Heart is come on oh everybody say that’s why my heart is f that’s why my heart is filled with pray come on oh everybody say that’s why my heart that’s why my heart is fil praise yes that’s why my heart is filled with praise that’s why my heart is our hands
Together come on right there come on let’s put our hands together how many of y’all believe that thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen how many y’all believe that thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory not temporarily but forever we’ll be singing
Forever and ever and ever amen come on let’s put our hands together come on come on Taylor come on Taylor your turn to set the pris free will on Earth be my Eyes Glory come on he finished my story uh-huh s Our Testimony I testimony what we going to do we’ll be singing am we’ll be singing forever we’ll be singing forever and ever am come on Taylor do it Again’s the only remedy For your return set the Pres free come on baby sing till then will on Earth be done my on yeah will be is the kingom the power the glory forever and he finished my uh-huh sing our what we’ll be singing singing for let’s do it again thine is the kingdom thine is the
Kingom your Power he finished my Story come on those the words trendy come on sing along Our Testimony we’ll be singing we’ll be singing forever amen we’ll be singing forever be singing forever and let’s do it again we’ll be singing forever singing forever come on we’ll be singing forever we’ll be singing forever and A how many you know that God is greater than anything that we can go through how many to know that you are whole right now God has already done it for you come on come on Here You have a question what Happ feel if you ever wonder what heaven looks like it’s looking like you if you have a question what sounds just let it feel the RO let it the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let
It feel the room just let it the just let it feel the room just let it the just let it feel the room it the just let it feel the room let it the just let it feel the room just let it f the room
Just let it fill the room just let it fill the room come on put your hands together come on come on come on just real simple all hell all Jesus come on everybody say it together all hell all King Jesus all King Jesus all King
Jes all help all help in Jesus I hear you baby come on alling Jes come on say it all H all is he your Jesus is he your Lord come on all hell all H one more time all help all Jesus we got one more thing we want to say if you
If you know what heav looks like like and you if you to know what heav it the everybody if you want to know what heav looks it’s looking like me and you uhhuh if you to know what heav SS just let it feel the room just
Feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room just let it feel the room let it the
Yeah to the come on one more time the thine is the kingdom th th is the king the power the glory come on everybody For St what are we doing s Our Testimony will be singing forever am we’ll be singing forever we’ll be singing forever and ever amen well all who are able please stand all who are able please stand all over the sanctuary for the opening song and call to Worship Give thanks the for he Is mer [Applause] for and his Mercy his Mercy Ur for oh give Thanks all give thanks all give thanks unto the Lord and his Mercy his forever forever and for his Mercy for his Mercy endure Forever unto the Lord the for All give thanks all give thanks unto the Lord and his Mercy his Merc endur Forever and his Mercy his Merc endur forever oh oh give thanks oh give thanks unto the Lord the for oh give thanks give thanks unto the Lord the and his Mercy his Mercy is your forever forever and ever and ever for his Mercy his Mercy is forever and ever and ever and ever
And ever his Mercy his Mercy his Mercy he us forever and ever and ever his Mery forever Hallelujah did you come to give thanks this Sunday did you come to give thanks on this last Sunday in October oh don’t fool me now if you come to give thanks on this Sunday morning you ought to make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord all ye LS come on and
Serve the Lord with gladness come on into his presence with singing no ye that the Lord he is God it is he that has made us and not we ourselves we are his people and the Sheep of his pasture so enter into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his cours with
Praise be thankful unto him and bless His holy name for the Lord is good I said the Lord is good oh his Mercy is Everlasting his truth endured to all generations people of God if you’ve come into this house to give our God some thanks for being an awesome God if
You’ve come to give God thanks for being a Healer for being a redeemer for feeding you when you were hungry giving you water when you were thirsty for being a mind regulator if you come to give God thanks for loving you when you didn’t love yourself for being grace and
Mercy you ought to put your hands together I said you ought to put your hands together and open up your mouth and give our God some praise Hallelujah and now let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight oh Lord you are our
Strength and you are our Blessed Redeemer God we say this is the day that you have made we have come into your presence to Rejoice because we are glad in it we’re glad that you woke us up this morning you woke us up this morning to
Be able to worship you one more time and for that oh God we don’t take it for granted but we open up our mouth we bless your name and now God we ask that you would inhabit the Praises of your people that God that you would run rush throughout
Trinity United Church of Christ and even throughout our technology we ask oh God that you would bless and anoint this service in a powerful way bless oh God the preacher oh God because God somebody came to hear a word from you God we ask that you would ano the choir oh God so
That as they sing music oh God somebody might be blessed with a word through song and God we even ask that as we your people that right now if you find anything in our hearts that’s not like you we declare and decree and we cast those negative things out oh God because
We want to have the capacity to worship you in an amazing way God you do it right now and we promise we’ll be ever so careful to give give your name the glory honor and praise it’s in jesus’ name that we pray and we give thanks let all
Those who love God and who are ready to give God some praise say Amen why don’t you put your hands together and have your seats in the presence of the Lord Heal our land come on a little bit louder say God God heal our land come on with a loud voice say God God heal our land heal Our Ones Our weed and seek your us come your we are abandon heart AB us from Heaven us we you Lord we You Winter and I TR the Creator is I know and just like the Rising Sun our faith is rising up the of your You our Wicked our seek your face you give us Grace so come have your here we are [Applause] heart us from heav send us your we need you Lord we need you here we are abandon heart from Heaven s us your pres we need you you we need you Lord right here right now oh Lord come and heal our land lord in our land Only You Can Do Lord and heal our with with and our oh here we are oh we need we we’re Oh Lord we need you we need you we need you we need you father we need you oh Lord we need we need you to die we need here we are here we are abandon Hearts abandon need outch us Heaven us your lord here we are here we are Hearts Ines with outed
