WE THE CHURCH SERIES CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS

praise the lord eastern star praises to our god i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord god is here god loves each one of us isn't it a great thing to serve a god that's mighty and awesome loves us unconditionally you are tuned in to the eastern star church where our pastor is jeffrey a johnson senior we are so glad you're here please share with someone else if you're streaming virtually that we are here the church where jesus is exhausted and the word is explained let us pray god of grace and mercy we are so thankful that you love us on today we need to hear a word from you so we invite you into this space oh god to open up our hearts and our minds to be receptive of your word thank you o god for this day in jesus name amen amen can we celebrate jesus on this morning can you shout hallelujah come on can somebody shout glory come on this is a celebration are you glad to be in the house of the lord once again the old folks say he didn't have to let me live he didn't have to let me live but i'm glad to be in the service come on put those hands together [Music] glory glory to our king glory glory to our king to the lamb who was slain foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign come on y'all play a little bit play a little bit put those hands together [Music] from the rises of the sun to the setting of the same [Music] foreign [Music] oh yourself hallelujah your mind oh [Music] together he's our risen king he's our wanted savior [Music] hallelujah right now [Music] i won't be ashamed to declare the praises of my god [Music] [Music] and your majesty [Music] you're [Music] [Applause] the one we came to break the tank is [Music] [Music] you're [Music] thank you father for this moment we're going to continue to praise him and give you the glory and the honor forever [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] rainbow [Music] oh my god [Music] hey [Music] [Music] you declare your glory [Music] and the darkness [Music] welcome to eastern star church where jesus is exalted and the word is explained thank you for joining us today is prayer sunday our prayer ministry volunteers are available to pray with you today from 9 15 a.m to 1 30 p.m eastern standard time call 317-268-8516 for prayer and one of our prayer ministry volunteers will pray with you you can also leave a prayer request on the prayer wall at easternstarchurch.org or send an email to we care at easternstartchurch.org eastern star church family and friends today is lady sharon's birthday join us as we wish her a very happy birthday we love and appreciate you lady sharon enjoy your special day whether you're a member or a visitor we want you to grow with us go to easternstartchurch.org backslash events to register for our september classes including teen talk monday september 27th at 7 30 p.m teen bible study wednesdays at 8 pm crew conversations for young adults september 21st women of the word bible study saturday september 25th at 9 a.m new members orientation sunday september 26 at 2 p.m children under the age of 12 are invited to the children's church watch party with sister sandra we will gather today at 1 45 pm register for all these events and more at easternstartchurch.org backslash events eastern star church members we want to make sure you are receiving special updates and ask that you update your contact information visit the website today and click on the notification bar message to update your correct phone number email address and mailing address if you're not a member and don't have a church home we would love for you to join our family easy start church presents the upper room speaker series a monthly conversation centered on the role of the church as we continue to navigate this new reality by faith the first conversation will be held on september 23rd at 7 pm and guest speaker dr dominique a robinson dean of students and associate professor at wiley college will discuss the relationship between church and the culture to register visit our website and click on the events tab an observance of sabbath eastern star church business office the rock fresh market and the care center will be closed fridays until the end of the year please visit easternstarchurch.org to download a guide on how you and your family can join us in this journey of practicing the sabbath if you are an eastern star church member experiencing an illness hospitalization or death in the family please call the care center at 317 547 so we can pray for you everyone is invited to our noon day services every wednesday for an inspiring word if you prefer audio only listen to our most recent service by calling 1-855-730-7006 have a desire to work in ministry consider joining the staff of eastern star church eastern star church offers great benefits and is currently on a four day monday through thursday hybrid remote work week we're hiring for several positions visit easternstarchurch.org backslash careers to apply today we are here for you go to easternstartchurch.org to learn more about how we can help you and your family grow through fellowship and discipleship it's prayer time church family let's prepare our hearts and minds for prayer today we want to lift up prayer for the violence in our city prayer for god's comfort and peace to those who have lost loved ones and we also want to keep in prayer our pastor and first lady during their time of sabbatical for this rest and renewal that they'll be receiving we would also like to lift up the following in prayer to keisha terence jr and tyler body joyce