Sunday - 11:30 AM

so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well welcome to atlanta west pentecostal church today we are celebrating 60 years of faithfulness we are so excited why don't you worship with us [Music] i can see how your love's been guiding me even though i've done wrong you never left me alone but you forgave me and you kept on blessing [Music] it is because of your mercy that we are not consumed because thy compassions fail not today are new every morning [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it is because of your mercy that we are not come soon because thy compassions fail not they are new every morning [Music] [Applause] even those [Music] i can never repay you lord for what you've done for me how you loose my shackles and you set me free how you made a way out of no way turn my darkness in today he's been my joy in the time of sorrow hope for my [Music] i can never repay you lord for what you've done for me how you lose my shackles and yourself [Applause] [Music] straight when i'm weak [Music] lord you've been so faithful [Music] [Applause] [Music] and we celebrate today the faithfulness of god but we also get to celebrate what's with the party we are so thankful that beckett floyd was baptized in the saving name of jesus last week when we give him some praise lord we bless your name we can never repay you lord i can never repay you lord for what you've done for me how you lose my shackles and you set me free how you made a way out of nowhere turn my darkness in today you've been my joy in the time of sorrow hold for my tomorrow peace in the time of storm straight when i'm weak lord you've been so thankful even though sometimes i didn't do what you wanted me to do lord you've been so faithful peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh you've been so faithful you've been so faithful oh my god [Music] you've been so faithful [Music] amen if that is true for you for your family why don't you take another moment and express that to jesus christ god we love you we are so thankful for your goodness and your mercy in our lives thank you god for your blessings thank you god for your provision thank you jesus for your protection honest god there is nobody like you jesus as we go through this life you promised you would never leave us or forsake us and you have been true and faithful to your word and we love you today and we thank you god in the name of the lord jesus christ can we clap our hands one more time and just thank the lord for his presence that is here for his faithfulness in our lives amen you may be seated so great to see everyone here today welcome to atlanta west pentecostal church we're so thankful you could be here in service and we always welcome those who've taken the time to join us watching online you're always free to share comment like these services as we connect to those not connected to our church online we also want to encourage you as you leave the day to take two grab two business cards make sure you have them on you and as you connect with people not connected to our church family at your work your place of business when you're shopping wherever you may be just be prepared to be a light and to reach out to them and connect with them and invite them to church now today is a very special day in the life of our church we're celebrating the 60th anniversary of atlanta west pentecostal church amen that's something special to be thankful for and we want to let our entire church family know that after this service there's going to be a reception with refreshments in our family life center it's the building directly behind this one have signs directing you there and we wouldn't invite everybody who is able just to stop by for a few moments to celebrate with us this momentous occasion for our church family i want to thank our church as well the lord has been faithful but you've been faithful and thank you for being faithful in your giving and support you're always welcome to give online if you're new to atlanta west we have giving options online and we have giving chaos on the back of our sanctuary where you can give as you leave today and also please if there are any final move the mission commitments if you could do your best to please fulfill those as we still celebrate the great thing that god did through our sacrificial offering if you're able go ahead and join me and we're going to stand and we're going to go right back into time of prayer and worship and rejoicing today if you have a prayer request you can always email those to us at prayer awpc.org and that list is being sent out thank you for taking time to sincerely pray we have summer battling coven 19 right now we want to lift them up in our prayers but let's thank the lord and let's talk to him right now and calling him in prayer and these needs as well jesus we love you and we thank you for this wonderful day this time to gather together a time to reflect back god on your faithfulness and this church's faithfulness lord and there's one thing we've learned god time and time again that no matter what we go through god that you will always be there for your people and we've had testimonies lord of the past 60 years of this church of miracles signs and wonders people god who've come out of wheelchairs cancer god that has been healed sickness god that has vanished by calling on your name and faith and lord you've done it before and we know you can do it again you can have a miracle of provision a financial miracle a physical miracle in somebody's body somebody watching on line right now lord as they feel your power and your presence and they pray the faith we're believing lord that you would heal that you bring comfort and strength today you're a miracle worker god and there is nothing too hard for