"The NFL Draft" | Pastor Grainger Browning, Jr. | Full Sermon

thank Reverend Taylor for reading our scripture going to ask if you can turn back to Samuel the 3 chapter thank Reverend Farmer for our prayer today and if you could go back to uh 1st Samuel the 3r chapter uh we want to begin at that second verse 1 Samuel the 3r chapter the 2 verse one night Eli who was almost blind by now had gone to bed the lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God suddenly the Lord called out Samuel yes Samuel replied what is it he got up and ran to Eli here I am did you call me I didn't call you Eli replied go back to bed so he did then the Lord called out again the second time Samuel and again Samuel got up and went to Eli here am I did you call me no I didn't call you my son Eli said go back to bed Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before so the Lord called him a third time and once again Samuel got up and went to Eli here I am did you call me then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy so he said to Samuel go and go and lie down again and if someone calls you again say Speak Lord your servant heareth so Samuel went back to bed and the Lord called out as before Samuel Samuel and Samuel replied Speak Lord your servant heareth and the people of God said amen am we ask for your prayers as we use as our summer topic [Music] today the NFL draft you may take your seats in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Our uh text today begins with um Israel coming towards the end of What's called the time of the judges many of you know the judges of Gideon uh Deborah Samson and it's kind of towards the end of Samson's Reign the judge was a time in which uh Israel would follow God and the judges would tell them how to follow God and then they would slip back away and so now this was a period where they were beginning to slip back away and the judges say it's that everyone started to do what was right in their own sight kind of like today no one can tell you what to do talk to me isly Brothers It's My Thing I do what I want to do you can't tell me who the sock it to and so everybody was doing whatever they wanted to do and uh and for 200 years uh Eli had been the last priest the last judge and so now um Israel was in a very challenging time because God's presence was moving from the people and around this time Bible lifts up a man by the name of Eli he is uh married to two women one uh pania and the other is Hannah pania has a lot of children uh and so she takes it out on Hannah who's Barren in an amazing how people like to make you feel bad to make themselves feel good I want to especially speak to the youth today especially uh our children in junior high school and Elementary School it can be very difficult and very challenging because people can make fun of you especially during this time of bullying they can do things that can make you feel very bad about yourself they'll talk about how you look or do things and say things about you that can make you feel very bad and in their own warped mind it makes them feel good so it's going to be very important that you have a sense that God has made you beautiful God has made you exactly and whatever they say it's going to be important that you know what God says but I'm not just speaking to youth today many of youve had to deal with the same thing on your job it's amazing how people like to put you down to build themselves up and all across this world really and especially in this country it can be like crabs in a barrel and it' be very important to realize they don't have a heaven or a hell to put you in and that you really need to affirm yourself as to who God has made you and if you've know and if you know God has made you wonderfully and creatively and blessed [Applause] them then you need to sometimes affirm yourself if no one else is affirming you do I have a witness in the house so Hannah because she's baren every year three times a year they have to go to a religious festivals in sh which is the capital at this time this is before Jerusalem and uh during that 20m trip panah is just giving it to Hannah talking about how how she has children and Hannah does not and and it gotten so bad that that Hannah when she got to the temple uh this time she couldn't take it anymore and just kind of broke down and cried and her husband said uh what's wrong sweetheart uh don't you have me an I more more wonderful than all the sons you can have uh I don't you see the car I let you drive and the house we live in and clothes that you have sometimes Brothers we just don't get it and you can hear Hannah say I I appreciate everything sweetheart but you're not really feeling me today I'm you you don't realize what I have to go through through uh panana and and so we with this she goes to the temple and just starts crying um and she just cries and cries and cries and cries and cries because some like some of you here today she feels no one understands and and it's hard when no one understands spouse doesn't understand neighbors don't understand parents don't understand and you feel like you're all by yourself but I have a good word for you today you're not yeah for God understands not only does God understand God's also in control not only is God understands not only is God in control but when you go to him in prayer his delays are not denials everybody in here is praying for something that has not yet come to pass and you've got to trust God's timing I know you want it now I know it's taken longer than you had anticipated and I know you're working very very hard to bring it about but God has a perfect timing and if you hold on to God just a little while longer uh your heavy burdens will soon be passing over keep running the race and keep the faith and in God's Own time your change is going to come uh when uh I was when I finished uh Elementary School sister