So we pray, Loving Lord, Heavenly Father, we thank you today for your grace and your mercies that are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. We come with an attitude of gratitude. We come with an attitude of praise. Lord, we ask that you will accept our worship today. Please, Jesus, stop by this church today. May heaven come down and glory fill our souls today. This is my prayer, let God's people say, Amen.
You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
Happy Sabbath, everybody. God is good. And all the time, we serve a mighty God. It's great to be in the house of the Lord today where we can worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And I'm so excited to be a part of the family of God. Are you excited to be a part of the family of God? Let's wave your hand and say hallelujah. Praise the name of the Lord.
I greet you in the matchless and majestic name of Jesus Christ, our soon coming King. I want to also praise God for those who are joining on YouTube and Facebook. Thank you so much for joining with us, and we ask you just to subscribe. Click the link button. And if you have your phones, you can take them out and share the link with a family member or a friend as we celebrate our family life. What do you say?
No other persons are on there. We're coming, and some of our members are running a little late. But nevertheless, it's great to be in the house of the Lord. What do you say?
I want to let you know that there are some persons among us, before we go to announcements, that are sick and afflicted. We want to remember them at the time of prayer. And so also in a special way, Pastor Darren Hill and his family, as you know, he lost his baby girl. Tomorrow will be the Thanksgiving service at the First Church of Paterson at 12 noon. So we ask you, if you can, pass by just to lend your support.
Myself, Elder Smith, Elder Royal, Sister Ample, Sister Glory, and Brother Paul were present at Sister Hopewell's funeral yesterday. The family thanks you so much. Thanks to the church so much for the resolution, the greetings, accommodations, and condolences given to the family. They send their greetings to you all. Amen.
Praise the Lord. We're back here. My wife and I were a little bit away. God blessed us with seven souls for the one-week revival I did. God, we praise and we thank God for the time spent there.
Now we have a full-blown week. Before we get to the family life week, let me just take the other announcements. I want to remind you we have our 3:30 Bible class; it will be a short one as we make way for our AY service. We have a very special AY service this evening. Sister Dr. Kaila, my wife, will be looking at— I should have sent you that flyer. I'm sorry I didn't send you the flyer. But we're looking at restoring relationships, looking at conflict resolution. We want everybody to come out as we seek to talk together and work out different things among ourselves as we seek to have better relationships. Amen, somebody?
So we'll have the presentation, and you get to share your thoughts as we seek to do better as a church family. And even among ourselves, you know, we're looking at family conflict, how to work out repairing relationships in your family with your mom, your dad. You want tools to equip yourselves with your parents among us as church members and even among couples. It's going to be a fantastic time this evening. Amen.
It's not a harsh presentation; it's one where everybody will be included, and we'll all be talking together. Amen.
Anybody want to restore a relationship, keep a relationship in the hand of the Lord, please? Let's come out.
Now this week, we're going to invite our family life director to come in a minute, and she'll be outlining the week. It's a very intentional, deliberate week looking at all issues here at our church. Amen, somebody?
Based on our feedback, we asked questions, and we took the feedback, and we want to be very intentional. The Community Falcons Super Bowl Sunday will be this Sunday, or Power Finals. Come out, young people. It's tonight. I thought it was tonight. It's tonight. My bad. It's tonight. Right after we're finished with AY, soup will be on sale. So you don't want to miss that. Some of the best soup on the East Coast. Come on and say amen. I can testify to that. You don't want to miss that.
Alright, so let's support our Help Find a Club. Please, Britain, let's come out and support. We have a board meeting right after AY upstairs. The 50 Plus Ministry will be holding their pains and sick. Amen, somebody? We had a good time last week when we awarded our seniors, recognized them, and we'll be continuing with this on April 14 in the gym. And today's the last day to register, so please see Sister Masir Diaz as she helps you with this very special event.
We'll be postponing our prayer line. As you know, it's Super Bowl Sunday, so we'll be postponing it. We'll be postponing it. Maybe I should still have it for those who want to come on. Prayer is important. I'm having a change of heart. Alright, so if you can't come on, we don't want to stop it. Our plan was to pray for families. So if you have a prayer request, put it in the prayer box, and we will be praying for you.
Usually, we are on for just half an hour. That's our Zoom link. You can see our friends at the door, and you can hop on, and I'll be praying for you. Healing, restoration for families, for strength for the weak. Just come on. If you're driving, if you're at work, just come on the Zoom link, and I'll be praying for you. You put your request in the chat, and I'll be praying for you.