you there's no need to request too great or even too small you care about every one of those needs you care about our people and we love you and we thank you for this hope we thank you for your faithfulness to your people and we give you all the glory and the honor for what you're going to do today and what you have done amen thank you jesus you are so good we love you god we magnify your name amen you may be seated but we love and appreciate our atlanta west church family and join us right now as we celebrate 60 years of faithfulness atlanta west pentecostal church began in 1961 as northwest pentecostal church the first congregation of 18 people gathered in merle and louise harper's basement the people at that first meeting had no idea that their early commitment would lead to the thriving congregation that exists today we had reached a point in our life our christian walk with the lord in 19th and it was 1960 when we began to feel that there had to be a change and there were things going on in the world it was not pleasing to a christian's life so we met at our home and decided to have a service in the basement then we had a ping-pong table down there that they used as a pulpit you know that's a big thing and it took up part of the room and everything was just according to the will of the lord we felt like it was this early church sacrificed their time and finances prayed and grew until a larger location was needed to house the new believers we realized we had to have a place to worship in we found a place a church that was advertised we thought it might be for rent but it was for sale they needed four thousand dollars to take that first payment on that church my husband and uh bill billy they went to the bank and 15 minutes later they came out of the bank with their money and the rest of them got theirs from there it was golgi all the way through sacrificial giving a building was purchased on chestnut street in atlanta and revival continued the new pastor billy harper preached the first sermon in the new building his message entitled lord it's all i've got but it's yours could not have been more prophetic he was a young man and uh but he was a fine preacher he could sing that helped people in the guitar so all of that helped too as those faithful pioneer saints poured themselves out god's spirit was poured out on them we had a lot of visitations i mean from here to yonder it was not just around the church but we've event and brought the people in by car you can't just sit in one place but you've got to go out and somehow get the message out like we are doing now this church is and so we just had to do what the lord wanted us to do and souls were saying that was the thing about it that was the purpose of the church was for souls to be moving to the kingdom of god the generous spirit of our founders symbolizes what it means to be a part of the atlanta west family the church soon realized the need for a larger facility and purchased property on cooper lake road in smyrna in the early 70s brother wheatley was our pastor at that time when we went from northwest to koopaling it began to grow so that we knew we had to make a move and so we bought the property over on cooper lake and then had that building put up during the cooper lake years a revival of historic proportions broke out so i came there in i believe 1981 and it was a revival church wonderful people filled with praise and worship just a lot of good worship going on which to me the place i was at then i needed desperately and it was fulfilled every need shortly after brother fuller became the pastor there laverne and i got married and started going to church with her probably in late 78 i remember being really powerful services especially wednesday night sunday night to go very late sometime we'd be there 10 10 30 on sunday nights we came in 1983-84 and at that time it was on cooper lake drive my husband was working for ibm so we had been transferred here so this was something that we were looking for was a good church the parking lot at that church was mainly gravel and you had to get there early to get a good parking place a lot of times if you come late there'd be cars all over the driveway and it was sometimes hard to get in is up a hill cooper lake seemed that there were always people shouting running the aisles and you had ray knew jumping off the piano and with his eyes closed dancing down the long set of steps he would get caught up in the spirit and all of a sudden he would come dancing off of the platform you couldn't help but feel the spirit of the lord during that time my brother-in-law dennis harper he would he would sing pick his guitar and one song he would sing and always get everybody fired up was i got my foot on the rock and he would get the crowd going and it was a time of refreshing to be in our own building in our new building and more people have begun to come in and the lord blessed us and we had no thoughts of every turning back and no i'm talking about is go forward many souls were born into the kingdom of god and new ministries were added to the church including cobb christian academy boy scouts campfire girls a youth ministry and various adult support groups we had to have the space to uh make any uh improvements you know and to grow for the children they needed all that they needed the school all the men did their part every family did and so we had a good school there for a while we started a school at cooper lake road i remember taking my children there at first brad and beverly and later jimmy and jason so in 1980 we started at the christian school and graduated from here at atlanta west on this property in 1986 we started a scouting program and i remember the former pastor brother fuller coming to me and asked me if i would serve as