WATCH: This Does Not Have to Have the Last Say | A Sermon by Bishop William J. Barber II

foreign you you we confess that jesus is the christ the son of the living god and proclaim him lord and savior of the world in christ's name and by his grace we accept our mission of witness in service to all people we rejoice in god maker of heaven and earth and in the covenant of love which binds us to god and one another through baptism into christ we enter into newness of life and are made one with the whole people of god in communion with the holy spirit we are joined together in discipleship and in obedience to christ at the table of the lord we celebrate with thanksgiving the saving acts and presence of christ within the universal church we receive the gift of ministry in the light of scripture in the bonds of christian faith we yield ourselves to god that we may serve the one whose kingdom has no end blessings glory and honor be to god forever amen our mission as the christian church is to be and to share the good news of jesus christ witnessing loving and serving from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth our vision as disciples of christ is to be a faithful growing church that demonstrates true community deep christian spirituality and a passion for justice as part of the one body of christ we welcome all to the lord's table as god has welcomed us we practice unity and inclusion at the lord's table for the sake of mission and for the sake of the world as the one family of god while recognizing the baptisms performed by other faith traditions we practice believer baptism honoring that a person makes the choice to follow god's call rather than the choice being made for them as an infant we recognize baptism as a mark that 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 critical 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 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 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 hunger and the challenges faced by women and children we are disciples of christ a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world join us me is greenlee has taught me what church is and what church is supposed to be it is a prophetic ministry made by jesus christ to help all people i was raised in this church he'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 doing 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 up showing up 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 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 chef of 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 uh 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 democrat 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 sick [Music] our 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 [Music] 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 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 greenlee mostly because reverend barber preaches the word of god all are welcome all 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 past and 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 good morning family what a blessing it is to be in the house of the lord one more time i don't know about you but when i got up this morning i had it on my mind that the lord did not have to do it but i was so glad that he did and so i stand this morning my name is cheryl hennon azzell i'm the assistant pastor here at greenleaf christian church and i am honored to serve along with our pastor bishop william joseph barbara ii this great congregation green league we have members here in sanctuary we are practicing social distance we're wearing our mask and we have checked our vaccination cards and we are keeping to a minimum of 60 people present in service but guess what the word of god promises us that we're two or three are together together in god's name in the name of jesus that jesus would be in the midst so i know we have enough people up in here to give god the glory honor and praise that is the lord is worthy y'all the lord is worthy y'all lord is worthy y'all the lord is worthy y'all he woke us up this morning started us all our way gave us activity of our limbs allowed us to reign arise this morning close in our right mind we ought to have enough sense to give god praise [Music] the old church used to say this might be my last time i just don't know it might be my last time to lift my hands and praise it might be my last time to tell god thank you it might be my last time but if it is my last time i want somebody to say the last time that i saw her in the house of the lord she was giving god praise i don't care what you're going through right now how bad it might seem god is greater and the same god that brought you to it will be faithful to take you through it if you just look back at your history with our great god you'll know that god has not failed us yet we never come up against anything that god was not with us in the midst of it and this morning because i was thinking about coming to service and i was standing in the in the mirror in the bathroom and it just dawned on me how god has promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us and he didn't say that he would just be with us up until the time of death he said i'll be with you until the end of the age so even after we have passed on god is with us and who wouldn't serve a god just like that and so it is my privilege my honor to welcome first of all god into this space holy spirit thou art welcome in this space you are welcome in this place you are worthy of all glory honor and praise and we welcome you and then i welcome you you and you that are physically here in the building with us and i also welcome those of you who have joined us via live stream through your computer through your phones however you are able to connect with us we're just so grateful to you and grateful to god that you saw fit to join with us this morning and even right now as we invoke the presence of the lord in this place we just want to say that we have family members within our church who are still in the process of grieving loss of loved ones we pray for minister lord on this morning as she continues to move through the grief process brother mark with his uncle i don't want to i don't want to miss anybody but if i do y'all know who they are please be lifting them but this morning we also lift the izler family and sister larcene and sister uh rochelle deacon rochelle who lost their cousin to covet hope it's not greater than god but we have to do the things that we can do in order to be safe i want to encourage you get those vaccines make sure if you make a choice to not do it it is one that you have studied out it's not based on foolishness that you see on the internet and what somebody else said because i can assure you that as we have seen in the news when people get down to where they're getting ready to be put on those ventilators and don't know if they're going to come out or come off they say so i am told i wish i had gotten that vaccine all health care workers are not lying when they say that they're tired and they're seeing younger and younger people pass from this virus it doesn't have to be that way so let us let us love ourselves and love one another and do the right thing we welcome the lord in this place this morning will you just lift your hands and just take a moment to whatever it is that you brought in this place that weighs you down and would keep you from giving god glory to release those things as we lift our hearts as [Music] to your name oh lord you will come into [Music] this you welcome lord you welcome to our broken vessel contest all you desire [Music] we lift our hands [Music] gracious and eternal god loving and kind father you are welcome in this place we welcome you as both our father and our mother you have been our help in ages past you are our hope in years to come we rest in you this morning and we invite you into this place have your way god somebody came this morning need no word from you come by somebody came this morning with their head bowed down and their heart heavy lift