"If You Cannot Take It, You Will Not Make It" - Pastor Kenneth Reece - St. Paul Sunday Service

zero russell melon you're offering to st paul baptist church attention finance department p.o box 5260 sacramento california 95817 and if you need an envelope mailed to you you can call for more information at 916-737-7070 and don't forget to stay connected like us on facebook follow us on instagram and subscribe to us on youtube give us a thumbs up and share this message to encourage someone this week st paul family that does it for your morning news thank you for worshiping with us we praise god for those that are here with us that are joining us online whether it's facebook youtube or even our live stream services we greet you in the matchless name of jesus the christ if you would uh we ask for you to look at psalm 67 and it reads god be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his faith to shine upon us that thy way may be known upon the earth god saving health among all nations let the people praise thee oh god let all the people praise thee oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy for thou shall judge thy people righteously and govern the nations upon the earth let the people praise thee oh god let all the people praise thee then shall the earth yield her increase and god even our own god shall bless us god shall bless us yes and all the ends of the earth shall fear him almighty god we counted as a privilege for us to be awake this morning master we realize that you are the source of our strength we realize lord that you are jehovah jireh we realize lord that you are the lord that heals we realize lord that you are the one that goes before us in the midst of battles and so because you are who you are lord we come to say thank you thank you thank you thank you for this opportunity to worship thank you lord for delivering us thank you lord for sustaining us thank you lord for leading us and we definitely thank you lord for jesus the christ so lord have your way have your way this morning as we've come to worship thy holy name we've come to worship you in spirit and in truth lord everything we do bring glory to thy holy name we love you we praise you we adore you we magnify you we exalt you have your way lord in jesus name we pray amen and this is our call praise the lord everybody praise the lord everybody this is the day that the lord has made and what can we do and give him what do him wherever you are we're praying that you are joining with us in this wonderful worship experience [Music] come on and bless the lord with me bless the lord with me come on and bless the lord with me everybody yes together hallelujah hallelujah [Applause] [Applause] hallelujah [Applause] praise the lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] hallelujah glory to god glory to god come on let's give god a hand clap of praise [Applause] amen amen we are so grateful again for the opportunity to worship the lord in spirit and in truth and uh i'm grateful because i know that it was nobody but the lord that woke us this morning and started us on our way let's give god let's give god let's give god come on let's give god a hand clap of praise glory to god listen today we have a special celebration our dear sister and our brother uh brother and sister hampton i wanted to say douse but lord jesus how because i'm so used to saying dogs lord dawg this is her last sunday here with us the lord has relocated her to georgia and uh we she's a come on brother ham you gonna stand you can stand with your wife it's good amen amen and this has uh this has been uh laura's home since birth almost uh she was a child i believe wasn't your child look 18. now you still child that's yeah 43 years today [Music] she's been a member of this church and the lord is sent her uh to georgia where i know she's going to keep working for the lord and be in ministry uh she has been faithful here over the years she's our sister and we're going to miss her so what we want to do today is we want to just say words of encouragement and sister larry is going to come then our pastor emeritus who pastored laura for 43 years is going to come and share a few words about about our sister listen saint paul we're not going to be the same without miss laura brother claude somebody ought to say man [Applause] thank you pastor rhys several years ago when our praise and worship teams were organized the primary objective was to implement a change in the opening of our worship service instead of continuing in the traditional method i knew all the individuals selected they were members from the choir however as we proceeded to work in the groupings from my observations one person stood out among the rest as a little different in her interactions her manner of approach and the depths of her understanding of the task prior to this implementation i had attended a class on worship at golden gate theological seminary in marin county and in my effort to continue exploration of music and worship i made plans to attend a workshop in music worship and music by maranatha out at capitol christian center here in sacramento she may remember this i decided to ask someone to attend the workshop with me and to me the most obvious choice was laura doss she had demonstrated a desired interest in the work that later proved to exceed the depths of singing well she attended the workshop with me and there we acquired music from maranatha in the word publications and we did use some of it some of it we already knew we added our choices to our repertoire and these were some easy little congregational courses that were we didn't have to use a hymn book with so that was kind of the beginning well laura did not stop there she began attending other praise and worship workshops devoted to enhancement of one skill using the new concept i still have a brief outline right over there that laura sent to me a few years ago for a music ministry meeting of ideas that she would present regarding praise and worship team members one of the items emphasized was singers having a daily interaction with the divine i believe a daily interaction with the divine shaped laura's work in the ministry i believe it helped her to show grace to others i believe it helped her demonstrate humbleness in receiving correction i believe it gave her courage and boldness in her efforts to offer understanding and correction to others but most of all that daily interaction with the divine helped her to reveal to others an authentic relationship with god so today in the presence of our senior pastor rhys and our pastor emeritus dr ephraim williams and to everyone i being retired as a music director here at st paul commend laura [Music] dos hampton for her service and express appreciation from the ministry for her many years of service to the saint paul baptist church music ministry we will miss you laura but we know you will find yourself somewhere else in the work of the lord whether it's the praise team or whatever we appreciate