"When You're Angry w God, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

beloved grace and peace be unto you from god who loves us as father and mother and jesus christ who alone is our resurrected our risen our reigning and our returning redeemer as we get ready to get into the word of god on today won't you bow and be in prayer with me that our hearts would avail themselves to god's will and we might prove to be that fertile soil into which god sows the seed of his word today lord your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path we believe that as we dig into the passages of scripture that we hear your voice discern your will and find strength to be faithful witnesses of a resurrected arisen and a returning redeemer i ask now god that you be present in preaching and teaching that your word would find fertile soil that we may be not just hearers of the word but doers also in jesus name we do pray amen let me begin with a small apology i feel called and compelled over the next few weekends to engage in a series of shamanic study that may not resonate or be relevant to everyone over the next few weekends i want to engage you in a theological ted talk a discussion around the subject when you're angry with god i want you to journey with me for these few weekends into some spaces in sacred scripture where we can look at and learn lessons from people who reached a place where they were upset and disappointed frustrated and confused and even struggling with and angry with the will the way and the workings of god the series comes out of my own personal journey because i want to share with you openly that i've had multiple moments in my life where i've been angry with god multiple moments when i was not happy with what god was doing or even more what god was not doing in response to my prayers and my problems moments when i was confused by what the lord allowed to happen when i could not make sense of why god took me down the road god took me down of why god didn't stop some things from knocking at my door and i acknowledged that all of us may not have been there that that may not have been your journey maybe you've never reached the place where you're angry with god maybe you've got a phd in faith with a dual degree in bible and therefore whatever happens in your life you have full understanding of what god is up to and it never bothers you maybe you're calvinistic in your theology and you believe that everything that happens is the preordained foreordained will of god that's inescapable and therefore you accept it with a smile maybe you were raised in one of those religious traditions that taught you you don't ask god questions like why and how and when and therefore it's never bothered you when god has operated outside of what you thought god would ever do if that is your journey god bless you if you've never been angry with god god bless you but for the next few weekends i want to talk to those folk who've been down a different road some people know what it's like to be in a place where how god answers your prayers is disappointing to you someone who knows what it's like to find yourself in a situation that you thought faith in god would keep you out of someone who's ever had to have a come to jesus moment with jesus for the lord to give an explanation of why this was happening in your life let me tell you that if you've ever been angry with god if you've ever been confused by god if you've ever been frustrated in your faith if you've ever been curious in your walk you're in good company jesus got there you remember on good friday when he hangs on the cross in that fourth word he hollers out my god my god why have you forsaken me even jesus seemingly is frustrated and curious and maybe even slightly angry with god and there is nothing wrong with being angry with god as a matter of fact i would suggest to you that any relationship you're in that causes you to hide how you really feel to lie about your frustration and to disguise your anger is not a healthy relationship for you you cannot be connected in healthy ways to people who with whom you have to hide your true feelings and lie about your frustration and and act as if you're never ever disappointed and that's even in your relationship with god god is big enough to handle your anger and maybe that's why we see this anger and frustration in scripture even in the psalms in psalm 4 and 6 and 13 and 22 when these writers put pen to paper and tell god i'm not happy with you i'm angry with you i'm confused with you god how could you let this happen have you ever been angry with god well one place where this anger and frustration and confusion with god shows up clearly is in the raising of lazarus from the dead in john chapter 11 is an account of probably the most powerful miracle of jesus and allow me today to take for granted your familiarity with john 11 and your commitment to re-read it in its entirety as part of your devotional time this week somehow me to lift up the words of one verse it's actually a verse that's repeated by both martha and mary in verse 21 and verse 32. in john chapter 11 verse 21 it reads the same way as verse 32 and here's what it says lord if you had been here my brother would not have died lord if you had been here my brother would not have died as we get into part one of this series when you're angry with god allow me to put a title on part one with just one word if if