Us us you we need you we need you Lord we need you God our land let your will be let your glory fall on your daugh and Sons God from send us your PR we need you Lord we need you We need you Lord we need you [Applause] God and I will bless the Lord at all times God’s praise shall continually be in my mouth magnify the Lord with me let us exalt God’s name together taste and see the goodness of the Lord and let everything that hath breath praise the Lord for this is the day that the Lord
Has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it I greet you with the joy that comes com from knowing Jesus for we are because Jesus is and because Jesus is therefore we are and I want to take this moment to welcome you to Trinity United
Church of Christ what we love to say is the greatest church this side of the Jordan we praise God for those who are with us and for those who are online and I want to take a moment that if you are a guest here at Trinity it’s your first
Time here I’m going to ask that you would stand and remain standing just for a few moments that we might welcome you here to Trinity United Church of Christ we are blessed by your presence this day we are honored that you are worshiping with us we praise God for you and we are
Honor we pray that something will be said a prayer may be offered that will bless your spirit and we want you to take your time leaving but in God’s name hurry back you may be seated in the presence of the most high God and I I
Want to take a moment and just shout out a few people who are online as you know we have a wonderful digital Community all across the globe and I have to give a major shout out today Brother Jay from Ohio we are delighted that you are with
Us Angela Martin from Atlanta Georgia is with us Ty Kelly from New Orleans Louisiana better known as NOA is in the house Bravo Alpha from Phoenix Arizona and Mama o from Amherst Massachusetts and Commander sergeant major Saunders who is in Kuwait along with the Battalion that you lead we are grateful
For your service we also want to shout out Susan Fowler Monica Susan Fowler from Emporia Kansas Emporia Kansas Emporia Kansas I had a chance to meet uh Susan and her family yesterday today we are delighted that you’re with us and Diana NOS is with us from Leon California along with Brenda Wilson
Samson all the way from Hawaii we are glad and delighted that you are worshiping with us on this day uh before I welcome this wonderful Cadre of brothers from five Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated who are with us today matter of fact y’all just stand for a moment so everybody can see these
Amazing amazing individuals who are with us we praise God for [Applause] you amen amen I’m going to in just a moment I will bring up uh the international first vice president uh but let me uh just offer a few announcements very quickly uh before we have our greetings from uh F Beta Sigma
Fraternity Incorporated at this time uh I want you to know that in November 2nd we will have our caregivers conference our caregivers conference for those who are uh working with people maybe with Dementia or Alzheimer’s this is an amazing conference that will give you tremendous information that will be on
November 2nd we also want to share with you that we come up on our 62nd Church anniversary coming up in December 62 years uh this year we are asking that you would give in the form of six 62 62 above your current giving uh maybe it will be 62 $6.20 maybe it’ll be
$62 maybe it’ll be $620 maybe it’ll be $6,200 maybe $62,000 I’m not sure but one of the things that we want to ask you is that you would open up an account at our credit union and just Place uh what will be your gift for Trinity open
An account it’s a great way for young people uh to learn about finances we have an amazing an amazing Credit Union uh that is owned and operated by people who look just like you and so we are delighted and we just asked that you would do that also for our operation
Share as you know we are always feeding families here at Trinity United Church of Christ and our operation share that comes up during the time period that we know as Thanksgiving we are asking that you would sponsor a family just $40 will sponsor an entire family for an entire
Week during the Thanksgiving holiday and so if you would like to uh Adopt a Family the information is on the back cover in the bulletin you will see that information I also want to let you know that children’s church is open children’s church is open children’s
Church is open they are back there they are having a good time they’re learning some new songs and guess what they are getting ready for for their Christmas speeches they are learning them right now and so they’re practicing those wonderful speeches that they will do for Christmas so children’s church is open
If you have a young person with you right now you can take them back for our children’s church and let me say this the final thing that I want to announce uh is that simply this I want to say thank you to Trinity United Church of Christ we had an incredible time on
Thursday with our black Jerusalem history healing and sacred song I I know no other church where you can bring together Christian Muslims and Jews together to have the kind of conversation to learn about the history of the region and not just memes but really learning the history and we had
An incredible turnout from around our community and people were so blessed and I’m just glad to have the kind of relationships with Brothers such as Dr Ramy nashashibi Isaac Laura and all of the others that we have the opportunity and to be able to interview uh sister
Aaliyah Alia sister Alia and Isaac was really a privilege a real privilege so thank you for being the kind of church where we make sure that everyone is educated appropriately and that we are always committed to Justice and Liberation as a church amen amen and so
At this time again I want to invite the international first vice president that’s what I have here Brother David Turner who is our guest who is the international first vice president of fi Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated now is that I have down here International first vice president is that correct do
I have the international first vice president okay I I just want to make sure okay wait a minute you’re the international first vice president you’re not the international first vice presidenta okay okay all right giving honor to God to my pastor theal I’m not I’m a member of Trinity I’m not the
First International vice president I am uh judge Carl Anthony Walker I serve as the Justice of the Illinois pellic court and and for protocol I want to give honor to to God and to my pastor Pastor Moss who he knows I I am so crazy about
Him and and to uh uh Reverend Stacy Edwards D my friend for the last 30 40 years 40 years probably and since she was in college actually and uh to to the deacons to my Trinity Family good morning I’m not the first internal International vice president and to to
Monos our our first lady I I want to recognize you I didn’t see you at first I apologize but I am uh our first International vice president does live here in Chicago but he’s under the weather and he I believe brother Shelton Deacon Shelton received a call this
