Maggie Street Virtual Service (12.27.20)

to maggie street missionary baptist church where ezekiel pettway senior is the pastor amen our mission is to take the whole gospel to the whole city to be a loving caring and sharing church with christ as our model to train evangelize and make disciples of men to be expressive with our praise and to worship christ the savior in spirit and in truth and to minister to the whole man body soul and spirit maggie street missionary baptist church worship with us virtually morning worship service at 10 a.m each sunday sunday school at 9 00 a.m each sunday and each thursday evening bible study at 6 00 pm [Applause] giving just got easier you can give online online giving is available now for members friends and family check out our website for more information at www dot maggie street church [Applause] follow us on twitter at maggiemsbc [Music] [Applause] happy birthday and happy anniversary let's stay together connect with us online via facebook twitter instagram youtube or email join us for our morning devotion prayer call monday through saturday at 6 30 a.m and on sunday at 8 30 a.m the number to call is 978-990-5408 access code 26567 be sure and join us for revival of encouragement with pastor ezekiel pettway senior each wednesday at 7 pm [Music] come let us adore him kneel down before him [Music] worship and a door [Music] kneel down before him worship and adore [Music] is [Music] we worship you we worship you say come let us adore you [Music] come let us adore him kneel down before [Music] if you [Music] oh [Music] give us [Music] even [Music] if [Music] we worship we you you [Music] we worship you [Music] we worship you [Music] praise the lord again my brothers and sisters it's good to be in the house of the lord my brothers and sisters this is our last sunday in the year and i am praying that god will favor us so that we can get into the new year with covet cases continuing to rise and death continually to rise in in the nation i want to caution every last one of you to be careful to make sure that you mask up to make sure that you wash your hand and practice safety precaution because i want to see you in the year 2020 if it's the lord's will so i want to encourage you today with the word uh from the lord as we go to the lord in prayer father we bless you we thank you we love you we adore you and father we thank you that you've allowed us to make it into the month of december started out in january 2020. so many people have transitioned and gone to be with you and we're grateful that you've allowed us to be here to be a testimony to others so father we pray now that you would allow the word of god to be preached with boldness and conviction to the end that our lives might be better we ask all of this in the only name that matters in jesus name amen we want to give you an opportunity to give we are encourage you if you are on your way to the church you can come we'll be here for an hour from 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock you can drop your gifts off in person or you can give online or you can continue to mail your gifts in we appreciate all that you have done over these past 10 months nearly 10 months of giving faithfully online and supporting our church i'm so grateful to god to share this word today this is our last sunday in the year so as we share it i just want to share it as a word of encouragement to all of us because this year has been a tough tough year for the body of christ and for all of humanity philippians chapter number three verse 13 and number 14. and i'm reading from the english standard version brothers i do not consider that i have made it my own but one thing i do forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead i press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus i want to share with you just the word because of so much that we've gone through this year i want to talk about let it go and be blessed let it go and be blessed my brothers and sisters we have been challenged this year 2020 with so many things in our lives we've been betrayed by friends we've been mistreated by loved ones a lot has happened to us in the year 2020 and i want to encourage you that whatever you have been through whatever you are going through let some of it go so that god can bless you beyond your wildest dream many of us sometimes we spend too much time looking in the rearview mirror of life looking back at what should have what could have and we continue to dwell on things in our past and i just have a word for you today regardless to how many times you go back and revisit your past you will never find anything new you will never see anything new in your past you've got to let it go let go of your past failures let go of people let go of certain pleasures that you once enjoyed in your life sometimes we spend too much time dwelling on the past our past sin our past mistakes our past success and even on ourselves in what we used to do and what we used to have and where we used to live sometimes we just got to let it go all my brothers and sisters a new year is just about upon us and i don't know about you every time the lord blessed me to see a new year it takes me a week or two to remember how to write the year down because i'm still living in the past sometimes you may date a check and they still have the previous year on it but you're in a new year we have to understand that the past is behind us and the future is ahead of us many of us try to drive looking in the rearview mirror of life but when you look out the front windshield of what god has put out there for you and in favor for you there's so much more to see ahead than it is behind my god a new year can mean different things to different people it could be a fresh start a renewed commitment to exercise lose weight diet we do all of these things it could be all of that it could be a new year's resolution it could be that i'm going to start a bible reading plan all of these kind of things but