You We praise God for each of you who are here on this morning we thank God for those who are in our worship in in this worship space in our inperson worship and we thank those who are online we know that many will probably be more will be online because of the
Temperature but I praise God for those who said it was not robbery for them to get up wrap up and come to worship this morning amen amen so let’s give God some praise let the Worship the Lord in spirit and in truth we ask our we’re
Grateful for our Mighty Men of con who will lead us in worship on today and we give God praise for all of our Greeks and HBC who are with us on today let’s give God praise amen for the rest of my life I’m for the rest of my life I serve
You for rest of my life I Ser so good to be best I Ser the I Ser the Ser for the ser me I I I I I I I the the the for the rest of my life I’m serve the Lord that anybody else’s Proclamation today for the rest of my
Life cuz I know that serving the lord will pay off after a while amen amen amen amen amen we are going to have our announcements by Sister Bry course then our prayer by Brother Virgil Palmer and our scripture by Brother Craig Davis please note that your program does not
Say those names but please know that they are coming amen amen praise the Lord and good morning we welcome all that are worshiping all who are worshiping with us in person and online to Carter Metropolitan a living faith community boldly loving God others and ourselves we are excited and thank thankful that
You have taken time today to worship with us we welcome our special guests of the national pan atantic Council commonly known as the divine nine on behalf of Dr V our leaders and the Carter family we welcome you these are the announcements thank you to our young adults their leader sister Courtney
Busby and those who share during who shared during the sock Drive which ends today the bins are full what a blessing to the Outreach Ministry for sharing with the community on Thursday next Outreach Saturday is January 20th if you would like to volunteer please see Reverend Brinson we thank and encourage all who
Have and continue to give their best gift above tithes and offering for the conference assessment a gift from the heart activate activates abundance from God thank you for your generosity am amen the s Senor Adult Ministry will meet Wednesday January 17th at 11:00 a.m. in the church chapel C Sister Hazel
G if you have any questions the zoom conf Church conference will be immediately following prayer time on Wednesday January 17th at 6:30 p.m. Zoom information will be shared Wednesday morning all are welcome please remember to order disciplines they will arrive this week and the payment of $35 must accompany
Worship starts with church school at 9:30 find us on Facebook for worship service each Sunday morning at 10:45 a.m. all agents are welcome and encouraged to attend please invite all to join us in person or online Zoom prayer and bible study is each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. word on
Wednesday with Dr V is each Wednesday at noon where she shares a midweek word and inspiration on YouTube remember to visit Carter’s social media channels for reminders and updates throughout the week watch follow like and share Church let’s continue to pray for one another there is a bomb in Gilead
And we are thanking God in advance thank [Applause] you may we bow our heads I just like to say as the song goes for the rest for our life we will serve the Lord cuz he’s always been there for all of us amen I pray to him in the turmoil of this
World only he can straighten all this out that’s right cuz the world was already crazy and it’s on and it’s getting crazyer we want to put thank him for bringing us in him safely and those ones that are on their way keep them safe and see our way home safely for those are
Grieving I know he’ll put his hand on you he not going to put any more on you than you can handle he’s going to keep us he’s going to always keep us as long as you believe in him amen we say all this in his name amen amen Good morning good morning In I to world And say it again here our pray our pray here our Pray our To might sing amen am good morning morning our scripture reading comes from Genesis 9: 15-22 I will be reading from the NLT the word of God reads verse 15 at dawn the next morning the angel became incensing Harry they said to lot take your wife and your two daughters who are
Here get right uh get out right now or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city City when lot still hesitated the angel seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them safely outside the city for the Lord was merciful when
They were safely out of the city one of the Angels ordered run for your lives and don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley escape to the mountains or you will be swept away oh no my Lord lot beg you have been so gracious to me and saved my life and
You have shown such great kindness but I cannot go to the mountains disaster would catch up to me there and I will soon die see there is a small village nearby please let me go there instead don’t you see how small it is then my life will be saved verse 21 all
