October 11, 2020 7:15AM | The Sifting Of The Saints | Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby

[Music] hallelujah we've come to magnify the name of the lord we've come to bless his holy name did anybody come to bless his name can anybody come to tell him thank you god we tell you thank you lord you're worthy you're magnificent and you're awesome we've come to call upon your holy name hallelujah we've come to call on the name of jesus the matchless name of jesus jesus son of god jesus almighty wife [Music] jesus [Music] the prince of peace and the lord [Music] [Music] is [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] we praise our name jesus [Music] we praise your names [Music] forever [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the mighty name of jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] won't anybody help me [Music] [Applause] [Music] lord we offer you our praise the name that provides peace [Music] everybody [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] god [Applause] [Music] everybody [Music] [Music] everybody [Music] hallelujah [Music] with everything we have hallelujah good morning hallelujah good morning i will be reading from jeremiah 3 verses 12 through 15. jeremiah 3 12-15 go and proclaim these words towards enough and say return thy backside in israel saith the lord and i will not cause my anger to fall upon you for i am merciful saith the lord and i will not keep anger forever only acknowledge thine quit iniquity that thy has transgressed against the lord thy god and has scattered our ways to the strangest on the every green tree and you have not obeyed my voice saith the lord turn o backside and children saith the lord for i am married unto you and i will take you one of a city and two of a family and i will bring you to zion and i will give you pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding may the lord add a blessing to the readers prayers and doers of his holy word amen [Music] good morning to the church let's go to god in prayer dear god our father we come this morning just to say thank you father you are the god of abraham isaac and jacob and we just lift you up we give all praise honor glory to you for last night's lying down and for this morning we um raised our father to see a day that we've never seen before so we just want to say thank you lord thank you lord for blessing us to see a day that we've never seen before because your words say this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it so we just want to come and praise your name father god we want to lift you up in this service on today father god that you will get all the praise the honor and the glory we come thanking you right now father god for our president president donald donald trump we lift him up before you right now father god answered that you would just be with him god his mind lead and direct him in the way that he should go from god and most of all that his whole household will be saved as well as himself we lift up our former president president barack obama and his family we pray that you will continue to bless them as you have kept them in your way lord god we thank you for every mayor we thank you for every governor we thank you for every senator every representative every police officer and lord we lift up every front line worker father god all the nurses and the doctors who are taking care of our patients who have been with the coving 19 father god we know that this is a pandemic because you control the pandemic we pray right now in the name of jesus that you will come and heal our name father god you said in your word if my people who are called by my name would honor themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways then we would hear from heaven and you would heal the land father god we need a healing and our man and we just want to say thank you right now in advance because we know if you wanted to you could just say be still and the comic would be still and there will be no more pain no more dying in this land father god we come from praying right now father god for the hurricane that's uh in the water out here father god we're just saying right now peace be stealing for hurricane delta hurricane gamma pink beast near father god we ask them right now in the name of jesus that you will cover everybody who the hurricane may be coming in their direction father god now god we come lifting up the homeless street baptist church father god right now in the name of jesus we pray for every ministry of this church we pray for the deacon's ministry we pray for everybody father god that you would just touch him right now in the name of jesus we pray for our poor pet committed uh father god that you will give them the wisdom and knowledge and give them peace about what they're doing father god that you may bless us with the shepherd that you would have us to have father god we thank you right now in the name of jesus for everything that you have done and we thank you for everything that you're going to do in the present we give you praise on that glory father you are worthy of all the praise you're worthy lord and we just want to say thank you thank you lord in jesus name we pray amen [Music] a good sunday morning good sunday morning good sunday morning i don't know about you but i was glad when they said let us go into the house of the lord thank god for sunday morning because we come to give god praise we come to worship god because he's worthy of the praise he's worthy of the honor he's worthy of all the glory we thank you for streaming with us this morning our homestreet family as well as all of the streamers we thank you so much short word from the deacon ministry we thank you so much for your prayers we feel them as we meet and as we're doing things we feel your prayers so keep on praying for us and to deaconesses and keep on praying for the pulpit vacancy committee that they might bring to us who god would have us to have i'm just glad this morning to be in his house ain't nowhere like the house of god i tell you [Applause] [Music] a few things i want to bring to your attention we are reading the book of romans for this month the book of romans we're reading together for this month so make sure you get your reading in you already know about our weekly activities so i won't go over that but i do want to encourage you that we are in the season of voting and i want to give you a couple of deadlines october 13th is the last day for you to request a ballot to vote by mail or absentee october 13th is your last opportunity to request and get it in we know that voting days from from today is going to be about 23 days so early voting starts october 13th and runs through october 30th and then we'll see everyone else at the polls on november the 3rd this is a great month this is the month that we celebrate our shepherd