SHOOTING YOUR SHOT, WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE

[Music] [Music] [Music] my beloved friendship west family and all who comprise our larger global family i can't tell you how much i miss you god i do i miss you a whole lot and we've really been looking forward i've been looking forward to our reopening and man i miss you all so much i miss fellowship that is unique to friendship west the love that we share and exchange and engage in when we are in each other's presence i miss the kids oh my god i miss the kids so much i miss all of you unfortunately we're not going to be able to because of the numbers sadly we see what's happening in school districts and we are in a state texas that is one of the worst in the country which means we're one of the worst in the nic in the world when it comes to [Music] persons contracting the virus not only that but when it comes to a person's dying because of the virus the virus is is is spreading and people are dying steel people are getting sick steel and [Music] i just felt it would be irresponsible to make a decision to reopen at this time when we are still in the fight of our lives and this is a decision that is literally a matter of life or death and so it hurts because i was really looking forward to this reopening but the more i study the stats most importantly the more i listen to the spirit more it convinced me that this is not the time for us to reopen i do promise that we will continue to listen to the spirit pay attention to the science and the stats and as we do that we will continue to reevaluate and make a decision that will be healthy for all of us so in the meantime please mask up don't fall for this political okeydoke where it's a political issue in the meantime please maintain social distance in the meantime do what is necessary to protect yourself yeah the vaccine yeah keep your immune system strong do what is necessary to keep you safe i've been to too many funerals in the last 19 months i've had to do too many virtual hospital visits this is serious and so part of my job description as a pastor is a shepherd i'll try to feed you this sunday and subsequent sundays but also have to protect and there's a wolf of a virus out there that we have to be protected from in the meantime i'm praying for you i love you god bless you peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] the lord for [Music] good morning good morning good morning west family and our beloved community we are excited that you're here with us on this last sunday morning in september yes the last sunday in september we are just grateful that god allowed us to see yet annette another nine months or 2021 but we are excited that he rose and he gave us an opportunity to live again we thank you for joining them with us we pray that the holy spirit will engulf you at your home or in your car or wherever you are but just join in with me on this morning as we invite the holy spirit in in this place oh father god in the name of jesus how we come this morning we thank you o god because you are who you say you are we bless your name this morning because you are the great i am we glorify you lord because without you there is none other oh master we lay our cares before you father because we know o master without you o lord we don't know which way to go we place our cares in your hands oh god as you continue to help us to be accountable for all the things that you have given us to permission us with we thank you oh father god that you will come into our lives this morning of father come into our homes oh god we welcome you into this place so master that you oh god will reign oh father you were reigned like you've never reigned before we pray that our pastor will come and give us a word of father god but not just for today o lord but take us throughout the week until we meet again lord we love your lord because you are saying who you say you are you're a jehovah rapha lord you're jehovah's salam o god you are who you are the great i am and for that we want to say thank you you kept us oh lord because you come and brought so many provisions to us oh god you kept us oh lord and kept the angels around us oh god you kept us on god from dangerous sin and unseen and for that god we are just so grateful lord we bless your name today and ask your lord if there's someone out there that know who you are we prayed oh god of doing this experience they will come to know you as their lord and savior jesus christ we love you on this morning and we bless your name in jesus name we pray amen and amen [Music] yes [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is this is [Music] this is [Music] this is [Applause] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] crazy good morning good morning friendship west amen hallelujah thank you praise team for women's quiet for reminding us that we certainly can be assured that we have a god that loves us protects us looks out for us and provides for us and on that note we want to express that gratitude to many of you who who stepped up and came out and were able to donate items that were able to go to the border on friday we partnered with an outside organization who needed friendship with us to be a drop-off location and you answered the call amazingly and we thank you for that and so our work as a congregation continues as it relates to haiti although all of our haitian nationals our haitian brothers and sisters have been removed from the bridge they have now been spread out throughout the southern border at encampment places that are at capacity overflowing with capacity they're being processed some are being able