Morning saying that he actually you probably didn’t know until just a few minutes ago that he wasn’t coming so I just want to say that on behalf of just not just f b the Sigma fraternity but we’re here as the divine nine and as the divine we just deserve some Round of
Applause because I’m not going to just talk about five Beta Sigma or uh because at the divine nine was established for particular purposes and the purpose was to lift up our communities to uh to inspire Our Youth and for us to work collaboratively which is what the
Members of the divine nine do and we’re all important we all we all have pretty much almost identical goals our goals are really about Sisterhood you know Brotherhood it’s about service service is is is the Cornerstone of what we do and and it is it is service to mankind
That really makes a difference in this world and we we we see those as our top principles in in in in all of the organizations of the Divine n and I’m going to just start because the way we normally do it is we start by calling the the sororities first the members of
Alpha Capal Alpha sorority uh just clap your hands for them because I mean I know how they look out for me they first of all they are more judges than anybody and they actually they they embrace me like crazy members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority embrac me like crazy
Uh Rend Stacy Edwards dun is one of them um members of my sister sorority Zeta FAA soror Incorporated all my friends uh Davina Lin is one of them her mom her daughter her entire family members of Sigma GMA Rose [Applause] sority and then to those powerful powerful powerful powerful men of alpha
Fight Alpha fraternity of which Pastor Moss is a [Applause] member to the the men I’m going to do it in the order that it’s here normally we save the omegas for last but that’s how we normally introduce them that’s kind of a tradition amongst the Divine ey but
The members of Omega SciFi uh fraternity please stand and be recognized there you go he’s here yes yes my brother-in-law is a member and many of my family members are members it’s uh just as they are my brother is a member of alpha alpha so uh but so we
Have we we we so we really there’s no division amongst I want to recognize the members of aify theta Fraternity Incorporated please stand the members of aify theta also members of the Divine n and we do embrace them uh of course we all as Pastor Mar you know we all have friends
That’s members of all the all of members of the Divine n so I just want to say that that that what I want oh I’m sorry oh my god oh man judge hbr uh the list goes on with all my great friends and members of cap alide fraternity uh Brian
Parker I mean I’m sorry I apologize I apologize emphatically as I said earlier we have so many friends that are members of all the members of the Divine n so I want the members of cap alide to know that that was not a slight that was just
Because I I actually normally call you before I call Omega SciFi and that’s what caused the confusion so I apologize emphatically uh because that’s not my style at all Pastor Mar you know that that is not my style so again um I’m going to take take this little quick
Quick quick quick point of personal privilege Pastor Moss if I may uh I’m actually I’m I’m a pelet Court Justice I serve on the Illinois pelet court I’ve been a judge for 18 years and and as you all know when I ran back in 2005 Trinity United Church of Christ
Supported me Pastor Moss has always given me so much support uh Pastor Moss gave me a shout out when I was first appointed to the appell court had me to come down front you may recall Pastor Moss you prayed for me I was standing here at the altar you were standing
Right here and you prayed and and your prayers are still working and still kicking and sometimes it don’t you know people think it takes a whole lot of prayer but sometimes it only takes one prayer to get through and I appreciate what you’ve done I appreciate how you’ve
All how you always treat me and again I’m I’m I said that that I said all that to say this that I was appointed to the Illinois pellet Court by the Supreme Court back in 2018 so I’ve been on the appell court for five and a half years
I’m now running for a 10-year term on the Illinois pellet court so I am asking for your support and uh I I will I will not do this in the church because we don’t do this in the church but I’m going to be passing out petitions
Outside or on the street so because we we we’re 501c3 organization so we can’t do this thing these things in the church I’ll be outside on the street and I’ll be circulating petition so I’m asking if each one of you could please stop for a minute there will be people helping me
And members of the Divine n and me uh members who are not me people who are not members of the Divine night if you don’t mind grabbing one clipboard and one sheet and helping with it I appreciate that to the utmost Pastor Moss again I love you I thank you for this
Opportunity amen thank you so much I want to take this moment as you know this is HBCU Sunday we just sent 20 students they left at 8:00 this morning they were on their way to North Carolina and South Carolina for their h BCU tour to go to North Carolina ENT to go to
South Carolina state to make their way to Winston Salem and Claflin University this is a part of what we do so today you notice that people are wearing HBCU shirts they’re wearing divine nine outfits but really we are here we also this is a day where you just celebrate
That you are proud who God made you and so if you are unashamed and you are Unapologetic just go ahead and stand up and put your fist in the air that I’m proud of who God made me to be as a child of God we give God thanks on this
Day we’re delighted that you are worshiping with us on today and I’m going to ask that our media team uh would turn thing will turn things over to our media team and to our for our Trinity news I am Jaden McIntosh and you’re watching Trinity News live here at
Trinity we develop in curate Lively Ministries to further serve and work for our Lord and savior take these next few minutes to listen in on the upcoming events within the Trinity Community here at Trinity we believe that your body is a temple and that your health is well as we prepare to close out the month of October don’t forget to take care of yourself spend time in prayer exercise laugh eat healthy and get some rest this is guaranteed to improve how you
Feel also October is breast cancer and domestic violence awareness month it is not enough to wear pink or purple t-shirt we must advocate for research education and policies that remove barriers that don’t support Women’s Health and well-being we must advocate for the rights of those who are impacted this is Logan page reporting
The trendy health and wellness segment remember your health is well calling all Trinity UCC villagers Trinity UCC Early Child Care Centers need your help and participation we are partnering with double good popcorn to raise funds for repairs and upgrades to our childcare facilities you can support Trinity UCC early childcare centers by
Purchasing double good popcorn on their pop-up shop Sunday November 5th through Thursday November 9th we are also looking for fundraising ambassadors to join our mission and serve as a beacon of light and hope for the children and communities we serve to register as a trinity UCC early childcare Ambassador visit tiny url.com