Petty I went to th Junior High School they use the students and I know Howard University is going to love this we are part of the Hampton Institute to laboratory school and so uh they used many of us to integrate the public schools in Hampton Virginia and Thor Junior High School was the school that four of us went to and so when we got there they had never had a they had never had black students before and the first three months was as bad as it could get every day called the nword uh the teacher should leave the classroom chalk was blown in my face milk poured over my head and I know it's hard to kind of understand it to today but during this time you kind of took it because it was felt that if you did not resist then change could come and so we went through that for about three months uh first day in school uh first week in school no one sat beside me no one set the road beside me and in the auditorium no one set the row in front of me no one set the row back in in a sense you were isolated and the teachers were a part of it and so uh you remember when they used to hold your pictures up once you got the class pictures and you would go to the front get your class picture well we were just got finished reading and so I went up to get my P and the teacher was laughing everybody was laughing and the challenge was the head of the KKK in Hampton son was a part of that class and so he was kind of the K kind of the ring leader of everything that took place but uh as was a part of the 60s we just kind of took it and took it and every class had a deacon class newspaper and at the end of the year U the class would vote on who is the most likely to succeed in the smartest and to my shock at the end of the year the one whose father headed the KKK in the Hampton area said I I nominate Granger as the one to be the smartest one in the year as the most likely to succeed and every one of us all four of us in our classrooms got some kind of Accolade in that class newspaper and I'm just saying that that sometimes you just have to wait it out can you look at someone sometimes just have to wait it out and let God's let let God have his way uh Hannah had a waited out and as she waited out she did the most important thing she went to church she went to the temple and there in the temple she was crying the priest Eli saw her crying and thought she was drunk she was crying so hard and so so she kind of he kind of dismissed her and she kept crying and so finally Eli said I'm sorry you can't stay here crying like this we don't allow drinking in the temple and Hannah say I ain't drunk I'm just going through something anybody going through something I'm just I'm just going through something and uh and and Hannah said I'm Barren which means my husband can divorce me at any time I have no rights I have no privileges and I just need God and so if you allow me to continue to pray to God when my son is born that I'm believing by faith will be I will dedicate him to the temple and he will belong to God and that he will be a great prophet in the name of God and I want you to hear this because this is our roles Pastor Jo and I our role often times as your pastors is to give you hope is to give you a faith and Eli said what you said I declare and decree is going to happen I'm believing that somebody here today you're doing a faith walk and I'm believing that my faith is going to tap into your faith and the word of God is going to move on you and what you're believing God for is going to come to pass and if you believe it for yourself can you give the lord's name to praise businesswoman businessman is going to come to pass the Bible said in due season your relationships is going to come to pass your children is going to come to pass your finances is going to come to pass your job is going to come to pass the house you're praying for the home you're praying for is going to come to pass the joy you hope to have is going to come to pass whatever you're believing God for today I'm believing by faith that God brought you to church or you're watching on streaming today because in due time God's going to bring it to pass you can't make me doubt him do I have anybody else in the house I know too much about him too much about his goodness too much about his love too much about how God's favor is upon you can you give a neighbor a holy high five and tell God's favor upon you this morning is getting ready to happen something good is getting ready to happen something God is getting ready to take place I'm trying to put a pin on it something good is about to happen for you to you through you something God is getting ready to take place and if you believe it by faith if they want to laugh at you let them laugh if they want to Mark you let them Mark but they don't know the god you serve that he's a god of yesterday today and tomorrow and if God did it before he will do it again do I have a witness in the house Hallelujah don't let anybody make you back up to what God's getting ready to do hallelujah thank you SAS they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall walk and not get weary they shall run and faint not do I have a witness in the house Mama believed it Daddy believed it Grandma believed it Grandpa believed it somebody prayed for you don't ever get it twisted that you got to be because you're so smart don't ever get it twisted because you work so hard but a daddy prayed for you a mama prayed for you somebody prayed for you and believed when you could not do it God could do what you could not do and here you are today can give the lord's name the praise what they did not have they believe you would have and somebody or to give somebody who's now in glory a hand praise saying thank you thank you there's a cloud of witnesses that's surrounding us today that is telling us you run on boy you run on girl to see what the end is going to be life for me was no