Amen. Amen. We have a great honor today. Happy Easter, everybody. Amen. He is risen. Amen. I tell you, I'm excited today, and we've already seen one of the ordinances of the church, baptism. And we've seen a dad and a friend be able to baptize one of our other pastors, be able to baptize one of our teenagers. And I think that's awesome. Amen. It's a great way to start a service. Amen.
Now, now we have—we are a teaching church. Those of you that don't know, we're a real church for real people in the real world. The people you're sitting next to, in front of you, and behind you, they go through the same things you go through. Amen. The difference is, the question is, are we really trusting God and obeying Him and getting through life in a different way? Amen.
And like the world, it's all about us. Amen. That's what the world is. That's the flesh. Amen. It's all about us. But we are a teaching church, when I say that. And we have the great, awesome responsibility of seeing men and women come into the ministry. And here we have one of our young men that has given his life to the Lord. Not only given his life to the Lord, but he is also, with 11 years, has been walking with this pastor, with this church, over 11 years. And he has surrendered to full-time ministry. He has been working in the military ministry of the church. We have six, seven, eight associates, ministers that work with us. It's a team effort. Amen. To be able to reach everybody so we don't fall through the cracks.
So, Preston, I'd like for you to come up here, son, if you will. And this, right in the middle. And this is a very special—you knew her. Mama Dale gave me this. It's never been out of the box. We've saved that for someone special. Amen.
One thing I know about you, son, is that you're a gospel preacher. That you love the gospel. And that's what saves people. It doesn't matter what we say. It doesn't matter what we do. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the word of God. Amen. And when we have faith, we're going to obey and trust God. Amen. And when we have faith, we're going to obey and trust God. Amen. Amen.
So if you will, and can I have all the pastors, deacons, and if there's anyone in the house that is ordained as a deacon or a pastor at another church or a former church, if you'll come forward also, please. If you'll kneel right here. All the pastors, the ordination council, if you can get around Preston, please. Damien, you'll lead the pastors and the deacons in prayer. Hold on just a minute.
Preston, now, on behalf of Calvary, Virginia Beach, I want to first give you this certificate. And this is a certificate of a license that says that you are able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's signed by the executive pastor and clerk, Angelo Dajon, and signed by the pastor, Dr. J. M. Bubba Pugh, Jr. Amen. Yeah, Bubba.
All right. And then here, son, is your ordination, certificate of ordination to the gospel ministry. You are officially ordained this Easter Sunday for the gospel ministry. Son, let her rip, tater chip. Preach in season, out of season. Preach the gospel. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
You'll see here, hopefully, through the message of why I wanted to do the ordination today, because the message, the rest of the story about Easter, is this: that yes, he's risen. Now what? Now what? And it's about going. It's about going. We need to go.
And so, if you will, let's read out of Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 and 28. Then God said, and hold on just a minute. I want to let you all know, look here. There ain't no baby that can outshout Bubba. Amen. Now listen to me. I love the babies being in here. We don't do this often, but on Easter, it is family day in, amen, in this room, in the family room. Amen. That's everybody coming as a family. So I don't want you to be—if you miss something, it'll be online. Go over it again. Amen.
I'll tell you what, I'm glad that we've got every baby in here. I'm glad we've got the people in here. Amen. That means the church is alive. Can I get an amen? Amen. I'd rather have the babies crying than the adults crying to me. Amen. Just saying. Anyway, let's look at Genesis chapter 1. Get me out of this hole, I'm digging. Amen?
Genesis chapter 1, verse 26. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created male and female. He created them. Then God blessed them. Underline that. Then God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over everything that moves on earth."
We're to have dominion over everything. Amen? It was God's desire from the very start that he wanted to create man. He wanted to create something special. He wanted to create something that he could have an intimate fellowship with. And that's you and I today. Amen?
I don't care where you've been. I don't care what you've done. I don't care what you're in the process of doing. I love you. But I'm telling you, that God can take care of that too. Can I get an amen? Amen. It says that God, he said, "Let us create, let us make man in our image." What does that mean? And next Sunday, I'll talk about that a little bit more. But we have a soul that mirrors him. We have a mind that thinks, ears that hear, eyes that see, and a mouth that speaks so we can communicate with our Father in heaven. Can I get an amen?
