Greater Bethel Worship Service - Sunday, September 12, 2021

or praise the but lord is required and completed online registration continue to pray for our safety of our church family and guests now here's a look at some upcoming events are you excited join us are you excited join us to come out as they celebrate grandparents day this celebration will take place from 11 a.m to 2 p.m friday october 1st followed by the church's 125th anniversary and rededication celebration on sunday october 3rd more details to follow temperature checks and social distances on the church's home page for the women's missionary society to give enjoy good morning i was glad when they said unto me for the lord until the lord um oh oh cheers is oh yes is yes perfect [Music] [Music] is so is [Music] see [Music] let us pray father god we come to you this morning to say thank you you woke us up this morning close in our right mind father god we thank you because you didn't have to do what you did but you did it because you loved us now father god we come to ask that you come in and show out touch each and everybody that's here dogs that wants to come they couldn't come touch those that is watching overseas on youtube facebook on their phones wherever they at lord continue to bless each and every one of us now father it's not about us it's all about you we ask that you come in and show out use each and every one of us the best way you want to use us to get the word to your people now father god we ask that you touched the pastor continue to bless him and use him touch the musician and the choir and each and everyone that's him father god we gonna continue to give you the glory and we gonna continue to give you the praise in jesus name we pray amen amen [Music] kindness towards [Music] i see day after day [Music] towards me [Music] [Music] after day [Music] [Music] i see day after day [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign grace is [Music] day after day always provide for me is [Music] yes lord thank you oh amen always yes thank you thank you great thank you moment amen amen our scripture reading is coming from mark chapter 8 27 to 38 mark chapter 8 27-38 and jesus his disciple went out to the town of caesar and on the road he asked his disciple saying to them who do men say that i so they answer john the baptist some say elijah and others one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say that i am peter answered and said to him you are the christ then he strictly warned them that they should not they should not tell no one about him and he began to teach them the son teach them that son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elder and the chief priests and scrubs and be killed and after three days rise again he spoke these words openly then peter took him aside and began to rebuke him but when he had turned around and looked at his disciples he reviewed peter saying get behind me say for you are not mine for other things of god but the things of me when he had called the people to himself with his disciple also he said to them whoever desire to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever denied to save his life will lose it but whoever lose his life for me for my sake and the gospel will save it for what will a proper amen if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what will a man give in his change for his soul for whoever is ashamed of me in my word and this adulterous and sinful generation or him the son of men also will be ashamed when he come in the glory of his father with the holy angels the word of god hmm so so [Music] so so yes [Music] is [Music] wow great [Music] is hey [Music] amen amen [Music] my soul it is praise the lord [Music] [Applause] let's thank god [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and all of you my father's children we are one church in two locations and our second location is our virtual audience we thank god for you amen now y'all do me a favor and just stretch your hands back to the sound booth and say lord bless and relieve all stress amen amen i i recently saw online converter 70 some thousand dollars but i'm not sure [Music] but those two brothers are operating a forty thousand dollar system and we're still learning amen just be patient uh be flexible and be fluid as we continue to learn this very delicate and intricate system all right but i could learn to drive but let me just share with you very briefly uh emergency rental assistance has been made available to our citizens through the federally funded american rescue plan and locally ramp clt will be accepting applications for rental and mortgage assistance so we've learned that some families in our community have not been able to apply for this assistance and so if that's you or you know somebody the office of congress congresswoman alma adams has reached out to us and so here on wednesday september 15th from 10 until two we will have people from congresswoman adam's office here to assist in submitting those applications all right if you know somebody that's on the verge of being evicted if you are a landlord and you have not received rent if you need help with your mortgage or you know somebody wednesday september 5th 10 to 12 come out all right we go we're going to help keep a roof over your head all right 15. what did i say 15 all right that's because they told me the only day that matters in september 29th but come out on that day if you know seriously if you know somebody that needs this help all right if the money is there they always put money out but then we have problems getting all right the money is there okay let me celebrate a few people will you celebrate some hope with me today is christian education sunday amen and i want to celebrate our christian educators help me celebrate sister phyllis sponsor [Applause] help me celebrate sister mary alice smith [Applause] help me celebrate sister brianna marshall help me celebrate sister charmaine morrison help me celebrate sister onita william help me celebrate sister keisha given these are our christian education team members and they do a tremendous job all year long but today is christian education day and we thank you for what you do for our church and especially for what you do for our young people it means so very much amen in sanctuary where i witness the glory where he is [Music] is to bring the sacrifice of praise where he is is [Applause] [Music] he's in the holy place [Music] i want to walk in the holy just to see him face to face where he is [Music] where he is where he is [Applause] [Applause] [Music] he's in the holy place [Music] place [Music] place is place in the holy place [Music] is [Music] [Music] place [Music] he's in the holy place [Music] yes [Music] he is [Music] salvation and glory [Music] for the lord our god is mighty yes the lord our gods [Music] is [Music] and glory honor and power unto the lord is [Music] is [Music] praises me to the king of kings and the lord is [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] our [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and [Music] is [Music] [Applause] he is [Music] [Applause] amen amen all praises be to the king of kings the lord our god he is wonderful amen i ask that you will join with me in mark chapter 8. we thank reverend gavin for reading that scripture we thank reverend hagar helping to lead in worship i solicit your prayers for reverend hager as he is dealing with some health and vision challenges but we know that god is a healer and god has opened blinded eyes before and we know that he can do it again mark chapter 8 verse 36 says what good is it for a person to gain the whole world yet lose their own soul i want to talk for a few minutes from the subject of backing the wrong team i'm not talking about you sister paulette brian or brother bobby rankin i'm not i'm not talking about you backing the wrong team the lord let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before you god used me to say a word to these your people in jesus name amen have you ever watched a race or a game and felt sure about the outcome and then realized that you backed the wrong team people who spend a considerable amount of time studying athletes studying their statistics and their histories knowing their schemes all of this to make predictions on the outcome of a game many are so sure that they are backing the right team that they will bet everything they have on one team or on one athlete over the others and as they stand anxiously waiting they have high hopes of victory confident that they are backing the winner when the contest begins whether it's an olympic race whether it's a football game whether it's a basketball game whether it's a boxing match whether it's a horse race their hearts beat at a rapid pace and as the contest continues their choice is breaking out to the lead their hopes are raised and they anticipate a great cash reward for the victory that seems so obvious but as the game continues as the match goes on as the race continues they feel relieved because everything that they own is backed by their choice they use their mortgage money they pawned their jewelry they put everything that they had in one giant effort to win it all in one failed swoop sister bryant as they come to the final stretch in the last few moments they almost pass out with joy but then something happens that strange looking horse coming up from the rear or that advancing runner begins to move like lightning passing all others or their favorites football team fumbles and that the ball is recovered by the opposing team or their basketball team fouled on the three-point shot that's when they stand to their feet and nervously begin to yell knowing that the team can't hear you know how but it just seems to make you feel better no matter how much you yell no matter how much you scream no matter how much you cry your team is about to lose just a few more seconds and it would be over hang in there you yale then just as quickly as it began it's over your favored runner your favorite swimmer your favorite horse your favored team is now defeated who would have thought it how could it be everybody said that we were going to win if you had placed just a little of what you had on that long shot on that other team you would have been a winner instead brother bobby you found out that you were backing the wrong team mother bird i've learned that life is an amazing mystery often we are so sure that we are making the right choices only to learn that we have not chosen wisely often despite our best efforts to be cautious we must admit that we have backed the wrong p some are weary about marriage because they are afraid they may marry someone who turns out to be a bad choice so they don't marry at all others choose their mates based on what everyone else tells them they look at success potential in education and finance and when my wife looked at me she looked at my good looks they literally married by the book only to find out later that they had backed the wrong team it happens in other areas of life as well there are many who back a political candidate with high hopes that they have chosen well only to discover later that they backed the wrong team some take sides on an issue desiring always to take the popular stance then find out later that they backed the wrong team there were many who laughed at thomas edison when he brought up the idea of a light bulb and put their money somewhere else they backed the wrong team those who thought bill gates idea of a computer that could operate on top of a desk was too risky they put their money somewhere else they backed the wrong team if all the people who laughed at the wright brothers idea of a flying machine could speak today they would collectively say we backed the wrong team what about our spiritual lives is it possible that in all the life's plans and careful selections that we have made that we made some unwise choices the man or woman who has chosen to live life outside of god away from the church distant from spirituality makes a choice are they backing the right team jesus was approached by a rich young ruler the young man had considerable resources he had hedged his bet well brother greene he accumulated riches he he obeyed the commandments of moses to the letter when jesus came to town he heard that there was another team he came to place his bet on heaven and he asked what must i do to be saved and jesus asked him about following the commandments and and obeying the law the young man felt confident until he heard jesus say one thing that you lack sell all that the young man was stunned jesus was asking him to bet his whole substance everything that he owned on him the young man backed away stuck with his own pursuits in life and ended up backing the wrong team we're convinced that we have made the right choice in jesus christ greater bethel we are certain that he is the way he is the truth he is the life we have placed our hopes on the cross of calvary we have pledged our faith and we sing boldly i have decided to make jesus my choice now in this text christ explains the importance of placing our hopes in the kingdom of god instead of vainly seeking what the world has to offer jesus often spoke to his disciples about the importance of choices he maintained that many choose to follow the evil course because it appears to be the easiest way the most profitable way at the beginning of his ministry jesus himself