WE THE CHURCH SERIES - SAVING OUR SONS

[Music] i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord one thing the pandemic has taught is that i don't have to go to church i get to go to church and i was glad when they said to me let us go to thousands of the lord all the stuff i give men through this week i was glad when they said let us go into the house of the lord somebody knew that i needed some encouragement somebody knew that i needed to be in church today so i've got some friends that said let us go into the house of the lord they knew what i was going to face with them next week they said let us go into the house of the lord those of you who are joining us uh virtually we thank you because you could have gone anywhere but you are with us today and we thank you for coming we are glad to be able to say let us go into the house of the lord father just thank you thank you for your blessings thank you for your mercy we invite you in lord have your way today in this service have your way with us encourage renew and restore it's in jesus name we pray amen and amen [Music] we come to exalt him is that right come on clap your hands and give him some praise give him some honor hallelujah give him some glory because he's worthy to be praised hallelujah you're worthy to be praised hallelujah come on put your hands together and let's give god some praise this morning for he is worthy to be praised from the rising of the sun to the going down not the same our god is worthy to be praised come on help us worship the lord today put your hands together and let's give god some praise here [Music] god is worthy to be praised [Music] [Music] you're [Applause] to be [Applause] is my hallelujah oh i honor you [Music] [Music] he's hallelujah [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] we lift hallelujah up for all that you have done [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] we give you all the praises [Music] oh [Music] we [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] come on [Music] [Music] how can you know he's lord of all how many of you know he's the lord of god hey yes sir thank you jesus come on give him the glory give him [Music] hallelujah and he's lord of all lord of all somebody say he's lord alone here we go come on put your hands together [Music] hey [Music] [Music] you are [Music] [Music] shall confess [Music] here we go [Music] is [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Applause] with every song that i see yes i will pray you are my god and my king you are my god and my king that's no one writer there's no one oh everybody [Music] my god way [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on let's celebrate celebrate yeah [Music] all glory to you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the lord [Music] is the lord [Music] welcome to eastern star church where jesus is exalted and the word is explained thank you for joining us volunteers are needed to assist at the care center food pantry rock urban farm and rock fresh market duties include distributing food and harvesting fresh produce on tuesdays from 9 a.m to 2 p.m all ages are welcomed we also are needed at the rockfresh market duties include assisting and checking out customers on mondays and wednesdays from 9am to 12 noon go to easternstarchurch.org click on connect and then serve 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 you to join our family please sign up for our new members orientation happening today at 2pm register at easternstarchurch.org a new online children's church and teen church service will be available next sunday october 3rd on ignite youtube channel and ignite instagram page tune in to hear a message from sister sandra and pastor p saturday school is hosting the final sabbath series workshop on saturday october 16th from 9 a.m to 11 a.m join us as we discuss the importance of rest for your body and mind and develop a plan to make rest a part of your lifestyle whether you're a member or a visitor we want you to grow with us go to easternstarchurch.org backslash events to register for our october classes including team talk mondays at 7 30 pm teen bible study wednesdays at 8pm crew conversations tuesdays at 7 30 p.m on the clubhouse app woman of the word october 9th and 23rd at 9 a.m men of purpose october 9th at 9 a.m upper room speaker series church in the online space october 28th at 7 pm in 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 easternstartchurch.org to download our guide on how you and your family can join us in this journey of practicing the sabbath hello church family it's your sister sandra keith i have a question for you how are you doing with observing the sabbath you know esc's theme for this year come let us rest a while which is found in mark chapter 6 verse 31. you know what along with that we have been providing you with uh information on how to do sabbath we have a sabbath guide that you can download from our website the guideline has provided you with helpful scriptures principles and suggestions on how to practice the sabbath we have also offered sabbath series classes from the book sacred rest by sandra dalton smith yeah and you know what we have talked about how to incorporate rest in all of your relationships in our last class will be october 16th and during that time we will have a panel of doctors and ministers who will examine the benefits of rest not only for your body but for your mind and spirit now you know what else we're offering we're offering you guys a sabbath toolkit that is going to help you to make sabbath a part of your lifestyle beyond this year and in this kit there is a journal there's a journal you know with dates on it that you can date there's a magnet and a bracelet that says come rest