I Still Have Joy

and today we're going to be preaching from the book of habeka the old testament minor prophet habeka chapter 3 and i'm going to begin reading at verse 17 from the new international version rebekah chapter 3 verse 17. let's ask god's favor on our time in his word today lord let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts let them be acceptable in thy sight lord your strength you're our redeemer in jesus name we pray amen rebecca chapter 3 verse 17 listen to what god's word says though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines though the olive crops fail and the fields produce no food though there are no sheep in the pen no cattle in the stalls yet i will rejoice in the lord i will be joyful in god my savior the sovereign lord is my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer he enables me to go on to the heights verse 18 says yet i will rejoice in the lord i will be joyful in god my savior i want to preach about i still have joy i still have joy in rebecca chapter one it actually opens up speaking of the burden of the prophet habeka the burden based on what he saw he saw some things happening in judah he saw some things happening against the people of god and it it caused him to be burdened he became puzzled and perplexed because of the present predicament that they were in well what is it that he saw well he saw babylon conquer judah and oppress judah he saw babylon growing in their real estate and their property and influence on their jobs he saw babylon he said with their horses their transportation he saw babylon oppressing the people of judah he saw judah the people of god hurting and in pain and in suffering and based on what he saw it became a burden to him he's puzzled and perplexed look at this present predicament that he's in and it led him to question god when you read in chapter one he's questioning god he asked god actually three questions what is happening why is it happening and how long will it happen and we ask those same kind of questions what's going on in the times in which we live why is this taking place and how long are we going to have to endure that and he began to question god not the essence of god not the reality of god but he did question the the inactivity of god in chapter one he says god why aren't you doing anything why aren't you acting on the behalf of your people why aren't you showing favor on we know you got all power why aren't you using that power to help us to make it through what we're facing and after questioning the inactivity of god then he questioned the indifference of god it's one thing to be inactive it's another thing to be indifferent he questioned whether or not god cared is god concerned about us does god have compassion based on all that he's seen going on he's trying to figure out god do you really care for us and then he questioned the inconsistency of god all this in chapter one of rebecca he said our four parents our grandparents told us about your miracles and your wonders they told us about how you acted on their behalf but you're not doing the same thing for us god you seem to be inconsistent and he questioned god he saw bad things happening to good people he saw good things happening to bad people and he was just puzzled and perplexed trying to figure out how and why is all this happening in the times in which he lived and you and i we can be honest with god that there have been times that we question god not his essence not his character not his reality but there have been times that you and i have looked at people that we thought were mean and evil and hard to get along with that we thought were trying to hurt people intentionally they lie in deceit and they cheat and they steal and they manipulate and they oppress people and even though they were bad it seemed like good things were happening to them and then we've seen people who at least were trying to be good and trying to be a blessing and trying to help others and trying to live right by god giving the life to jesus christ by faith and reading his word and praying and while they were doing all this stuff right everything seemed to go wrong for them that's what was going on in chapter one in rebecca chapter two it opens with him climbing up into this watchtower and as he climbs high up into the watchtower he's now anticipating god answering his complaints in chapter one and rather than god giving him an answer to those questions god caused him to look at it from a different angle he was burdened by what he saw god said i want you to climb up into this watchtower i want you to go to another level you're going to be looking at the same thing but you're going to see it from a different angle and he told rebecca to prophesy prophesy yes about vision write my vision he said vision the revealed knowledge of god and then put it in tablets put it in stone make it permanent and make sure the people who are always in a hurry that even they get to hear what the prophecy is what the principles of god and they get to see the principles of god and watch what happens with rebecca he goes up into this watchtower and then there is prophecy and a different perception to help with his perspective he didn't get the answer from god he was looking for but he got to see what was happening from a different angle through prophecy through preaching through the principles of god through the revelation and the vision of god that revealed knowledge of god and now he's got a