Built To Carry This! | Rev. Ranyne H. Johnson

Sunday Where am I prom a life is your wave of hands and I'll see you all over the house Thank you so much for your service. Thank you for your support throughout this week There is a word from the Lord. It comes from second Corinthians the fourth chapter the six to the sixteenth verse I won't be reading it all in your hearing. Thank you too. Deacon Ashley White who read this morning I'll be reading the sixth the seventh and the sixteenth verses And I'll be reading for the new international version and the word of God reads For it is the God who said let the light shine out of darkness Was shown in our hearts to give the light the knowledge the glory of God and the face of Jesus Christ But we have this treasure and clay jars So it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us So we do not lose heart Even though our outer nature is wasting away our inner nature is being renewed day by day This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be unto God. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord I thank God for the privilege to stand before you and the privilege to serve as the prime of life minister here on the Avenue and can we take a moment to just bless the Lord for our path to the shepherd of this house? Dr. Marcus de comes big Yes, yes, there's none like him. There's none like him He is sought out all over the country and all over the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ And it's such a privilege to serve under his leadership is such a joy We thank God for his wife Mrs. Cosby and absentia. Can we thank God for her and the Cosby family? We will never know I understand the sacrifices that are made So that we can receive the fresh Ramma word from the Lord Sunday after Sunday and it is a great sacrifice So we thank God for the whole family and we don't take them for granted and we know that pastor is in my Area of town. He's in the DMV. We thank God for our co-pastor the Reverend Doctor Howard John Wesley Can we thank God for him? He'll be here next month to celebrate pastors anniversary and in pastors there celebrating his 18th pastoral Anniversary I am privileged to serve alongside some of the most brilliant minds Some of the most dedicated ministers would you thank God for our ministerial staff at Wheeler Avenue Along with the staff at large of Wheeler there are a lot of people working behind the scenes

And you'll never see their face, but this is what you're required. So that you see the excellence Exuded in ministry from Sunday after Sunday Thank you for your support all week long for prime of life week We started on Wednesday with prime praise and we had a time and worship and praying to God on Wednesday Then we said wait Thursday that was tracked to it's a family affairs soundtrack of our lives the faith that keeps us and the choir Rehearsed on Thursday. God bless you. Thank you for your sacrifice and your dedication under Minister Leon Lewis and Terrence scarlet the director and brother Joe Logan our musical director music director. Thank you so much so grateful for you and Then Friday we had candlelight date night for the marriage folks and then we had a game night for the single folks And then Saturday morning. We had the family reunion barbecue, and now we are here Amen, amen, amen. I am Kind of take a moment of privilege to bring to your awareness. There are a couple events that are going on one tomorrow tomorrow at 6 30 p.m. in the Christian Living Center the fellowship hall her story Bible study ladies you in the house Her story Bible study the orientation is tomorrow Bible study isn't starting quite yet But the orientation is at 6 30 we have some vittles for you little something to eat We're gonna fellowship we're gonna praise and worship and in our own Reverend Felicia Solomon She is going to tell you about what we will be discussing and the upcoming year women in the Bible for women of color We're really excited about what the Lord is going to be saying to God's women And so please come out tomorrow night at 6 30 p.m. Amen Also October 23rd October 23rd 7 p.m. Friday night here. We'll kick off our past Can we try to really pack the house out? Can you bring your neighbors, your friends, your pew partner, Lottie Dottie and everybody on our Friday, October the 23rd, at 7 o'clock, the end of the day. So we can lift up the name of Jesus and love on our pastor. Amen. There is a word from the Lord. And you all are the most non-speaking to your neighbor congregation I have ever seen in my entire life.

Out of all the churches that I've been to, Lila, y'all don't like to talk to folk. And I understand it. I respect it. I'm an introvert, but I'm going to ask you to do it. So would you turn to your neighbor since I had so many announcements and with your preaching voice, would you say neighbor or neighbor? You were built to carry this. Now turn to the other neighbor and say neighbor or neighbor. You were built to carry this. Now let's put those sanctified hands together and give God the Lord. Yes, you were built for it. You were built for it. Do you mind if we just travel back in time a little bit from a lie? Do you remember the time? Do you remember the times of going out to play outside and catching lightning bugs or fireflies? Do you remember the times of riding bikes with your friends and having a rush to get home before the street lights came on? Do you remember big wheels and double-dutch and pogo sticks and hula hoops? And before there was Nintendo or as was introduced to us, a place they shone, there was PS, now known as PS5, there was Atari. Can I get a witness for Atari? Young folk have no clue what we're talking about. Remember Oshkosh-Bagash in the overall? And if you were really fancy, you had a pair of George S.G. Remember that huge Sears catalog book? My mom literally would order my clothes in the fall