We have our Wednesday Night Word and Worship this Wednesday. It's a special one with our Family Life Week. We're looking at relationships with couples. Love. Well, it's Valentine's Day too, so it's all about love. And we have a very special presenter, Dr. Maynard Reed, who will be on. And you don't want to miss that. We'll give you more details.
Our Leadership Summit and Conference will be February 25. Next week, Sabbath, I'll give you the flyer. We'll have all the presenters; it promises to be very inspirational. And we're inviting not only our board members but the team. Once you're a board member in charge of a department, we invite your team with you as we seek to be trained and refocused for this year. Amen.
Women's Minister's Bible Study begins Monday, February 19, and it will be hosted every Monday on Zoom. The same login for Wednesday Night Meeting will be the one that we're using. The book the ladies are reading is "Daughters of Zion." See Sister Lorraine. Is Sister Lorraine here? Alright. Sister Lorraine, could you stand so the persons could see you? Even those who are not members of our church, if you want to join the book club and Bible Ministry Bible Study, you can see her.
Finally, we will be having our Journey Through the Psalms on March 2, the first Sabbath. The Sabbath School Ministry presents that special program, and we'll have breakfast at 8 a.m., transitioning into songs and poems and prayer beginning at 9:50. It's going to be a very, very power-packed and spirit-filled Sabbath. And we move right into our divine service with our evangelism summit. We'll be launching our evangelistic program. You don't want to miss that.
Mark your calendars for our Pathfinder's Fashion Show Fundraiser on April 13. Proceeds will go towards helping the Pathfinders for our Capri.
Now, could you go to the first slide? Invite our family life ministers to come right up here. We're going to give her a mic. Please stand beside me. Isn't she lovely today? Where is your husband? Brother Stephen, you did a good job. Amen.
Alright, go right ahead, Sister Annie. It's all about families today.
Good morning, community. Good morning. Welcome to our Family Life Week. It's very early in the year. Oh, she's smiling. Anxiety, stress, and stuff like that. Emotional.
So Monday is very important. We have Pastor Linval Williams, our chaplain from Maryland. He's been looking at "My Mind and Me." Very important as we seek to navigate mental challenges in our church. How do we identify them? How do we help each other to cope? We can also help each other. And also, where do we go for help, and what should we look for as we talk about a mental health therapist and so forth?
So it's "My Mind and Me." On Tuesday, Dr. Jeffrey Brown from the General Conference will be online, and he'll be talking to our parents, all our parents, all our young people. Everybody, it's a family program. He'll be ministering to us, and you'll be able to ask your questions as you seek to navigate parenting and relationships with your children. Some children have wandered away, and you're losing them. Brethren, let's come on. Let's come on. Come on the link, brethren. It's going to be very beneficial to you.
Wednesday... Yeah. Thursday night, we're looking at a grief counseling session. I'll be there hosting it and helping all of us as we have lost so many persons that you want to learn how to navigate grief, how to talk to somebody who is grieving. Sometimes we say the wrong things, and some of us need to talk and heal. So you'll be able to share your feelings in a confidential manner. We'll be, you know, just us as members. Hop on, and we'll do that.
Friday night is a worship family night, and we're saying wherever you are in your respective areas, open up your door if you can to another family and just call somebody over and have worship in each other. Amen, somebody?
So inviting families to find families, friends to find friends, and worship together. Amen. We're also trying to ensure that Brother Wilson and his wife will have persons over there to worship with them. They're looking forward to that.
So for example, where Sister Dani lives, she lives near to Jason. Not saying they should, but something like that. You get what I'm saying? The persons in the same area. Try to link up and have worship together, whether it's by phone, Zoom. But we want you guys to come together in a physical space and let's have a time of worship together. Amen, somebody?
I'm putting my foot out and opening up my mother's house. Yeah. She's here for the first time. In the evening, we look at "No Money, No Honey," looking at money matters. Amen, somebody? Did you know one of the highest rates for divorce is financial challenges in couples? So we're going to talk about it. It's going to be powerful, powerful. Whether you're married or not, money matters.
Come out at 4:30 as we close our Family Life Week. Yeah, so please support us for this week. Before Sister Annie goes, I just want to let you know there are persons who are trained to help you confidentially if you need assistance or you want to refer persons for counseling. My wife is a marriage and family therapist. She covers all areas. I specialize in addiction and recovery, grief counseling, and I also help out in premarital training if you're getting married and so forth.
Sister Lystra, Dr. Lystra, is an environmental psychologist. She's also available, as are Dr. Jacobs or psychiatrists for mental illness, bipolarism, and so forth, other mental challenges. So we have a team of professionals here that you can call on. We can refer you to persons and so forth to help you navigate mental challenges.
