonites won't hear your name you are still in charge even though they worship other gods you're still the god of all god who do i have up in here i wish i had somebody in here that knows that your job is under god's control your health is under god's control your finances under god's control everything is under god's authority here is what he says he said you rule over the kingdoms of the nation uh when you get ready to elevate your prayer life lord and me and he all know who i'm preaching to but you need to affirm god's power uh i don't know what's going on but i don't know who but i do know who you are well how do you do that he says look first thing he said oh he said lord the god of our ancestors uh every now and then can i preach it like i want to you just remember what he's done for big mama remember what he did for mama but then you ought to bring that thing all the way down to you you ought to look back over your life when he says lord the god of our ancestors lord help me in here he said i did not make it to where i am without you being good to some folk before me do i have anybody in here that you grew up and now you look back over your life and you see how your folk had to make a way out of no way for you you didn't know it was as rough as it was but you realize that god made a way i wish i had somebody in here who could just put it in the text box right there just say he made a way is there anybody who can just say he made a way he made a way in the past he made a way he made a way in the present but guess what he will make a way in the future he says here's what he does before he says anything he reminds the people let me affirm to you that i know who god is i know his power every now and then you have to just tell your children i've seen this before daddy why not you worried right now mama how come you're not worried right now baby this is not the first time we faced this because i've seen god's hand move before he says you rule over all the kingdoms of the nation power and might are in your hand no one can withstand you now here's what i love about jehoshaphat he he does not proclaim what god is going to do but he just says i know what he's able to do i know what he's able to do oh lord help me in here there ought to be some folk who can just say i know what he's able to do go ahead and put your weight on it say i know all capital letters what he's able to do because i don't have to go too far to my neighbor's house to the left or to the right i don't have to call anybody i can look at my own life and tell somebody i am a living testimony do i have any witnesses in here who can just say i am a living testimony jehoshaphat was a living testimony because he had made some mistakes in his leadership he had made some mistakes in his life but he was still god's man i wish i had somebody in here who can say i messed up a time or two i made some unholy allegiances and leaned on some unholy alliances but god didn't turn his back on me do i have anybody in here that can just say i'm still standing god is still making a way god is still on my side god is still provided god is still my keeper god is still standing strong in me i know what he's able to do because i seen him do it in my own life here is what i love about this prayer in verses five and six i promise you i'm gonna get to verse 12 but he says i know who you are i know your power i know what you've been able to do but then i like what he says uh in verse seven oh god our god did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people israel and give it forever to the descendants of abraham your friend now look at what he does he pulls in the ancestry of abraham and he says if abraham is your friend and we are the descendants of abraham then we must be your friends too we must be connected to you through a connectional a situation and that the same grace that rubs off on the head of abraham the same oil that ran down aaron's beard is also dripping on me oh ain't nobody gonna shout with me but you ought to just be appreciative that you are god's people and that we are god's people whether we get it all right or not we're connected to some folk who are connected to god and we're living off the prayers of some people who prayed for us don't fool me now because some of y'all will fool around and get happy and realize that the reason you got bread on your table is because mama and grandmama prayed that you would one day be all right even when they weren't here the reason you're still alive and survive the stuff that you survive is because you are the descendant of someone who god had a covenant with do i have anybody in here that can just shout about the fact that you had some holy folk that grew up ahead of you and went down the road before you and taught you the ways of god and if you didn't get it all right the prayers kept you and god's grace held you who am i talking to in here who can shout on the fact that god is still keeping you god is still making a way the lord is your provider here's what he says i'm appreciative i don't know the last time you told god thank you i don't know when the last time you told him thank you but you need to tell the lord thank you thank you that i grew up around somebody that introduced me to you thank you that somebody tried to tell me about your ways thank you that you made a covenant that i once was young now i'm old but i've never seen the righteous forsaken nor the seed big bread thank you that my grandmama said something over me thank you that my mama said something over me thank you that i say something over my own children and we are your people here's what he does first thing he does he affirms god's power but then he affirms we are your people and i'm appreciative that i'm one of your children i'm appreciative that we are your people i wish i just had somebody who could just type in connected connectional grace uh i'm just connected to some stuff around me amen it ain't got to have my name on it i ain't got to be the one that go get it every day but just the mere fact that it show up in the place where i need