higgins deacon robert marshall charles meadows jr the murdoch family james walls darnay scales rhoda surf irene wilson and the family of jerry hardness and your name might not have been on this road but we all have something that we can go to god for so let us pray god in heaven we greet you today understanding that you are a great god merciful kind and mighty in all your works so father on today we stop and just ask for forgiveness of the things that we've done wrong said wrong looked at wrong god forgive us because we fall short and while you've forgiven us help us to forgive others oh god open our hearts and minds to be receptive of forgiveness we lift up right now father to you the violence in this city oh god god there's somebody that needs you to just quiet their spirits so that they can hear from you and understand that violence is not an answer god we just place it all in your hands all the cares and concerns re surrounding violence because we know you can handle it and while you're handling that oh god we lift up those who have lost others father you're the great comforter so please just stop by those who are mourning right now god let them know that you love them let them know that you care and god while you're stopping by them touch pastor and sister johnson oh god while they're away keep them protected oh god keep them safe oh god let their minds be renewed and restored father thank you for the service that both of them provide to this church god we're just so grateful to you for the gift of them now no god we have concerns ourselves so for every concern we give it to you we leave it at your throne of grace and mercy understanding that you'll work it out by and by you'll work it out in our favor you'll work it out oh god so that we can just give your name praise honor and glory knowing what nobody but you jesus we are thankful that your blood still works and that it covers us washes us white as snow so thank you for the blood now lord we are so grateful for jesus we thank you that we have a way that we can go to just walk with you and talk with you by the examples of jesus christ so we lift up this prayer in the mighty name of jesus knowing that it reaches you through him so it's in jesus mighty name that we pray amen [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] so [Music] you're amazing you're [Music] amazing you're [Music] [Music] god [Music] hallelujah say the lord is amazing he's awesome he's great he's powerful he's so amazing say you're amazing [Music] so amazing oh [Music] is is is [Music] [Music] bless me is [Music] is is [Music] oh god it's amazing he's so amazing he's so amazing even through polvin he's amazing even through confidence he's amazing he's so amazing he's so amazing he's so amazing he's so amazing [Music] you're amazing [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] for his amazing grace his amazing love his amazing forgiveness how many know do we serve an amazing god hallelujah we could just say right there if you want to to talk about how good god is from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same we serve an amazing god see already [Music] [Music] [Music] god we honor you we thank you so much thank you for your grace your love that's so amazing thank you for the praise and worship of the saints as we gather together to do nothing but to worship your name and spirit and the truth and to get a word from you so god we ask that you continue to move in this space continuing to move into cyberspace we ask god you will speak a word into our life help us to open up our hearts on our minds to receive what it is that you have for us in a time such as this and we'll be mindful to give your name all the glory all the honor because you truly are amazing none of the words in my mouth for the meditations of our hearts let them be acceptable in our sight god you are strengthened our redeemer in jesus name that we pray amen amen put those hands together one more time and bless god for god truly is amazing there's a word from the lord found in mark chapter 7 mark chapter 7 and i'll begin reading at verse number 24 as we continue this thought of we the church and even in the time that we are living in right now it's important that we understand as the body of christ that the best impact that we can make on somebody may not necessarily be in the building so throughout this month we've had church in the streets we've had church in the tombs we've had bedside baptist church and so we'll continue to start in mark chapter 7 beginning at verse number 24. i'm reading from the new revive standard version and verse 24 begins by saying from there he set out and went away to the region of tire he entered the house and did not want anyone to know he was there yet he could not escape notice but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and she came and bowed down at his feet now the woman was a gentile of syrophoenician origin and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter and he said to her let the children be fed first for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs but she answered him sir even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs then he said to her for saying that you may go the demon has left your daughter so she went home and found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone verse 24 he set out and went away to the region of tire real quick i want to talk about church without walls church without walls mark chapter 7 opens up with a heat heated debate between jesus and the pharisees or as mark puts it the elders the religious leaders of that