different perspective before he was down and depressed now he's up in the watchtower see that's what we got to come to grips with and all of this pandemic all the stuff we see it is a burden uh we see the pandemic we see the sickness we see so many people hundreds of thousands of people who are dying uh we see the unemployment we we see the economic downturn we see the social injection just on and on we see the challenges we have with our children and their education all these things that are happening the racism the sexism the ageism the class we see all of this stuff and now depression is at an all-time high in the united states of america and we're down we're depressed and now we're trying to shape our theology while we're down and depressed and start talking about what's wrong with christ and the church and the kingdom and the concepts in the scriptures but maybe we need to go to another level that we hang out in low down places and we hang around low-light people and then talk about what's wrong with christ and the church and the kingdom of god and the concepts in scripture maybe we need to look at it from a different angle same mess but from a different perspective like rebecca let's go and start seeing this from the view of god from the the prophecy of god from the principles of god from the perception of god and maybe things would be different and when he did that because he was asking what and why and how long god says i see what's happening with judah i know that the oppression they're bringing that comes from babylon i know babylon is oppressing jew i see all of that i see the pain and the suffering and god says and i am going to address it at an appointed time that's what he told rebecca when he got a different perception a per different perspective at an appointed time that there is a proper time there's a specific time that i'm going to address this god says that i am going to bring a reversal i'm going to put judah back where they need to be i'm going to put babylon in their place i'm going to have a reversal the first are going to be last the last are going to be first all that's going to happen but until then god says we have to wait on him things are messed up jacked up in the united states and we might as well admit globally and in our own community and in many of us with our family and personally but god says i'm going to change it i'm going to deal with it but at an appointed time you got to wait on god yeah you can't hurry god no you just got to wait you got to trust and give him time no matter how long it takes he's a god that you can't hurry he'll be there don't you worry he may not come where you want him but he'll be there right on time he's an on-time god yes he is they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength they shall mallow with wings as eagles and run and not be weary and walk and not faint it's about trusting god over time god says you got to wait on me so now i got this i got the prophecies i got the principles i got a different perspective to deal with the questions i had with god i didn't get the answers i wanted but i get to see it from a different angle and god said at the right time i'm gonna handle that i was preaching in houston texas at the brentwood church pastor joseph ratcliffe what a great ministry that is and i was preaching there maurice watson and i were preaching the revival there three nights in a row i would preach and he would preach it was a wonderful meeting a church with a bunch of it's got a lot of discipline they had 2 000 people in worship the church was packed and they showed up early that was interesting to me because i'm used to people showing up late and leaving early but they showed up early at 6 30 church is already jammed church don't even start to 6 45 we were in the pastor's office pastor watson and i and the pastor and a bunch of other ministers and then the fire alarm went off remember 2000 people already in sanctuary and this is minutes before worship start two thousand people sanctuary fire alarm goes off and nobody moved i looked at the pastor to see his response and he just sat there calmly he didn't move nobody moved and i'm concerned about the 2 000 people at the sanctuary he pointed to a preacher the pastor said go check that out see what's going on preacher comes back it couldn't have been 60 seconds he said pastor there's no emergency there was a woman that was walking up the steps and she stumbled and she began to slip and instead of grabbing the hand railing she grabbed the fire alarm now the alarm is sounding and there's no real emergency so the pastor told the preacher hurry up get in that sanctuary and announce to the people don't go anywhere it's not an emergency let them know everything is is all right so he goes and he does all that well all that is happening the holy spirit is speaking to me because some of us in this pandemic and everything it brings in these trials we're having we're slipping and stumbling and now we're pulling alarms and we're sounding all of this alarm we're afraid everybody else is afraid because we're thinking this is an emergency but here's what i want you to understand there are no emergencies with god god said there will be an appointed time you just got to wait on me because there are no emergencies with god god doesn't get in a hurry over things that upset you and i jesus and his disciples were on a body of water on a boat and a storm came up and the disciples were losing their mind