that would last me the entire year out of that book. And the book was so big, it looked like a telephone book. Remember, telephone book. Were you so fashioned forward that you had British knights and LA gear shoes before there was even such a thing as Jordans? And after some time, you traded your Jordans jeans for cross colors, food boo, for us, by us. Skids, Carl can I. And of course, you could never leave home without your swatch watch. And Fridays, Friday nights weren't they epic? We had the best weekends. We meet up at this pizza spot that had the red plastic cups and it had the red faux Tiffany chandelier that was shining over your pizza so you could see the steam. You all know the place I'm talking about. It's a place you could go and you would take your report card if you had earned the honor roll because then you could get your free pizza. That's the spot I'm talking about. And the mall on the weekends looks nothing like what the malls look like now. For the mall on the Friday night, you had to go and get your hair done to go to the mall. And I'm convinced sisters that we contributed to the erosion of the ozone layer because we had that freeze pumping up hairspray, so you can get that fan bang nice and high, so it would just stay there and have some hang time. The wind would blow, the rain would come, but those banks were still standing. You got to have your hair right with the crimps and the finger wave. The mall was where you would show off your brand new clothes because you were going there to meet your friends. And while you were there and you walk around all these stores

and have any money to spend and buy anything, hopefully you weren't getting in trouble. When you will walk around, eventually you find the music store. And there used to be a music store up on the east coast called Sam Goody. And at Sam Goody, there is a particular section that was sectioned off for posters and it was like a Each poster had its own frame and you would just flip from poster to poster and you hear the clink clack of the posters as you try to look for your favorite music artist or the favorite celebrity. And there at Sam Goode, you could actually buy a cassette tape. And this cassette tape, you could either get the full album or you could get a single. The reason we wanted these posters is because, me personally, I wanted my room to look like Theo from The Cosby Show. So I would go get the mask and take the duct tape, the scotch tape, any kind of tape or staple I could get to plaster all around my bedroom. Remember Theo? Rest in peace, welcome to Moana and remember the iconic Cosby Show. We're still watching The Cosby Show now, we're making our kids watching The Cosby Show. But do you remember that iconic pilot episode where Bill Cosby says, Theo, I am your father. I brought you in this world and I'll take you out. Yeah, we wanted to be like Theo and in addition to that, the fellas, the fellas always loved Denise, Lisa Bonet, the girls we had Theo or my favorite, we had cockroach. And when you grew up, you either wanted to be like Dr. Heathclick's Clif Huxable and be a doctor or you wanted to be like Claire Hanks Huxable and you wanted to be a lawyer. Remember the sounds? Remember when you heard the greatest level of all for the first time and you were trying to figure out whose voice is that and you found out it was Whitney Houston. The first time you witnessed Billie Jean performed on the Motown 25 special. You guys remember that? It was hosted by Richard Pryor and you saw Michael Jackson that little sparkly sweater.

We didn't know it was his mama's sweater at the time, it just looked magical. The first time you saw him do the moon walk, some of y'all still in your kitchen with your socks trying to figure out how to make that thing work. And remember when you always had that older cousin or that older sibling that would sneak you in so you could watch rated R movies? There was this brand new cable station, just three letters. We got it in our home, I was about five or six and heard about this movie, but it was rated R and it featured this guy who was different, eccentric, the one and only purple majesty friends, and it was purple ring. There are so many wonderful memories that have been painted through the corners of my mind. For every season of our lives, there has always been a sound associated with it. Our support said sound is not emotionally neutral, the auditory system is closely connected to the brain networks involved in attention, memory, emotion, arousal and reward. As a result, sound can soothe and organize the nervous system under one set of circumstances while under another it can create stress, disorientation, fear and psychological suffering. Sound reaches us physically, but its effects are also neurological and emotional. Music that is enticing to the ear engages areas in the brain which is associated with happy or peaceful hormones that impact motivation, anticipation and pleasure. My sisters and my brothers, we do not simply hear sound cognitively, but rather we experience sound. The brain is continually detecting rhythm, pattern, expectation, tension, resolution, familiarity and surprise. Sound, it has the power to change the mood of a room. Sound can ignite a memory. Sound can significantly reduce both psychological stress and physiological related outcomes. As we grow older, more distortion of sound enters our lives. The careless frivolity of life has been replaced with the dissonance of being sandwiched in between raising our children and attempting to understand how our parents who seem to be a rock now stand before us frail.