your sincerity your authentic relationship with the lord god bless you i'll hug you after church let's receive our pastor emeritus in respect to our pastor pastor rhys and the one and only mrs laura hamilton brother hamilton before i say anything else when you get settled down you owe me a check i pushed her very hard and said to her if you miss this good man you won't miss a treat and you say it laura i want to congratulate you all but laura and be half of the church and the kingdom and you and your mother i started monitoring you and doing things higher greater and better when you was in high end of high school and went to college i kept up with you if you remember you didn't like it uh because school was not one of your pet peeves and that's in in the world throughout but you cup push it and god has blessed you when you went to los angeles and it's nice to go somewhere and get some tips and come back so we welcome you back to saint paul now many people are not aware of that uh when brother jackson stepped down as chef person and i called you and you were not too carried away you was nervous and i said to you what i said now you pray we'll help you and you'll be fine and you've done well well and the second part of it and you called me and told me you was going to some other training that they were doing in praise teams and pray singing i was highly elated all that because a lot of people don't want to go nowhere especially if it costs money and no way in the bible they'll find that they're not in the bible so i want to congratulate you all that you contribute to this church all the kindness that you did towards me and my family my wife thought she was just super nice she was you know still in chicago but uh she was right and so we congratulate you and your husband as you go into the suburbs of atlanta georgia now i was told my father never talked much but when i went to chicago from mississippi he never did that he went to the trains station with me he hugged me he said son don't forget the lord and don't forget church those are his words and i never forgot it i'll be checking i have associates in atlanta and friends so i'll be checking and they'll check on you all for me but you'll never know that i just want to make your husband alive so god may god continue to bless you all and i again say on behalf of this church you have made a contribution that will never be forgotten never never never be forgotten i can remember opening the doors of the church and i just come to the side and just look down there wouldn't be anybody to sing just look down you'll move to the up on the platform quickly and start a song and i won't forget that some people will forget stuff i never forget what you contribute if there's anything we can do to help after you all get there to get things in order straighten out you give me a call and then i tell your husband well you know i'm going to do whatever i can to help you and on behalf of myself my family and the lord i want to give you all your first meal that you cook in the lounge [Applause] two weeks ago and i'll tell you so you will get in it if i die before her she should come to my services and if she doesn't have any money i told her start walking she could pick up a ride on her way here and so you'll be aware she said i got to go you said okay we'll take care of it because it's in your hand now you are responsible amen god bless you let the amen say amen amen we thank god for sister larry and our pastor emeritus uh says lord i know you want words if at all possible it's up to you you come here plea give up mike good morning church good morning um that's definitely bittersweet um i came to saint paul when i was 18 years old to attend sac state and it was there on the tuesday night bible studies that i really connected because we had a young adult ministry that was so into the word and so supportive of each other and we just wanted to please jesus and so that was where i got my foundation i remember my first sunday i called my mom and i said mom these people the young people carry bibles to church we didn't carry bibles to church where i came from and so um through the bible studies and the 530 bible study with pastor on sunday afternoons and night service and wednesday bible study god just really blessed and he gave me the privilege and the opportunity to to work on the evangelism the prayer room counselors and the music ministry i even ushered for a little bit and one of my favorite ministries was culinary ministry and so i thank god for every opportunity and i count every opportunity a privilege because it's a privilege to be able to serve god and to serve him well so it has always been my desire to serve him well and to make him proud and i pray that the lord is pleased with my service and i pray that you guys will always remember me because i will certainly always remember you and i love you all so very much come on church let's give god some praise for sister lord dawg hampton and brother hampton listen we cannot forget you as as well you you are part of this uh this family forever until the lord returns you come from a rich legacy in history i still see mama dawson and at the um at our communion services within lights with them and you would hear that voice call out and so we we shall never forget look pastor gave you your first your first uh meal in in atlanta uh brother hampton uh this is for y'all you go ahead it's a little something something from your church uh we want to bless you we love you we love you amen come on church let's give god some praise thank god you got to take time out every now and then to give god praise for faithful work i see your brother charles back there wave your hand charles good to see him in the house amen amen listen our choir our uh praise team is going to come give us another selection and we're going we're going to move higher and higher in our worship service let's receive them lord are you about to you about to lead again well that's why we made you cry cause you got to you got to sing through tears come on let's receive them by the response of amen thank you church i love you [Music] [Music] i [Music] surrender all to you everything i give to you [Music] with holding nothing [Music] everything we [Music] oh [Music] you deserve it [Music] [Music] is i give you all of me [Music] [Applause] of me oh i give you all of me is is me with me [Music] [Music] everything i give to you withholding is [Music] we give you everything [Music] [Music] we [Music] [Music] [Music] oh yes [Music] is [Music] [Music] my gosh [Music] holidays [Music] what almighty god we serve for the mighty god we serve hallelujah thank you i praise team today amen we surrender we surrender all let's pray today [Music] most gracious and eternal father we again are thankful because you are god and god all by yourself we in fact proclaim and sing on this day we surrender all and it is all or nothing thank you for this worship experience thank you for the allowing us the opportunity to to