WATCH: A New Church Agenda | A Sermon by Bishop William J. Barber II

every person is called to serve god as part of a priesthood of all believers we are called to study and read scripture for ourselves rather than having tests of faith and creedal statements we critically and thoughtfully engage the word taking into account the context in which it was written we honor the heritage of christian unity by staying together in covenant as a witness to the world that even when we disagree we still make room welcoming all to the table [Music] we journey as our ancestors in the spirit of unity not uniformity in the sharing of communion every sunday this is why the chalice serves as our logo [Music] we move in mission to answer god's call for healing and justice particularly in the areas of care for the earth issues surrounding social justice poverty [Music] hunger and the challenges faced by women and children we are disciples of christ a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world join us [Music] [Music] he's [Music] well [Music] he hung his head [Music] reading has taught me what church is and what church is supposed to be it is a prophetic ministry meant by jesus christ to help all people i was raised in this church it's one of the most welcoming loving caring and compassionate churches that i've ever been a part of this trip has grown throughout the years has always served the public always done great things for the community i love being a part of a place that's doing something beyond the walls for the people in our community no matter what race creed color it's a loving church and no matter how much trouble you're in they are here to help you you can be transfigured in a sermon you can be transfigured in a song you can be transfigured in a praise you can be transfigured in a prayer that takes you to the place where you see god showing off shoulder for real for real for real and when you know god and you've been changed from the inside it'll change how you serve on the outside and if you understand what it is then you'll understand what you're supposed to do with it though the decades march on the dream lives we are here assembled for hope courage and commitment continued by torchbearers like greenleaf christian church in goldsboro building up the goldsboro community they're located here on this corner but they reach so much further than that it's dealing with the community as a whole it's not excluding anybody we are about those that have less than that are disenfranchised that have no hope and coming here we have a pastor a shepherd the angel of this house who gives us the word of god and we live it out reverend dr barber is the chairperson of the rebuilding broken places community development corporation the facility provides on-site job training child care and meals for children and tutoring the corporation also offers home buying workshops and built homes for first-time homebuyers and low-income families we are not a in the four walls church we are in the community church that works to advance social justice in north carolina hello miss barbara we think it's time for legislators to stop being ideologues republican democrats think about these people i love the teachings of my pastor i love our moral monday the moral monday events demonstrate a classic david versus goliath struggle the reverend taking on a right-leaning state legislature that has introduced an avalanche of extreme policies that hurt students the poor and the [Applause] [Music] sickness brothers and sisters are sleeping on the street for a country this rich to have so many people poor it's immoral and it's wrong our backs are against the wall and we got no choice but to push freedom oh freedom over me we're pushing this with every candidate because we've heard these consultants say that poor people don't want to be called poor and we're meeting poor people to say that's not what we want we know it but we don't look like a nation ignoring us and not calling our name why is there not a focus on poverty and low wealth i mean a focus not as an aside not in special committees but and how is or how will your campaign be different in both naming and addressing poverty as a central part of the campaign i love greenleaf mostly because reverend barbara preaches the word of welcome god can come in all are loved all are embraced all will be lifted all are important greenleaf loves you for who you are they see you through god's eyes i've raised two children here and i just feel at home when i'm here it is about giving but it's also about learning learning the true definition of what christ's purpose in this world was about no america has never yet been all that she has hoped to be but right here and right now a third reconstruction is possible if we choose please god grant us wisdom grant us courage for the facing of this hour the lord saved me but through coming to greenleaf and listening to the god within my passion god within my member i have a divine mission i know what i am to do with my salvation besides just sit there and fast and go to church in sunday school i know how to accomplish my assignments it is a church that loves everybody a church that welcomes everybody because we serve a god as a god of everybody and i'm just glad to be a part of a place that is so loving and welcoming this is a good place to raise your children get foundation in the word we indeed are living out being concerned about the total man just not about the soul and trying to ensure that they get to heaven but to ensure that they enjoy part of heaven while we're here on this earth thank god for jesus and being a member of a church that cares about god's people we love you thank you [Music] hallelujah [Music] good morning good morning and welcome to green leaf christian church this is our friends and family day celebration and we came to give god glory come on come on make a joyful shout unto the lord serve the lord with gladness come on come on come before his presence with singing know that he is our lord he is our god and we are his people hallelujah enter into its gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise come on this is our celebration this is the day that the lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it we come for lots of reason today it's a friends and family celebration and there's also the mortgage burning amen ministry expansion and we have a cloud of witnesses that are cheering for us today it is the lord's doing and it is marvelous in his sight oh i wish i had some help i wish i had some praise and so magnify the lord with me and let us and so his name together hallelujah pray with me oh god we invite you holy spirit come into this place oh lord let your chicana glory god reign in this place god take over take control we need you o god we call on you you are our god you are our help you are our strength and we cannot do nothing without you come holy spirit god we invoke you up we invite you o lord lord we pray lord that our praises will be incensed to you come and inhabit our praises on today let our savior be glorified through all our words all our singing all our praise and our worship come holy spirit god be glorified be edified in the name of jesus and we bless you we love you and adore you in jesus name and the people of god shout it amen amen come on put your blessed hands together and let's applaud the lord i believe we can do better than that this is worship celebration and let's sing and let's switch celebrate jesus christ this is the name everybody come on [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] anybody [Music] uh [Music] his gates [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he has [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] god we give you glory we give you [Music] come on and stand on your feet you can do better than that god's been too good for you to sit down that quick come on and make a joyful noise until the lord come on and share the lord with god come before his presence with singing know you that the lord he is god come on greatly it is he that it made us and not we ourselves we are his people and the sheep of his pastor come on and enter to his gates with thanksgiving into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and bless his name for the lord is good his mercy is everlasting his truth endured to all generations now turn to your neighbor kobe save and say neighbor the cdc said you needed to get vaccinated the cdc said wear a mask the cdc they stay six feet apart but they did not say keep your mouth closed when it come to praising [Music] god i speak against the demon of depression right now in the name of jesus god has been too good hallelujah and we ought to give god every praise come on i'm not gonna let y'all off like that this morning somebody said somebody said well are you are you encouraging the people to praise god yes what the bible says in psalm 118 we're supposed to praise him if obama walked up in here you'd be still clapping come on improve god some praise hallelujah hallelujah and some high pollutant folk but look at what the lord has done amen and we ought to give god praise how many of you glad you're just still here and living give god a praise for living come on put those hands together we're not through yet come on how many of you glad you glad you're living and you got your right mind [Applause] [Music] how many of you glad you're living and you know jesus which means you're gonna live forever [Music] on this little program it says the occasion what is the occasion to praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord now i'm going to warn you today as bishop you better not have more praise today for burning a mortgage than you do for what the lord has done when he saved you because that would be a sin and i can't let you sin now i can't let you sin your first praise has to simply be unto god and i'm thankful to god that i know jesus and the pardoning of my sin somebody act like you saved and give god a praise oh god what a mighty god we serve don't y'all know angels do what and heaven what what a mighty what god now if the angels are bowing before him then don't you know we look humans ought to be bound before him come on and crank that up a little bit old old-school way come on let's go back to old church a little bit what a mighty god we sir come on praise team come on levite [Applause] [Music] back [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] now put those hands together [Music] [Music] [Music] everybody [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Applause] but i feel a praise on the inside cause when i think of the goodness of jesus all that he's done for me my soul cries out [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah and let me tell you something if you looking at us you in the wrong house if you're not putting your hands together and giving god praise you in the wrong house even the security folk y'all can praise god and be security hallelujah time out for foolishness church turn to your neighbor say time out for foolishness god's been too good to you for you to sit down on your praise now we used to come up with foolish stuff so can't nobody tell me to praise god nobody is telling you to praise god god is telling you to praise god so you're going to tell god no hallelujah and i see miracles sitting in here felicia called back a few weeks ago and said the doctor said her daddy was out of here she just talked to her this morning and her dad is getting better somebody rather act like you got some scent and even if she wasn't he wasn't getting better she still got she still came to service and praising god you heard rebecca say her daddy was in icu and now he's getting better come on y'all you see stuff all around us how many of you got a little tad bit of miracle in your life come on you got a tad bit of miracle god has done something for you and you sure it was the lord kova is safe turn to your neighbor and say