day and up until mark chapter 7 throughout the journey so far we see the pharisees pop up and always wanting to start beef with jesus whether it was when he was in that house and that roof opened up and that paralyzed man was lowered down and jesus forgave his sins and the pharisees was there to start before when jesus healed that man with a deformed hand on the sabbath day the pharisees was there to ask about him even in mark chapter 3 it was the pharisees that started a rumor that jesus was possessed with evil spirit it always seems as if the pharisees will pop up on jesus every chance that they got and in mark chapter 7 it opens up as the bible says that the pharisees make their way to jerusalem to see about jesus and as they see about jesus they they question jesus and his disciples on a ceremony a ritual in the jewish tradition it was a jewish tradition for people after buying food in the marketplace to come back and to ceremonially wash their hands and to wash their utensils and to wash their pots but the pharisees caught jesus and their and his disciples not necessarily going with the ceremonial tradition so they asked him about it and they and they asked them why don't your disciples wash their hands and this was no question of hygiene this was more so a question of tradition and ritual and ceremony and so it was a heated debate in jesus in verse chapter six of mark chapter seven flats out just calls the religious leaders hypocrites and he begins to quote isaiah and says you honor god with your mouth but your heart is far from god and he says that you more so are loyal to human traditions while you're breaking the law of god and after having this conversation with the pharisees he then shifts his conversation to the crowd and tells the crowd who is there is not what goes into the person that makes him unclean it what comes out of the person that makes them unclean after he speaks to the elders he then shifts his conversation to the crowd and after the crowd he has a personal conversation with the disciples and by the end of that narrative jesus in essence is saying there is no distinction between clean and unclean foods there's no distinction he says that these pharisees were more concerned with with human traditions than they were of following the law of god he used an example he said for an example moses says to honor your mother and your father and if you don't honor your mother and your father then you surely must die that's what moses said well the pharisees jesus says well you all when your parents when your family asks you for help you tell them to wait a second i'm going to the temple to make an offering and a sacrifice to god and you break the law to uphold a human tradition and jesus after this heated discussion that he's having with the pharisees to in essence prove a point and says you honor god with your lips you you wear the white attire you show up on time to the right place you know all the scriptures you know the traditions but your heart is disconnected from god and after this heated discussion that he's having with the old heads the bible says in verse number 24 he escapes and makes his way to a region just outside of israel to a place called tire and this is an unfamiliar place to the jewish people they didn't necessarily cross over to that border but in mark chapter 3 the bible says that jesus was preaching on the beach and it was people from all over the region even those who came from tyre and sedone who showed up to hear jesus preach in mark chapter 3. now jesus needs an escape he needs some rest he needs a sabbath and he makes his way to tyra and he enters a house more than likely it was somebody's house that he met back in mark chapter 3 when he was preaching on the beach now that he is tired he's just come out of a heated discussion with the religious leaders he is looking for some rest he is looking for a sabbath he is looking for some seclusion some private time because notice what jesus has just gone through throughout mark he's he's experienced temptation with satan he's been dealing with demons of other people he's he's he's tried to preach at his home synagogue but found no love in his home church he's been rejected by nazareth his home city every everywhere he goes the pharisees are there harassing him jesus just needed a break and on top of all of that there were people coming and and looking for jesus to meet every need that they had he was tired he wanted a break he wanted a sabbath but as jesus goes over the borders in into a foreign land of tyra he goes there to find secrecy he goes there to find rest but there was a woman looking for a redeemer when jesus was looking for a sabbath there was a woman that was there looking for a savior and this woman comes and we don't know how this woman found out that jesus was staying in this particular house mark says immediately she heard about jesus and throughout the book of mark you see this word immediately written over 40 times and here it is again in mark chapter 7 the mark says that immediately this woman hears about jesus and she makes her way to this house where jesus is because any house that has jesus you can't hide jesus if he's really in your house ain't no concealing jesus one translation says that he cannot be heared because if you truly have jesus in your heart and in your house somebody should see it somebody should know about it and this woman shows up to the house and we don't know how she was able to get in front of jesus we don't know who was the door keeper we don't know who she had to go through but the text says she gets to jesus and she bows