The ones who relied on for wisdom and the answer to all of life's challenges now turn to us to manage their affairs. Listenings, adulting and trying to determine how to manage careers, bills, career challenges is a time to seek another promotion or coast it on. And then the unanticipated health challenges, family fractions, and broken relationships. Over time, we can experience dissonance from what was once the gayity of our childhood and young adult years, being black in America. In the season of our lives and watching civil rights protections and enforcement mechanisms we thought were settled become more matters of renewed debate and reversal. All dissonance of sound. Since when did we become middle adults? We still know how to have a good time. Can I get a witness? (audience laughing) We still can hang out all night. Now the caveat is we may have to sleep the entire next day to recover from the damage of hanging out, but hey, we can still hang. And how did we arrive to this auntie and aunt status? If she might just yesterday, it was cis and cuz, and now I'm auntie, I wanna know the day, I wanna know the month, I wanna know the year, I want to know what's an exact number that I reached that I was declared an auntie. (audience laughing) Remembering the times of our former years

and the nostalgia and the levity of it all can make a person in their middle adult years feel like a guest in their own body and a stranger in their own world. Time is a funny thing, time. It seems like it takes forever for a day to go by when you're a child and it quickly transforms into a fleeting moment when you become an adult. As a child, you have the time, you feel invincible, like you have all the time in the world to make decisions, to daydream about who you want to become and the endurance to come into your own. But time to a middle adult makes you feel like you haven't done everything that you desire to do or become what you desire to be and that there's just not enough time to accomplish it all. But the seasons of life sound evolves. Time makes us question our strength. We aren't as athletic as we used to be. We may not be as fast as we once were. Time can challenge your security and confidence when you start to see the young folks coming up behind you with access to resources, technology and information that wasn't available when you first trained for your position. Time can make you wonder if you still have what it takes to be as effective as you once were. As we turn our attention toward a brother by the name of Paul, Paul begins to chapter in this letter,

also called the Epistle to the Church at Corinne, with a following greeting. Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we engage in this ministry, we do not lose heart. The Apostle Paul, who refers to himself as a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, is in a quantity with a church at Corinth and time. Roman society was intensely hierarchical and it emphasized status, honor, reputation, social connections and public achievement mattered. Corinthians were concerned about rank, social standing and self-presentation. Paul founded the Corinthian congregation and spent roughly 18 months there, but then problems subsequently developed. Paul had experienced a painful visit to Corinth and an offender had deeply wounded him and strained his relationship with the congregation. Rather than returning immediately, Paul wrote what is often called a severe or tearful letter, expressing his anguish and calling the church towards reconciliation. Paul's strained relationship with Corinth and their ideas of status and strength compared to Paul's own bodily and emotional suffering caused further strain. Some within Corinthian church were judging apostolic legitimacy through cultural measures of status, strength and visible success.

Paul was constantly persecuted, fleeing for his life and in physical danger. In a culture where wealth, patronage and status could signal credibility, Paul complicated expectations by refusing financial dependence on the Corinthian, supporting himself through labor while also receiving assistance from other beliefs. he received from rival out-of-town missionaries. Paul was rejected by people he had spiritually nurtured. Paul wasn't an emotional wreck. Paul does not hide his emotional distress. He speaks candidly about affliction, fear, anxiety, and anguish over the churches. Paul says, "We have this treasure in jars of clay." The Greek word for "treasure" is "the thawress," something precious, a valuable deposit. But the container holding that treasure is an ordinary, earthen vessel. The treasure is extraordinary. The container is commonplace. It's ironic that Paul mentions a treasury, but the treasure is contained in an earthen vessel or a clay jar. There wasn't anything special about a clay jar. In fact, it was rather ordinary. It was plain, it was common, it was not sophisticated, it didn't have an exorbitant value. It's just a container made out of dirt. It wasn't made out of gold or silver. It wasn't adorned with precious jewels, it was simply a jar of clay. But Paul says that ordinary vessel is what God has chosen to carry his treasure. And the purpose of the jar is so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and it does not come from us. Don't you find it interesting that God chose something ordinary to carry something extraordinary? You know how we do.