neighbor you ain't finished praising him for that yet if you are sure that god has done something in your life nobody else did it god did it i don't care how many times you have praised god for you still haven't praised god enough for it yet you still owe god some praise and that's our occasion because god has brought us a mighty long way and the worst thing we could do as a church is act like it's casual huh i'm gonna tell you about it in the sermon a little bit more but we're honored to have everybody all over from everywhere and we want to ask minister sir brent's son to come you can be seated in the lord but don't sit down in your spirit amen and before we even start we want to do many of you are texting how can you give on sunday mornings we allow people to give it here in the sanctuary you can give um online or you can mail it in we got a sheet i think cory y'all putting it up uh about giving so that you know you can see from all over the world we thank every one of you who have so now if you're in a church wherever you are don't you send your tithes to us you tithe at the church you're at but if you're with us and and you honor the ministry then you want to bless us a seed do that if you join us regular online and you want to send your tithes until you get somewhere in that area we would certainly be honored uh and and this is good soil amen this is good so it's a good soil green leaf don't leave me hanging church kapoka beats on my you know what the folks say well he said that but the people didn't say nothing they can hear y'all by the way online they can hear you not just hear me amen and uh we want to thank god so this is also family month where we give every ask every family to give at least 200 dollars that goes to what our continuing ministries to minister to families and it's a part of helping us pay off the mortgage and then go beyond things that we still have to do the 200 is the is is what we ask if you can do more do more if you don't have that do what you have but you know amen what it is that we we're asking to sow under god less than a dollar a day during the course of the year that you would sow don't do it with your tithes this is seed give c don't ever give your tithe as a seed your tithe is the time but the seed is that that you saw in addition amen and how many have sown some seed and seen god reproduce amen can i get a witness ain't no seed sowers in here amen i don't want you to lie but if you know what i'm telling you the truth amen and this morning uh where's his sister uh i think they're out in the vestibule uh we got a financial person in here this morning brenda or barbara amen where's where brenda amen so sister um barbara and our family all the kids we want to give you a check for five thousand dollars this morning rebecca has amen and continue to sow into the life of the church amen and the work of god and we've had others to give the deloitte family sent an offering this morning of 300 amen from from outside of the normal membership uh brother andrew jackson sent a thousand dollars you know andrew andrew jackson way out and um we've had a number of people online the moment we said we wanted some folk to give to join us they're not even quote-unquote members here but last week they sent 2 500 3 000 in almost instantly and i believe between now and the end of october we can raise a hundred thousand dollars that's a thousand people giving a hundred dollars or 100 people given a thousand dollars or 500 people giving 200 from all over the world wherever you are in the sanctuary in goldsboro wherever you are to sow into this continuing ministry and what we're trying to do both to save the soul and to minister to the body amen amen and so we celebrate god amen now when we came back from covet we said that we were not going to be an ordinary church we spent 30 days of praise we said every day when you feel like cussing find a reason to praise god when you feel like getting mad now we didn't go through that to quit uh we went through that it shouldn't be hard up in here to praise god it should be easy amen make it easy to tell your neighbor make it easy y'all don't want me to sing the secular song and make it make it church just easy like sunday morning [Music] see how y'all smiling when i did that i want that same reaction when we say jesus on the main line amen don't act all cute when it comes to church and then you go to the club you all livened up you know all you got to do take some of us to the club we get real life but we need to be real light i don't know where they got this thing that holiness meant you had to look ugly and be quiet i don't know where that is is that 10 right there i hope it is i'll talk to them about that later but anyway make sure that we rejoice in the lord amen now last i missed some birthday birthdays this month last month september go ahead hey give him a big hand give him a big hand come on that's your day your day wasn't an accident uh it was an incident amen god god decided to do something important in the world amen amen come on minister sheryl and lead us in a word of prayer and then our ministry of music amen let us pray father god is once again that we have come before you god giving you praise giving you glory thanking you god for being such a good god even when we are not where we're supposed to be god you're still good and father we're asking you today to be with us even in this time of worship even in this time of celebration and regardless of whatever has happened god we still love you lord and we still worship you lord and we still honor you god father we ask that you would just bless each one oh god of the members of this church not only here but god is abroad or just listening or just heard about us god bless them god even as they have been blessed by the messages by the pastor by the assistant pastor and by any others that i've been praying and giving so father as we pray this morning we ask lord god look on us god look into our hearts lord god see if there be anything that's not like you god just remove it god because we're not in competition god but we are in membership one to another so father we ask you lord to even go in to the corners of the buildings god because this god is this this worship service of god this worship place has been dedicated to you and so because it's your house god we will allow you to have your way and we ask your god for the ministers that's here that's helping and doing what we can lord for the deacons that's doing all the things that they can lord and all of those that are on the helps that we don't even see to help this church run god bless them father in the name of jesus and father we just want to continue to give you the praise because you almighty good god you didn't have to do it god but you did even in sickness even in death you're still good so father now look on that sky see our hearts see our mind god see that we want to follow you and let everything we say and everything we do will be a praise to you in jesus name amen hallelujah may this song minister to you he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high god shall abide in the shadows this song simply says that we're in the safety of the lord that no matter what comes our way god's got it amen let it bless you [Music] the sea [Music] replaced of the most high god shall abide in his grace [Music] shall in always be entangled by god's grace he shall be and if i go into the heavens he knows and if i go into the deepest death god knows so no matter what may come my way uncovered by blood and wind satan seems to raise by his hand i am [Music] [Laughter] safety the safety of [Music] the lord [Music] the [Music] is [Applause] [Music] there [Music] is [Music] say [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] rest in his head [Music] oh my soul [Music] i [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i'm so glad you're in his safety isn't that a good place to be isn't that a good place to be [Music] [Applause] he is [Music] i [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] who's in his safety right now [Music] come on and worship him in his safety he inhabits the praise of his people somebody's shot i'm safe in his arms all kind of stuff going on around me but i'm safe how many of you ain't fearing no man caught you [Music] [Music] anybody know god has kept you safe look at somebody and say if it had not been that's all i need to tell you if it had not been i ain't got time to go through it all if it had not been [Music] [Applause] [Music] and then add that part for the lord look at him and say father lord [Music] but i'm safe let me see if i got a real church has anything in the last six months tried to make you afraid but in the midst of it did you get a reaffirmation that you're safe i don't always do things like this but i just feel led to you know i'm watching brother god sing this morning and praise the lord he's got every reason to not be here his brother yesterday fell out they say he's got blood on his brain he could have easily gotten on a plane i thought he was on a plane and i walked in here and it did something to my soul because he said pastor i'm going to come worship fresh my brother may not live he may live we're praying for him to live my mom but i'm going to come worship first because i know one thing whatever i gotta face in indiana if i'm in god i'm safe and in these last days god looking for some folk that ain't playing sunny days or cloudy days you will stand up and declare i'm safe cancer gets healed cancer metastalizes i'm safe i'm safe if i live 90 years or 19 years i'm safe if i'm in him i'm safe [Music] if i get a miracle on this side or a miracle on the other side i'm just safe tell your neighbor i ain't crazy the reason i shout like this i ain't crazy i'm just safe thank you god for keeping us safe thank you god for holding us helping us lifting us assuring us in jesus name now god whenever you call men and women to preach you take the risk of putting treasure in trash treasure in an earthen vessel the excellency of the power might be of the and not of us to hide us behind the cross cover us in your blood fill us with your spirit in jesus name come holy spirit come amen i i said to god this week that i needed god to show me some manifestative signs that we have become what i want to preach about this morning i know we have but i needed to see it again and um not only did i see god this morning but i want y'all to know my soul is so happy this morning in some ways because sometimes you got to know if really god has as has given you a new church or folk just going through the same old stuff where they they can take it or leave it so you got to know who's with you some people can just take it or leave it and i walked in this morning see i called felicia about seven this morning thinking she was in arkansas and she never said she was here and i'm thinking she's in arkansas and and and got a reason to be there and a lot of folk would have stayed there and said y'all gonna do what y'all got to do because i got situation in my family but when i walked in here and saw that she was here and ready to sing and she understands that that we're family too that was a sign for me felicia that we're a new church that is some that some of y'all around here ain't playing do i have a witness here you ain't playing with god and so this morning the message comes from matthew chapter nine y'all know i haven't been able to get away from the ninth chapter god knows i have i just stopped trying you know and every time i read enough something pops out and it's amazing that we are at this text on this day and it simply says in verse 16 uh no one sold a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old guard for the patch we'll pull away from the garment making the tab worse one translation says you don't put a new patch on old garment you don't put new wine in an old wine skin and this morning on this day we not only celebrate god but