it oh lord help me in here i i like it i like it sometimes my son will say daddy i'm coming over to watch football with you and he'll say i got some pizza i got i got this and i don't know i don't know what i don't know if he can afford it i don't know where he worked i i know i know he doing the right stuff to get it but he just show up with it and i don't ask where it came from because i'm connected to him and he connected to me and the same thing that he liked good stuff he know what i like and we enjoy it together lord help me in here i am appreciative of the connections to god well here's what your hospital did jehoshaphat first of all affirmed god's power yes he did he affirmed the power you need to affirm god's power whenever you're feeling fear whenever you need to elevate your prayer life you need to affirm god's power but then you need to be appreciative that we're god's people ah but then you need to acknowledge the prayers of our posterity i'll watch verses 8 and 9. look at what he said they have lived in it and built a sanctuary for your name now here's what he said now look our people your people abraham's children have moved into this land that you promised us we could have we didn't steal nothing from nobody we didn't take nothing from nobody we did what you told us to do we didn't invade them when we were coming through we followed your word we did what you told us to do and now we're living in the land and look you said in verse nine if calamity comes upon us whether the sword or judgment or plague or famine we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your name and will cry out to you in our distress and you will hear us and save us now here's what jehoshaphat did jehoshaphat leaned on the prayers of the posterity and the lineage of which he had come from you do know that this is the temple that solomon built can i teach it for a moment and solomon builds the temple but he prays in the temple i do not know if jehoshaphat was a little boy or if anybody in his family was around but he prayed uh if my people who are called by my name he said lord protect this place let your glory fall in this place he said then if calamity comes to this place you will hear our cry from this place and you will save us so jehoshaphat is smart he goes back and grabs one of granddaddy's prayers one of big mama's prayers and he prays the same prayer back to god that had already been prayed to god i'm trying to help some of you new jeans up in here some of my millennials in here some of my exes up in here you ain't got to make up nothing new because the same god and the same grace that carried you is still there to lift you up who do i have in here today you need to learn how to just re-say what has already been said our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done you ain't got to make up nothing new just go to god with what's already there jehoshaphat prayed an old prayer but god answered in a new day acknowledging the prayers of posterity and those before you will help you in your hour of knee i got to get out of here but there are two more points i need to drop in your spirit verse 10 says but now here we are we got to this point the attack was announced in verse one they are moving and they made it all the way to the river he said but now here are the men from ammon moab and mount seir whose territory watch this you would not allow israel to invade when they came up from egypt now here's what he said you told us not to mess with them you told us why are you passing through don't mess with them so they turned away from them and did not destroy them israel could have already destroyed these folk but god said don't do it he says see how verse 11 they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave to us as an inheritance ah this is where it get good to me because if i had to just write it like i wanted to write tell somebody that don't go together see ain't no way somebody can drive you out of what god has said is yours forever remember he said to abraham uh i'm going to take you to a land i'm going to show your land i'm gonna elevate you he said and all of your children's children will be blessed and they will inherit the land forever and now somebody is trying to put you out of what god gave to you lord help me in here i feel like preaching right there because every now and then you got to agree with god's plan even when you don't understand it say i know i'm in your will and i've obeyed your word but can i tell you leviticus 26 and 30 the lord said the high places i will destroy tell somebody some battles belong to god and ain't nothing you can do about it do i have any witnesses in here with folk lied on you that battle belongs to the lord when people walk away from you that battle belongs to the lord when people scandalize you that battle belongs to the lord when people don't do right by you that battle belongs to the lord lord we agree with your plan and we know that we are in your will and we've obeyed your word and we didn't do anything wrong i like this because this takes away the myth that when something goes wrong we've done something wrong some battles are reserved for the lord the high places he says i'll bring those down there are some things that you did not create give yourself a pat on the back there are some things you had nothing to do with it truly was wrongful termination it truly was pettiness it truly was someone else setting you up you had nothing to do with it i don't know who i'm talking to but the lord said you've done right here's what jehoshaphat said back to god please get verse 10. he said this territory when israel was passing through out of egypt you would not allow us to invade them so we turned away and did not destroy them see how they are repaying us verse 11 by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance ah i just wrote it in my notes you ain't got to shout with me but i wondered why the lord wouldn't let me get some folk back that i had an opportunity to get back because they did wrong by me after i had been right by them when you help