a while these things will help you to remember to practice the sabbath in order for you to get one of these esc sabbath toolkits you have to register in order to register go to the esc website scroll down to the registration form please indicate what campus and what day you're going to pick up your your kit the toolkit will be available at each campus for the first two weeks in october you know what we want you to use the toolkit along with the guidelines to help you change your lifestyle to observe a day of rest pastor johnson preached to us and told us to observe the sabbath is not a suggestion but it's a command it's one of the ten commandments and it says remember the sabbath day by keeping it holy and you can find that in exodus chapter 20 verse 8. i want to encourage you all to start practicing the sabbath if you haven't started now's a perfect time and finish this year out strong you know this theme is is a theme for the year but it's going to be a lifestyle change because remember this is a commandment for us to practice the sabbath family i love you and be blessed let's encourage each other to observe the sabbath send us your photos or videos of you and your family friends or neighbors enjoying sabbath together to communication at easternstarchurch.org if you are an eastern star church member experiencing an illness hospitalization or death in the family please call the care center at 317-547-5400 so we can pray for you everyone is invited to our noonday services every wednesday for an inspiring word and 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 and 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 time for prayer we get a chance right now to speak to god there's a lot going on that's been going on in all our lives we have some names on our prayer list there are so many other ones that we are unaware of but we do know that god is aware some of the names that we're lifting up today is trekeisha terence junior and tyler body praying for teresa campbell and christy johnson joyce higgins [Music] deacon robert marshall charles meadows jr the murdoch family james walls ronda surf irene wilson family of jerry harkness [Music] family of deacon john murray we pray for those in texas and louisiana and the whole gulf area that are affected by the hurricanes we pray for the safety of students staff teachers as our teachers our kids are going to school to learn [Music] and just pray for their safety [Music] we pray for those who are coming back into the community that are coming out of incarceration that they would minds would be changed both their minds and our minds so that they can have the resources they need as always we pray for our pastor and first lady that they would be renewed and restored and there's so many other prayers lord we we just come to you today thanking you lord thanking you lord for the opportunity lord first thank you lord for our salvation that's free to us but it costs you so dearly hallelujah [Music] lord we thank you lord that we have an opportunity to come to you lord and yes lord we know lord that you are creator you are provider we know that you're the healer lord and lord right now lord i thank you lord for being my father hallelujah not saying this is my servant but that you would look at me and say this is my beloved son hallelujah lord that's your blessings upon the city-state nation and world lord all that's going on lord it's so easy lord look at the unrest lord the pestilence lord the diseases the hurricanes the tornadoes earthquakes all that's going on lord but we take solace in knowing lord that you know what's going on father and you are in charge of everything lord hallelujah none of this is a mistake to you lord none of this is is an accident to you lord hallelujah and we can rest on your promises lord because and we know that all things work together for our good for those that love you and called according to your purposes lord we ask your blessings upon our communities lord on our students father hallelujah that they would be able to learn and not have to protect themselves at every moment lord we pray for our law enforcement father hallelujah that their minds would be changed lord those that need that changing father and we would all be able to work together in harmony lord we ask your blessings upon those who have lost loved ones father hallelujah give a peace that surpasses understanding lord lord those families all that are dealing with that greed father but knowing lord that you are you are there for us father hallelujah and lord even though some things didn't go the way we wanted them to go lord we know that you're sovereign and we can trust in you lord hallelujah bless those are sick and their bodies minds and spirits lord we bind the spirit of depression father hallelujah right now lord lord we ask that doctors would be able to do what they need to do lord and medication should do what it needs to do lord and that we are participating in our own healing father by maybe making a life change father all these things lord we give to you lord because we claim victory regardless of the situation we claim victory today lord we trust in you lord we lay before your hands father and we bless you today and we ask your blessings lord upon our pastor renew restore revive him lord that he is able to lead us and we thank you we claim victory today and we bless your name and we say amen amen amen amen and amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] come on sing along with us [Applause] [Music] something about nations [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] when you run out of words to say you can say oh [Music] the presence of the lord is in this place ah i said the presence of the lord is in this place and right where