you know what happens in john 11 let me give you the cliff note version lazarus is sick and although his family is concerned nobody's really worried why because lazarus has a best friend named jesus and jesus is a miracle worker who's healed all manner of sickness for strangers he's met on the road and so mary and martha believe that when jesus finds out that his best friend is sick he'll do something about it so the bible says early in john 11 that they send word to jesus who is only two miles away and they send word and tell jesus lazarus the one you love is sick they send word to jesus and they do what any good woman any good man of faith would do after they call on the lord they sit back and wait for the miraculous answer because surely the lord has heard their call and the lord is on their way to their surprise jesus does not come he doesn't drop everything and run to bethany he doesn't even speak healing into the atmosphere like he did with the centurion's servant no the bible says when jesus hears the petition of mary and martha he deliberately decides to stay where he is for two more days and in that time frame lazarus dies jesus takes his time to get to bethany and when he gets there lazarus is not only dead but john lets us know he's been dead for four days and you may recall from your sunday school lesson that according to jewish tradition when the soul departed the body the soul would hover around the body for three days because it was known for them to assume someone was dead only for the soul to re-enter the body and that person come back to life so they believed for three days it was possible for the body to resurrect by itself and so jesus deliberately waits until the soul has left and the law has changed and now lazarus is good and dead and buried and his body is rotting in the grave that's when jesus shows up and when he shows up he's met by an angry martha and a disappointed mary martha and mary when they finally get to jesus they both say to jesus the same thing if you had been here my brother would not have died if you would have come when we called you this wouldn't have happened if you had answered our prayers we could have avoided this if you had done what we know you're able to do we wouldn't have had to go through this god if you had just done what we asked you to do this could have turned out differently let me pause right here and ask you in this sermon have you ever had a martha and mary moment have you ever had a moment when you want to talk to god with one word if i mean if god really loved me why did this happen if god is truly omnipotent and can do whatever god wants to do why didn't god stop this from happening if god is omniscient and god knows everything that's going to happen why would god just sit by and let this go down in my life if prayer changes everything like the preacher told me it does how could i pray to god and god still not answer and do what i know god is able to do have you ever had an if moment with god and what pushed them to this moment of if and anger and frustration and disappointment was the death of their brother beloved i came by to tell you that the one thing that will disappoint you with god is the death of a loved one the one thing that might anger you with god is the death of someone you love the one thing that may frustrate you most in your faith is believing that god has allowed someone you love to die hear me hear me i'm not talking about your great-grandmother passing away in her sleep at 127 years of age i'm talking about an infant dying from a rare disease i'm talking about a child's life being claimed by a drunk driver or gun violence i'm talking about watching a faithful woman who preached the word of god and cared for her husband die long before it was time i'm talking about having an administrative assistant who you love with all of your heart go from diagnosis to death in a few moments i'm talking about watching your father preach the word of god and pastor a church faithfully for 20 years and dwindle down from 200 pounds to 120 by prostate cancer and die alone in a hotel room that's the place that'll make you angry with god that's the place that'll frustrate you with the lord that's the place to make you say if and when jesus shows up mary and martha both say the same thing but they respond in different ways martha when she hears that jesus is outside of town she gets and runs to him but she's not running with joy and excitement she's running with anger and when she encounters jesus outside of bethany you can almost see her finger in jesus face when she says lord if you had been here this would not have happened martha is angry with god and listen at how jesus doesn't chastise her martha is angry and jesus does not rebuke her he does not condemn her it's almost as if jesus understands that every now and then you will be angry with god every now and then you will want to put your finger in god's face every now and then god will do some things that leave a bad taste in your mouth and it's okay to be upset someone today god has you listening to this sermon for one reason only stop letting people guilt you into thinking something is wrong with your faith simply because you are angry with god being angry with you does not mean i'm breaking up with you being frustrated with you does not mean i quit on you i'm wondering why you let this happen doesn't mean i'm walking away from you god says