And I don't know about you, but all I can say is, when I get the crowd that says they worship the trees, the trees their God, the plants their God—well, all I can tell you this is what this verse is saying. Amen. Amen. It's saying that we, the human beings, have dominion. Amen. And sometimes we need to step up and step out instead of acting like a bunch of wimps and start having dominion over our lives. Amen.
Not meaning that we need to take control from God but understanding that God has a system already planned. We don't have to reinvent the wheel as we go along. But if we'll get on God's plan and start doing it God's way, our lives will be a lot better off. Can I get an amen? So here it is, that here in Genesis chapter 1, and Easter has been about the fall, about Easter being upside down. But now, this was right side up until we come to Genesis chapter 3.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you today, and precious Holy Spirit of God, we pray and ask you right now. We know you're here. Manifest yourself in a special way among the people. If there's one that doesn't know you as Lord and Savior, we pray today will be that day. And Father, I pray—you know what each and every one is going through, whether it's physical, whether it's depression, whether whatever it is, Father, you know. And I pray right now, Father, may you apply and show them how to apply the blood of Jesus to even that situation, to set them free. And we'll carefully give you the praise, the honor, the glory, and all that you're going to do. In Jesus' name we pray. And all God's people said, Amen.
May you hide us behind the cross. May they not see me but see you. As my prayer here, everything was right side up until the fall. And then, in Genesis 3, Satan came along. You know the story, if you've been going to church. Satan or just listening, Satan came as the serpent and he said, "Oh, you can eat of the tree, surely you won't die," which, to a sense, was right. They didn't die Miss Chris right away, but when they took a bite out of the apple, sin entered into the world. And then, a physical death became part of all of us. Amen? Because of that fall, and it was that separation from God. Before then, God would come along, and he would walk with man. He walked with Adam. He communed with Adam. He had an intimate relationship with his creation. And what stopped it was because Satan told Eve, "Look, you can become—he doesn't want you to be smart. He doesn't want you to think. He doesn't want you." But we already had that. And the sin came in, where they wanted to be their own God. May I say to you today, it's the same sin we deal with even now in the world because we want God in a nice little package. We want him to do it our way. We might as well admit it. Amen? We're all like that to a certain extent. Amen? God, I want it now. He tells me he's gonna do something. Okay, let's go. And sometimes he's got to pull back on the reins on Bubba and say, "I didn't say right now." How many of you know we're on his time schedule? He's not on ours. Amen? And sometimes we have to just back up. Then here it comes. We find in Matthew that the last utterance from the cross is, "It is finished." It is finished. What does that mean? It's an accounting term out of the Greek. You want to say it? Tetelestai. Amen. Tetelestai. It is a Greek accounting term. Or accounting term. The word there, and it's an accounting term. What did it mean? Jesus, when he hung on the cross, he hollered, "It is finished." That was the last utterance before he gave up the ghost. What does that mean? That means today that your sin debt, my sin debt, was paid in full. Can I get an amen? Understand, no matter what you've done in the past, no matter what you're doing now, no matter what you're doing in the future if it is sin, God has paid that debt in full. Amen. You are saved. You're born again if you trust in what God did on the cross through his Son, Jesus Christ. And not only does it mean that, but the judgment for our sin was fully served. The sentence for our sin—in Romans 6:23 it says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Beloved, I want you to know today, here it is: Jesus died on the cross. He was the gift the Father gave to us so we could have life and never experience a spiritual death. He came and he set what was upside down right side up again so a creator, our Creator, could have communion with us. And not only that, there's another meaning of that word—it also means that the spiritual warfare of death, sin, and Satan was won. Hallelujah. Amen. Salvation, victory, reconciliation to us, and a new life is yours and mine if we'll trust Jesus Christ. That's a fact, not fiction today. I'm telling you today, I know that I know, and I know that I'm saved. Praise God. If I die right now, I'm going to tell you—before I hit this floor, when this old heart stops and I stop breathing, I'm going to be in the arms of Jesus. Amen. I know where I'm headed. How about you?