you're sitting right where you're standing in your home you gotta know that all things is gonna work out for the good things will work out touch somebody and tell them things will work out hallelujah whatever you're going through whatever you're dealing with just know that it's really going to work out hallelujah [Music] just trust me [Music] you do for me [Music] however things turn out to be [Music] as long as you're in control i know things will work out for me [Music] whatever you do for me however things turn out to be [Music] guys hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] only come home [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] work together work together [Music] [Applause] i know i know i know what to care [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] he's it why don't you praise him where you are we working in the praise mix room for more blessings more blessings more miracles [Music] [Applause] i'm trying to get you to really understand that problem don't laugh always [Music] [Applause] [Applause] control [Applause] just stay in his word and everything's going to be all right [Music] you got to stay in church don't stumble out of the window i know as long as god is in control pandemic or not delta variants are not as long as god is in control hallelujah [Music] it's going to work out it's gonna work now we've been made a door for a night but how many know that joy comes in the morning it may not look like it but god is behind the scenes working everything out for the good of those who love him my mama we praise god for for that reminder that all things work together for the good well there's a preacher in the house today and we praise god that even as our pastor has been on sabbatical getting the rest that he needs he's left us in capable hands with our pastor's playlist and next on the playlist we have a preacher i like what the scripture says faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of god and paul asks the question well how can they hear without a preacher and how can they preach if they're they haven't been sent how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news and we have a preacher who seeks to bring the good news with us today eastern star church and he goes by the name of dr maurice watson he's the pastor at metropolitan baptist church there in maryland he's been there since 2015. before that he pastored in macon georgia for 10 years at beulahland baptist church before that he pastored in salem baptist church in omaha nebraska for 15 years before that he pastored in little rock arkansas at saint mark baptist church for seven years and for the entirety of his ministry he's been passing through eastern star church sharing god's word with us and him and our pastor pastor jeffrey johnson's senior has shared the opportunity to be a part of a few legends in the preaching world that they call the big three and so we have one third of the big three with us today dr maurice watson he is a preacher he is a pastor all those places that he went to it the pastor in the lead was better off because they experienced the ministry of dr maurice watson and so we praise god for him and we praise god for the word that he's going to bring let's praise god for the next pass on pastor's playlist dr maurice watson well this is the day the lord has made we ought to rejoice and be glad in it how many of you are glad to be in the house of the lord i just want to say to my good friend and your pastor pastor jeffrey johnson thank you uh for inviting me to come even virtually to share with the great eastern star church he says i know you know how blessed you are to have a pastor of the kind and caliber that you have in pastor jeffrey johnson let's give the lord praise for this great man of god that god has blessed you to have as pastor well there's a word that i'd like to share with you today it is found in the gospel of mark mark chapter 9. i want to read a an incident into your hearing today verses 14 through 29 now i know that's a long text but as i always say we need to read the bible more don't we amen chapter 9 beginning at verse number 14 reading through verse 29 i'm reading from the new king james bible if you found it can you indicate as such by saying amen here's how my bible reads and when he came to the disciples he saw a great multitude around them and scribes disputing with them immediately when they saw him all the people were greatly amazed and running to him greeted him and he asked the scribes what are you discussing with them then one of the crowd answered and said teacher i brought you my son who has a mute spirit and wherever it see wherever it sees him it throws him down he foams at the mouth gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid so i spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out but they could not he answered and said o faithless generation how long shall i be with you how long shall i bear with you bring him to me then they brought him to him and when he saw him immediately the spirit convulsed him and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming at the mouth so he asked his father how long has this been happening to him and he said from childhood and often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him but if you can do anything have compassion on us and help us jesus said to him if you can believe all things are possible to him who believes immediately the father the child cried out and said with tears lord i believe help my unbelief when jesus saw that the people came running together he rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it death and dumb spirit i command you come out of him and enter him no more then the spirit cried out convulsed him greatly and came