Back in the day, we didn't have these clear containers. We would take the butter tub and once we used all the butter, y'all know what I'm talking about, take the butter all out the tub and that would be your container after you washed it. Essentially, it's like Paul using the analogy of a butter tub and dropping your most valuable jewelry inside of it. It's like having Tupperware. You remember Tupperware containers in those 70s colors, the harvest gold, the green and the puke orange and putting your most prized heirloom possessions to store inside of it. God took something valuable and put in it something that was ordinary. God took something powerful and placed it into something that was vulnerable. God took something precious and he put it in a commonplace container. God took something eternal and placed it into something temporal. And that's my first point on this morning. God uses the ordinary as a conduit for the extraordinary. The vessel was not useless. In fact, clay vessels were useful precisely because they were ordinary. The jar was common, but what it carried was not. God did not have to make the vessel extraordinary in order to entrust it with something extraordinary. Well what is this treasure that's lying inside of the earth and vessel? Now don't you miss what the treasure is? The treasure is not merely your gift. The treasure is not merely your talent. The treasure is not your education or your potential or your ability. As Paul has already told us in verse 6, the treasure is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. Christ is the treasure. The gospel is the treasure. And God has entrusted this treasure to ordinary people like you and like me which have put your hands together because God chose ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

The Bible says that we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from ourselves. If you're not careful middle adults and if you're not careful season saints, if you're not intentional emerging and young adults, one can talk oneself out of the treasure that God has deposited inside. our lives with someone else's lives. We can so easily count ourselves out before we even give ourselves a chance. Excuse after excuse explanation after explanation. I'm not young enough. I'm too old for this. I'm not old enough. I don't have the skill set. I don't have the credentials. I'm not pedigree. I'm too short. I'm too tall. I'm too skinny. I'm too big. As middle adults, if you're not careful, we can spend so much time admiring and daydreaming about what yes or year look like. Now we forget what God is doing inside of you and me right now. But don't you realize you have the power. Power beyond what the eye can see. Power beyond being classified as auntie and uncle. Power beyond your flesh, your mortal body. It's a power that cannot come from yourself. It's a power that cannot go to the gym and strengthen it out. You can't acquire this type of power. It's a power that doesn't come from social status or influence. Call calls a dunamous power. Might divine capacity. Paul doesn't merely say there is power. He places another Greek word in front of it hyperbole. He calls it the surpassing extraordinary greatness of power. Dunamous. What is it? It is the power. Hyperbole. It's the kind of power, the unsurpassing power. And Paul says that power belongs to God and does not originate from within us. My second point, you still have power working inside of you. Even when you feel powerless. Thank you, Jesus. Some days it takes everything within you to put one foot in front of the other. You may grow weary and tired, but you have the power. You may not have slept a week at all last night and during the day your mind may be racing with thoughts, but you have the power. You may be heartbroken, grieving the depth of a loved one, a relationship or a dream, but you've got the power. Don't you realize that God is working inside of you? Don't you realize that God sees your broken heart? Don't you realize that God sees your fault and yet he still chooses you? That's good news on this morning. Stop disqualifying yourself because you've got the power, but don't get it twisted. It isn't your power. It's God's power at work within you. The same power that Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood. The same power over demons and to cure disease. The same power that Jesus

performed signs, miracles and wonders is the same power that said worth in you. You've got the power, even if you're not the source. You are the vessel. God is the source. And we have the power, that same power that heals, the power that delivers, the power that saves, the power that gives witness, the power that raises Jesus from the grave. This is the power that is still at work in us. My third and final point, two opposing realities can exist at the same time and still be true. Prom of life in the season of our lives we may carry dissonance and agitation that we did not anticipate or could not under any circumstance be prepared for, but there's still a miracle working inside of you. God can, God still does, and even if God doesn't work it out the way we anticipate to work it out, God still can keep us. Paul puts it this way. We are hard pressed on every side, but here's the end, but we aren't Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but we are not destroyed. I can have questions, but I can still have my faith. I can be confused, but yet I still can be kept. I mean, I know what God is doing, but I can still know who God is in my life. I said two opposing realities can exist at the same time and still be true. I may be getting older, but I'm wiser now. Yeah, I don't move as fast as I used to, but now I work smarter instead of harder. My vision may not be as clear as it used to miss it be, but I can see beyond what the national eye can't see. I can see through the fake. I can see through the phony. I can see through the fluff. I can see through the foolishness. I may not be pedigree. I may not come from the right side of the tracks. There's something on the inside working on the outside