And see, when we understand that salvation—you say, "That's simple." Yes, it's simple. God's simple plan of salvation. We can only get there by faith, not by what you and I do or have done or are going to do. It is what he's did on the cross and how God worked through his Son to give us that salvation. Then, when he came, he died on the cross, yes, and the utterance was, "It is finished." The redemption process was done—period. And then came Easter morning. Remember, in Genesis, he said he blessed us. You remember that scripture I read? Then, come Easter morning, the ladies went to the tomb. The rock was already rolled away. The big stone was rolled away. The Bible says, and they came—Mary came in—they came to anoint his body, but he wasn't there. Praise God. He had risen. He had risen. Amen. And then, 40 days—40 days he stuck around after he rose. In 1 Corinthians 15:6, it says that after he had been seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained in the presence, but some have fallen asleep. Remember, this is the apostle Paul writing this—over 500 witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. It's real. Amen. It takes faith to believe that. Amen? Because we didn't see that. It's going to take faith to believe that. Now, you say, "Preacher, what next?" Yes, he's risen. It's Easter. We celebrate—risen. We give our kids Easter eggs and candy. And I don't know if any of y'all have given Easter eggs today and paid all that money. Don't short your tie—that's all I'm saying. Amen? Amen. Because the price of the eggs—amen—you might have put eggs in the basket. I don't know. Amen. What's next? What are we to do now?
If we look over in Matthew 28:16-20, it says, "Then the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. And they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted." How many of you know some will doubt? And he said, "Go." Jesus through them. See, they came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Even to the end of the age. What is he saying? Not only to the eleven that were there, but he's also telling us, as disciples today, to go.
To live in this, "go" in the Greek means this in verse 19: "Go." In our everyday life, if we have a relationship like we should with God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ. What did Jesus say over in John chapter 14? He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me." Period. You cannot have fellowship with a Father unless you go through Jesus Christ. That's just a fact. That's what it says. That's what I believe. Amen? If you're a pastor here, a leader here, I'm sure that's what you believe. Amen? If not, you won't be for long. Amen? I'm just telling you—that's the Bible. It's not Bubba. That's the Bible.
And then we see he's telling them to go. And that Greek word means in your everyday life, whatever you do. Everybody's looking, "Well, I gotta be this, I gotta be that." No. First of all, if you're ever going to be a leader, you need to learn how to follow. Can I get an amen? And if you can't follow, there's no way you can lead. And some of these turkeys are going to find out that they won't lead so bad. They've never really followed anything. Amen? And they're going to be plucked and eaten and stuffed. Amen? So you better be careful what you hope for. And you need to understand, if you're going to truly go and be a leader in life, you've got to learn to follow first. Who do you follow? You trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. You start following Him. Amen? It's not following the pastor. I'm no different than you are. You have the same power I have if you're in right relationship with God. Amen? I am no different than you. I'm held to a double standard—or some people think. But I'm actually twice before God on everything I say and everything I do. Do you know that? That's Bible.
As a leader, you need to be careful what you wish for because you need to get it right. Amen? Because people die and go to hell when we don't. Amen? But let me tell you something else: by what that scripture is saying, is to go. And when we go, do you know your friends, your family—if you won't live the life like you're supposed to, and you're living like the world—do you understand there are people around you that are going to die and go to hell because they don't see the glory of God living and through you? Amen? That's a heavy weight, is it not?
And it says to go and make disciples of all nations. Now, look at me when it says "all nations." And I don't care where your bread's buttered. I don't care what color you are. Everybody's welcome at the foot of the cross. Can I get an amen? Amen? Even a bigot is welcome at the foot of the cross, but we won't put up with your nonsense. Can I get an amen? We are going to hold you accountable if you walk in here and say that you're saved, born again today, and then you want to be a bigot. We're going to hold you accountable for that. Amen? That's what we're supposed to do as Christians. Amen?
There are certain things that we've got to say: either we line up with the Word of God or we don't. And if we don't line up with the Word of God, we don't agree with God, we're not trusting and obeying Him because we want it our way. Honey, I don't want a bunch of Bubbas in here that act like me. I'll tell you, that'd give me a headache. Amen? I look in the mirror and don't even like me at times.