out of him and he became as one dead so that many said he is dead but jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose and when he had come into the house his disciples asked him privately why could we not cast it out so he said to them this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting i want to talk to put a tag on this text and i simply want to talk about saving our sons saving our sons among the animal and bird kingdoms there are certain species that are considered as extinct by the department of interior this label has been assigned to these species because they become scarce through the adverse environmental conditions and the insatiable greed of humankind to hunt and destroy them for so-called sporting pleasures indeed many of these species would already be extinct were it not for certain laws and protective measures to ensure their survival however endangered species are not limited to the animal and bird kingdoms in america and in many other nations for that matter many humans fall under this same category but this should not come as a real surprise because human life has always been expendable in a world that is bent on war and violence and which ignores the physical and social needs of many of its inhabitants there is no better example of this human neglect than in the case of our black children to be sure friends the real endangered species of our day is our black boys our sons now this is not to deny nor diminish the particular problems that our girls are facing but i really feel led to say a word about the serious situation and condition into which our sons have fallen more than 25 years ago jawanza kanjufu an african-american scholar and educator suggested that there is on the part of certain euro-americans a systematic conspiracy to destroy black boys and while conjuful certainly builds a convincing case permit me as a preacher of the gospel to take this matter a step further than he by suggesting that there is a conspiracy to destroy black boys and the ultimate culprit is a member of the invisible community and we call him satan satan friends is out to destroy our children in general and our sons in particular and friends as a pastor and a parent though not a voice i am greatly concerned about the plight that our boys are facing because they are at least 50 percent responsible for our posterity as a people and unless we as parents and the church become more actively involved in the issues that our sons are facing we're going to witness the beginning of the extinction of their hopes and of their prospects for a future and we're going to continue to live in a world in a in a nation in cities communities and neighborhoods that will become more and more unsafe and unstable now while there while certain politicians and special interest groups these days are saying quite a bit about the importance of saving the environment but i suggest to you that the greater need is that we save our sons and the importance of saving our sons our children is highlighted and illustrated in this little text that i've read into your hearing today jesus had been on the mountain of transfiguration where he was transfigured in the presence of three of his disciples he left the other nine disciples at the foot of the mountain his concern while on the mountain was for his future suffering on the cross but now he's come back down to the bottom of the mountain where his concern is for the suffering and plight of an ordinary family and friends our tech in our text we have an ordinary family that was facing some serious problems first of all i think this text teaches us that we see first a child with a problem let the church say a child with a problem jesus had just come back down from the mountaintop he had carried his inner circle peter james and john to the top of the mountain where he was transfigured in their presence he left the other nine disciples at the foot of the mountain where around those nine disciples had gathered a huge crowd if you will that were disputing with them and among the crowd there was a distraught father whose son had some serious problems what were his problems i'm glad you asked first of all he was a slave of the devil the bible says in verse 17 that he had a mute spirit which means that by demonic possession he was experiencing violent convulsion and he was unable to hear nor speak now i know that some believe that this boy might have had a case of epilepsy that could have been caused either by a brain tumor or a chemical imbalance in his body but mark tells us that this was no mere case of epilepsy no there was a demonic component attached to this boy's condition if you will that this boy we we have in this case a boy who was dominated and controlled by demonic forces now i know we live in this sophisticated modern day where there are those who who who downplay the idea of belief in the devil i know some of you said that that's simply a superstitious carry over from the 13th century dark ages to believe that there's a devil but friends i've come to tell you today with no with no reservation that there is a devil i said there is a devil somewhere in the mystical realm of the metaphysical there exists a diabolic satanic personification of evil who failed jesus said before the fall jesus said before adam fell i i beheld satan falling like lightning friend if you ever let the enemy convince you that there is no devil his next step is to try to convince you that there is no god and the fool has said in his heart there is no god this boy is dominated controlled by demonic forces all my brothers and sisters may i submit to you today that that that perhaps that explains why some of our sons today are doing some of the things that they are doing but because they are