lift up your holy and righteous name to worship you in spirit and in truth you alone are god we pray oh god even as we lift you up and worship you on this day [Music] we pray you let us down into the deep treasures of your word that your word might be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway that we might know how to live and how to respond as good soldiers of the cross pray god again that you would stand in my body think with my mind speak with my voice touch these lips of clay that i may be able again to edify your people according to the power that works in me and oh god we pray that you might speak to the stillness of our hearts that we might know we've heard from on high and when it's all said and done we'll be careful to give you all praise all glory and all the honor which is already yours we love you lord and do what only you can do in jesus name and together every child of god said amen amen amen amen praise god adrian if you don't mind can i just have a little bit more out of these monitors i appreciate it thank you it is good again to be in the house of the lord and we are so grateful that god has allowed us this opportunity uh to be here once again uh it is another lord's day and as we celebrate god we also celebrate our sister and her faithful work as she shared in the work of the lord and building a kingdom of god and we bid her uh farewell and bitter dew and we shall see her again this is not the last so we're grateful let's give god some praise and hear the day amen it is it is all or nothing i want to lift if we could um we're in a series until he returns last week we talked about the fact that um the premise of this whole series deals with the fact that um what should the church be doing until christ returns and we shared last week that we ought to be a model church uh part of that whole message dealt with the area of sharing our faith and evangelism and telling others about the goodness of the lord in our life and today we want that it was in the first chapter second chapter we want to read the verse 1 through 12 out of the out of the first thessalonians the second chapter and we're going to read in our hearing from the english standard version starting at verse 1 through 12. it reads as follows it says for you yourselves know brothers that are coming to you was not in vain but paul says that we are already suffered and been shamefully treated at philippi as you know we had boldness in our god to declare to you the gospel of god in the midst of much conflict he says for our appeal does not spring from error or impurities or any attempt to deceive but just as we have been approved by god to be entrusted with the gospel so we speak not to please men but to please god who test our for we never came to you with words of flattery as you know nor with pretext for gree god is witness nor do we seek glory from people whether from you or from others it's as though we could have made demands as an apostle of christ he says but if we were gentle but we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children so being affectionately desirous of you we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of god but also our own selves because you had become very dear to us verse nine for you remember brothers our labor and toil we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaim to you the gospel of god your witnesses and god also how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers for you know how like a father with his children we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of god who called you into his own kingdom and glory and i want to stop there and i want to put a tag on this text and talk for a timely tip but if you can't take it you won't make it if you cannot take it you will not make it it was beloved uh chuck colson when he was questioned about his willingness to die for christ he said this he said if there is nothing you're willing to die for he says then you have nothing to live for listen beloved i love that because from the opening verses of our text what we get is that the apostle paul was willing to die for christ he was sold he was a sold out steward to what god had entrusted to him and he gave in fact gave his whole life for it and first thessalonians we are introduced to paul the evangelist in first thessalonians chapter 1 paul the evangelist in first thessalonians chapter 2 we're introduced to paul as the pastor it was beloved an occupation that called for the wearing of many hats but one that paid enormous beloved dividends as paul invested his life in the life of the saints at thessalonica you see the church at thessalonica was founded through the faithful preaching of the apostle paul but it also was flourished through his faithful pastoring and history tells us that the apostle paul endured many trials and troubles and tribulations in his work and thus he reminds us beloved that when it comes to serving god if we cannot take it we will not make it and i believe the text outlines three primary reasons in order for us to make it in the work of god listen beloved first of all we see that there that we see the faithfulness that is described in verse four paul speaks of having been entrusted listen with the gospel of god in other words it was not a message that he devised developed or delivered on his own this was a message that the apostle paul received from god he was a steward of god's message and his message and his faithfulness to the message is described in our text today in great detail first he describes his faithfulness watch this and how he suffered i like that because in this realm of easy believism and in this realm of being too blessed to be stressed and all of this other stuff we don't like to suffer we don't like to talk about suffering for the cause of christ and here paul says in verse 2 he says that he suffered and had been shamefully treated at philippi i didn't make it up it's in the text the word it refers to the imprisonment and the abuse that he suffered with silence at philippi in acts 16. that the word suffered is used in the new testament to explain the physical suffering that christ received at the hands of wicked men in acts 16 23 it referenced it is made to paul receiving many stripes by his persecutors the concept uh embody the words shamefully treated seemed to involve paul being abused and reproached i like the way vines testifies where vine says that these words denote uh either insult or bodily ill treatment suffering suffering suffering for the cause of christ in other words beloved in order to declare the message god had entrusted the apostle paul listen he had to endure ill treatment yet in spite of his suffering he declares that coming to them the church at thessalonica was not in vain what what a wonderful testimony that even though he had to suffer he declares that i didn't come to you in vain that my coming to you that that us sharing the gospel of god was not in vain in other words in spite of what he endured he says