Ambassador childcare fundraising together we can make miracles happen one day at a time we are counting on you Trinity United Church of Christ is always in the heart of the community ever seeking to win the community’s heart in effort to support Trinity’s veterans and service members our own church and Society Ministry is
Conducting a stripes and Brass survey to complete the survey stop by the narx following both worship Services you can also complete the survey online by scanning the QR code in the bulletin and E newsletter operations shared 2023 are on the way in Trinity we need your help please donate unexpired can goods and
AIX by the Second Sunday in November you can also Adopt a Family by giving $40 above your ties today Trinity United Church of Christ has supported higher education opportunities of its members since his founding in 1961 including HBCU historically black colleges and universities offer higher educational study for black Americans when
Predominantly white institutions were not assessible as a matter of fact did you know that our denomination is responsible for starting Howard and Diller University as well as h College many of our pastoral teams such as Pastor M graduate of morous Pastor ameritus Jeremiah Wright Howard University and countless others of our
Pastors attended in HBCU our Trinity scholarship committee has supported hundreds of students like myself who have attended HBC so to continue to support students attending HBCU you can donate to our scholarships and pick up a scholarship application on the first Sunday in April of 2024 this is Marisha stalling reporting
Our community engagement segment and remember that you are the hands and feet of Christ beloved Trinity UCC family and friends please mark your calendars for Trinity 62nd Church anniversary on Sunday December 3rd as we draw closer to celebrating 62 years of amazing Ministry we would like all members to be
Prayerfully prepared to give above and beyond their times your gift will go towards supporting the ministry at Trinity United Church as we strive to continue to impact families and restore lives for generations to come thank you in advance for your generosity and commitment to God’s ministry here at Trinity United Church of
Christ Mark your Calenders on Christmas Eve Sunday December 24th we will have one in-person worship service at 9:30 a.m. and an online service at 6:00 p.m. then join us on Christmas Day at 7:30 a.m. for worship I am J McIntosh and this is your Trinity news for October
29th stay tuned for upcoming events and stories involving the Trinity Community remember to stay blessed and live out loud for Christ thank you for watching we the village of trendy United Church of Christ believe that Jesus Christ is our liberat in savior who calls us to be Unapologetic of our
Relationship with God and unashamed of our culture as we prophetically stand with those who have their backs against the wall today your gifts of tithes and offering will allow this work to continue as we strive to feed those who are hungry minister to those behind prison sail walls and develop our young
People to serve Christ and more there are multiple ways for you to support the ministry of Trinity with your tithes and offerings you may give through our secure give application text to give by dialing 855 781 8384 or you may use our cash app dollar sign Trinity UCC you can also use our
Website Trinity chicago.org also our first fruits direct draft program allows you to make your church a priority if you prefer to mail your gift simply send your tithe or offering to 400 West 95th Street thank you for your radical generosity in support of trendy United Church of Christ the greatest church
This side of the Jordan Bre for us for we for our we for our Death This day our daily bre you said You my glor to your Rich I to and re To go from here and share his love you to me to show some Who And find their Way the way to truth and so Free We need your Lord with in your PE We Need Lord be praise you [Applause] Lord we be Your wai all [Applause] right all right Soo come [Applause] On [Applause] amen amen Thank You choir for for blessing us we are so blessed to have such gifted musici S and A Gifted music Ministry A Gifted choir behind me and they bless us time and again and we are grateful uh forgive me I forgot to just simply say thank you yesterday we had
Our trunk or treat a celebration for our young people I want to thank all of the adults and parents and families that brought their car and they decorated their car so Beau beautifully yesterday the young people had an incredible time they were so excited
They did not uh want to go home but they went home with a lot of candy they probably bounced off the walls until 1:00 a.m. and so we are just grateful and next year is going to be even larger uh we’re going to have to reach out to
People who have classic cars and bring them out and out of their trunk there’ll be some wonderful treats for our community what was beautiful is that we had uh several so several young people from the neighborhood I want to to mention this before we go into uh our
Prayer we did this at 7:30 and I want to do this at at this service um I didn’t have all of the correct information at 7:30 uh but there were three deaths in Laden homes on Thursday and Friday one was as a result of suicide uh we had uh several we had uh
Two sisters who as a result of gun violence uh lost their lives these are young young people and we also had a person who was just at a flash mob and as a result of violence is no more and so we want to place our sisters and
Brothers in Laden homes they are part of our community they’re part of this church but there is a real Mental Health crisis that is happening across this nation and unfortunately uh the church is operated like an ostrich with its head in the sand and we need to give voice uh to
This moment and I want to ask that you would do something for me right now we just take a little extra time if you have your phone if you have your phone right now I want you to pull out your phone just pull out your phone and I would ask because many times
Uh there are people who live in isolation the New Yorker magazine wrote an article talking about the epidemic of a loneliness since the pandemic that people are not connected and they found out even more so that that men especially black men are not connected to other people and find themselves in a
Situation of loneliness uh but this Mental Health crisis is connected to this loneliness and anxiety so if you have your phone raise your raise your phone up raise your phone up this is what I’m going to ask that you would do I want you to text
Someone that you have not talked to in quite some time and just say you’re checking on them do not say the pastor told me to text you don’t do that do not do that do not do that but send them a note a caring note just say that you are
On my heart you’re on my mind someone you just have not spoken to in a while and it can mean the world for someone someone who’s going through something you don’t even know that they’re going through just to get a text to say that I’m thinking about you for some people
Can be the difference between life and death and so I would ask that you would just take some time and just go ahead and text that one person and just send them a word of kindness something encouraging something that will be a blessing to that individual and it could
Be as simple as hey I you are on my heart and I want to say that I love you I believe in you and we’re going to catch up real soon soon whatever it may be but it could be a real blessing to someone because the words that we are