dominated by the devil no other way to explain why some of them have no regard for human life than to suggest that they are dominated by the devil no other way to explain why some of them will shoot you if you look at them funny but but to suggest that they are dominated by the devil no other way to explain why some of our teenage boys are roaming up and down our streets armed like gangsters but to suggest that they are dominated by the devil the man asked jesus he said rather jesus asked a man how long has this boy has your son been in this condition the man said to jesus lord he's been this way since he was a child since he was a child don't run over that friends the enemy is attacking our children as early as he possibly can do you not know that the sins that used to be the sins of adults have now become the sins of children not even now some elementary kids are already on drugs and alcohol the sins that used to be the sins of adults have now become the sins of children that's because satan is starting early trying to harm our children and i want to suggest parents that we need to start early teaching our children to love the lord i know i know some of you sophisticated folk don't believe that you ought to force religion on your child i don't want to force my child to go to church and force all that spiritual talk on my child but don't you underestimate the intelligence of your child because that same five six and seven-year-old child of yours knows the lyrics to every rap song on the market and if that child can learn the rap songs they can learn about jesus if that child can learn the rap songs he can learn the lord is my shepherd i shall not want if that child can learn the rap songs he can learn our father which ought in heaven if that child can learn the rap songs he can learn now you lay me down to sleep i pray the lord my soul to keep if the devil ain't waiting what are you waiting on this boy is being dominated being dominated by the devil but wait a minute not only was he a slave of the devil but jesus the text indicates that that that he was he was self-destructed he was self-destructive the man the man laments to jesus he said lord lord every time the demons in my boy cause him to convulse they try to make him jump into the fire to destroy himself or jump into the water to drown himself he said lord my son is suicidal my son is self-destructive and friends whenever the enemy takes over a person's life his goal is to cause them to self-destruct do you know how it is suggested that eskimos kill wolves let me tell you it is said that the eskimo would take a sharp knife stick it in blood stick the blade in the blood and then freeze it put it in the blood again and freeze it put it in the blood a third time and freeze it he sticks the butt of the knife in the snow the hungry wolf wolf comes along and he smells the blood and he it he goes into an eating frenzy he begins to lick the blood uh not knowing that there's a blade beneath the blood the cold arctic wind freezes its tongue causes his tongue to become numb but and now he can't feel anything and he's licking the blade and cutting his tongue to shreds and he's bleeding himself and doesn't even know it until he falls over dead the wolf literally licked its own life away may i submit to you today that that's what the enemy is doing to some of our sons he's causing them to lick their own lives away joining gangs getting involved with drug drug abuse and drug sales licking their own lives away becoming another statistic in the penal system licking their own lives away this boy was a slave of the devil this boy in the text was self-destructed but wait he had another problem this boy was als also had no sense of destiny he had no sense of destiny this this child in the text had been marginalized by the society in which he lived people who had issues like he had in ancient times they were often marginalized pushed to the edges of society uh this this boy i mean think about it who who who would want to associate with a boy like this this this boy who's a slave of the devil who self-destructed what employer would want to hire this boy give this boy a job self-destructive slave of the devil what teacher in any classroom would want to teach a child like this a self-destructive boy a boy whose life is dominated by demonic forces what teacher would want to have anything to do with this child i'm from little rock arkansas and i'll tell you this story true story but but the characters will remain anonymous i'll call the little boy johnny johnny was a little elementary school child and johnny had a problem johnny wouldn't sit down all day long his teacher kept saying johnny sit down johnny would sit down for a moment and then before you know it johnny popped back up on his feet johnny sit down gentlemen sit down after a few minutes johnny back on his feet all day long like popcorn he kept popping up johnny sit down johnny sit down so johnny's teacher decided that johnny is a bad child he's a bad child because johnny won't sit down she decided that she would visit johnny's mother to talk to her about her little bad boy johnny lived in the projects she went to johnny's house and the project knocked on the door to the door came johnny's little teenage mother with one baby in her arms and another baby hanging on her legs the teacher walked inside of johnny's house and looked around in the room and noticed that the only furniture in the house was an orange crate and a television and that's when it finally dawned on that teacher that john is not necessarily a bad boy because johnny won't sit down johnny doesn't have a concept of what it means to sit down because there's no furniture in johnny's house congeufa was right when he said you can't teach a child that