and all what a change has come into my life. God intentionally entrust divine treasure to visibly inadequate containers so that no one can confuse the container with the source of the power. Saints of God, our pastor told us in the beginning of the church year that it's time for a reset and with a dissonance in our lives. Sometimes we begin to believe the rhetoric that we rehearse in our minds time and time again, but God has deposited a treasure inside of you. In case you didn't understand that Clay Char is you. You may look ordinary. You may look common, but deep down in the city of your soul is a treasure that's inside of you. And in the old times in the 80s and the 90s, they used to have an original song. And in the middle of the song, they'd say remix, but I declare a reset in your mind now in the name of the Lord Jesus because your latter days shall not be greater than your former days. I have not seen an ear has not heard and neither has it entered into the hearts of man. The things that God has prepared for you. Come here with your middle or tall self. Come here with your wise self. It's time that you begin to talk to yourself. Life and death is in the power of your tongue. And they that live by shall eat the fruit thereof.

What are you saying to yourself? I speak life over your mind in the name of Jesus. And I blow the very residue of death off of you. Some of you are the walking dead, but are powerful. I proceed and declare in the name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus that your best days are yet to come because you've got the power because you were built for this. I may not look like much. I may not have much. But when Jesus Christ, I'm built for this. I may not have all the answers. I may not understand what God is calling me to, but I decree and declare you're built for this. Sometimes she got to talk to yourself. I don't know what you're standing in need of. I don't know what you're believing God for, but you need to say self. I'm built for this because I'm blessed in the city. I'm blessed in the field. I'm blessed in my going out. I'm blessed in my coming in. Wherever I walk, where my foot trades, that is blessed. When I lay hands on the sick, they will recover because I'm built for this. When I see my wayward child and I speak blessing over my child, I believe blessing shall come forth because I'm built for this. When I go on my child and my supervisors giving me help,

I can plead the blood of Jesus over my child, plead the blood of Jesus over my office, plead the blood of Jesus over my supervisor because I'm built for this. I set your built for this. Sometimes you gotta say it, I tell you feel it. You gotta say it top, and tell you see it. You gotta say it, I tell you believe it. I command a reset in your mind, in the name of the Lord Jesus. I breathe a reset over the house, in the name of the Lord Jesus. I don't come out of my own strength, but I come out of the power of the Holocaust. And God says, you are built for this, you're built for this. Whatever he's called you to, you're built for this. But those hacks together, if you believe God, you have no strength on your own. But he has all power in his hands. You're built for this, I said you're built for it. I know you're tired as a caregiver, but you're built for it. I know you didn't think your mother would go home to be in the Lord, that's soon, but you're built for it. I know you weren't daddy's baby girl, but you're built for it. I know I know you don't know how you've gotten to middle adult years so soon. But you, you, you are built for this. You'll rest to your feet all over the house, you're built for, you're built for, you're built for. God doesn't care about your age or stage of life. He doesn't care how young you are, you can minister in your classroom. You don't care how old you are, you have wisdom beyond what textbook knowledge can teach us. We are built for this. I was mindlessly flipping through Instagram one day, there was this neurologist, neurologist, they study the brain. And he was saying that you had to be careful what you speak out of your mouth, and what you allow to ruminate in your mind, because it takes life. What you speak, the nerves and the synapses in your brain will create new signals to your brain, so that it executes what you think and what you speak. And so as we reset this year, they're not catchy titles and slogans that our pastor gives to us, but he seeks the Lord, and he asks God to give him a rainbow word on what we need for every season in the life of the church.