celebrate what god has done and what we will dedicate today the long subject is sometimes say this with me sometimes we need a new garment because a new patch on old garment just won't do now the secondary subject if you need one is a new agenda church a new agenda church you may be seated don't sit down on the preacher say amen if you can't say a man say help him lord. this text is jesus teaching something about what it means to walk with jesus personally to walk with jesus as a church to walk with jesus as a family to walk with jesus as a nation are y'all walking with me let me read it to you in the message bible jesus went on to say no one cuts up a fine silk scarf i mean some something that a mic is on no one cuts up a fine silk scarf to then patch it up and put it on old work clothes i need to get that hit out of that mic please if everybody would cut off all the other mics we good praise the lord no one cuts up a fine silk scar to then put a patch on some old work clothes there comes a time you need new clothes in this text revendela garment or clothes here is really not about clothes sure this is a parable it's a metaphor new clothes in this text new garment is really about new character new consciousness and new focus you see in the bible both in the old and the new testament to put on new garments was to have a change of attitude and a change of agenda when you put on new garments it was a reminder that if you try to patch a new attitude on top of a bunch of old attitudes the struggle between the old attitudes and the new attitudes would tear everything apart so in the old testament for instance as you all see me dressed this morning that when you put on new roles it signified a new calling and a new commitment and a fresh understanding of god it signified that you had more responsibility the more clothes wasn't to be pretty the clothes were to add weight whenever you were called by god to do something that was more weighty so the high priest clothes was higher or more heavier than the priest clothes because the high priest had the most dangerous job there's nothing about dress-up the clothes signify something and when we look at this text this morning and we got to come to the conclusion that what jesus is saying is sometimes what is needed most often in our lives and our churches in our nation is not a patch a new attitude a new garment new clothes sometimes we've been patching up stuff too long in the new testament clothing as an imagery uh preachers is used to describe our relationship with god y'all get that whenever you read in the bible where it talks about it that gives the imagery of clothing is speaking about the relationship with god and you understand that because you put on clothes based on where you're going your clothes are you can if you know folk you can look at them and tell about what they're getting ready to do we used to have we used to have church clothes and you could just about know if you saw people have on certain kind of clothes certain kind of hat you'd say they headed to church now if back in the day if brook grady put on flag brothers i'm dating myself you young folk don't know what i'm talking about but everybody just laughing know what i'm talking about that little clothing book that was about the size of a jet magazine brother black know what i'm talking about and you could get those bail bottom jeans and those platform shoes what you talking about ricky and and and and and and and when you put something on when bobby put some of those on and put that can go ahead and turn around you knew he was up to something and it wasn't about church neither and when the sisters back then guys certainly put certain stuff on and put certain kind of rules on uh see we're going hunting sorry to bust your bubble brother but y'all ain't the only one that hunt you thought you would station her she spied you out that's right clothes clothes if i was going to work you put on a certain kind of clothes well in the bible when jesus was using this he was pulling from this understanding for instance in galatians chapter three y'all praying with me from verse 26 to 27 paul says in christ you are sons all you are all in christ all of you are sons of god through faith for as many of you were baptized into christ you have put on christ in other words christ here the imagery is that you actually put on christ there's a certain you put on the characteristics like you would put on clothes in romans 13 and 13 it says paul says to believers if you put on the lord jesus then you don't have don't don't make provisions for the flesh in other words once you put on christ's clothes don't come back and try to put on satan's clothes or satan's characteristics change clothes colossians chapter 3 verse 12 says put on as god's chosen ones holy and beloved compassion kindness humility meekness and patience in other words those are the clothes the character the cause the agenda that we're supposed to wear when we're in the lord the point is god doesn't want us to put on a patch of love and put a patch on top of hate he don't want us to have a little patch of love but the rest of our clothes is hate what good is it to put on a patch of mercy but then wear a three-piece suit of meanness which i had a witness here and and see some people try to patch their situation and fix that situation a little bit but this text says who would put a brand new piece of cloth on an old garment why would you put new cloth on an old garment just put on a new garment and we have come to know we have to come to know when it's time to get a new garment and we can't try to change things there's times in our lives we can't keep trying to change things by just putting on a little jesus that's been one of the greatest hindrances in the church folk trying to put on little jesus you know they put on a little jesus and worship and then raise hell in business meeting that's putting on a little jesus they say amen to the pastor but then serve roast preacher around the dinner table and wonder why the children don't come to church that's putting on this there are times we need a new garment and there comes a time in order to fix something somebody shall fix something not just patch it up we have to throw away the old garment and put on a new garment that's the only way to fix it and this is an understanding we need today god knows america needs it right now these politics god no what what good is it is it to pass a bill just to patch a little bit of the problem you know you're going to patch child poverty for three months and then pull all the resources back and go right back that's why we keep having so much trouble you know you're gonna build your roads while your people don't have any jobs you're gonna fix a bridge but then let people not have health care that's patch up work and if you try to patch stuff up on top of a hope for new it's gonna burst and tap sometimes we don't need another patch we need a full wardrobe change we need to fix the whole thing and get a new garment god knows in america we don't just need a patch we need some new garments of love and justice and murder that's why we got all this racism going crazy now cause we've just been for 400 years we've been patching it somebody killed gets killed by the cops we run into the streets everybody's hollering if it gets caught on camera and then in a few months it goes down and but we don't deal with the root the systemic problems the the way in which these police departments are clothed in racism and and other and not just in the police department in other aspects of society jesus is saying something here he's saying something here that we have had to learn down through history for 250 years and i've seen america tried to put patches on slavery they started out saying well the slaves tell you what we do we won't release the slave but we'll no longer say their property well we won't release them but we'll give them sunday off well we won't release we won't end slavery but we'll let you buy you free all that patches but somebody said only the new garment of freedom would work america tried to do a few patches on jim crow well we're not going to keep you from voting but did you was your granddad a slave that's a we're not going to tell you we're not going to say we're keeping black folk from voting we're just going to have something called a literacy test now we're not going to say only for black people so you can't say it's about race but if on the other side you don't provide education in the black community and the literacy test is about race and it's about power but but they saw that as just patches well tell you what dude we'll let you get on the bus and we'll be nice to unite you still can't sit in the front that's what they offered dr king and rosa paul first they said what if we just do have nice bus service now we laughed but 90 of the preachers in that city said okay don't tell that part of history 90 percent of the pastors were willing to say okay better better treatment okay in fact for just a slight moment king was willing to say it but a guy by the name of ed nixon said i didn't i didn't get out here to fight for courtesy i'm fighting for change and not only is this true about the history of the nation is true in the church many times in a church robin a patch will not do y'all gonna walk with me thank you so much a change in bylaws sometimes church thing they get they have a big fuss and then everybody goes and has a meeting this church went through at one time and they said well let's change the bylaws as though a bylaw change is going to make folk behave it's a way of skirting around dealing with the issue i mean when i first came to church they had a clause in the bylaw that said the pastor has to call the chair of the deacon board every morning to give him his schedule and tell him where he's going to be and i was like where'd that come from y'all must have had a turtle but something going on well and i asked one of the deacons and they said oh yeah well we had a bad pastor so we put that in the bylaws i said that doesn't work if you got a pastor that doesn't know they're supposed to be doing ministry work they you don't need to write they don't need to check in with the deacon ministry they need to be gone i don't even get up in the morning tell my wife everything i'm going to be doing cause some things when you pastor you can't tell even your spouse because it's pastoral confidential that stuff rebecca will never know about y'all i have to carry it to my grave but people thought they could patch something if we can just if we can just get a new choir but if you got a new choir singing the mean foe and if some of the choir members got the greatest voices but but they still don't treat each other right that's just a patch i'm going somewhere preach bob there's a time that the church has to put on new garments they have to be to fully and completely be open to a new agenda and greenleaf here's where i'm going on this day when we are going to burn this mortgage we found out in 1999 god said greenleaf no more patches in 1999 god decided actually in 93 and 4 and 5 decided that we needed more than a patch in this fellowship called greenville there had been can i be real y'all i pray there had been splits there have been hurts there had been pains and the old garment was worn out just doing the same old kind of church green leaf god said no and he gave you in 93 a new minister had to whip him a little bit because i didn't want to come in didn't want to move the goldberg didn't want to stay down here told the folk i was going to pass down the weekend and come down here and god said oh really let me see what you're going to do if i take them legs from you it wasn't the devil i had come to terms that long time ago i knew church had heard experience i said i come down john you were here i said i'd preach one sunday i wasn't thinking about being pastor here i wasn't thinking about being pastor nowhere because i had