[Music] good morning and thank you so much for joining us for the northeastern conference's virtual camp meeting for July 4th 2020 I'm so glad that you joined us today and I know that you want to share this with your family and friends so simply like and share this page with someone who you know would love to see this program and now I would like to invite you to join faith seventh-day Adventist Church as they bring to us Sabbath school good morning happy Sabbath and welcome to the North Eastern Conference virtual camp meeting my name is Paul Horton and we're coming to you live from the faith seventh-day Adventist Church in Hartford Connecticut it is our distinguished privilege to be presenting Sabbath school this morning so go ahead text a friend share the link wake somebody up because Sabbath school is going to be live today we have a panel of distinguished guests who will be leading our study in the person's of dr. Claudia Cousins elder Lester Prima's sister Marva Merritt and elder Odell Powell we have soul-stirring music coming from our own Genesis choir and we have a special guest appearance you will only see here at Sabbath school so you don't want to miss a moment of what we have in store we're going to get ahead and get started right away with prayer by kirinda Richardson this is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it father God we're so thankful to be awake and alive on a blessed Sabbath day we're so thankful to still have an opportunity to come together and worship with with others across this North Eastern Conference and even though we are not on the campground our hearts are together in one voice in one praise in one worship to you so right now God we ask that you remove every ounce of self so we can fully receive your presence we can fully receive your power we can fully receive your spirit so all may be blessed and we'll have been blessed to have been with you today in your son's name we pray amen happy Sabbath Church family on behalf of the faith seventh-day Adventist Church and the North Eastern Conference of seventh-day Adventists we want to welcome you to our virtual hem 2020 we were all expecting to be physically together nonetheless it doesn't matter if we're apart we're always connected heart-to-heart no pandemic epidemic or disaster can stop us from giving God the glory and the honor he deserves God is very pleased that his children are using technology in a positive way to spread the gospel as we go through the Sabbath and onwards let us be reminded of 1st Corinthians 16 verse 14 which states let all that you do lead on in love so it doesn't matter where you are joining us from whether from the comfort of your living room your porch your car or even under a tree this is a place you need to be just sit back relax and enjoy the blessings that God has in store for you welcome welcome how goal of spreading Sabbath [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Epis abbath northeastern and happy Independence to you I my name is Mark Mullins the first although Faith Church and every Sabbath we have what's called a personal ministry spotlight and we didn't want to disappoint the seventh so what we do each Sabbath is share stories of individuals that do amazing things and here at faith we want to share this with the world so prepare for the lesson study we have our own dear pastor dr. the Carter delahaye will share a story an interview with a great man of God I need you to take a look greetings pastor Finley welcome to the North Eastern Conference of seventh-day Adventists who are our virtual camp meeting we're happy to have you I'm the pastor of the Faith Church and I know you're originally from Connecticut so welcome back thank you so much you know my wife Scott church school in Hartford Connecticut and we had a joint school project at that time faith was part of it and so I had so many friends and young people that came up that many years ago is our first district and so we appreciate they search and we were on Prospect Avenue with the our other church of the city at the time and we had a combined church go just a great time Wow praise the Lord that that is amazing as a friendly I must say thank you for your ministry you have crisscross the world preaching the gospel and no doubt there are many of our viewers today who were saved and who were brought closer to the Lord as a result of your ministry so we thank you for your dynamic ministry thank you so pastor I know you are the primary contributor of our Sabbath School lesson so what inspired you as you wrote the Sabbath School lesson you know I've been in ministry for 50 years now it can hardly believe it it's actually 53 years and you know travel preaching multiculturally in a variety of countries and I've developed certain con sets of witness and so the title of our lessons pastor is making friends for God the joy of participating in God's mission and what motivated me was the sense that I believe mission is possible I believe that God is working all over the world he's working in every community and that the Holy Spirit is preparing his church for the greatest witness opportunities so I wanted to share in my heart from my heart the passion that I have for souls and the things that I've learned over the last fifty three years wow that is amazing certainly I've used some of your materials in my evangelistic exploits so thank you for all of the blessings that you have given to the church as well as your preaching ministry so pastor what would you like our members to take away from the Sabbath School lesson if you look at all thirteen lessons there's one central theme that runs through them and it's this that before we ever knock on a door before we ever give out a piece of literature before we ever give a Bible study God is already at work in that community and that our role is to cooperate with God a lot of our lay members are very anxious about witnessing they're fearful about witnessing they're afraid what if I say the wrong thing what if I get rejected what if I'm embarrassed when you understand that you're cooperating with God that he's already at work that he has placed eternity in every single heart Ecclesiastes 3:11 that Christ is the light that lights every man that comes into the world that whoever we meet we see them through Christ's eyes they are children of God rich and poor educated and uneducated very ethnic groups every human being has been created in the image of God now Satan is trying to deface that image and I think what I'd like us to take away pastor is this that when we enter into so many ministry it's the most exciting the most thrilling thing in the world because we are in partnership with God amen that is beautiful I pray that our church continues to grow from strength to strength and from victory to victory and I pray that we would preach this message across the world and that the end would come and soon we would be at home with our Lord amen thank you pastor amen thank you Pastor family god bless you good morning happy Sabbath and welcome North Eastern we are so happy to be worshipping and studying the Word of God with you though we are not at the adult Pavilion we know God's presence is with us I am Marvin Merritt and with me our panelists dr. Claudia Cousins elder O'Dell pal and elder Lester Prima's hi happy Sabbath today is the first Sabbath of the half a 20/20 now what we're going to do is we're going to be talking about witnesses if this is any indication that this what we're going to be experiencing it's going to be like the first half of 20/20 then we are some of the Adventists need to be better prepared to go out and witness yeah I must say though it's an honor and a privilege to me to be a part of this Sabbath school forum Sabbath school is one of my favorite time but I have to say I'm really missing camp meeting well and I missed a fellowship that I have with my North Eastern Conference president during this time and during ket meeting time I try to get in at least three sermons in one afternoon but I'm happy for this virtual venue and I'm excited to talk about witness what witness saying what could be a better Sabbath School lesson than we could talk about the calling that God has put upon us to witness to the world elder I'm with you I also miss the face-to-face fellowship that's the camp meeting I miss the hustle-bustle of driving them to victory lake and I also miss eating eating out of our car so what want my wife and I did we packed our lunches today in the trunk of our car so you guys are welcome to join us for lunch of course social distancing but it's a privilege to be here it's a privilege to talk about witnessing as you already know North Eastern Conference is celebrating a significant milestone this year marks 75 years since the conference has been witnessing in this region God has provided and prospered congratulations North Eastern Conference however as members and integral participants in the mission of northeastern conference we are seeking to answer the question why witness the we witness because we have something to say if there's a car accident if there is a anything usually if there are four witnesses there use the four different stories so we have something to say something we have experienced and we are telling about it from our own perspective that's why we witness that's the importance of witnessing Ella problem with you on that when you talk about witnessing into your omix perspective when I think about the book of Psalm says let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story we all have a story to tell we are saved by grace through faith and there was a time where we said I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior so that's our perspective that's our witness that's the story that we could tell and when I think about witness I think about someone who gives who testifies someone who talks about the evidence a little later on we're going to be talking about more people in the Bible who were actual witnesses so what I'm hearing is that witnessing is both a knowledge and the person with knowledge it can be a verb an action now today's lesson assumes that we have experiential knowledge we all have a personal relationship with God that's the assumption and the rest of focuses on our weakness as an action with the intent to share and to convince and we witness because we have been commissioned to do so in first Timothy chapter 2 verses 3 & 4 and that reads for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth before before you jump in at the premise I'd like to remind our viewers that if anyone has joined who does not have a copy of our Bible study guide that you can go online to ABS g dot adventist dot o-r-g you go to the current lesson and there you can either download a copy or you may see you online and it streak right oh yes three-three sure so at the premise you are about to tell us why we witness yeah so the lesson art that brought out an excellent point when it says that we are linked we are definitely God linked to souls when I think about a link I linked think about the primary source and that primary source is definitely the Godhead but particularly Jesus Christ to me as a professed Christian we already have a relationship we know what a God has done for us we know what he will do for us so we become his voice through our voice think about it this way right Peter was a link to this interior to the to the tips to the Centurion Cornelius Philip was the link to the Ethiopian eunuch and all the disciples were a link on the day of Pentecost we have individual links but we can also have an organized link to me the church is the organized link I want you two guys to hear something I read an accidental apostles list that's God's purpose of the church it reads the church is God appointed agency for the salvation of been it can stop right there it's not right there but it goes on it says it is organized for service and its mission is to carry out the gospel to the world from the beginning it has been God's plan that through his church shall be shall be reflected to the world in fullness and his phasis sufficiency the members of the church those whom he has called out of darkness into his marvelous light are to show forth his glory so you have our witness personal experience then you have the church be organized linked and it's all about the soul salvation of men and women oh I'm getting goosebumps what an opportunity what a privilege what a responsibility we have to be links and connections between God and our fellow men that gives us all purpose one that transcends earthly strictures praise God for that opportunity however though I'm a little confused here because I always thought that witnessing was to reveal more about who God really is well witnessin does that it reveals God's character it reveals that character in the Holy Spirit revealed God's character through nature and reveals God's character through providential acts and of course the Ministry of Christ but we also have to be careful when we say that it reveals God's character through nature because one can say in Psalms 19 verse 1 they haven't declared glory of God from maturity no work but how do we account for storms or typhoons or tornados and therein lies the perplexity when you looking at all these other things to reveal to witness that's why God needs us to be the complete to be the best form of his witness all these are things are good but when we are blessed to be co-laborers with Christ we will be the complete witness to show the best character of God and just to continue adding for the purpose of witnessing we know that Jesus came to seek and save the Lost if you look at Luke chapter 19 verse 10 it tells you the purpose of witnessing is to give evidence and testify of Jesus's love there's a second one here Jesus came to offer his grace in Romans chapter 3 verse 5 and Jesus died for our sins so those are real purposes why we should witness because Jesus came mom right we we understand it we agree that God relates to us as human beings on a personal level he presents his character as the ultimate norm for human conduct and his grace as the means of restoration however I am kind of wanting to go back to what elder Powell said I find that our witness of God as a good God can be challenged because we look around we have a pandemic we are close to 130 thousand dead how do we really tell others that you know God is a good God sin has to run its course there are things that happening in the world today as a result of sin but a scripture that comes in my mind it says God is not mocked whatsoever man so it actually also reap when I look at that first part about saying that God is not mocked God will not be disrespected he will not be dishonored to long eventually he's going to take action and so when