it's all right to be upset it's all right to be angry it's all right to be frustrated stop letting people who cover up their feelings with religious denial make you feel that something is wrong with you simply because you've got enough authenticity and honesty to tell god i'm mad with you it's all right to be angry martha is angry but watch this when martha gets up to go see jesus mary doesn't mary stays where she is martha's angry mary's disappointed mary is so disappointed she says i ain't getting up to go over there i'm not going to see jesus i'm i'm not feeling him right now this this this is the same mary that john says when she saw jesus she cried at his feet washed his feet with her tears wiped them with her hair this mary who's given her devotional act to the lord this mary who loves jesus has reached a point where she says i ain't messing with jesus i'm not running over there and notice that jesus doesn't chastise her either this is almost if jesus understands that there's some moments when you won't be grateful there's some moments when you won't be excited listen i don't know who needs to hear this but someone deceived you when you join church because every day with god is not always hallelujah and thank you jesus there are some merry moments in this thing with god when i'm disappointed with god when i'm not excited when i'm not running the church when i don't feel like shouting when i ain't saying hallelujah when there is no amen in my mouth is there anyone today that's ever had a merry moment do me a favor when we get back in this building and we go to worshipping god and we go to praising god do me a favor don't you look down at someone who's having a merry moment because someone may be here saying right now i'm struggling with god right now i need some answers right now i don't understand right now i need god's help let me sit in my merry moment martha is angry mary is disappointed and if you listen at what they say to jesus lord if you had been here my brother would not have died i suggest to you that there are at least three underlying sources of their disappointment and their anger three things that cause them to be frustrated with jesus i want to make sure you see them because these same three things operate in our lives and will cause us to be angry with god listen to the three things that cause them to be angry with jesus number one i'll suggest to you that they are frustrated and angry because they've come to jesus in a privileged position they've come to the lord in a privileged position when mary and martha send word to jesus about lazarus being sick they don't even ask jesus what to do because their expectation is that when jesus finds out what is happening to lazarus jesus will respond immediately why because of who they are this is mary and martha and lazarus these are not some random folk these are not some strangers these are the ones jesus knows and loves that's why john goes to great detail to tell us about them they say this is lazarus the one you love jesus he's not a stranger this is your best friend and we've seen what you've done with others surely you'll do something with lazarus this is martha who opened the doors of her home and prepared a feast and a banquet in your honor this is mary who poured out that oil from that alabaster box and wiped your feet with her hair these are those who love you these are those who've gone the extra mile these are those who worship you these are those who've been devoted to you these are those who have served you surely when you think about who we are and what we've done your response ought to be immediate and could it be that they've reached out to jesus from a privileged position expecting that because of who they are that surely the lord will not allow lazarus to die god you can't let this happen because you know who we are beloved i came by to tell you the religion and righteousness and piety and discipleship and worship and service and devotion can delude you into a privileged position where you think what happens to other people should never happen to you because you're religious you go to church you make a joyful noise you walk by faith you read your bible and most importantly you pray and because you pray and because of what you do and because of who you are and because you're in relationship with god you believe that there's some things god should never allow to happen in your life because you prayed and like mary and martha you prayed from a privileged position and when god doesn't answer the way you think your disappointment leads to anger how could god not answer my prayer how could god see all that i've done and do nothing in return how could god hear my sincere prayer when i'm trying to get my life together and i'm going to church and i'm reading my bible and i'm nice to folk i don't even like on general christian principle and god doesn't answer my prayer the way i ask it beloved i came by to tell someone today that righteousness does not give you some type of immunity from the pains of life prayer will not always protect you from struggle reading your bible will not give you an escape from the traumas of life i don't care how many services you watch and how much money you give none of that grants you protection from the real rough realities that all of us are going to go through i don't know who this is for but i came by to drop this on someone today righteousness is not a