that my work with the church at thessalonica was not empty or fruitless but rather verse 2. he says they had boldness in our god to declare the gospel of god to you in much conflict i hope you hear the testimony here the phrase much conflict is an athletic term it speaks of it speaks of struggle it speaks of uh of a contest uh and and conflict uh the phrase there uh is where we get our english word agony from are you listening to me he uses the same word in philippians chapter 1 verse 30 where he pictured the christian life as an athletic contest that demands dedication and energy in other words hear me beloved in order to be faithful to the call and commission that he had been entrusted to by god paul had to suffer many things in many ways from many men listen and let me just drop this on you real quick the truth of the matter is beloved we've got a real fight on our hands listen if we want to serve god anybody who want serves god at any length of time know that we do not serve god uncontested i hope you hear me today the truth is we've got a real fight on our hands in fact the real battle is unleashed against those who are trying to be faithful to what god has called them to do if you're trying to be faithful in the ministry if you're trying to be faithful in the singing area if you're trying to be faithful even as a usher if you're trying to be faithful as a deacon or a trustee or anywhere in the kingdom of god you better recognize that your serving god will not go uncontested i hope you hear me right now because listen beloved the truth of the matter is we we are in a dog fight we are in a fight for our life and the truth is if we're striving for the lord paul reminds us that we will suffer for the lord i know i'm right about it someone said it takes a test in order to get a testimony notice i said a test in order to get a testimony not a testimony come on somebody help me if you want to serve god there's going to be some suffering in the way if you serve god you're going to face numerous times of testing like the apostle paul and we can so that we will be able to say like paul that our serving was not in vain in other words it'll be worth it who help me hear somebody it'll be worth it in the end we see it in athletics when the athlete is working hard training so that at the end they will stand at the victor's podium paul not only was faithful in how he suffered paul shows us that he was faithful and how he served watch the text paul defines beloved his message and also his motive six times in this letter he mentions the gospel listen it was the message by which paul was convinced and converted he declares in verse three he says for our appeal did not spring for from error or impurities or any attempt to deceive this word error in the greek speaks of wandering or straying from the message in other words paul says i was not only faithful to the gospel that i preached but also how i presented the gospel he preached the truth and truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth he preached the truth has been taught by the spirit of truth paul my brothers and sisters said that it didn't come with impurities that word impurity speaks of contamination or infection or pollution paul preached truth and not only did he preach truth the text suggests that he lived according to the truth that is the true meaning of the word in simple terms paul lived what he preached i hope somebody hears me right here he lived what he preached he did not preach one thing and practice another the word deceive is a fishing term that speaks of decoy a decoy or bait paul admit that he did not attempt to trap people by the way a clever salesman traps people into buying his product listen beloved warren wesby says it like this he says salvation doesn't lie at the end of a clever argument or a subtle presentation he says that salvation is the result of god's word and the power of the holy spirit can i help you real quick you didn't get and come down that aisle simply because someone was being clever no you was drawn down that aisle to give your life to christ because of the power of the spirit of god it was the spirit of god that moved upon us and convinced us and convicted us that we needed a savior i wish somebody would help me it is in the power of god and we don't try to trap people i like that because listen watch verse 5 and verse 6. he says for we never came with words of flattery as you know nor with the pretext of greek he he shouts it out by saying god is my witness i like that he says i ain't got to lie i ain't got to tell you what didn't happen he said god is my witness that we did not seek glory from people whether from you or from others though we could have made demands as an apostle of christ he said god is the witness to me and now he makes it very clear in verse four watch this where he said we did not get in the ministry for the purpose of pleasing man but listen watch this he says but to please god who test our hearts did y'all see that he says he says i'm not in the ministry for greed or for gold but i'm in the ministry for the glory of god and let me just help the church today that if you are in ministry in any capacity for your own glory you are in the ministry for the wrong reason if you want to be seen if you want to be upfront if you want to be noticed then you are in the ministry for the wrong reason paul says i'm in it for the glory of god i'm not in it for the money i'm in it for the messiah i'm not in it for the skriller i'm in it for the savior i'm not in it to lift myself up i'm in ministry to lift up the name whoo of the lord are y'all hearing me let me ask you this beloved because listen paul says he says i suffered and i serve not to be applauded by men but to be pleasing to god and let me ask you this while i have a chance why do you serve god why do you serve for what you might gain or get out of it do you serve to be seen or applauded or commended or to be patted on the back or to receive our certificate if so your labor in is is in vain it is empty it is meaningless it is fruitless and in the end it will be worthless however if we serve god in a pure manner with a pure motive and by pure methods it may go on unnoticed on planet earth listen beloved but it will not go unnoticed in heaven somebody ought to shout a man do i need to tell you god is taking notes and listen beloved glory to his name he keeps good books are you hearing me in the end we will find out that all of our labor is not in vain i love i love i love the words of a young missionary from zimbabwe and uh my pastor in san diego dr timothy winters used to quote this he said i'm part of a fellowship of the uns uh un unashamed for i have the holy spirit's power the die has been cast and i have stepped over the line the decision has been made for i am a disciple of christ he says i won't look back let up slow down back away or be still he says my past is redeemed my presence makes sense and my future is secure he says i'm done finished with low living