we have these things going on please understand that God does know he is in control he's allowing it but he's allowing it from the point of love I don't want to miss that even though we have individuals who have passed away with their coronavirus are people experiencing a lot of tragedy in their life God is in control but he sees it there are so many verses in the Bible with that shows that God understands what we going through he as we said though he's not willing that any should perish there are scriptures that says that we are not going to go through this too long meaning he is saying this is just a short period that what he has planned for us an eternity doesn't compare what we're going through now are you also when I think of Jeremiah he says I know the thoughts I have I think toward you he say at the Lord thoughts of peace not of evil to give you an expected end so yes these things are happening as a relatives in God is still in control but at the same time he's with us and he's gonna lead us through we're thinking earthly but God thinks eternity right thank you so much elder Prima's for that comprehensive answer so I have another question will people be lost if we don't witness that could be complicated we are in danger of being lost if we don't witness we're in danger of being lost if we don't witness what does that mean witness then goes to the heart of God correct witnessing goes to the heart of God God has granted us the privilege to be co-laborers with him witness bills are a character witness draws us closer to Christ so if there's someone who needs to be witness to God has granted me the privilege to witness to them if I choose not to God will find someone else to witness to them and then turn I will lose out in soul salvation I think of the garden you know if you think of garden hose little water in little water out but if you think it fire hydrant a lot of water in ladder water out as I witnessed God opens my mind he opens my heart so I could witness more so the person that's in danger of being lost is me if I don't weakness yes when I think about the creation story if we go back and think about what we studied a couple weeks ago Jesus created man and the only thing he did not speak into existence is when he created men so that simply means the intimacy and the time he took it is not as well that we should perish right he wants us to have everlasting life so that is why I think we should be in the business of reaching to others so that we can actually save others and I also think about another reason why he witnesses it it goes to the heart of God you see God is not a one of the I was a lies of the evil one who's contaminated the Christian Church is to portray God as this big ogre who wants to punish us God is a God of love and what I think about God the God of love I turned my Bible to to Luke 15 if we get Luke 15 he says you see those three parables there but God's the girls loved and we'll talk about Luke 15 so does our church as a corporate entity does it do anything to reveal God to sinners well it does we have a lot of organizations in the church today you know you think of addre the church have organized mission trips the colleges so the church does as organized body do things and so that means that there is a role to play for the people of God the state has its role social services powerful but the people of God has a role to play people of God shows the love of Christ when you give someone a food and say I love you what happens is a better chance to save their heart versus a check that comes from the from the state yeah definitely a shout-out to the Adventist Church when what we do for witnessing in the role they play I mean we could just it pages upon pages of what the Adventist Church does but we also have to look at what is happening in the world today our witness has to be powerful enough for people actually to come to us be at a local church or a conference Church and say you know we see they see what's going on be it the social injustice that we have the black lives matter the coronavirus the church has to be able to witness in during those times - and the witness has to be pertinent you just look at what Jesus Christ did on earth he never preached to anybody without feeding them or addressing their need and so yes we have the message of salvation but at the same time we've got to understand and the prospect the perspective that is happening worth so sometimes our our witness has to be customized because again it's about the soul salvation of men and women and when you're speaking about the soul salvation of women and they're hungry or they're going through trying times that has to be a part of the mitten is so as a local church especially we need to be involved in our community and definitely know what's going on but as I said local church has vintage church tremendous things that we do as Adventist Church but we have to keep in mind said it was also is happening in the world today okay thank you so we witnessed both corporately and individually I'd like to at this point remind our viewers and listeners that you may participate in our study you may send questions and comments to faith communicates at gmail.com we are looking forward to hearing from you and we'll do our best to provide biblically sound answers so far we've said that we witness to provide people with an opportunity for salvation and to show God's character are there any other reasons for witnessing is there something about making Jesus glad you know and maybe just glad but from a personal perspective as Ella Primus talked about my personal experience is I think I mean my best self when I'm in the mission field whether it's in Haiti whether it's in Nigeria or whether it's in Hartford as we were doing covert testing so from a personal perspective my my witness is personal and it goes to the heart of God and we mentioned earlier in Luke 15 we have those three parables the first one is about the UM the lost sheep and then we have the woman who got on her knees to search for the coin and then we have the practical son the lost sheep there were a hundred sheep one was missing now if I did it the way the world did it does it wand out of 400 yeah if we look at the extra actuarial tables the graph that's pretty good odds we can let that one go no God went after that one so that tells me like God loves pursues that he doesn't get tired God loves persevered so that's that's the beauty of it and then did not in 9 were safe but the one with in trouble so that's why I guess what black lives matter no hold a minute there black lives matter are we talking about witnessing or is it about social justice talking about both what did God do he fed the five the five thousand thousand right he seek and save those which were lost the shepherd who represents Christ went after that one sheep yeah but I want to stay with that point all those parables say that number one priority of the Godhead is the sole salvation of men and women you think about it the ultimate sacrifice was made and in the scripture says that is that all heaven rejoices or mourning one sinner repents that's the priority of the Godhead which should also be our priority regardless of what is going on when I think I think I've read something in the spirit of prophecy when the Godhead was planning about salvation the Angels found out that Jesus was going to be the one who would be the ultimate sacrifice they were saying to God no don't send Jesus down there so when you think about that ultimate sacrifice you can see the priority that God has on saving souls so you want when you have relationship issues when you're fellowshiping with your brothers and they get on your nerves we got to look through all of that and understand our priority is for all men and women to be saved because that's God's priority beautiful and and heaven rejoices when a sinner is brought to repentance imagine this as a result of your witness some man some woman or boy or girl accepts Jesus as his personal Savior all heaven bursts forth in rapturous on what can be more rewarding and more fulfilling than that so what dr. Claudia can you tell us more do we ourselves as people as Christians do we benefit in any way from witnessing absolutely as Christians we grow and I want to jump to the story of Cornelius and Peter where Cornelius was you know Gentile but he was one of those people who actually helped probably gave money towards mission trips he had a vision that he was supposed to send for Peter to come in to do some preaching and Peter had a vision that he was supposed when Peter had a vision he had the Sheep come coming down from heaven with all these unclean animals and Peter said and the voice and the vision said you know Peter kill and eat Peter a Gentile knowing that he's not supposed to eat unclean things say oh no not me but here Jesus was revealing in the vision to Peter that you know you need to go forth right after the vision Peter ended up in Joppa where he was pre query was supposed to preach and I know he went yes Sisera where he started preaching so here we are looking at where through providential acts Cornelius brought Peter to witness to others so of course when we witness we grow and Peter was able to preach and baptize a number of Gentiles people were eager to hear the word of God okay awesome and you know I was also reading about that that if we don't witness we won't grow but actually instead of even not growing we just become stagnant and our study compared or a stagnancy with the Dead Sea now that's even more amazing because from what I know about the Dead Sea the Dead Sea only received doesn't gives water goes in but none comes out and so it gets stagnant it gets salty the only thing that can survive in the Dead Sea are bacteria listen we we are the salt of the earth salt has a purpose if we lose that salt the Bible says we are just trampled underfoot I believe it says good for nothing so we have to be able to be sure that we witness in such a way that we don't lose ourselves when I think about that scripture also I think about well how can I lose my salt do I lose it because I compromised do I lose it because I dilute the gospel or do I lose it because I just go along with it with what's happening in the world and I do a witness or a preacher sermon that's based upon what everybody just wants to hear but the but the Bible is clear the Bible is clear that if we lose our saltiness that were basically good for nothing well the woman at the what the woman at the well when she met Jesus what she did I mean a woman with no character she didn't hold on to what she what she learned when she found out that Jesus was the living water she could have held on and he who she she was this person and she went out she went immediately and she told everybody hey come see a man that I met and you know people didn't have to believe her because of course she was a woman who had many men but when she met Jesus she didn't hold on to this and the people didn't have to believe her they could possibly say you know oh well it's just another man that you met her so she went running didn't stay stagnant she shared what she had received bacteria rich so you're telling me that if you don't witness in the church bacteria can set in and the church could die because it's not witnessing well the bacteria here is a metaphor for that's the case stagnancy so the church will be a church is going to be at that church we might come in and have beautiful music okay you might have wonderful programs but if we are not witnessing individually and collectively we are a dead church what the woman at the well she also she may have not gotten all the doctrines that we teach so she maybe wasn't perfect but I don't want to witness until I'm perfect or should I witness hook with the love that God has given me that's what you're saying so I could go out and witness even though I don't have other doctrines even though you don't have all the doctrines whatever you have received and Jesus told us freely you have received freely give whatever it is that you have the love of Jesus bubbling up in your heart whatever he has done for you you need to share that so that you can grow the Bible is he that when it's a soul is why you don't have to be the best preacher the emphasis is you do what you can to win souls I've read somewhere it says they're really useful the ones are who can lead men and women to Christ one by one one by one yes so Lester it sounds to me that witnessing is a relational endeavor we are reaching out to others we are making God glad and in the process we ourselves are growing in grace yeah but doesn't every meaningful relationship involve love loyalty and faithfulness particularly loyalty is emphasized in the lesson God expects us to be loyal to accomplish his will on earth loyalty is allegiance to the Godhead saving souls as I mentioned to you earlier is the utmost important there are a significant number of scriptures that we said before where God emphasized the importance of saving souls so we're the salt we have an experience we have said that we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior so our allegiance becomes to God and if our legions to God regardless of what's happening in the world regardless of other issues that may be going on in our lives our focus must be on God I think I believe the spirit of prophecy says that our love is to the master meaning master meeting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior so the things of the world can't impact us we have to the scripture said the love of christ constraineth them constraineth means we are compelled we are focused to be about our father's business the lesson says when we truly recognize the immense sacrifice Christ has made for us we are overwhelmed by his love and compelled to share that with others okay I like that we are impaired by his love so sister Claudia tell us some more about that motivation that love motivation that makes us witness the the motivation is that when you get something that is so good you cannot keep it to yourself you have to go and it doesn't matter you you you're saying I am not qualified you have different talents whether it's your talents or whether it's your means or whether it's your time you should be motivated if you have something that is really good so you want to go out and share beautiful ok so what about that story of the Good Samaritan I know you like to talk about that story it doesn't tell us anything about a love motivation absolutely the love motivation here is that when we when we invest in people it's gonna cost us something and we see here were the man of some word that whether the Good Samaritan II was on his way and the priest came and he saw this man who was by the sidewalk but he didn't do anything he actually