quid pro quo quid pro quo that latin legal term that literally means if i do this you do that god wants someone to understand today the reason you're upset is that you had in your mind that your righteousness was quit pro quo that if you did this god is obligated to do that then if i prayed god will answer with yes if i read my bible god will make my life perfect if i serve god will shield me you've had this mindset of a quid pro quo can we have our seminary second you know that we come to this sermonic moment for a teaching moment can i teach for a moment when john describes mary in the beginning of chapter 11 as the one who wiped jesus feet with her hair he is employing a literary tool called prolepsis let the church say prolepsis it's right there on the screen p-r-o-l-e-p-s-i-s prolepsis prolepsis is when a writer takes a future event and recasts it in the past as if it's already happened don't lose me here's your seminary moment prolepsis is when a writer goes and grabs something from the future and writes it in the past as if it has already happened let me give an example of prolepsis in the gospels when you get to those places where they name the disciples who jesus chose brook more often than not the last name is judas and in the listing when we are introduced to the disciples here's how judas is always described judas comma the one who betrayed jesus that now don't miss this in the introduction of the disciples the gospel writers identified judas as the one who betrayed jesus when we're introduced to judas judas has not betrayed jesus but the writer using prolepsis has gone into the future and grabbed the betrayal of judas and attached it to his name in his introduction in the past so the writer is taking the future and putting it in the past when john describes mary as the one who wiped jesus feet with her hair it's proleptic why because he mentions it in john 11 but mary doesn't anoint jesus or wash his feet and wipe with her hair to john 12. don't you miss it john references it in chapter 11 but it doesn't happen until chapter 12. mary does not perform that act until lazarus has already been resurrected from the dead because what mary does in righteousness in chapter 11 and chapter 12 is in response to god's grace in chapter 11. what she does in 12 is a response to grace in chapter 11. come here somebody this is all i want to share with you that our righteousness to god our righteous service our ministry our devotion our worship to god is always a response to grace and not an investment in mercy let me say that again our righteousness is a response to grace it is not an investment in mercy i'm going to say that again that when i serve god and when i worship god and when i pray and when i spend time in devotion and when i'm in ministry what i am doing is in response to grace i've already received but my righteousness is not an investment and mercy to make god shield me from something that's coming down the road your righteousness is what you give to god for what god has already done it is not buying stock in mercy and forcing god to keep you from something in your tomorrow now now if you get that if you get that everything we do is in response to grace we've already received here's the question i want you to wrestle with here's the question to share in your next village group here's the question to have with family and friends what is the purpose of prayer if everything that happens is the preordained will of god what does prayer really do if i have a loved one dying are you telling me that god is waiting for me to pray to show his love to intervene and heal them are they going to be healed if i don't pray will they die if i don't pray does my prayer change the hand or the will of god what is the purpose of prayer beloved listen how can i tell you this there's a lot of things i don't know about god there's a lot of things i don't understand but here's what i do believe in the depth of my heart that prayer is not a tool to manipulate or maneuver god that prayer neither manipulates nor maneuvers god that the purpose of prayer watch this is to not change what god is doing the purpose of prayer is to help you see the glory in what god is doing let me say that again the part of the purpose of prayer is not to change what god is doing but to open your eyes to see the glory of what god is doing come on back to bethany in john 11. mary and martha call on jesus they send word they pray and when jesus shows up jesus lets them know listen your calling on me is not going to change what happened to lazarus but it will put you in a place to see the glory of god i'm about to reveal don't don't don't miss this your prayer didn't prevent lazarus from dying but your prayer is going to put you in a place to see the glory of god i'm going to reveal because the real power of prayer is not whether it changes what is happening but it changes what you see it allows you to see the glory of god in ways and in places and in things that you had missed that prayer is not about getting the answer prayer is about seeing the glory okay someone let me help you you all know that one of the things i love to do is take my children to see movies and back when they were younger i would always go to the movie to watch it first for two reasons one to make certain it was appropriate and two because the boys like going to late evening movies and more often than not i would fall asleep and