bowel down heads as only you can men broken hearts as only you can settle confused minds as only you can in the midst of our worship as only you can and flow from heart to heart and rest abreast god somebody's discouraged this morning and don't know if they can hold on any longer let them know that as the word even went forth on last week that you are a god of a just can't take it no more miracle god have your way in this place this morning reign on bishop that he might preach your word reign on the levites that they might lead in the singing of praises into your holy name reign on this waiting congregation and those who join us by cyrus base god that they might feel your anointing your presence that breaks and destroys yokes we love you today god we so appreciate your patience your kindness your love toward us oh god how you allow us to have brand new mercies every day not because we deserve them but just because you're so good lord and we just want to say thank you we just want to say we love you this morning we just want to say we come to worship you this morning we come to lift you high so receive our praise receive our worship this morning may it go up before you as a sweet saver in your nostrils may you smile as we lift our hands and lift our hearts we ask all of this in your name and declare it and decree it done hallelujah amen [Music] you [Music] you lord we love you lord we love you lord we love you jesus praise the lord we praise you lord we praise you lord we praise you lord we pray [Music] you [Music] hallelujah yes [Music] this morning [Music] [Music] didn't [Music] [Music] me [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] me [Music] been yes can i get a witness in here yeah i knew that god and i knew the lord will take care of me and would provide for me you make me happy lord you make me whole you take the pain away i'm so in love [Music] you take the pain away [Music] you take the pain away [Music] you make me [Music] is [Music] oh you make me happy you make me you take my pain away [Music] my [Music] is [Music] is [Music] i can't make it without your lord [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] forever [Music] [Music] forever me and you is [Music] [Music] in the house [Music] jesus [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] you're the key [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] i am jesus christ [Music] he is [Music] [Music] is [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] uh [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] so is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] god hallelujah savior lord you are good you've been so good yes i can't praise lord enough [Music] [Music] lord you are good [Music] you've been so good lord you are good you've been better than good i can't praise you enough i owe you my life can't praise you enough even if i tried cause you've been so good [Music] you've been so good lord you are good you've been better than good i can't praise you enough i owe you my life can't praise you enough you've been so good [Music] you've been so good [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] you are good [Music] even if i try before you've been [Music] [Music] so many doors you open there's so many ways you made it so many times you hear me you've been better than good to me so many doors you open so many ways you made so many times you heal me you've been better than good to me [Music] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] you hear me [Music] so good you've been [Music] you've been so good thank you for the door you open thank you for the ways you made thank you for how you healed me you've been better than good to me [Music] [Music] yes [Music] so good you've been so good so good you've been so good can anybody say he's been so good so good yeah you've been so good yes you had [Music] i think sometimes when we come to mourning an intercessory prayer we don't need to ask and supple supplement before god and request something else i think sometimes when we come to morning prayer we need to pray into so good and if we can remember the so good we'll understand that whatever we're facing god's got it so i want to i want to show us how to do that this morning as we just keep right there on that song the bible says bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name and bless the lord oh my soul of forget not all his benefit so so let me help us this morning as the spirit is leading to have a so good alter prayer as you stay in your seat with altar of our hearts and then before they sing another song for the word [Music] normally in the morning prayer we might say lord we pray for the world and all the confusion but this morning we want to say lord we we thank you that you're so good so good that even in the midst of lies you've got somebody telling the truth yes god's so good and even in the midst of war you have somebody fighting for peace so good you're so good lord there's some crazy stuff going on with this covet yes yes but god you're so good you can create a vaccine and give us the wisdom and you're so good lord that even people that don't want to take it somebody's not giving up on them and they're still and god we thank you for being so good yes you're so good lord we're going to pray into so good this morning [Music] lord some of us have some afflictions and some ailments and we could ask you to heal them we've already asked you to heal them but this morning we want to thank you for the so good a portion of health and strength we want to thank you for are so good there's a time we didn't think we would be here this morning but god you've been so good so good so good that the weapons formed against us have not prospered god we thank you for the so good [Music] some of us god have elderly parents and we see them different than they once were but first of all god let us thank you for the so good that we have had them so long yes thank you let us thank you for the so good that they're still here yes lord and let us thank you for the so good that those that aren't here they've gone on to be with you and one day we'll see them again god we want to thank you for the so good god somebody's got a child they're worried about and and we've talked to you a lot about that but instead of talking to you about that let's thank you god we want to thank you for the so good that that we can still pray for him and love him and we know where they are and we know you're not through with them god we are so glad for that so good we are so glad that you are so good that you're not finished with our children [Music] god we decided to praise you into so good this morning god we've been out for over a year and something from the sanctuary but it's so good to be here in jesus name some god may have some aches and some pains but it's so good that if we can't stomp our feet we can wave our hands and if we can't wave our hands we can open our mouths if we can't open our mouths we can shake our head god we got so much so good to thank you for somebody knows bereavement in our church and around the world but god we're so good we're so glad that you are so good that even in the face of death death has lost its stance and the grave has lost this victory god we we we thank you that after all we've been through you're so good that we still got to shout anyhow and the praise anyhow and the worship anyhow god you so good we just want to thank you and it's so good this morning you're better than good god we want to thank you for this so good that we think we know how to pray but actually we don't and there are times we don't even know what to say but you're so good you can interpret our groans yes and then god you're so good that when we don't know how to pray you let the spirit take over and and and you talk to yourself on our behalf yes yes you're so good you're so good god that we can't always trust what the news says but we can trust your word because your word is true and that's so good god you're so good and as we stand here and sit here today we can't even spell out all of your goodness [Music] but we know