It's Too Soon to Quit

jesus name amen amen leading up to our texts today those of us who are frequent bible readers we know when you get in this area this is about that great prophet elijah and elijah has already been fed with bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening from a scavenger from a raven that brought it to him even in an economic downturn and elijah the great prophet had already dealt with this corrupt government official ahab letting him know if you don't change your ways god is going to bring some destruction your way he's already rebuilt the altar and got the fire of god to fall on mount carmel and overcome the 450 prophets avail and he's getting one victory after another and then chapter 19 of first kings opened with jezebel putting a hit out on him and jezebel putting the word out that she's going to kill elijah that's when we get to first kings chapter 19 verse 4. this is speaking about elijah but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die and said it is enough now lord take my life for i am no better than my fathers and he prayed that he might die it is enough now lord take my life here's what i want to talk about today it's too soon to quit that's what i want to talk about it's too soon to quit in this pandemic nationally in america and globally around the world wait a minute not just a pandemic but for those of us who are black and brown living in this country it's a syndemic we have more than one thing synonymously at the same time coming at us from covet 19 to economic downturn to unemployment and joblessness to poverty we have more than one thing coming at us at one time to rooted systemic racism it's not just a pandemic it's a sin demi and in the midst of this there are so many black and white who are falling into depression depression is on the rise in our nation this worry this this inner fear this anxiety is on the rise illicit drug use is on the rise abusive alcohol is on the rise and so many different expressions that we see with all of this depression and the lord told me to tell you in the midst of all that's coming against you it's too soon to quit there's so many of us who are ready to get we just want god to stop this world and let me get off we're ready to throw in the towel we're ready to hold up the white flag of surrender we're ready to give up the ship some have already turned their back on christ and the church and the kingdom of god and the causes of god they're ready just to let everything go and this is not a message of of judgment this is not a message of condemnation hopefully it's a message of exhortation and encouragement because i know that all this depression is not just in the world has also come to the church it's not just with sinners who have rejected jesus but depression has shown up in saints who have received jesus but i'm not trying to be judgmental i just want you to understand if that's where you are in the midst of inner fear and anxiety and worry and depression that you're not the first person of faith to have to deal with this matter of fact you in good company and moses after that burning bush experience when told pharaoh god said let my people go and brought out more than two million people out of bondage out of slavery through the red sea and all of that but it wasn't long after that moses told god i'm through with this i don't want to do this anymore you have all these people back i don't want to do this and moses wanted to quit matter of fact you in good company because you can look at the apostle paul who had just preached and taught in athens and now he's on his way to corinth and when he preached in athens not one soul got saved he didn't win not one person to the kingdom of god now he's on his way to car rent he's got a failures of the past behind him and an uncertainty a future in front of him and it was during that time that he told god i don't want to do this anymore and he was on the verge of quitting and now here in first kings in chapter 19 here is elijah the great prophet with one victory after another the fire of god to fall overcoming the 450 prophets of baal dealing with corrupt government officials like ahab but here he is saying god i don't want to do this i'm finished i'm done he's got suicidal thoughts and he wants god to take his life you're in good company if that's where you've been and i gotta admit i gotta testify myself and i know i don't fit with moses and i don't fit with the apostle paul and i definitely don't fit with elijah but there have been a season in my own life that i didn't want to do this anymore i wanted to give up i wanted to just let it go and i'm not talking about as a teenage preacher like i was trying to find my way but i'm talking about as a christian who loves god with the holy spirit living inside of me pastoring one of god's greatest churches with a beautiful wife and at the time three children i ended up with four but i didn't want to do it anymore i wanted to just let it go i went through a season of wanting to give up and god told moses and god told the apostle paul and god today tells elijah and god told me it's and now god is telling you it's too soon to quit when things go bad as they sometimes will and the road you trudge seems all uphill when the funds are low and the debts are high you want to smile but you got to cry when the cares are pressing you down a bit rest if you must but don't you quit success is failure turn inside out it's the silver tent of the clouds of doubt and you never can tell how close you are you may be near though it seems so far so stick to the fight when your heart is hit is when things are at their worst that you must not quit god