therefore i want to make certain i'd already seen it so we could discuss it later so back in 2009 you all were a car recall that a real popular movie came out called avatar and avatar had a regular version and a 3d omnimax version now you know i'm not a big fan of 3d movies because i think most of them are horribly made but i read in the reviews that if you're going to watch avatar you gotta go see the 3d version so i went to see the 3d omnimax version of avatar before i took the boys and my mind was blown it was a phenomenal movie when i took the boys to see it we went to 3d omni max because i wanted them to enjoy it just like i had we're sitting down the movie comes on my oldest son and i put on our 3d glasses and we're watching the movie i look over at my youngest only realize he doesn't have his glasses on he's just sitting watching it and i shared with him something i believe god is speaking to someone today about prayer i said son if you don't put your glasses on you're going to miss everything that's in this film if you don't have the right glasses on you're going to miss all the special effects you're going to miss all the scenes you're going to miss the beauty of the movie that there's one thing just to watch it it's another to put the right perspective on and see all the things that you are missing and that's what i came by to tell someone today that if you're not on your knees you're missing the glory if you're not calling on god every day you're looking at the struggle but you don't see the glory if you don't know how to pray you're watching a loved one die and you don't see the glory of them making their eternal rest with jesus that there's a glory of god that is only revealed when you learn how to pray that part of the reason you're angry is because you limited prayer to the answer you wanted when in actuality the prayer was meant to reveal the glory of god even in the midst of her dying even in the midst of not getting the job even in the midst of being laid off even in the midst of the diagnosis that's why you can find folk in the midst of hell who still have joy because in their prayer they have seen the glory of god part of the reason they're angry is that they've come in a privileged position but there's something else that fuels their anger and their frustration and their disappointment not only have they come in a privileged position but number two i would suggest to you they've come in a context of comparison the part of the reason mary and martha are angry is because they're comparing themselves watch what happens they send word to jesus and they could have just said lazarus is sick but no they have to say the one you love well if jesus knows he loves lazarus why do you have to identify lazarus as the one jesus loves they want to remind jesus that lazarus is not a stranger and we've seen you heal strangers jairus didn't know you and you healed his daughter the woman with the issue of blood had never met you and you healed her bartimaeus on the side of the road had never been your friend and you opened his blinded eyes legion was filled with demons he had never met you and you cast all of them out and lord if you did that for strangers surely you ought to do more for the one you love and could it be beloved that what angers them is that they are comparing what jesus did for them with what jesus had done for others you mean you gonna do all that for them and still let lazarus die you're gonna heal strangers and let us go through that lord they don't even love you like we do can i push it and when jesus shows up the bible says there's a group there with mary and martha they're identified as the jews you need to know in the gospel of john john uses the term the jews to signify those who are enemies of jesus the jews is not just a designation of anybody who's jewish and the gospel of john the jews is a term used for the enemies of jesus and verse 37 says that when jesus shows up the jews the enemies of jesus say to martha and mary couldn't the man who healed all them strangers have done better by you could couldn't he who opened blinded eyes have kept your brother from dying look at what he did for them and compare it to what he did for you because the enemy knows if i can get you to compare your life to someone else you'll always be angry with god if i can get you to compare your destiny with her destiny you'll always be frustrated if i can get you to compare yourself and beloved let's be honest sometimes our anger with god is not about what god did for us it's about how much more god did for them everyone listening today knows what it's like to try to give your all to the lord to serve your lord with all your heart your mind and your soul to lay it all out for god and you ask god for the simplest thing and god doesn't do it and yet you got a neighbor down the street who ain't never been to church doesn't even own the bible can barely say or spell the name jesus and it seems like day after day after day after day they get more and more and are blessed and are living well and here you are struggling in your walk with god and it makes us angry god how can you do that much for someone else and let this happen to me if you've ever been in that place of comparison and if you've ever had the enemy whispering your ear look at him or look at her i want to remind you what paul says in second corinthians chapter 10 and verse 12 paul says it like this in