prayed and he went about his business the Good Samaritan went out of his way and he not only went out of his way to take the man to the hotel he paid for the man and he told the man if there is anything that we need to do we need to pay so we go out of her way to show love and that that witness is part of our daily life the witness has to be part of our daily lives we don't have to make anything up we don't have to practice anything it's that we are saved by grace through faith and we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior our lives and our actions should result and reflect that Oh so we know we are motivated by love but tell me are there any reasons that we could be motivated by that's not love do we have any are there any inappropriate motivations that we might have for witnessing well not in this church but I heard that in some churches people witness to get more baptisms of course not in the church but I've been told in the past that people are motivated to fill their churches up and what I know to elder is that you know people witness for bragging rights I have baptized a hundred souls and people you know do this not for the intent of witnessing but just for bragging rights and just like you said just for you know your praise but those are those are all good points and I agree with you a hundred percent that that those type of improper motivation wouldn't is it happening but to me the focus should be more on we don't witness enough it's the volume we need to witness even more than beyond we always say these are the last days and even if they're not the last days and we but we say that their last day we should be witnessing like they're the last days because that's what we believe so I think the volume or the amount of our witness needs to be a hundredfold okay so we have discussed today six reasons why we witness we witness to show others who God really is we witness to us because we're connections between God and people so we provide them opportunities for salvation we witness to make Jesus glad and when we do that we grow in our own spiritual walk with God we also show our faithfulness to Christ command and we are motivated by love as we witness so in the beginning of the study we asked the question why witness and the answer comes to us the benefits of witnessing allows us to participate with Christ experience the joy of seeing people accept him as their personal Savior and be transformed by his love we as Christian should not allow pastors evangelists and Bible workers to be the only ones who experience the joy that comes from seeing others accept Jesus as their personal Savior so I'm going to challenge you and encourage you from the pen of Ellen White who said to us in the Adventist homepage 485 if you truly belong to Christ you will have opportunities for witnessing for him all all means you and it means me all of us can be missionaries in our families and in our neighborhoods there are many ways in which church members may give the message to those around them one of the most successful is by living helpful unselfish Christian lives those who are fighting the Battle of life at great odds may be refreshed and strengthened by a little attention which cost nothing kindly words simply spoken little attention simply bestowed will sweep away the clouds of temptation and doubt that gather over the soul the true heart expression of christ-like sympathy given in simplicity has the power to open the door of hearts that needs a simple delicate touch of the Spirit of Christ beautiful so my advice go ye into all the world and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ or Savior amen amen certainly we are appreciative for our Sabbath school panelists I had a personal witness experience and I'm pastor Delahaye the pastor of the faith seventh-day Adventist Church I had a personal witnessing experience about 12 years ago I remember 12 years ago I was invited down to Brookhaven Mississippi and when I was invited to Brookhaven Mississippi the pastor of the church told me that I would be preaching for an evangelistic meeting so when I got there I of course I had planned my sermons and I was ready to preach and then I found out not only was I the Evangelist but I was also a Bible worker so what that meant was every morning we would leave home we would go out into the community and we would knock on doors in the afternoon we would go back to the house and I would prepare my sermon we would make phone calls and reach out to the people in the community after those phone calls I would get into the car and drop the pastor off at the church and he would stand at the door as the greeter and I would take his car and go and pick people up for this evangelistic meeting and drop them off at the church when I had picked everyone up he would go up on to the pulpit and he would begin the service and I would stand at the door as the usher or the greeter when we got done doing the preliminaries then I would go up and preach and he would resume his position at the door when we were done with the service then I would remain at the church at the door greeting the people and he would drop them off at home using his vehicle and you're wondering why were you all doing this well come to find out there were only two members of this church and there were two old ladies who were the members of the church and they couldn't help us very much so what does this have to do with witnessing so about two days before this evangelistic series would begin we were in Cracker Barrell for lunch Cracker Barrell is a restaurant in the south and there's some here in the north as well so I was there for lunch and we saw a group of about 10 women sitting at a table and the pastor said let's go over and talk to them so we went up to them and we talked to them we shared with them the love of God and they told us that they were Christians they told us that they were Bible believers we invited them out to our evangelistic series when we invited them they told us that we had to come to their church before we came to there before they would come to ours so of course we visited their church and they came to our opening night of the evangelistic series I preached for three weeks that summer and they stayed every they were present every single night of that evangelistic series they were in the front they were fired up they were passionate they were excited one of them her name was Charlotte Charlotte owned a beauty salon and Charlotte when it came to accepting the Advent message she said to us I can't accept this message I can't join your church and I can't keep the Sabbath because my most productive day is Saturday we sat in her hair salon and had Bible studies with her and with several of her clients as we witnessed to her we encouraged her to give it a shot we told her to just shut down one Saturday keep the Sabbath holy and open up on Sunday and see what God would do for them well that's exactly what happened and when she sat down on Saturday and opened on Sunday she told us that the Lord had blessed her in great measure and that she had done exceedingly well financially well the church has been revitalized there aren't two little old ladies there anymore the church is now a thriving Church in Brookhaven Mississippi and it almost was not but the blessing is that we were able to witness to a crowd of women who are sitting at a table in Cracker Barrell so think about witnessing and know that no matter where you are no matter what what you're thinking what you're experiencing no matter who you're looking at you can share with them the love of Jesus the gospel has power to save and power to convict our job is to spread the gospel saints of God across the conference territory we thank you for joining us for Sabbath school at this time we're going to have our closing prayer and we will get ready for our morning divine worship experience let us pray I'll mighty God we thank you we thank you we thank you thank you for being such a wonderful God god we thank you for this wonderful experience of sharing your word explaining your word and receiving your word God we realized today again that we have a very very awesome toast to spread your word and to tell men and women about the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ God we thank you for this wonderful opportunity I pray O God that you will help us to surrender fully so that we will be able to spread your but God I ask something special before I close this prayer today this morning I asked for a special favor I asked o God that you will equip us with Holy Ghost power so that we can not only live in obedience to your word but we will be willing to spread the gospel throughout all world bless us today in a remarkable way okay god bless our audience bless or participants because we ask it in no other name but in the precious and sweet name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen [Music] fine [Music] and and by true [Music] my heart [Music] and I [Music] we're all with all [Music] by [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens for behold he who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are his thoughts he who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth the Lord of Hosts is his name lift up your eyes on high and see who has created the stars the one who leads forth their hosts by number he calls them all by name because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power not one of them is missing you are worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they do exist and were created Oh Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth the church is called to worship Heavenly Father we thank you for this awesome precious opportunity as a North Eastern Conference family to gather for this time of camp meeting worship utilizing this virtual platform we pray in the ass they Heavenly Father that during this time of crisis when there's trouble in the land when we're being ravaged by kovin 19 when you lay a heavenly father there are economic problems when there's social unrest we ask for your divine blessings to be manifest in this service today may we be spirit we lifted edified enhanced as a result of being here in the precious wonderful marvelous name of Jesus amen good mornin [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning North Eastern Conference visitors in guests we welcome you to our second and final weekend of camp mean 2020 and I thank you for wok welcoming us into your homes to spend this time with us together to my english-speaking family I say happy Sabbath to my Franco Haitian family I say bon Sabha and to my Spanish and Portuguese family I say Feliz sabado today we gather together because God has said remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy we gathered together today because the word says forget not to assemble ourselves together we gather together today because you and I like Joshua have decided that we will serve the Lord we gather together today because he is worthy and his name is worthy to be praised I kind of feel like like Solomon did when he built the temple of God and inaugurated the temple and the people God came together we're living in such a time today where we need to hear from God and God's comment to Solomon was very familiar scripted to you and I if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land I believe that we need our land heal today so as we worship God in spirit and true today let us please acknowledge his words to us today when he speak to our hearts so that we can hear from heaven today today we worship in song we worship in prayer we worship in giving and we worship in the spoken word I trust that as we worship today your hearts will be filled that you will be blessed that you will have allowed the Spirit of God to come into your living room come into your car wherever you are with your device however it is that you are looking at us that you will let the Spirit of God come in and wash it with you and at the end of this service you will be blessed and you would say thank God that took the time out to tune in to camp-meeting 2020 our theme for this weekend and last has been we've come this far by faith and indeed brothers and sisters family of North Eastern Conference we indeed have come this far by faith and we will continue our journey through faith through faith God with leaders God will guide us God will protect us God will keep us and through faith we keep our eyes looking up and one day the clouds of heaven will break open and Jesus will soon come so we thank God for this day we thank God for this opportunity we thank God for this time and we thank God for you every one of you we welcome you to sup this morning to camp-meeting 2020 we've come this far by faith god bless you good morning friends and pleasant Sabbath to you today today I join you for our second virtual cat meeting I join all of you from western New York from Hudson Valley Rock West Bronx Manhattan Brooklyn Staten Island Queens shout out for Queens Long Island New England North New England south from the various regions of the conference and beyond to celebrate the presence of God the creator of the world is in our midst the savior of the world is in our midst Immanuel meaning God with us is in our myths my friends and brothers and sisters this is a day that the Lord has made let us rejoice in it and be glad I agree to you and I welcome you on this virtual spiritual cat meeting last Sabbath our hearts were blessed and I know this Sabbath God will again be the center and focus of our adoration to all of our dedicated pastors we have dedicated passes in our conference dedicated directors principals committee teacher office staff retirees members guests and friends welcome we thank you for joining us today it is our hope and pray that you'll be spiritual enriched and be uplifted let me remind you that God is still leading the Great North Eastern Conference despite the pandemic of Kovan 19 we're celebrating 75 years of our existence of the conference and I say to you and join me in saying to God be the glory the gospel of Christ continues to be proclaimed through different forms of technology the urgency of fulfilling the great Great Commission is alive and well in our increased use of technology we are reaching people with the gospel today more than ever and you are part of this great outreach the reports that you share with us are very very inspiring and we thank you for them we thank you for what you're doing doing in your vineyard in your part of the world we're counting on you to do your part as you count on us as administrators to leave this great conference through this pandemic called kovin 19 we thank you for your prayers and for your support as we move forward with the work at hand especially that of the