told me to tell you it's too soon to quit and here in first kings chapter 19 that's what elijah was talking about god i don't want to do this anymore god take my life god pulled me out of this god stop this world and let me get off and it was at that time in his lowest point in deep depression interfering anxiety that the angel of the lord showed up i'm so glad that god knows where you are god knows where i am god knows the pandemic god knows the social injustice god knows the police brutality god knows the chaos god knows the job loss god knows where you are and god sent an angel and that angel touched him and that angel fed him and that angel ministered to him no wonder he was able to turn it around he could turn it around because he was open to be ministered to by the angels if you and i want to turn this thing around in the midst of our depression in the midst of our trials and trouble y'all we got to be open to be ministered to by the aim and i know when i say angels i know in our minds we got these spooky uh figures that come to our mind these mysterious figures with wings but when the bible speaks of angels it speaks of angelic beings speaks of angelic personalities who have spent time in the presence of god who are familiar with the word of god and who are on the assignment of god that in the midst of your depression be open to the personalities who've been in the presence of god who knows something about the word of god who are on the assignment of god be open to the angels because god does send angels and i know some of us don't believe in angels one of the writers of scripture said that you got to be careful how you treat strangers because you might be dealing with an angel unaware you may not even know it's an angel because god sends angels to help us in our troubles that's what he did when daniel was in the lion's den he sent an angel when peter was in prison god sent an angel when joshua was getting ready to fight that battle over in the promised land and he was worried and concerned if he was going to get the victory god sent an angel and in my life god has sent angels i believe like my grandmother said all day and all night angels keep a watch over me but when you're like elijah that you have ministered to that black single female in xeropath that helped to raise her son not just in the admonition in the way of the lord but to raise him from the dead and then to make it so that her uh cruse of oil never ran dry her mill barrel never ran out he's so used to ministering to other people where he had to address that head of state that had no morality no integrity and no honesty he's so busy ministering to others on mount carmel where he got the fire of god to fall and turn the hearts of the people back to god that sometimes we're not open to letting other folk minister to us i know in your family you're the one you're ministering to your spouse and your children you're ministering to your niece and nephews and your brothers and sisters on your job you're the one people turn to god has called you to do a work you have an anointing in your community you're the one who are part of the protests and the marches trying to make a difference because you're used to ministering to everybody else but now elijah you're down you're depressed you're disillusioned and if you're gonna come out of this you gotta be open to let somebody else minister unto you and that angel touched him that angel ministered to him and i got i gotta admit that's one of my concerns in the pandemic with this social isolation with these quarantines whether it's from the government or or we do it ourselves i'm concerned about people who are missing out on the human touch no wonder depression is going up no wonder there's anxiety and interfere the absence of the human touch the bible speaks over and over again how important it is to touch jesus said you'll lay hands on the sick and they'll be healed i thank god for streaming you streaming with us right now i praise god for technology and and that which is digital but to lay hands on the sick and they be healed you can't get that online you got to do that on site the apostle paul said to greet your brother with a holy kiss you can't you can't kiss online you got to do that on site the human touch is so significant and important and mark said that they brought the children to jesus and jesus picked him up and put them in his arms and laid his hands on them and he blessed him he touched that human touch and what that means and i gotta admit i am concerned no wonder so many of us are depressed inner anxiety because we're missing out on the laying of hands and the greeting with a holy kiss and and and embraced in the arms of somebody that care about you but that angel showed up and and he touched him he ministered unto him and that touch is so significant and i can testify that the lord will show up in that situation and he touched me and all the joy that floods my soul something happened and now i know he touched me and he made me whole and that angel began to feed him it said that there was some bread that was baking by the head of elijah here he is sleeping and the angel shows up because god knows where we are and begins to break bread to bake that bread at his head i love that because while you and i are sleeping god is working we we just think that because we don't see god working that god is not working now some of us are sleeping through what god is doing and while you're not watching even behind your back while you're sleeping god is cooking something up right now and when he woke up there was some bread there and some water there and he was no wonder turned around for him because