Some of these things we can't only pray, Bridget. Prayer is important, but God wants practical help. And He equips people to help you in that way. Amen, somebody? I like prayer, but I also love therapy. You always hear me say that. Very, very important. Don't forget.
Alright, God bless. Let's all stand together as we do our welcome song. You know, we're talking. Let's start some worshiping. Let's stand together. I know we're a little low in number today, but yes, and we want to also welcome our visitors right after the welcome song and identify the visitors as we worship together.
Let's move around as we worship. Welcome or praise sing. Welcome into the house of prayer. Let's all sing together.
Come on. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA. Welcome to Community SDA.
Praise the Lord. Clap your hands for all our visitors here. Praise the Lord.
Let's all stand together as we sing our opening hymn, "Just Obey," hymn number 590. Just obey, for there's no other way.
What He says, He will do. Praise the Lord, somebody. Amen.
At this time, we'll have our intercessory prayer as the praise team begins to sing when they prepare to sing. We invite a lovely couple. Amen, somebody. Brother and Sister Anthony. They'll be leading us into prayer. And as they give their opening remarks, the praise team will sing that song.
If you have a special thing you want to bring to the Lord in prayer, the altar is here. That's what the altar is for. So the kneeling pads are there. You can come right up. Come right up and lay your burdens to the Lord. Take your burdens to the Lord. Amen, somebody?
Praise the Lord. Thank you so much, Dwight, for allowing the Lord to use you as you always do. Sometimes in our greatest moments of adversity, in our greatest struggles, that's when the Lord really uses us to His name's honor and glory.
We're praying for your recovery, Dwight, and we are praising God that you are in His presence today with a joyful heart. You could have been in a sad state, but you've come here to offer your sacrifice of praise.
Happy Sabbath, everybody. Come on, we could do better than that. Happy Sabbath, everybody. Will the church say amen? Will the church say praise the Lord? If you're still happy to be alive, wave your hand and say hallelujah. Glory be to God; He's worthy to be praised.
I want to praise God for who He is. He's the captain of my ship, the savior of my soul, the spirit that permeates this place with its enduring presence. We give God thanks for what He's doing in the season of our church's life, and we thank God for His blessings upon us.
If you have your Bibles, won't you stand to your feet as we reverence the reading of God's holy word? We thank Elder Edifu so much for reading, and his lovely wife for reading earlier. We want to pick up this narrative and jump over to chapter 32.
Verse 22 says, "And he arose that night," who is Jacob, "and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over to the ford of Jabok." Chapter 32, verse 22.
Chapter 32 and verse 22. We jump down to verse 23 now. "He took them, sent them over to the brook, and sent over what he had." Verse 24 says, "Now when he saw that he did not prevail against him, the Bible says he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him."
You all know the narrative. Verse 26. "He said, let me go, let me go for the day breaks." Verse 26. "But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have wrestled or struggled with God and with man, and have prevailed."
Jump down to verse 30. "So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for he has seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
I want to put a tagline on this text, call it "Family Feud." If it was not Family Feud, they would have been wounded but still walking. But in the context of what we have, Family Feud. Family Feud.
Let's bow our heads as we pray. Spirit of the living God, full of flesh in all of us today. One more time, take now lips of clay, let them move by the impulse of your love. Lord, as I kneel in front of your people, as Ellen White reminds ministers to kneel in dependence on God, one more time, take this filthy man. Use me to your name's honor and glory.
All our righteousness are like filthy rags. None of us are righteous, the Bible says, no, not one. But we thank you for your grace that is always greater than our sins. So Lord, won't you heal broken hearts through your words today? We beg you, God, that you will set captives free.
We pray for special anointing this week as we seek to restore and renew and build on our relationships. We pray, God, that the devil will get a heart attack today as we seek to lift you up and tear the camp of Satan down.
So Lord, as we open the book to take a look, we pray that the devil will be terrified, your name will be glorified, and your people will be edified today. Come now, Holy Spirit, we need you. Come, sweet spirit, we pray. Come in thy strength and thy power. Come in thy own gentle way.
So let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be found acceptable in thy sight. Lord, you are our strength and our redeemer. Let the church of the Lord say amen.
Before you sit, let's touch your neighbor and say, "Neighbor," or wave to your neighbor if you don't want to touch them, and say, "Neighbor, I love you. I still love you. And there is nothing you can do about it."
That neighbor may be too bougie. Maybe they don't want to say anything to you, so touch yourself and say, "Self. Oh self, I'm too blessed to be stressed, too anointed to be disappointed." And I clap; He's worthy to be praised.