you don't love you can't teach a child that you don't respect and you cannot teach a child that you do not understand and that's the problem with some of our school systems they don't love our children they don't respect our children that they cannot understand our children oh friends i see in this little passage today a child with a problem but wait there's another movement that i want to share with you right on the heels of that one and that is this i see a second thing i see a concerned parent let the church say a concerned parent you know as a matter of fact when we look closely at this text you'll notice that various groups and individuals show up in the text and i want to suggest to you that these groups and individuals that show up in this text represents groups and individuals even in our modern times in verse 14 verse 14 talks about the scribes that the scribes were disputing with the nine disciples that jesus had left at the base of the mountain they were disputing that word dispute means to argue to debate now the scribes of ancient times were experts they were experts in matters of the law they were experts in theological matters the matters of the law and and and and and the experts in the text were debating about the problem may i submit to you that the experts in this text represents the experts even today and they're doing the same thing when they look at the problems of children in inner city america what are they doing about the problem they are debating the problem they don't have any answers to the problem but they they have great debates they they write master's theses and doctoral dissertations about the problem but they don't have any real answers uh for the problem uh they're just debating the problem every time something happens in inner city america uh uh uh the the political establishment will pull together a blue ribbon committee of experts who debate the problem they don't have any answers they just debate the problem but wait when i look at this text when i look at this text there's another group that shows up in it not only do we notice the scribes but verse 18 talks about the disciples the man said to jesus i brought i spoke to your disciples uh that they should cast it out but they could not oh look at this friends the the scribes represent the experts and the experts were debating the problem the disciples represents the church and the church was dormant about the problem he said lord i brought my son to your church to get some help but they could not what a sad commentary on the church they could not maybe we need to rename some of our churches the so-and-so baptist methodist a church of god in christ church that could not oh we can build big buildings and have big budgets and we brag about how many folk we baptize and how much money we raise but when it comes to helping our children with their problems the sad reality is they could not but wait a minute wait a minute there's another group that shows up in this text verse 15 talks about all the people says that all the people when they saw jesus were greatly amazed and running to him now the scribes represented the experts and the experts were debating the problem the disciples represents the church and the church was dormant about the problem but all the people represent society and society try to distance itself from the problem because it says that when they saw jesus they went running to jesus but at the same time they were running away from the problem may i submit to you that society even today tries to put a healthy distance between itself and the problems of urban children in america and they do it in sophisticated ways one of the ways society used to try to distance itself from our children is by was by warehousing our children in special education because the regular teachers didn't want to have have to deal with the issues that our our children are facing but i want to remind somebody today our children are not dumb no our children our children are very intelligent some of them just need a hot meal in the morning some of them just need somebody to hug them and tell them that i love you all society tries to put a distance between itself and the problems of urban america one way is through uh incarceration you remember it started with a nixon's southern strategy to get tough on drugs the war on drugs which was code language code language for lock up black and brown children and and every administration since has tried to prove how tough it could be on on the on the problem of crime um nixon did it reagan reagan did it you know just say no this war on drugs uh i'm sorry to say it but bill clinton did it three strikes and you're out and now thousands and thousands of black and brown people are imprisoned for life for committing non-violent crimes every administration is saying the pro the answer is lock them up that's just a way of saying let's put a distance between ourselves and the problem let's don't deal with it let's just lock them up let's treat drug abuse as a crime and not as a sickness just lock them up and throw the keys away it's society's sophisticated way of trying to put a distance between itself and the problem but wait friends that one more individual that i see in this text and that is the father you see for brothers and sisters while the scribes represented the experts and the experts were debating the problem and the disciples represented the church and the church was dormant about the problem and all the people represented society and society distanced itself from the problem but thank god for the boy's father the father made a decision about the problem he went to jesus and said lord master lord i have brought my son to you oh i like that he says i'm not waiting on the government to