they were rushing trying to get the water out of the boat they stumbling and slipping and trying to to settle the boat in the storm and one of them looked around didn't see jesus and said where's jesus the bible said he was in the back of the boat in uh sleep on a pillow now watch this all that was going on they they stumbling and falling and trying to get the water out of the boat and settle the boat jesus is sleep and he didn't fall asleep either he said you sleep on the pillar in the midst of their storm he went and got a pillow and went to sleep he he was he was wrapped in a cover of comfort laying on a bed of blessings with his head on a pill of peace why is that because there are no emergencies with god and so instead of us getting all alarmed and alarming everybody around us instead of pulling the alarm we just need to hold to his hand god's unchanging hand and build your hopes on things eternal and hold to his hand but i am amazed that in the midst of all that alarm sounding no one left that church in houston this is not time to leave the church in christ and the kingdom of god it's time to hold on to god and wait till that appointed time when he comes and turns everything around then we get to chapter three all those complaints in chapter one but he gets a new perspective in chapter two and what we find in chapter three chapter three of rebecca is all prayer to all the verses in chapter three is is all prayer he prays the entire time so he went from complaining to praying and and the prayer that he had was a prayer that faced the reality of devastation he didn't try to act like issues weren't going on and this is not these are not real problems and these are not real trust no we're an oppression that we're in poverty things have gone bad he said this this is really devastation he said that the fig trees have no figs that the vines have no no fruit that the the fields have no olive crops that the pans have no sheep that the stalls have no cattle y'all this is real devastating these are everyday fundamental things that are net these are necessities for them this is not luxury these are daily necessities that now they don't and whenever you don't have daily necessities that right there is devastating because the fig trees the trees that had no figs figs at that time y'all were very prolific they would produce those trees would produce figs year round they ate them every day they were daily necessity and then the the uh the vines that had no fruit no grapes that they would use to produce grape juice and wine and poor fruit those were staple products in that day those are bare necessities of that time and the the fields the crops the olives y'all they produce olive oil with that and in their time they used olive oil the way we use butter in the 21st century for everything we eat butter put butter on our food we cook with butter we put butter on bread that's how they did the olive oil it was a fundamental daily basic necessity of life and the sheep that were not in the pen that's where they got their clothes from and other household products the cattle that's their energy to plow those fields and their transportation fundamental basic needs that's devastating when you don't have and i know some of us we pray we ask god for luxury and i'm not telling you don't ask god for luxury but there are those in the problems of the 21st century the times in which we live their prayer is for daily necessities because when your everyday needs are not being met when you can't eat every day or have adequate housing and adequate clothing and concern about your children getting their education yo that's devastating those are daily needs i know some of us are praying for a new home in the suburbs for luxury but somebody's asking god just for a roof over their head for necessity some of us i know you're praying for filet mignon but others are just praying to get food on the table they just want necessity some of us are praying for bentleys and bends and beamers because you want a a vehicle of luxury others are just trying to get transportation back and forth to work that's necessity some are praying for taylormade clothes for your luxury others are just trying to get clothes on their back that's necessity this is it's devastating when you can't get your daily needs fundamental basic needs met wait a minute wait wait he's got trees he's got vines uh he's got fields he's got pens he's got cattle but what he doesn't have are the figs on the trees and the fruit on the vines and he doesn't have the the olives in the field and he doesn't have the sheep in the pen and he doesn't have the cattle installed which means he has prepared for blessings that did not come you know how mess you tell my devastation you know how messed up that is to prepare for blessings that never show up he plowed and planted y'all he did all the work that was necessary he waited on the harvest this man is preparing he went and built those pens with his hands and the time and the energy and the sacrifice he built those stalls and he prepared for blessings that never showed up and i know i'm i'm preaching to somebody right now that that's where you are you you graduated from high school you did what was necessary you went on to college you burned the midnight all you had discipline and sacrifice and you did everything that needed to be done you went only got another degree and all of that and now in this pandemic you can't find a job in your field you have prepared for