committee chairman we were called a yogi bear patrol but we had so much fun but wasn't long we started a girl scouting program also and later the girls went to american heritage girls as god continued to bless the congregation began to experience growing pains again and the search was on for a new location you know we just outgrew all that we outgrew that church and so we had to have another area to go to and so we came to skyview we decided that we were going to leave cooper lake road they had found some property brother fuller found a property in lithia springs we first left there we we went to garrett middle school for just a few weeks it wasn't long when school was out we moved there and had services there from there he went to the storefront and at the storefront that was a real experience that was an experience i'll never forget that was pretty rough conditions there old metal seats and still had pretty long services and all but ordinarily churches decline people move away they don't want to be involved in the building but we grew and grew and uh my husband came in at that time uh repented of his sins he was baptized uh in a horse trough and we all rejoiced it was absolutely marvelous they had an old baptistry tank it was a horse trough literally in the back of that building and it was always cold anybody got baptized got a root awaken him in 1984 god blessed our congregation with 27 wooded acres on skyview drive allowing it to be purchased at a substantial savings a united congregation began to work as never before to construct the sanctuary and adjacent facilities any obstacle i know we had things that came up i know that's always the way and during the building there were always delays first one thing and then another and then maybe money might get short but you know they worked around it and the lord supplied the needs there was a project they had to complete and the storms were around and the rain was coming and so the men gathered and they began to pray and the clouds literally parted and went around our property was rain on both sides but the lord kept the property here dry so that the men could complete the projects that they were working on it was just a marvelous thing that the lord was so faithful and all from the get-go from the building start he was faithful in everything that he did with us as a team after they left work men came to the church working long hours to build our new church home after the building was dried in then myself and my boy started working here at night a lot of nights we'd be here way late one of my greatest memories was moving into the sanctuary we didn't have the drop ceiling completed in there so myself my brother jimmy my dad and jeff tibbs and bud crouch we came one night and we put all the ceiling tile in the sanctuary and it took all night long and that i was so happy that i could be a part of uh you know building the church ladies gave their time and energy as well providing nourishing meals moral support and prayer there were a lot of times that the men met over here and did certain things they did a lot of work and the women would cook and bring their dinner to them at night as long as they were working we were working to provide them sustenance and a warm meal during that time while the sanctuary was being finished the congregation began meeting in the newly finished gymnasium where god continued to pour out his spirit transitioning into the gym here which is now the fellowship hall and the youth center and we have the sanctuary there and the platform was here a lot of people received the holy ghost i received the holy ghost october 6 1985 in the gym back here uh brother david mckimmie came for revival during that time and it was an awesome revival my husband received the holy ghost so he took the pastor by the hand and they made a lap around the gym and he said i could have gone further so but in that revival that particular night eight people received the holy ghost my dad received the holy ghost my wife dana received the holy ghost uh during that rough bible and then brother steinman received the holy ghost it seemed like it was an incredible revival during that time and a lot of people's lives were changed after much hard work the newly named atlanta west pentecostal church met on easter sunday in 1986 and rejoiced together in the new 715 seat sanctuary the new campus also provided space for the thriving school atlanta west christian academy in 1995 pastor darrell johns arrived and led atlanta west to a new level brother johns ended up receiving the majority of the vote out of three men that came and preached for us and he became our pastor the pastoral transition time was was a really tough time for a lot of us in in our church in general and you know there was a period of time where the future was very uncertain and we didn't really know which direction we were going to go and during that time after that transition our church went through a period of healing that that we really needed and then after that we went through a period of growth and revival that has continued even to now there's no question the hand of god was on this church and uh protecting the future of atlanta west for uh for what's going on even today brother johns came to this church being able to see him the first time walk down the aisle heading towards the platform that was so significant to me because to me i saw the humility i saw what he was as a man and god just put it in my heart things are going to be okay i knew that if we could just remain to be faithful no matter what has happened in the past god was still god he's still in control he's on the throne and there is nothing that's going to stop the work of god and the very first day that sister johns entered into those doors into a church that was