Teaching them, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them as you've seen in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. Here is our manual. It is called the Bible. Get you one. Read it. Let me tell you a little secret: over in Romans, what is that? Romans 10:17? It says that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. You say, "I don't like to read." Well, then get you the Bible app, baby, and start listening to it, honey. Hey, and listen to it, amen, every day. And you say, "Well, I have a problem sleeping." You don't have to take drugs for that. You turn on the Bible app, and Satan will put you to sleep. Amen? Every time. I'm just telling you. He doesn't want you to know about Jesus. He doesn't want you to increase your faith. It says, "Go." Then let's go back to Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 through 3. And it says this:
"Now the Lord had said to Abram, 'Go. Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.'" That "get out" means to what? Go. Amen? To go. "I will make you a great nation. Here it is again. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a what? A blessing." Let me go. You crackjacks that want a great name, honey, you can't make a great name for yourself. You can try as hard as you want, but you're not going to do it without Jesus Christ and without fellowship with God. If you want to have a good name, start following Him and stop dictating what He needs to do. Amen?
You want to be great? Here it is. Amen? You got to follow God just like Abram did, who became Abraham. And then, in verse 3, it says, "I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Get that. All of the families of the earth shall be what? Blessed. All the families of the earth shall be blessed. Glory to God. Amen?
God the Father wants to bless us today. He doesn't want to kill us all. He's not mad at us. He sent his Son to die on the cross so we could have fellowship. God's desire is still back in Genesis. His same desire: He wants to bless us. And some of us today in the church, we're living below our means because we want to act like the world. The problem is, in the Western church, there's more of the world in the church today than ever before. And we want stuff. We want it like we have it in the community. Honey, I don't want it. It's messed up out there. Have you really been out there? Have you watched, to where you can be driving down the road, minding your own business, not doing anything? And some turkey that had a blow-up with his wife decides that you didn't look at him right. You didn't give him the salute and tell him he was number one in life. And then he wants to crash into you, run you off the road, or do something crazy. Get in front of you. And I never understood this: get in front of a big truck and slam on the brakes. That doesn't seem too smart. It isn't that he's mad. He needs a brain transplant. Amen? It just doesn't make sense to me. Amen? But here it is. That's the world today. It doesn't make sense. They think it does when it really doesn't.
Let's go back to Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 11. Let me read it. From the beginning of when Christ was coming, he wanted to reset so we could have fellowship with a holy and just God like they did in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Here it is in Luke chapter 2. Now, in verse 8: "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" To all people. Again, carrying on from Genesis chapter 1 all the way through, including starting in the New Testament, it—God wants to bless people. Amen. He wants to bless—not just some people, but all people. But he has a way. Amos 3:3 says, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" You cannot walk with God unless you agree with God. You cannot do it your way sometimes and his way other times because it's either total obedience or no obedience. Amen? Half obedience is no obedience. Amen? Half trust of God is no trust of God. Amen? We have to understand that today. You can't go out in the world and talk like a sailor, cuss, and act like a knucklehead, and then come into church because the same friends, when they find out you're going to church, that you're in charge of something, that you're worshiping, that you're teaching, that you're preaching, and you're doing that kind of foolishness, the next thing you do is ruin your testimony so people won't listen to you. And God can't bless a mess. He won't.
You've got saved people walking around Mama Nancy with no anointing on their life because they've got one foot in the world, one foot straddling the fence, and one foot on Sundays with Jesus. And folks, we need to make a decision. Are we going to have dominion in our life? Are we going to agree with God or not? Amen? You have to make a choice. You can't have it your way and expect God to bless that. You understand that? If you go over to Genesis and about the Tower of Babel—you hear me, preacher? That was the people wanting it their way. They're going to go up to God. Amen? And God had to what? He scattered them and gave them a different language. Amen? And that's the problem today. We've got people in the church, even in leadership, that want to do it their way instead of God's way. They want to tell God, "This is the way you're going to do it." And you can't do that and have the anointing.
People say, "Preacher, don't get on people." Hey, that's my job. I care enough that I want you to have the anointing of Jesus Christ in your everyday life, where people can walk in, and there could be a crisis going on, and if you are right with God, you can put your hands on them, pray over them, and they can see Jesus. There are people that come to me and say, "Hey, I'm hurting. Can you do what the Bible says?" We call the elders together, anoint their head with oil, and pray over them, asking God to help the hurt. Don't you want somebody—if it's your little child, your brother, your sister, your mom, your dad—that can touch somebody and pray in the name of Jesus and watch them get relief? Come on, amen? That's my concern. It's not having a church full of people who do nothing, but a church full of warriors. Come on, that can touch the lives of the people around them, because that's the great commission—us going in our everyday life, touching lives.