come out of a situation and after that i had said i'm going to work in government i was three steps from the governor and i had plans for that i was going to go back to law school and i was going to preach but i had had my fear after seeing what my father went through my mother had gone through in church patched up churches and the hurt and the pain god said greenleaf i'm going to give you this new ministry on limp for a while but i'm giving you to him because i have trained him deeply in pastoral care prophetic social justice and pentecostal spirituality that's what i've trained in me and so god gave me as your new pastor new ministry to give to you because sometimes god doesn't just patch us up god says i gotta fix you barbara from all of your hurt and all your anger at church because of what you've seen and i'm gonna send you to a church that's been broken like you fixed them up to and i ain't gonna patch you and so through the vision that he gave to me that i shared with you that we prayed on many of us were much younger we prayed on we preached on we fasted about the lord called us to put on new priorities and new leadership in the community and love for the community and new garments first thing god said tai was he said to greenleaf he said you've got to put on the new garment of a new attitude and a new awareness we could no longer think the way we had thought for years and that is not a put down of those in the past but there's a moment time when god says i'm doing a new thing and this was our church we couldn't think any longer like we used to think we even had to change the bulletin because on the bulletin we used to have welcome to our church that was on the sunday morning bulletin and the spirit said take that off of there take that off maybe there was a time that needed to be said right because god he didn't just do new things only when we came along i mean but but god said take that off we couldn't think any longer that the church was just sunday morning worship that church was just a catharsis where you come and you holler and scream but no practical answers to what you're dealing with we could no longer think that all church is is having a sanctuary having an usher anniversary a choir anniversary and a hunt 100 women in white while folk and needs were all around the community god said no you got to put on a new attitude and a new awareness he had to help us understand that the church is not just a way station to heaven where you just come in here and wait to die the church is not just a place where you have an emotional release nothing wrong with emotion nothing wrong with pray but it's not nor is the church just a place you come and sit mean looking like you're fulfilling a rule we had to have a new agenda and a new awareness and it started with us asking this question why is greenleaf christian church on the corner of williams street and paytown road what's going on around this sanctuary what are the poverty levels what are the housing needs how many people are addicted to drugs how many children needed educating because seeking to fix these things is a major part of god's agenda and god said i wanted to be a part of this dreamleaf's agenda because you can no longer do patchwork the first thing god had we had to have a new awareness and how do i know this is god's agenda because isaiah 58 the bible says this is the kind of fast that i'm after if you want to serve the lord and be god's church you got to break the chains of injustice you got to get rid of exploitation you've got to feed the hungry you've got to help the homeless and if you do that then your prayers will be answered if you do that as a nation then you will be called repairers of the breach how do i know this is god's agenda and if it's god's agenda it can't be patchwork you have to have a whole new garment a whole new agenda because ezekiel 22 says her officials were politicians was like wolves shedding the the blood of the people and the priests were lying to the politicians and telling them that god said it was all right when god hadn't said anything and because the preachers and the church and the politicians were not dealing with justice the land was full of extortion and robbery and the oppression and the poor were being hurt and the needy were being mistreated and the strangers and the immigrants were being denied jesus justice and god said i look for somebody to stand in the gap and i could not find anybody how do i know that this is the agenda of god and it's the new agenda that we have to put on and the church can't merely be the patchwork of just having little services here and there and waiting to die and making sure everybody comes to our funeral because the bible says in luke chapter 4 the spirit of the lord is upon me for he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor he sent me to proclaim freedom to prison and if the spirit of the lord is does is upon jesus and we are jesus's church then that same spirit wants us to be engaged in that's those same thing because what did i say earlier we are called to do what put on christ the bible says in matthew 25 when i was hungry did you feed me when i was naked into clothing that's how every nation is going to be judged that's how this do you know you can sit in church and go to church go to hell from the church if you sit in church all your life and all the church just does is have as i said a little anniversary here literally and never never ministers to the hungry never minces to the poor never ministers to the prison never does anything like that you can go to hell from the church when you do patchwork acts chapter you want to know pentecost people talk about they spoke in tongues on pentecost they did there was fire on pentecost there was but you know what else happened on pentecost brother martin it says and they created a ministry so that nobody had need that's holy ghost that was the new agenda you can't have a church full of fire that can't help nobody you can't have a church that's got a great choir but no compassion that's patchwork god said to us in james chapter james chapter 5 verse 14 excuse me 3 verse 14 it says if your brother comes to you and says they're hungry and all you say verse 16 is go in peace and i'll pray for you james says faith without works is dead every one of these texts speak about the new kind the new attitude and the new awareness that god calls us to and in in the ninth in the 1990s god said to greenlee i've got to get you to stop patching up and put on a new garment these are things that we must do and we can't just ask god to do them to be true to the call of the gospel we have to have a new attitude and a new awareness and in 1999 we had to embrace a new attitude born of scripture and then god said john how long do i need you to have a new attitude i need you to put on a new acceptance god says i want you to accept that i have put a new garment on you and you can't be the people you once were and i know some of you caught something for that i know because some of you told me people would talk about you so you know so what y'all doing you know i've i've talked to some of y'all and other folks are saying why y'all got to be doing all of that i remember one time we invited somebody to come preach here and they stood right in this pulpit and put us down they said yeah you do all this other stuff but are you getting in his souls in heaven i was like yes it doesn't it's not either or you can do better talking to a man about his soul if he needs a biscuit giving the biscuit he might stay there and talk to you about this old now what jesus did you never see jesus talk about our feed the 5000 if but we had to have a new acceptance that's we had to put that on a new awareness a new agenda set write this down a new acceptance and part of that new acceptance meant here at greenlee no more splitting we had to end that in the 1990s this church had been split too many times and god said he said to me said something i don't care what fussing star no more splitting no more changing and getting rid of pastors every few years priest barbara no more stinginess huh no more ministry doing more harm to the people than good for other people no more unwillingness to tithe no more rules and legalism no more fighting over who god loves and who god doesn't love and who can be in the church and who can't be in the church god said i need you to have a new acceptance and put on these new clothes and understand that i have called you to be determined to show the love of jesus and i've called you green leaf to change your clothes i've called you to do what some other folks said couldn't be done but i need you to accept it i need enough of the members to accept it i need enough of you to accept the ministry of ministering to the soul and the body i need you to accept that i want to use your you all to fix some things not just put some patches on stuff i want to make you an answer to prayer not just the praying church oh god help me somebody and i need you to accept it i need you robin when some of you were asked to serve on the community development board and you said what is a community of god god said just accept you'll learn on the way we've never done that before good then you won't mess it up by thinking you already know what to do good now you can walk by faith because you're not walking by what you know you're walking you're learning well pastor nobody else has done don't worry about that they want to wear the patches that's all right god said i want i want you to have a new agenda a new awareness and a new acceptance if somebody put your hands together and give god praise for new acceptance come on now with this new awareness and this new acceptance god by his spirit said one more thing he said we had to put on the garment of new action and new acquisition oh y'all come on and walk with me here god said in order if you're gonna have if you're gonna accept the new clothes of of a new awareness a new agenda and a new acceptance then you couldn't use what you have you see you got to understand the miracle that we are seeing today because in 1999 what you the church was paid for which is normally the highlight of a congregation's experience anybody been around the church for a while no i'm telling the truth and when you you build a sanctuary that's going to be the highlight and we i came here in 93. we paid it off in 90 uh five years later god bless the rest of solar brother george moran treasure at that time sister rochelle so we had no debt none god said if you're going to accept this new agenda this new awareness huh and this new and this new uh uh uh your agenda awareness then i need you to put on the new garment god didn't want us to do patchwork ministry god didn't want us to think that serving the lord and caring for the least of these is giving folk a turkey once a year during thanksgiving and saying we care for the poor god didn't want us to be a place where folk come and pray for a job and then they don't get any help in getting one god said i need you to do some new action and new acquisition and god knew that some would say it that makes no sense it make now let me hear what let me hear what you're trying to say you're telling us that you all in the name of god are gonna borrow over a million dollars and not build a sanctuary really you you're gonna be you're gonna borrow over a million dollars and you're not gonna add a chandelier or a pew you you you you you got what you you're going to buy land and an abandoned building that some brothers went and scoped out one night doing vacation bible school gary bobby archie some other y'all john went over and and because some folk here here were comfortable if we had just built a fellowship hall fact i used to hear that if we can just build a fellowship hall bigger than any other church in goldsboro that ain't no vision of god said uh you're gonna be about a million dollars for an abandoned building and some land and and it's gonna