sight walking small planning smooth knees and colorless dreams i'm done with tame visions worldly talking cheap giving and dwarf goals i no longer need preeminence prosperity position promotions plaudits or popularity therefore i won't give up shut up or let up until i've stayed up stored up prayed up and paid up and preached up for the calls of christ i am a disciple of christ and i must go till he come give till i drop preach till i know work until he stops me and when he comes back he will have no trouble recognizing that i am his own is anybody hearing me today listen this sounds like a person who sold out for the cause of christ even though he had to suffer he kept on serving even though he had to deal with some difficult stuff he would not allow anything to stop him and listen beloved we quit on god too soon even though we gotta suffer sometimes even though some folk talk about us and try to put us down i like what the apostle paul said i kept serving because i know that in the end it will make a difference is anybody hearing me today listen beloved the truth of the matter is if you can't take it you won't make it here it is in the text we see faithfulness is described but not only do we see faithfulness described we also see helpfulness that is depicted listen talking of faithfulness paul played the role of a good soldier in the area of helpless paul play the role of a gentle mother it's in the text verse seven he says but we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children he goes on to depict his spirit of helpfulness by outlining his desire for them watch what he says paul described his love in a wonderful way verse 8 he says he affectionately desired along for them because they were dear to him we heard that today in the words of our passionate emeritus as he shared his love for sister doll sister hampton and hampton it's the ideal that that members become dear to us are you listening to me and paul paul here in the text his chief desire is found in verse 12. he desired that they walk worthy y'all see that listen walk worthy in the manner worthy of god who called them into his own kingdom and glory in other words paul desired that these thessalonian believers were not only converted but that they were complete or mature in the lord his desire was not for them to crawl like babies but for them to fight like giants listen he wanted them to make great strides in the things of god and i can't think of anything else that we as the body of christ should desire more for the people of god to become all that god wants us to be we should not delight in the trivial but in our triumphs we should not desire for us to fall or to fail but we ought to desire for every single one of us to fly and to flourish are you listening to me and i like paul affectionately desire that we walk worthy of god who has called us into his kingdom in glory listen i long to see love to see and live to see that every member of god's church listen beloved every black boy white girl white boy well every uh individual of any color or any hue would walk worthy of the manner that god has called us and it does not matter what color an individual is are you listening to me listen i desire and i hope you desire as well that god get out of us everything that he has put in us and i want to tell the people of god you better recognize that we are in a pivotal place as the church of god we are at a precipice we are at a place beloved where we've got to make some stern decisions about what we do and how we do it listen beloved we can either strive for higher heights for the advancement of the kingdom of god or we can stay the course and be content with business as usual we can just keep on doing the same old thing the same old way and getting the same old results is anybody listening to me today listen if we strive for greater that simply means this that we have to take some risk we did it in the past and we have to keep on taking risks we're going to have to get out of the boat are you listening to me it reminds me of a cautious man it is said that he never laughed or played he never risked or never tried he never sang or prayed and when he one day passed away his insurance was denied listen for since he had never really lived they claimed he never died listen beloved that ought not be our testimony are you listening to me we can't just stand on the backs of our ancestors we gotta keep on going higher i hope somebody hears me we gotta keep on doing good and doing better listen they they've left a legacy for us to keep on climbing and i don't know about you beloved but i want to go out in a blaze someone said you cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore hudson taylor said unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for god there is no need of faith that's why the bible says that it is impossible to please god without faith and i don't know about you beloved but i'm tired of sailing my little boat safe inside the harbor bar i want to go out on the i want to go out uh where the big ships float out on the deep where the great ones are and if my failed craft proves too slight for the wind and waves that billow's ore i'd rather go down than a stirring flight fight than to drown to death there on the sheltered shore listen whatever we do beloved it's going to take some risk it's going to take some trust in god we're going to have to get out of our comfort zone if we want to walk on water then we got to get out of the boat are you listening to me get out of the boat of tradition get out of the boat of legalism get out of the boat of sexism get out of the boat of status quo get out of the boat of keeping up with the joneses jones united jones methodist jones missionary baptist episcopal church of god in christ we gotta stop trying to do what other churches are doing and just to do what god has called us to do get out of the boat of racial divide and segregated sundays and church as a social club and it's going to take some risk everybody shout risk risk whatever you do in faith for god will take some risk that's that's what we see in the hamptons as our testimony today they took a risk they're back moving away from sacramento a place that they love a place that helped them to grow and they're following the lead of god and don't believe beloved that there there's not any risk involved in a move like that are you hearing me listen paul says he says i was helpful to these uh to these christians at thessalonica and it was in his desire for them but he also says uh it's seen in his devotion to them watch this verse eight watch what paul said he says he was ready to share with them not only the gospel of god but also he says our own self in other words paul kept nothing back of the whole purpose of god he kept back no part of himself he was devoted to them as a good soldier and a gentle mother verse seven he says just as a nursing mother takes care of her own children the words take care literally means to keep warm and you all know there's