down to his feet and she has a request for jesus she says jesus i know that i'm breaking tradition right now i know that i'm going against the norm i know that i'm breaking the rules of society but jesus i got a daughter at home and she's dealing with a demon jesus my daughter is not doing well can you see about my daughter mark made it clear that this woman wasn't just any woman she's nameless but we do get a glimpse of her story she has no name but we get some idea of her pain mark says that she is a greek syrophoenician woman okay um she is a greek syrophoenecian woman of cyrophonician origin syrophoenicia and she is a black woman greek she is a black woman in a white man's world because she is a part of the oppressed community the same empire that oh that was oppressing jesus's community was the same empire that were oppressing the people in tyra and sedone a syrophoenician woman she is greek that speaks of the culture sire phoenician that speaks of her race she is a black woman in a white man's world and she's experiencing oppression because of her gender experiencing oppression because of her skin tone experiencing oppression in the midst of the economic system of that day she's in poverty and on top of all of that she's got a daughter dealing with a demon don't nobody want to talk to no no no no woman who's got a daughter dealing with a demon she ain't had no girlfriend she ain't going no girl trips she's been isolated she had no texts no phone calls no zoom no zoom parties none of that she was isolated she has been rejected she is an outcast and and she shows up and she falls in front of jesus and says jesus i got a daughter who is sick can you come see about my daughter y'all this wasn't normal she was going against the rules of society as a woman talking to a man she was going against the rules of society as a greek as a gentile going up and talking to a jew she is going against the rules she is breaking the tradition she is going against the norm why is she doing this because she is in a desperate situation and when you and i are in a desperate situation there are some things that we wouldn't normally do but we got to do it in an attempt to find our deliverance oh y'all must say been in a pandemic for 18 months normally we would show up to a building normally we would show up to the altar normally we would have meetings in a building normally we're able to get in contact with our pastor but this ain't normal we ain't in a normal time we are in a desperate situation so i gotta have church on my phone i gotta have church at the crib i gotta have church in my car because this ain't normal but i still gotta get to jesus to find my deliverance and this woman said i ain't dealing with a normal situation i got a daughter who's sick at the crib she's dealing with a demon one of the things that this text teaches us is that there is a demonic force that is after our children there is a demonic force that's after our kids and they and the demonic force ain't waiting until they 21. tex says she was a little daughter she's young in age i don't know how old she is but she's young she's little and the enemy goes after our children at a young age the enemy goes after the younger generation to wipe them out you can even ask moses's mama who lived in a time where the government was trying to kill her son but she put her in something that even though other folk were out to get him he was able to survive because the enemy is after our kids young you can ask daniel hananiah mishael and azariah who was kidnapped from their homeland forced into a foreign land with a foreign king and they was trying to change their name but despite of all that the empire offered them they took a stand in the name of yahweh because the enemy is after our kids young jesus was almost a victim of the enemy that was trying to take out the younger generation but thank god he had a mama and a step daddy that understood that every now and again i gotta flee certain situations in order to keep my kids safe because there is a demonic attack against our young people and what are we gonna do in an attempt to save them at some point the woman understood that i've tried everything but i gotta at least try jesus i gotta try somebody that won't try to not just counsel my kid but who can cast the demon out of my kid this woman understood that there are certain situations that we're not just gonna counsel we're not just going to mediate we're not just going to have meetings and discussions but there are certain situations that we got to cast some demons out we got to cast some demons out of our communities and cast demons out of our schools and cast demons out of our work experience and cast demons out of our homes because jesus says we ain't got time for no counseling we're some stuff that we gotta cast out and this woman says i'm dealing with something that ain't normal so i'm going to break the norm in an attempt to experience jesus but notice notice the response to to this woman's request from jesus i told you she is a greek syrophoenician woman she is a black woman in the white man's world dealing with oppression and as a result of the oppression she has a daughter dealing with a demon shows up to jesus jesus can you heal my daughter and notice notice notice what jesus says notice what notice how jesus responds to this request in verse 27 after she begged him cast the demon out of her daughter he said to her let the children be fed first for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs has god ever responded to your requests in a way that you didn't expect god to respond to it in essence