he was open to the angel allowing the angel to minister to him so many of us are so busy feeding other people whether it's feeding the hungry or feeding somebody with god's word we're so busy feeding others that we don't allow others to feed us and if you keep putting out and putting out and putting out and not replenish pretty soon you're going to be out of gas pretty soon you're going to be depressed pretty soon you're going to have inner anxiety and thinking you cannot handle it so he eats that bread and drinks that water now i preached first kings chapter 19 before and when i did it before i used the bread and the water its representations and i use it as symbols the bread of times in scripture represents the word of god i said elijah got the word from the messenger of god the angel of god and then he got the water and i used the water in the past as a representation of the holy spirit jesus said you're talking about giving me something to drink i give you some water you'll never thirst again because it will overwhelm you it will overcome you it will well up inside of you because he's the holy spirit but this time and i'm looking at the bread and the water and it can represent the word of god and it can represent the holy spirit but maybe it's just bread and water sometimes y'all we try to just make stuff so over spiritual everything in the bible is not an illustration everything in the bible is not a metaphor everything in the bible is not an allegory sometimes it's just bread and water so if i'm depressed inner anxiety interfere i'm worried i'm ready to quit i want god to stop the world and let me off how do i turn it around well the text says that elijah was asleep he ate some bread and he drank some water sometimes you just need to get some rest sometimes you just need to eat something with some nourishment to it and sometimes you just need to drink some water and one of the things i learned is i tried a man i know i minister all the time and i'm always trying to do something for the kingdom of god to save so i want you to be saved today whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be say i want you to call on god in faith and be saved i want to make disciples every day i'm trying to make this i'm trying to feed the hungry i'm trying to do for community and sometimes i get tired and i just press through that and god says okay jeffrey johnson if you're going to keep pressing through it and i told you it's going to lead to depression and disillusionment you need to get some rest here's what i learned when you and i won't rest on our own that the lord is our shepherd and he makes me to lie down in great so when i won't rest on my own he makes me and maybe that's what god is doing with this pandemic all that running i was doing on the road and then i'm ain't on the road anymore he's making me to lie down and then he elijah ate bread and drank water i know it's nothing to shout over but if you're gonna come out of your depression you you gotta make sure you're eating something that can replenish you and restore you don't just eat any and everything but eat something that will give you strength and drink water by now you can do your own research on this when we drink water the impact physically and emotionally and psychologically that it has on our body the difference it makes just drinking water and remember the lord is our shepherd shall not want he makes me when i don't do it on my own he makes me lie down in green power and he leaves me beside not cups of coffee he leaves me beside not pepsi and coca-cola he leads me beside not hennessy and grey goose and jack daniels and bacardi but he leaves me besides steel water i know it's nothing to shout over it's real simple get some rest eat right and then drink some water that's how he was able to he allowed that angel to minister unto him even though he's depressed he's down god turned it around now let me do it like this because some of us we get down and then we get down on ourselves we get depressed and then we get down on ourselves we get disillusioned and get down y'all just because you're down don't mean you have to stay down in boxing there's a difference between a knockdown and a knock out in in january 11 1991 bruce sheldon who is a former heavyweight champion bruce eldon was fighting against jose rebalta rebalto went 10 rounds with mike tyson and mike tyson's heyday for 10 rounds with him that show you kind of boxer he is and they were going at it january the 11th 1991 at the start of the fight the bell rings hosea rebalta comes out with an overhand right bam and lands it on the jaw of bruce seldom bruce eldon went straight down the first the first throw the first punch in the fight knocked him down and he didn't move he just he was just down and then here comes the official begins to count one two three while he's counting the announcer said i ain't never seen nothing like this before the first punch and somebody is knocked down but those of us who know a little bit about boxing we know if you get knocked down if you can get back up within 10 seconds you still got a chance to get to victory and when that official counted over bruce helden 5-6 at six bruce helden jumped up and started fighting and started winning the fight that he was beating down hosea and beating him down and by the third round it was a tko he had knocked him out because even though you may be down now bruce held and teaches us you still get back up and you can still get the victory if you allow the angels to come and men open up to other people blessing you and feeding you and helping you even in the midst of a pandemic and ascending and understand this we have to