the howard john wesley version nothing good comes from comparing your life to someone else's nothing good ever comes by comparing your life to someone else's let me put it to you in the best way i know how one of the worst things you can do in life is compare the reality of your life to a snapshot of someone else's let me say that again one of the worst things you can do is compare the reality of your life to a snapshot of someone else's okay say third time's a charm be careful of looking at the reality of your life and comparing it to a snapshot of someone else's listen stop getting jealous looking at instagram that ain't her real hair he doesn't really own that car they don't live in that house they took a picture at that hotel but they stand at motel six you are getting catfished by someone on social media and you're comparing your life that ain't their real life you never know the full scope of what someone is dealing with by a snapshot came by to preach to someone today who's been looking at other people and feeling like god's done you wrong you've been watching someone else's life and wonder why god hasn't done that with you and i came by to tell you this that the wicked may prosper but they are never blessed let me say that again the wicked may prosper but they are never blessed and i'm not going to be envious of someone who's prospering but is not blessed there's a difference between being prosperous and being blessed when you're prosperous you got to get it by yourself but when you're blessed god will ship it to you direct when you're prosperous you got to fight to keep it but when you're blessed god will fight every battle when you're prosperous you got to deal with your enemies but when you're blessed god will set a table in the presence of your enemies is there anybody watching who can declare i'd rather be blessed and here's what jesus tells mary and martha don't worry about them i'm still able to bless you now i want someone to know that today as you're looking at someone else's life as you're wondering why them and not you as you're seeing what they're driving and wonder why you're walking i want you to know that you serve a god who is still able to bless your life they're angry with god they're upset with jesus because they've come from a privileged position they've got a context of comparison but let me show you the third thing that will frustrate you with god they struggle with sovereignty one of the things that will frustrate you most with god is when god proves that god is bigger than what you thought that god is not confined to your box that god does not operate by your sops but god does whatever god wants to do watch how this goes down kendell they call on jesus the bible says jesus is aware that lazarus is sick he knows it and yet he decides to stay two more days where he is he makes a deliberate decision with no explanation we're gonna stay here to that doesn't make sense lazarus is right over there dying and jesus could have made it there in one day but he decides to stay where he is for two days why because he's sovereign now there are a lot of scholars when you do your exegetical homework on john 11 to try to make sense of why jesus stayed for two days a whole lot of reasoning and rationale and theological uh postulating but i like gerald sloyan who says this that whatever answers scholars have it still didn't make sense to mary and martha that mary and martha have to wonder why this happened and gerald sloyan says we may never know why jesus did it that way beloved that's a phrase you ought to become comfortable with if you're going to mature in your faith because there's some moments when you may never know you may never understand why god did it the way god chose to do it because he's sovereign it may never make sense to you but he's sovereign no preacher may ever give you insight but he is sovereign let me tell you that's a real word because we live in the midst of a christianity that wants to peddle and sell certainty about god we listen to preachers who delude us into thinking that the more scripture we know the more we understand we live in a religious environment that leads us to believe that you can somehow know everything you need to know about god but i came by on this weekend to remind you that god is not a man and god is not a woman like us that as the heavens are above the earth so are god's ways above our ways so are god's thoughts above our thoughts paul reminds the church in corinth that we are stewards of the mysteries of god and i came by to declare to you as uncomfortable as it may be that god is more of a mystery than a certainty god is more of a mystery than a certainty and there are some things and there are some ways and there are some will of god that we may never understand in our human frailty no matter how much bible you read no matter how many degrees you put on the wall no matter how much holy oil you carry no matter how many tongues you talk in every now and then god flexes god's sovereignty with mystery that escapes our understanding you may never understand why and so when jesus shows up and mary and martha are angry because he stayed two days jesus still doesn't give an explanation he doesn't give them a reason it's almost as if he's saying you don't have to understand what he does ask martha watch this what do you believe about me don't miss this martha may want to know why jesus shows up you don't