that if you hadn't been good if it hadn't been for you and your goodness the devourer would have long since eaten us alive tempter would have tricked us into failure but god you've been so good you're a keeper you're a healer you're a midnight company keeper you're a mind regulator you're a heart fixer and a body healer and a sin forgiver and a lover of our souls and so god since you've been so good we're going to focus this morning on the so good and recognize that because you've been so good we can trust that you're not going to stop being good and we can trust that whatever we stand in need of you're good enough because god if the evil ones know how to give good gifts to those that follow them surely you oh god the love of our souls you know how to give just what we need so right now in this house instead of begging you for another thing we're going to take a few seconds and just praise you for your goodness if god's been good to you let me say this if god's been mighty good to you come on greenlee if god's been shown enough good to you i want you to forget who's not here and just say i'm here in jesus name and go head on and open your mouths and clap your hands and give god a praise forget for a moment being proper forget for a moment being dignified and just go ahead on and give god a good praise a good hallelujah a good thank you any way you feel like it it's on you baby any way you feel like it it's on you baby anyway you feel like it any way you feel like it whatever when you think of god's goodness and all that god has done for you go ahead on any way anyway [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you jesus christ set me free [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] i feel joy in my soul i feel peace in my mind [Music] [Applause] [Music] for me [Music] glory glory glory glory oh god look at somebody covet safe and say if you're new like i know someone said i can't tell you because it would shock you hallelujah [Music] ain't a lot of people can handle my story oh god oh god i love you i love you lord today yeah come on sing right there for the word before the word sing right there [Music] [Music] that's why my heart is [Music] today because you care for me [Music] in such a special way i praise you i lift you up [Music] [Music] [Applause] that's why [Music] i lift you up [Music] come on give god a wave offering if you feel [Music] god we come this morning so thankful praising you and your goodness trusting you and your holiness and your truthfulness every time god you let anybody do something in your name you put the risk you take the risk of putting treasure in trash treasuring an earthen vessel that the excellency of the power might be of the end out of us so hide us behind the cross cover us in your blood fill us with your spirit for we ask it in jesus name come holy spirit come with preaching hearing and teaching power in jesus name amen it's good to see y'all this morning it's good to see you i want to welcome our organist my brother's name again rashad terrell who's going to be joining us on a regular basis helping to accompany the levites of the music ministry can we give god a pray for rashad and his gifts amen it is good to be in the house of the lord whether you're on live stream because wherever you're gathered in jesus name is bethel the house of the lord amen and so i want to thank god for every one of you greenleaf you look good let me hear from you i want to thank god for the 49 states that join us every sunday morning can somebody give god praise for that 49 turn give me a little base back volume corey no no i i i like that hand clap but i think that's a little shabby for 49 i said 49 we don't have a one more to go [Applause] and uh when we started and covet we didn't have any and on a regular basis 49 and on a regular basis at least 27 countries y'all come on greenlee if you don't celebrate what god is doing [Applause] we got friends in the congo in croatia in japan in china in russia y'all hear what i'm saying i want y'all to get it don't don't ever think that what this what's being minister is just what you see here amen you can play softless fine god is is is moving and people are did you all ever go and look at the comments sections i think last week we had a thousand comments a thousand and that was in the first two hours and what the tech people are telling us is that we average about 20 some thousand folk on through the first viewing like right now live and then when they cross posted upwards of a hundred thousand people join us for worship now if i was your green leaf i wouldn't take that for granted i thank god for that amen ministry and and and polka are getting saved folks are aligning themselves with the church and people without us even asking or giving i've had people say what can else can we do and so normally i want to say this is our our family month and normally we would ask every family to give two hundred dollars and and and uh and that would go directly toward paying off our mortgage and things of that nature so i want to say to our own line those are you the vast we're never going we don't believe in like using this to beg for money that's not what we do we believe if if you hear the word and feel the love because we're determined to show you the love of god that you'll make that own decision but if any of you would like we're trying to raise about we want to raise about a hundred thousand dollars between now and the end of october uh we got something big on the horizon regarding uh the mortgage of the church and the facility and so any of you for the thousand people out there that want to give what a hundred dollars a hundred folk that want to give a thousand this is good soil this is good so is this good soil greenlee is it huh and uh it supports ministry you won't be paying for a church building our church building is paid for what you'll be helping us finish is the community development part of our ministry where we do housing and and preschool for poor and low-income children and jobs retraining for people coming out of prison and and and our restaurant and our family gardens and all of those things that's what you'll be helping to support in the facilities that run that and so if you want to join us we want to raise a hundred thousand y'all got quiet when i said a hundred thousand what should i have said a dollar uh i i i i believe i believe god got a thousand people somewhere that'll give a hundred dollars or stop uh or a hundred people they'll give a thousand you gotta believe it before you see it lord have mercy somebody say it's not what i can do it's what we can do when we connect with the lord amen we want to pray for all of our family members in the church who've gone through bereavement and and just continue to lift them up now greenleaf i am i don't believe god is schizophrenic which is one of the reasons i do i i i do like many clergy um preach series of sermons you know i'm a lectionary preacher i i don't and i don't believe you can ever exhaust any passage of scripture robin so so god locked us in the ninth chapter of matthew i didn't do this because actually when i started in matthew my little human mind thought archer we'd be here maybe six eight months but the lord said um i want you preaching through matthew until and we read the ninth chapter of matthew and got locked in and and hasn't it been marvelous lord have mercy i'm gonna i'm gonna get somebody next sunday to come and read the the themes and and last week uh uh there comes a time what was last week let me see who remembers somebody got their notes on huh yeah in need of a just can't take it no more miracle lord have mercy and some of y'all took the sermon away from me last week you and i like it when it happens like that the holy ghost let you preach amen now this week i want to go to the night back to the ninth chapter of matthew and i want to start at the 14th verse and you can stand with me it says um then john's disciples came and asked him do y'all see that give me amen if we're in the same place okay then how is it that we and the pharisees fast often but your