folk get in the place and then they start scandalizing you from the place you help them to get in you got to ask the question but the lord said you leave that one alone you leave that one to me now i told you not to mess with them and i still don't want you to put your hands on them oh but when you get a little further in the text god will say this battle don't belong to you this battle belongs to me i preach that next week when i preach that i'm not a warrior but i am a worshiper if the lord says the same but i need to help somebody in here today and tell you that god already got it under control who am i talking to up in here this morning i agree with the plan of god you told me to leave it alone so i'm going to leave it alone but here's what i like in verse 12. he said god will you judge them we have no power to face them i'm leaving but here's what he says we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you huh can i help you elevate your prayer life first thing you got to do is align your perspective i'm out i'm done that's the only point i had here's what he said god you told us not to mess with them verse 10 my daddy didn't mess with him my granddaddy didn't mess with him we walked right on by them folk been messing with us for a long time they've been taunting us you know how that woman been acting toward that lady right there you know how the people been treating them you know this stuff been going on for a long time he said and you see that they're trying to repay us and we've been kind to them he said now in verse 12 we don't know what to do but we do know how to keep our eyes on you i i'm gone i'm gonna leave you the cliffhanger right here tune in next week when you'll see how the lord gonna work it out but until then you need to align your perspective and keep your eyes on god uh you need to keep your eyes on god when things around you seem to be falling apart keep your eyes on god when people are messing with you and scandalizing your name keep your eyes on god when there is no paycheck coming into the wire or the bank account next week keep your eyes on god when your health seems to be failing and it looks like everything is falling apart keep your eyes on god when children are not acting right keep your eyes on god when spouses are not acting right keep your eyes on god when people start walking away from you keep your eye on god when folk keeps saying we not coming no more keep your eyes on god i just need to go on and shout with you and get out of here don't turn to the east or to the west don't look to the north or to the south keep your eyes on god if you keep your eyes on god he'll lift up a bow down head if you keep your eyes on god he'll give you joy in your spirit keep your eyes on god he'll quicken your heart keep your eyes on god he'll be the glory and the lift of your head keep your eyes keep your eyes on god i'm done but here's what i want you to do elevate elevate your prayer perspective elevate elevate your prayer your prayer life when fears come in don't take on the nature of the fear elevate your focus turn your eyes upon jesus oh not once did jehoshaphat say let's count the number of men we got available not once did he call the generals and say look how we gonna fight back he did not come up with a war plan he came up with a worship plan hallelujah hallelujah [Music] thank you lord thank you lord for the beauty of worship hallelujah when war plans aren't working thank you that we have a worship plan our eyes they're on you thank you god for my sister for my brother who's struggling right now in the name of jesus fear has come in elevate their prayer life above their fears thank you for those young people who struggle in school every day wandering and worry thank you for those parents who are faithful thank you for the surrogate mom and dad who's standing in [Music] we've been warring for a long time and we're not tired but thank you that we can elevate into a worship space when we pray after the problem shows its head we turn our eyes upon you i'm not worried about what my enemies are going to do or what those around me are going to say i remember what you told us to do you told us to not fight that battle you said leave him alone but now the enemy attacks when the enemy attacks god you tell us you'll remind us the battle doesn't belong to us it belongs to you i thank you that we're gonna get to praise pretty soon if it's in your will but thank you for prayer right now thank you for prayer sweet hour of prayer thank you for the moments that i can spend intimately with you where you reveal to me the sweet things in the garden that we experience thank you for reminding me that i'm your people i'm your child thank you for reminding me of your power what you've already done more than all of these things thank you for lifting my perspective above my problem to put my eyes on you our eyes are upon you god [Music] leading is hard and we don't always know what to do parenting is hard and we don't always know what to do surrogate parenting is hard and we don't always know what to do owning a business we don't always know what to do managing directing leading we don't always know what to do but i declare verse 12 over everybody listening we don't know what to do but our eyes are up on you in jesus name amen my brother my sister there's another wonderful opportunity to unite with this church as we grow in the grace and the love of our lord and savior jesus christ the information is on your screen until next week every day when you don't know what to do keep your eyes on him remember his power remember that you are his people [Music] remember the posterity and the prayers that were prayed before you and the promises of god but remember more than all of that to keep your perspective your prayers elevated don't spend so much time looking at the problem the problem will rear its head every day keep your eyes on you until we see each other again may god be with you [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 54min 30sec (3270 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021