hurting depressed how are we going to make it and all of these various things and she giggled that infectious laughter that she has and it's just like the clouds opened up the sunshine came through and here was this wonderful beautiful lady with this laugh and a heart as big as all outdoors to love everybody it was indeed like a healing bomb with a strong leadership background in various national and local church roles brother john's began to challenge our saints to evangelize the lost and disciple the converted he just kind of preached and talked one sunday about he was going to open the doors to the church to everybody sorry get a little emotional but it seemed seemed to me like from that day forth when he'd made that announcement and he talked about you know the different kinds of people that might would come to our church when he opened up the doors but he said that's the way heaven's gonna be it's the way we are to be so from that day forth seemed to me like we just started exploding growing with the need for educational and event space the church began the campaign give me this mountain and the family life center building project was started this twenty thousand square foot facility was finished in 2002 and has hosted many events such as church services christmas fellowships and even the world famous memorial day picnic we were in a mode where we were we were gaining stability and progress and and revival and growth and so we had a really big need for for space at that time our old gymnasium which is the area back there where the crowd meets now uh it was used for classrooms is used for multiple purposes they just had petitions and it was hard for the sunday school teachers trying to talk over each other and we went to work on fixing that problem and we built a family life center but in addition to that we finished some space in the back of what was the old gym that made it much more functional for for a lot of different things for the youth and other other functions so we we desperately needed that type of thing and the family life center was just a great project and kind of victory to to to improve our facilities in that way and when we finished the family life center and the development of the of the youth center in the back we basically doubled our square footage and it was a tremendous blessing for our church and our church was growing at the time and it's continued to grow and there's no question that that growth may have not been sustainable without that additional space atlanta west pentecostal church has always valued demonstrative apostolic worship at the core and in 2009 god would take the church on a journey through the choir competition how sweet the sound when the church was voted the best church choir in america i thought it was going to be more hype i thought it was going to be more commercialized and maybe even the point that this church over here may get made fun of we're going to go and sing in this environment the power of the spirit of the lord was in that auditorium to such an extent that even unbelievers were moved watching the people around me these are just strangers people that were there to to be there for the event and it was amazing the when our choir saying and the power of god that came across the audience and people around me that i didn't even know were worshiping and speaking in tongues and it'd blow people away and you see people in there that had nothing to do with our church worshiping and tears flowing you know from their face everywhere everywhere they went it was that way just powerful it's one of the greatest things that's happened at atlanta west because we're able to be a part of god touching so many people in this this commonality and the unity that was built what the enemy would have wanted to take for evil the lord took it and turned it for good it wasn't it and it turned out very well the most remarkable aspect of how sweet the sound was the tangible powerful presence of god that was manifest each time our choir performed as a result hundreds of guests experienced the power of pentecost at atlanta west behind the scenes it was the faithfulness of the atlanta west members to apostolic principles power and practice coupled with our unswerving commitment to separation from the world that attracted the power and presence of god when you've attended a local church for over 30 years you see a lot of things happen and you see a lot of people come and go through all that god has been faithful and he's the atlanta west has been has been a a faithful lighthouse to to to my family and to the families of atlanta west i'm just really thankful to have been a part of it and um and there's no question that my family is better off because of it atlanta west has always been a revival church since i was a kid we're living proof of god's faithfulness and you know having the opportunity to grow up at this church [Music] i believe it's one of the greatest it is the greatest thing that happened to my life the the kindness the friendliness um our pastor being approachable this thing's one of the greatest things of this church brother johns has built such a foundation from the babies all the way through you know to the elderly like myself that it's solid it's solid all the way through and i don't see anything but just great things for the church you know future looks bright to me looks good to me the lord has been faithful to us because i believe we have been faithful to him if the people of this church and other churches would see the need to just be faithful continue to come to church not being offended when something happens and not letting that hit you to the point where you have put all your faith in a person god has not offended you be faithful to him god has been faithful to us let's be faithful