reopening of our conference headquarters and local churches let us ask God to keep us safe and healthy during this transition period that is called now--they and I quote the new normal these are not ordinary times but we are serving an extraordinary God who will take us through the difficulties and challenges of adjustment to a new reality of service we leave everything everything not just one thing nor a few things but everything in the hands of God you and I are part of a great conference spirit led and directed for 75 years that's a long time the great poet and writer James Weldon Johnson said it well god of our weary years god of our silent tears thou who has brought us thus far on our way thou who has by thy might led us to into the light keep us forever in the path we pray what a great what a great man great words God has left let us God has kept us and God will continue to keep us in his path my friends we are people of hope not despair we are people of courage we are people of optimism not gloom we are possibility thinkers we're on the move by God's power and God's grace again join us today as we celebrate what God has done for us and will continue to do northeastern family I call upon you to open your hearts to God today I call upon you to focus on God's goodness I call upon you to receive God's blessings I call upon you to embrace the presence of God make this day means something to you we love you God loves you we all love you thank you for what you do for this great conference let us celebrate the Sabbath and enjoy a wonderful time in His grace and by His grace god bless you happy Sabbath good morning saints of God and happy Sabbath it is a joy to welcome you one more time so our camp meeting this year a camp meeting that says that for all these years the Lord has led us for all this years the Lord has led us this far by faith and so we welcome you it is our pleasure this morning so bring you greetings and we have several guests who would like to greet you this morning it is a pleasure for me to welcome a friend of the Santa Fe Adventist Church I welcome Mayor Bill DeBlasio who has been to many of our churches and many of our events as he brings greetings this morning to the North Eastern Conference family you mayor is music you thank you for catching that pastor yes happy Sabbath everybody and I want to today give glory to God as we gather together in this joyous important assemblage pastor honoré thank you thank you for the opportunity to be with you thank you for your wonderful leadership and I want to thank a dear friend Pastor James Richmond and I turned to both of you for guidance and wisdom as we go through this difficult difficult time in our city and I want to thank everybody in the seventh-day Adventist Church who has been so crucial to the noble fight to bring back New York City and to go through the worst of this crisis and overcome it and begin the process of restarting the church and restarting the city as always there is no community and I want this to be very clear that there's no community that is more civically engaged and contributes more to the surrounding reality of our city than a seventh-day Adventist Church and I thank you and we have been together many many times and I've talked many times about the supreme focus of this community this church community puts on health care and that has been so important as we fought this virus together SDA communities all over New York City have been part of fighting back so effectively so thank you and I'll be very brief but to say this we are at a time where we've experienced a lot of pain there's so much frustration in our communities there's so much sense of loss and disparity and unfairness and so much is coming out but we know both from Scripture and from history that a moment like that does not have to be a time of destruction or setback it can be a time of uplift and transformation and that's what we are all called to do in our time to realize something new and different can happen how fitting that we are gathered on Independence Day to reflect what those hundreds of years ago realized that something had to change and they took it upon themselves to create a new and better Society scripture says shake the dust off our feet tells us how important it is to recognize when it's time for something new and better and fairer and that is what we will create in our time we understand it's not just words the phrase black lives matter it has to become something felt deeply in the core of New York City in the core of America in all of our government in all of our institutions it's something that has to take on a meaning that is felt in everyday lives we're starting something powerful in New York City a commission on racial reconciliation and Commission on racial justice combining these two notions racial justice and reconciliation in the style of what was done in South Africa with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recognizing that we missed must officially assess where institutional racism exists and then tear it down end it transform it invest in communities change policies change our ways to create something better and we have the power to do that we have the power to create a new and a better approach to policing we can create much more accountability we can take away the unfairness and the discrimination that has been known to often we can redistribute the resources of our city in a way that reflects the whole of New York City all of our people so is a day in my view as Americans not to look back longingly and and just celebrate something from the past because we know that that's something from the past had very noble elements and very contradictory elements it's much more a day to remind ourselves of what can change in our power to do it and I'll conclude with this that in all of my journey as a public servant miss city in SDA communities when I enter in SDA church I feel that sense of self possession and self determination I feel that sense of civic awareness and involvement that belief that we can build this community has built great things and you will be pivotal to our ability to build so much more together in the future so happy Sabbath everyone happy 4th of July and god bless you all thank you so much Ignacio for joining us we continue to lift you up in prayer as a civic official we know that we live in the time where leaders have to make decisions and with a crisis like this decisions that are best for the people sometimes are difficult and unpopular but we pray that God will give you the strength to lead as he mandates utility thank you once more for joining us thank you so much at this time we also want to have greetings from another one of our leaders I'm referring to one of our church leaders dr. G earl knight who is the president of the atlantic union conference and who has been supporting northeastern conference for many years welcome dr. Knight we are happy to have you this morning please greet the Saints thank you dr. honour aide for inviting and recognizing me and my family I also would like to say on behalf of my wife Yvonne and the administration of the Atlantic Union conference I bring you greetings in the precious name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I would also like to recognize and acknowledge the presence of mayor de Blasio he has been very kind and gracious to the seventh-day Adventist Church and I like what he said a while ago about having a commission on racial reconciliation and justice for all I just want to thank him for his continued leadership that he's providing for the city of New York right now you are celebrating 75 years of service in the northeastern states of the United States I congratulate the conference for the tremendous work that you have been doing as a conference you have been facing enormous challenges especially at this time you have lost about 60 people 6-2 members of the church and several other people have been infected and suffered as a result of the corona virus I want you to know that as a union we are in full support of the North Eastern Conference and you are facing tremendous challenges dealing with they dealing with a situation that you didn't create and we'd we didn't did not create but I thank God that we have the courage we have the hope that he has placed in our hearts that we can be be resilient be effective and spread the good news of salvation to those we come in contact with we have a beautiful lesson study this week talking about witnessing and yes God has called us to witness and I pray that God will empower each one of us with the power of the Holy Spirit that we can do our part in serving the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ thank you again pastor pastor Honore and thanks to your administration for the tremendous work you are doing thank you thank you other nights it's always a joy to have you know that you come at our support from the North Eastern Conference as you gave oversight to this entire Union we also pray that the Lord will give you wisdom and health and strength to meet the challenges that come your way every day okay soon god bless saints of god I want to take now a few moments just to share with you some of the great things that the Lord is doing here in the North Eastern Conference we've been blessed over the years we celebrate 75 years of existence well from when our pioneers were blessed with the vision who creates a conference that would serve the people of our urban communities and God has blessed this conference in a tremendous way this morning I want to share with you that when the year ended for last year we had 1300 baptisms and accessions in the northeastern conference our conference continues to grow it was last year that with God's blessing we surpassed a membership of 60,000 we started with 2000 members and 1945 and today the Lord has blessed our growth to bring us over 60,000 one of the reasons for this is the evangelism emphasis that we continue to place on soul-winning soul-winning as the growth is what fuels our growth and last year we had hundreds of evangelistic campaign even the parking lot the conference was transformed into an evangelism site with a tent for 500 people that true say a bad evangelism campaign was preached by none other than our executive secretary dr. Oswald hue across the field many others participated in evangelism and gave us a growth of 1300 members and we praise God for that the conference has also been growing in infrastructure God continues to bless us and the past year we have acquired a number of new brockton Portuguese Church in Brockton Massachusetts with seating for nearly a thousand and thus undergoing renovation on July 25th I was supposed to be there to inaugurate the new church unfortunately because of Coben that has to be delayed the brought in Spanish in Massachusetts also but this humble church and they are so glad to be finally in their own home Bethlehem French in Queens and st. Albans after years almost 30 years of existence without a church building was they were able to purchase this former Lutheran Church and they're being blessed by God this year in 2020 we continue to experience growth the cane in church and Cape Cod Massachusetts also was able to acquire a bigger building for the ever-growing Church there the eastern most church in our conference on Cape Cod and this year 2020 we were we've had two acquisitions this is the Gethsemane French mission and Hartford Connecticut a humble church for a growing church plant that was planted about a year and a half ago and now they're growing and have purchased their own chapel to conduct services we celebrate with the village church this is in Roselle New York we just closed them this building a couple of weeks ago village as you know has been worshiping in the conference offices for more than eleven years and after prayers and frustration and and fall stars God rewarded their faith this year by permitting them to purchase this beautiful facility there in Rosedale a beautiful sanctuary and reception how we glorify God for that we want you to know that the conference is here to assist our churches and growing and developing we are laying ground we're getting ready to break ground for a construction project in Buffalo New York this will be the new Emanuel temple up there in western New York because every region of the conference is important to us and we want to see every church grow and develop we are counting on God's favor to be able to break ground on this project pretty soon I also want to inform you over the past few years we've informed you about the dream we had to create a new tower for our senior citizens and that project we broke ground a year and a half ago I'm happy to report today that the project is virtually complete we expect to live we should have had the keys on June 30th but because of kovat it's been a little delayed we've assisted hundreds of our senior citizens citizen members apply for the hundred and ten units thus in New York City Housing Authority is directing the process of selecting the tenants we hope that as many of our members are able to get in the process for that closed last week we have been serving our people despite the predicaments of epidemic we have been hit by something completely unexpected nobody could have predicted what we're seeing and in our conference four of our states are among the worst five in the nation for every hundred thousand people in New York 159 have died from COBIT New Jersey its next than Connecticut Massachusetts and Rhode Island it has affected us care in the northeastern Conference the worst case being the state of New York where more than 31,000 people have been lost to the virus and northeastern conference we've been affected I as your president was affected a few months ago it was a very painful time it was a moment of discomfort one that forces you to face your own mortality and ask am I going to live or am I going today and be ready for any situation I also have a son and daughter who were affected but the Lord brought us through our conference treasurer his wife also afflicted our family life director our pastors pastor bernadotte's shared his testimony with us recently he was one of them most severely affected pastor spent a couple of weeks in ICU and God was able to deliver him and oh we have about eleven workers who were hit with koban and we thank the Lord that they all survived we've lost many people people who were important and dear to us elders and deacons and deaconesses and simple church members who love the Lord and we've been devastated by this loss but we know that we have the Blessed hope of the resurrection when God will reunite us with our loved ones and it is our plan to have an acknowledgement and a memorial service for all the members