it was almost like jesus initially rejects the request and the way that jesus rejects the request we should we should question how jesus responds to this woman's request this is a controversial statement that jesus offers here in mark chapter seven because jesus not only jesus didn't just say no i'm tired no i don't want to be bothered right now because i told you all the message he's just gone through now he's seeking to get some sabbath this woman shows up in the midst of his self-care and says i have a need jesus says nah i can't do that i'm not going to take the food that's for the children and toss it to the dogs he he didn't just reject the request but it's almost like jesus calls this woman a dog y'all quiet i mean are y'all reading it it's right there jesus says let the children be fed first for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs did jesus just refer to this female as a dog did did jesus just just make a statement that that perpetuated the patriarchal system of his day disrespectful calls her out of her name jesus says i'm not going to take the food that was bit for the children and toss it to the dogs he's using a illustration it is a metaphor and that says jesus is saying i've come to the jewish it to the jewish people first i've come to meet the needs of of of israel of the hebrew people and he says i'm not going to take what is meant for the hebrews and toss it to the dogs he's he he's referring he is speaking uh against who this woman is of her race of her of her gender because here is jesus a jewish man and the jews talk low of the gentiles see a normal man would talk down on a woman why is jesus using this response why is jesus referring to this female as a dog there are some things that the word of god includes that it's hard for us to fathom why why is this in the bible why why would why would a levite cut up a woman's body in 12 pieces and send it to the nations why is there rape and violence in scripture why what i mean why is it that we see murder in the word of god there are some there are some things that are uttered by the christ that we have to consider as controversial this is almost like like the critics of jesus's of of of jesus day and even today when they seek to criticize jesus they go back to this verse it's almost like an old tweet that somebody pulled up in an attempt to cancel jesus and scholars go back and forth as to why jesus will say something like this his critics say that jesus must have been racist he calls this this gentile woman a dog jesus must have been sexist for calling his we're calling his woman a dog well that can't be true because wasn't it not in john 5 where jesus had to go through samaria to see about a samaritan woman of a different race of a different gender jesus can't be racist i mean it was jesus in mark chapter 5 that healed that man who was demon possessed he was a gentile in mark chapter 5 it was jesus who healed that woman with the issue of blood now jesus can't be racist jesus can't be sexist so what is jesus doing here well i would like to submit that jesus is is using a real life illustration to show the disciples what the pharisees look like see i i told you in the beginning of mark chapter 7 he's having this conversation with the pharisees and it's the pharisees that want to perpetuate tradition while having showing no love to the people they didn't even want to take care of their own mama in order to make a sacrifice to god jesus calls him hypocrites then he goes over the border and here is a woman here is a person who's different from jesus as a woman different race than jesus a cypher phoenician and jesus says here is what the tradition says traditionally a man will call this woman a dog traditionally a jew will call this gentile a dog and jesus in essence took one for the team to show the body of christ what we look like as a church when we decide to perpetuate oppressive systems okay um jesus said jesus says i'm not gonna give what's meant for the children and toss it to the dogs it's like an evangelical church saying dummy down social justice as critical race theory um giving the food to the dogs it's almost like when the church doesn't allow women to preach in the lead and the pastor i'm giving the food to the dogs is almost like a church that doesn't see the humanity of somebody who has a different lifestyle giving the food to the dogs it's almost like when the church doesn't listen to insight of other people's religion every now and again if we're not careful as the body of christ we will operate in a way that perpetuates systems of oppression to not meet the needs of people that don't look like us to not offer jesus to somebody who has a different lifestyle and jesus says i'm not going to give the food that was meant to the children toss it to the dogs but i love how the woman responds to jesus response she she really takes the metaphor and flips it on its head um she she really you could tell she was a black woman because she was quick with her clapback [Applause] the very next verse the black woman in a white man's world says sir even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs she takes the metaphor and flips it on its head see i what one scholar dr mitzi smith says that this girl has some sass to her she has some talk back she has some attitude she was willing to speak up against an oppressive system they try to put her and keep her in her low down place but here is a black woman in a white man's world willing to show some sads willing to speak up not just for herself but for her child and takes the metaphor and flips it on her head and