be used to touch a lot of people that's not even members of your congregation that won't help you pay it off wait a minute now let me let me get this way and in order to do it you're going to spend every dime you have in the savings for the down payment even the willing workers money and the ursis money and and you know it's probably gonna put you in a position where you won't be able to do salary raises and stuff and and and and and let me see if i get this straight now you're going to go for years for years or excuse me for several months and the only money the church has is what comes in on sunday you you're not going to have anything in the bank no bar no savings no that huh where school of economics did y'all go to we went to the feed 5000 school of economics in judea but but then you're going to go for years and never hardly have forty thousand dollars in the bank at any one time and most of the time for 20 years you're only gonna have about twenty thousand dollars and most of the time less than that and you're going to carry a mortgage there's nothing the church paid for now sanctuary is all paid for parking lot everything pews everything but you're going to carry a mortgage for 7 500 a month and you're going to start out with an abandoned building that you don't even have the money to refurbish because of a vision to help and and and then you for you you know that you need 20 at least 250 000 a year for ministry and to pay the light bills and the salaries and all that and yet every year you're gonna pass a faith budget and you don't have that two hundred fifty thousand dollars in the bank anywhere you might have 15 000 in the bank or 20. and each month whatever you take in you're gonna spend it for the normal budget because you say god says you got to have new action and new acquisition to go along with your new awareness and new agenda yes are y'all okay is your pastor okay y'all fools you're gonna let that man lead y'all down there and y'all know you're gonna leave you know preachers don't stay greener he'll get y'all hung out there and leave you know it's just gonna be a few of y'all that's gonna do it what's wrong with y'all deacons and for why don't y'all just build a fellowship hall that's all you need that's all that really important if you if you can build a sanctuary at a fellowship hall that's all that you that's pleasing unto god are y'all okay sister shirley grayley y'all y'all okay what y'all drinking over there yes we were okay because you see what god called us to required more than just a new room here in their patch god said that our new attitude and new awareness and new acceptance and new agenda required us to have new space a new action and new acquisition and one of the reasons god wanted us to have new acquisition doesn't even have anything just to do with the ministries per se it has something to do with the prophetic action because when you when you acquire new land as a church one of the things it says is that we gonna take back what the enemy has stole and when it comes to black folk do you know by the end from 1865 to 1900 black people had acquired 15 million acres of land but from 1950 to now black folk have lost 14 million of those acres of farmland and we only own one million of land one million acres of land in amongst billions of acres so first of all the lord wanted us to do what is the first commandment in the bible the first commandment in the bible is not it is not thou shalt have no other god for that's the first commandment of the of the ten commandments but the first thing god told the children of israel when they came out of egypt the first commandment was possess the land and that land right over there don't you ever forget i'm dead and gone or moved on wherever don't you ever forget that that land right over there the four mothers and fathers of this church were told by a man who happened to be white that he would never sell it to one day i came out here to monday and said to the mothers that they were praying monday miss moses and and and and mother helen and others and they asked me said do we really need that land i said yes they say what i say i don't know i just know we need i know but god told us to possess the land they said pastor real i said really they said okay we'll get the land and what y'all gonna do they said didn't you say you need the land i said yeah they said we can get the land and i would drive past here sometimes see the more women walk in that land they walk around the corner and pray put a little oil and walk around the corner and pray and put a little oil out and according pray a little oil and then he died and i went and came here and said i didn't i didn't tell y'all to be killing him i said we never prayed for him to die we never said nothing about that we said lord if you want us to have this land we need to land because god you got you calling us to do something we got this vision and then one day his son came right back then said where mr like my sister lala city we were having a music program and he was back there just crying and i said what in the world is wrong with him went back there and talked to him and he said look we've had some problems we got some financial issues and uh we we need to get rid of that land but we didn't have enough money to buy we had to augment the loan to buy it we had to add a little more debt to buy but god said possess the land because for the for the awareness and the agenda that i got y'all doing you need you you just adding a sunday school class ain't enough i need a place i need i'm calling you to put on a new garment i'm not just calling you the patchwork and i the spirit of god said i want you to minister to senior citizens in a new way i want you to do more than just have senior citizens worship and pray for them and tell them how good they are they these they need a place to live and i want you to acquire the land so that you can can give it away in order to to win a win a grant in order to make sure that senior citizens have a place to live and they never have to pay more than 15 percent of their income so they make 100 a month they pay 15 dollars i i need you to change your garments green leaf i need you to i need you to have a place to teach children from the cradle to preschool especially poor and low wealth children especially those that come out of the housing project and i need new action i need acquisition because i i need you to build an academy i need you to be willing to do work among the children other people write off i need you to have a place if you say you love the children i need you to have a place where they can learn science and technology and engineering and math i need you to be have a place where every morning when they come in the teachers ask them who are you what what does it mean to be you and they learn to say fleecy locks and dark complexion cannot alter nature's claim skin color may differ but perfection dwells in black and white just the same where i is tall to reach the pole i could grasp the ocean with a span i must be measured by my soul for the mind is the standard of the man i need a place not i don't need to add anything to the sanctuary i need space to do what i'm going to do through your green leaf i need a space where you can in tough times feed to 20 000 children i need a space that you can have labor unions meet and other community groups meet when they need it i need you to have a place where if folk need to be tested for hiv aids and not be looked down upon i need you to have a place where you can have a drug dealer gang banger redemption conference and bring in brothers and sisters that are hung out there on drugs and gang banging and help them turn their lives around i need you to have a place for job training a place to train senior citizens in 21st century technology so that they're not left out and other people and young people i need you to have a place cause there's some young men incarcerated and they and they need they want to learn culinary skills and if you get a restaurant and refurbish it one of these days you'll be able to offer training for brothers coming out a prison rather than just saying we're glad you out you can help them stay out and help them do things and benefit in the community i need you to have a place for a housing program so that poor and low-income people who never thought they would own a house who always thought they would be paying somebody else rent i need to have a place from which i can have a program where you all can build 40 to 60 fam homes for people who never thought they would own a home you all have to you all ought to give them a praise right there i'll tell you this i'm telling you what god did i need you to have a place for future for a community garden where folk can go out if they don't have anything and get fresh fresh vegetables i need you to have a camera system to minister to people around the world even before you have the audience i need you to have a place not just for sunday but so in my name you can do ministry every day of the week that's why we went into a mortgage larger than the church had ever even thought about that's why we've been carrying this mortgage for over seven thousand dollars a month ever since 1999. that's why some couldn't stay because they didn't want to put on new garment but god said i'm putting you in new garment green leaf and that's why some of us knew we had to accept it and we knew by faith if we work on god's business god will work on our business y'all don't hear what i'm saying oh i feel something right there if we stand for love and justice god will work on our stuff if we stand for love and justice god will pay off the debt while we pay our debt of service to him if we walk by faith god will fix some things if we walk by faith god will make ways out of no way not none of us could have done this individually but when we all get together y'all don't hear what i'm saying whenever two or three get together your tithe may not be my tithe and your gift may not be my gift but when we all get together the little we have can be made much in the master's hand and so now look at what the lord has done today somebody shout today today somebody shout today eight years ahead of schedule the lord watched us for all these years and then eight years ahead of schedule we began praying five years ago that god would miraculously pay off the rest of the debt and god watched you all give and watched you all sacrificed and then eight years eight years ahead of schedule god said let me just pay the rest off for you let me just drop a million dollars for to pay the rest of it off and it didn't come through no funny stuff it didn't come with a price it came from the very things that god had given us and we didn't know that it would come 22 years ago but how many of you know if you walk by faith god can fix stuff god can do what you can't see i want to tell those of you that sometimes had to pull your help to try to figure out how to pay the bills it was all worth it there have been times i've had to tell the treasure just pay the bills and god will take care of me and my family some kind of way but i'm so glad that god can take a church a hundred years or more ago founded by slaves and a hundred years later put that church on the world stage for his glory can't god fix it which i had a witness god can take calvary and turn it into resurrection can't god fix it god can take an emblem of shame and turn it into a sign of victory can't god fix it if we take the action god said then god will take action on abraham and god can fix it do i have a witness god can do more than patch us up god can fix us up god can make us brand new god can give us new garments new purpose new attitudes new actions new acceptance new acquisitions two weeks ago god said you've paid enough let me pay the rest and the god we serve can do more than patch a thing he can fix a thing i wish i had a praying church great is the lord's fate for me i