we have lost and if you know some that we are not aware of let us know so we can include their families as we pay this final tribute so faithful saints of God who went to sleep because of this virus we estimate based on the death toll in New York that over 900 members in north-eastern were affected our conference office has been closed but after months of being closed we'll be reopening our doors on this Tuesday on a limited basis we have staff coming in and incremental steps on a rotating basis not the entire staff at once well oh through these protocols for for Coleman if anyone needs to visit the conference office we ask that you call first and make an appointment to be sure that the person you want to see is available when you come we are not accepting walkins for the first few weeks or even months as we try to go back to normal our churches have been closed now but God is good he's kept them alive through an internet presence our schools have been affected and one of my biggest concerns if I want to be honest with you is our school system as to what will happen in September and whether we will be able to maintain all our personnel in schools once school opens or it doesn't open this September please pray for our school system we pray for the Academy for a South Brooklyn Academy for every elementary school and this afternoon we will be continuing less abbath we had our graduation service at 4:00 this afternoon there were some churches that were missed at 3 o'clock we're going to continue with a a graduation service for the churches in New England that were missed and we also have a special tribute for North East to Academy so all the families and friends of Northeastern Academy joined us this afternoon if you have secondary aged students in your home watch this program because we want to tell you about the great things that are happening at Northeastern Academy and as I mentioned that isn't the process of relocating one of the effects that kovat had on this was our session scheduled for September had to be moved there's no way we could accommodate 1,200 people in our pavilion and we looked around and we found that of all the conference's and entities that had sessions this year from the general campus North America Alaska program in the soda Potomac Quebec and South Asian they had all canceled we tried to go as long as we could without postponing our session but this week or last week we got information from the talent that informed us that we could not have more than 50 people on the campgrounds until the end of this year because of this we were forced our Executive Committee met fully and that committee we had 37 participants we had the officers of the Atlantic Union the president the secretary the treasurer and the unanimous decisions may be a disappointment for some but our priority right now after losing so many members is to protect the health of our members we want you to know thus that we we were the last one in North America to have to do a postponement also we are pleased that God is continuing to help us through service to the community northeastern and Greater New York joined forces this year to run food pantries to have the bands and service to the communities and our people have done a tremendous job so this is the northeastern congress community center and corona where it's being one of the only centers of our conference that has not closed every week the center continues to feed hundreds of families those are families lining up outside and waiting in line socially distance to receive services the need is great but our volunteers our staff our people under the direction the direction of laughter Keisha Gosselin continue to serve hundreds of family every week the community health man of northeastern Conference has made a tremendous impact in the city day after day and we have two week they've been conducting three colvett testing for community residents dr. flowers Alicia Mesa flowers has been leading this effort with volunteer nurses and health professionals in the conference to go to the community every week and test people for kovin this has been done with a grant from from several public officials and at one point the city of New York contracted us to go to the homeless shelters and conduct that testing we want to thank faster aghast AB and his staff and all those volunteer to render this invaluable service to God's people even in the middle of the pandemic the Lord has been good to us our young people are motivated as the mayor said earlier we are concerned about issues of social justice the Bible tells us that we are to speak for those who have no voice and so our young people are our community services have led march this crying out for justice and equality as we celebrate the Independence of the United States of America this weekend we want our land to be a just and fair land where everyone can find equal justice we know that this earth isn't perfect until Jesus comes we wait for the return of Jesus but during that time we must cry out for those who have no voice we must fail for justice and faith and our young people have been energized throughout the conference here in Queens in Harlem last Sunday was in Boston where all the church this came together and we thank God that that we can be true to our faith true to our conscience and yet still cry out for fairness and justice in our society I want to conclude today thanking you for joining us for our 75th year camp meeting we've come this far by faith as a conference we've come through Colvin due to the faithfulness of our people but this afternoon again at three o'clock our continuing graduation service our tribute to Northeastern Academy please join us live at 305 and then at four o'clock we have a panel beginning to talk about the northeastern plan for reopening churches you see we have a policy that has been developed and churches are now applying to be able to reopen this afternoon our panelists will include two pastors who are far part of the committee to reopen North Eastern Conference churches they want to share some information with you as to what that process looks like now this is an introduction and next Sunday Sunday I believe it's the 12th of July there will be a one hour and a half training on how to sanitize your church we are asking research to send two delegates to that training it's going to be a virtual training as to what steps you should be taking this afternoon we'll be joined however with Barbara hall Mrs Barbara Hall who is our risk management director for the conference we have Cantor Alexander will join us and dr. Thomas bizarro will join us two members of northeastern conference who will share their input as well as what we need to do to reopen our churches and so my friends that is what we are looking forward to this afternoon and over the next few weeks as churches reopen I want to end today by telling you that this coming week the regional conferences the nine regional conferences in North America are doing a convocation to discuss the issues which affect us as conferences and which affect us as a an african-american community and so every night there will be a different topic whether it's evangelism education finance or some of the factors that affect our communities of color across this country and we want to walk in lockstep as regional conferences to promote the needs of our people each night will also feature a devotional moment brought by different speakers I've been honored to be asked to present the devotional on Friday evening but I would invite you to participate from Wednesday through next Sabbath and Sabbath program will be at 4:00 p.m. so that it does not interfere with your local church program please join us for this event my friends it's a joy once again so have you on this Sabbath we are delighted that you could be with us one more time our prayer is that God will continue to bless North Eastern Conference and we don't want to be here for a hundred years we don't want to be here for a hundred and fifty years Jesus it's like we can have our future cat meetings in heaven may God bless you today may you be fed spiritually by the bread of life coming from our Heavenly Father thank you very much [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] these are these are these are these [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] yes my Honolulu [Music] [Applause] [Music] you deserve [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh why hallelujah to you yes I know it does fly hallelujah look just you know what else love my hallelujah - you raised your hand the same by hallelujah bonk see you I wanna say you deserve it you deserve her back you deserve it you deserve [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] yes [Music] you [Music] [Music] guess you won [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] you or scripture passage for meditation and strength today comes to us from the book of Habakkuk the second chapter and the third chapter that's abaca chapter 2 verses 1 to 3 and then I will read verse chapter 3 verses 16 to 19 chapter 2 reads thus I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and we'll watch the see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer I make it plain upon the tables that he may run that readeth is yet for an appointed time and at the end of it shall speak and not lie though it's hairy wait for it because it will surely come it will not have chapter 3 and verses 16 to 19 belapur my edge trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entered into my bones and I tremble itself that I may that I may rest in the day of trouble when he cometh up on to the people he will invade them with his troops verse 17 although the fig tree shall not blossom neither shall there be fruits in the vines the labor of the Holly shall fail and the fields shall yield no meets the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls although the fig tree shall not blossom sorry verse 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation the Lord is my strength and he shall make my feet like Hinds feet and he shall make me to walk upon mine high places for the chief singer and not strained instruments here endeth the reading of God's holy word [Music] let us look to the Lord in prayer [Music] Almighty God and father he who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus the great Shepherd of the Sheep our heavenly intercessor we confess today that amidst the evidence of decay and global chaos we have no other refuge but envy upon the strength of your name and your character we unburden our heaviness Oh God we are grateful that while most things in our lives remain uncertain you are consistent in your blessing toward us the mercies of each new day are swept into our hearts kindling our hope for a city whose builder and maker is God thank you Lord for being the same yesterday today and forever but O God the sacredness of this moment compels us also to confess our overwhelming anxieties today your people contend with unemployment they contend with a civil unrest injustice health issues and the woes of grief many times Oh God our trust has been weaker than our problems remind us O God that the strength of your righteous right hand can overcome any circumstance and with the fresh endowment of the Spirit may we be the example of love sought by those imprisoned by hate Oh heavily father for the body of Christ here in the North Eastern Conference we are challenged by the constraints in fulfilling your mission the way ahead seems tumultuous well we are comforted by the voice of our commander Jesus who still leaves us the future appears dim and less than optimistic but our eyes are fixed upon him like Israel preparing to cross the River Jordan because we have never been in this way before so safely guide us o thou great Jehovah guide us to the promised land we are weak but you are able hold us with thy powerful hand O God prepare our hearts to receive the seed of your word grant that it may take deep root and bring forth fruit for your glory visit us once more with your salvation and instill faith in every heart for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for evermore amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] but love it I am pastor Lawrence Brown and I have some awesome news in fact the news is so good I'd have to call it wonderfully delicious and that is that God is not only a promise maker oh but he is a promise keeper listen to him declare in Psalm 33 verse 18 and 19 behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him upon them that hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine you know what that says to me that says to me that when things are going bad and I think I can safely say as we look around our country right now with a pandemic burning through everything that things are going bad but this says to me that even when things are going bad faithfulness to God is the best way to preserve our existence if you don't believe me just look at 1st Kings chapter 17 with a prophet challenged the widow take care of God first and then what's God come through for you in fact this was his declaration for thus saith the Lord God of Israel the barrel of meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth and what was the outcome verse 15 says and she went and did according to the saying of Elijah the man of God and she and he and her house did eat many days folks faithfulness preserves our lives because faithfulness sends the clear message Lord I trust you and so as we do the offering appeal today I want to remind you that we're not looking at the health of your church the health of the conference we're looking at the health of your relationship with the Lord because faithfulness is how God preserves his sons and his daughters your church may be up for online giving your church may have a cash app that it's using if you have any questions we invite you to reach out to your pastor or your clerk but as we give today the temptation may be to worry about all the other things going on around us but I would say to you even as I have said to me I'm going to put God first because in putting God first I put myself and I put my family where God can bless us the way he wants to bless us and so when things are tough when things are tight when things are hectic remember that the promise making and the promise keeping God has declared he will honor he will bless the faithfulness of his people and you will come through with the testimony that God showed up when you need him to show up and you will be able to say yes Jesus keeps his promises god bless you [Music] the sky shall prepare the store [Music] [Music] I shall enhance the [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] we shall oh yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] the