disciples do not fast jesus answered how can the guest of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them while he is with them the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them and then they will fast in other words fasting one of the ways was to to to find the presence of god but if god's with you walking around with you why fast 16 no one sows a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment for the patch will pull away from the garment and tell words neither do they pour new wine into old wine skins if they do the skins will burst the wine will run out and the wine skins will be ruined no they pour new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved now i'm not actually preaching from that but that's you need to know that to understand the second piece and we'll come back to that section here's verse 18. while he was saying this a synagogue leader came and knelt before him he's back inside i told you all the stuff that happens in chapter nine except for one part of it happens outside everything else is inside says something about the miracle god wanted to do an inside work and he said my daughter has just what died but come and put your hands on her and she will live jesus got up and went with him and so did his disciples my daughter has just died but come and put your hands on her and she will live jesus got up and went with him and so did his disciples he is the working subject this does not have to have the last say would y'all say that with me say this does not have to have the last say pray with me this morning as is my custom as you see that um i don't always start in the text sometimes i start in the context and there's a context we're in this morning this week because i believe god's word is not just an ancient word but an alive word i have a praying church so as we enter this week there are two events of remembrance and deep reflection that happened on the same day look at me for a second so i can know you're getting this the two things this week that we ought to reflect on the first one is thursday wednesday and thursday is the beginning of yom kippur in the jewish tradition now we ought to pay attention to yom kippur because jesus was jewish ain't nobody say nothing let me see here let me talk to this side jesus was not a christian jesus was jewish he come from the hebrew people he was born he he was the founder of christianity the essence of christianity but his upbringing was jewish somebody said pastor teach us something um just like jesus in that picture that michelangelo drew either i thought i'd say that while i'm here jesus looked like y'all he had skin like burnt brass and eyes like coals of fire and hadleigh robins they did and yours too yeah sheep war no uh i don't mean that in any disrespect i mean it in all of the greatness of who we are jesus needed a hot comb jesus jesus did not have long stringy hair he just didn't right so this week is the beginning wednesday and thursday of yom kippur and yom kippur is that time just months after the people of israel left egypt they send somebody say sinned by worshipping the golden calf how many of you know your bible moses had gone up to the mount sinai to pray to god he came back there they were around the golden calf they took the very money that the lord had sent them for traveling expenses see god had given them traveling expenses to the prominent land he had made the enemy give them their wealth they get out in the middle of the of the desert and the pastor the bishop goes away to pray and they start acting up y'all don't do that at green leaf right y'all don't act different when the pastor's not here you know when cheryls are preaching y'all act different when when the sister ends up preaching y'all don't sit down and then don't do that that's sin don't do that don't do that you know your soul lords ain't singing you can't do nothing don't do that person you praying you don't you like to hear pray don't do that you don't say nothing or if your pastor's not the preacher you want you infatuated with somebody on tv don't sit down on the pastor because the person on tv ain't gonna come see you when you get sick i just thought i'd throw that in there um they're not going to be there when your mama's sick and your dad is sick or you sick or you need them but that's what they did they sinned and so moses had to go back to pray for their forgiveness and i it took him 40 days to wrestle with god in fact moses was so upset with him he said look lord instead of me doing all this why don't you just kill me have you ever worded a pastor so bad he didn't want to pass no more you know people have done that he but god no no no and and god had he did something but he had they got they got favor and moses came down the mountain and forevermore that was known as the day of atonement yom kippur y'all praying with me and and that year the people built the tabernacle and the tabernacle was a moving sanctuary it wasn't stationary it could be moved and the tabernacle was the center of prayer and sacrificial offering but on yom kippur which is the holiest days the holiest of days think about that the holiest of days in the jewish community is the day of repentance now watch this the same is true in the christian faith but we don't act like it because you cannot come to christ without coming through repentance in fact it's the goodness of the lord that ought to lead us to repentance the goodness of god shouldn't just lead us to praising the goodness of god is supposed to lead us to say lord i'm sorry for i for the ways i have not appreciated your goodness and lived into your goodness we have to repent recognize we need to turn another way and in the old way in the ancient world the yom kippur was the time when the priests now i don't have it on full the the tie would look more like the bishops are tied that i wear but the priest would dress in special garments and he would perform a special service of atonement and he would take he would go into the holy of holies and and and they would tie a belt around the priest called a table a cable toe because it was dangerous to go up around that holiness carrying all the people's sins and on his on his on his on his his his robe there were 12 stones representing the tribe and they were heavy enough so that when the priests went in the high priest went in he could feel the weight of the people that's one of the reasons i know all this modern stuff where folk don't ever wear rose but i don't wear rules because they're pretty the two reasons i wear rose number one to remind me that it is not me it's the covering of god's anointing and god's grace that's what's beautiful about me not william barbara but the covering so that's why i wear rose the second is because the weight reminds me of the weight of the people right so the priest would go in and he would have a rope around him because he could die up in there messing around that altar he could die can somebody else's sin trying to get their forgiveness was dangerous business trying to get the people healed and forgiving was dang you know it was dangerous because it cost jesus his life he was doing in essence what the high priest modeled in the old testament and he would take two goats in there and one goat they would sacrifice and the other goat they would lay on symbolically all the sins of the entire nation on top of that goat and then run him out of there and run him in the wilderness and they called him a scapegoat that's where that comes from so when you say somebody's a scapegoat you mean somebody else has laid all their sins and blamed them and that's all that all happened on yom kippur and in yom kippur the day of atonement the key verse says for on this day god will forgive you god will purify you and on that and they're doing kapoor they fasted but fasting wasn't ever just about food fasting was about admitting sin it was about not eating they're different forms of fasting but this form of fasting was about not eating so that you could spend all your time admitting your shortcomings before god and then fasting in the old testament was about