and family day we'll be doing that on the third sunday but we thought it very appropriate that we would use this whole month to commemorate our pastor and and remember his legacy so we've been using some of his friends some other pastors who didn't get a chance to say goodbye to come by this month and and help us celebrate our past and today we got the uh reverend pastor marcus d cosby of wheeler avenue baptist church next sunday we'll have the pastor's brother reverend pastor chris johnson we're not going to be labeled the point if i forgot everything just listen at our call and post just listen at our calling post good sunday morning good sunday morning good morning church family i'm chris hollins your harris county clerk as early voting kicks off in this historic election i want to take the time to encourage you to make a plan to vote early early voting starts on october 13th and runs through october 30th and there are 120 different early voting centers for you to choose from you also have more voting options than ever before you can vote from your car at 10 drive through voting locations including toyota center and nrg arena and you can vote at a time that's convenient for you with 24-hour voting at seven locations on october 29th as a reminder this is the first presidential election where you can vote from any voting center in harris county so visit harrisvotes.com locations to find the voting center's nearest you including their estimated wait times to find out more information including your sample ballot visit us at harrisboats.com and follow us at harrisvotes on facebook instagram and twitter have a blessed week and see you at the polls [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning holmen street pastor cosby our deacons facebook and youtube friends my name is colin stewart and i'm here this morning to give a tribute to our shepherd teacher dr manson b johnson ii it was in the early 70s when i met pastor johnson here at holmes street where he was a jonathan at the time he had developed a close relationship with my grandmother and my aunt the late audi may thomas and ruby merriweather over a period of time after getting to know him he began to tease me about being a tomboy he would come by the house and he would see me out shooting marbles with the neighborhood boys a few years later i started college and i remember asking him to tutor me in math boy what a disaster pastor was very strict he had high expectations in learning he was a no-nonsense person and expected me to do my best needless to say i ended up dropping that course at the time i just wasn't focused i didn't understand the math but pastor felt that if he knew it i should know it too this never changed about him in all the years that i've known him he's always expected the best manson b johnson ii became my pastor in 1977 here at holmen street he watched me grow from a young adult to the woman i am today he christian and baptized my three children and he too had the opportunity to teach and watch them grow to be the adults they are manson b johnson ii was a teacher a leader author father husband and many other titles but most of all he was the shepherd over his flock here at holmen street he dedicated and he cared and caring to his family and his congregation he taught us that in god's word is everything we should know about everything we need or desire that we should know his principles believe his promises participate in his plans and receive his provision he had a vision for his flock and that was for us to be healthy and wealthy he taught us to live our dream and to reach for the stars his famous signature was stay on top reach for the stars winners at the top losing is a choice in 2019 god gave shepherd teacher a vision for the pentecost women's ministry when i received the call i was at loss for words and thought to myself me as the women's ministry leader but i thank you shepherd for pulling me out of my comfort zone trusting and believing in me to lead the pentecost women's ministry shepherd i know you're watching looking down at us thank you for being the wonderful spiritual leader to my family you are the definition of a leading servant thank you for pushing me to become the best that i could be i will always keep your wisdom and advice in my heart to sister zelda bracey matt and michelle we love you god bless [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] how many of you can declare in this place that for the rest of your life you will serve the lord come on let's have church oh for the rest of my life [Music] for the rest of my life [Music] [Applause] come on come on [Music] [Music] for the rest of my life [Music] for the rest of my life will you trust for the rest of my life for the rest of my life [Music] [Applause] come on [Music] [Applause] the lord [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] woke me up this morning [Applause] [Music] i'm [Music] you ought to stand up on your put feet hands together [Music] on monday tuesday [Music] [Music] been so good to you [Applause] [Music] put your hands together put your hands [Applause] together it's been too good [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] a brand new day [Music] for his grace [Music] [Music] [Applause] my oh [Applause] [Music] come on somebody bless him in this place [Music] show me [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello amen amen amen give it up to god god is awesome let's give it up for pastor sneed and the choir sounding like 50 strong up here it's only 11 of them well it's uh prayer time and we're glad that you just decided to stream in the service this morning and uh that's customary here at home street baptist church we we want to call out uh some names uh on behalf of uh first lady sister zelda johnson and the family we want to thank you guys for all your prayers and so we want to spend this moment praying for the congregation and lifting you up and praying for the man of god who's going to bless us and we'll see god move we definitely want to keep our sick and bereaved list definitely in our prayers we never know what's going on in people's houses and what's going on during this time of separation so we definitely want to be lifting up those who are sick and those who are breathed we definitely want to lift up those who are in the hospital right now we know for sure since the canter turner um she was in an accident and we definitely want to be praying over the doctors praying over the surgeries and praying over uh speedy recovery uh we want to pray for the ferguson family uh bruce if you haven't heard bruce passed away and so we definitely want to lift them up during this moment of time we want to lift up sister copeland this is donna copeland we definitely want to keep putting our in our prayers and we definitely want to keep the pastor vacancy ministry as they look for our