Receiving in terms of families as a result of people who are taking their own lives and families that are dealing with violence and the loss of a loved one we need to continue to keep them in prayer and lift them up and so if you would simply just send a
Text now there are a few of you all I can tell by looking at you you have a hard time trying to figure out how to text because you looking at you doing this thing going trying to figure this out just turn to your left or right and say help me
Out so I can send this text to the person that I care about amen and just let them know that I’m thinking about you thinking about you amen thank you so much for just taking time out just to send a a text of love and of care and of encouragement encouragement to someone
Who needs it uh we left out of the 7:30 service and someone was coming into service and said I don’t know what happened but I I got a word to day from people I were not expecting I hadn’t talked with in a while and I need to
Make my way over here and so uh you never know what that simple word can do in the life of someone who may need just a word of encouragement let us go to the Lord in prayer search us oh God and know our hearts and try us and
See if there is any any destructive way in us when you discover what does not belong I ask oh God that you would remove it from me I know I am not worthy to preach your word but I ask oh God that you would pour your anointing in this
Space in spite of my Brokenness may your word go forth and not return void let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight oh Lord You Are My Strength and without a doubt you are certainly My Redeemer Holy Spirit do thy will do thy
Will Holy Spirit In The Mighty wonderful magnificent healing name of Jesus who is the Christ we pray and the people of God who love God may say amen amen I want to invite you at this time if you might turn with me uh to Exodus chapter
20 uh for those who are guests we have been going through Exodus chapter 20 a series entitled how to keep these Commandments looking at what we call the Ten Commandments and we’re moving to verse four we looked at verse three last week and then verse two the week before that
Uh but we are going to look at verse four but I’m also going to to read a portion of five and then I’m going to give another translation of Exodus chapter 20 verse 4 it reads this way you shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in Heaven above
Or on the earth beneath or in the waters below you shall not bow down to them or worship them for I am the Lord your God I am a jealous God punishing the children for the sin of P their parents to the third and fourth generation of those who despise
Me but showing love a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands you shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything let me give you another translation the om3 translation this is a southern translation don’t you bow down to nothing nothing you made do not make
Anything for yourself an image you created and then you going to bow down to it don’t bow down to that temporal stuff may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God’s holy word I’d like for the next few moments for us to deal
With this topic and would invite your prayers as we continue in this series how to keep these Commandments to deal with this idea of a cure for a decaying Soul a cure for a decaying soul I would invite you just to simply pray at this time beloved one of the greatest
Theologians of the 20th century a person I have quoted often Theologian writer philosopher Mystic teacher a gentleman by the name of Howard Thurman made a statement at the beginning of one of his messages and a meditation he offered at his church in San Francisco California I believe somewhere around
1959 and as the tradition of Howard Thurman he would stand before the people probably be silent for two to three minutes before he even said anything but the question that he raised when I first heard it on a recording arrested me he said this and the deacons are
Familiar with this statement he stood before the people and said when was the last time you had a good good session with yourself when was the last time you confronted yourself when was the last time you questioned yourself when was the last time you asked why you do what you
Do when was the last time you took off the mask you wear in front of everybody because you don’t want anyone to know who you really are who are you really he said if you were to take away your title remove your your job remove all of the things that you do
If you take all of that away who are you really it’s the essence of who you are when was the last time you had a good session with yourself this question seems to haunt and linger in the soul and the psyche of us all it is one of my my favorite poets Rudy
Francesco I’ve offered his poetry before but one of his poems speak to this idea poems enti a poem entitled windows and mirrors where he said there was a time in my life when I couldn’t tell the difference between a window and a mirror I could see everything but myself
There is a spiritual rot I believe a Decay taking place in us all the very notion of decency in this nation our Civic norms and quiet offerings of Grace seem difficult at times to even find in general interaction it is James Baldwin who called attention to this that America’s spiritual
Crisis that we he is terrified at the moral apathy operating in this nation and he is witnessing what he said the death of the human heart we as a nation and collectively as a species are witnessing the quiet decay of the human soul what happens when in your empathy is
Conditional where you can mourn for some but your heart does not break for others what what happens when when our empathy is conditional where I can uh I can weep for those I know but I can’t cannot weep for those I do not know our heart sometimes breaks
Conditionally that our heart can break for those who are neighbors next door but it cannot break for those who may be South of the Border that our heart can break for those in our neighborhood but not for those who are pulled from Rubble in the Gaza Strip our heart breaks for
Some and that is an indication that maybe there is some decaying operating within our very Soul there is a rot taking place Old As Time Memorial since we were exiled from the Garden of Eden human beings have functioned in a way where they thought they knew knew better than
God and that is why this this scripture this word is so very important it says simply that you shall not make an idol nor bow down to anything that you made because the people of Israel have been emancipated From Slavery they are moving into a place place that they have never been before
It is called the place of Freedom they don’t know what it’s like to live in the space of freedom and they have framed everything in their life based upon the impression that they have experienced when they were enslaved they left a culture that celebrated power and Consolidated power in one person the
Residue of their time in captivity still rest upon their clothes and their very spirit so God is saying do not try to make Idols because you are in a new place that you have never been before that the people that you are under the oppression of within that Empire called