nothing like a mother who holds her child in her hand to keep him warm are you listening to me he it depicts a mother providing protecting and prevailing and her prevailing love for her child and paul was willing to endure many hardships out of his desire for god's people as well as his devotion to god's people he was willing to give his own self i hope somebody hears that today he gave himself for their spiritual welfare are you listening to me reminds me of a man who was up on the 16th floor of a skyscraper that was being built and as a beam was being lifted up to him uh he reached out to catch the beam only to lose his step are you hearing me and grab a hold of the beam with his arms and legs soon the weight of his self began to slide him down that pole as the beam went vertical but just before he let go and lost his grip one of his friends grabbed the beam on the other side well i hope y'all hear me here and the weight of the other man leveled the beam so that they were both able to be able to safely be lifted to the ground come here somebody hear me real good the truth of the matter is every day all around us people are losing their balance in life are you hearing me they're making wrong decisions in wrong turns and we know that there are certain decisions that will ruin somebody's life and listen what they need are folk who are willing to help them keep their balance and how do we do that through sacrificial living by giving up of things that might we might have enjoyed so that others might be led to safety listen no one may applaud you on this side on planet earth but it will be it will be worth it when we hear the lord say well done thy good and faithful servant let me ask you this do you know anybody out there in the midst of this pandemic in the midst of being paused for a little while who is discouraged and defeated and deflated and depressed and disillusioned about what's going on in the world you ain't got to answer that i already know you know someone as a matter of fact somebody listening to me right now and and the sound of my voice you are deflated and you are confused you are discouraged listen is it worth giving up our lives in order that somebody else might come to know the lord for themselves is it worth giving up our time if it's worth giving up a meal is it worth giving up and i want to suggest to you beloved yes it is it's worth it because the truth of the matter is we all learn how to hunt those folk down and help them up can i say that again we ought to learn how to hunt those folk down and help them up can i suggest to you that somebody helped you up whoo i know i'm right about it you you didn't get here on your own good looks you didn't get here because of your education you didn't get here because you was tall and lean i wish somebody would help me no it was the grace of god that got you where you are today and had it not been for god on your side the truth of the matter is no matter how tall no matter how good looking no matter what you had going on no matter what educational background that you had you wouldn't have been here today but somebody shout but god but the lord made a way for you and just like god made a way for us we ought to made a make a way for somebody we ought to be instrumental and being used by god to make a way for somebody else let me just give you this real quick and this is my last point listen if you can't take it you won't make it it is a scene in paul's faithfulness it's seen in his helpfulness but lastly it is seen beloved in his uh it is seen lastly beloved in his watchfulness watch the watchfulness that is demanded the apostle paul describes his faithfulness as a good steward he depicts his helpfulness as a gentle saying now he concludes watch this the watchfulness of a great soldier in order to make it in the army of god he wonderfully uh describes the laser the the labor that measured his life we talked about the obstacles and the oppression in the opposition paul faced in being faithful to his ministry in verse 9 he gives another example he says you remember brothers our labor in toil he says we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaim the gospel of god the word labor is referring to physical or manual labor the word speaks of weariness or trouble it represents the exhaustion that is experienced in difficult work hear me toyo paints the picture of difficulty or hardship from the labor and the culture of the day it was the usual term used to describe the physical strength involved in work in simple terms paul was admitting that his work in the ministry was hard work help me heal somebody i like that because we think this is easy we think working for the lord is is not hard work this is hard work and let me just help you real quick and i ain't talking about i'm not talking about just paid staff because it ain't it it's not the paid staff that just keeps this thing rolling are you hearing me it's it's those folk that work behind the scenes it's those individuals that put in time and effort and energy i wish somebody would help me they don't get a paycheck you don't see all the time what they're doing but behind the scenes they're working every day working on their craft working on their serving working on loving god's people and paul says that my work in ministry is labor it is hard work [Music] let me just help you real quick listen if you want to be part of the saint paul family and you don't want to work you might as well i'll recommend some churches to you there's some wonderful churches out there that'll let you sit in the pew oh help me hear somebody but if you want to work if you want to labor if you want to be part of a kingdom building process then then as a member of saint paul we will demand that you work for the lord somewhere [Applause] help me are you hearing me it's hard work and d.l moody said it like this i get tired in the work but i never get tired of the work and i get that because he says i get tired but i don't get in the work but not of the work in the work of the work is when folk gets saved of the work is when folk get delivered of the work is when folk are lifted up of the work is when as a choir member people are ushered into the presence of almighty god so we don't get tired of the work we get tired in the work are you hearing me as a matter of fact working the kingdom of god is downright tough and i know times we want to quit we want to give up but paul said in verse 1. i thank god that is not in vain are you listening to me that all that we do has purpose and intentionality and reason behind it and we may not fully understand it on this side he says but we'll understand it better by and by one day it will all make sense listen beloved we see this ideal of watchfulness in the labor that he measured in his life in paul's life but the legacy that marked his life watch what he says paul left a mark by the way he served and loved god's people verse 10 he says you are witnesses and god also how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers he says i try to do the right thing before you listen in verse 11 he says for you know that's what he's saying to the church at thessalonica you know how we exhort each one of you and encourage you and charge you like a father charges his children and he says i try to encourage you to give you some comfort i also charged you that greek work charge simply means to make a very serious or emotional request of someone it means literally to beg someone to get right with god paul says i i begged you i implored you you know how how i charged you and paul says you watch me work for the kingdom of god that's his watchfulness paul says you watch me have some good days and some bad days you watch me have some heels to climb you watch me have some weary days and sleepless nights he says but i kept on working he says i've been up and i've been down almost leveled to the ground but you're watching me and as you watch me i kept on working listen beloved you saw that they lied on me you saw that they talked about me but you saw that i kept on working people tried to knock me out the enemy tried to take me out but i didn't quit i didn't give up you watched me and i kept on working paul says i am a living witness that if you trust god and never doubt god will surely bring you out are you listening to me and so paul suggests to us that we ought to sing i'll trust in the lord until i die listen beloved i'll trust the lord with all of my heart and lean not to my own understanding and all my ways i'm going to acknowledge him listen beloved i'll trust er in the lord when i'm in the valley i'll trust in the lord when i'm on the mountaintop i'll trust in the lord when i'm at the unemployment line i'll trust in the lord listen when i'm at the hospital of a cemetery i'll trust when my family and friends don't understand i'll trust because if christ could die on a friday if christ could cry out eli eli saw martha and i on a friday if christ could say it is finished on a friday if christ could to sink his head in the locks of his shoulders on a friday and be put in a borrowed tomb but ernie sunday morning get up with all power in his hand then i'mma keep on in god church you got to be able to take it church you got to hang in there church you can't let go because you got to keep your hand on the gospel plow and one day we shall hear the lord say well done well done thy good and faithful servant i'm done today i'm done today amen and amen let's pray together most gracious and eternal father we realize that in this world we shall have tribulation in this world we've gotten sick and lost loved ones and we know it's false doctrine to believe that uh that we never get sick and that we never die and go to the other side we've lost loved ones we've lost jobs we've lost our health and at times oh god we've lost friends we've been persecuted at times and lied on and talked about and but lord we realize that we got to take it if we gonna make it we got to be faithful we got to learn to be helpful and we got to learn to exemplify a life so that others may be able to watch and say it's the god that they serve that's brought them through and paul said lord he said we've labored and you see you saw us labor but we didn't quit paul says he didn't give up and father we pray you give us that kind of spirit spirit of hanging in there spirit of never giving up spirit of not quitting on the work that you've entrusted to our hands and even though the work gets tough sometimes and even though folk don't understand god we're grateful that you have been faithful to us and so we're praying today for all those who are at that place that they might want to throw in the towel they might want to give up they might want to try something else thank you lord for the example of the apostle paul now god paul wanted to see folks saved that is the end of our message lord move in a mighty way over someone's life today that they might come to know you in a very real way it is in jesus name we pray amen listen beloved you're here today in the sanctuary or on the internet on our website if you're here today and you don't know the lord for yourself the bible is clear in romans 10 and 9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus believe in thy heart god raised him from the dead the bible says thou shall be saved if you're listening to me today and you don't know the lord for yourself my brother and my sister i implore you today to give your life to christ invite him into your heart believe that he died on the cross for your sins and listen beloved that you might know that you have eternal life god god is calling you right now but also beloved if you're out there you know the lord for yourself you perhaps are out of church through this pandemic we've lost connection with our church listen you might find the church just as good as saint paul but you won't find one any better hell on somebody today your search can end and this church family can become your church family and if you're here today and you want to make that commitment there's a number if you want to make either one of those commitments there's a number that's across the screen call that number someone will pick up the line and they will gladly lead you to know the lord for yourself or they will show you and tell you how to become a part of this family and i want to pray for you today while we go forth in sharing this invitation most gracious and eternal father thank you for those who are about to make a decision that need to make a decision and we pray that your spirit might move upon their heart even right now and we pray god that you give them the courage and the strength and the intestinal fortitude to make a decision for you today we love you lord for what you can do and what you're about to do it is in jesus name we pray and together every child of god said amen amen amen come on let's give god some pray [Applause] [Music] what a wonderful day we've had in the lord and uh last week i i encouraged i forgot to encourage you to give but i'm so grateful that uh there we have a mature church that will give even though there is not an appeal to give and so i thank god for all of you who have been faithfully giving uh to your local church our goal is that we support our church so that we can do the work of the ministry and uh and i'm grateful for all of you who have supported the work of the church continue to do that you got so many ways that you can give today i don't have any checks so i'm have to give online and it's easy to do and um and there are ways that they'll come upon the screen that'll share on how you can give in multiple ways and let me just tell you this you have been faithful and i'm so grateful we've been able to hire staff we've been able to do some things because of your faithfulness and giving and listen beloved the more you give the more we're going to be able to do and uh we're grateful for the legacy that our pastor emeritus has left us but we still got a whole lot of work that