And it's time for us to examine ourselves, and to examine our thinking, and to label for the Lord. Sometimes we're so exhausted, we don't even want to hear what the Lord has to say, because we're scared what he's going to tell us to do. But sometimes you just have to lay out before the Lord and completely surrender. God, when you look at this world, and you look at the government, is this the best we can do, it's not even mediocre, it's so par, it's bottom. We are better than this. There are people in the house today that God is going to use to make a change in this community, in this city, in this state, in this nation. If you don't believe one person can make a difference, look what happened in the White House. It's no longer time for us to sit on the sidelines and wait for somebody else to do it and to make up excuses and explanations of why we don't have to do it. If we want to take our country back, if we want to take our community back, if we want to take our children back, we don't have time to play. We can come around here, and I love a good time at church. I'm the first one on my feet rocking and jumping and dancing, but we have to take that out in the street. Because what we see outside does not mirror what's going on in the house of the Lord. And so I ask how that you receive my sister Dr. A. T. Quayfield as she leads us further in worship. God bless you, you're built for this. Come on, celebrate God and the Word of God, somebody's encouraged and you know you are built for this. The light and the glory is gospel of Jesus Christ, the resides in you. If you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior, but we are not deceived. There is somebody in the house who is still wrestling and struggling with your identity. You're still wrestling and struggling with these polar opposite realities that you've just heard about. And you may feel that you're under the weight and the burden of being broken and beautiful. We want to help restore you with good news that when you receive Jesus, we're not saying we're in denial about trouble. Paul didn't deny what he was going through, although when you've got something on the inside, it'll help you deal with what's on the outside. And that's what we want you to receive. Our leaders are coming and they stand with so many others who are already standing and praying for you, my sister, my brother, would you move from where you are as an act of faith, as an act, maybe that first step towards the newness of the life and the reset that God is calling you to,

except Jesus Christ, received into your being by faith. The finished work at Calvary that not only cleanses us, it forgives us, redeems us, it restores us. Listen, resets us into right relationship with God. We want you to move this way. This way to say today, I'll make it the new, the new star, the reset in my mind, in my spirit and my conversation and my walk. Come, maybe you are one who has received Jesus Christ. You know that you know that you know in your innermost being, I am safe. I've been born again. But this may be a season of struggle. Maybe you've been far away from church and worship and a family where you can call it your own and be rooted in community. We welcome you to come. We would love to have you as a part of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. And if you have a church home, but it's somewhere else, let's be honest today, some of us visit Wheeler very often, your professional visitors, but you've not made a commitment yet. This is the day that you can go ahead and start a fresh. I see that brother, moving from the balcony. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. That's my sister, thank you, thank you. Come on, come on. This is some of you are at Wheeler

because you are in Houston for just a little while. Maybe it's a work assignment. You might be a student. It may be some other special circumstances, but you know that you are going home wherever that is. But while you're here, we want to have you as a part of what we call watch care. Caring over your soul, watching over your soul. Amen. Come on. Oh, thank you, God bless you. Look at this family coming praise the Lord. Hallelujah. There are some of you who you relocated to Houston because you were leaving a bad situation. You needed a new start. You needed a reset. You were broken. I know I'm talking to somebody who had something when they called church her. But you started coming here and God is bringing it to reset and renew you. I'm trying, I'm begging you, I'm begging you to trust God and make this the place that you call your new church her. We don't care what your background is. We don't care what you know or how much fiber you can quote. That's not the big deal right now. We are growing together. So we want you to come. Let's do some pure evangelism.

I know you said we don't like to talk to people, but this is the moment you are the one who talk and just ask. Is she calling you out? Is she waiting on you? Are you the one that needs to go down there? You can ask the question, it's okay. We do it all the time. I may not be able to walk for you, I can walk with you, or I can move out of the way so you can get to it. That's what I'm talking about, see. Come on, come on. You know, you're the professional visitor. Right now, today, just come, just come. You know I'm talking to you. Thank you. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Come on, celebration. God is calling these people closer. Come on, holly, look at your hands. My brother is coming from the way, thank you. Right now, right now, today, just come. This is the time. (upbeat music) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) Come on, right now, today doesn't come. This is a quiet model of congregation. We're appealing to you right now, today. Say, come on, we know the difference that Jesus will wait. We're appealing to you to come right now.