says i'm showing up to the table regardless because the same bread that can save israel i can get a little bit of crumbs i can get the leftovers in order to save my family and save my home and homegirl had a little sass to her homegirl has some talk back after uh here's what dr freddie haynes says freddie haines says that jesus dogged this woman out y'all catch that later but even in the midst of jesus dogging her out she was willing to speak up she was willing to speak out she was willing to stand for herself even in a system of oppression that tried to reject her and to keep her down she was willing to stand for herself and even black women in the white man's world know that talking back is risky speaking up can cost you i mean just ask sandra bland that black woman who was killed well she wasn't killed officially officially they say that she committed suicide in a jail cell in texas when just three days before she was arrested after a a a traffic stop and when you go back and check out that video you see sandra bland asking questions talking back american slang says she was using sass and her talking back that sass got her arrested thrown in jail we don't know what happened in that three days but she wound up killed dead in that jail cell sandra bland for talking back sandra bland for speaking her mind saying you're blind for asking questions because it's risky when you speak up that's why you and i got to be got to be watching now for relationships and for leaderships and for communities that feel threatened when you speak up we gotta watch out when people feel threatened when you talk back we gotta watch out when they feel threatened that you're showing some sass because dr smith says this says isn't something negative this ain't this ain't a talk back with something negative as so like a inferior speaking to a superior now she says that this is a form of resistance she says that this woman took the language of the oppressor and used it to set her and her daughter free it's almost like julia foote that that black female preacher that that used that that those black female preachers in those days that were not allowed to be in the pulpit they were still writing autobiographies they used the language of the oppressor to not just tell their story but to stand in resistance it is almost like queen vashti or esther who was willing to talk back to the king it's almost like that judge deborah who was willing to speak up to get victory for her people every now and again you gotta talk back you gotta speak up you you gotta show that sass you gotta show that confidence you gotta fight back that whenever you and i face systems of oppression that whenever the enemy is after our children that whenever we face any situations that causes us to be down we gotta know how to speak up speak up like sojourner truth who said ain't i a woman speak up like mary angel angelo that poet who says are you upset with my says does my sassiness offend you you got to speak up like amanda carmen that skinny black girl descendant of slaves raised from a single mama who had dreams of becoming a president but found herself reciting for one why because it's the power of the spoken word that's why when this woman spoke up jesus says because you've said it your daughter is healed because you asked for it your daughter is delivered because you showed some sass and some talk back some confidence your daughter is set free your home is healed because there is power in the spoken word and i don't know who i'm speaking to but there's some demons that are going on in our day there are some demons that are going on in our time but you and i as the body of christ got to stand up to speak truth to power stand up as if we got to speak those things that are not as though there are because it is power in the spoken word and this woman spoke up made her voice heard and her daughter was set free and jesus shows us that every now and again as the body of christ we got to be the church without walls paul says that when jesus died he destroyed the walls that divide us and there's so many walls that divide us so many things that keep us unified but here this woman was able to speak up and when she spoke up that's when change and transformation and deliverance took place in our house because there's power in the spoken word i'm done with my little sermon but i'm reminded of my two-year-old j3 jeffrey allen johnson third j three third we got a lot of names for him who do man say that i am he he he knows all of his names and you know kids nowadays they they pick up things very quickly especially you know if your parents always on their phones and you know we're always on our screens and they can just pick up stuff quickly and so he he knows that we have a remote apple tv with our remote that we can speak into the remote and it happens on the screen so he'll he'll see me say you know netflix and netflix will pop up or youtube and i can you know search with my words eastern star church on youtube and and and eastern star church on youtube will show up after i speak into the remote it takes my he he he sees that i'm speaking into something and then something else happens and so one day i i seen him he takes the remote and he's only two years old he don't really know many words but he's saying something but ain't nothing happening he googled gaga he tried speaking to the remote nothing happening on the screen he's getting frustrated but but i i see him trying to say something to get something else to happen and i see that he don't know what he's trying to say but me as the father i know what he's trying to say