Called Egypt they always had something fashioned by human hands and had you bowing down to those idols and you as a people as human beings have a track record of always finding something to bow down to instead of committing yourself and your spirit unto God this word is demanding Humanity
Resist the notion of putting your trust in that which is temporal which is fleeting our ancestors were very mindful of this because they understood our proclivity to find things that we can hold on to and think that that is what makes us truly human and gives us status
In this world that’s why our ancestors would say time is full of Swift transition none on Earth unmoved can stand build your hopes on things Eternal and hold on to God’s unchanging hand do not build an idol a deity where you place your hopes and dreams upon that which is temporal and
Fleeting and we often fashion Idols placing values upon what we created or societal dreams as something that is valuable or in the words of Paul till that which is the ultimate concern let let me see if I can make it plain just because you have a degree doesn’t mean you have good
Character education is good education is necessary but it does not mean just because you have a degree that it means that you have moral and ethical capacity and function in there is not an equation an equality between degree and also your morality you see a degree in math May
Mean you can count but it also may make you a better embezzler an A in English means that you have articulate speech but doesn’t mean that you won’t be a liar a degree in theology May mean you can understand the theologians but it doesn’t mean that you will not hate and
There are so many people who have a degree in theology but hate out of their mouth and hold a whole bunch of scriptures I’m here to let you know a degree doesn’t mean you have character education of itself does not stop internal Decay it is important but it is not
Enough and the challenge for us is that we have fashioned Idols that we are bowing down to all the time many times we do not even realize that we are bowing down to these Idols what is it that some may ask that we bow down to in this current culture
What do we bow down to well we bow down to the idol of materialism some of our young people call it clout chasing that all of our problems will be solv if we have a little money in our pocket and we begin to use the language that when we have material things we
Then say to people oh I’m blessed and are highly favored as if your blessings are that which can be seen held and touched that is why John Kenny put it this way he said many of us in the modern era have confused what blessings are you must understand that your house
Your your car your job ah money in your pocket that that that may be a residue of a blessing but Kenny said that’s not the blessing because the blessing is the relationship with your God and that is why our ancestors said uh talking about uh the idea of Joy they would say this
Joy I have the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away in other words you can take my house take my car you can take my job you can take the money out of my account but this Joy I have the world didn’t give it and the
World cannot take it away that my joy is not based on what I have my joy is based on who has me and I don’t know if there’s anyone in here that you know that you may not have all material things but guess what baby you can wake
Up in the morning you got peace of mind you got a relationship with God you got a smile on your face is there anyone in here that knows this Joy I have the world didn’t give it and the world cannot take it away we bow down to the idol of
Materialism and truth be told as I heard one person say that they said that after they had reached what was considered to be in society’s eye success they said you know what Otis we were happier when we barely had anything and now we think we got everything and my head is hanging almost
Every day we bow to the idol of materialism but I must say this H and let me explain it we bow down to that Idol of materialism but there is another Idol that we bow down to that is the idol of American exceptionalism let me help you out
American exceptionalism is the idea that America is a moral Nation more moral than any other nation that God has placed God’s hand upon America in a unique way that we are a city upon a hill that we are not to criticize this nation because God has birthed this nation through Manifest Destiny whenever
A nation believes it is beyond criticism it stands on the verge of an atrocity that you have people that say it is unpatriotic that you must stay Silence I Believe not in America’s exceptionalism but I believe we serve an exceptional God but not uh in an American Myth that
We are somehow better than everybody else we are just like everybody else trying to work out our Salvation uh through the darkness of our own Humanity we are like everybody else if you think we have exceptionalism you need to talk to the O Sage people in Oklahoma if you
Believe that we have exception ISM just look over the life of people of African descent it is not American exceptionalism and this is a dangerous idea for us to bow down to that we are somehow better than everyone else because there is an arrogance that functions in that in that
On that level that we are somehow better than in Every Other Nation we are somehow better no we need to have humility and bow down before God and say forgive us we do not want to take the country back to what it used to be we just trying to make the country what
It’s supposed to be uh we do not want to go back but we desire to go forward that we bow down to the idol of materialism we bow down to the idol of American exceptionalism but we also bow down to the idol of capitalism what do you mean preacher a
Free market unrestricted free market that has no care uh for those who labor and the Dignity of Labor and I say it this way that capitalism is about uh making and Ma maximizing profits but if all you are focused on is profit over people it will lead you down a road
Where you will injure other human beings and there will be a moral Decay within your own spirit and I have to say that if you are a quote strict capitalist then strict capitalists and those who are super wealthy will say well slavery is good because it makes profits because
I don’t have to pay anybody to do any work stealing land from Native Americans makes good business sense because I don’t have to pay for the land having child labor makes sense because I don’t have to pay the children ah not having unions makes sense or not having health
Care or dangerous working conditions or no EPA and I’m here to let you know that capitalism when it’s not restricted will create systems that harm people and I’m here to let you know it was people of faith that made sure there was a 40-hour work week it was people of faith that
Said there will be child labor practices in this country it was people of Faith who were able to form unions people of Faith to say that we deserve Health Care people of faith that say that we cannot have dangerous working conditions and must protect the environment and when you say these kind
Of things you end up on a list but I don’t care because the God I serve is a god of compassion is a god of love and a God who wants to see every human being Thrive and so the uh the idols we bow down to are Idols of materialism