a blessing that never came you didn't go to college but you worked on your skills and your ability you were penis apprentice uh you got a life coach and you got a mentor in your life and you started getting your skills together and and now it's time for you to get to work only to find out in the pandemic so many jobs now are not even available you prepared for a blessing that did not come that you you dated somebody you you you at least try to have some degree of purity about yourself you weren't perfect but you didn't just let anybody do anything to you anyhow and then you found somebody and you loved them and you thought they loved you back and and everything and after all these months and all these years you thought it's going to be the one i'm going to marry them and we're going to be fine and then they don't went off and married somebody else and you prepared for a blessing that didn't come and not only did you not get the mate in the pandemic you can't even find a date because of the issues of our time preparing for blessings that didn't come there are married couples right now who've been trying to have a baby and trying to have a child for five and ten years and still weren't able to do it in the time with so many unwanted pregnancies in the world but you tried to do it right and things still turned out wrong you prepared for a blessing that did not come and here you are trying to get a bentley a beam or bends somebody else said listen i i just i'm preparing to get this car and i'm i'm working and and still nothing came of it preparing for a blessing that did not come wait a minute wait wait maybe there was a time that there were figs on those trees maybe there was a time that there was fruit on those vines and there was olives in the field and there were sheep in the pens and there were cattle and stalled but here comes this corrupt government of babylon that brought oppression and suffering and difficulty to these people's lives and ripped them off and cheated them and stole from them and took advantage of them maybe they had it but they don't have it now i don't i'm not sure which is more frustrating to prepare for something and then it doesn't come or to have had something but you don't have it any longer you had a job but now you're an employer you had a house but now you had to sell it now you're back in an apartment that you were in a marriage but now in your divorce that you were in a healthy relationship but that thing fell apart that you had a car but it got repossessed you had a business but you had to shut it down in the midst of the economic downturn and the shut in the quarantines and which is worse to have prepared for something for so long it did not come or to have something and then lost it i'm talking about in his prayer he prayed with the reality of the devastation that he was facing so here now is the question to you and i how do we respond to the devastation that we're finding nobody's saying that you should ignore this but how do you respond to it that's verse 18. here's how he said he's going to respond yet i will rejoice in the lord i will be joyful in god my savior hallelujah to the he's he's still praying and this time the prayer includes celebration i'm facing destruction i'm facing devastation i'm facing oppression from this government but in my response to that even in my prayer is a prayer of celebration remember chapter one is all about complaining but he got his perspective straight with preaching and the revelation of god and once he got those principles of god straight and learn how to wait on god in his prayer now it's some celebration yeah and i got to bring this up because some of us we we we can only celebrate uh we can only praise god when we got a bunch of possessions we can only shout when we got a lot of stuff we can only celebrate when we got a car and a condo and creature comforts and cash but here he is with none of that and still begins to celebrate god and to praise god and to give god glory yo that's what we gotta learn how to do this is all about action this is all about activity this is my response to all the hell that i'm going through i'm still going to give god for a matter of fact he says i'm going to i'm going to shout i'm going to celebrate i'm going to be joyful in the lord in the lord yeah in the god my savior because i lost my figs i i lost my olives i lost my grapes i lost my sheep i lost my cattle but i still got jehovah i still got yahweh and y'all here's what i want you to get when you believe jesus died on the cross you believe god raised him from the dead you receive him by faith oh hallelujah he saves us and even though you can lose a whole lot of stuff you can't lose god folks can step in and take your house and your car your job and your money and all that but they can't take the lord from you and no matter what's happening in this world god is worthy to be praised he said i'm going to celebrate god even in the face of my suffering i've had some good days and i've had some sleepless nights i've had some weary days and some lonely nights but when i look around and i think things over all of my good days outweigh my bad days and i won't complain because god's been good to me better than this world or you could ever be so i gotta say thank you lord and i won't complain he went from complaining in chapter one hearing the principles of god prophesied to him and then it changed his perspective and now his prayers include celebration his prayers