Right the angel said I will grant your request I will not destroy the little village but hurry escape to it for I can do nothing until you arrive there this explains what that Village was known as Zoro which means little place the word of God for the people of God praise be to
God amen amen as those who are at the door come in as you get situated at home amen amen we thank God again for your presence we’re going to ask that as these come in that we will be prepared for our affirmation of faith I will have
A stand in a moment but we again thank God for you being here um it’s those of us who are Greek would be in the first half of the the um the middle section uh Sister hary Sister B is over here please come sit with her um thank you so amen
Um now we’re going to ask that those of us who are in the sanctuary and those of us who are online would also share with us us as we stand for our affirmation of faith will you please rest on your feet what is it that we believe I
Believe in God the Father Almighty the maker of heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under pontious Propet was crucified dead Mar the third day he arose from the dead he ascended
Into heaven and SED at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from then he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the Forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and life Everlasting amen will you continue
Standing as you look in our bulletin for our Hymn of the morning I surrender all All to Jesus All to Jesus I I surrender all to him I fre I will ever love and trust him in his presence take I Surrender I surrender all surrender all to the saor I surrender all to Jesus All to Jesus Jus as his feet are bow I found PR all for s
For take me Jes take me now I Surrender oh to be surrender all All to Jesus I Surrender all to J make me saor holy let me feel th holy truly know that thou are oh to I surrender all oh All to Jesus to Jesus Lord I give myself to thee
I fill me with thy love and power let my blessings fall on me my blessing I surrender to be I amen you may be seated may be seated Brother all right thank you Amen to receive Brother Davis with our offering appeal amen good morning I’m brother Davidson on behalf of the steart board here at Carter I would like to welcome our online worshippers and those of you that are here in the sanctuary it is a very very bris or
Should I say cold day this day but we give praise to God and we thank God for allowing us to get here this morning for we know that we know that is only by his grace and his Mercy that we are here today so we give all praise honor and we thank
God for getting us here and those of those that are online and worshiping we thank you also all right so uh I have to give an offering appeal and the offering appeal for uh um our conference claims I want to just say that uh we’re still in the process of getting our conf
Conference claims uh for uh we’re still in the process of getting our our conference claims so I would ask you to those of you who have not started if you have not started please uh start your conference claims and those of you who have started please continue to do so because we’re still
Being assess uh those conference claims now let’s get to the part where we can all participate uh with our tithe in our offering it is a blessing day to stand here before you our scripture today comes from Malachi 3: 8 and 10 and the word of God reads will a man rob God
That’s a question mark yet you rob me but you say how have we robbed you in your tithes and your contribution you are curs you are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me the whole nation of you verse 10 says bring the full tithes into the
Storehouse that there may be food in my house and thereby put me to the test says the Lord of hosts if I will not open up the windows of Heaven for you and pour down you a blessing until there is no more need praise God for those of you who are
Giving online please use cash app at dollar sign uh dollar sign Carter Metro ftw.com or the PayPal website atarter metr ftw.com for person who are present please use the baskets up front or see a Stewart or Usher before you leave we also have the EFT machine which is
Located in the library for those of you wish to give either by debit card our credit card and as always our pastor pastor edner and the entire Carter Metropolitan family would like to thank you very much for your gifts you are now in the hands of the US Happy day oh happy day oh happy day oh happy day Jesus Jesus Jesus J Jes oh oh happy oh happy happy in Jesus Jesus CH Jesus My every every happy day oh happy day happy day oh happy day jusus Jesus father God we thank you Lord for this offering Lord we ask Lord that you would bless it Lord that it would do everything for the kingdom of your church Lord we give you all praise honor and Glory we ask blessings upon those who gave those who did not give but had
A heart and desire to give Lord God we love you we give you all praise honor and glory in Jesus Christ’s holy name and we all say amen amen going to ask sister Britney and sister Alissa to come as we acknowledge our HBC you and our Greek organizations and we are grateful for