to stay in be able to let into the country others are going to be deported back to haiti so our work continues and we need you to help us to do that because we believe we serve a god of sufficiency of god more than enough and that we can indeed help out our brothers and sisters in haiti at the border and back in haiti while we continue to help those right here in dallas texas so what we like for you to do we have a special offering wherever you however you choose to give today whether it's online or if you bring your offering and your tizen offering to the church please select haiti we are going to be collecting contributions for that we are working with lot kerry who is a partner organization we have been with them for over 10 years as we started our work in haiti back in 2010 2011 and we want to be able to impact some 7 000 families right there in haiti because many of those who are being put on planes and sent back when they land they're going to need those very same supplies we were trying to get to them at the border and so we want to make sure we can provide for them when they get back to haiti as well as those who are there who are still impacted by the earthquakes so please when you when it's time to give we certainly want to continue to give to the work that we do every day here at french west to impact our local communities but we also understand that god is not a god of borders that god cares about all of god's children all of his her children so we want to make sure we're able to do that so please please give and in the weeks to come we'll continue to tell you how you can be involved not only in giving where we can get um items to our folks in haiti but we also want to talk about the ways in which we can use our voice to be an advocate for those who are able to do so and we're also still looking for attorneys if you are an attorney you don't have to practice immigration law you just have to be familiar with how to fill out the temporary protection status forms we need you we have someone in new york who is doing this at no cost and she needs some support so some of you have already stepped up and sent us your information but we certainly need more attorneys who are willing to give a little time and attention to help folks fill out their their temporary protective status forms in addition to if you speak haitian if you speak french creo or you speak french we need you as well translators are also needed in this moment and i just believe when it comes to black folks our black communities we have everything that we need to support ourselves and support our neighbors and our neighbors or anyone who we find who are in need so thank you so much for your generosity we appreciate it and i also want to remind you that we have launched our 100 days of buying black as we close out the 100 commemoration of the tulsa race massacre so we want to make sure you're participating that many of you already are and on sundays are our days to check in where we go to friendship west.org forward slash buy in black 100 many of you are already submitting your forms you're doing an amazing job you're spending money with black owned business so we thank those of you who are already checking in and we also had someone from brooklyn new york to check in this week so it's not just about those of us that are part of friendship west just in dallas or or those who may be members e-members it's also if you're not a member friendship with us please let everyone know we are trying to impact black-owned business throughout this nation because one thing we know we have economic power we then can have political power so we can do more to make sure our communities have the right representation in office so thank you so much friendship us you're always amazing you always step up so please continue to tune in to our social media accounts as well as sunday mornings to hear more about how you can be a blessing not only to those of us and those of us in dallas and texas but also in haiti and other parts of the world so god bless you and we look forward to keeping you updated this is the day the lord has made we rejoice and we are glad in it you know i'm peacock proud honeymoon happy to greet all of you with the love of the lord and joy of jesus christ but this sunday you know i'm like overly hyped with expectation and joy because of our oh geez our friendship wes oh geez that means our orientation graduates they did not allow covid to cancel their membership possibilities and so they united with us and not only have they united with us listen they've taken the classes and now they are graduating i just want to wave at y'all in the zoom zoom room what's up in the zoom zoom room good to see you love you and i'm so excited about you let me just call the names of those who have who are who are our friendship wes oh geez the jay walkers the beloved community group sharon mahoness janelle preston lashawn dale preston sean drake thomas i hope i'm not butchering y'all's names please forgive me charge to my head not to my heart the grateful eight that's the beloved community group a may j clements anaya clements quentin collins shaquille hardman jalisa langley welcome welcome welcome and then of course trinity the beloved community group it's represented by angela brooks angela angela brooks and then the revolutionary wisdom warriors our beloved community group of course that's kennedy brown denisha dunn kimberly langston welcome welcome and then the chosen ones sheila hardman reginald johnson marie sanders y'all listen let's party we are too lit to quit we are so proud and we celebrate each and every one of them why do we celebrate