admitting particular sin which was the sins against the people because in the bible the greatest sins are idolatry and mistreatment of the least of these y'all hear what i said now i know people talk about sin and sin but really that ain't true i'll come back and teach that one these days in the bible the greatest sin is idolatry self-worship and the second greatest sin that's most referenced in the bible is mistreatment of the poor the widow the immigrant lord america i just thought about that as i was going down that list we better have a yom kippur in america because the greatest sin was mistreatment of the poor the children the women the workers the immigrant and the sick and the prisoners so i have a praying church huh and and and so to fast meant to say we're going to stop doing this right and and to fast on yom kippur was to believe that if we repented then our sin would not have the last say y'all see where i'm going this doesn't have to have the last say because see ezekiel 18 20 says the one who sins is the one who will die yom kippur says yes god has said if you sin if you worship yourself and if you hurt the poor the least of these you will die but that doesn't have to have the last say if you repent young rep yom kippur says no to the sentence of death yom kippur says that death even death sanctioned by god does not have the last word last say if we repent which is why isaiah 58 are praying with me isaiah 58 is the main text read doing kapoor let me read it in the message bible in the king james it says raise your voice like a trumpet and tell the nation of your sin in the message bible it says shout a full throat and shout hold nothing back trumpet blast shall tell the people what's wrong with their lives verse three through five says the bottom line is you're not fasting because you love me you fat your fast is for profit the problem is you drive your employees much too hard you don't pay people what they deserve you bicker and fight you swing a million fists you hurt people and then you want to come around me with a pious long face and act like you are one of mine that is not the fasting that i want the kind of fast i want is for you to break the chains of injustice get rid of exploitation in the workplace free the oppressed cancel debts share your food with the hungry invite the homeless into your home put clothes on the naked and be available to your own families that you act like you don't know and if you do this you will not die if you fast this way you will not die but instead your prayers will be answered instead when you call out for help i'll say i'm here if you do this as a nation you'll be a repairer of the breach could this be the reason we can't get over covert because too many in america too many politicians won't fast like this even in the midst of cover they still mean even in the midst of covet and poor folk suffering during this pandemic they still don't want to provide even james clyburn something got on him i'm praying for him i know him what is wrong with you talking about we don't need three trillion dollars you gave we gave the corporations that and more what is it three trillion dollars to help the poor help the least of these help those that have been hurt the most during covert that's that's that's the minimum we need 10 trillion over 10 years we spent 20 well i'll get to that later could it be that the nation can never go forward and the church can never go forward until we have our own yom kippur not not not become jewish but become repentant but could it also be if we repent then the death we're seeing in the church because all over the world the church is losing members could it be that this does not have to have the last say if the church learns how to fast properly well that's one thing that's happening this week the second thing that's happening this week is on the same day of yom kippur and bobby i didn't see this you know i was reading and thinking the same day that yom kippur start is the anniversary of the bombing and the murder of the four girls in birmingham 17 days after the march on washington do y'all realize that 17 days after the march on washington some people in america were blowing up babies in sunday school that we we don't tell that story enough 17 days after my mama had me look 15 days after she birthed me she had to hold me 15 days oh and look at me and say what kind of world have we brought my son into where they will blow up a child in the mr sunday school and she taught sunday school and my daddy was an activist so we're targeted the 16th street baptist church was bombed they put 19 sticks of dynamite 19 sticks of dynamite sure that sure beneath the sunday school with a timing device to go off during sunday school when they knew the children would be there and the four girls they killed were adam a collins cynthia wesley carol robertson and carol denise mcnair now why did they do it though todd why did they do it because the movement had won in birmingham in the spring see there was a birmingham movement before the march on washington and they won they beat jim crow they beat bull connor and the folk they beat were mad and then they killed mega evers in june and then the march on washington in august and they really were mad so the supremacy said i know how to kill this movement if we kill their babies this will have the last word nowhere in the world they're going to keep on doing this if we kill start killing babies and they did it and they thought now the people will go home now the people won't go to church anymore now the people won't march anymore now the people will go away and the movement will die and then as i'm trying to this morning dr king preached at the funeral and in his sermon he said these babies death wasn't the end of their voice he said these babies died as martyrs and as ugly as this bombing is and was it doesn't have the last say can i read can i can i can i can i muse dr king can i lift him resurrect him for just a moment and and lift part of the sherman that he said and what he was saying about why the the the bombs would not have the last say he said these babies are speaking to us right now they are saying something to each of us they have something to say to every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows they are speaking to us they have something to say to every politician who has fed his constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoil meat of racism they are still speaking to us the bombs don't have the last say they have something to say to a federal government that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern dixiecrats and the blatant hypocrisy of right-ring northern republicans they have something to say my friends to every negro who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in the mighty struggle for justice what do they say to us why is it that the bombs don't have the last say they say to us black and white alike that we must substitute courage for caution they say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them but about the system the way of life the philosophy which produced the murderers their death says to us that we must live now we must get up now we must work now we must be passionate and unrelenting now we cannot stop fighting for the realization of the american dream this can't have the last say thank you martin and so instead of the racist act of the clan and the death of the four girls stop the movement after that sermon and people heard it people came more people came white and black and young and old and gay and straight and they were willing to risk their lives more people said with god on our side we can't stop we won't stop and that's why you have the rights today because this or that did not have the last say i want to suggest that in the midst of these two historical moments yom kippur and the death of the anniversary of the death of those four little girls that we here today need to learn how to claim the wisdom of the holy spirit and how to know my brothers and sisters when to declare i don't we don't accept this having the last say i don't know