The idols of of American exceptionalism and the idols of capitalism but there is another Idol that we bow down to and that is the idol of egoism it is Frank Reed who said it this way if you want to understand what ego is it just simply means egoo edging God
Out and we live in a world of personal Brands where it’s about getting your name out there so everybody knows who you are I had a conversation with a young person and I like talking with young people and I was asking this person well what what do you want to be
When you’re older and that person said I want to be a YouTube influencer and I said well what what do you want to influence he said I don’t know I just want to make a whole lot of money and people know my name I said oh well we got to have some more
Conversation don’t we in reference to this but but we live in a world that celebrates egoism we live in a culture and a society that elevates this idea of me myself and I but you don’t have to be a major influencer you’re already an influencer how do you know that you’re
Already an influenc well if you serve Jesus you already an influencer because you are working for some someone who was able to literally influence the globe and we have to recognize uh that we can no longer bow down to the idol of egoism that we need to lift up ourselves
And this is part of the downfall of the church a Ministry that is focused on personality over purpose and impact where we lift up uh What uh who someone ear instead of what the ministry is doing as I said last week I I’m tired I’m not going to any more conferences
Where a bunch of preachers get together and lie and sit up there and talk about how many people they got in their Church you ask them you know they lying as soon as they start talking about it I don’t want to know how many people are in your
Church I don’t care how many buildings you built I don’t care how many locations you have I don’t care anything about that I don’t care the car you drive the clothes you wear I want to know how many people did you feed I want to know the impact that you’re making in
The community I want to know are you stopping violence in the neighborhood I want to know do you have a domestic violence Ministry I want to know are you doing the work for the people in the neighborhood what’s your mental health University who could care less about how
Many people you have in the church the question is are you making an impact for the kingdom of God and I stopped by here to let you know that God told me to tell you we have been called as the people of God it’s not about numbers it’s not
About buildings it’s about how will we impact those who are outside of these walls God called us to be unashamedly black unapologetically Christian to be a community of people who will change this world do I have a witness up in here that God has called us to change what is
Happening in this com [Applause] Community egoism is deadly egoism is nothing but an idol well I told you about the idols we bow down to scriptures say say you shall not make anything and bow down to it ah so what do we need preacher because our souls are
Decaying in this culture well I’m glad you asked that question I’m about done May the road rise to meet you May the wind be at your back well what do we need I’m so sorry to have to say it because it’s so simple but it really is
The truth because uh if you really want to understand the essence of the Gospel uh the centerpiece of all scripture I did some reading and some research and when I turned over to the gospel Jesus said when he was answering someone who was struggling trying to find out what’s the most important scripture
Uh where is it where can it be found and Jesus said well you need to know this before you start quoting and spouting scripture you need to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your mind with all your spirit and you need to love your neighbor as
Yourself ah you missed your shout right there because basically a cure to a decaying soul is simply the idea of love I’m not talking about puppy love I’m not talking about uh soap opera love I’m not talking about Love in Hip Hop I’m talking about agape love the kind of
Love that God has between God’s people it means that I recognize that you have the mark of the Divine upon you because God created you in the image of God and even though we may have a disagreement I still recognize that you’re a child of God and if I recognize that you’re a
Child of God I cannot destroy you I cannot harm you I cannot hurt you I cannot cut you I cannot shoot you I cannot bomb you I cannot bruise you I cannot hate on you because you are made in the image of God and the most difficult thing we will do throughout
Our existence is learned how to love because we follow a savior who is centered on love because when you start loving you then learn compassion when you have compassion your heart breaks for the things that break God’s heart and when you have love and compassion together it then produces humility then
You say there I go but by the grace of God and you’ve got to be humble anytime you come before God and come before God’s people and when you have love compassion and humility it then moves you into reconciliation that person you hadn’t talked to in five years who is your
Brother who is your sister you want to try to find a way to reconcile that relationship when you have love compassion and humility and Reconciliation it lets you understand what Redemption is all about Redemption means that when everybody else thought you were l lost God said come right here
I can redeem you and make you into what nobody else said could be created when you know love compassion humility reconciliation Redemption it then gives your heart empathy it means that your heart will begin to break and yearn for those who are in pain in your community when you have love compassion humility
Reconciliation Redemption and empathy then you will know what grace and mercy are all about somebody missed your shout somebody doesn’t know what I just said because I said grace and mercy everybody ought to be shouting right now because everybody in this building you are a product of
Grace you are a product of Mercy somebody is still confused you see grace is when God gives you what you don’t deserve Mercy is when god holds back what you do deserve and the reason you woke up this morning is Grace was on one side Mercy was on the other side and you
Are able to walk into the God’s house is there anybody in here can give God thanks that you are a product of Grace you are a product of Mercy do I have a witness in here that Grace has been walking with you Mercy has been walking
With you if it had not been for the Lord on [Applause] Your I’m sorry I’m having a flashback of when Grace showed up and mercy showed up I shouldn’t be here but thanks be to God that these twin Angels keep walking with me talking with me and that is one of the cures to a decaying Soul we need
Love we need compassion we need humility we need reconciliation we need Redemption we need empathy we need Grace and we need Mercy but hold up when you have all of these values in your spirit they then produce a child name Justice you miss your shout when you know how to love and
You have compassion and you operate with humility you believe in reconciliation you’ve been redeemed and you have empathy you know Grace is on one side and mercy is on the other side then justice shows up Justice will come down like a mighty stream Justice will show up and I’m here