shout [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we shall be changed [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you a man named ed praise the Lord I cannot wait to behold Jesus coming in the clouds of glory thank you sister Marquis de Richardson for that beautiful selection Marky does family has been blessing northeastern for years she is the granddaughter of the late pastor Edwin Humphrey who served their northeastern for so many years the time has come now to hear the word of God and I have the privilege of introducing to you the one who has been designated and anointed to break the bread of life to God's people across North Eastern territory today dr. Oswald Ewell is a man of God his spiritual journey began in Jamaica and then went over to London where he grew up for some of his formative years as a young man his family migrated to the United States and and settled in Stanford Connecticut so his his northeastern journey begins in New England as a young man who attended the Stanford Church back then it was a bilingual church Franko Haitian and Anglophone at the same time it was there that a young Oswald felt called to the ministry and he devoted his life to the Lord as a very young man and felt that call and made his way down to Oakland College to prepare for a career in ministry and graduated with a bachelor's and theology here and nothing else than to work for God's cause because the call did not immediately come he registered at the son of a Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University graduating with an m.div it is there that a beautiful young woman by the name of Marcia Alexander stole his hearts and eventually they were joined in holy matrimony and that of that Union has come three children Monique Bryan and Jasmin they're all young adults still serving God in His Church pastor eul's ministry began when he received they call from pastor George Earl then president of the conference and he was assigned the friendship church and Elmira New York and so from New England his ministry is called to western New York where he pastors that nascent congregation and strengthens it elder Newton then assigns him to a capital city in the Hudson Valley area and he also pastors that church grows its strengthens it eventually elder Brooks calls him to the Lebanon church where he ministers in Queens from Queens he's called to Brooklyn to Pastor Shiloh and also subsequently a Christian Fellowship it is from there that in 2012 the Brethren call him to lead the Sabbath School Department and the personal ministries Department in this conference a Sabbath school director he is responsible for bringing hundreds of people every year to Albany for the officers training annual training that took place in that era he did it well and successfully he's also responsible for personal ministries where he engages the laypeople of this conference to do lay evangelism he supports pastors and their evangelistic outreach during this time northeastern has repeatedly recognized for having the most messaged magazine subscriptions we receive awards and checks and bonuses in the conference because of the work that he spearheaded after eight years and his capacity as personal Ministries director in 2012 he is called to serve as executive secretary of the North Eastern Conference a function he has carried out with excellence and distinction as secretary is for chairing some boards he chairs the northeastern Academy board he chairs the bylaws committee he chairs the building committee as secretary he has been influential and and bringing the expansion of North Eastern Conference in eight years he houses aboard he's the contact personal affair attorneys he represents the interest of the conference in addition to the 40 churches there send different acquisitions of lands and buildings community centers annexes for some of our churches his longest closing was a 14 hour closing about a year and a half ago we signed the closing for the law that would allow us to build northeastern towers he's also been influential in the land that has been acquired for camp eight remake and the establishment of a Wellness Center on that campus but his biggest passion is not necessarily administration or real estate or business dealings his biggest fashion is evangelism and so for the past few years every year he has stood under its head proclaiming God's words he started in Staten Island a few years ago and from two churches in Staten Island we went to five churches because of his evangelistic outreach then he went to Brooklyn and affirmed and drew a church in Brooklyn baptized nearly hundred people there and that evangelistic campaign under a tent on Utica Avenue last year it was there at the conference office parking lot where we pitched the tent and saw him just preach his heart out night after night I jokingly said that he went to to the doctors and they they heard a strange sound beating in his eye and when they listened it said eventually eventually evangelism because this is what our executive secretary believes and so he has led not only by preset but by example and soul-winning and as a result of the evangelistic evangelism campaign in Queens last year we have moochers the city mission that meets and queens until now after a hundred and nine souls were baptized to the honor and glory of God and so we thank him for his fashion for church growth I consider him a friends I consider him a brother a loyal administrator and I've been blessed to be surrounded by a team of faithful department leaders a faithful treasurer a faithful secretary dr. Yoo completes that team that has been supportive and loyal to my ministry and it is my prayer today that God will use him in the mighty way to share the Word of the Living God may we be transformed as God uses his instrument to talk to our minds to talk to our hearts and to talk to our souls we're going to be blessed now by the music of meditation by the a Latino brothers chorale and then the next voice you'll hear is that of God's servants Oswald you may you be blessed [Music] [Music] I've got so much to thank God for so many wonderful balloons and so many obento Oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] new day [Music] that's why I print you and for this [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] thank you doctor honoree my friend and brother I thank you for your friendship for your leadership it's a great honor to work with you as part of your team in leading this great conference you are given much for the service of God we honor you I honor you for your sacrifice and your commitment to this great conference until the gospel ministry I thank you for your family for their support and we continue to pray for you as you leave this great conference take it to higher heights thank you again for that kind and gracious introduction it is a humbling experience to be here to share a word with you today and I solicit your prayers that God will speak to us teach us and guide us well acknowledge the ministry of music those are participated in the worship experience thus far we thank you for what you have done and a shout out to the divine praise the Lebanon Church the choir that I birth 30 years ago god bless you for your ministry of music divine praise and all the choirs around we thank you for what you do in proclaiming the gospel through the Ministry of music I thank God for our newest member to the team Elder Robert Chandler thank God for him for his spirituality in his commitment to the cause of Christ and his family I thank all the directors and pastors were working together to uplift this great conference thank you for what you do today I want to look at the book of Habakkuk the book of Habakkuk chapter 2 3 and Habakkuk chapter 3 16 through 19 I invite you this time to bow your heads in prayer with me father we come to you today looking forward we come with a sense of expectancy we come looking for something to encourage us show us your way guide us make your word irresistible speak about person today who sits in his living room that person was in his car that person who was on the job somewhere or a distant land speak to him show us who you are and what you are in Jesus name Amen standing strong when your faith is tested these are the times that try men's souls these words by Thomas Paine ring true today as they did during the time when America sought freedom from England's rule we are living in a time of unrest we are living in turbulent times we are living in a period that is trying our souls Richard has President of the Council of Foreign Relations is right we have a world in disarray we are in the middle of a global crisis over two million people have been affected by the coronavirus it is estimated that over 100,000 people have died from the corona virus here in America the number of coronavirus infections and deaths continues to grow every day more than 40 million workers in the US have file for unemployment we have a racial tension and division in the land the unjust killing of people of color has created anger protests and marches here in America and around the world there's a cry for justice and equality people from all walks of life black brown white red and yellow are shouting enough is enough we are tired and I know you are tired young people are leading the pack saying we want a better and just society no justice no peace how proud we are of them of our young people I had the privilege to March with them here from the conference office young people committed committed to social justice standing up we need a fair and just treatment for all human beings innocent people have become victims of senseless killing it seemed the wicked go unpunished in these maddening events and dismembering of human lives God seems silent many people's faiths are now being tested this picture of the world today is similar to that of what the Prophet Habakkuk faced in his day the prophet has a message for us in light of our present crises this minor prophet this minor prophet comes to us with a major message that is that we can stand strong when our faith is tested in turbulent times he's proof of this where is intimate dialogue with God an intimate conversation with God I believe that Habakkuk is an interesting and fascinated figure he's an obscure prophet we know very little about him yet I find them interesting and fascinating for study during this unprecedented period he is given a recognized place among the prophets received the Oracles of God receive the Oracles of God he's assuredly one of the finest writers in the Old Testament his language is impeccable his I / Baalak expressions grab your attention he's a philosopher earnest and candid is in possession of unusual originality and force he's sensitive speculative suppliant am the prophets and the preacher of theocratic optimism unlike Jeremiah and the other prophets who stood before the people of God have occurred dialogues with God with penetrating and provocative questions yes he has a conversation with God every now and then we need to have a conversation with God he doesn't hold back he's open and honest he is direct and certainly inquisitive of the wisdom and the ways of God he's not letting God off the hook he wants answers why do the wicked go unpunished how long will you allow wickedness to go unpunished when will you God step up and correct the wrongs innocent people are dying and you remain silent what's going on I can't defend you along with others throughout history harold kushner the jewish right in his book when bad things happen to good people explores these similar questions with enormous intensity and curiosity like abaca we too today press God about the awful plight of innocent and the good suffering other hands of the oppressors nothing seems to happen to bring order and justice in a Bacchus case God reasoned with him and revealed that he had a plan in place to restore order and to bring a positive outcome God said I'm going to do a work in your day that you would you would not believe even if you were told I'm raising up Babylonians to restore order in the land but in the meantime don't lose faith Habakkuk the job of the prophets living during a time of national calamity he saw the people turning their backs on God this frightened him this disturbed him in chapters 1 & 2 we see her burka pouring out its complaints before God we observe that the book with an intimate and intense dialogue between him and God the Prophet records certain complaints about the violent oppressors of mankind now I will not bore you ladies and gentlemen I will not bore you with the walls the eliminate delineated by the Prophet but suffice it to say that God was not pleased God was not pleased with the nation's oppression on his people God is never pleased when one of his children is hurting all over the land many people who are hurting hurt by the current crisis hurt by the death of loved ones hurt by the loss of a job hurt by broken relations and dysfunctional family structure hurt by dreams deferred hurt by violence against his people at such a time as this we must have hope that we can stand strong we can stand strong when our faith is tested by the crises of our day by following the lessons of the Prophet Habakkuk Habakkuk teaches that the discipline of patience keeps you strong when your faith is tested I will stand at my watch stationed myself on the ramparts I would look to see what he will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint then the Lord replied write down the revelation and make it plain on the tablets so that an Herald may run with it for the revelation awaits an appointed time it speaks of the end and will not prove false though it lingers though it lingers wait for it it will certainly come and will not delay in ibaka chapter 316 the Prophet says yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us God you know what's best I will simply wait I will be patient now let me tell your patience is necessary in the these troubled times we cannot run ahead of God we cannot jump the gun and take matters into our own hands we can afford to be hasty or too quick to do our own been experienced we must wait I wait patiently for the Lord and he client unto me and heard my cry says David it calls for patience on our part for God to work out is will in our lives Habakkuk says yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us patience what a word most of us if not all of us find it hard to be patient we're always in a hurry we want what we want now we can't fault anyone for this after all we invented fast food microwave drive-throughs piece of delivery Express Lanes overnight mail and the list goes on it is said that the annual cost of people running red lights is 7 billion and the average amount