acknowledge that god is not through with us if we're going to overcome the pandemic that we're in if we're going to overcome this endemic and all the chaos and all the craziness and all the crisis that we're in and the confusion we have to get in our minds get in our hearts get in our spirit god is not through with us yet let me show it to you in the word of god it's in uh first kings in first kings chapter 19 verse 7 first kings chapter 19 verse 7 and the angel of the lord came back the second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great for you listen to what the angel says the journey is too great for you wait the journey is too great that means god is not through with you yet you all depressed you all down you all disillusioned you ready to give up you turn into drugs and i know god ain't through with you yet i love that angel too so that angel didn't just show up and the angel didn't just make him eat up the angel told him man get up the angel challenge i'm not gonna let you think it's all right to have this pity party every day get up and i'm not joining in the pity party with you get up i'm not gonna let you think it's okay for you to sleep through the storms that we're going through he said get up i'm not gonna let you think that god is finished with you he challenged him to get up because there's a great journey ahead of you if the journey is ahead of you that means all the blessings of god are not behind you it's a trick of the enemy to bring depression into our lives by making us think that all the blessings of god are behind us listen to how people talk we talk about what we lost the job we lost the health we lost we talk about the employment we lost we talked about the the savings we lost the investment we talk about all the stuff we love because we keep thinking all the blessings of god are behind us and then like elijah we start having these suicidal thoughts ready to give up but if you understand there's a great journey ahead of you y'all all the blessings of god are not behind you so many of us think that everything god's gonna give to me i already got it that everywhere god's gonna take me i've already been that everything god's gonna teach me i already know that every door god's gonna open for me he's already open no there's a great journey ahead of you doors that have yet to be opened he's got employment that you have yet to have he's got money that you have yet to receive that god is not through blessing you get that in your spirit get that in your head and that's what elijah he did wake up and he did get up he ate the bread he listened to the the minister speak to him and then instead of going back to israel back to bear sheba that's where he left the server that's where he left his support in the midst of all the hell he was facing he left his servant he left his support system in bear sheba that he leaves beersheba he's headed towards mount hora he's out in the wilderness that's where the angels showed up and then after the angel ministered to him instead of going back to israel back to mount carmel where the victory took place back to where he rebuilt the altar of god back to where the fire no he goes in the opposite direction of where god he's already depressed he's already down he's already disillusioned and after being ministered to instead of going back to where he should be he starts moving further and further in the wrong direction say he was out there for 40 days you talk about social isolation and corn he's self quarantined for 40 days in the wrong direction 200 miles outside the direction that god would have for him to go and he ends up at a cave at mount horeb let me slow this down because some of you have been open to the angels you have allowed people to minister to you and preach to you and teach you and feed you and come alongside you and you've heard god's word but in the midst of that you didn't go back to the place of victory you kept going in the wrong direction but i want you to understand god loves you too much to let that happen to keep letting you go in the wrong direction so when when when elijah's at mount harp uh he's in a cave and that's when earth wind and fire showed up not not the not the hall of fame band not the singing group earth wind and fire but in first kings chapter 19 verse 11 and 12 it says that there was an earth quake there was a world wind and there was fire earth wind and fire showed up that's because god allowed one storm after another because when you and i don't go in the direction god wants us to go god will send one storm after another he'll send earth wind and fire to get us to turn around to go to the place of victory to where we built that altar for him to where we served him and minister to him that where we got the presence of god that fire to fall in our situation so he sent one storm after another and it says that god was not in the storm and then there was a still small voice a gentle whisper that was god don't miss this he sent earth wind and fire earthquake whirlwind a fire one storm after another but it says god was not in the storm god was not in the earthquake god was not in the wind god was not in the fire but behind that a still small voice god didn't come in the storm but he did what he did was he came behind the storm i don't have time to argue today about whether god sent this pandemic or not i don't have time to argue that if it was sanctioned by god or if it was uh arranged by god or allowed by god was it sent by god or just sanctioned by i don't have time to argue all that but i will tell you this god ain't in every god didn't sin every storm but i'm so glad he comes behind every storm and god came behind