Those of you who are here if you are online are you going to give that direction then I will hush amen good morning welcome again to our guests who have come to worship with us today we are taking time to recognize people who are buried in methods but
Collectively support a common goal one of service to the community tomorrow January 15th 2024 is the birthday of one of the most influential leaders in American History Dr Martin L Luther King Jr if he were still alive today he would be 95 years old Dr King truly embodies the word
Service as do the National panh helenic Council organizations in voting with the alphas a voteless people is a hopeless people and the Deltas participating in the historic suffragist March education with a kappa’s guide right program The omega’s Assault on illiteracy program and the aka’s HBCU for Life a call to
Action initiative even making strides in the community with sigma’s bigger and better business program and Sig Sigma gamma Rose swim 1922 program whether it be iota’s ey Shield which stands for iota’s saving healing improving empowering lives daily or the Zetas Z hope program Zetas helping other people Excel our nphc organizations have been
Serving our communities locally and worldwide as we continue to strive and uphold the legacy of our Founders and Dr Martin Luther King Jr I encourage you to make tomorrow a day on instead of a day off because first of all we are starting of all by culture and Merit we are
Building a tradition not resting on one as we provide greater service greater progress the nphc strives for achievement in every field of human endeavor as we are Community conscious and action oriented always acknowledging that intelligence is the torch of wisdom our culture is for service and service for Humanity our organization ations
Pride themselves not only on service but also Brotherhood and Sisterhood never forgetting that friendship is essential to the soul now we will transition into our GRE medley which is being announced by Brother Paul Johnson of alpha alpha Fraternity Incorporated I old fraternity found of September 19th 19 63 Mar State College in Baltimore
America when you hear your him please Stand Pick Roy founded November 12 1922 Butler University of Indianapolis IN Theana [Applause] royalty founded January 16 1920 at Howard University in Washington And [Applause] [Applause] Yeah by Beta Sigma fraternity founded January 9th 1914 at Howard univers in Washington [Applause] DC [Applause] The founded January 13 1913 at Howard University in Washington D omegi founded November 17 1911 at how University Washington DC For C app SI fraternity final January 5th 1911 at Indiana University in blomington Indiana [Applause] [Applause] Oh Found January 15 1908 I was univ in Washington DC [Applause] We 19 University in New York Come Morning Thank you so much um this year we changed the program a little bit and it’s a competition so we want to go back through the organization order in Reverse founding order and do a count um so I have uh account for those in the room I have YouTube open and Facebook
Open to try to count how many people that we have um so I will start with Iota feta if we have any please Stand check live okay Sigma gamma R don’t see on Facebook or YouTube say F beta one two in the room five on Facebook I see one on YouTube okay five data Sigma Delta sign Theta six in the room Omega sci-fi Capal Alpha side Alpha C I count alpha alpha two in the Room
YouTube all right say us win at 17 wow so we have 17 Zas six Deltas one Q One n one calpa Al one Omega Sai one CA alpas one alpha Capa Alpha and I mean nine Alpha CA Alpha and two alpha F Alpa thank you so much for joining us
Today this year the uh chairperson asked that we consider doing something service for those who brought the most amount of people or who had the most amount of people collectively online and in person and so there will be a donation to the March of Dimes in the name of Zeta FAA
S now we also kind of merged in this HBCU today and so if you attended an HBCU will you please stand all right okay we want to call the rooll as quickly as possible sister Jennifer College all right I know she I knew she was probably alone so I wanted
To make sure that she got that in um let’s go over here brother van van Williams University Langston University in Oklahoma Oklahoma amen okay um yes all right all right Souther so let me go back um so this was you were Jackson State Southern Langston sjna sjna Douglas okay
S pray viws wave your hand all right pray views now you all may be seated okay next also univers okay great wonderful yes Houston a all right all right yes hou and is there someone else that was Houston tillison all right brother Rose amen amen sister Rose Benedict College
Columbia South Carolina amen amen yes All right that would need the two of you all right and there’s some more of you here they’re just not here they may be online this morning yes sir Bishop college and prayer viw ANM all right and Jack Texas College oh Texas College all right yay Texas college is C me school