of time saved by running a red light is only 50 seconds we have a knack for being in a hurry no time for patience sometimes it may be necessary to take the time and go into the watchtower like a burqa and wait awhile for the revelation to come for what you expect to come I say the job will come if you wait the wife or husband will come if you wait the house you picked will come if you wait don't just take anything or everything that comes your way our prophet teaches that when it comes to God patience is a virtue that can serve you well because in the end God will come through yes he will oh how important the virtue the virtue of patient is Carol nights Carol night said observing li in a thoughtful analysis of Scripture that and I quote I am more convinced I am convinced more than ever that the constant riddle of the Old Testament is not the survival of the fittest but the suffering of the best in job it was a suffering of an injured individual in a backer that of a nation and in all of this patience was an enduring quality that helped to shape the outcome we must have patient Abraham had to develop patience before heizak was born Moses had to develop patient before he he was given the charge to lead the children of Israel Jacob had to develop patience before he had the love of his life Rachel Joshu had to develop patience before he could conquer Jericho the Apostle Paul had to develop patience before he could handle the people in the early church I say patience is worth cultivating because in the end God will make what you want come to fruition the New Testament speaks of patience in the book of James chapter 5 7 through 16 James speaks of patience in a world of trials and tribulations he uses two different words for patience in chapter 5 chapter 5 it is the term long tempered the two words endure and patients in james511 literally means to remain under patient means to stay put and stand fast when you would like to run away patience is a Christian virtue that cannot be minimized in the pursuit in the pursuit for justice freedom equality and religious liberty our Christian martyrs like Habakkuk live in a world of upheaval injustice and persecution people like John Huss William Tyndale Martin Luther they were patient in the struggles and hopeful for a better outcome for God's people we had the fervent founders of our faith and champions of the core of Christ for the Advent movement that demonstrated patience while carrying the message of God to the world people like William Miller James Bates William Foy James White's L&G white John Loughborough JN Andrews we had individuals of color cha skinny Charles Dudley EE Cleveland ee w Fordham GE Peters SH Walters and arch ball and others who blazed the trail with the gospel with the gospel with courage and with patience today my friends we stand here in celebration of 75 years with God lead in this great conference it has been a journey of faith under the Spirit of God we were guided by LH bland MHD singleton Artie Hudson George Earle Leonard Newton Stennett Brooks Don King Trevor Baker and our present leader Daniel honoree and others in administrators including Robert Carter Samuel Stovall Harold Baptists Ida Williams Larry Bailey revered preachers and pastors Edwin Humphrey Mathew Birmingham Roy Hashmi and many more as well as teachers and educators of the movement these dedicated pioneers of purpose face all kinds of obstacles and barriers yet they had the temperament of patience looking beyond their immediate circumstances knowing that God was leading and guiding them for a brighter future nothing could stand in their way they had that virtue called patience which kept them on the move for God with the message of Revelation chapter 14 6 through 12 our pioneers through their energies in proclaiming proclaiming the proclaiming on the onset of judgment hour in the fall and the fall of spiritual Babylon and the need to keep the commandments of God rather than worship the Beast and His image while they're on the move God fulfilling God's mission God was on the move for his people praise the Lord patience doesn't mean we sit passively and do nothing on the contrary patient means by my friends that we do not wait idly browsing through our cell phone apps we wait actively rolling up our sleeves and getting busy God is moving in ways we cannot see and understand be patient but work be patient but plan be patient but act be patient but run with God not ahead of God he is behind the scenes working out its purpose for you and for me David was patient when he listened to the mean in words of Goliath but when it came time to act he took out Goliath Samson was patient when he lost his strength and was humiliated by the Philistines with God's help he used his last breath to dismantle a whole city be patient my friends the early disciples the whole disciples had to spend some time in the upper room in fasting and praying waiting for the Pentecostal power and when it came a whole city was set on fire with the gospel of Jesus Christ my friends the prophet finds the solution to his situation only when he obeyed Allah takes its place on the watchtower to wait expectantly for the true revelation of God glory to God hear me this morning God is about to do something for you God is about to do something for you God is about to do something extraordinary for you God is about to do something spectacular for you God is about to do something unbelievable to you stretch your faith stretch your faith claim your blessings engage God's presence hope in your heart to him like my prophet find your Watchtower find your Watchtower it may be in your room your living room in your backyard on your patio in your office somewhere find your watchtower and wait and look for what is to come peace for confusion healing for your hurt balm for your bruises forgiveness for your sins sight for your blindness light for your darkness provisions in your poverty grace for your shame melody for your misery blessings for your misfortunes wholeness for your brokenness deliverance for your distress wait wait find your watchtower you will have a breakthrough you will have a breakthrough glory to God you will have a breakthrough hallelujah patience patience is needed in these times and all it does the discipline of patience keep you strong but hab occur also teaches that the expression of praise to God keeps you strong when your faith is tested although the fig tree shall not blossom neither shall food be in the vines the labor the olives shall fail oh and the fee will show you no meat the flock shall be cut off from the fold yet I'll rejoice in the Lord I will draw in the God of my salvation what a profit what a man what a human being unbelievable incredible his faith is being tested at a crisis point so it seems he stand in the midst of chaos he stand in the mids of loss he stand in the of emptiness and fruitlessness he's standing in the middle of confusion and disappointments grief and death he's standing in the midst of calculated evil oppression and atrocities he stand in the middle of a war zone the nation is in rubble and smoke famine is in the land it looks bad it looks gloomy it looks grim it looks unbearable pink slips are being given out bounced checks are widespread foreclosures have escalated Wall Street is no longer Easy Street Main Street is no Street at all people are penniless the supermarkets are empty dead bodies are popping up everywhere black lives do matter God is seemingly detached from it all so the profit makes a personal choice he does something that makes no sense no sense at all he praises God through it this sends shockwaves throughout the land its silence is the devil and applause comes from heaven this is faith beyond measure he's standing in the midst of a land that is in disarray the wicked have prospered in all of this and the innocent have suffered the most Ibaka said to his generation in two hours that praise in God is the best merit medicine in the midst of your plight it's the best medicine in your predicament praise puts a divide in line between you and what the devil designed for your life praise puts a dividing line between you and what the devil designed for your life ladies and gentlemen notice that Habakkuk does not say then will I rejoice in the Lord he says yet in other words I'm gonna keep on doing what I've always done nothing will stop my work and silence my praise I'm gonna keep on doing what I've always done what is that hey Becca I'm going to remain a witness praising God preaching to the times hear me this morning I belong to a church which with all of its imperfections is rooted and grounded in Bible prophecy it is unique our church is unique it has a place in the world it is a mega movement with a mega message that is Christocentric Christ centered we preach Christ's we preach Christ in the best of times and the worst of times therefore I cannot remain silent with what I have in charge to do like the sons of Ithaca who understood the temper the temper of the times with knowledge of what Israel should do we cannot hold back you cannot hold back we must interpret the times sound the alarm the world is in hungry is hungry for the word of God it needs our distinctive truth grounded in the Word of God sound doctrines sound doctrines we need to be a witness in our praise and teaching of these truth we cannot hold back what are these truth preacher the love of God the Trinity the great the creation story the origin of sin the great controversy the nature of man the fall of man the atonement salvation the Sabbath the sanctuary the three angels messages oh the law of God baptism Christian behavior marriage and the family forgiveness love for one another grace the hope of the world the cross of Christ conversion the day of the Lord the millennium the end of sin and the new earth I'm going to keep doing what I've always done no better time than now I'm going to praise the Lord what he has done and will do for me and for you and for a because of what he has entrusted me to do and what he has entrusted you to do my god is no stranger to the crises of our times the same God who moved industry on behalf of his people he's ever present with us glory to God this God is worthy of our praise I adore him I honor him I rejoice in him I praise him the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said if I did not praise my lord I should deserve to have my tongue torn out by its roots from my mouth if I did not magnify his name I should deserve that every stone I tread on in the street should rise up to curse my ingratitude crime a drown debtor to the mercy of God when do we praise God in the midst of our personal struggles praise Him when you are on a ventilator praise Him when you're diagnosed with cancer praise Him when you're on dialysis praise Him when you're flat broke praising when you're up against the Rope praise them when you're heading for a stroke praising with an eviction notice praise them in the hospital praise Him out of the hospital praise and when you at your Lois praise and when you're released from an abusive relationship praise Him when the pillar is soaked with your tears praise them when you're out of a mess that you didn't create crazy because of who he is oh yes praise thee for who is his God all by himself because had it not been for the Lord on my side where would I be where would you be where would I be the devil to knock me out in the month of November 2014 when I'd finished preaching the word at the handsome place 7 a vanished Church in Brooklyn New York thank God for the praise of the Saints there I ended up in the hospital for five days God spoke to me and said you'll you are not Bionic slow down so that I can catch up I'm not done with you yet listen to my voice I need to run some more evangelistic meetings I need to travel to some distant lands to feed hungry souls I needed to be a voice for the kingdom go in my name not in your name go in my name not in your name I got out of the hospital with a renewed purpose God spared my life I could have been dead I could have been the worms culinary delight I stand before you today saying that God is worthy to be praised no matter the circumstances of life God is bigger than your situation I can relate to a child's courage and he's saying for I am a drown debtor to the mercy of God hallelujah glory to God I praise Him in the morning you praise Him in the morning I praise Him at noon you praise Him at noon I praise Him in the evening you praise Him in the Idul I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth o magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name exalt his name ladies and gentleman exalt his name at the Red Sea exalt his name in the lion's den exalt his name in the fiery furnace exalt his name in the deep like jonah exalt his name in a cave like elijah exalt his name in enemy territory like samson exalt his name on your deathbed like izakaya a Salty's name in the land of oppression and pain and headache and heartache exalt his name don't have a pity party just exalt his name don't pop those pills and have a drug overdose exalt his name don't get caught up in church fight on who said what and who did you're wrong exalt his name don't give the devil the upper hand exalt his name yes you will be criticized yes you will be scandalized yes you'll be marginalized yes you'll be exercised yes you'll be ready cute yes you'll be falsely accused yes you'll be used yes you'll be abused but exalt his name exalt his name exalt his name like abaca exalt his name praise silences the devil blow it a god that only does the Prophet Habakkuk teach that the discipline of patience and the expression of praise to God keeps you strong but he also teaches that a new perspective of God keeps you strong when your faith is tested verse 19 the sovereign Lord is my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer he enables me to go on the high places we can't keep focusing too much on what is bad around us we will drown in it yes ladies and gentlemen we live in a negative hostile world the system that surrounds us focus on the negatives what is wrong not what is right what is missing not what is present what is ugly not what is beautiful what is destructive not what if what is constructive what cannot be done that what can be done what hurts not what helps what we lack not what we have we must take time to look beyond our present oppressive situation and envision what is possible don't look at the mountain don't look at the mountain look beyond the mountain possibility thinkers do this when abaca looked beyond the terrible conditions of the people of Israel to see what could be done he developed a new mindset he develop a new mindset he became what scholars call the prophet of theocratic optimism he looked at the brighter side