the storm with us god y'all god is still in control god is still in charge i still believe that god is working all things together for our good i believe that all this shaken up with the earthquake and and all this wind tossing and turning throwing us from side to side with the fire in the heated situation i believe that behind all of that god shows up with what we need and he spoke to elijah in a still small and one translation says in a gentle whisper you know why because when you've been through one storm after another god doesn't have to shout to get your attention when you when you've gone through one storm after another god doesn't have to holler to get your attention even now some of us are more open to god now than we ever have been we're open to hear god's word and god doesn't have to holla at us after all these storms it's with a still small voice and god spoke to him and told him i need you now to go back the way you came i don't need you in this depression i don't need you being disillusioned i don't need you being down i don't need you with fear i don't i need you to go back go back to israel go back to bear sheba go back to judah go back to where the victories that you had with me but he didn't do that until after the storm came um josh howard well i think he coaches now he was a nba basketball player and josh howard to me was a great basketball player he he ended up going to wake forest on a scholarship and was the acc player of the year his senior year there and got votes to be the player of the year for division one basketball josh howard he then went on to become a first-round draft choice of the dallas mavericks and made the all-star team playing for a great basketball player but his mom tells a story about when josh howard was an infant that he was severely bowled now he ended up being six foot seven 210 pounds but as a child he was so so as a baby he was so severely bowlegged until the doctor said if we don't correct this he'll never walk forget playing basketball making it to the nba making it to the peak of his prof uh forget all that he won't even be able to walk let alone compete at any level with the use of legs and so his mom asked the dog well how we going to correct it she said well the doctor said we got to break his legs and we break them then we'll reform them and reset them so that when he begins to grow he can grow properly now he can walk and we but we got to straighten this out but the way we're going to straighten it out we gotta break it first then reset it and then he can walk right then he can grow and then he went on to be six foot seven nba player making it to the peak of his profession pastor why are you telling us all of this because some of us we gotta admit we just didn't walk right and we weren't growing in christ the way we needed to grow we weren't growing in the things of god the way we needed to grow and we weren't reaching the peak of what it means to be a child of god and i believe that some of what we've been dealing with is god breaking us here's what josh howard's mom said she said i didn't want to do it but i let them do now she didn't break her son's legs but she allowed them to be broken to straighten him so he can grow and walk right yo god may not have sent what we are going through but we gotta admit it's breaking us but god he loves us he didn't allow us to be broken because he doesn't love us he allowed us to be broken because he does love us so that we can be reshaped and reset so that we can walk the way he is designed for us to walk so that we can grow the way he wants us to grow and that still small voice saying to elijah now go back to where i told you and go back the way you came i love that go back but go back the way you came he's 200 miles away he's been walking for 40 days and now the lord tells it go back to the place where you got the victories where the fire of god failed the presence of god where you overcame go back to that place and go back the way you came god said the way you came i don't know the exact exact route but i do know he went through beersheba and i know beersheba is in judah beersheba means well of promise and judah means worthy to be praised god told him to go back but the route i want you to take is to go through well of promise and go through worthy to be praised if we don't get anything else today please get that the promises of god and praise for god are inextricably tied together when you and i embrace the promise of god then there needs to be a response of praise to god if you've been down long enough but you'll knock down is not a knockout you've been depressed long enough god is still speaking to you open up to what god has for you and then come on back the way you went and what way is that trusting in the promises of god and giving praise unto god and then god told him now when you get back here's what i want you to do i want you to anoint hazel as the next king of syria and anoint jehu as the next king of israel and anoint elisha as the prophet that's going to take your place no wonder he's got to get back he's got to get back to his right place so that he can help other folk find their place you know people were out of place misplaced this place but how can you yourself be out of place and help somebody else to find their place you got to get back it's not just personal it's social god says i need you to get back go the way you came the trust in the promises of god giving god praise and then find your place and then anoint hazel as the king of syria anoint jehu as the king of israel and then anoint elijah the prophet that's going to take your pl help them to find their place if i'm out of place how can