and because i know what he is trying to say i can make something happen in his life why because he tried to speak it the bible says that even when we don't know what to pray the holy spirit gathers our moles and grumblings and take it to the altar every now and again you got to take it to god in prayer because there's power in the spoken word there's power in what we can take it to god just have a little talk with jesus tell them all about your trouble he'll hear your faintest cry he'll answer by and by just another talk with jesus makes everything all right let us pray gracious god our father we thank you for the power of your word thank you god for how you lead us and direct us by your holy spirit as the body of christ we know that every now and again we gotta go across the border the border not just geographically but even with gender and sexuality and race and culture help us to be the church without walls a mission that you have given us as the body to not perpetuate systems of racism and hatred and division to to push back against traditions in an attempt to set other people free and god i ask that you will strengthen us even in the face of oppression even in the face of evil you give us the power to speak up to talk back to speak our truth to stand our ground because we know that there's power in the spoken word and by faith god we know that it'll come to pass through jesus christ and god i pray that if there's somebody who's tuning in online who may not have a relationship with you who may not have gotten connected with you god i know that this is not normal times but i pray that they'll show some desperation some sense of urgency that even when i can't get to the building i can still tap into his power god thank you so much for the gathering thank you so much for the body god i pray that you will continue to help us to encourage each other support each other come alongside even in the pandemic even in the time that is not normal god i pray that you will take our prayer life to the next level take our love to the next level take our community this church to the next level and i'm believing it done right now in jesus name that we pray amen amen put those hands together for the power of god's word there may be somebody who's tuning in right now and i just want you to know that wherever you tune it in from we serve a god that are that is willing to cross the border to get to your space even in cyber space right now wherever you watch it from just know that if you don't have a relationship with jesus you can desperately show up even now by faith you can tap in by faith you could fall to his feet by faith make your requests known to god and i'm truly believe that god is willing to save you and to make you whole so if that's you today my brother and my sister we want this word to seek in for a second so we're gonna ask the choir to sing and we want the spirit to work even in the cyber space because there's somebody who who needs jesus just confess with your heart confess with your mouth believe in your heart you can know jesus even today [Music] hallelujah [Music] do you know jesus [Music] praise god my brother my sister if you need salvation if you need jesus if you need a church home you can email us right now at membership easternstarchurch.org we got some people awaiting your email for you to get tapped in to what god is doing and god is willing to break the borders god is willing to go against the norm because this ain't some normal times god is willing to to intervene in your space to heal your home and to save your soul so if that's you today my brother my sister email us and even as you do that i want to say a prayer along with you that by the end of this prayer you will know for sure that you are saved i heard a preacher once say that as easy as abc admit that you need god believe in your heart that jesus died on the cross that god raised him from the dead and confessed to hope with christ that jesus is lord and you're saved say this prayer along with me say father come right now i know that i've sinned i pray that you will forgive me for my sin i believe that jesus christ died on the cross and i believe that god raised jesus from the dead i received the holy spirit into my life forgiveness of sin in jesus name we pray amen listen amen if you say their prayer for the first time or the tempt tom congratulations and praise god for you for the angels rejoice over the one who believes so please go ahead and send that email to membership at easternstarchurch.org it's time for the offering praise the lord praise the lord um this is an opportunity where all of us regardless of where you are can participate in the worship experience today um the bible says that we ought to bring a tenth to the storehouse the bible says that we ought to bring our tithe to the storehouse that if god has blessed you the least you can do is give a 10 to let god know how much you love him and how obedient you are to his will and we appreciate not just your obedience to god but your generosity to this church and even as we continue uh to do to be the church without walls not not uh the clever name of dr ralph west church there in houston but we seek to be that that church on a mission that that mobile ministry as we seek to do god's will even outside the four walls and the only way we can do that is by your generosity and your support and of course there are three ways that you can give right now um there's three ways you can give we're going to throw it on the screen in fact you can you can give all three ways if you want um you can text to give four five seven seven