them because they took on the responsibility of saying listen i want to connect not only to jesus but connect to the body of christ and in so doing i'm going to handle my business and when i they did that they learned about friendship west and guess what you can do the same are you inspired do you want to be a part of this family of faith well here's what you do you want to learn more about the wild wild west you want to grow in your passion and purpose help friendship west to continue making a difference god knows our world needs what we have to offer well here's what you do make sure you know you can not only join us do it during the invitation but also if you join but haven't graduated yet you can still finish in 2021 so go ahead email orientation at friendshipwest.org that's orientation at friendship west.org and pastor william e white will make sure that everything goes well so y'all let's do it again celebrate our friendship wes oh geez god bless you and we're so proud of you let's keep on worshiping our great god [Music] oh [Music] dreams [Music] me [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Laughter] see [Music] is [Music] [Music] lord [Music] [Applause] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] the praise we are being blessed with today let's go to god god we thank you and praise you for being god for being good and for what you are up to in our lives so much so that none of us have tuned in by accident but by divine appointment to hear from you so you know where we are what we're dealing with what we're up against god we need a word from you we need to hear from you i'm available to be used as your instrument so stand in my body take over my mind and speak with my mouth and now bless your word to go forth with power in jesus name amen as you know in this last trimester of the year we are looking at esther and the minor prophets of course they're minor prophets with a major message but today i want to jump back in esther esther chapter 4 beginning at verse 15 from the holman christian standard bible it reads esther sent this reply to mordecai go and assemble all the jews who can be found in susa and fast for me don't eat or drink for three days or nights i and my female servants will also fast in the same way after that i will go to the king even if it is against the law if i perish i perish so mordecai went and did everything esther had ordered him i want to put a tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers i want to talk about shooting your shot with the game on the line shooting your shot with the game on the line sometimes it just gets to be too much have you ever been hit and hurt from so many angles in life that you wanted to scream this is too much too much when you are blitzed by problems too much when you are tackled by trouble too much when you experience a full court pressure on your mental health when you experience life being too much you'll identify with paul lawrence dunbar who poetically proclaimed a crush of bread according to sleep and a minute to smile but an hour to weep in a pint of joy to a peck of trouble never laugh but the moans come double and that's life listen dunbar is poetically portraying how life can be too much and when life gets to be too much you may feel the pain predicament of the goat the one and only simone bio simone biles during the olympics arrested our attention and shook us into sympathizing with her because even though simone biles is the goat the greatest gymnast to ever live this past olympics will go down in her own personal history as one when she found herself here it is trapped by the twisties twisties t-w-i-s-t-i-e-s i had never heard of the twisties but gymnasts are familiar with the twisties the twisties according to simone biles occurred in these olympics because of the mental stress and pressure that she found herself under mental stress and pressure are you feeling simone biles even if you've not been in the olympics you know what it's like to be under the gun to be dealing with pressure and finding yourself mentally stressed out here is the goat simone biles mentally stressed but hold on she experiences the twisties what are the twisties for simone bile she discovered it when she was trying to turn two and a half times with the somersault in midair and when she did it she lost count because according to bios her mind and body became disconnected the pressure had become too much the mental stress was weighing on her and she experienced the twisty she goes on to explain in response to questions that were being raised that she did not know when she was in midair if she was up or down she did not know how many times she had twisted or turned she was totally disconnected why because her body was not doing what her mind was telling it to do she was experiencing the twisties why because of mental stress and pressure i park here parenthetically because she's not by herself in our text we meet esther queen esther esther evidently knows something about socio-political twisties because of the mental stress and pressure that she found herself under check it out esther finds herself between as it were the devil in the deep blue sea she's between a rock and a hard place she is the prisoner of a predicament and the question is what's a sister to do let me back up and give you the story all of us know that esther my sisters and brothers had become queen because vashtai had taken a stand and the stand that she took was a stand for the dignity and humanity of whim of womanhood and when she did that a price was paid and she found herself banished from the kingdom of persia don't miss what's going on