next leader to come and bless the house of home and we definitely want to let the dr cosby and wheeler avenue baptist church as well as your family matthew yeah marcus d2 yes sir we definitely want to lift them up so let's go before the lord in prayer right now father god we love you we just praise your name and we admonish who you are lord it's been a lot going on in 2020 but you've been faithful lord and lord you supplied us with every strength that we needed even when we didn't understand that it was you carrying us on and so we just want to say thank you right now lord we just thank you for being jehovah rafa being our emotional healer being our spiritual healer being our physical healer lord we thank you for being el shaddai lord god god almighty father god of god who made ways for us when we couldn't make ways for ourselves the god who guided us when we couldn't guide ourselves the god who protected us when we couldn't protect ourselves we thank for being jehovah nissi lord god of god who who who is our banner and victory lord god we just thank you for being jehovah's sick canoe the god of our righteousness father god when we wanted to go live you kept us right father and we just thank you at his time lord we ask you to be with the house oh god father god we ask that you be with us lord god that we continue to stay together as we look for our next under shepherd father god allow us to stick and join together lord god even in these tumultuous times lord for you've been great you've been good you've been kind you've been just lord and we can't say anything against your name father because you have been so good and we're so undeserving of your love lord god but we thank you for your son jesus the christ father who hung bled and died for us lord god so we can be called and restored and set back out to live this life lord god in front of a culture that's not slowly slipping away but we quickly slipping away from you what you designed us to be and help us to be all that you call us to be we not perfect but lord god you call us to be holy and lord god that's what we seek out to do is live a holy life lord and we thank you we praise you we actually do lift up the uh the man at our hour lord we know he gonna bring a word [Music] and we know he's gonna bring some energy low god we have to just spirit fill him up lord god we ask you just touch his tongue well god allow the words to be your words logan allow your thoughts to permeate through his whole body father god so we can just be uplifted and encouraged well god to finish not only this week off lord god but to to journey forth ready lord god because it's sunday morning lord and we just thank you lord be with his household be with his ministry be with his church the wheeler avenue baptist church they in a building project right now little guy they're in restoration period too father be with the timeline be with the deadlines be with the contractors be with the finances be with all that they need lord god so they building can come and be whole and not built in parts lord god so that the vision that was given to the pastor and to the pastor meredith of that church lord god can come into fruition so we pray a double portion blessing on wheeler avenue right now we pray that you continue to work through their lives lord god in this third world area and we love you we thank you for all you're doing and what you're going to do today it's in our precious darling son jesus christ name we do prayer amen amen amen all right man i i'm not gonna hold you alone amen i'm ready to hear this preached word today we are blessed to have an awesome dynamic pastor who's gonna bring a fiery word he's been in the city of houston since 1998 as associate pastor at willy avenue he became the senior pastor in 2004 he'd been pastored in the third ward community for over two decades and his ministry has been growing he's a global pastor he does foreign missions as well in africa he's a learned man he won't tell you all this but he has three degrees he has one from fisk university he has a master's at md from morehouse he has a doctorate from northern baptist theological seminary in louisia in illinois he's even a professor at the houston graduate school of theology it's an awesome privilege to have them come speak to come have important a great divine word to our congregation without further ado we want to bring on the reverend dr marcus d cosby to god be the glory for the great things our god has done our god is great and greatly to be praised and on this sunday morning we may as well give god the glory that is due unto his name let's celebrate god together hallelujah hallelujah what a joy it is to be at the holman street church today to share in this experience of worship as we celebrate god and celebrate the gift that god gave to holmen street in the person of pastor madison b johnson shepherd teacher of this great church i think even as we remember the great gift that he was to the body of christ worldwide and to this great church i think we just all thank god to pastor johnson right now come on let's celebrate the great man of god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank god for pastor johnson i have so many stories that i would love to tell about the gift that he was to me personally and i do thank god for him thank you matthew for your very kind and generous words of introduction i appreciate that he mentioned when i became the pastor of the wheeler avenue church and it was on that evening that sunday evening in october the fourth sunday of october pastor johnson came to the installation and he prayed the installation prayer to secure me as the pastor of the wheeler avenue church i shall never forget that as i sat there listening to the choir sing i'll serve the lord i thought about pastor manson b johnson who was committed to serving the lord and he served him until he saw him face to face i started scrolling through my phone and as i was scrolling i decided i just wanted to look up the last text messages that i got from pastor johnson and the last one that he sent me was in april telling me what i needed to do with the w w ywca food distribution giving me marching orders and because he's the senior pastor of third ward i was going to do exactly what he told me to do and i kept scrolling i got to february matthew mentioned that my son is here my oldest son marcus d cosby ii is here i'm grateful for his presence with me tonight he decided he wanted to drive me to church tonight and i'm grateful for that thank you so much even though he doesn't have a driver's license don't tell anybody don't tell anybody i just told everybody streaming but you know don't tell anybody but my younger son our younger son matthew matthew uh took very ill on the first of february and was hospitalized for about 50 days and in the midst of that hospitalization at 1 30 in the