i help my children find their place if i'm out of place how can i help the people of god find their place if i'm out of place how can i help my community to find their place god said go on back because you got to help somebody else in the and and for all of you who believe that well we're christians and people of faith and we don't have to worry about politicians and we don't have to worry about government and we don't have to worry about any of that you better read first kings chapter 19. god told him to do three things go help uh haziel find his place as the head of state in syria that's a government official then he told him to go anoint jehu to be the next king of israel that's the head of state that's a government official and if i had time to talk about it i talked about how now that head of state they had that had no morality no integrity and no honesty god said uh he's getting ready to go i'm bringing in somebody else now and he told the prophet i want you to anoint set him apart set him aside and then set aside the prophet y'all it wasn't just about the preachers at the church it was the politicians that he said i want you to go and set them y'all god wants this text shows us people of faith to determine and decide who the government officials are going to be now the way they did it back in in elijah's time that was his anointing and setting apart the way we do it in the first century in the united states of america we registered a vote and we vote then we determine who the heads of state is and god is telling those of us who are people of faith that the people of faith needs to determine who sits in those government offices go on back to your place then help other folk to find their place go back the way you came go back through beersheba go back through judah go back through the promises of god go back to the praise of god and my word to you today is it is too soon to quit it's too soon to give up but the word of god teaches us that god can and will turn it around you can get back let me close it like this are there there's what's called migrating songbirds and migrating at least the species that i was reading about the migrating songbirds they migrate from south america to canada and as they migrate north from south america to canada they so happen to fly over illinois in the united states of america and scientists for years have been studying these migrating songbirds because folk want to know how do they know which way to go they're flying hundreds of miles how do they know when to turn left or turn right or to go straight it's not like they got google maps it's not like they got a gps system it's not like they have a navigation system how do they know how to fly from south america over illinois into canada and so the scientists at princeton university decided they were going to do a study on it and so as they were flying over illinois they captured them put them in cages the songbirds decided they would study them to find out what was going on with it and found out that these migrating songbirds have this compass it is something innate inside the migrating sound songbirds they help them to get to their destination and then there is a magnetic field on the earth and this magnetic field on the earth uh that that gets in tune with that internal compass and that's how they're able to find their way so here's what the scientists at princeton decided to do we're going to manipulate the magnetic field in the earth we're going to put in an artificial magnetic field and then they let the songbirds go and had them go in the wrong direction had them go west rather than north and as the songbirds got out they began to fly they were going west going in the wrong direction because the scientists manipulated the magnetic field they put in an artificial magnetic field that's why they flying the wrong way and these songbirds fly at night they fly in the dark and they flew 200 miles in the dark the wrong way and then when the sun when there was a sunrise when those birds saw the sun in the wrong place they all turned around and started flying in the right direction to get to their destination because when they saw the sun was in the wrong place they knew the sun is never in the wrong place it always rises in the east always sets in the west they knew it's not the sun out of place we're the ones that are out of place and they turned around they repented when they saw the sun i wanted to bring that up because there are those who have manipulated the spiritual moral and ethical magnetic field in this earth it's artificial there are those who try to convince us that right is wrong and wrong is right that the truth is a lie and the lie is the truth that good is evil and evil is good that we need to be more concerned about possessions and positions than we are about people rather than putting the focus on people rather than the possession and the people somebody has manipulated the spiritual moral and ethical magnetic field on this earth and so many of us are flying in the wrong direction going away from the things of god but if you you don't have to solely focus on the earth to figure this out we need to do like those birds and look to the sun because the sun is always in the right place and make our decisions based on the sun not the s-u-n but the s-o-n of god what does jesus say whatever jesus says is holy is holy whatever he says is hellish it's hellish whatever he says it's the truth it's the truth if he calls it a lie it's a lie but we gotta look to the son of god and when we see we're moving in the wrong direction based on the son of god it's time to repent it's time to turn around you can change you can't