esther became queen because of the stand that had been taken by somebody who had gone before her i'm simply trying to let somebody know whatever privileges you enjoy every now and then you need to thank god for the price that was paid by those who took a stand for you to stand where you are no wonder willie mays testify that every time willie mays the baseball player the say hey kid willie mays who uh became a home run champion willie mays became one of the first to make over six figures in baseball per year that's nothing now it was huge back then but when willie mays made that first six figures check out what may said willie mays said every single time i cash my check i thank jackie robinson i hope y'all get that right there because mays was saying i didn't get here on my own somebody paid the price somebody opened up the door and so esther is where she is because vashtai took a stand but wait the text lets us know that that when esther became queen it was because of what was going on in that day listen nothing less than sex trafficking nothing less than young teenage girls being trafficked and brought to the king's palace as a part of the king's harem and the text lets us know let's keep it a buck that esther became queen as young as she was because of her ability to sex up the king and as a consequence the book lets us know she is queen and now but it's queen she is also an other outsider and randall bailey the brilliant biblical scholar lets us know that the book of esther reminds all of us that there are intersections to oppression of course critical race theory teaches us that and we see according to randall bailey the intersections of gender sexuality we see intersections right here in the book and the intersections of gender and sexuality in the book of esther are also magnified by ethnicity so ethnicity sexuality and gender all of those are oppressive intersections and of course critical race theory lets us know that whenever you are a part of an oppressed group you find yourself watch this at the intersection of multiple oppressions and you soon discover that systems of oppression have a way of reinforcing each other and so you are what not just a black a black person perhaps a black woman and of course there is an intersection there as a black man an intersection there a person of color lgbtqia community whatever else i'm saying is that oh systems of oppression have a way of reinforcing each other and so when you find yourself being oppressed please don't forget that there are multiple systems of oppression at play and that's what we discover with esther esther has made it to the palace yes she has first class privileges to be sure but because of haman the hater haman my sisters and brothers has decided to use public policy too with surgical precision deny the human rights of one group of people a people known as the jews is that not mind-blowing public policy is used with surgical precision in order to other certain groups and that my sisters and brothers is what's going on in the text listen let's keep it a buck it's what's going on at the border of these dis united states of america as hurting haitians find themselves subjected to a policy no no one less than patrick gaspard who was on the trip that i went on earlier this week down to the border in order to check on the hurting haitians and speak a word of truth and prayer do a word of truth to those in power and offer prayer for the haitians and while there my sisters and brother brothers patrick gaspar said it's crystal clear the united states right now under this current administration is not abiding by the international asylum protocols when it comes to the treatment of haitians who are at the border i'm simply trying to say with surgical precision our sisters and brothers there on the border are suffering and they're suffering why because of the intersections of race the intersections of a foreign policy that has often treated countries of color as if they are s whole nations to use the language of the vanquished ex-president well my sisters and brothers here is esther and the book lets us know that esther finds herself receiving word about the pernicious policy that was a part of the plot of haman and what esther does esther gets word from mordechai her her her uncle who had raised her when she was orphaned mordecai my sisters and brothers lets her know about the pernicious public policy he lets her know what's about to go down and esther says hey i can't do anything about it because even though i'm in the palace i'm still othered as a second-class citizen i gotta park right there because esther has enough consciousness to recognize that even when you make it to the palace if you are still a part of a marginalized minority you will be treated as a second-class citizen some of y'all have found yourself going to schools watch this and there are those who question how did you get into this school some of you are working in certain settings and have been blessed to make it to the palace of success but right there in that palace there are those who have doubts as to your credentials and your qualifications i'm letting you know that you can literally be in a department store to shop and get mistaken for someone who works there even though nothing about you says that you work there yes i'm simply trying to say you can have privileges and still be treated as the other second-class citizen no wonder no wonder esther says you know what if i go to the king without him summoning me i can get killed and so esther recognizes you can have privilege in the palace and still be treated as a second class citizen preach freddie haynes