morning pastor johnson text me and i just looked at it he said i'm up praying for you and your son i thank god for pastor manson b johnson and for what he has meant not just to you but to so many people across this country around this world to god be the glory pastor manson b johnson my sister zelda god bless you to the entire johnson family god bless you one and all to the entire whole mystery family these deacons who are serving so dutifully during this time god bless you thank you for your service amen and we praise god that things are going as well with you as they are to god be the glory thank god for this music ministry what a blessing you have been this morning thank you so much thank you so much thank you so much we're grateful for what you have shared with us today i dare not hold you along there is a word from the lord today and if you have your bible i invite your attention to the new testament gospel is recorded by the writer luke the new testament gospel is recorded by the writer luke at chapter 22. the new testament gospel is recorded by the writer luke in chapter 22 and we'll begin our reading at verse 31. the new testament gospel is recorded by the writer luke in chapter 22 and we'll begin our reading today at verse 31 if you have that passage of scripture say amen if you don't say wait for me all right it seems that all of us will hear have that passage i won't read today from the new international version of the holy word of god you'll see why soon but i want to listen i want you to listen to the word from the new international version of god's holy word and this is what it says simon simon satan has asked to sift you as wheat but i have prayed for you all simon that your faith may not fail and when you are turned back king james version says when you are converted strengthen your brothers that's enough amen praise god for his holy word you may be seated in the presence of the true and living god simon simon satan has asked to sift you as wheat but i have prayed for you simon that your faith may not fail and when you have turned back strengthen your brothers for the time these hours share together today on this sunday morning i want to talk from the subject the sifting of the saints the sifting of the saints i would suggest at the homan street church on this day that the majority of us who have a relationship with the true and living god who love the lord with our whole hearts who honor the lord who worship the lord in the beauty of his holiness i submit and suggest that all of us if not all the majority of us truly desire to be used by god in our own several ways in our own various capacities using the differing abilities that each of us has been granted i submit today that all of us to varying degrees no doubt want to be used by the lord most of us i saw us as we were listening to the music ministry today most of us were singing right along with them for the rest of my life i'll serve the lord the majority of us de dependent upon our ability and they are several depending on our capabilities and they vary from person to person but all of us in some way to some degree earnestly genuinely sincerely desire to be used by god and i honor you today for that i applaud you for that reality i celebrate the fact that you have committed your life to the lord jesus christ and that you want to serve him until you see him i thank god for that but i must admit to you on this sunday that according to luke chapter 22 if you truly desire to be used by god if you truly desire to serve god the rough reality that all of us need to know going into our service to the sovereign is that some days we will be sifted that there is a sifting season that comes into the life of every believer that every one of us who calls ourselves a son or daughter of god every one of us who wants to please god and serve god and be used by god will in some season of our lives have to go through a sifting process and i hear some wonderful saint asking me now so what is this business of sifting i am glad you asked the question because in the agrarian culture where they worked through agriculture they understood that when you harvested the wheat you had to take all the wheat bundles together and separate the good from the chaff separate the valuable from the less valuable so that you could use the more valuable for the greater good you had to separate and that's what sifting is the separating of the good from the less good so that the greater good can be on display and today my brothers and sisters i need to suggest to you that all of us despite who we are or where we've come from despite our background even despite our education we'll have to go through some sifting season if we choose to be used by the lord i share that with you today my brothers and sisters because it seems to me that the lord jesus wants these disciples who are seated around this table on the very last night of his life to understand some things about the sifting season he wants them to know that there will be some ups and there will be some downs there will be some good days and there will be some unpleasant days but i'm so grateful that the god we serve has promised through jesus christ that he will be with us all the way even to the end of the world and so we don't have to go through sifting seasons by ourselves because the god who is in us always walks with us to accomplish through us but his will is for our lives i submit on this sunday my brothers and sisters that you and i can take heart that despite the sifting season we have a savior who loves us so much that he has already made provisions for us as we go through whatever we have to go through listen will you please to what the lord jesus says to this bunch of brothers gathered around this table with him you know the story if you know anything about the last night of the life of jesus he has now gone into an upper room that was furnished for the presentation and the celebration of the passover he has his disciples in that room and there they are gathered around the table they have eaten that passover meal and now he has instituted for them what we call the lord's supper it was the last supper with those disciples he took that bread said take eat this is my body broken for you do this in remembrance of me he takes the cup he says i want you to drink all of it because this is the new covenant in my blood they they have been administered the last supper the lord's supper and now jesus turns his gaze from all of the other brothers in the room he's washed their feet he's been teaching them during the night and he turns to the apostle peter he says simon simon satan has asked to sift you like wheat but i prayed for you simon that your faith may not fail and when you turn back strengthen your brothers oh you got to see it my friends because jesus is getting them ready now for ministry without him jesus