So we we can we can say more for that amen Lord amen we are grateful for each of you who are here representing your schools and your um and your panalytical and fraternities we are grateful for the service and the history that goes along with these organizations it is not an
Exclusivity it is an inclusion of what it means to come together and continue to serve humankind under some umbrella so there we all have our our different Focus yet at the end of the day as sister Britney already said our main goal is to serve humankind and our
Community and so we thank God for each of you we did not mention this but we do want to make sure that even though his spirit is here because this is his day Dr Martin Luther King it was a member of and is eternally a member of alpha F Alpha fraternity amen
Amen all right we are going to ask those of you who are with us on this morning that you are not a person who in attends here on a normal basis amen if you would stand on your feet all right Carter let’s let them feel welcome all
Right the Jesus in me the Jesus in you oh the Jesus in me oh we we so easy love Jesus in me Jesus in you the Jesus in me the Jesus in you so easy to love one more time as we go to our SE Jesus in me the Jesus in you
All the Jesus in you so he so easy to love amen amen we will hear now from our Mighty Men of Carter as they come to us with a selection following that we will continue our series on stewardship but talk about the stewardship of our communal Ties That Bind so that we can
Honor this day amen amen The I to serve the Lord until I to serve the Lord the Lord to the Lord Was lost but now I found was glad but now I see faceing Grace how sweet the sound that grave the rest like me I once was lost but now I found was blind but now I see serve the I to serve the Lord until I die got to serve the Lord oh
I I am on the battle field for my Lord yes I the battle field oh my Lord I pris him that I I will serve him until I die yes I that oh my Lord until I got to serve the Lord until I got to serve the Lord until I
The grace that taught my heart to fear and Grace my fears Rel how gracious did that Grace appear I first bleeding until I got Tove the Lord until I I the Lord I got to serve the Lord I got serve the Lord I I die I we trust in the Lord I
The until I the Lord I the I the Lord I’m going to stay on I’m going to stay I the father we thank you we give you praise and glory that as our mighty men have told us all day that there’s something we must must do until we die yes and that’s
To serve you and to give you the best of what we have so we thank you God we thank you for being able to trust in you for being able to serve you and to know that that commitment is a lifelong one that we are to serve you as we serve
Others and so we thank you God for this day and for this focus of worship now God touch out your servant strengthen give power from our high speak to us God speak to our hearts give us a word that will bring new life we thank you we give you praise and
Glory Speak Lord we’re listening in Jesus name amen I’m going a tree every oh everybody I want treat everybody right amen amen give God some praise give God for worthy praise scripture text has been read into your hearing today I’m just going to lift up 17-
22 when they were outside one the angel said run for your lives don’t even look back don’t stop in the valley run to the mountain where you will be saved lot answer you’ve done us a good fa a great favor but you’ve saved our lives but
Please don’t make us go to the mountain that’s too far away the city will be destroyed before we can get there and we will be killed when it happens there’s a town near here it’s only a small place but my family and I will be safe if you
Let us go there all right go there I won’t destroy that Town hurry run I can’t do anything until you are safely there that town was later called zoah because lot had said it was small the word of God for God’s people thanks be to God our ministers at the gate we thank
You our women elers on today for your service thank you you may be seated as we continue our series recommitted stewardship today we add to the usual tenants of Time treasure and talent which we always hear and include the stewardship of our ties our ties that bind us our connectedness and our respon
And the responsibility we have for how our choices impact the lives of our families and our community we must be good stewards of our opportunities our Ambitions and our witness how we respond to Life’s challenges sets the tone for those around us we must navigate this life as
Those who know the Lord in a way that is authentic and that reflects our understanding of the power of God in our lives we are here today to celebrate the life of Dr Martin Luther King to remember the past and by faith look forward to the
Future in the present we must be careful that in our remembrance of the past and Its Reflection that seems to be recurring in this season to not become despondent to not grow weary in well doing the current climate we live in has made us have to face some sobering
Realities that for all our marching all our chance all our strategizing all our insistence that we matter for all our advances for all our intent our rhetoric and our legislation we still have an abundance of work to do and a great deal of Hearts to impact