don't just include celebration his prayers include the right disposition he said i'm gonna i'm gonna rejoice in the lord that's celebration that's action that's activity but he also said i will be joyful in god myself wait a minute that's disposition right you got to get this the celebration that's the action to be joyful that's the disposition to to celebrate god that's the activity um to be joyful that's the attitude yo he says this is about celebration that's doing and then he says i will be joyful that's being that's two different things this is about joy this is not just rejoicing rejoicing that's the action joy now that's the disposition right there because some of us we got the right action we got the right activity we're doing the right thing you connecting with church you streaming you listening to the music you listening to the preaching you sending you're off you're doing the right thing you got the right action but you're doing it with the wrong disposition you got the right activity you're doing everything you're supposed to do but your attitude is off he says i will be joyful y'all that's about character that's about being that's about who you matter of fact joy is a part of the fruit of the spirit love joy peace so this is this is the outer here it is there's a difference between happiness and joy happiness is based on happenstance happiness is based on what is happening y'all i guarantee you when i look at all the unrest and all the craziness going on in the united states and globally i admit it doesn't make me happy that's i'm not talking about happiness because that's based on what is happening i can't get happy over millions of people getting sick and hundreds of thousands of people dying and millions of folk losing their jobs and people being evicted and people going to jail for stuff they shouldn't go to jail i can't get happy over that but i still got my joy that's a part of my being happiness is external joy is internal happiness is inward joy happiness is outward joy is inward even though stuff may be messed up around me i still got joy in me that's what big mom and them were talking about you can have joy even in sorrow because this joy i have the world didn't give it to me and the world can't take it away from me and he says that we got to have the joy of the lord here and then he keeps on praying and this time finally he gets to the part of the prayer that he recognizes god's elevation he says that god the the sovereign lord this is verse 19 the sovereign lord is my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer here it is he enables me to go on to the heights one translation says that he enables me to tread in the heights he makes me to walk in high play oh i love that that even though all this is going on that he says i know i serve a god that will give me ascension i serve a god that will get me to the next level i serve a god that will help me transcend all of this i serve a god that's about elevation he will make me to walk in high places now that don't make you shout if that doesn't uh give you the joy you need i don't know what else can they then when all hell is breaking loose when you get your perspective right what you're gonna learn is god can still make you walk in high places matter of fact the experiences habakkuk that you're going through is not a sign that god has forsaken you it's a sign that god is getting ready to elevate you because when you had figs on those trees and and when you had grapes on those vines and olives in the field and you had sheep in the pen and cattle and stall remember that's when judah turned their back on god and judah got caught up in idolatry and was chasing after other gods and it wasn't babylon that was oppressed in judah it was the people in judah oppressing the people in judah that's when y'all had all that stuff you say you don't have now and you were so lowed down and so low life but god says for me to eliminate that from you doesn't mean i've left you i eliminated that so that i could elevate you so that i can get you to walk in high places and i don't i don't know the last time you seen the do it like this the next time you see the space shuttle take off and i love watching that the space shuttle takes off and and dr theron williams showed me this when the space shuttle takes off you know it's got that the the launching pad and the base that doesn't go up with it it leaves that it gets disconnected from that that's eliminated and then when it gets up into the atmosphere you see something else fall off the space shuttle then when it gets to the stratosphere here we go out of there then you see something else fall out of it the higher it goes up the more stuff falls off of it and god says jeffrey johnson that's what i'm trying to show you i'm going to make it so you walk in high places but the higher i take you the more stuff i got to from you and how you gonna get me to those high place he says i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer verse 19. i'ma make your feet like the feet of a deer the feet of a deer yes because something is not quite right with your footing you want me to get you to the next level you want me to get you to a high place but something's wrong with your footing something wrong with your spiritual equilibrium something is wrong with your spiritual balance and so i can't i can't get you there like that we got to work on your footing because if you can't walk right on the level you own i can't get