we've got to do for the kingdom of god are you hearing me let me just give you this again uh brother and sister hampton uh we bid you fear farewell we'll see you again uh we're gonna be to georgia it's not atlanta but it's somewhere we you and uh i pray uh that uh you got multiple rooms cause we coming out there and uh we wanna stay at the house we don't wanna be in the hotel we wanna be at the house so we're grateful that god allowed y'all to buy a house and and all of that look at god look at god look at god uh what a wonderful wonderful god that we serve listen remember your fall bible study classes they're online and i failed to remind you last week about the fact that we were due to open last week and i know that some of you were eagerly anticipating coming into the house of the lord last week but listen beloved our goal is to keep you safe our goal is to make sure that um we're doing everything that we can and because of this new variant this delta variant uh virus that's usurping right now and the hospitals are being shut i mean i mean there's just they can't handle all we don't want the church to be responsible for somebody catching covert while they come to church it's time for us to step up and be mature enough to have church online while god has us at this place because we're not here because we want to we're here because this is a this is the hand of god and this is where he has placed us at this time in this juncture in our christian walk with him and god's saying i know you need the fellowship i know you need to hang in there but there's ways that we've allowed you to connect with the church on zoom i know it ain't the same but some of y'all still are connecting another way but but we're providing that for you so pray with us because we want to make right decisions and we consulted with other pastors who opened we consulted with our pastor emeritus and our leadership team and our deacon and we talked to folk and um and i'm thankful that we're all on the same wavelength i called my buddies who opened and um and they shared with me some information so don't be discouraged god has his timing for saint paul and we want to follow that same timing let me just say this and i'm done continue to get vaccinated continue to get tested don't give that up also this week let me encourage you to cast your votes i got to say that i can't tell you what to vote but i can encourage you to vote because there are folk who died that we might have the right to vote and there's a group out there don't fool yourself that's trying to repeal all of the voting rights that we have and we've got to exercise our constitutional right to vote they're trying to deceive us trying to throw us off track and don't let them do it and listen if you are of an ebony hue shame on you if you do not go to the polls preachers thank you i just did that's my mini-sermon for the day all right i'm done let's stand grab somebody by the hand says the lord dogs you're gonna sing for us one one time before you move to georgia all right let's hear from come on come on and bless the lord with me bless [Music] the lord the lord [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] now held to him who's able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before his throne of grace unto the only wise god be power and dominion hints now and forevermore and every child of god shouted a man st paul family thank you for watching please stay tuned for your morning announcements we encourage you to continue to get your covet 19 testing get results in 15 minutes although you have been vaccinated you can still get the infection and pass to your family friends co-workers and others saint paul baptist church campus no appointment required walk-ins only fridays 39.96 14th avenue sacramento 95820 christian education presents fall bible study starting september 8th through november 17th visit the church website for more details st paul family please join us for our harvest festival drive through october 31st 5 pm to 8 pm this is a free community event that will have free popcorn inspirational music praise dancers free candy stations giveaways and classic car displays to register volunteer or donate go to www.stallsac.org saints don't forget about sunday school you can find your class today by visiting our website we have every class for every age find your class today we're here to pray for you at the weekly st paul prayer line you can call in your powerful hour of prayer every sunday morning from 8 am to 9 a.m every wednesday morning from 7 00 am to 8 a.m and every wednesday evening from 6 p.m to 7 p.m call 916-517-4244 there are four ways to give your tides offerings and donations you can give online on our website at www.saintpaulsac.org again that's www.stallsack.org you can also text a give by texting the word give to 916-579-7280 text to give you can also drop off at our mail slot drop-off at our admin office at 3996 14th avenue sacramento california 95820 you can also mail in your offering to saint paul baptist church attention finance department po box 5260 sacramento california 95817 and if you need an envelope mailed to you you can call for more information at 916-737-7070 and don't forget to stay connected like us on facebook follow us on instagram and subscribe to us on youtube give us a thumbs up and share this message to encourage someone this week st paul family that does it for your morning news thank you for worshiping with us st paul family here are the bereavement announcements for sunday september 12th [Music] in loving memory of helen vann voe will be held on monday september 13th from 5 to 7 pm at morgan jones funeral home in sacramento california services will be held on tuesday september 14th at 11 a.m at st paul baptist church in loving memory of helen freeny mother-in-law to jeanette fletcher funeral services are pending [Music] up next thank you's from our bereaved families [Music] to the saint paul family the family of carolyn mitchell guidry would like to thank you very much for the cards flowers monetary donations and kind expressions of sympathy shown following the passing of her sister-in-law sander lee robinson she was the loving aunt of cassio mitchell lucero and marvin ray mitchell jr your support at this difficult time was very much appreciated and brought great comfort to all the family our family feels privileged to have had so many supportive friends in our church and community your kindness and support helped to bring us peace in our time of sorrow carolyn mitchell guidry and family saint paul family in the event of an illness or death please call the church office at 916-737-7016 extension 216. this concludes our berea min announcements you

Channel: St. Paul Baptist Church - Sacramento, CA

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Rating: 4.7142859 out of 5

Keywords: church, sacramento, Sunday Worship, Faith, Christian, God

Id: 59gzMowOp8o

Length: 90min 3sec (5403 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021