to him he is faithful he will be faithful to the very end he'll take us through the lord talked about in matthew the sixth chapter he gave us three principles to follow and that if we would follow them in the order that he gave them his faithfulness was assured to us he said when you give and this church is a giving church we give sacrificially the next one is when you pray and we pray and the next one is when you fast those three elements when you take them in that order and you're obedient to the word of the lord that gives you this instruction this is the way you do it when you give when you pray and when you fast the faithfulness of our god is secure he's an awesome god of faithful god and his faithfulness to us from the get-go from the very first service with brother and sister harper and to where we are today we can count on it because he's a faithful god by nature he's a faithful god but then when we in obedience do in the order that he has commissioned us to do in his word when we do that then he does this god has been faithful to atlanta west pentecostal church and our people have been faithful to him a celebration of 60 years is a significant milestone we honor our history but we do not live in the past our heritage is the foundation upon which we build our future we are looking back so that we can more clearly look ahead [Applause] [Music] cause all my life you have been faithful and all my life you have been so so good [Music] i will sing of the goodness of god and i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me all my days i've been helped in your hands from the moment that i wake up until i let my head i will sing of the goodness of god cause all my life you have been faithful [Music] of god and i love your voice [Music] in darkest nights you are close like no other foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] and all my life you have been [Applause] i will see [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] cause your goodness is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i of will goodness [Music] [Music] [Music] of the goodness of god i'm gonna sing of the goodness of god we will sing of the goodness [Music] [Applause] oh that's so much [Music] blessings and so many yes [Music] [Music] and that's why i praise you and for this [Music] [Music] that's why i praise you that's [Music] [Music] that's why i praise you [Music] for this [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's why so many times [Music] that's why i praise you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] you've seen me through [Music] for this praise forever [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] yes [Applause] [Applause] foreign is [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i give you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we've been is [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] you've foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] thank you [Applause] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] see me [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] if you need a healing in your body right now would you begin to worship the lord but you thank god for his faithfulness to you he is the same yesterday today and forever and the god of the past is the god of the present and he will continue to be god in the future there is nothing too hard for him in jesus name right now i prayed in healing power renewing power restoring power reconciling power would be released in this house right now you brought us over every mountain you've taken us to every tart valley you brought us through the victory and we give you praise for it today you're a faithful god i said praise him thank him and walk into a victory right now [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i said continue to worship the lord if you need a renewing in your soul if you need to return to your apostolic roots if you need the lord to rebirth a passion in you for truth and for godliness and for what really matters in life let it happen right now 60 years he's never failed us 60 years he's brought us through and that has been a snapshot of human history where god has always proven himself to be faithful [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah i'm going to make just a few comments you can stay right where you are if you'd like to listen to the full 15-minute message you can watch the morning service later but here is the secret of atlanta west we understand that god has been faithful to us that while we are not perfectly faithful his faithfulness is new every morning and his mercies are new he is a faithful god to every generation he cannot waver in his faithfulness to us amen and while there are times that we waver and some have waffled on the truth god has kept this church together because of his faithfulness to us but in the same way that the apostolic church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone this church is built on pioneers people who love the truth who love god who are sacrificial who are faithful who have found a place to serve who believe in the supernatural demonstration of the holy ghost where there is healing and deliverance and salvation to walk away from a life of sin and to a life of life and holiness and a future in heaven he has been faithful to us he has been faithful to us [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Applause] [Music] help me [Music] thank you i got a phrase is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] let it out everybody [Music] [Music] i [Music] i [Applause] [Music] no matter what the weapon is i want you to know that we win is [Music] is [Music] [Music] if [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh that's a rejoice in the lord always and again