had to make three critical choices about the direction of his life in the solitude and the loneliness of the wilderness he was tempted to use his ministry for self-promotion for power and fame the devil guaranteed him a successful career and a powerful reign it would have been easy and certainly would not have resulted in the crucifixion and his death on the cross faced with those choices jesus chose not to follow after satan but he chose to follow the directions of god there is a sure way to heaven jesus gave his disciples a simple formula deny yourself pick up your cross and follow me denying ourselves means that we deny what would normally be our natural right we deny ourselves we give up the right to run our own lives and we turn our whole being over to god the natural order of things dictates that we run our own show we make our own decisions we do what pleases us we go where we want to go we do what we want to do when we get good and ready but to deny our that means that we take that right and we give it over to god jesus said take up your cross what does what does that mean to some it means to shoulder whatever burdens or hardships we receive because of kingdom building in its purest sense take up your cross has a different meaning the cross is a symbol of humiliation the cross is a symbol of degradation and those who were crucified upon crosses were broken and humiliated and dispirited it suggested that those who associated themselves with the cross would be broken in spirit they would be humble and fully aware that they deserve no credit for anything that they do because everything that they accomplish is done by the grace of god within brother myrick the command to follow me means that we are expected to obey the lord now this is just the opposite of our carnal nature our carnal nature lives in defiance of god obedience is not our second nature it's not even our third nature complete obedience to god is the key element to our new life in christ a person that follows this route in life places their bet on the kingdom of god they are banking on the work of god to be true they are backing the right team in the race for the eternal life the whole world and losing your soul he asked the question what does it profit a man to gain the whole world at the expense of his soul well two kentucky farmers they owned racing stables and they had developed a keen rivalry amongst one another the horse in to the local race and thinking that a professional rider may help him out do his rival one of the farmers hired a professional jockey the two horses were leading in the race toward the end it proved too tough brother jordan both horses fail and both riders fell to the ground but this calamity didn't stop jockey he quickly remounted and he went home and he won the race returning triumphantly to the stable the jockey found the farmer who hired him fuming with rage what's the matter i won didn't i i won didn't i he said yeah you won but you don't know do you he said no what what what are you what are you talking about he said yes you won the race but you want it on the wrong horse in a way this explains the dilemma in which many people find themselves they begin the race of life on the right horse but somewhere along the way the line switched horses inadvertently they are winning the race that they are running but unfortunately they're riding the wrong horse they are on the wrong team there are many who can testify that they began the life they began the race of life riding the right horse as children they attended sunday school as children they participated in church services they studied the bible they spent much of their time in pursuit of the kingdom of god these were the glorious years that were filled with excitement and joy they learned a lot and they were enthusiastic about their service they were on the rights and they knew it but somewhere in all of the excitement somebody stumbled somewhere between joy and excitement confusion appeared somewhere between enthusiasm and happiness of service a mix-up happened that left many people still trying to win the race of life while riding the wrong horse while playing on the wrong team while running in the wrong race in a horse race the victory is awarded to the horse not the jockey the jockey is a servant to the owner and does everything within his ability to see that the owner achieves the victory the horse can win the race even receives praise from the owner if he wins the race while riding the right horse come on somebody i'm almost finished unfortunately there are many people today dare i say many people in this sanctuary and those that are watching virtually who are trying to win life's race while riding the wrong horse they're trying to win the game of life without being on the wrong team many people need to check their horse they need to check their team some are riding a horse named success so others are on a team called riches still others are riding a horse named fame the only horse that can win the race to heaven is the horse called salvation it is important that we remember that the safest thing to do is to follow jesus and if you follow jesus you take no chance at getting lost there are always challenges to question whether they are following the right when they follow jesus in a moment of weakness even the strongest person even the strongest saint even the strongest preacher has to ask the question him are following jesus that we've not always chosen right we often make less we often have less we often seem less than our friends who are on different teams that's why the word of god keeps reminding us to fret not ourselves because of evil do us nor be envious of workers of iniquity bethel that we are on the right team and because we are on the right team our victory is guaranteed there's always victory when we choose to be on the lord's side there's always joy when we choose to be on the lord's side moses stood at the gate of the camp of israel and he asked the question who is on the lord's side well i don't know about you but i found out that it's a good thing to be on the lord's side as the people doubted whether god would help them in the promised land joshua stood on the side of the mountain and he asked those who would stay with the lord to step forward he told the people that as for me and my house we will serve the lord elijah stood on top of mount carmel and he challenges the prophet of baal he said choose you this day if god be god then follow him but if they'll be god then follow him the prophets of baal turn their backs on god they back to the wrong team when you're on the lord's side it doesn't matter what happens in life when you're on the lord's side you are confident that the lord will