you to the next level to get you to walk if you fall on the level you own it won't be so bad but if you fall in high places it can be destructive if i'm riding my bike down the street and i fall off my bike i just get up dust myself off but if i fall from the empire state building that's going to be a different story so god says i got to help you get your footing right on the level you own before i have you walk on the next level well god what does that look like i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer it is yo it's your preparation for the next level some of us are trying to get a promotion without going through the preparation i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer what kind of feet do deer have well they don't have paws and they don't have claws they have hooves they have these two-piece hooves and those two-piece hooves give them a footing that a whole lot of animals and creation don't have that's why deers can live in all different types of terrain and environment deers can live in the woods they can live in the forest deers can live in the mountains they can live in swamps and they don't get stuck in the mud because they have hooves they have a certain kind of footing and god says i'm going to give you the feet of a deer you know this is not the first time black folk have had to deal with economic downturn it's not the first time black people had to deal with racism and social but but we've been able to make it because we can live in any environment we've proven we can live in any terrain with whatever is going on because god said i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer so that you don't lose your spiritual equilibrium and lose your spiritual balance i'ma make your feet like the feet of a deer that causes them to be able to run like 35 miles per hour some deers can get as big as 300 and 400 pounds and can run 35 miles an hour because their feet are so light and nimble and quick they can run 35 miles an hour that's how they deal with their oppression with when when their enemies come to attack them deers just take off running they can run 35 miles an hour i already know what you're thinking pastor so can a coyote so when a coyote goes after that deer that coyote can run 35 miles an hour yeah but the coyote has paws the deer has hooves and so when that coyote gets close to the deer and gets ready to jump on him to destroy him that deer is able to stop on the dime and change directions the coyote can't do that because he doesn't have the feet of a deer that's what i'm trying to tell us god said i'ma give you the feet of a deer and when all hell is breaking loose and it looked like you get ready to be destroyed i made it possible for you to stop on the dime and change direction some of us because of the pandemic and the problems and the pains we've been going in the wrong direction away from god away from his word away from the church away from scripture away from the kingdom but i'm so glad he makes our feet like the deed of the the feet of a deer so we can stop on a dime and change direction we can turn around we can go in the right direction we can change what we're doing i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer yeah all that destruction and devastation but when you got the feet of a deer your deers can jump like the average deer can jump eight feet some deer is gonna jump even higher than that that's the average eight feet three four hundred pounds can jump eight feet man i saw it by myself in indianapolis at 71st and gaian road out on the west side of indianapolis been a few years ago they were working on a new subdivision out there so they affected the deer life out there as one deer was coming out where they were working and all of that so he got past all that then he got to 71st street on the west side and man those cars come and go pretty quickly out there and that deer had to negotiate that that traffic and he was able to get through without getting hit and hurt and he made it past that and when he got past that there was a big field there and there was a 10-foot fence and i was thinking to myself man that deer came out all that trouble came negotiated that traffic did it without getting hurt now you got to go back through that same danger because of that big ten foot fence that's in his way that deer never looked back did not break stride ran straight for that fence and cleared the ten foot i didn't know they had those kind of hops i do know now and he cleared that fence he didn't have to go back to the danger he came out of he just got over it that's what i'm trying to say that god said i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer doesn't mean you don't have to negotiate the dangers of life but it does mean you can get over that's how we all made it because of the power of god's holy spirit in us making our feet like a deer we've been able to get over even in economic downturns we got over even facing racism we got over even when they acted a fool on our jobs we still got over because he makes our feet like the feet of a deer and let me get to the last thing god says jeffrey johnson i'm i'm gonna get you to the next level i'm gonna get i'ma have you walk in high places and i love that because that means god's got a place for you you don't have to be jealous and envious of somebody else's place because god's got a place for you i know you may feel out of place and misplaced and displaced but god says i got a place for you