Crystal St but I kept on driving kept on striving kept on believing and today my joy and my pride is because of what God is doing through you because through you you are the seed of the coming free and if you believe it for yourself you can give the lord's name to pray can you look at somebody say I got some Hannah in me I got some Ela in me yeah yeah and the Bible says 3 years later Samuel was brought by Hannah to the temple and she came to Eli the priest and said you remember me do they have any Educators in the house students come up you saw them last when they were 13 now they're 43 and they ask do you remember me Eli said not really but he said this is my son his name is Samuel I promised I was going to dedicate him to the temple and right now I'm giving him back to God always remember your children don't belong to you that's right they are Gifts of God and that's what baptism is about you are giving them back to God spiritually remember the gifts and talents that you have they were gifts and talents given to you by God and so you give them back to God to his glory the money you have is a gift from God that's right and you give it back to God for his honor and for his glory and if you realize who it comes from and you give it back to his glory then God says he'll give you increase do I have a witness in my house [Applause] and so Hannah gives her son uh back to Eli and uh Eli has him uh sleeping or living near the Ark of the Covenant in other words he's living near the presence of God and one night one night he was minding his own business one night he was sleeping and then all of a sudden he heard [Music] Samuel it's time for you to be drafted I'm not talking to just Samuel today can you look at a neighbor and say God's drafting you God has been preparing you for the last four years five years and right now his timing is such that you need to respond to the call do I have anybody on this last Sunday of April in 2024 after God has brought you through a pandemic after God has kept you and never left you that if God calls you drafts you you're ready to say here my Lord send me and if that's you can you give the lord's name the praise the honor and the glory so this is the first round of the draft and so Samuel thought he was going to be a first round draft pick he thought he was going to be Caleb Williams but uh he went to Eli and Eli said nah I I didn't call you if you look at the young people in the draft and they think they're going to be called in the first round and they're not have you ever seen their faces the family gets depressed millions of dollars are at stake they they almost look like they're so embarrassed some of you here today you were not called us first round draft choice matter of fact if America had its way none of us would have been first round DRFT choices we would have been huers of wood tillers of water that would be it that's why this election is so important we have to tell America they're wrong that even though you overlooked us does not mean God has and we have power that you don't know about matter of fact we have been the Redemption of America if it had not been for us and especially black women America would been in a terrible awful situation and can you give yourselves a hand praise for not giving up that's why next week is going to be so important that we vote and vote our conscience and we thank the Lord for what God is getting ready to do I don't care what the polls say God's getting ready to do something exceedingly abundantly beyond what you ever could think or imagine and and and and so he wasn't the first round draft choice he was he was not Caleb Williams and so he went back to bed because he didn't get the call kind of wondering what's going on and then shortly after that the next night another call came and he answered that call but he wasn't the second round Choice he was not kayn Coleman the 33rd CH choice of the B Buffalo Bills he he W even second round can you imagine being looked over I'm not talking about kayin Co I'm talking about you some of you've been looked over some of you know there's more to you than what others have given you credit for and it seems like you've been passed by but God brought me to church this morning to let you know God has not passed you by pass me not oh gentle savior hear my humble cry while on others Thou Art calling Please Don't Pass Me savior savior father I Stretch My Hands To Thee no other help I know if thou would take thy love from me with th shall I go I want you to know God's timing is still in place and the because his timing is still in place if you believe God still has a place for you in his timing he's still in control and for some of you you weren't even called the second round but if you wait on God God has something special for you can you look at somebody and say you're still going to be drafted you're still so the next night was the third round and uh Samuel heard his name this time Samuel went to Eli Eli finally figured out it ain't me he's waiting for it's God Can you look at a neighbor and say I ain't waiting for you I'm not waiting for my spouse I'm not waiting I'm waiting for God I'm waiting for God to do something this this is a God thing this is this ain't about what you think this ain't about what some no this is a God thing and Samuel finally figured out this is what God Said and and and and and Samuel said yeah and Samu and Eli told Samuel now go back and I want you to tell God here am I God send me where am I going to go I don't know but if you trust God it's better than trusting yourself I said if you trust God it's better than trusting yourself because God knows what you don't know God's already going to where you have not yet been and God has it already prepared and if God's giv you a vision he's also giving you a pro vision and if you believe it for yourself you can give the lord's name the honor the praise