People want to know, "Why do you do so many funerals?" Because the people don't have a pastor, and they call me, and I go. I very rarely turn any down, and sometimes it gets tough, amen? I had one family that was fighting over money and stuff, and all I did was love all people. One of the sons asked me, "Well, how much are you getting?" I said, "I don't know what the checks made out to, because whatever y'all did, gave the funeral home—that's what I get. No more, no less." And I looked at him and said, "I'll give you that check if you don't get anything," because he was so concerned about money. "I'll sign that check over to you if you need it." That's not what he wanted, of course.
There are things that come up in our lives that we have to understand: that God wants us to be blessed. And if we're going to be blessed, we've got to trust God and obey what he says. Over in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, it says this: "Now I, Paul, myself, am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who is present, I am low among you, but being absent, I am bold toward you. That I may not be bold with the confidence by which I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh." For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. We do not war according to the flesh. We shouldn't be fighting and backbiting and all of that. How many of you know, God said over in Proverbs, there are six sins he hates; the seventh is an abomination to him, and that's sowing discord among the brethren. You can't have an anointing on your life if you're sowing discord among the brethren. I don't care who you are. That's just Bible. Amen? And the preacher—somebody needs to say it. Because we've gotten so relaxed that everything is okay. And then we wonder why souls are not saved. You can't war like that. When someone does us wrong, we can't go after them and want blood. God forgave us so much. We need to forgive others. Can I get an amen?
And it says, "Casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." We need more knowledge of God. Can I get an amen? Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. This is what it's saying: we need to take every thought. When you have that thought—people say, "Will you go down to the beach?" No. Why? Because I'm going to get in trouble. I don't care if I’ve got mirrored sunglasses on or not. They wear clothes down there. Well, they don't wear anything. Amen? I'm going to get in trouble. So now, am I going to go down there and get in the middle of that? And they said, "Preacher, I told you, I'm just like you." I know some of you think ice water runs through my veins, but that’s not true. Amen? My grandmother, she was in her 80s and 90s, and we would walk down the boardwalk, and she would say, "I'm looking." She says, "I'm old, but I can still look and admire God's beauty." I said, "Oh, Nana, I don't want to hear that." Amen? So I knew not to go to the beach anymore with Nana. Amen? But I realized that, hey, when you start putting your eyes on something you ought not, and it doesn't mean—it doesn't have to be a body. It could be anything. You start putting your eyes on something and constantly focusing on it, sooner or later, you're going to fall if you don't take those thoughts captive. Amen?
Yeah, I can go to the beach, and I do go to the beach. Many of you know me. I am a beach bum. Amen? I love the beach, but I just don't go to certain places. Amen? I don't want to get involved in certain things. Amen? I take those thoughts, and I take control of the thought process of that, and I understand in verse 4 it says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God, for pulling down strongholds." Amen? He gives us the power to pull down these strongholds. Amen? All we have to do is trust Him. Amen? Trust Him.
Now, I know I don't have it up there, but I want to read you something. Jesus Christ came to do this. He said in Luke 4:18-19: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." That is Luke 4:18-19. And allow me to tell you, man, that's what Jesus came for. That was His mission. So, if I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, these strongholds no longer have power over me, and no longer have power over you.
If you'll do and obey God and do what He says, oh, and then He uses the Apostle Paul over in 2 Corinthians 10:5—taking that thought captive before it comes out the mouth. Now, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Most High God? Amen? That's where the Holy Spirit lives. Jesus, the Father's in heaven. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. And the Holy Spirit is here today. And Jesus said that He had to go because if the Comforter didn't come, and He said, "We would do greater things than He did." Amen? With the precious Spirit of God living inside of us. And you get a gander of that and start studying that out. Amen?
Here it says in Romans 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Amen? For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Each one of us is different. Each one of us may be at different levels. Amen? We can't expect a newborn Christian to do what the other Christians do that have been saved for 20 or 30 years. And I—
And I should expect somebody, Ms. Kathy, that tells me they've been saved for 40 years not to do some of the stuff a baby Christian does. Can I get an amen? But, preacher, don't you do that? You'll get in trouble. I get in trouble all the time by thinking that. Romans 8:5-8 says this: "But God demonstrated his love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Fact. We need to understand today, if you're in the house today, while we were yet sinners—church people—while we were yet sinners, before you were saved, God demonstrated his love. He died on the cross and loved you right where you are. Jesus Christ, he didn't just die on the cross for you. He took your place and my place on that cross. Amen. Amen.