give your faith to jesus christ believe jesus died on the cross believe god raised him from the dead receive him by faith his holy spirit moves inside of you and god says i got a place for you i'm gonna make i'm gonna prepare you for it i'm gonna make your feet like the feet of a deer but i'ma get you to that place i want to close it like this because when the hebrew people those ancient hebrews read habakkuk chapter 3 verse 19 and they saw imma make your feet like the feet of a deer they knew that meant dancing because deers are light on their feet and deers are nimble and and quick with their feet no matter how big so that meant dancing to this is an idiom an idiom is when you say one thing but you mean something else some translations don't even say the feet of a deer it just says i'm i'ma cause you to be i'm gonna make you able to dance because they knew that that's what they meant it's an idiom make your feet like the feet of a deer saying one thing but it means dancing we do that in the 21st century hear somebody say man he's rolling in dope that don't mean he's at home rolling in flowers that means that dude got some money somewhere we say one thing but we mean something else brother told me the other day pastor i'm in the dog house he didn't mean living in the backyard and his puppy's home it meant that he's having some issues in the big house where he living with somebody somebody said this pandemic is driving me crazy they don't mean somebody threw them in the car and drove them somewhere no it means they have an emotional and psychological challenges dealing with this thing saying one thing and meaning something else he gonna make my feet like the feet of a deer is talking about dancing and rebecca is saying that even though i'm dealing with devastation even though i'm in difficulty i'm still going to dance before the lord god said praise him with a dance king david danced until he danced out of his clothes our god is so worthy to be praised you can praise him in a pandemic you can celebrate him in your suffering you can shout even in difficult times in your life and you can dance even during your devastation in your life because god is still worthy to be praised i'll close it like this i believe it was back in the 70s when uh billy white shoes johnson used to play for the houston orleans they called himself houston texans now in the nfl he played for the houston oilers he ran back punt returns and kickoff return and turned into a great wide receiver and his rookie season he caught this pass and he started a trend that every time he would catch a touchdown pass he would stand in the end zone hold the ball over his head and he did something we used to call the funky chicken but he would dance in the end zone and so every time he get a touchdown he'd dance in the end zone and and so the media couldn't understand this so they went and asked him why is it when you score a touchdown why don't you do like everybody else and just hand the ball to the official and billy white shoes johnson they said why you keep dancing he said listen you don't understand what it took for me to get here he said that i had to work hard even to get to this level i'm only five foot nine only weighed 150 pounds and i had to work hard to get here then i had to do two a days and work out twice every day then i had to compete for this position and when i'm on the field there are 11 people trying to pull me down there's some defensive coordinator up in a booth trying to plan a strategy to shut me down so when i get to the goal when i get to the end zone that's why i dance because i worked hard to get here with two a days and struggled and i sacrificed to get here and folk trying to pull me down so when i finally get there he said i have to he said don't ask me why do i dance ask these other folk why don't they dance y'all god's been too good to me even when i didn't have figs on the tree even when i didn't have fruit on the vine even when i didn't have any sheep in the pen even when i didn't have any olives in the field and no cattle i didn't have any of that in the stall but god's been good to me and i know folk tell you and i without shouting and praising god and i dancing it don't take all of that listen stop asking us why do we shout ask everybody else why don't they shout my god shall work all things together for good and with all hell breaking loose and god is still going to elevate us we ought to at least be able to give god a dance i will rejoice and be joyful in the lord the god who is my savior and i want to give you a chance right now to make god your savior i want you to become a christian whosoever called upon the name of the lord shall be saved you can be even in the midst of a pandemic you can give your life jesus christ and i want you to do that right now folk can take a lot of stuff from you but they can't take the lord from you i want you to follow me in prayer i'm gonna have you ask god to make you a christian and your faith in god and his grace is gonna make it happen i'ma pray out loud pray after me out loud father i come right now i admit i've sinned i'm sorry for my sins i believe jesus died on the cross i believe you raised jesus from the dead i receive jesus by faith please fill me with your holy spirit in jesus name amen hallelujah to the lamb now you got something to dance about you got something to shout about because the lord is the god who is your savior and welcome to the family of god i'm so glad you made