i'm doing that thing and watch the text the text lets us know that esther is now convinced by mordecai to remember who she is and take a stand for justice because even if she does not take a stand god is going to come through somehow but she and her people will still get destroyed and that's when esther makes what we hear in our text the profound statement esther says here's what i'm going to do i'm going to fast with my girls and y'all you find all of the jews in susa and y'all fast for me and i'm going to see the king and if i perish i perish i love that because esther lets us know that we are accountable to one another esther lets us know that she's going to what shoot her shot though the game is on the line i'm trying not to shout but do y'all see where i'm going you know what shoot your shot means it's a metaphor that the culture uses in order to speak of one who is taking a risk daring to take a chance with the possibilities of failure the possibilities of things not going right but they're determined like great basketball players to shoot their shot but wait i'm not even done because my subject is not just shoot your shot it shoots your shot with the game on the line and you know the metaphor with the game on the line it means the clock is ticking it means it looks like things are going bad the crowd is roaring and if you're not careful you may lose if you don't shoot your shot and so what i came by to say y'all is that we are living in a time where the game is on the line the game is on the line and we need someone with the courage to step up and shoot your shot the game is on the line some of you are under pressure between a rock and a hard place some of you are under pressure between the devil and the deep blue sea some of you are under pressure because your money is funny change is strange you're old people but not enough money is coming in some of you are under pressure on your job because you know who's stabbing you in the back and trying to sabotage your success and yet you've got to keep on doing what you're doing listen the game is on the line you're under pressure between the devil and the deep blue sea but this text lets us know it's in those moments that you step up and shoot your shot how do you shoot your shot listen i love the text the text lets us know you can shoot your shot number one based on your personal response preach freddie haynes i'm about to do that thing the text says that when mordecai made his statement about what could happen to esther and the jews and the her family that's when the text says right there in verse 16. esther replied boom stop right there because in this life it's not just what happens to you it's how you respond to what happens to you you can't control what other folks say about you but you can control how you respond to it and y'all the text lets us know esther responded why because our response to life our response to what happens to us has everything to do with who we are i gotta stop right there because did it not blow your mind that once again the response of elected officials those who are in power to the heinous horrors they saw on the border as slave patrols oh they weren't slave patrols but the border patrol re-enacting the slave patrols on horses they began to mistreat and dehumanize haitians who were already hurting i'll let some of you know right now i saw haitians who had walked from brazil to the border of this country check your map right now from brazil to the border of this country only to be met by a traumatic event they've endured trauma only to run into more trauma and i'm letting somebody know right now that when those leaders in the white house had the nerve to say this is not america that's what y'all said when george floyd was killed this is not america that's what you say every time something heinous and hellified happens to people of color in this country you say this is not america but hear me well what you do in response is always a reflection of who you are i'll give it to you like this if you were to squeeze this is an old a lewis patterson illustration if you were to take a grapefruit and squeeze it my question is what would come out of the grapefruit some of you may say seed some may say grapefruit juice some may say grapefruit pulp a lewis patterson said here's the answer whatever is in it comes out of it when you put the squeeze on it and i'm trying to let somebody know whatever is in you comes out of you when life puts the squeeze on you and so when we went to the border and we were told by border patrol agents saying on the one hand there's no justifying what was done on the other hand they were stressed do y'all know what i all i could say to them well whatever is in you will come out of you when life puts the squeeze on you but look at my girl esther the text says esther replied and again don't forget what's in you is the what's in you is who you are and when life puts the squeeze on you and you're under pressure what's in you will soon come out of you i'm trying not to shout but i guess i can give it to you like this the text lets us know that jesus was under pressure in the wilderness and satan came up to him trying to attack him and be slick and say i know you're hungry you've been fasting 40 days and 40 nights turn these stones into hot water cornbread jesus says i know what's in me the word is in me so it is written man shall not live by bread alone note the devil had prefaced his temptation with if you are the son of god questioning his identity but jesus had already been told by his father in the jordan this is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased and so when he got