seven and enter esc in the message field you can mail your check cash or coins to eastern star church 5750 east 30th street indianapolis indiana 46218 or you can give at our website easternstarchurch.org and click the give tab there and you can give the scholarships you can give your tithe and offering you can give to the rocking initiative we appreciate your generosity as we seek to continue to do god's will even in the pandemic even with our pastor on sabbatical there's still work to be done and we appreciate uh your support in that effort um i got to give a few shout outs as you know we've been inviting ministries in the midst of this phase this reintegration phase and we try to figure all this out and uh today we are in our f's and our g's so we got finance ministry we got ffi we got the money team here we got the money team and we got the greeters who are here as well no wonder why i felt so welcomed when i came to church we praise god for your for your presence here today and of course if you're watching from home wherever you're watching just be patient with us your letter is coming up soon i promise also as you know today is our first ladies my mama my mama birthday my mama birthday today and so we want to say happy birthday to lady sharon wherever she is and matter of fact in the comments section just put happy birthday happy birthday we praise god for her and her sacrifice throughout this 30 plus years as pastor johnson uh continued to do god's calling my mama our first lady was right there to make sure that everything was good at the house to keep her house covered to make sure the demons even when everybody showed up they didn't stay alone because lady sharon was there sprinkling oil in every room of the house so we praise god for her and we say happy birthday to her and also um let's not forget pastor's playlist all right we know our pastor has been on sabbatical but he has he has uh solicited some help to come through throughout this time and we've got some special guests that are on their way noon day bible study september 22nd the next sunday uh september 26th we got some special guests that are coming through and to bless us so make sure you say tapped in to pastor's playlist and like any other playlist you come across that you like why don't you share it tell somebody else about it all right as they try to get tapped into their faith and there's plenty of things that's going on here at our church of course in september we have dr dominic a robinson who's coming through uh the upper room we're calling it the upper room speaker series every month september october november we have a new special guest that is not coming to the building but we we don't be on cyberspace in the zoom room okay so make sure you hang out with us in the zoom room this september the 23rd you can register online and how many of y'all are part of the the 5k challenge are y'all out here putting the miles in to fuel y'all okay so mate it's not too late all right it's not too late to join the challenge make sure you join the challenge you can follow us on facebook we got a facebook group of folks in there trying to encourage each other support each other try to get the miles up okay so make sure that you tap into that 5k and then of course throughout the month of september we've been in a series hopefully you know you've been tapped into the series every sunday and wednesday you can always go back to our website to get caught up on all that's happening here at the eastern star church and this month we've been really trying to pay homage to the church the church started at somebody's home you know the church started in the house the church started as a small group over a hundred years ago and it's interesting how we're similar in that same approach to ministry even now and so we just want us to understand and be reminded that regardless of where we are as the body of christ we the church all right and we want to see how you do church so take pictures post it um on your on your profiles there and tag us all right we to church hashtag esc online and we want to see how you've been doing church over these past 18 months um and we are grateful for your your support and your generosity and your attendance here uh today now let's do the benediction you know church ain't over until we get the benediction all right the preacher want to bless you before you log out so let us stand if you're in the building um you can stand if you're at home too um but if you're in the car please don't stand all right now may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord's faith shine upon you and be gracious unto you may the lord turn his countenance towards you i grant you peace and i pray that you god will give you the power to speak up against evil influence to speak up against social oppression to speak up against systems that keep us back speak up against traditionalism but speak up against whatever is holding you and your family now and i pray that this will happen today tomorrow and forevermore let every heart say amen amen um if you're in the building if you're in the building real quick can you please be patient with us as our ushers uh are seeking to escort you out row by row so that we can be safe in this pandemic hey man uh you can love from a distance hey man just a wave and a holy kiss from a distance god loves you and so do you you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 795

Rating: 4.7142859 out of 5

Keywords: ESC, Bible Study, Noonday, Indianapolis Church

Id: 49Q41uIHLSM

Length: 70min 20sec (4220 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021