what your this is this morning but i'm talking to it and i'm talking to you and i'm talking to it all over the world uh this text speaks directly to your this whatever this is trying to shut down your living whatever this is that's trying to make you less than god whatever this is that's trying to scare you to death whatever this is that's trying to kill you this text is for you this word of the spirit is for you now it starts in an interesting way john's disciples were quit and well joining with the pharisees and questioning jesus about who should fast and how and jesus in essence says look you all are concerned about the wrong thing people are trying to live they're not trying to be all hung up on religious tradition that's what he says jesus said look you all keep trying to put new wine in old wine skin you got to keep trying to stay back yonder and we're trying to move forward jesus said look i came to bring life and that more abundantly and life is not inside of rituals rituals are important but when the ritual means more than the relationship with god the ritual needs to go somewhere that's the first lesson if you want this not to have whatever your this is not to have the last say you can't let people who are focused on the unimportant things have the last word in your life you have to be real careful who you let have your attention because there are people if you let them in your mind they will help bury you they will help bury your dreams they'll help bury your hopes huh you cannot let people who are focused on unimportant things have the last say you can't let people full of doubt have the last say you can't let people who just love to tear down other folk have the last say you cannot let people who will stay focused on the hurt and never look for a way out of the hurt have the last say you cannot let naysayers who are you say i'm gonna do something with y'all you know you can't do that you got to get them to you got to get them out your ear i think i was telling reverend della and brother hicks yesterday it came back to my remembrance when i was a in college cheryl i had this black professor that i admired i read all these books and i wanted to be a have a phd and and i told him one day that i wanted to get a phd and he asked me well what's your grade point after i said 3.7 that's pretty good on a 4.0 scale 3.7 he looked at me and said you're not doctoral material and he was somebody that i looked up to and it almost killed my dream it was like a bullet right through my heart the heart of my hopes huh and i almost let it have the last say my daddy had died but then but then my daddy's voice came back to me but my father had told me about who i was and whose i was and and god and that and i guess the lord let me hear that because god wanted me not to have idols you know it's all right to have heroes but not idols and he said you don't listen to that voice anymore i was thinking about yesterday in the car he said to me you're not doctoral materials and i don't brag but i've got an earned doctorate and 14 or 15 honorary doctors and one from the school he graduated from i'll just tell you you got to be careful who you let speak in your life if you don't want the this that you're facing to have the last say then then the bible says preach barbara the bible says the father who was a part of the religious leadership he was a leader in the synagogue which means he was a father from the opposition he shows up and says to jesus my daughter has died but i know if you put your hands on her she will live and i want y'all to look inside the text because there are two lessons you got to hear if you don't want your this whatever it is to have the last say the first lesson is that the father breaks into the dinner they're having dinner they're having a feast and the father interrupts the feast he interrupts the music he interrupts the laughter because when you need something from the lord you better know how to cry right where you are y'all don't hear what i'm saying huh you you better understand that the worst thing you can do when you need something from god is wait for other people's permission for you to ask god and to cry out whatever you need no matter who's around you you better be able to say god i need you huh i need you right now and you better make sure you're not too proper with it you better act like you need god if you got a real need don't come to god tomorrow well lord i kind of need you you don't go to god all they're talking about assistance please lord can i have a little assistance when you when something is dying or dying or dead that you know ought not be dying or dead when your this is trying to kill you you better say hell lord alexander mclaren one of the great preachers of the 19th century who was crippled most of his life but preached every sunday to 10 000 people he says when summoned to the death bed when the summoner of the death bed comes to jesus from the lips of the father the father breaks in on the banquet with his cry his cry doesn't fit because everybody else is laughing and dancing but you can't always laugh and dance when everybody else is uh touch your neighbor in a covert way and say i ain't a party pooper but sometimes i don't feel like dancing and laughing i got stuff on my soul and on my mind and he goes on to say jesus is immediately attentive because god hears our cries god doesn't hear pretension god hears our cries god hears our mourns it is the call of sorrow that is guaranteed to always reach jesus's ear it's the cry for help when we act like we're not god and we need help that gets god's attention and you got to know it you can't worry about if it makes you look funny you can't worry about if you need to lay at the altar and other folk don't understand it because whatever you're facing you and you know you can't afford to let it have the final say you better cry out to jesus and you know what you know what i love is that the pharisees this is what they said about jesus they said he was a gluttonous man they said he was a womanizer they said jesus was a wine bible but i'm glad what i know he is he's a savior i don't care i don't care if he took some wine while he was there at matthew i really don't y'all y'all crazy that doesn't even bother me i don't care if he took mary magdalene for a little dance in the party i don't that doesn't bother me i don't care if he ate all the cake and the bread and the chicken as long as when that man cried he heard him somebody said well jesus had a lot of sisters around he did he had at least six sisters that were around him and two are more wealthy and they paid his way because sometimes the men would run away i do not care because he was he's a savior and i know that some people won't help you some of the world won't help you cry or you want to cry if they're feasting if they're laughing if they're having a party they don't want you around but i'm so glad the moment you come around jesus with a cry he'll hear your faintest cry i wish i had a witness in here anybody ever had a little talk with jesus anybody ever had a real talk is there anybody over here that's ever cried let me see are there any men here you may not have done it around the women but you got by yourself and you cried unto the law and the church needs to understand that we too need to be a place when people have legitimate hurt they can come and their cries don't get ignored we got to be a fellowship of the crying we got to know how to weep with those that weep mourn with those that mourn and that's what god answers i love that oh him i wish we could lift it one of these days just when i need him most he's near when i falter when i fear um he's ready to help me ready to cheer just when i need him i don't know why i'm hollering like this yes i do because i got a need he he's my all he he he answers when upon him i call he's watching lest i fall and just when i need him most y'all some of y'all don't get this but i want those that are that'll know what it's like for something to try to kill your dreams and to try to stop you in your tracks and you are a witness that just y'all better