That's what it's about today. He took our place. A Savior that took our place on the cross so we wouldn't have to go. How many of you know we ought to learn to forgive people and not hold people at harm? Because what the price was paid just for us? Then we see over in Romans—and I read Romans 6:23—"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ." Look, we can, we need to understand—that's a gift that was given. You're not earned it. You're not paid for it. It was given to you. You don't deserve it. It was a gift that was given to you. Amen? Amen.
I had a nephew one time, and it was his birthday, and he told me he wanted this and that and this, and wanted a big TV at the time. That was back in the '80s and early '90s. We didn't have TVs in every room, not at my house anyway. Anyway, he told my sister, "Well, Uncle Jimmy will buy it for me," and that's what the family calls me. Anyway, he wanted me to get this TV, and he said to me this: "He said, I deserve that TV, and you're going to buy it for me." Well, you know how that just rubbed me the right way. Can I get an amen? I thought to myself, even if I was going to get you a TV, you ain't getting one from this house now. Amen?
We got to understand, it's the same with God's grace. He gives it to us freely. We don't deserve it, but he gives it to us. We need to take it, and hey, don't just get saved and step in the front door of the house. Hey, why don't you step through the door and start walking with God a little bit and start seeing all the mighty blessings and the true blessings he has for you today. Amen? Don't just get in the door. Come on. Come on and eat some barbecue with us one time. Get to fellowshipping with us a little bit. Get to seeing what the church is all about because, honey, you don't have a pastor here that wants to always put on a suit. Baby, I got a suit on, but I got my jeans and my boots on too. Amen? Glory to God. You come as you are. Stop trying to impress everybody else. Your clothes don't impress me. Huh? Amen? You know what impresses me? Are you doing the will of the Father? Do you have the anointing upon your life today? Are you living for Jesus Christ? And how many lives are you touching at work? Hey, even that hardest knucklehead that wants to make life so hard on you, you want to see him cry like a baby? You start praying for him. Don't even let him know it. Just start praying and watch God do a mighty work. Either God's going to change his heart or he's going to take him away from you. You trust and obey God. Can I get an amen?
See, and then Romans 10:9-13, and I want to read this in closing, says this: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead—stop! Resurrection Sunday, honey. You can't get saved unless you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be what? Saved. Let's go on down to the next one. For with the heart, one believeth unto righteousness, not with the head, but with the heart. And with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Next verse. For the scripture says, "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Next verse. "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon him." Stop putting stipulations on who can be saved, baby. This is a church of Jesus Christ. He's the bishop here. Not Bubba. Not one of you turkeys. I'm telling you, he's in charge. And this is what I live by: He says that all that call upon him, he's the one, calls on the name, he's the one saving them. Not Calvary Baptist Church or Calvary Virginia Beach. Honey, if you've got a little membership certificate from here, you get up to St. Peter. St. Peter's going to say, "Reject it." I knew them turkeys. Amen? There ain't no way. That ain't going to get you to heaven. The only way he's going to get you to heaven is believing in Jesus Christ. Amen? Membership ain't going to get you there. Verse 13: "For whosoever, put your name there, they shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." Now, let me tell you a little secret. This is the easiest thing you're going to do—getting saved. The hardest thing is living it every day. Because I'm going to tell you something: people get on old Bubba. I'm a country boy. I've got a King James Bible I'm used to studying. Don't be the first. Amen? You hear me today. Lay hands and heal them. Come on. Amen? And you've got to think about that. Amen?
Ben, I've got to pray, "Lord, faith, grace." I've got to look at them and say, "Lord, I need your assistance today." Because this ain't going to go well. Because I don't have the bail money. Any of you really feel like that every once in a while? Come on, you can be honest. You're in church. Be honest. Amen? Especially if you drive your automobile or truck in Hampton Roads. Amen? Now, listen to me. What's stopping you from getting saved today if you're not saved is this: pride. Every individual here that's saved, born again, everyone—I hope that's on this platform. And all I can do is hope because I've got no way of seeing it and knowing for sure. I've got no way of knowing for sure, other than looking at the fruit of their life. That's all I can do. Amen? So my prayer, my hope, everyone on this platform that's getting ready to come up here and sing—they're born again. They know Jesus Christ. Amen? I don't know. I mean, I can't tell. I'm not Jesus. Amen? Amen? So I've got to give the gospel out no matter who's in the house. And the gospel is this simple: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And if you will, will you go to verse 9 once again? Verse 9. Because this is what you have to do: "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus. I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved." Period. Period. Confession of sins. You've got to know you're a sinner before you're ever going to believe. Amen? Amen? That's what the Bible says to do. Amen? Have you done that? Every head bowed. Every eye closed. Team, come.