is getting them ready now for ministry absent his presence he recognizes he won't be with them for much longer so he's got to get them ready for what's to come he's got to get them ready for something they really don't want to anticipate or encounter he has to get them ready because he's about to make his imminent departure and you see him don't you you hear him don't you simon simon satan has asked to sift you like wheat it's a beautiful text my brothers and sisters as a matter of fact when you read the text and knew what the national version that i read for you says that satan has asked to sift you king james version says he has desired to sift you the new the creek the greek new testament really reads like this he has demanded to sift you that you can't get out of it you can't get away from it no matter what you do you cannot escape it you're gonna have to go through the sifting season and i submit home and street that all of us have to go through the sifting season watch this despite our placement in the congregation yeah that's my first point for this morning i said that all of us have to go through the sifting season despite our placement in the congregation now at face value rev matthew you would think that jesus is only talking to simon you know simon he's the he's the loudmouth of the group he's the outspoken one he's the one who always has something to say and you will remember that jesus had a special mission for old peter he understood that peter knew some things about him that were going to be necessary for utilization for the building of the kingdom if you'll run back to matthew chapter 16 you'll find out in matthew 16 when jesus took his disciples into the coast of caesarea philippi he asked them whom do men say that i the son of man am the disciples gave some pretty erroneous answers they said some say you're john the baptist some say you're jeremiah or one of the prophets when he recognized those boys didn't know he asked them well who do you say that i am and the only one to speak up and speak out was this brother named peter he says oh i'm real clear on who you are thou art the christ the son of the living god and jesus said blessed art thou simon barjona for flesh and blood did not reveal it unto you but my father which is in heaven and i give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whatever you bind on earth is going to be bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth is going to be loosed in heaven here's the key verse and i say also unto thee that thou art peter and upon this rock i'm going to build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it don't miss it church family he said because you know who i am i'm going to use you to build my church because you are clear on who i am i'm going to assign you the task of making sure that people know exactly who i am that's matthew chapter 16 jesus says i'm going to use you and can't no devil in hell stop me from using you and then by the time we get to the last night of the life of jesus in luke chapter 22 he turns to this same brother he does not call him peter that's petros or stone he calls him by his hood name he calls him by his pre-conversion name he says simon simon satan has asked to sift you like wheat you bout to catch it brother you about to be sifted separated the good and the bad are gonna be separated so i can use the goods for the greater good i'm going to make sure that the valuable parts of you will be on full display but wait i read to you from the doing the national version and if you were listening to me you heard me say simon satan has asked to sift all of you as we if you understand the greek new testament you'll understand that he was not simply talking to simon he said oh yes simon you've got a great assignment on your life you're going to be used to build the church when you fast forward to the book of acts you'll find out that on pentecost peter preaches one sermon and 3 000 souls gets saved but jesus says it's not just you simon it's all of you literally suggesting that despite your placement in the congregation you're gonna have to go through a sifting season every now and then can i get three people at holmen street who can testify you know something about a sifting season oh yes my beloved all of us are going to have to go through that season of suffering and strain and struggle seasons that cause tears to fall from our eyes seasons that make us ask god why am i in this situation seasons that make us as god how in the world after all the faithful days i've tried to give you am i in this circumstance in my life somebody who'll be honest at holmen today can testify you've had to ask some questions when you've gone through some seasons because some stuff just doesn't make sense and here they are here they are dealing with the reality that they're in a sifting season despite their placement in the congregation oh brothers and sisters of the music ministry i need you to know you're gonna be sifted oh yes usher's on the lord's door you need to know going into this thing you're going to be shifted oh deacons my brothers my brothers you already know you're going to be shifted preachers wherever you are you may as well act like you already know you're going to have to go through some sifting seasons deaconesses oh yes you two saint and sisters are gonna have to go through some sifting season oh you the pew member you think you got lost in the crowd no no you gotta go do some sip all of us are gonna have to be shifted sometime [Applause] the bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous oh but i'm so glad the psalmist didn't stop there he said but the lord delivers him out of them all can i get three people in here who can testify i've had to go through it but i thank god for the one who knows how to get me out of it it is he says you're gonna have to get sifted all of you all of you are gonna have to deal with it don't don't don't don't don't trip when you have to go through that season don't flip out when you have to go through that season don't think that god is being cruel and unkind because he told you going in you're gonna have to be shifted all of us despite our placement in the congregation we'll have to deal with the sifting season simon simon i'm talking to you but i'm talking all y'all satan has asked to get all of you separate you he's tried to wreak havoc among all of you every one of us knows what it means to have to go through a sifting season if we didn't know it before february and march we surely know it now now that we've had to be quarantined from one another whoever thought we'd be sitting in the sanctuary and couldn't sit as close to the other ones of us as we want to sitting through a whole worship service with masks on our faces and in half the congregation can't even come to church because we got a social distance this is sifting [Music] [Applause] this is sifting he's trying to get all of you trying to sift all of you as wheat and then i submit that during this sifting season saints that we will not simply be simply despite our placement in the congregation but i may even suggest to you this morning that we have to be sifted watch despite our penchant towards supplication okay yeah big o five dollar word despite our pension p-e-n-c-h-a-n-t that literally means our leaning our inclination despite being drawn toward supplication supplication oh yes i read for you out of verses 31 and 32 but if you read all the way to the end of the chapter you'll find out that when jesus finishes meal with these fellas they go to a place called the mount of olives and when they go to this place called the mount of olives that's jesus praying ground he goes to the garden of gethsemane on the mount of olives and when he goes there he takes his disciples some of them stay at the mouth of the garden others of them go a little farther to pete the big three peter james and john they go a little farther and jesus asks them pray with me for one hour watch and pray he said i need you to pray with me i'm about to go through one of the roughest days nights of my life and i need you to pray with me and he leaves them there and the bible says he goes a stone's throw away from them and he bows down and he starts to pray he's engaging in supplication but you got to hear his prayer child of god he says father if it's possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thy will be done y'all already know he says father if it's possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thy will be done the bible says he prays for an hour you gotta understand he's now having to deal with the reality that even he being jesus has to deal with a sifting season and so here he is dealing with the reality that he has to go through the roughest experience of his earthly life in just a few hours and as he's dealing with it the rubber has now met the road and he says father if it's possible can we think of another way if it's possible can we escape the reality of death death is finality death hurts i don't want to go through this the grief process is more than anyone ever expected it to be i don't care how spiritual you are when you are confronted with the reality of perpetual eternal separation that hurts and jesus himself now dealing with the humanity with which he is dressed has to ask the father if it's possible let this cup pass from me if if it's possible can we find another way do we have to go the route of death the bible says he prays for an hour and it was such an intense prayer brother deacon that the bible says sweat like drops of blood are coming from his brow when you read matthew mark and luke's accounting of this gospel you'll see how much intensity how much emotionality is included in this experience he prays for an hour he goes back to the fellas and finds them asleep he said wake up man can you just pray with me for an hour surely the spirit is willing but uh the flesh is weak i need you i need you to pray with me now he should have expected that they'd be asleep you do remember what happened just a few hours earlier don't you they were in the upper room they had been eating and drinking for the last few hours he had given them this lavish passover meal they had wine at the meal i know you know nothing about that but they tell me that when you drink wine you have the propensity to fall asleep so now they're asleep he goes back after waking them up he goes back to that same spot he prays the same prayer for another hour father if it's possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thy will be done he goes back finds those brothers asleep again he rouses them from their sleep come on man pray with me i need you to know that sometimes there are certain things you can't go through with everybody else some stuff you got to go through by yourself there's some seasons where you can't be co-dependent on everybody else praying for you some stuff you got to pray yourself through some stuff you got to believe god to see you through when nobody else's weight was waiting with you and praying for you and somebody listening to me today can testify there have been some seasons where i had to go through certain stuff in the crucible of isolation and my brothers and sisters we cannot be so dependent on lottery daddy and everybody that we can't believe that the god we serve is more than enough to take us through even the roughest seasons we've got to go through here he is he says brothers all right try to try to stay weak i just got one more hour of prayer time he goes back and he begins to pray again and your bible says that while he's praying that third time angels came and strengthened him angels came and ministered to him says king james i like that because when you can't find anybody else to pray you through when the intercessors are nowhere to be found when you can't find the prayer warriors anywhere around aren't you grateful that god knows how to send some angels in your direction to strengthen you to encourage you to let you know that everything's going to be all right and jesus himself has to be sifted he's dealing with the reality that now even this one who is the the holy one of israel the one who is the stone hewn out of the mountain the one who is the chief cornerstone even he has to deal with shifting i need you to know that despite your title brother sister you're still gonna have to be shifted i know you've been saved 69 and a half years and you still got to be shifted i know you've been sitting in the same seat in the sanctuary for the last 30 years but you still have to go through some sifting seasons he says that he says he got to go through and to make make bad matters worse your bible says that right after jesus finished with that third hour of prayer here comes the one who was sent to betray him bringing a marauding band of brothers here comes judas with all these guys who have who and he has sold jesus out with 30 pieces of silver and these guys come and they begin to arrest jesus judas tries to kiss jesus he said no no man don't do that whatever you gonna do do it quickly don't don't come kissing me now it's that time for that you're gonna go ahead and betray me betray me and the bible says that these guys now arrest jesus when they arrest him they begin to beat him they began to pull hairs from his beard they began to mock him taunt him they blindfold him beat him and ask who hit you they're taunting him they're cheering him read your bible it's in there and while they're doing all of this jesus has to recognize the reality that sometimes you get sifted even by your friends yeah judas was supposed to be his friend judas was supposed to be the one who was supposed to take good care of him but now after three years of walking with jesus