act like it's a thousand people in here but if it ain't but one somebody ought to praise it look at your neighbor and say neighbor if you haven't had it you're going to come to it live long enough and you'll be able to say just then this father does this what this father does says to us there are times we have to decide what's not god see there's some stuff out here that's got power like death it'll rock your boat huh huh low self-esteem has got power huh despair has power don't ever say those things don't have power but what we have to do is decide they're not god you can't ever say they don't have power but you've got to say this can't have the last say because it's not god therefore it doesn't have authority to close the book oh jesus help me uh this man said said my daughter now now the other couple of the scriptures say he came to jesus and he said says that his daughter which meant he was his only daughter and and another scripture suggested she was 12 to 14 years old but whatever she was this man decided that he couldn't accept her death he at least had the protest i wish i had a protest in church is there a protest in church huh he had to protest he had to at least check in with god death was powerful but he had to check in with god because death wasn't god so he had to check in with god trouble tell somebody to check in with god because you got to decide what is god and what's not god because i got to know if god's got another say huh huh god always has another say this is why our foreparents never gave into slavery slavery was powerful y'all slavery was evil slavery was mean but they couldn't accept it as being god they couldn't accept it as having the last word that's why they said before i be a slave i'll be buried in my grave but what did they say and go home with my lord this ain't lord this is not god and there today there are things that we shouldn't accept this is the 20th year remembrance of 9 11. and we watched how over these 20 years this country spent 21 trillion dollars in war unnecessary war we could have guaranteed every child access to preschool we could have paid everybody a living wage we could pay to vaccine every low-wealth country in the world in afghanistan we killed 170 000 afghans 900 000 were killed in post-911 war overall millions were injured millions displaced then there's the political costs afghanistan was about vengeance and heroin iraq was about oil and powerful bases being put in the middle east and if you know this we have to declare that war can never have the last day 52 of our children live in poverty and poverty kills dreams kills hopes there's got to be somebody in the earth that says we can't accept this as having the last say one senator is killing bills in congress when we got 168 members of the black caucus and the progressive caucus we can't accept that as having the last say 700 people die every day from poverty even before cold we can't accept that thousands of people die every year from the lack of health care we can't accept that lives are being killed and caught and killed because of ecological devastation the poisoning of our land and our water we can't accept that people are dying from covey because they're believing lies about the vaccine we can't accept these things as having the lands where young people in our community are dying because of drug dealers this can never be accepted as being okay as having the last that people's spirits are being killed in churches because they happen to be gay we can't accept that we can't accept the house of grace being turned into a house of bloom we can't accept the house of mercy being turned into a house of meanness especially when the bible says that modern day eunuchs the bible clearly says in isaiah 56 they must have a place in god's house you see my brothers and sisters we ain't supposed to die easy ain't nothing that god has given you your life your dreams your hopes your abilities your gifts is supposed to die easily you can never accept the killer as god because it is not god that comes to kill steal and destroy and that's why whenever something dies you've got to have a protest mentality you've got to decide some things are not acceptable some deaths are not acceptable and we have a right to check in with god and challenge god to change them god i know she's dead she's not gonna die she's dead one text says she was dying but matthew says she was already dead but i know if you just lay your hands huh you god can overcome because death is not god we got to decide who our god is well i'm going to my seat i'm going to my seat but there's one more thing this man did that you and i need to do when you face that this that's trying to have the last say that has no business having the last say and i'm glad it's a man notice when the man comes in he kneels and worships before he asks shoot maybe that's why y'all broke out and all that praise up front but i wonder are y'all like the the some of the people that go to the club they ain't got but one good dance i wonder is there two or three more shouts in the house do i have a witness here huh you see there is a worship in his prayer when you're dealing with something trying to kill or has killed something in you and you need a resurrection in your life then you've got to come to god with a worship even as you're making a request see this man came to the conclusion the sanhedrin can't help me huh i wish somebody would start writing while you're looking at me and start right now what can't help you with some of your this uh the sanhedrin couldn't help him the politicians couldn't help him family couldn't help him money couldn't help him friends couldn't help him he needed god and how many of you know if you live long enough you'll find yourself in a place where you need god not just your mama's knowledge about god but you need god uh and he acknowledges look at the text who jesus is he doesn't wait until his daughter is revived to start worshiping touch on your neighbor and say stop that all that praise after god blesses you you need a pre-praise i wish i had a witness here somebody right now in this church you better praise him now i know what you're going through because you tell me but you better praise god on the front end don't you know this man's heart was broken he came there with his baby dead he left his baby in the bed dead but the bible says he came to jesus and he knelt down in the posture of worship and said lord i know that's a praise right there i don't have no doubt i woke up this morning and i didn't have no doubt it might be dead but i know if god touches it if god says so [Music] and i stopped by to tell you if you want to see god release god's power god's resurrecting power god's restoring power god's reviving power god's renewing power you got to come with some pre-praise and pre-worship worship before you see that thing alive worship before it comes back to life you've got to come with the attitude that no matter how dead it is god still has a say my auntie died at 90 years old last week a couple of times in her life they said she was dead but her grandchild stood up at the funeral and said grandmama always said no matter how bad it was god still has a say turn to your neighbor cove it safe as a neighbor i don't know what short this is this morning i don't know what's trying to kill your family or kill your body or kill your dreams i don't know what's already dead and you thought about burying it but you got a protest request i don't know what the polls say and what your circumstances say but tell them tell them look at them and say but i know with no doubt that lord still has a say put your trust in the lord hallelujah i want you to know it's all right if i die because god still has a say even if evil kills me god still has a say the same power that raised jesus from the dead that same power will raise us up even now or in the hereafter lord have mercy sometimes like the man's daughters your dreams may die your hopes may die but god still has a say i need a preaching church and a praising church and a worshipping church is there in here this morning the scene