we have to forget the former year's mistakes the blunders those things that were a part of last year's agenda and i'll be honest with you 2020 has been a turbulent year for every last one of us but isaiah said in isaiah 43 16 he said in in 18-18 thus saith the lord who makes a way in the sea a path in the mighty waters remember not the former things nor consider the things of old behold i am doing a new thing now it springs forth do you not perceive it i will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert listen at what the lord says through the prophet isaiah he says to us i will make a way in the sea isaiah reminds the children of israel how god led them out of egypt by way of the red sea and what he wants us to do is is to remember according to our faith what god has done for us in the past so we don't have to stay stuck in our past if we can just remember some of the things that god has done for us that is so profound it would ignite our faith to a place that no matter what happens in this life i believe that god will take me through where i am now he said remember not the former thing forget those things don't consider the things of old he said i'm doing a new thing and i know we're saying god how is it that you're doing something new when covert 19 has affected the world but can i tell you that god is still working in the midst of covet 19 god is still blessing some people there are some people being favored on jobs there are some people being favored in their life and their health and their wealth in all other kind of ways god is still blessing in the midst of what we are going through he said i'm doing a new thing it's springing forth do you not perceive it i will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert god is simply saying i'll make a way where there is no way even if you're in the desert i will cause it a man to flourish and take care of you when you understand who god is and you are in a relationship with god you my brothers and sisters you will trust god even when you can't trace god but you got to let go of some things so that god can bless you we hold on to grudges we hold on to failures we hold on to stuff that people have done to us how do i know because we continue to talk about how i have been wronged and what people have done to me in my life there are some things my brothers and sisters you have to let them go let go of the hurts of the past let go of the things that people have done to you maliciously so you've got to let them go so that you can be blessed you are trying to go into another year you don't need to drag this baggage with you into 2021 there's enough in 2021 that we are gonna have to deal with without dragging extra stuff alone we don't need it listen at what the word of the lord says and i want you to hear this the bible says hebrews 12. therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything so what is this great cloud of witnesses that's all the people he described in chapter number 11. their faithfulness is a constant encouragement to us when people are faithful in spite of what they're going through we should be encouraged and not complain because god allows certain things to happen to us in this life we are not struggling alone this is a word for somebody you are not the only one going through something you are not the only one struggling everybody is struggling with something everybody we're not the first to struggle with problems others have run this race and won that's what paul is saying that's what the right is saying there are other people who have run this race and they have won and why because they're focusing on the goal line they're focusing on the higher call in god and you can't focus on the higher call in god when you're looking backwards and holding on to stuff we're called to be like christ and even though we're called we're going to make mistakes along the way paul said i have not arrived yet i'm not there yet i'm still failing in some areas of my life as a matter of fact we'll never obtain complete sanctification until we stand before the lord but i want to give you some good news god uses our imperfections to grow us in faith that we might trust him regardless to what we're going through in our lives the major problem that we have to deal with in this life is our flesh our flesh pulls us toward our past and away from the prize of the awkward call that god is calling us to our flesh keeps us painfully aware of our needs to diligently press on toward the goal that god has set in front of us the apostle paul had laser focus on the race the goal and the finish line my brothers and sisters you got to be looking toward the finish line you got to keep your eyes on the prize you got to know what the goal is why am i in it paul says i'm in it to win it it doesn't matter when i get to the finish line i just gotta finish but i gotta let some things go i gotta let some people go there's some people that you had in your life in 2020 you don't even realize god cut them out of your life for a reason but sometimes we want to hold on to something because it is what we want sometimes we have to accept the will of god that the season that i'm in is just not the time for you to be in my life and when you understand that you're in a season where god is working on you and not the person that you want in your life you cannot have god's best and be blessed until you let it go you got to you got to let lot go you can't take lot with you into your future abraham took lot with him and eventually they had to separate with but everything that that that that lot was abraham was not they were totally different and we have to understand that there are some things we got to let go so that god can bless us god can't bless us in our mess and he's not going to paul said like an olympic runner he would not look back at his failures he says i was once saw i persecuted the church violently i played a part in stone and stephen paul said i did all that sometimes in our lives when we