wish i had a praying church what a mighty god we serve god gave us the bible to fix our spiritual ignorance god gave us jesus to fix our salvation problem god gave us the holy ghost to fix our power problem god gave us grace to fix our sin problem god gave us faith to fix our trust problem god gave us love to fix our fear problem because perfect love cast out all fear i'm here to tell you that god can fix it with your body sick god can fix it with brand new health if your mind is messed up god can fix it with brand new peace if your family is broken god can fix it give you a brand new family the god we serve do i have a witness can you fix it won't it fix it turn your neighbor and wave at them and say the god we say can give us a new garment a new agenda a new acceptance a new action a new act tradition the god we serve he specializes in new covenants and new promises a new shout out and new power and new love he can take out an old heart and put in a new heart he can give you new tongues and a new church he can do more than catch a thing god can fix a thing i feel something in here touch your neighbor and say neighbor sometimes a patch just won't do god wants to fix you up yes god does god wants to give you new things if you're weak he wants to fix you with courage if he's tired he want to fix you with strength if you need to stand up for right he wants to fix you with ability do i have a witness i wish i had a praying church do you know what i'm talking about molly god can pick us up and turn us around and plant our feet on brand new ground do i have a witness pants can't god fix it he can make us shock a new people he can give us a new purpose and brother martin it's no wonder that back in the sacrifice church on the sanctified church when they were around the altar i'm so glad that they did not sing lord patch me up lord just give me a little bit of your salvation that ain't how they prayed they prayed oh lord fix me fix me for my journey fix me for my calling fix me for my service lord fix me mold me make me fool me lord [Music] i dare you to stretch your hands to god and say god if there's anything wrong with me god don't patch me up god [Music] now do i have a witness sir can he do it won't he do it hasn't he done it for you is there anybody that the lord has fixed in your life he's made you brand new he turns you all the way the way around when the devil thought he had the last word the lord he didn't patch you up but he fixed you up do i have a witness or you ought to tell your neighbor prove it safe and said neighbor you should have seen me with all them patches but i'm so glad i'm so glad that one day he watched me and picks me up he cloned me in the holy ghost he gave me a brand new tongue he made me have a brand new shelter do i have a witness is there anybody who serves the god i serve you know him don't you but god i said he can do anything but fail you i have a witness show your neighbor for neighbor watch me praise him in my new clothes watch me praise him with my new attitude watch me pray them in our new church i'm so glad i'm so glad that sometimes a patch won't do i need a fixing i need a brand new wardrobe i'm so glad i'll do it uh amen while you're standing we want to extend an invitation to you to receive christ take action today take action and put on christ the word of god tells us if you would just confess with your mouth the lord jesus and believe in your heart that god sent jesus and he raised him from the dead if you believe that you shall be saved so take action put on christ take on his agenda change your attitude amen and receive the acquisition of salvation we want to invite you to the lord as the choir sing is our levite scene receive them today will you those in virtual world and anyone that's here today we want to invite you to christ hallelujah precious father we thank you for the word of god that we've heard today help us lord to remove any patches and god we will put on you a new wardrobe a new garment god even for those god who are maybe heavy lord your word says that we should put on the garment of praise so god we pray lord that you strengthen us in this word that we walk in understanding god that you have given us a new awareness today to know who you are in our life that you are able to fix us and god wherever we are broken we pray you mend us back together wherever we're weak god we pray that you will strengthen us fix us lord if our hearts are heavy and broken god mend us there is no sorrow that heaven cannot heal so god we thank you for being our fixer we thank you god for the ability of god to come to you with all our concerns we thank you god for the power of your holy spirit that strengthen us oh god that cover us in this new garment and so lord we praise you we praise you for jesus christ cover us in your blood cover us oh god with your anointing that we walk in grace and justice and love serving you that you are glorified bless your people and we thank you for the new agenda we receive it in jesus name amen ah [Music] [Music] jesus fixed me [Music] me [Music] me [Music] face me jesus fix me [Music] jesus [Music] jesus fix me [Music] jesus fixed me [Music] [Music] fix me jesus faced [Music] me [Music] [Music] face me fix me jesus fix [Music] fix me [Music] fix me [Music] jesus fixed me sometimes the bible says when the glory cloud enters the house for a moment the people get quiet because they think so deeply about what the lord has done but even within that solemnness there is a sacred praise that we must have i want to ask if you would now that this table would be moved to the center right here at this time as we prepare after 22 years when god called us to something we had no no model for was just new but we knew knee w the lord had called us i've been honored to be your pastor in this season and whatever else god calls i said years ago when people would ask me how i didn't know but i knew who you got to answer that question first who are you serving and who is calling you because if you know who you know if god calls you to a vision god will make provisions but god will not always show you up front where that's all coming from but it's better to fail serving god than to be safe and not walk in the ways of god but faith really does walking by faith really does mean sometimes you just got to go the way the direction the lord shows you and along the way god will reveal what you cannot see if you stay where you are so as we come this morning those of you by video land joining us for this mortgage burning i first want to invite some folk to speak on all of your behalves we said one to two minutes but you know this is such a moment um yesterday when we called i asked each one of them to just give a sentence praise for what were they thankful for and it was amazing how it was more than just about paying the money i could hear that new agenda church by the answers and so i want to ask i need a usher over here that's got some sanitizer to take care of this mike so we got some each part you got to know he's going to do it for us thank you and so at this time we're going to have deacon greater deloach to come and give his word of praise the continuous to logic but is she here yes she's behind me to come then sister bob marrain speaking on behalf of all of the folks that have been treasurer's and financial secretary his sister brenda thompson then our past and turn that so it's facing so they're not looking this way they're looking towards me that that's it and then um deacon archer brad who was our first ceo of rebuilding broken places and then deacon john bond was the current ceo then brother eric preston who's not a so-called member he says he sure is on one member and i told her i told her keep him because that's a handful right there but he wants to say what he has felt just being filming at this time we're going to ask then um where's who else is here who's that sitting right there beside me yeah who that brother failed amen going to ask brother thad and brother melvin just to give a praise testimony as trustees on behalf of all the trustees doesn't have to be long then we're going to ask to close that part of our pastor pastor sure reverend cheryl hennep to come and to share then we'll have a video from bishop mail and these are short videos and then we'll have a video from the board of church extension you should know that christian church had never done a loan like this we had almost didn't get it we had a guy he's dead now but i had helped him years ago get into seminary and he never forgot that and when we called and told him what we're doing to do he went to work and made the case because they had they had only been used to lending for church buildings they had not even thought about empowering a church to do church ministry because it was old they had an old garment understanding of how you land resources and uh eugene randall is dead now he died young and suddenly but he was key to this work and so we have somebody from board of church extension to speak to us this morning and then we will go through with the church burn so you all come come with your give him the hand come on give let's put some joy in the house come in that order amen amen let's praise god for what he has done first of all giving us such a vision to accomplish this and then we walk by faith and not by sight but we know that the people perish that they don't have vision or knowledge so we have received that through the years and we stayed steadfast and kept the faith that we were all a part of it followed station one sentence to express what we were thankful and immediately what came to mind to me was just thanking god for his faithfulness for him just loving us and caring for us and being faithful even when we're not sometimes i thank god for just allowing us to to serve trusting us to have even a desire to do his will that's just one of the things giving honor to god i thank the lord for blessing us giving us a blessing to be able to help people to because we have helped mothers pay their rent but they didn't have the money we have helped fathers pay the light bill for the life to be turned off and the family wouldn't have any for those things i am thankful that we didn't have a close fit but nothing could come in or we could not give anything out praise god i'm just so thankful and so grateful that god came this church to reach out to the community and most of all to let all people i mean all come into his house and that we as a people oh baby good morning i was thinking about what to say this morning when you look back a little more than 20 years bishop said 22 years but every number in the bible has significance and the one i looked at was 20 years in 20 years means a complete and perfect waiting period we're two years beyond that waiting period and i look at how god entrusted me as the first ceo first executive director during broken places i remember when i first came on a little office in back of the church they said it was the pastor's study kind of strange it was so small but there was a hole in the floor right where the wall meets the floor it wasn't so bad in the summertime but in the winter time it was pretty bad especially when the rain would come through and every now there was this preacher who kept saying that god provided the vision now i always thought provision just meant money you know we didn't have a lot of money and i remember when we uh finished the construction i remember after we finished the construction the contractor came in with this huge bill for change orders brother john remembers we had we had a building committee brother john legend earl davis of course and we had agreed before that we wouldn't say anything he doesn't know how it happened when the contractor came in with his team because we were ready but after the meeting but joining me we basically thought we weren't gonna so they left after we basically told them we're not going to give you another dime so i just thank god that