god raise you up when the devil knocks you down raised you up when people counted you out is there anybody in here you've been dead tired dead broke dead in depression you had a death diagnosis but god raised you up i need somebody to turn to your neighbor as a neighbor protester protester protester don't let death have the last say don't let the devil have the last saying don't let racism have the last faith don't let evil have the last saying protest protest what you need to do is right in the midst of what's trying to kill you shout now don't wait until the battle is over don't wait until the victim is won just remember what god has promised and what the lord has already done don't wait shout now point to your neighbor and say neighbor if you're sick in your body and the doctors say you won't get well don't you fret don't you worry because jesus never fails don't wait shout now god is not slack in his promises he'll do just what he said and what he's done for others he'll surely do for you tell your neighbor say neighbor in the graveyard shout now when it looks bad shout now when you don't know which way to turn shout now the lord will make a way out of no way tell your neighbor say neighbor don't wait until you get up start praising him on your knees start praising him on your feet start praising him on your back start praising him when you're knocked down start praising him in your sick bed start praising him in the face of your enemy start praising him when you don't think you can come back don't wait shout now because the god i serve he's still he's still he's still has a say say yeah [Music] [Music] so [Music] glory to god [Music] glory to god i don't know what you are this is but don't let it have the last say don't wait shout now [Music] go away [Music] right number one please [Music] don't wait till the battle is over don't wait till the victory is won just remember whatever god promised it's yours and it's already done so don't wait don't wait shout now don't wait [Music] he's able and it's already done don't wait away don't wait shout out [Applause] [Applause] the doctor said you won't get well don't you fret don't worry cause jesus he never fails don't wait don't wait shout down shout now shout now shout now shout now shall now shout now shout now shout now don't wait go away [Music] don't worry about the future don't worry about the lies ahead don't worry when the righteous seem forsaken the seed won't bed bread don't wait don't wait shout now come on come on come on shout now shall now shall now shall now shall now shout now shout now shout now don't wait go away come on come on come on shout now shout now shout [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah come on right where you are come on right where you are i know some things come on bring this mic up i know some things have been trying to kill your joy and the truth is bring this mic up court the truth is that some things have died in your life but how many of you believe in resurrection how many of you believe that god still has a say so if you have not accepted the lord don't wait do it now wherever you are in the world do it now wherever you are in the country do it now wherever you are in goldsboro do it now sometimes you gotta look death and deathly situations right in the eyeball and shout anyhow i want you to give your best one minute pre-praise your best one-minute pre-praise there's something you've got to have and only god can do it why don't you give god a praise and you had almost decided that there was no need to worry about it anymore but this morning you realize that you haven't protested enough that you gave that thing too much power and this morning you're taking back the power and you are declaring that only god can say it's over only god can put it in the grave only god can say at the last word come on musician we're going out with this praising [Music] shout out [Music] now shout now [Applause] [Music] [Music] there is no [Music] [Applause] i can live without you [Music] there [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] are too much [Music] [Applause] [Music] without you there is no way [Music] i can leave without you there is nowhere there is no [Music] there is no way [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you mayor thank you get all the other mikes together i want them to sing one more time i want us to remember felicia this morning in a special way there are a lot of things we can remember in the church if i miss somebody i apologize it's not my head but felicia is in arkansas she went there for one thing and found out that she's looking deaf in the face with the parent but god has the last say god still has another saying she's listening to us probably right now so sister felicia we love you you praise him now you trust him now you believe in god now and we lift you up your father if he's listening and any others you've got to be a protesting christian you can't just accept stuff and and one of the worst things we brought in the church was everything we say is the will of god that's just the will of god well it's true that god is over everything but then you start assigning things to god that's the work of the enemy huh and some people don't even know the will because you ain't never protested to see it may be the will of god for that to happen and then for god to use that to point to his glory he said that he wanted why is this man sick god let him be this way so that he could then reveal his glory but you got to be a protesting christian you can't just accept stuff can't be passive can't make other stuff god um wednesday we're going to make some decisions in the church because we believe god and i want to ask those of you that can to join on live stream we're gonna have church conference on live stream on wednesday seven o'clock seven o'clock seven o'clock and we got some good news and we can make a step of faith in a powerful way and what people said could never happen because this church was too small because spoke left and said that told me sent messages to me the church will fall apart yeah i didn't even bring that mess to the church because i know god's got to say and and we prayed some years ago for god to do something supernatural and god has done just what god said what we asked and it took us time we had to wait it looked like it wasn't going to happen and then god took something he took us losing something in order to gain more and i want to talk to you all about that wednesday night and also some of you being asked to join in some other ways of service in the life of the church in preparation but i know it's covered and we're about ready to go we're going to cut the final video on in a moment but i want you just to look at that neighbor one more time with all the love you have and say listen put up a protest don't you let death and deadly things don't let your dreams and what god has told you is possible go just any kind of way remember god still has a say and whatever this is whatever this is you're this because everybody gathered this am i right sure ev everybody has a this that's trying to have the last say but only god has the last said can you all sing that one more time with some gusto and that's gonna be our our final word and then put our video on so we can leave our audience online properly our benediction is this song [Music] [Music] there is no way [Music] can go home [Music] [Music] far too much [Music] there is no way there is no way i can live without you we thank you you and you for joining us this morning in this our worship experience our worship celebration please tune in again on next sunday as we lift the name of jesus higher and higher for god indeed is worthy and there is no way that we can make it without god and remember whatever your this is it does not have the last say because our god has a say god bless you jesus hallelujah

Channel: Repairers of the Breach

Views: 2,925

Rating: 4.968504 out of 5

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Id: NnX0kMpPl5Q

Length: 141min 36sec (8496 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021