If we are to as Dr King uh hoped for to be judged by our character and not just the color of our skins am yet we must not lose heart we must not shrink in faith we must live with expectation and we must not give up in
Dr King’s last sermon the night before his assassination he proclaimed that God had taken him to the Mountaintop and that he’d seen the promised land I am concerned that for almost 60 years we’ve been looking through the lens of his Mountain top experience and not seeing it for ourselves amen waiting
On another great Earthly Community kinsman redeemer to lead us to the promised land when we have been empowered to look to God and to each other and to keep our eye on the prize to have and to keep a Mountaintop view there’s a Biblical account in Genesis where we find a relatively
Familiar narrative it is a cautionary tale it is the story of three generations of persons in the same family line they shared DNA but the choices they made shifted the trajectory of their family and the community they had a standard to uphold but because of fear and lack of vision
The View was skewed and they lost sight of the Mountaintop View and the generations fell victim to the danger of settling there’s a danger in settling there’s a they say there’s a danger in settling did y’all hear me there’s a danger in settling say Amen in life and in our faith walk the
Message for us today as we remember the past look to the Future as we strive to be good stewards of the ties that bind us we must keep a Mountaintop view don’t settle keep a Mountaintop view don’t settle well let’s simply set the backstory before Abraham was Father Abraham he was Uncle
Abrel he was fatherless and so a is childless we look see that in Genesis 11 Genesis 124 and Genesis 13 lot’s father hmon was Abram’s brother and upon haymon’s death Abram took the father Road and when Abram left the Homeland lot went with him they fac some challenges some layered family drama
Anybody know about layered family drama amen the herds men began to bicker and they ended up going their Sear ways lot pitches his tent at a place outside of Sodom we know Sodom and gomorra right so he he pitches his tent outside of Sodom and the lack of Godly
Standard in his environment causes him to long to be accepted and a part of the community of Sodom and even though he does not do what they do don’t miss this those in his life get some Sodom and gamorra stank on y’all yall know me you hang around stuff get a little
On they are influenced and see the ways of the culture as something to Aspire to if we’re not careful we will do the same thing we have to stay woke to the danger of settling operating with a diminished standard and seeing it as acceptable we must put on our spirit
Glasses correct our vision and keep a Mountaintop View and not settle so let’s look at what lot was facing first we want to start with lot’s dilemma the Lord was going to destroy Sodom and gomorra and the surrounding communities but Abraham you remember that story convinced God to save the
City if he could find a minimum of 10 people who were righteous he could not and though he was going to destroy the city he saved lot and his family in our lives often we find ourselves facing lot dis dilemas we have lived in a place of compromised values
Compromised morals for so long that while we may be Godly in our intent no one listens when we ask them to go our way lot was a good man but a weak one and he found himself without influence in Sodom not even his sons-in-laws would
Follow where he was going so yet in the midst of his influential impotence God still rescues him from his dilemma Well church he does the same for us while our lives often lack potency because of our compromised States some of us don’t want to admit compromised States but we’ve got them God still
Rendes his favor upon us and often like lot we have an Abraham who prayed face us out of our dilemma keep a mountain top view don’t you settle not only did lot have a dilemma but God not only saves him from The Dilemma but God gives him a directive God’s directive in paraphrase
Is to run fast run to the mountain and don’t look back run fast run to the mountain and don’t look back clear instructions that it followed would have resulted in a Mountaintop experience one of safety and higher elevation but lot negotiated and settled for Zo zoan while it means small really
Means a place of insignificance lot settles because going to Zoar looks easier it looked like he could navigated he settled for a place of insignificance we know that place a place where mediocrity looks like Excellence where half stepping looks like progress and where our Collective journey is influenced by celebrity field
Transes where our values are reduced to who’s on our team in our tribe and not by Integrity or the content of our character we have seemingly let the quest for fame fortune and for 15 seconds of ticktock Fame lead us down a path where we are in Altered States and
We’ve become oblivious to what’s important we are addicts to social media and we let the opiate of values lacking music and reality TV lull us into a state where we are in a Consciousness coma and we’ve lost the eyes to see the truth letting conspiracy theories eclipse the desire to fight for freedom