look back i look back over my life some of the things i did is shameful but paul said i can't let that stop me from reaching the finish line god would take care of all of the things that i did all of the blunders all of the mistakes and he will use it for his glory paul couldn't let guilt and shame him from that paul he said i forget to pass i'm not going to dwell on it i'm not going to even dwell on my suffering and all of the stuff that i went through i'm going to take off this stuff i'm gonna lay it aside see a long distance runner works hard to build endurance and strength on the race day their clothes are lightweight and their bodies are lean in the ancient world and i didn't know this uh runners competed naked the to run the race that god has set before us we must also strip off the excess weight that slows us down how do we do that we choose friends who are also committed to the race number one non-believing friends will have values and activities that many of us don't have and it would deter us from the goal so you got to strip off those friends that's important so you can finish the course you have to drop or curtail certain activities there are some things you got to drop there are some things you got to let go of you don't catch athletes sitting around watching tv eating ice cream and cookies and cakes and all that no they are training because they understand that the gold is important and i gotta finish the race number three you got to get help for some of the problems that you have that might disable you and disqualify you if you have a secret whatever it is that you're holding you have to get rid of it you have to stop it you have to admit that you need help so that you can let it go so that god can bless you this is important paul said i can't let this stuff stop me he said something in second corinthians i'm almost done i thought this was worth reading he said in second corinthians number 11. all of this stuff happened to me but i'm not dwelling on it he says i'm sharing this information with you so that i might encourage you to let you know that you are not the only one who's dealing with some stuff in your life because sometimes we think it's only us but paul says it's not you it's me too second corinthians 11 and 24 paul says five times i received from the jews the forty lashes minus one three times i was beaten with rods once i was pelted with stones three times i was shipwrecked i spent a night and a day in the open sea i have been constantly on the move listen that paul now he got all of this going on in his life but he's not allowing it to him and hold him down he's letting it go he said i've been in dangers from rivers and dangers from banners and dangers from my fellow jews in dangers from gentiles and dangers in the city in danger in the count in the country in danger at sea and in danger from false believers look at all that paul is going through he had to let this go even how people had treated him he had to let it go he said i belabored and tall and have often gone without sleep some of you are not sleeping right now i have known hunger and thirst i have no i have often gone without food i have been cold and naked besides everything else i face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches paulson now look with all this stuff that i got going on you don't hear me complaining he said i let that stuff go so that god could work through me so that god could bless me so he's not complaining about what happened to him he allows us to see what god has done in and through him in spite of what he has been through what's your testimony today what have you survived have you shared it with others so that they can be encouraged by it and grow from it that's what paul is doing he's sharing what he has been through and he said the one thing i'm not going to do i'm not going to let it me i am going to let it go so that i can be blessed in the midst of what i'm going through regardless to where paul was in rome in prison he was still blessed because god blessed him with privileges that he could write from a jail and he encourages us through his words paul had been in prison but he looked forward with confidence toward the finish line where he would see the face of jesus man we got to put jesus in our view what's in your view what are you looking for the bible declares he's the author and he's the finisher of our faith that's what paul said looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith even though we're surrounded by these clouded witnesses you need to know that if god begun this work in us god is going to finish this work and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us but before that listen at what he said listen you got to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles you you got to throw that stuff off you got to let it go you can't run this race you can't be successful you can't be a double-minded man you can't do all of this you got to let this stuff go i'm talking to the church folks now as i close there are some things that we are holding on to we've held on to them for years we've got to let these things go you got to release people from some of the things that they have done to you the hurt the the things that they don't let it go so that you can be blessed see when you hold on to things it does not hinder other people it hinders you it's like drinking poison and wish the other person died that's not going to happen that's what holding the grudge is all about that's what hate is all about let us run with perseverance or patience the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith if we keep our eyes on jesus we'll easily forgive people we'll easily let this stuff go some people say i'm gonna get them if it's the last thing i do it just might be the last thing you do too so be careful and he said for the joy set before him he endured the cross listen that jesus now he's running his race but how does he run it enthusiastically with joy we are we are such in