he entrusted me for a little while to be part of the team to help build the community like i said i didn't know a lot about it wasn't easy there were some challenges along the way i'd like to thank god that he entrusted me and allowed my family to be part of the vision and here we are today thank god lastly i'll say about this song [Music] he's a miracle worker good morning i'm uh brother washington and at the time that we were struggling trying to maintain you know mortgage and those things i think brenda and i came on shortly after sister rochelle left and so most of those years with brenda and i so i'm thankful for brenda because it was a faith journey for the both of us um you know we talked about that initially that this was gonna be something that will grow our faith because pastor taught that you know we got to have faith that god will provide and he provided throughout those many years that we managed to each week take care of the needs of the church and uh so i'm thankful for that i'm thankful for the opportunity that god gave us to grow our faith and i thank him for this great day when he uh i thank god for being here um and as trustee i remember when deacon crank got me together and he was like brother to vote you know you know we need some new meat right here so we can some new body we can just keep everything squared away the lights on and everything took care of i thank god that bob told me decided hey you know we know you you can do what we need to be done so being a trustee i thank god and casablanca for having faith oh i finally get a chance to say something no i just want to say i said this on the call yesterday and i have been coming around here for about 10 years now our daughter mackenzie is with us uh the other day and the thing that i am really thankful for you know we grew up in a evangelical church white evangelical church and the one question i always had growing up was if we really believe what we say we believe what are we doing about it and one thing that i have been grateful we've had a privilege to document with the work of green league and rebuilding broken places and this congregation is this is a congregation that literally puts their money where their mouth is you've read the scripture you see what jesus's priorities are and you've made those your priorities so i just want to thank you on behalf of andrea my family for being such a testimony to us deacon barnes said yesterday that 21 000 mills is that right were delivered during copen and we got to document some of that so thank you for being such an example for us it's really been a privilege good morning i i've got some prepared statements but i'm going to go off street um i was working with good job happy um uh for about four years four years of school system and uh and then the program was in it ran out but they uh said well you come in later entry and uh classroom in the job i was doing i was gonna have a school program let me think about it [Music] talk with my wife almost ready to graduate and the thing is we put our faith in god and we believe what he said we do what he asks you to do and i have enjoyed working at three million places for the last 2003 brother was the director but like i said the church took 1.2 million remember is it did it it completed it and put rebuilding places into that field 22 000 square foot building and the impact that rebuilding places has done over the years instead it has provided jobs in the community with an average payroll of 350 to 400 per year favorite state subdivision nine homes we did uh harrison state there were 60 homes in the field of harrison state freely grace village bishop has said more than one unit for senior citizens the rbp christian academy the preschools have a capacity of nine to nine children providing educating children in the community and mostly the children we work with are low-income families projects workshop where we work with families who want to buy so remember in favor of the state we had a young lady come to us you work with us chance job training and financial uh culinary training we also have a community going right now we have 50 40 beds where we raise vegetables seniors for individuals in the community and then also with our summer food program we operated for the last 10 years last year 2020 that's when the governor came on tv and said march 13th on a friday schools will be closed that means kids in the community will have no place to go we got together these are kids and i tell people hey it is amen good morning church so god be the glory for great things the lord has indeed done i was thinking about our conversation that we had yesterday and um as deacon john was talking i thought about that he and i are green leaf babies we were here and it's not to say that we're any more special than anybody else but he and i were here with ponytails and plaits jeans and easter speeches and christmas recitations and all those kinds of things we grew up here in green leaf church he and i were in the cinder block church we came from there and i remember when they built the fellowship hall first we came from the church that had wood floors that when the saints would shout and run you could hear that click click click on those floors what we see now is nothing short of amazing i think about my father my uncle some of the other saints that have gone on to be with the lord who sowed into this place believing and trusting so i mean it's not that all of a sudden we have just become um people who are interested in social justice my father worked in community development if he were living now he would be 96 years old and if he had the physical capacity i can tell you he'd be right along there with bishop standing and fighting because he believed in children he believed in making the community better and there are many within this community who will say that he was influential and blessing their lives and so my two things that i would pass on for this momentous occasion are perseverance and potential we have persevered to get to this point every day was not a sunshiny day all the time my umbrellas did not just go up just like they were supposed to sometimes they had holes in them and sometimes the wind got up in under them and blowed them the other way but we kept persevering and so here we are today and then potential if god has done what god has done just think what god can do if we'll just put on those new garments stop trying to patch up get on god's new agenda and let's give some action so god can help us to have some acquisitions to god be the glory great things the lord has done [Applause] grace and peace green leaf christian church my church family from the christian church disciples of christ in north carolina we say congratulations on the milestone that our church has accomplished with settling the mortgage indebtedness on the properties that are owned by greenleaf how excited i am for you and when i began to share this news with our regional board and other loved ones around the region they were just ecstatic because they know of the great work that our church does the grace village the rebuilding broken places community development center with the child care facility and all types of educational programs and community initiatives that lift up the family the uh wonderful homes that are made available for first time homeowners and our own church building and fellowship hall and parking lot that is there for not just us as members but for the community at large greenleaf i am so proud i am so proud not only to be a member of this church but to represent you as your regional minister today my heart goes to colossians excuse me hebrews the 10th chapter in which the writer keeps telling the church you cannot cast away your fearless confidence because it has the potential to bring you great reward can you imagine more than 20 years ago there was a core in the church that was fearless that decided this is risky we don't know how it might turn out but we're gonna do this because this is going to save somebody's life even outside of our church walls and that is exactly what you've done that is what we've done that is what the gifts and the constant financial sustaining has done made helping people uplifting people people in the margins people that are forgotten people that are not even counted as a number much less human and people who now own their own homes seniors who have a safe place to live and a community that they can interact with and a community development center that in times of disaster floods in times of hunger in times of loss of jobs grants are available food is available care for children is available uh and our pastor leading the charge for justice on all fronts for not only racial or racial justice but equity across all platforms our pastor does not just leave the march and leave the charge for uh racial equity and justice for people of color people who look like me and you but our pastor leads the charge of justice for all ethnicities all genders all sexual orientation and it has been in a large reason that he's been able to go leave the charge is because we didn't throw away our fearless confidence so see not only does hebrews 10 beg us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together keep coming to church stay plugged in if you can't get here physically join the virtual platform but hebrews the 10th chapter also challenges us hold on to your fearless confidence it has the potential to bring a great reward we are the recipients today of a great reward our mortgage has been paid off all of the region celebrates this and even though i cannot be there with you physically i am jumping up and down on the inside the text goes on to say in the next verse if you have patience and endurance you'll be able to perform the will of god and receive great recompense taking the risk more than 20 years ago to invest in such a large financial endeavor and now god it was risky and it needed patience and endurance and now the god of grace has helped us to retire this day i celebrate you and as i preach for kid swamp christian church in um earn your north carolina today know that i love you and i'm looking forward to worshiping with you soon happy mortgage burning day to my church family god bless you bishop barber bishop valerie melvin and to all the ministers honored elders members and friends of greenleaf christian church good morning and to god be the glory on behalf of disciples church extension fund our president dr eric d reisinger your area advisor and vice president mrs belinda king and most especially our too soon departed colleague friend wise counselor and brother in christ reverend eugene randall ii i bring you greetings and congratulations on the occasion of your debt retirement all of my colleagues regret that other obligations prevented them from being with you but because they can't be with you that means that i get to be with you and i am so happy to be with you today the mission of disciples church extension fund is to empower and inspire congregations to create holy places where people connect with god each other and the community more than 20 years ago reverend eugene randall gave church extension a glimpse of bishop barber's vision of a vital and thriving greenleaf christian church and empowered rebuilding broken places community development corporation and just above the horizon repairers of the breach a movement that would capture the attention and imagination of the country in the world you green leaf are that holy place you are the place where god is worshiped and glorified the place where people have a chance to gain skills dream dreams achieve the potential that god intends the place that brings transformation to the world you are that place you are the reason the disciples church extension fund exists it is my honor and privilege to be with you as the glimpse that reverend randall gave us comes full circle as you retire this debt and give the world of glimpse of