And Justice you all noticed that in those places where we used to be able to agree on what was going on in our lives we got a whole set of underground folks who fight against what we know is supposed to be freedom and they look like us
Amen and and they’re all over the Internet and because are young are focused on the Internet it’s all they’ve known all their lives they hear and what goes in gets ingested and then they fight back they fight us about truth because there’s a different truth being given to them we’ve slipped into a
Post-pandemic stuper Lac full of whatevers everybody whatever and it is what it is if I hear it is what it is one more time because it it puts us in a place of numbness where we feel powerless to change the situation so we say it is
What it is so we can act as if it’s okay but when we succumb to these sment we find ourselves in a place where we return to the place that the Johnson Brothers talked about when they talked about Hope being unborn and that’s in Jeopardy of dying on our watch and we
Settle and we settle and we settle I just believe that we’re better than this Dr King was a great leader and we’re grateful for his contribution and his courage but in 2024 we must not continue to wait on someone when we are that someone individually and collectively we
Must do what we can we must raise the voice that we have to confront the evil that seeks to destroy us and that reduces us to passive settlers Dr King said our lives begin and end the day we become silent about the things that matter in the end we
Will not remember the words of our enemy but the Silence of our friends yes church either we’re free at all or we’re not free at all we must keep a Mountaintop view don’t settle when we don’t follow the Lord’s directives we make limiting decisions lot made a limiting decision lot
Negotiates with the angel for a little place a safe place place where he didn’t have to work at it just but he did it out of fear he chose isolation out of fear do you all know how much we do out of fear we’re afraid of what we might face
So we settle for what we already know often we decide that because we’re afraid that we can’t really follow what God appoints so we ask God to lower the level to reduce the requirements to condense Our Calling to dilute our destiny why because the truth of the matter is we
Lack faith we don’t lack faith in God’s ability we lack faith in what that ability will do for us often because we have such little spiritual self-esteem we actually believe that though God can do do it just not with me anybody ever been at that place where
They looked at what God was doing for others and said I wonderful for you I love that for you but it’s not happening for me we become prisoners of our past mistakes slaves to our sinfulness and inmates of our inadequacies we reduce our Destinies to
AO our existence we have to live in Zoar because it’s convenient we ask to live in zoah because it feels comfortable we ask to live in zah because it allows us to kind of be in God’s will but without total commitment it allows us to have a meantime temporary relationship with God
Without having to invest in a real intimate relationship for to whom much is given much is also required when we live with a z our mindset we negotiate with God for a lesser Destiny out of fear when we do this we often set in motion a chain of events that that reflects
Depravity because in our state of being we do not consider the domino effect of our choices a lot of us say I do what I do I’m grown enough to do it and it doesn’t matter it’s not bothering anybody else anybody ever said that but I would beg to differ with you
Cuz somebody’s always watching you there’s always someone whom our actions our choices have some influence with it doesn’t matter whether you have children or not there’s always someone how do our choices affect and affect others the generations before us considered the generations to come we far too often only consider right
Now we don’t think about what it’s going to mean for the time to come if we cared about that we treat the environment better amen if I settle for zor or if I settle for the outskirts of zor because the truth is lot asked to go to zor zor but
He didn’t make it he settled for the outskirts of zor what will the children settle for if we give them the impression when we make a limiting decision that that decision is excellent when it’s really really mediocrity they will see mediocrity as excellence and they will settle for less than
Mediocre when we live that it makes our insignificant appear to be a Mountaintop experience and when our children choose to settle their insignificance is a cave experience where Unthinkable and abominable behavior is acceptable for those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about because lot settled for a
Place outside of Zoar he went into a cave and he took his daughters into the cave the daughters decided that because they were in the cave they would never ever marry and they would never ever have children so Daddy got they got daddy drunk and did the unthinkable when our children settle for