make it god is not finished with you god has given you the power even though you're down now to jump up and still get the victory it was reverend richard wright richard white that said you've been waiting on a blessing and you think it just won't come doors are shut things are rough it seems that you're already done then he said but the devil is a liar and a deceiver too god is not through blessing you and he went on to say you've been waiting on deliverance and it seems it just won't come body sick pain everywhere it seems nobody cares but the devil is a liar and a deceiver too god is not through blessing you then he just kept on saying god is not through blessing you that's my word to you don't you give up don't turn your back on christ and the church and the kingdom of god don't turn to drugs and alcohol i know you've been knocked down but you can still get up in the name of jesus and get the victory because god is not through blessing you it's too soon to quit now those of you who've never invited jesus into your life for forgiveness of sin that's where it starts the son of god is always in the right place jesus is the same yesterday today and forever you need a relationship with god through his son jesus christ you need to be saved you need to be a christian the bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved i'ma lead you in prayer right now if you've never invited christ into your life i'm gonna lead you in prayer i'm gonna pray out loud and i want you to repeat after me in prayer the moment you believe it that's when god sets you free he becomes your father jesus your big brother and the holy spirit becomes your keeper follow me in prayer father i come right now i know that 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 received him by faith in jesus name amen that's all it took now you're a christian now you're saved let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of god and to the eastern star church family please email us here at membership at easternstartchurch.org let us know the decision that you've made membership at easternstartchurch.org so we can follow up on this commitment of faith that you made today and those of you who already say you're already a christian but you've been like elijah just running in the wrong direction it's half you to turn around time for you to look at the son of god and repent and come on back let us help you get reconnected to the church just email us at membership at easternstarchurch.org praise the lord all right it's time for the offering this is our opportunity to invest in the kingdom of god through the eastern star church and you can go on our website easternstartchurch.org and you can see all the things that we're doing from feeding the hungry to helping those in haiti they're helping people with housing to helping young people with scholarships and we do a ton of things and in the midst of this pandemic and syndemic and this economic downturn we have had to do more and more we've had this is the most we've ever done in 100 years of history of eastern star church we've do what we're doing more than we've ever done and that's because of your generosity we come we come alongside the least the lonely and the left out our focus is on those who are in poverty because we believe jesus identified with the marginal lies and when we bless the poor it's not only doing for jesus it's doing to jesus he said when you do it for them it's like doing it for me and to me so thank you for your generosity those you who want to give today you have several options to get that done you can go on our website and do that easternstartchurch.org easternstartchurch.org there's a tab there for give so that you can participate or you can text to give four five seven seven seven and then esc in the message field four five seven seven seven esc or you can mail it in to eastern star church 5750 east 30th street in indianapolis indiana 46218 5750 east 30th street indianapolis indiana 46218 let me ask god's blessings on our gifts today father thank you for your patience with us thank you for the angels you've sent to us thank you for the storms to redirect us thank you for how you speak to us in our storms and after our storms and we thank you for the power to get up from being knocked down by this cruel world and lord i pray that each of us will find our place and then help to guide other people to their place receive these gifts as we give them to advance your kingdom on this earth i pray that as we give that you'll give back to those who are trusting you today and give back in a way that it is pressed down shaken together and running over in their life i believe it does now in jesus name amen amen all right let me offer this benediction again thank you for streaming with us today i love you all very much thank god we're i can't wait for us to get back on site but thank god we're online and still being able to be a blessing to each other 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 through the holy spirit that god will help you to love mercy do good and walk humbly with your god and i pray through the anointing of god that justice will rush down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream i pray it'll happen in your lifetime and forevermore amen you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 802

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: eastern star church, pastor jeffrey a johnson sr, indianapolis, indy church, indianapolis church, gospel, god, sermon, faith, hope, inspiration, motivation, jesus, love, christianity

Id: AOzhajvlf6Y

Length: 44min 37sec (2677 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 15 2020