he is nowhere in the place that he's supposed to be instead he has sold jesus out if that wasn't bad enough if you fast forward to the next day friday on the day of crucifixion the only one around the cross is john the beloved disciple all the other 11 brothers have gone away and are nowhere to be found sometimes you get sifted by your friends these brothers in the garden are beating jesus within an inch of his life because every now and then you get sifted by your foes but if that wasn't bad enough on that good friday afternoon jesus finds out that sometimes it feels like you get sifted by the father now i know everybody can't say amen to this because it might offend your spirituality but if you remember what jesus said on the cross he prayed three prayers but the second prayer he prayed was my god my god why hast thou forsaken me i know you don't want to testify that you've ever felt like that but if you've gone through enough in this life if you felt the pain and the burden so stringent upon your shoulders in this life even sometimes if you don't verbalize it you should not internalize it where are you god why haven't you fixed this why didn't you stop it from going down why didn't you change the situation my god why hast thou forsaken me he's dealing with the reality that even praying folk have to deal with some pain sometimes even praying folk have to deal with some predicament they never anticipated you and i have to deal with sifting despite our penchant our leaning our inclination towards supplication and somebody's wondering tonight pre today preacher don't you have some good news for me preacher you've given me some pretty tough news this morning why are you telling me i'm gonna be shifted in you why are you telling me even my friends and my my my father in heaven is gone i can get with the foes i understand that that's what they're supposed to do but why do i have to go through shifting every every single way i turn around well i got some good news for you i i'm a good news preacher i can't stop with the bad news i i'm a gospel preacher and the gospel is good news can i give you some good news home and strength anybody want some good news i need you to understand that you and i have to be tip sifted despite our placement in the congregation we have to be shifted despite our pension towards supplication but i close when i tell you that every sifting season has a point of termination glory to the name of jesus i said every sifting season has a point of termination okay that's a lot of words can i go old school because when i grew up at emmanuel baptist church in chicago they would simply say it like this you need to understand trouble don't last always is there anybody listening to me on this sunday who can testify you've lived long enough you've gone through enough you've endured enough to testify to anybody who'll listen to you that trouble does not last away simon simon satan has desired has asked has demanded to sift you like wheat but that ain't the end of the verse because the next phrase jesus says but i prayed for you and i prayed that your faith will not fail and when you convert it when you turn back strengthen your brothers and sisters oh did you hear the word of good news my friends it says that despite how bad it gets despite how difficult it may seem despite how frustrating it may be your jesus has prayed for you now i don't know how you feel about it but it blesses my socks off to know that jesus has prayed for me i thank god for the prayer warriors and the intercessors but above all in him i want to give god praise on a sunday morning that jesus christ the son of the living god has taken time to pray for me and the bible says he sits at the right hand of the father making intercession for you and for me that means that even right now while you're going through all the hell you going through jesus is saying lord bless my baby father bless my child don't let him go too far don't let her lose her mind don't let her think this is the end don't let them think that i'm not still on their side is there anybody in church today anybody streaming church today who can go ahead and get happy that jesus prays for you yes sir and i'm grateful on this sunday that i've got a prayer warrior in jesus who is always looking out for me he's always thinking about me he's always caring for me so be not dismayed whatever tied god will take care of you beneath his wings of love abide god will take care of you holmen street i need you to hear me today the second verse says no matter what may be the test god will take care of you lean weary one upon his breast cause god will take care of you and is there anybody who's lived life long enough and you can testify to anybody close by that the god we serve will take care of his own and the bible this is what you need to understand i didn't pray that you wouldn't go through stuff i didn't pray that you wouldn't have a bad day i didn't even pray that you would lose a shepherd teacher my prayer was that your faith won't fail i want you to still trust me even when you can't trace me i want you to still trust me even when i don't make any sense i want you to still trust me even when you got tears in your eyes i want you to still trust me even when your bank account is low i want you to still trust me even when the pandemic goes seven months i want you to trust me even when the sheep get scattered i want you to trust me even when your heart gets broken and is there anybody listening to me on this sunday who can testify i still trust him i still believe in him i still take him at his word somebody today ought to help me close this message and begin to testify the god i serve is still worthy of my trust he still gets my allegiance i still say yes lord and i need somebody today who'll help me say yes lord i don't always understand i don't even always like it but my answer is yes lord anyway you bless me i'll be satisfied is there anybody in church who still has great faith the bible says the just shall live by their faith the bible says we walk by faith and not by sight without faith it's impossible to please the lord and is there anybody at holmen street still holding on to your faith still believing in god still holding his unchanging hand and you believe [Music] somebody ought to help please celebrate that nothing can separate us from the love of god in christ jesus won't he make a way for you want to open doors for you won't he provide for you shouty yeah yes [Music] hallelujah hallelujah i know the lord will make a way yes he wins when you come out of it when you turn back when the smoke clears and the dust settles it's what i want you to do go find somebody and strengthen your brothers and sisters tell them if the lord brought us through he'll bring you through if he made a way for me he'll make a way for you the bible says he has no respecter of persons