make a way even if he has to make it out of no way the psalmist said i have been young and now i'm old but i have never seen the righteous forsaken nor is she begging for bread it would be a tragedy to spend your whole life in accumulating riches only to find out that riches cannot buy your way into heaven it would be a tragedy to spend your whole life trying to achieve power only to find out that the powerless to get you into eternity it would be a tragedy to spend your whole life trying that not an angel in heaven knows your name it would be truly sad to spend your time looking for positions in the church and when you die and get to glory god says depart from me i know you not paul told the new testament church that he was confident that he was on the right side and he was confident that he was going in the right direction he asked the question that aroused believers to a greater faith you shall separate us from the love of christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril as it is written for your sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter in all things not some things but in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loves us as i take my seat let me finish the text paul says for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principality nor powers no things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus say yes say yes i believe the songwriter had that in mind when he said i've decided to follow jesus no turning back no turning back no turning back no turning back no turning back i've decided i've decided to follow jesus say yes jesus the lily of the valley jesus the bright and morning star jesus the fairest of ten thousand jesus the alpha and the omega jesus jesus who went on calvary's mountain jesus who was ripped and beaten jesus blew hard on that friday jesus who died on that cross jesus who was placed in a barrel tomb jesus who stayed dead friday night jesus sister alice he was dead all throughout saturday i'm talking about jesus jesus jesus through early on sunday morning he arose from the grave and because he got up i know that i know that i know that i know that i've made the right decision i know that i'm backing the right team i know that i'm betting on the right horse i know i know i know that jesus is the way and the truth i know i know yeah i know that i'm on the right side let the church say amen my brothers and my sisters i want to extend an invitation to you actually three but the first invitation and i want to extend to you who are worshiping here as well as you who are worshiping virtually i want you to be on the right team now we may not agree on our sports teams right we don't we don't agree we got some cowboys fans that didn't win the other night we got some panthers fans hope they win today steelers red well washington team used to be redskins all of these different we have some duke fans carolina fans you know we may not agree on our team ci double a fans miyak fans huh atlanta braves new york yankees all of these various teams what's the girl named richardson i used to like it anyway we all have differences in those athletic teams but we all can be on the right side some are democrat some are republican i'm sorry if you are libertarian unaffiliated whatever we can disagree on those sides and still be on the right team i'm an alpha there's a kappa q deltas akas all of y'all but we can still be on the right side and that is team jesus i want us all to be a part of team jesus so if you are here today let us stand all over the sanctuary if you are here today or you're watching virtually and you don't know him as savior of your life and ask if you hear that you would come forward if you're worshiping virtually i'm going to ask that you would respond to the email address if you want to join our church a church so great great is in the name you can do that i extend that invitation to you and thirdly if you're standing in the need of prayer so those that are worshiping virtually if you responded to those three please send an email to prayers at gbame.org for nine four zero zero seven seven five and if you're here and you respond to those three i asked that you would come father in the name of jesus save all of those who are crying out to you right now those that wish to unite in membership and fellowship with our church bless us that we can be the church that they need for us to be in the name of jesus god those that are standing in the need of prayer i ask that you bless them i ask that you continue to bless and keep mother birds sister and their family i ask that you bless and keep the sister of brother roberts god i ask that you hold close brother john marlin wanda donna as they prepare to funeralize dear sister francis and all of those that are sick and bereaved bless them god lord i ask that you protect our children protect our children yes lord god make ways out of no ways continue to use us for kingdom building i'm gonna oh we're gonna obey her uh but if it was anybody else i'd hook you all right praise god from whom all blessings flow praise god [Music] praise him [Music] praise him [Music] raise [Music] jesus said what does it profit a person to gain the whole world but lose his soul make sure you're backing the right team and now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise god our savior be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forevermore [Music] oh one more time let's take it up amen [Music] amen amen [Music] amen god bless you all this concludes our sunday worship service we thank you for joining us it is our hope and desire that you have enjoyed this worship experience and we pray that god has blessed you with an encouraging word if you're a visitor joining us virtually please consider joining us in person registration information can be found on the church's home page if you are blessed for today's message please consider sowing a seed into our ministry members and guests can give now by using one of the platforms listed as a reminder please make plans to join us in person or virtually for the music classes on next saturday and grandparents day please help and support our youth and ypd on saturday september 25th as they honor the grandparents with a drive-through celebration and mark your calendars for church revival september 29th through october 1st followed by our 124th church anniversary on sunday october 3rd have a blessed week and we hope you join us again for one of these upcoming events or our church service

Channel: Greater Bethel AME Church - Charlotte, NC

Views: 212

Rating: 3 out of 5

Keywords: Greater Bethel, AME Church, Charlotte

Id: RcyBd_EZbYE

Length: 82min 45sec (4965 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021