that holy place that god intends and to express the hope that just as we have been with you on this part of the journey that you will allow us to be your partner on the next place that god will lead you god bless you as you finish this part of your journey god give you courage and strength for what is to come and may god give you bishop barber and all the members of greenleaf christian church all that you need to continue to transform the world god bless you amen amen let's give god pray now we want to now we want you to see just a video overview because this is evangelism this is acquisition and greenleaf let's make a commitment that never from the this for time forward will we hide anything under a bushel share with the world this new agenda the call and it will draw people to christ it will draw people to come it will draw people to unite with this congregation this is soul-saving all the way through body and spirit so let's just see i want you to never already hear 1.2 million became 12 million 1.2 million became over 12 million of investments and this church now controls millions of dollars of property that's serving the community free of debt free of them nobody but god and god's people willing to listen to god and serve and when there were those that said what couldn't be done we didn't get mad we didn't quit we loved them but we kept going amen so would you bring it on the screen now corey [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Applause] come on give god a praise [Applause] amen i want us also now to celebrate the ancestors those that have gone on amen those that believed before we were here amen come on let's celebrate the ancestors [Music] let's celebrate those who are yet to come those who are on the way persons that we will continue to minister to and bless amen amen now celebrate that you kept the faith amen and we're willing because god has to have a willing people give god praise for that god has to give a have a willing people you know when we were called to this it wasn't many years later that katrina hit y'all remember and we were the only body you may be sitting inside the city we're the only group that had a 501c3 that could build homes back in the city one of the only groups that was as active and and and we got involved in um restoring how the first house we built uh was for a 101 year old man who lost everything he had and one day we actually had 80 people to come volunteers and build out about what was it 20 homes in one day y'all i remember this stuff 20 homes we put the framing up in one day 80 volunteers many from this church and on the base and that man was 100 years old he got to live in a new house before he went to his home in glory there's so much testimony of what god has done and don't ever forget that you know like i said we sold it's almost like we took a time and sold it and then god said now watch me do what i said i'm gonna turn your one two into twelve i'm gonna give i'm gonna give back more than you put in and and how many of you in your own lives how many of you can testify that by sowing into what god called us to do you haven't lost anything over these 22 years amen god has been mighty good to you amen i know god has been mighty good to to us i was thinking about our children the same story john and i was thinking about i'm standing here today and uh started just a country preacher you know born over there in in indiana but raised over in plymouth and uh here we are in goldsboro and lord willing next sunday this time i'll be sitting with pope francis in rome but not for me they've asked me to come and preach to world leaders and world ministers about dealing with poverty in the world didn't seek it didn't want it but god from this place amen not a chance to to put the issue and the pope is coming out with other major leaders to say that the number one thing we must do in this world and care whether you're a republican or democrat that it is a sin if we don't address the one more than one billion people in this world that live in poverty in a world that has far more than enough far more than enough and and if i wasn't pastoring this church and if we weren't walking together we would not have the credibility nor the authority see because your authority comes from your service doesn't come from your title authority you put a lot of titles on people but your authority comes from your service and so thank god for being able to go not for ourselves but to represent and all from this space now i'm going to ask a pastor assistant pastor to come and join me and we're going to lead in i want to ask all of the persons in a moment that gave remarks i'm going to ask you in a moment to come and line up here at least three to four feet apart with your mask on as we first engage however this could you come now amen may i have that notebook please or do i have everything okay okay [Music] they can hardly hear the mics online brother corey did you all turn it down they need to get it up online people are trying to hear online double check that y'all should check the uh make sure you're hearing do you all have the video on back there you should always have the video on in the office okay see if you can hear it can you hear it well okay all right all right pastor cheryl would you leave first in the reading of matthew 2 yep 21 excuse me all who were buying and selling there he overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves it is written he said to them my house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers the blind and the lame came to him at the temple and he healed them but when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts hosanna to the son of david they were indignant do you hear what these children are saying they ask him yes replied jesus have you never read from the lips of children and infants you lord have called forth your praise and he left them and went out of the city to bethany where he spent the night next is the prayer for the church at ephesus and the prayer that we should hear in our time chapter 3 verse 14 through 21 for this reason i kneel before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name i pray that out of this glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and i pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with to the measure of all the fullness of god now unto him who is able to do exceedingly immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine according to his power that is at work in us to him be glory in the church and in christ jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen for the hollowing of prayer of dedication eternal god that all of the buildings land and ministries which we dedicate to your name be used for the work of salvation and grace and love towards all people we worship you in spirit and truth may we serve you may we learn of you may we grow together in love and show that love to others grant this through christ our lord amen dear friends now that we have completed and paid all indebtedness on the building and property let us dedicate the buildings and the properties and rejoice in their and their continuing holy use to show the love of god to the glory of god who has called us by his grace to the honor of jesus christ who loved us and gave himself for us to the praise of the holy spirit who illumines and sanctifies us we dedicate again and again these ministries for the worship of god in prayer and praise we dedicate them for the preaching of the everlasting gospel we dedicate them for the celebration of the holy sacraments lived out in the world and in the sanctuary we dedicate them for the comfort of all those that mourn for strength to those who are tempted for light to those that seek the way and for the cause of justice we dedicate them for the hollowing of family life for teaching and guiding the young for perfecting of the saints we dedicate them for the conversion of sinners for the promotion of righteousness for the extension of mercy and grace through our hands for the extension of god's reign on earth thy kingdom come for the commitment to god's commandment that we do justice love mercy and walk only before our god for the commitment that we know we only serve god when we serve the least of these his children in the unity of the faith in the bronze of brotherhood and sisterhood in love and good will to all in gratitude for the labors of all who love god and love and who have served his church in remembrance of all those who finished their course they were part of this work in the hope of eternal life through jesus christ our lord we now dedicate this work these buildings these ministries and we believe through the grace of god the totality of the dead through the burning of this mortgage as we prepare to do it let me also lift up mother glory your best mother gloria best was among those who submitted names and she was the one that came up with the vision of faith am i right brother john huh greenlee vision of faith building and uh that is the name of the building uh across the street and for those that of you that may not know when we first had the green leaf grace village and we were pulling together uh every week for bible study and fellowship the senior citizens it was mother kerry may that would every week make sure she had food there sandwiches and things and and it would be a time of powerful fellowship some people whose family didn't come to see and then once a month or so they would have something special and john would come over and eat everything up before the rest of us got there and miss caramel would have to hit him on the hand and say wait till pastor gets home now but we thank you we honor all of you if you're able to stand with us in the sanctuary and if not and all i'm going to also at this time just the way we're going to do it i'm going to pray and then we're going to each come i need someone to light the candles if you would big brother melbourne will light the candles first and then the procession if it might i'm gonna do one a little bit different let's start with our treasures and then the trustees then the ceo then the deacons then pastor sheryl and then everything that's left borrow all the leftovers give them to me for the end i'll come down and these are all the leftover pieces all right and make sure we burn it because we don't want it coming back up in here and for us the fire is the light of the holy spirit amen let us pray we now the people of this congregation surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses grateful for heritage our heritage aware of the sacrifices of our mothers and fathers in the faith and confessing that apart from us their work cannot be made perfect dedicate ourselves anew to the worship and service and ministry of the almighty god through jesus christ our lord amen and once the last portion has burned we're going to ask the levites to lead us in a song of praise and that's how we going out that's our benediction when they finish singing that song of praise it will be our benediction when you leave you can get a memento of a special shirt that says determined to show the love of god and then on the back mortgage paid ministry extended amen everybody and then you can go across the street and and do a drive-through meal but god we praise amen play softly sister barbara will lead us so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] god all over the congregation come on with your voice me [Music] [Applause] [Music] to go [Music] [Applause] come on church give him glory to god be [Music] one more time everybody all over the building come on [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] our blessings [Music] [Applause] [Music] creatures [Applause] [Music] here we go [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Repairers of the Breach

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Id: uHobxCD4ir8

Length: 175min 25sec (10525 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021