Less than Excellence because we’ve told them that mediocrity is best they will find themselves in cave experiences and make choices that bring curses and not blessings got to keep a mountain top view and not settle because the stakes are too high but there’s a light that shines at
The end of this sad and sorted story there is a hope that Hils from the hopelessness of Lot’s condition for despite lot’s limiting decisions Grace somebody say Grace Grace Grace enters the equation because of Abraham’s Covenant because of Grandma and’s Covenant because of Great Grandma and’s Covenant there was somebody praying for
Generations and lot and Abraham was praying for lot and lot’s generations and so because of that those daughters and the children they had became a um a nation of moabites and the moabites were cursed because of what the daughters did but I want you to remember a young woman named
Ruth who was a moabit woman yeah who married a Jewish young man and because she chose to go with Naomi lot’s DNA get sprinkled into the bloodline of Jesus what was flawed in the natural becomes freed by the the savior’s Grace and God’s Divine Deliverance is given to
Lot and God’s Divine Deliverance is available to us yes we got to trust God we got to follow the directive and we can’t get sidetracked by fear yeah for many of you we told this story and we told this story as a narrative but I
Don’t want us to lose sight of the fact that while this may have happened to Lot if we are not careful we will find ourselves continuing in this cess poool of what are we going to do but God wants to Deliver Us from us we can’t get sidetracked by the
Fear we can’t look at the mountain as more than we can handle we can’t keep settling for little places called Z there’s Z all over this country and we find ourselves in that place of settling well let me leave you with a story anybody know anything about Hannibal Hannibal was an African warrior
That conquered southern Italy that’s why when you find somebody who is Sicilian and it’s summertime they look like we do amen when his troops were leading leaving and going to Italy they were trying to get through but what they saw in front of them were the Swiss Alps see
They had to get on the other side of the Alps in order to get to Italy and when they saw the Alps they got afraid they looked at the mountain and got fearful of what it meant to try to cross it well hannable in his uh his wisdom realized
That as long as they saw those mountains they would never cross over so Han lifted up his sword in the sunlight and when he lifted up his sword in the sunlight the reflection of the sun on the sword blocked out the vision of the mountain and so therefore they could
Make it through the out with the reflected light of the Sun Well church there going to be some mountains there going to be some places that make us feel like we can’t make it but I want you to know if we lift up the sword of the word and we allow the
Reflection of the light of the s o n we will not see the mountains but we will be able to navigate over if we just don’t settle for a little place called Z we must resolve we must be determined to resist the noise and run to the
Mountain run to the mountain of faith in God and in ourselves and in one another run to the mountain of Education run to the mountain of Economic Development run to the mountain of political empowerment run to the mountain of racial Injustice eradicated run to the mountain of faith
That can move mountains and with the hope of the ancestor and the future of our brilliant and gifted young clearly in our Focus left our feet straight from the places Our God where we met thee lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget
Thee lest our Spirits fail to embrace the hope that has kept us church we must be Mountain Runners yeah and not insignificance to settlers yeah we must keep our faith in a God who can do anything and we got to keep a mountain toop view yes there are obstacles but
Keep a mountain top view yeah yes there is uncertainty but keep a mountain top view yes there will be valleys but keep a mountain top view sometimes the mountains will seem hard to climb sometimes the valys will see a place we feel like we got to dwell in but if we
Keep our eyes on Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith if we keep our eyes on the Sun the f o n and we allow the sword of the word to deflect us from what we see and we can trust in a God we
Can count on we can trust on in of Jesus who gave his life that we might have life and have it more abundantly Jesus died so that we can say to the mountain be removed Jesus died so that we can navigate whatever we found ourselves dealing with Jesus died so we could be
Free from the sin that held us but Jesus got up so we can have power we can have power over our situations we don’t have to settle we can run fast we can run to the mountain and not look back I don’t feel no l TI I’ve come too far from
Where I started from nobody told us that this wrong with me but I don’t believe I don’t believe wave your hand if you don’t believe he’s brought us this far to leave us run get a mountain in your view stop settling for places of insignificance stop settling for mediocrity when God has placed