In the sanctuary it's not too late. Their brothers are just standing there in the sanctuary. They heard the Lord and they built the ocean of the Holy Spirit. They moved and God is not done with you. This is just the beginning. But I want to make one more of you a one last time. Listen, there are moments in life when you feel like everything is just crazy. And you might think, well, I need to get some things in order first. Or when I get it together, or I need to work on X, Y, or Z, and those are excuses. My friend, I'm not trying to be harsh. I'm just telling you, you can't get it together. Let me work on this. Let me deal with this. I've got to get my mind right. I've got to get ready. God gets us ready because it's the power on the inside that starts working and renewing and changing us. I don't know if I'll fit in. We was a big place. And I don't have people. Yes, you are the one God is calling. We want to be a part of working with God to encourage you and keep you. And some of you have been working against yourself with the negative talk. You've been rehearsing the wrong script. Woo, and God is ready to rewrite it. Hey, your narrative. My God. My God. Who am I talking to? You've been rehearsing the wrong script.

It's the same thing over and over. Let me tell you, you get a new word. You get a new script. You get a new life. And you're trying to do it yourself. God says, right now, today, come on. Trust the author and finisher of your faith. Trust the one who knows the end from the beginning and has much better plans than you. Ask me how I know. Right now, today, we appeal to you one more time. You're in the sanctuary. If you're in the community. You're in the streets. Come on, come on, come on. Put away the existence. Come on, come on, come on. Right now, Adam. You don't have to wait another week. I promise, Adam has to be delighted. You don't have to, it still works right now. Yes, yes, yes. I knew my sister moved. My sister moved. Praise the Lord. Is there any more? Right now. ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪

♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ ♪ I got what you do, baby ♪ Come on, somebody's made a step that may have been a struggle, but they were built for something better, and we get to see what God is about to do. Hallelujah, in your reset, in your rewrite, in your new language, your new mindset. Hallelujah, your new life in Christ, and your new life even in this church family. We are grateful that God led you here today, and that you allow God to speak to your heart, to connect in the sanctuary. We want you to know as well. We are glad about you joining with us at Wheeler Avenue. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. and all of this church to say you are more than welcome. You're part of our family now, so we don't want you to just show up here and there. We want you to get connected, get some roots in, okay? These lovely leaders Reverend Don and Deacon Charles-Killer, they're going to take you to our new members area where we can get more information about you, to share with you how you can get further involved and connected with Wheeler Avenue, but we pray God's riches blessings over your life as you begin this new journey with us. We are a big church, but we made a little bit smaller when you get involved and get connected and we're not perfect with being perfected, but I promise you you find some really good people who want to do life for real and want to do it right in Jesus Christ. Amen. Deacon, you can guide them to the next space if you will follow him and I want you all to celebrate one more time and encourage our newest family members here in the Cathedral and the sanctuary praise the Lord. Come on, keep celebrating. Hallelujah. And if you don't mind one more time,

let's praise God for the message and the messenger. The Reverend Reneed Herbert Johnston, our staff witnesses to the prime of life, demographic, hallelujah. Some of you may have been, if you're visiting, you may go, "What's prime?" I'm like nothing. She kept saying the middle ages, you know, when you get passed forward, 40-ish. We celebrate this opportunity, equipped up on some of us. God, it's so good. We are having a good time in the Lord. Y'all keep praying for your pastor. There is one other group that I want to acknowledge. I apologize earlier. I missed it. Life gets better group. Did I say it right? No, I didn't say it right. Okay, next service or later. Okay, praise the Lord. All right. I did not say we being perfected. I don't mind. I'm still built for this. I heard me a word. I sure did. Good God Almighty. But I ain't reaching y'all. Let's stand up, everybody. Thank you so much, sis. Bless you. Pray for her. One more time, she has one more time to stand and deliver the word. Thank God for the prime of life, choir. And all the music ministry, we always have so many who are serving behind the scenes. So thank God for all of the courtesy, Cory, and all who are serving in all week long. It takes a lot to be out here every day in the planning and then to come up and be fresh for Sunday to worship. So we thank God for all of you and the dancers, all of the ministries that it's going for. I think it's good that we praise God from home. All the blessings of love. Oh, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul. Oh, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul, every soul. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord call this face to shine upon you. May the Lord lift the light of his countenance upon you and give you his peace. When you're going out and you're coming in, in your labor, in your leisure, in your joy and in your sorrow, in your laughter and your tears. When you feel built up and even when you feel me, may you remember all this you were built for this. May the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ shine brightly indeed. May your thinking and your conversation align with what God says about you. And may you walk in the blessing that God has spoken over your life to be a conduit of his power and of his power. Now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and present us glorious before its presence with exceedingly great joy to the only wise God, our father, who be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forevermore. Let us all sing.

Okay. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]