write a program to help my son i have brought my son to you i'm not waiting on policy makers to write policy that's going to help my child i have brought my son to you i'm not even going to wait on the church to do it all for me i have brought my son to you this father took the initiative to help his own son may i say to you we can't expect others to do for us what we ought to do for ourselves this father in the text would not give up on his child may have maybe i'm talking to a father or maybe i'm talking to a mother today who's frustrated because you have a son or a daughter that is causing you to have heartache and headaches you find yourself having to leave your job almost weekly because your child keeps cutting up at school and sometimes i know you feel like pulling your hair out and saying i give up but may i tell you today whatever you do follow this father's example in the text don't you ever give up on your child don't ever give up on your child well lest i keep you too long there's a child with a problem there's a concerned parent but there's one last movement that i see in this text and it is this i see a christ who has power let the church say a christ who has power oh this proactive father brought his son to jesus and jesus did two things first thing jesus did was he cultivated the man's faith verse 19 jesus said to his disciples oh faithless generation how long shall i be with you how long shall i keep putting up with you bring him to me verse 20 i believe tells us that they brought him small h to him capital h i see in that where the church ought to be located in the world uh between the two hymns that we ought to be institutions that are about bringing small ages him to capital h him who can do something about their problems jesus said to the man he said listen how long has this boy been in this condition the man said to jesus from childhood lord in verse 22 he said but if you can do anything have compassion on us and help us the man asked jesus if he had the power and jesus turned around in verse 23 and asked the man if he had the faith he said if you can believe all things are possible to him who believes because the question is not whether or not i've got power god knows i've got power i'm lord of the creation lord of the church lord of the christian i've got power if you need some references ask my disciples they'll tell you i heal the sick raise the dead unstopped death ears open blinded eyes i've got the power the question is do you have the faith and the man answered jesus so honestly he said lord i believe but help thou my unbelief he said lord when i look at you i do believe but i gotta be honest when i look at my son sometimes i don't believe i like that man because he's a picture of every one of us if we're honest suspended between i do but i don't i can but i can't i believe but i have my doubts but but brothers and sisters the man didn't have a lot of faith he did have just a little faith all but child of god don't run past that because jesus reached down when they thought the boy and told the demons to come out of the boy based on this man's little faith and when the demons convulsed him they thought he was dead but jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and raised them to a new station in life my friends ain't it amazing what the lord can do with a little faith he said if you have this faith the size of a grain of mustard seed you could speak to your mountains and tell your mountains to be removed and it will be done the problem is friends is that is our is our faithlessness and our prayerlessness oh brothers and sisters and so verse 28 tells us that the disciples were so embarrassed because they couldn't cast the demons out of the boy so they didn't want to ask the lord in public they wait until they got home privately asked him lord why couldn't we cast the demons out of that boy and jesus said to them in verse 29 this kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting oh brothers and sisters if we want to see a difference in our children we've got to not only have faith but we've got to be people of prayer and we need to pray not only normal prayers we need to pray intensified kinds of prayer where we turn the plate down and we fast and pray and lay those children at the feet of jesus because when you and i can't reach them god can when you and i can't change them god can don't you ever give up on your child uh a friend of mine his mother his mother told me that you know when he was a little boy a young young young man he stayed in trouble selling drugs even went to prison his mother had been praying for him to get saved she said i prayed for my son for 17 years 17 years not only did he get saved he ended up becoming a pastor of a church but what if that mother had given had stopped praying in year 8 or year 12. maybe maybe her son's life wouldn't have turned around but she prayed for 17 years she prayed for 17 years don't you ever don't you ever underestimate the power of prayer let me see if i can get in my seat like this um when our two daughters were born i was in the delivery room with miss watson i was there but i almost fainted gotta be honest and so when she's getting ready to have our first child marcia uh the doctors said to her it's time it's time for the baby to come out now so they said to janice push and janice who's a attractive young lady uh she got ugly that day she got ugly face was contorted hair and unkempt disorder makeup running and she was straining in the birth position straining with all of her might pushing with all of her might and the doctor kept saying push and she got tired that i'm tired of pushing they said if you stop pushing the baby it's not going to come you've got to push and that's what i've come to say