Let me ask you this: Is there anyone in here today that would say, "Preacher, I don't know if I was to die right now and go to heaven. Will you pray for me?" If you'll raise your hand nice and high today, I'll pray for you. Anyone? I see that hand. I see that hand. Anyone else? I see that hand. I see that hand. Anyone else? I see that hand. I see that hand. Anyone else? I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand. Will you pray right now? Will you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus? Do you believe he died for your sins to pay the price in full? Will you say, "Dear Lord, I confess you as Lord Jesus over my life. I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I thank you for what you did on the cross of Calvary. And I accept what you did there. And I believe in my heart that God raised you from the dead. And I'm just trusting and obeying your word right now by coming to you and asking you to be my Savior. And for you, Father, to be my God." In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, my Bible says you're saved. Amen. And if you trusted God and did it by faith—amen—knowing you can't do nothing without it. He trusts you. Come and let us pray over you today. If you're going through mess today, life is messy. Can I get an amen? And then you listen to the news and you're like, "Oh, we don't know whether we've got jobs or not, or what's going on." Amen. I don't know about you, but prices keep going up. I'm a fat man. I like to eat. Amen? That concerns me. Can I get an amen? So, hey, maybe you just need—it's overwhelming when you put your budget together. Maybe you just need to come and pray about that. Maybe you need someone to pray with. Maybe you're going through doubt. Maybe you're going through something, and you don't even know what, but you just need to pray. Have people pray over you. This altar's open. Will you please stand with me?
Heavenly Father, we come before you. The best way we know how today is a family. Father, I ask that every soul in this church today, may you listen to their cry. Father, hear their voices today. And Father, I pray—you know the depths of their heart. You know the thing that's pressing on them the most. I pray that you will give them some relief. And I know that you can walk them through whatever they're going through today. And we'll carefully give you the praise, the honor, the glory. In Jesus' name, amen.
If you want to come and join the church, all you have to do is come forward at this time. Amen? Amen. Amen. You come. Slip out of where you're at. This altar's open. We'll pray with you. We have pastors. We have lay leaders that are here—ladies and men—that will pray with you. Come with me. That you'll—
Amen, amen. You may be seated just for a moment. You know, can I get that from you real quick? Now, tell me your son's name again. Anthony. Anthony. Okay. Christopher. Okay. And Bernadette. I just want to make sure I got it right. Amen.
Christopher and Bernadette, if you all come up here, they have been coming, and we've known one another for a while, and been praying for them. And I just—Anthony, wave your hand. Anthony, just let me see you. Amen. He's a big guy. You're welcome to come up too. They've come, and they would like to join the church by statement of faith—that they know Jesus Christ, they've accepted the Lord as their Savior, and they will be. God bless you. Thank you.
Getting baptized here—Pastor Angelo will set that up with them. All in favor of accepting them into membership, will you raise your hands and say, "Amen"? Amen. Any opposed? Go lay down. Amen. All right. Now, I'm going to get you to go ahead and do that. Tag, you're it. Amen. So you need to find out where you're getting involved at. Remember, Wednesday nights, get into a small group, get into Sunday school, be active. Amen? Amen. Because if you're just attending one thing, you're really not going to get the full effect of being in the family of God here at Calvary Virginia Beach. There's just no way. Amen.
God bless you. We love you. Amen. Faith Grace, I know you've been out because of the baby and stuff. Know that we love you. We're praying for you. Amen. April sometime or end of April or May? May. Okay. She said, "Don't rush it." Okay. May. May. Amen. All right. Amen.
And they're going to do the victory song, and then Pastor Angelo will close us out in prayer. Happy Easter, everybody. Happy Easter.
on Apr 26, 2025