and the hopeful outcome of the people of God he then utters not the Lord is my strength the correct rendition is this the sovereign Lord the sovereign Lord is my strength and he will make my feet like the feet of a deer he enables me to go unto the high places Habakkuk had the right perspective of what God would do for him and the children of Israel in the long run Habakkuk situation didn't change right away but he changed he changed his clarion message the just shall live by faith he got it right he got a new perspective of you all wise God he saw God in a different light is this challenge to us today do we need to take another look at God maybe we need to take another look at God JB Phillips book your God is too small challenges us to think of God in a greater way after all after all our perception of God determines our relationship with him our perception of God determines our relationship with him your perception of God determines your relationship with him if God is small and is confined to a box that is what it is to you I am told that perspective is the window or lens which you see your circumstances my Japanese professor useless tell me as well what you see depends on where you stand what you see depends on where you stand what you see depends on where you stand how do you see your God today how do you envision your God today perhaps you need to take another look at God Habakkuk stepped back and took a deep breath even gathered his thoughts together as it were he looked at the awful problems of the nation of Israel then embrace the problem server as the sovereign Lord out of his doubts the prophet forged a new belief a new belief in the character of the infinite against the dark background of human hatred greed and an aggression stood forth the pure presence of the Almighty God where before he had been on the brink of despair like a traveler lost in a trackless desert like a shipwrecked marina dying of thirst now circumstances were subordinated subjected to faith we are the offsprings of God we were meant not for the value of fears but for the high place of faith glory to God abacus new glimpse of God changed him forever he described this Lord your Lord God as sovereign God is sovereign sovereign it means that the Lord is supreme ruler guiding your fears of the world in other words God is in control not the Babylonians not systems of domination not the invaders not the agents and the minions of the minions of Satan not the oppressors of mankind not racially motivated in Justices not kovat 19 God is in control this world is in disarray as was the case in abacus time but the world but the world there and now is still in the control of God God has not abandon you God is not a band of the world God has not abandoned you oh no though you see abandonment every day God has not abandoned you abandoned babies in trash cans God will hear abandoned children killed or kicked out in the streets God will hear abandoned families torn apart God will hear abandoned people in homeless shelters God will hear abandoned employees because of corporate greed God will hear abandon immigrants exploited and dehumanized God will hear abandoned people from all walks of life God will hear he doesn't matter the color the race the creed the culture or the language God will hear he will hear because he's God he hears you in the church house and in the jail house he hears you in no alcohol he hears you in the public square and in your private plea before you call God says I will answer before your text or tweet I will answer before you put everything on Facebook or Instagram I will answer he hears your cry here is my cry I want you to know that abacus God has not abandoned you God is still in control this world is not in the hand in the hands of man glory to God you and I you and I are not what you and I would be in trouble if it were that if you were in the hands of man man does not control this world it is not in the control of presidents and potentates he's not in the control of wizards and witches he's not in the control of philosophers and evolutionists is not the control of theorists and therapists his name the control of dictators and despots is not the control of thugs crooks charlatans and crackpots is not the control of suicide bombers and Syrians operatives it is in the control of the sovereign God halleluyah doesn't abandon you you belong to God you belong to God I belong to God you belong to God what hear me this morning hear me this morning it is possible to go through all the motions through the rituals of Christianity and forget that you belong to God you belong to God this is no fake news you belong to God you are his child you are his son you are his daughter you are special you are a knockout you are royal you're a prince you're a princess you are chosen you are anointed you are appointed you are sealed and appointed by God you are his witness you are his mouthpiece your is a workmanship you are his voice you're an expression of God's image you belong to him I belong to him you belong to him you're an ambassador of God you are first-class glory to God you are first-class you have God's DNA you are a walking argument of God's existence you're a moving advertisement of God's power you're an articulate herald of God's intelligence you're an extension of God's presence you belong to him I belong to him you belong to him I belong to him there is no social distance in between with him between him no facemask needed with him you are an intimate with him glory to God God has not abandoned you God is not a banner you just stand strong in him and in his name glory to God abacus approach to his crises of faith helped him to embrace the God who will turn everything around for his purpose he assured him that all would be well because of the faithfulness of God all will be well because of the faithfulness of God he faithful is God faithful is God faithful see is when your money was funny he's been faithful when you win when you turn your back on the church and God waited at the door to take you back he's been faithful when you lost your job he's been faithful when you were down in the dumps he's been faithful when you were enough he's been faithful when he picked you up he picked you up from the side of the road he's been faithful therefore you and I must be faithful God's people my friends will triumph over all up opposition and we dwell securely upon the heights of salvation Robert Brown in the great poet Robert Browning knew this he writes in a dark and tremendous sea of cloud it is but for a time i press i pressed god lamp close to my breasts it splendid sooner or later will pierce the gloom i shall emerge one day the Prophet was greatly perplexed and worried about the wicked overpowering and destroying God's people as men are today yet yet he learned that God's people shall emerge shall emerge one day we shall emerge one day the church will triumph yes it will we have come this far by faith hallelujah it is sometimes difficult to understand and justify God's ways but in the end we see is love and it makes everything clear to us we shall emerge you shall emerge one day we have come this far by faith we have worked too long you have worked too long to miss out and what God has planned for you we have come too far to fumble the ball we have come too far to stop we've come too far to turn around we have come too far to quit we have come too far to slip back we have come too far to stumble to fall to fail to give up or to give in with God you are strong enough when your faith is tested with you're strong enough when your faith is tested by the present climate I declare to you my friends surrender your will to God and be patient surrender your life to God and be patient God is working everything out for you praise Him no matter what the situation may be God is bigger than your problems ask God to give you a new perspective of his love and his sovereignty he will do it he will do it yes he will he will do it God's strength is made perfect in our weakness however I confess I confess I am weak I am feeble I am incapacitated I am incapable of living without God I need a faith like that of the Prophet I cannot deal with the cosmic and personal conflicts of life I cannot handle the sin problem all by myself I must trust God to write the next chapter or phase of my life I must trust God to fix my situation I must trust in when I can't trace him I must trust him even when I can't feel him I must trust him when my faith is tested I must trust him to handle his business and that he will I must trust him to have the last word and that he did when he sent Jesus that he did when he sent Jesus for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father Prince of Peace and where it became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory they all begotten of the father full of grace and truth he walked our walk he talked our talk he participated in our pain and dive a death that should have been ours and Paul said the Apostle Paul said in a daring way in the mystery of divine love Christ became sin for us they crucified Him they put him in a tomb he stayed there all day Friday all day Saturday but early Sunday morning early Sunday morning early Sunday morning he got up he got up Buddha didn't get up confucius didn't get up he got up he rose from the grave hallelujah glory to God he ascended to be at his father's side lift up your heads o ye gates he listened to be the last in doors and the King of glory shall come in who is this King of glory the Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in battle lift up your heads o ye gates he lifted up be the last in doors and the King of glory shall come in who is this King of glory the Lord of Hosts he is the king of glory somebody say hallelujah one day this Lord our Savior shall return to this earth to take us home that's why we have the promise let not your hearts be troubled he believed in God believe also we made in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I wouldn't have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to vary a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am you may be also God God is speaking to you today be patient be patient be patient in your situation God is gonna work things out praise him anyhow no matter how hard it gets God is still with you every step of the way develop a new perspective of God and see God in a different light God is God all by himself he will change your situation right now you may be listen to me this morning in the privacy of your home and you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin it is time for you to make that decision to follow Christ leave the world forsake your sin and follow Jesus Christ the world nothing to offer Jesus has everything to give make that decision and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin and when you've made that decision to follow Christ fine veneer it's anybody's church in your community seek out that pastor and tell him or her that you want to be baptized you want to be part of the 70 minutes church you want to be part of the remnant Church it is time to make that decision for Christ walk with Christ your life will never be the same and I want to speak to that person who has left the Church of very reasons you walked away somebody got you mad and you feel this stress you're not in the church anymore I want you to turn around go back to that church ask God to give you the strength and the power to remain in his church because that's the place where you can find fellowship and hope in Jesus Christ I'm speaking of that person was wounded away from the church fine find God and return to that church and then they may be somebody listening who wants a Bible study who wants to know about the 70 minutes church that teaches the teaching of the church I had declared to you we have the truth truth precious truth you want further Bible study you want to study the Word of God find the nearest semi vanished church in your community and ask the pastor or the leaders in those churches so that you want Bible studies because you want to learn more about God and lastly my friends I appeal to you North Eastern Conference to recommit yourself for the Lord Jesus Christ recommit your heart to him ask God to strengthen you ask God to hope hold you haxe God to keep you strong when your faith is tested ask God to hold you in the palm of his hands he will do it he will do it this is no time to turn back it's time to move forward we have come this far by faith God is with us God is with us every step of the way God is with you every step of the way surrender your will to him follow him and you will have a bright future may God bless you today let us pray father we thank you for your word we thank you for speaking to us we thank you O God for sharing your word to us to help us to grow stronger we've come a long way as a conference and was by your grace and by your power we thank you for every member in this conference here in the North Eastern Conference and Beyond and those who have relocated in different parts of the world and globe Lord bless them in a very special way we're thankful for the leadership of this church our president dr. hanadarko Daniel honoree bless him in his leadership bless elder Robert Chen Lee bless all the departmental directors the support staff be with every pastor in this conference continue to give them strength and power and grace give them renewed vision and hope be with every member every visitor those have been watching this service bless every one in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit amen amen god bless you [Music] [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] why [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] let us pray father God we come to the end of this worship service and we want to thank you Lord for blessing us and enabling us to be connected with you in his spirit and with one another through social media this pandemic is distancing us physically but it has proven incapable of distancing us spiritually and emotionally thank you Lord for touching our lives in ways we cannot describe you have taken us through your realms of glory and we want to say thank you once more as we close this moment of praise and worship we ask you Lord to please continue blessing us guiding us being with us and now evoking the Aaronic blessing I say the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace amen [Music] and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to away Oh for now our soul [Music] the time [Music] the therefore [Music] and put on the Oh [Music] Jesus Christ [Music] it's [Music] Oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] romans 13 11 through 14 [Music] it is high time to awake out of sleep [Music] you [Music] you