Excellence in you we must run we must run to the mountain and we must not look back our only glance back is to grab hold of somebody else and take them with us but when we get to the mountain we will see the promised land I don’t know
About you but I’m not willing to keep settling for mediocrity because every time I settle somebody in my influence settles for less than that so we’re going to keep on striving keep on moving keep on going keep on saring so that we can say we go to the mountain as God has directed
Us and our people will be better and the dream of a king will no longer be our only view but our own dream our own empowered vision of what can be and what should be will guide us as we follow Christ to the Mountaintop if you’re here today you’ve been functioning in spiritual
Mediocrity because you say you believe in God but you’re not walking in your faith if you’re someone who’s never confessed Jesus as Lord I offer Christ to you the one who can help us to be excellent when mediocrity is all around us who can remind us that faith is more important
Yeah than any success that the world says yes you will confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead my Bible says that you shall be saved if you confess that Jesus is Lord and you believe that he died for your sins and
Got up on the third day and lives today then that that that my Bible says you are saved amen if you believed that before but you’ve been walking in another way you felt compromised by what the world has given you I offer you the opportunity to get back on track
Today to come back to the F so that together we can reach where God would have us to be will you come if you’re online and that’s you just put it in the comment section I I’m ready to be Mountaintop viewer again I will not
Settle nobody told me no told me let the RO I don’t believe will you stand I don’t feel no way I come too far come too far from where I started from nobody told me nobody told me that the world would be easy but I don’t
Believe he brought me this far to leave me I just can’t give up now I just can’t give up now I’ve come too far I’ve come too far from where the St from nobody told me might told that the RO will be easy and I so believe believe he brought me this far
To leave me I don’t feel I don’t I come to come to from where I start from nobody told me oh God told me the that the road would be easy and I don’t believe he brought me this for to leave me I don’t feel no way time don’t Come to
Far to from I sto nobody told me nobody told me I don’t believe he brought me I don’t he BR this I don’t he brought me this to me Amen Let me again thank each of you who are here on today thank you to each of our our Greek organizations for your
Presence we pray that you’ve been blessed by your presence here there are others who are online I need to add one person to the to the numbers for the alphas cuz Paul Johnson is online amen which gives us three for the alphas please add that amen and we thank God
Again for all God is doing in our lives we thank you that you braved the cold this morning and that you came and you shared with us and we thank God for each of you who are online you know your situation and so we thank you for just being with us and sharing
Amen amen amen will you stand for our doy please praise God praise him all cre praise him all just pra him above PR him above ye Heavenly be praise father son praise father son and you may be seated we are grateful to God that we have a on yesterday we had a
Baptism and uh we will take time on next week so that everyone can come and greet her and let her know that even in her infancy she has a family that loves her but we thank God for Little J who is in the back and we will see you all next week
As we will share with her and welcome her into the family of God amen amen now as in parting we always want to leave you with a blessing we pray that you will take care of yourselves that you will stay warm that you will take an emergency or whatever it is that you
Need since you’ve been out in this cold but we want to pronounce the blessing on you that may the Lord bless you may the Lord keep you may the Lord allow his face to shine upon you may the Lord be gracious unto you and give you his
Peace not man’s peace but his peace when you wake up in the morning when you close your eyes at night in your going out and in your coming in May you feel the very presence of the Lord may you know that God is with you
God is always by your side that there is never a time when you are alone because God is with you may you also know that the peace of God the shalom shalom the perfect peace of God is is yours if you but ask may you know that everything you
Do is designed so that God will get the glory therefore we will not settle but we will keep a mountain top VI knowing that God is able to keep us to lift us to take us to a place of destiny that only God can so we ask God to bless you
God to keep you God to hold you and to give you his peace and we stand together am may God bless you is our prayer don’t just s happy yesterday amen amen Alpha Happy Tomorrow s l happy the next day amen yes ma’am see you later yeah
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