the same god who's blessing you desires to bless me simon you need to hear me man satan has asked desire demanded to separate you tear you apart but i prayed for you and i pray that your faith would not fail so that when you get through this little season when you get through this little season of suffering and struggle and strain wretch back that's what my big daddy said wretch back and strengthen your brothers in jesus name amen oh yes he is yes he is he's blessing me blessing me right now don't you think he's not the door my father's house stands open there may be someone today who has not yet given your life lord jesus christ we do not yet have this relationship that even simon and those other disciples had maybe you're listening to me you're streaming this worship service and you've never said god come into my life to save me through jesus christ the good news is that no matter who you are where you are the lord jesus desires to save you from your sin and today sister today brother if you've never said yes to the lord jesus on this sunday i want you to open up your heart and even open up your mouth and say lord jesus come into my life save me redeem me make me to be the person you want me to be and the good news is that those who come unto god he will in no wise cast them out he will save you right where you are he will redeem you secondly you say pastor i am saved but i don't have a church home and i need one well today my friend i invite you to a relationship with the holmen street church family you need to know that homeless street baptist church is a great church seeking to be a greater church and the gifts the abilities that god has deposited into you can help them to become the people of god that they are destined to become friend if you're listening to me make contact with the holman street church you see how you can do that and as you make contact with the holmen street church they will ensure they engraft you into the family of this great fellowship my sister my brother if you're unsaved or unchurched or unsure make connection even right now and you can sing like all of us in the sanctuary that the lord is blessing me right now come on church let's sing it together like we believe [Music] sing it like you believe [Music] this is [Music] like you beat it like you know it's true blessing me now all right [Music] me right now [Music] glory glory glory be to god glory hallelujah today oh what a word that we've received from pastor cosby today we are grateful we are grateful for this word on today pastor cosby hallelujah it's offering time oh i tell you it's tough coming up for offering right after such a powerful sermon but it's offering time and we want to say to all of our members to all of those who are streaming our service today we want you to know that we are praying for you and we want you to know that we thank you for what you've already been doing from a financial standpoint for the holmen street baptist church family so keep on doing what you're doing continue to give your tithes and your offering and god will certainly certainly bless you we want you to know there are several ways that you can continue to give and you already know what they are but we're going to tell you anyway uh you can go to your secure gift on your telephone or your smartphone or your mobile phone or your other device that you may have and you can use your secure give to uh to give to your church family also we have a dropbox right here at the church at the original sanctuary anytime you're in the third world community in this neighborhood come by you can drop it in the drop box at the original sanctuary and we will get it and you can also mail your ties in your offering in 1420 houston texas seven seven five two one we would like for you to do that uh that way we'll get it here at the church and i want you to know that uh the financial ministry here at the holmes street baptist church uh led by deakin weeks and deacon phillips stinkin foster and all the others were part of that team we are using that money very well and we are making financial progress so continue to give your tithes and your offerings thank you very much and at this time uh i'm going to bring reverend cosby back up he's going to give us final words and just before he comes i want you to know that after he completes his final words we want you to remain in your seat as pastor cosby leaves on his way out so you just remain in your seat let's bless this offering father god in heaven we thank you today we are just going to pause for a moment oh lord to thank you for what you're going to do for us oh god we thank you for these paths and these offerings in advance of their receiving in advance of their coming to holmes street baptist church we trust you oh god we know that our members trust you and we know that they know what their tithes and their offerings are so we thank you jesus we pray oh god that they will continue to be faithful in that area heavenly father because the church does need to move move forward we say hallelujah to your name today we give you praise we give you thanks in the mighty name of jesus amen god bless you holmen street family god bless you deacons who serve the lord's church and who are ensuring the progress of the lord's church even during this sifting season and god bless the entirety of the holman street family wherever you may be may you continue to trust in god believe that god still has plans for you those plans are to prosper you not to harm you to give you a future and a hope as we prepare to close this time of worship i pray god's choices blessings upon you the wheeler avenue baptist church has been praying for you you have been on our prayer list and we are grateful that as sister congregations we can pray for and even with one another and may our god continue to guide you as the days continue to pass receive the benediction the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you the lord lift the light of his countenance upon you and give you his peace and you're going out and you're coming in and you're laboring in your leisure in your joy as well as in your sorrow in your laughter and likewise in your tears until that day when we meet the lord face to face and cry holy holy holy to the lord of hosts until that day my brothers my sisters go in peace go in love go enjoy let me the very god of peace love and joy go with you now and forevermore in jesus name amen god bless your holy street church family you

Channel: Holman Street Baptist Church

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Keywords: holman street, holman street baptist church, houston church, houston, third ward, manson b johnson, black baptist church, preaching, black church, houston black church, third ward church

Id: k_c8G2AeKkU

Length: 84min 20sec (5060 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 11 2020