into a tight place in the wilderness and satan tried to question his identity what was in him came out of him because in life it's not what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you and how you respond to what happens to you is based on what's in you which reflects who you are did y'all watch this past week the series of the the documentary series on the greatest of all time muhammad ali who would float like a butterfly and sting like a bee nobody could do it like muhammad ali i mean muhammad ali was cold y'all see the ali shuffle i just did still got it at this age but check it out ali in one fight got knocked down by henry cooper he's in pursuit of the heavyweight championship and a fight against sunny liston and cooper knocked him down shocked him but watch it ali popped right back up he got knocked down against joe frazier popped right back up and do y'all know every time they asked the child they asked him listen why did you pop right back up his response was the ground is no place for a champion i love it because don't forget against henry cooper he didn't have the title yet but he still saw himself as a champ and since he saw himself as a champ though he did not have the title i guess i could give it to you like this he was saying champ is who i am a title is what i'm going to get to confirm who i am i ain't going to shout yet but is there a champ out there who can testify right now yes life may knock me down yes i find myself mentally assaulted with stress and pressure but the good news is i know who i am and because i know who i am yes i may get knocked down but i ain't gonna stay down because the ground is no place for a champion no wonder my bible lets us know we rejoice in tribulation pressure because tribulation produces character tribulation produces endurance endurance produces character character produces hope and hope will not disappoint i'm trying to let somebody know in this life it's your personal response but not only do we see her personal response the text lets us know this is esther i can't even leave this point without telling you her original na her name esther means star star shine bl best when it's dark don't miss your shout right there stars do their best work in the dark now i can't even stop and shout you there because her hebrew name is hadassah hadassah means myrtle do you know that myrtle it means sweetness and it speaks of the myrtle tree what do myrtle trees do myrtle trees blossom during the winter i ain't gonna shout but do y'all want to shout because some of us know what it means to blossom when we're not supposed to blossom to show up when we are not supposed to show up no wonder tupac shakur wrote about the rose out of concrete the rose wasn't supposed to be there but the rose broke through what was trying to block it and break it and somehow it blossomed in the midst of concrete not a garden but concrete and when you know god for yourself and have joined jesus hooked up with the holy ghost the good news is you have a virtual anointing a rose out of concrete anointing as a myrtle you know how to blossom out of season you blossom during the dark cold days of winter when life is trying to break you down and so the text says that esther replied she responded but look at the response the response was oh my god i'm loving this piece right here the text says she responded by powering up through reconnection she reconnects with her community because esther recognizes y'all we are in this thing together she reconnects with her community and y'all she has that umbutu spirit you know the spirit of um too that recognized i am because we are we are therefore i am i can have identity and fulfill my possibility and date with destiny without connection to my community am i preaching to y'all not getting this thing when you know god for yourself you recognize god created you for community you're not to live life individualized in isolation but you do it in the context of a community why because i've discovered in the words of dr gray carr of howard university when you have the right vibe you'll attract the right tribe uh-oh i'm preaching y'all just didn't shout when you have the right vibe you know who you are you're gonna attract the right vibe tribe and somebody needs that word right now if you're wondering why you have a whack tribe then check your vibe but somebody knows that once your vibe is together because you know who you are you're securing who you are your vibe will attract your tribe and when your vibe attracts your tribe look what the text says the text says that esther says i'm going to fast and my girls are going to fast and y'all fast we're engaging in solidarity because in our solidarity there is power in our coming together there is power and i'm trying to say that because we're in the midst of 100 days of buying black trying to establish economic habits of supporting one another of being in solidarity with one another because solidarity in community is a power source and the moment we discover our power as a community because we're connected then the good news is we'll have power to impact this world power to resist repression power to overcome oppression power to stand against permission pernicious public policies we will have the power but the power is in solidarity it's an engagement with one another no wonder the gospel writer wrote this song i need you you need me we're all a part of god's uh god's army stand with me agree with me listen the song is saying we've got to engage in solidarity and be accountable to one another in community and when we do it and have that power it's because it's fueled i love this it's fueled by