need to know why what you need to know is what do you believe about me because the issue is not what you understand the issue is what do you believe beloved when the hand of god escapes your understanding the character of god must be believed in your heart let me say it again when the hand of god escapes the understanding of your mind the character of god must be believed in your heart when i don't understand what god is doing i trust in who i believe god is when i don't know why god let it go down i still declare what i believe to be true about god don't you let what you don't understand about god cause you to doubt what you believe about god don't let what you don't understand about god cause you to doubt what you believe about god and that's the beauty of this passage because after martha says lord if you had been here here's what she says but even now i know lord i wish it had gone down another way but even now i know that you're the christ i wish lazarus hadn't died but even now i know that you're able i wish you had answered a call differently but even now i know who you are and that's what will hold you through these moments of uncertainty and anger and frustration when you can tell god but even now but even now i know you're sovereign even now i know you're gracious even now i know you love me even now i know you have a plan for my life even now i know you're walking with me even now you're working it together for my good even now you're greater in me than he who's against me even now even now even now when you're angry with god remember that your prayer is not meant just to give you your answer it's meant to show you the glory of god when you're angry with god don't compare your life to someone else's nothing good comes from comparing your life to someone else and when you're angry with god because god has operated outside of your understanding declare to yourself but even now here's what i believe about god when you're angry with god this week we've dealt with if next week i want you to journey with me to a brother who asks a question all of us will his name is job and his question is why lord we come to you as those who've sometimes been frustrated confused angry disappointed we've all had a mary and martha moment but lord even now we declare that you are omnipotent that you love us unconditionally that you're working a plan in our lives so god when your sovereignty escapes my understanding i still hold on to your character and my heart i pray for my sister my brother today who's been in that if moment with you the lord you'll begin to bring them out to see your glory in jesus name we pray amen you know the bible says that whenever the word of god goes out that it never comes back void or empty and i'm just crazy enough to believe that whenever the word of god goes out in sermon and in song the components of worship that it does something for someone today maybe that word creates within your desire to want to know jesus christ as your lord and savior listen there's nothing we would rather do in this church family than to share with you the amazing gift of grace and love that god has for you if you desire to open your heart for the very first time or to reconnect with the lordship of jesus christ do me a favor send us an email at deacons with an s at alfordstreet.org it would be our joy to reach back out with you and share the journey of salvation if you're listening today and you desire to connect with our church family you've been looking for a place to grow and go i'll invite you to do the very same thing send us an email at deacons with a nest at alpha street or you can go onto our website where there's a link that would allow us to reach back out with you and open the arms of fellowship no matter where you may be in the world wide web to alpha street baptist church do me a favor if you will continue to be faithful to whatever the holy spirit places in your heart as what you give to help support the ministry you know that we tithe the tithe here at alfred street which simply means that every week we take no less than 10 of what was given and so it right back into the heart of communities and families who need our help and assistance which means that as you help us make glorious the name of jesus you also help us feed those who are in need i look forward to sharing with you on next weekend meet us right back here follow us on all of our social media pages if you haven't won't you subscribe to our youtube channel that together we might make glorious the name of jesus in all that we do and now to the almighty the eternal the all-wise the sovereign the gracious and merciful god who alone is creator of heaven and earth to the god who's made himself perfectly known to us in jesus who alone is our christ our loving lord our sacrificial savior our resurrected risen reigning returning redeemer to the god who chooses to dwell in these earthen vessels of clay through the sustaining power promise presence purpose and person of the holy spirit to that all wise god be glory and majesty dominion and power from now until eternity and the redeemed of the lord who loved the lord and awaited his return said amen [Music]

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 45,798

Rating: 4.8596492 out of 5

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Id: Yb5nYValGxM

Length: 54min 46sec (3286 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 12 2021