that decision today go ahead and email us here at the eastern star church email us at membership at easternstartchurch.org let us know the decision of faith that you made so we can help you on your journey and those of you who are already christians you're already children of god uh but now you're ready but you're straight from church you have a disconnect with church but now you're ready to stop on the dime and change direction and get back in church where you belong email us at membership eastern startchurch.org and so we can get you back where you're supposed to be and move help move you to that high place that god has designed for you hallelujah to the lamb well i certainly praise god for you and uh streaming today and the holy spirit allowing you that message i know is for you that's why god had you stream with us today so apply that word to your heart to your mind to your soul to your life and don't just have the action have the disposition to have the right attitude as you live it out in your life and god is going to do everything he said he's going to do all right it's time for the offering it's time for us to be obedient to god and to give god if the lord told us bring the tithe and the offering into the storehouse and his promise to us is i'll open the windows of heaven pour you out a blessing you don't have room enough to receive it so have the right activity bring the tithe and the offer but have the right attitude to we ought to be cheerful givers that's what the apostle paul said god loves a cheerful giver be excited that you're in a position to give it's better to give than it is to receive i'm so glad that god has brought me from poverty to where i am yeah and i can i can testify there were times that i was so messed up people had to give to me that has changed now god has put me in a higher place now i get to give to people it's more blessed to give than it is to receive and thank you for your generosity you can just go to easternstartchurch.org and our rock initiative and all the other things that we do you see tons of things that we do for families and community the nation different parts of the world especially our brothers and sisters in haiti what we do for education i won't go through all those things but just know that when you give you help us to help people who are hurting and who are hungry while you're being obedient unto the lord let's go ahead well let's do it like this if you want to participate in the offering several ways you can do it one way you can do it is text to give text 4577 and then esc with your amount and then you can mail it to us at eastern star church 5750 east 30th street indianapolis indiana 46218 or you can go to our website to give and that is easternstartchurch.org there's a little tab there click on give and then go ahead and be as generous as you possibly can to the kingdom of god let's ask god's blessings upon our gifts today father thank you for how you provide for us even in a pandemic even an oppression even in hard times thank you for everything that you've given to us and lord we thank you that even when things have been eliminated from our lives that you still take care of us thank you for what you're going to do how you're going to prepare us and promote us and get us to the next level and we praise you for that dear god now receive these gifts as we give them in your name out of obedience and faith and trust and i pray to god as your people give that you'll give back to them good measures pressed down shaken together i pray you'll run it over in their life in jesus name we pray amen amen praise the lord well again let me say thank you for those who are streaming and if you didn't hear me on wednesday we certainly want to say congratulations to all of our veterans thank you for your sacrifice thank you for your discipline thank you for all you've done for the united states so that we can have the rights and the privileges and the freedoms that we have we don't take that for granted we appreciate you we love you veterans and and i thank god for who you are and what you mean to this nation and what you mean uh to me personally um and and i pray that you'll have continue to enjoy this season where we celebrate veterans um i want to make sure that as we move towards the christmas season and what they call black friday that we don't violate the principles of god we're in a pandemic be careful how you deal with your income and spend your money you want to be in god's will and find a way to celebrate thanksgiving and celebrate christmas safe and healthy with social distancing with masks keep your bubble as small as possible and then make sure that you find a way that you honor jesus christ and you're some of us celebrating ways that he gets no honor out of it and we get broke out of it that's all i'm trying to say all right let me go ahead and ask uh uh ask the benediction from the lord on your life on today may god bless you and keep you may god have his face to smile upon you and be gracious unto you may god turn his countenance towards you and grant you peace and i pray that god will give you joy despite your sorrows and i pray that'll happen today and forevermore in jesus name amen you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 3,376

Rating: 4.9220781 out of 5

Keywords: ESC, Eastern Star Church, I Still Have Joy, Prayer Sunday, Sunday Service

Id: FsDlDQKNUgc

Length: 48min 15sec (2895 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 15 2020