and the glory can you look at somebody say I'm a third round draft choice you can laugh at me if you want to but some great people have come from the third round Joe Montana was a third round draft choice all you Cowboy fans Jason Whitten was a third round draft choice Travis Kelly was a third round draft choice all you Raider fans Art Shell was a third round draft choice from Maryland Eastern Shore talk to me somebody and one of our own Curtis Martin who used to come to eonia when he was at the New York Jets was a third round draft choice Rookie of the Year offensively third round draft choice a born again Christian and the reason he wears number 28 is because he takes it from Deuteronomy 28 can you look at somebody and tell him I'm a third round draft choice but don't get it twisted I've got some gifts I've got some talents I've got some abilities and because of that I hear my name being called not by a human being but I hear being called by God and AKA and S don't get upset because the Deltas are here I'm just letting somebody know that Dorothy Height was a third round draft choice and when you [Music] heard she decided I'm going to open wide the Heaven's Gates and allowed the Civil Rights Movement to move through her and when the brothers did not even adopt her let her come in she busted her way in anyhow somebody ought to give the lord's name the praise s l hmer was a third round draft choice and she heard and when Fanny heard it he she said I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired do I have anybody sick and tired of being sick and tired and you're getting ready to go forth mer Church Terrell was a third round draft choice and when she heard she said I lift the climb do I have a witness in the house Barbara Jordan was a third round draft choice and when she [Applause] heard Richard Nixon wound up in jail do I have a witness in the house surely chis was a third round draft choice and when she heard [Music] she decided I'm going to run for president of the United States and because of that Barack Obama stands on her shoulders do I have a witness in the house Hallelujah if you believe that God has made you a third round draft choice it's okay because the point is you have an opportunity even though you are Underdog and if you need to know who the third round draft choice was his name was Malachi courtley Malachi was from a 250 member High School in Kentucky no one gave him a chance to be anything went to Western Kentucky University and because of that he gives the lord's name all the honor the praise and the glory and on draft night he was not a first round he was not a second round but it said my movement and my drafting is not going to be just a monument I want it to be a movement so everybody from his little town in Kentucky he invited everybody to come over his house all the kids from the neighborhood so they could see as a permanent example what can happen if you have faith in God Can you look at somebody and tell I was an underdog yeah they didn't give me a chance I had very little hope but God made a way out of nowhere and I'm now in the NFL draft well somebody might ask what is the n elra well I'm not talking about the National Football League I'm talking about newly saved Believers in Christ Jesus who believes that somehow because you're newly because you're Savor God's giving you a brand new life can you give somebody a holy high five and tell them I'm in the NFL I'm newly I'm savored and I've got life and I've got life more abundantly yeah because God's getting ready to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond what you ever could think or imagine can I give somebody can you give somebody a holy high five and let them know it's getting ready to happen yes hallelujah hallelujah Caleb's name means he was beside Joshua and they were the ones who went to the promised land till you get somebody says my name is Cale and I'm getting ready to go to a Promised Land hallelujah hallelujah but the seven craft Choice his name was J C mortley I said his name was J C his first name is J C and if you need a little English trick J stands for Jesus C stands for Christ Christ yeah he was not drafted by the religious leaders he was not drafted by the Roman government he was an underdog so much so they hung him high and stretched him wide and then they put his body in the Tomb and there he died but early Easter Sunday morning he [Music] heard early Easter Sunday morning he heard early Easter Sunday morning morning he heard he heard the ding ding and he was drafted by the NFL so that we might have life and have life more abundantly if you're here today and you're Standing on the Promises of God can you give the lord's name the honor the praise and the glory and when you hear this sound when you hear the sound of the NFL draft God is talking to you God is speaking to you God is calling you can you look at our neighbor and say it's time to bust the move our community needs you to Bust the Move uh our schools need you to bust the move our churches need you to Bust the Move you're too gifted you're too talented you're too blessed you're too anointed to sit on the sideline God has given you everything you need to make the community we live in the Beloved Community of God and if you believe it for yourself you can give the lord's name the honor the praise and the glory you have been drafted by the power of the Holy Ghost and if you believe that for yourself can you give the lord's name the honor the praise and the glory can you have somebody tell me you've been drafted you've been drafted you've been

Channel: Ebenezer AME Church

Views: 425

Keywords: Ebenezer AME Church, AME Church, AME, Grainger Browning, Jo Ann Browning, My Ebenezer, The Eb, Faith, Family, Community, Service, Fort Washington Md

Id: km4WuRoyWUc

Length: 29min 53sec (1793 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 29 2024