To let you know as a church we have to be a church of Justice we have to be a church of empathy we have to be a church of mercy and Grace we have to be a church of reconciliation we have to be a church of redemption we have to be a
Church of love and humility and compassion good day may the Lord bless real good but I found this out because of a man by the name of Jesus and when I think about him and all he’s done for me my soul Cries Out hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah good day may God
Bless you may God keep you but is there anybody in here do you have a testimony of what God has done in your life when love entered your spirit when compassion entered your soul when humility entered your heart when reconciliation came in your life when Redemption showed up in your life experiences something Happened You There is a cure for the decaying Soul there is a cure for the decay main Soul it’s not materialism it’s not American exceptionalism it’s not capitalism it’s not egoism but there is a name I love to hear I love to sing his name some call him a bridge over troubled wall
Some say he’s a rose of sharing some say he’s a rock in a weary land but I just call him call him call him call him I just call him by his name Jesus Jesus Jesus the door of this church is open for those who no longer want to bow
Down to the idols of this society and culture to begin that pathway of the central aspect of our relationship with God is rooted in love praise God we welcome you this is an invitation to be a part of this community we know as Trinity United Church of Christ and we thank God
For you we celebrate with you for Making We welcome you so this is an opportunity to connect do you believe that the values these Eternal values that we develop through our relationship with Christ value of love and of compass passion and humility we invite you to connect for reconciliation to reconcile yourself with God to be Redeemed by our
God to recognize and live out a life of empathy and understanding grace and mercy and practicing Justice we welcome you we welcome you right now praise God amen Amen amen amen now often there is some trepidation when you hear the door of the church is open to to walk down the aisle I want to I want to do something just just very quietly I’m going to ask as the musicians continue to play and the choir continues
To sing that you would just close your eyes for just one moment and if you want to take a step but you have been nervous about taking a step you want to commit to Christ but you’ve been nervous about nervous about making that step one may be just walking down this
Aisle just just terrifies you completely understand that the other may be that there is this false notion that you have to be a certain kind of person to build this relationship the beautiful thing about the church in its finest form it is a collection of broken
People that all of us you are standing next to a broken vessel you’re on a Pew with other Broken Vessels but the beautiful thing is that even though as Paul says that we are simply Jars of Clay God pours God’s blessings into that which is imperfect and what an amazing
Proposition if you want to take a step today I’m just going to ask that you would just raise your hand no one is looking at you if you want to take a step and be a part of this Village and we’ll have someone come over to you praise God we’ll have a deacon
Come over to you just keep your hand up your hand is up I’m going to ask if your hand is up you just there’s a Deacon’s going to come and tap you on the shoulder if you’d like to take that step no one’s looking at you so you
Don’t have to worry about anybody looking at you keep your eyes closed keep your eyes closed we just are thankful we’re thankful if you raise your hand we’re thankful for you we’re thankful for you amen amen we praise God you may open your eyes we thank God for this moment
And I want to take a moment and just welcome those who have come today CHR to you oh my Sister will you Christ Christ to you oh my brother we chist to you oh my Sister we want to take this moment and we want to welcome new family members today we are so grateful that you have taken this very special step today and we want to welcome you in a very special way today we extend our hands to you everyone here in this Village these are
Your new family members and we simply say to you welcome welcome to Trinity to Trinity greatest Church greatest church this side of the Jordan this side of the Jordan amen amen let me tell you about your next steps we’re going to take you to the rear of the sanctuary I’m sorry the rear
Of the church Dr Sue lad uh who is in charge of our new members and she’s going to be walking with you she’s the connection that she will have in reference to being being a part of this community and they’re going to get some information from you and whatnot it’ll
Be real simple nothing really hard or anything of that nature but we want to say thank you we thank God for you and we thank you that you’ve taken this step today won’t you give God praise again for those who’ve come I’m going to ask that you all with stand as we
Prepare for our benediction and closing prayer prayer I’m going to ask that Minister Diamond would come forward ministers along with the deacons the deacons would come and Surround Minister Diamond deacons if you would place your hands on Minister Diamond Minister Diamond will be going on maternity leave
And we want to continue to pray with you and for you at this time and I’m going to ask as a congregation if we might join hands or elbows whatever you feel comfortable with we invite you at this time that we want to pray over diamond and we want to
Pray as we prepare to depart from this space today let us go to God Lord God we are grateful today that you have anointed such a powerful woman of God Minister diamond and we ask that you would rest your spirit upon her womb the child who shall come forth shall do great
Things may you anoint diamond and her husband as they enter a new phase of Life the unique unique phase of parenting bless them those moments when they don’t get any sleep anoint their household and strengthen them we thank you for what you are doing in her life
Cover her body from the crown of her head to the SES of her feet may you bless not only the immediate family but you will bless grandma grandpa aunts and uncles and cousins who are excited about the new addition to the family we thank you that this powerful
Woman of God is a part of the village of Trinity and we ask for a double portion of your anointing to fall upon her her and upon her womb right now in the name of Jesus that you would consecrate this family in a mighty way we thank you for
Allowing us to gather here in this space this day May the peace of God be with each and everyone who has come into this space and and those who are online we thank you that we are able to serve you oh God and we simply offer this
Benediction May the road rise to meet you May the wind always be at your back may the sunlight of Jesus Christ always Grace your cheek and may rain gently fall upon your field may God keep you in the hollow of God’s hand until we meet again go in peace this
Day and let the people of God who love God say Amen say Amen again say Amen like you mean it go ahead and greet someone next to you give them an affirming word bless them with something positive and powerful and let them know what a wonderful blessing it is to be in your
Presence on this Day D D He I Happ He All Yeah Bo
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