i say rejoice in the faithfulness of god [Music] [Applause] in the past 26 years of my tenure here of the 60-year history of this church i've watched precious people in this church walk through dark valleys of grief and trouble and come through on the other side because all they had to hang on to is the hope in the lord [Music] there were some days they didn't know if they could take another step but they did anyway i've watched people deal with unspeakable grief and heartache but they didn't give up and they didn't walk away and god was faithful to them and held their hand to the valley so they can see another mountain peak of the horizons of the future [Music] amen so i want to encourage you today to put your hand into the hand of a faithful god and let him walk you through every valley over every mountain through every challenge of your life but be faithful to him be faithful in your walk with god be faithful to apostolic doctrine be faithful to our apostolic identity find your place to serve in the body of christ where you can make a difference become a pillar to the next generation become part of the foundation for somebody who's looking for a faithful saint of god they're looking for somebody to follow maybe your past has been unstable you've been in and out and up and down you've not really been your best but today you can draw a line in the sand to say by god's grace i'm going to live for the lord i'm going to walk with god i'm going to keep my hand in his i'm going to see what the lord will do and for another 60 years or until he comes back for his church amen let's magnify him and worship his precious name a faithful god [Music] [Music] amen praise god [Music] our mission is to see people saved and then grow in the lord so on this 60th anniversary wouldn't this be a great day for someone to be baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ for the remission of sins if you've never initiated that new walk with god you're buried with him by baptism and raised to walk in the newness of life that's when the holy spirit comes into your life so today if you've not been baptized we're prepared to baptize you in fact part of the dna of this church as they were always ready to baptize you any day of the week any hour of the night some are better than others you know for us but when you get ready we're ready amen i baptized people new year's eve after midnight you know they wanted to get baptized on the first day of the year that's fine with us it's essential to be baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ for the remission of sins for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved i'm glad i know the name of jesus christ the faithful god the faithful god they're still healing in this house right now they're still renewal in this house right now but with god all things are possible [Music] amen apostolic principles practice and power we believe in that and there's apostolic power teaching and doctrine but apostolic fellowship is also part of the new testament church so we're going to have some fellowship today in the family life center we have refreshments for you and uh we would love for you to be able to go back and spend some time there if you've never been baptized then that will be after we baptize you in jesus name if you need to pray through to the holy ghost then that would be after that happened for you what a tremendous day of breakthrough for so many people and i believe the lord has healed and encouraged and strengthened us he's given us a little perspective amen the devil always wants you to just have the short look instant gratification now but sometimes when you stretch out your life a little bit and even look at just 60 years for this church history you see that there's a god through every valley through every mountain that he'll be faithful to you as he's been faithful to us i love you i appreciate your faithfulness to the lord because of his faithfulness to you that is what makes this church a tremendous church it is my honor to be part of this church lots of people have made have worked hard to make this day come together but i appreciate sister jen nickins he's managed the reception and i appreciate ryan johns who put together the video along with dylan evans those who came to be interviewed died on a thousand hills and all of you tremendous music thank you brother brandon worship team why don't you give them a hand a lot of people work very hard around here amen [Music] if you want to have easy good church pray hard worship easy pray easy worship hard study easy preach hard if you want it to go well prepare your heart to the lord and he will bless you in a miraculous way lord thank you for this day and for coming down as you always have and inhabiting the praises of your people thank you for the tangible presence of god that you have demonstrated here today lord we can see further because we stand on the shoulders of great men and women i thank you lord for giving us the perspective to look back so we can more clearly look ahead i thank you lord for being faithful to us 60 years of history for this local church i thank you lord that we're going to grow we're going to achieve our mission i pray god that you would let our best days be before us that we would be a vibrant church making a difference in our world in jesus name everybody said amen god bless you fellowship if you need special prayer the altars are always open you can make your way to the family life center there's refreshments for you there amen god bless you thank you again everybody [Music] do [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Atlanta West Pentecostal Church

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Length: 74min 31sec (4471 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021