what's on the inside she says y'all fast for me i'm going fast with my girls you know fasting fasting in the freddy haynes remix is simply and i love this right here fasting simply means to empty yourself of this life in order to be filled with the presence the revelation the message and mercy and direction of almighty god and so you empty yourself in order to be filled by the presence mercy message revelation and love of almighty god that's why esther says y'all fast for me and me and my girls are going to fast because this is what our spiritual force to withstand the socio-economic political forces that are arrayed against us do y'all not know that whenever we think about our progress as a people in this country as we overcame enslavement jim and jane crow segregation and now we're winning the war trying to fight mass incarceration economic exploitation it's been rooted please don't miss this in our spiritual power that's why the black church was the home and headquarters of the emancipation struggle that's why the black church gave birth to our hbcus that's why the black church was the headquarters of the civil rights movement the black church why because we had spiritual forces to overcome the negative socio-political and economic forces i'm done i got one more thing to tell your personal responsibility that's what you've got to have if indeed we are going to as a people shoot our shot when the game is on the line somebody has to want that ball but not only that we've got to what power up through reconnection reconnection with community engage in solidarity and recognize the weapons of our warfare are not carnal they are spiritual and we've got to have that spiritual power but finally the text lets us know that beyond personal responsibility powering up with reconnection the text finally says this i'm done i'm ready to shout are you the text lets us know there is a principled resolve a principled resolve check out my girl esther esther throws down like this listen y'all fast for me me and my girls are going fast and then i'm going to break the law and see the king and if i perish i perish watch it she's saying i'm going to engage in civil disobedience i'm going to break and unjust law because everything legal ain't necessarily just slavery was legal but god knows it wasn't just jim and jane crow segregation legal but god knows not just and i'm simply trying to say what's happening to our haitian brothers and sisters on the border it may be legal but in the name of jesus it is not just and so the text says she had a principled resolver i'm going to engage in civil disobedience willing to put my life on the line and if i perish i perish it reminds me of martin king does it not remind you when the drum major for justice said if you haven't found something worth dying for you're not fit to live and if you haven't found something some purpose some call some calling on your life that you are willing to die for your life is not all it should and could be at this point wait i gotta quit because y'all think that's martin and not the master our messiah jesus put it down like this if anybody would come after me they've got to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me you've got to be willing to die for jesus that's what jesus is saying and so y'all the good news is that she had a principled resolve because esther said i'ma shoot my shot with the game on the line and isn't it good to know the bible gives us example after example of those who were able to shoot their shot with the game on the line but i ain't even got to go all the way back to the bible i can tell you that harriet tubman decided once she got word that they were going to try and send her down south further south she said i'ma shoot my shot and escape and she did but that first escape wasn't enough she was not content to just be free herself she went back over and over again to get others because she was determined to shoot her shot with the game on the line y'all didn't shout on harriet well let me tell you about sojourner truth she decided i'ma shoot my shot with the game on the line and at that convention she stood up and spoke truth to power and declared and ain't i a woman well what about i to be whales i to be well decided when she was treated as a second-class citizen though she had paid a first-class ticket on a train car she decided to shoot her shot and go after lynching in these dis united states of america rosa parks rosa rosa rosa trained by september clark and targeted the bus system there in montgomery and there on december 1st 1955 as the buses filled up and she sat down she made up her mind i'm gonna sit down and shoot my shot and because she straight because she dared to shoot her shot we all know that it began to break the back of jim and jane crow segregation in this country fannie lou hamer did she shoot her shot yes she did at the democratic national convention she arrested the attention of the nation as she testified about her desire to be a first-class citizen but was treated in a vicious and evil way and because she dared to shoot her shot it set the stage for the voting rights bill to be passed and y'all if they could do it back then i could call the role of martin and malcolm i could call the role of john lewis who got in good trouble i could call the role of all of those who dared to shoot their shot but i got to go bible now moses decided to shoot his shot and tell pharaoh let my people go and god extracted the people of god from egyptian enslavement and led them through the tradition caused the red sea because moses said i'm gonna shoot my shot y'all i'm not even done david said let me shoot