to some parent today that you need when you need to put that child in the hand of god get in the birth position on your knees and push push pray until something happens that's what i want to tell you today the the take those children and take those issues that they're facing to the lord and push pray until something happens if you receive this word today give the lord praise what a powerful word from dr maurice watson challenging word a prophetic word an encouraging word to help us to understand that we don't have to give up on our children our sons and our daughters just as if god didn't give up on us when the church couldn't do it when society distanced themselves from our problems we had a father who made a decision to send jesus from heaven to earth and paid a penalty for our sins so wherever you tune it in from don't let just this be a word that will encourage you as it relates to raising our children but even as it relates to experiencing the transformative power of jesus christ the same power that christ displayed there in mark chapter 9 is the same power that can get in touch with you wherever you are so that's you today my brother my sister you need jesus you need a church home you need a place you can experience god's presence in god's power i want to encourage you to admit you need god to believe that jesus christ died on the cross and confess a hope in christ and at that moment you are saved the holy spirit moves on the inside of you and you are a part of the family of god so that's you today my brother my sister whoever you're tuning in from whether online wherever you are i want you to say this prayer along with us today and just believe that by the end of this prayer you are saved because the father made a decision say this prayer say father i 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 him by faith for the forgiveness of sins in jesus name that we pray amen amen [Music] he's gonna fulfill every promise to you don't give up on god cause [Music] he's [Music] is [Music] he's [Music] [Applause] [Music] you say [Music] [Music] anybody know that the lord is able he's able to transform your family he's able to raise your children he's able to end your marriage he's able to restore what you lost he's able to heal your body he's able to transform your mind okay you're not excited about the fact that the lord is able praise the lord praise god what a powerful word for dr maurice watson let's praise god for him and that prophetic word praise god that we can save our sons and our daughters and that is one of the things that we look to do here at the eastern star church and the only way that we can do that is by your prayers and of course your generosity and so we want to take some time now to extend the opportunity to give amen it's time for the offering praise the lord praise god and so there are three ways that you can give here at the eastern star church and we're going to throw those ways up on the screen right now so that you can continue to invest into the kingdom of god while being obedient to the word of god god says just bring the time to the storehouse test me in this area and you won't be disappointed as god opens up the windows of heaven there's three ways you can give right there on the screen you can text to give 4577 enter esc in the message field you can mail your check your cash your coins here at the church 5750 east 30th street indianapolis indiana 462-8 or you can always give to our website there at the eastern star church again we're grateful for your generosity and your support even as our pastor has been absent even as we've experienced a pandemic together it's been a lot happening here at this church but we are grateful for the body of believers the body of christ the saints who come alongside to ensure that god's work continues to be done amen amen all right we got to give a shout out i'll make sure i get my ministries right because you know we've been in this pandemic and we've been trying to reintegrate and so we've been inviting our ministries to come and to worship god with us today and so we praise god for our i.t ministry who is here are ladies in white who are here and of course our link ministry who are here with us today thank you all so much for coming uh coming out and hanging out worshiping god with us today your spirit and the truth and of course if you're tuned in as a member of each our church and you're a part of our tons of ministries that we have here just keep waiting be patient with us your letter is coming up soon and of course we also want to continue to pray for all the families that made it to the prayer list or who didn't make it to the prayer list but specifically for deacon john murray who passed away over the weekend he's been a deacon of his ministry for such a long time impacted this church in this community and so we want to continue to pray for his family in the midst of that loss we know that god will come alongside the god of all comfort who will extend comfort to that family and for all of us who experience uh loss throughout this time amen amen all right it is time for our benediction amen may the lord god be with you may the lord's face shine upon you and be gracious unto you may the lord turn his countenance towards you and grant you peace and i pray that this will happen today tomorrow and forevermore in jesus name that we pray he's able amen [Music] keep on praising [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] hey [Music] don't give up on [Music] you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 2,119

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: ESC, Bible Study, Noonday, Indianapolis Church

Id: Y2WVXPF1VwU

Length: 79min 48sec (4788 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021