such a tangle wave that we have no joy and we're holding on to things that won't even let us be happy you got to let it go man i've been hurt by people but i let it go i let it go god would take care of it you got to let it go despising this the scorn and his shame he sat down at the right hand of the throne of god why you think he's sitting there to make intercession for you and me he's saying to us pet wait let it go he's saying to you let it go because what i have in store for you nobody can stop you from getting it but if you hold on to certain things if you grow a callous around your heart and become mean-spirited i can't bless you you gotta let it go don't worry about what people are saying about your past what you did in your past don't worry about it i got your past covered cause my blood covered that too you got to let it go so you can be blessed paul knew that god alone was the source of his salvation as well as the source of his spiritual growth that's why we can't grow in the church we hold on to too much stuff whenever you're holding grudges it won't let you grow it keeps you shackled and held in place that's why you can go to church for 50 years and never grow you got to let some stuff go the closer we get to completion my brothers and sisters the more we realize how much further we have to go to become like christ just check this out as long as you've been in church you're still working on some things i'm still working on something because we're not complete yet there's some things we got to let go of we're wrestling with some things we're trying to decide should i do this should i not do that you got to let it go you got to cast it off cast it aside so that god can bless you so finally be encouraged forget in the past straining paul says straining forward have you ever watched the olympics racist the 100 yard dash at 100 meter dash how that the race is so close that the runner has to literally stick his neck out so that when the camera shows the close photo finish they'll say he won by hair because he was able to lean forward he was straining he had put everything in that race and at the last part of the race he found that kick so he can push himself across the finish line listen brothers and sisters you can't get this close to heaven and quit you can't lose your focus you got to let stuff go so that god can bless you as you strain toward the finish line you've got to press toward the mark of the high call press into the things of god let the world go no longer looking back when no when looking back no longer bothers you you know that you have matured in christ but if you keep living the dream what i used to be and what i used to do and where are you uh no you can't do that you got to press on got to strain forward to what lies ahead god has more for you ahead of you than you will ever get looking backwards so don't let yesterday's failures derail you from your goal that is the upward call god lift me higher give me another perspective on life because there's more to life than money there's more to life than things i want you more than i want that so i'm encouraging you in this last sunday in 2020 press on for the prize until you meet the lord jesus at the finish line many people have crossed the finish line this year in 2020 and they they strained and they pressed their way in you got to do the same thing you cannot allow past to have present power over you it's the past let it go so that you can be blessed i want to encourage you if you receive this word today give your life to christ let go of your past let go of your failures all of your mistakes all of your blunders so that you can be blessed i know you're angry i know you're upset with people that hurt you i know you want to get them back but trust me it's not worth it let the lord handle this let the lord handle every hurt every piece of mistreatment everything they ever did to you let the lord handle it so if you don't know jesus if you're dealing with some hurts and you can't let go of the past if you want to get back at somebody i want to encourage you to know who jesus is i want you to say this lord i repent of every last one of my sin i confess that i'm a sinner and i need to be saved i believe that jesus rose that he died and rose again from the dead according to the scripture i invite you into my life come into my heart live in my life occupy the throne of my life i want you to be my lord and be my god if you confess that my brothers and sisters you can be saved look for a good church to get in we'd love to have you here at maggot street you can call us at 334-263-3215 or you can drop us a line you can write us at 642 maggot street montgomery alabama 36106 or you can drop us an email we'd be glad to hear from you let me encourage you amen uh to read uh the first chapter of philippians chapter number one just for your encouragement for the week i pray uh that your christmas holidays uh and the rest of this holiday season is favorable for you please ma'am please sir make sure you practice social distance and take care of your family if you don't have to go anywhere don't go don't gather in large crowds stay away from large crowds as much as you can god bless you god keep you is uh prayer now father we thank you for this day we thank you for the lord jesus christ we pray for the sins and favor upon your children we pray that you will keep them in all of their ways now father we thank you we love you and adore you i pray that you will allow us to see 2021 so that we may celebrate that you are still lord now may the grace of god the sweet communion of the holy spirit may he wrestle in the bible with us all and forth now and forevermore in jesus name and we'll see you online here is the senior pastor maggie street is located at 642 maggie street montgomery alabama 36106.

Channel: Maggie Street

Views: 315

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: mbFoOZUnzls

Length: 37min 47sec (2267 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 27 2020