my shot because here comes big old here comes big old goliath who had been taunting god's people but david said i'm not coming at you with sword or spear i'm coming at you in the name of the lord and he took five he took some stones and a slingshot and he dared to shoot his shot and goliath went tumbling down i got one more for you his name is jesus the bible lets us know jesus kept on shooting his shot the bible tells us there was a group of those who were food insecure a multitude the bible says jesus said bring me two fish and five loaves and you know what he did he multiplied by dividing and fed the multitude a miracle so much that the book says they had 12 baskets left over in the feeding of the five thousand and seven baskets left over in the feeding of the four thousand because jesus knew how to shoot his shot he kept on shooting his shot until the bible says he decided to die for me and for you jesus shoot your shot he was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him but with his stripes we are healed he died on friday but early saturday morning he decided to shoot a shot and the book says he got up with all power in his head and he gave that power to you and he gave that power to me why did he give us that power he gave us that power so that we would shoot our shot go ahead game is on the lines somebody needs to know it's time to shoot your shot shall we pray god thank you thank you so much for entrusting us with a shot to shoot a shot of faith a shot of hope a shot of activism a shot of faith that works a shot that stands up for what's right and what's just god in the name of jesus give us the courage to shoot our shot now god i pray for those who who ain't even connected with you they don't even know who they are because they don't know whose they are so so when life squeezes them what's in them ain't what it should be god save the lost not only the lost but i pray for those who who lack connection and want connection with the body of believers who want to join this church you will did so in jesus name make them restless until they rest in your will in the matchless name of jesus and now god give us that courage to take a stand for what's right and to take a stand for what's just give us the faith to shoot our shot and the consciousness to know the game is indeed on the line in jesus name amen now i think you know god uses this church in so many wonderful ways to make a difference how do we do it we do it because of your generosity because you are wonderfully generously doing what god leads you to do god leads you to to what bring the tithe that's a tenth off the top a tenth off the top of everything that god has blessed you with we we we've been living by the what 10 10 80 planted friendship west we we we saved 10 we give 10 and live off the rest that that that's a way to build up your wealth because when you give god ten percent first then god opens up the windows of heaven pours you out blessings and before you know it you got stuff the irs can't even tax and then jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive jesus said that he said give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down shaken together running over so won't you do that right now i want to thank you because of your generosity god has been doing amazing things through this church we want to keep doing it so please help us by giving generously you can text to give you see the number there 972-200-9419 text fwbc to that number it's a safe vehicle also you can through the giblify app download it if you don't have it search out friendship west and give through that safe vehicle or just give online on our website or of course there's the friendship west app fwbc so those are the ways you can give so make sure that you give generously because god blesses you to be a blessing through you listen i gotta give a shout out to our own reverend doctor pastor david malcolm magruder david malcolm magruder we all know what a great preacher he is a phenomenal youth and young adult pastor here at friendship west y'all he just graduated on the 18th of this month from cambridge university in england not cambridge texas cambridge england with his phd degree y'all that that that is phenomenal and so we salute you dr david malcolm maguire we celebrate you we're going to do it in a great way uh real soon but indeed we thank god for you and we salute this signal accomplishment and appreciatively applaud you stronger you did the doggone thing and then this past week our wonderful pastor executive pastor damien durst celebrated his birthday on the same day as earth winning fires big day holiday 21st of september do you remember it was his birthday so we celebrate you happy birthday pastor dirt god bless you god keep you listen receive now god's been addiction on your life the lord bless you the lord keep you the lord calls god's face to shine on you and be gracious unto you the lord lift up the light of god's countenance upon you and grant you peace go now in the power of god's holy spirit with the courage and the faith to shoot your shot peace [Music] we praise god for this impactful experience and for your joining us during it for all of you who joined as visitors you can share that you were here please do that by taking time to text f w v i z to the number two eight nine five zero and for those of you who are saying hey i want this time that i'm visiting to be the last time i'm a visitor you can join us here's how you do that

Channel: Friendship-West Baptist Church

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Length: 67min 42sec (4062 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021