Family Feud. Chapter 27, verse 41 says, "So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau said to his father, 'The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my own brother.'"
There's a very popular television program that my mom likes to watch as we go to the screen. We call it Family Feud. Y'all know it, don't you? The game is so created by Mark Goodson, who showcases two families competing to name the most popular responses to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show is now hosted by renowned comedian Steve Harvey, but there was one episode when I was watching my mom when one family member got upset with the dad because every answer he gave was wrong, and they were losing points and losing money. And so to my amazement, as I watched the television show, the mother of the team there said, "We should kick him off the team. Kick the father off the team. Kick her own husband off the team."
But Steve Harvey said, "No, we can't kick him off the team. He's your husband, and he's family." Are you with me, saints of God? They wanted to kick him off the team, but he is your husband.
And while I'm at it, I want to recognize Elder Jermaine Clark. Thank you so much from Hackensack. Thank you so much for coming.
My brothers and sisters, this statement hits home for our story because the fact of the matter is, you cannot choose your family. Whether you came from a dysfunctional, functional, or dangerous family, you cannot choose the family God gave you. In fact, you can't even choose how you were born. But through Jesus Christ, you can choose how you become reborn.
And Jacob in the story is a pivotal personality for this particular passage, for he's born into a family of generational baggage and sinful proclivities. He's born a certain way because, get this, whether you like it or not, we are all born with the blessings and the curses of our families.
In fact, some of the things you struggle with, some of the things you don't like about yourself, some of the things you don't like about what you do, if you look closely, it came from your father or your grandfather or your mother's side.
And we have a test as counselors. When I did my master's program, they told us about the genogram test, which traces the history of mental illness in your family. We do a medical to get ourselves checked up. Are we together with it? Before you get married, you do a medical. You do premarital counseling. But we fail to check our partner's mental history, even ourselves.
It reminds me of a couple I was counseling. She didn't know the guy was prone to be bipolar, and she was wondering why he was acting how he was in the marital relationship. You see, we want to check the car facts, but we don't want to check ourselves.
Before I could go into Sister White, I got to check myself out. That's the best way I can put it. I had to check myself out. Medical history is important. Yes? Pre-marital counseling is important, but the genogram test helps us to see the family tree of mental history, whether you're prone to have an anger problem, a line problem, a bipolar problem, or maybe you're prone to have what we call diverse personalities. You know, people like that.
He was born into this name because if you looked at Jacob's family tree, there was a line of history of people being tricksters, liars, deceivers. His name meant one who manipulates. In fact, Jacob was born into a spirit of deception and lying, a relational issue, work with the preacher, that was predisposed and impregnated in his spiritual DNA.
Watch this. He had no control over his lying problem. It was just how he was born. I'm heading somewhere. Very important message today. He had no control over his manipulative issue. It was just how he was born.
Can I come down your road, stop at your gate, come park at your avenue for a bit? Whether you like it or not, there's some stuff that you can't fix about yourself. There's some issues in your whole life that you can't solve. There's some stuff in your marriage or your family that you can't fix. And you'll end up in a hopeless and helpless situation unless Jesus steps in.
Because there's some stuff that you only can get over unless you turn it over to Jesus Christ. Because get this, my first point as we go to the screen, my first point is Jesus not only orders our steps, but He often orders our stops not to break us, but to help us.
That's my second point. Let me look at the first one. Sometimes God orders our steps, but He also orders our stops to fulfill His purpose in us. What is the preacher saying? He has to often order our steps, but He orders our stops.
In other words, Jesus has to step in the way and get us out of the way before we go down a road of destruction. He got to step in the way to stop you from going down the road of marrying the wrong person. Step in the way to stop you from lying, to step in the way to stop you from malice in your marriage, to step in the way before you lose your mind at the workplace.
Jesus has to step in the way to stop you from hurting yourself. That's why the song says, "There is no secret what God can do. What He's done for others, He can do it for you." Will somebody say amen?
My brothers and sisters, it may be a different kind of message for you today before we get to the sweet juicy stuff. Let's look at some serious issues within our family structure. I'm happy I have problems. I'm happy I have issues because it shows me the need for my Jesus because none of us are perfect in the family of God.
We've got issues, you've got issues, personal issues, marital issues, emotional issues, family issues. In the church, we have relational issues, job issues, and I bet we all have this one, money issues. But thank God for Jesus who is able to fix all our issues once we allow Him to step in the way and we step out of the way.
And some of us, we can't get the healing that we get from trauma. Some of us, we can't find the forgiveness in our hearts. We can't get over an issue that we're having in our marriage or family because we are too much in the way of what God needs to do in making things right.
Because sometimes, watch this, God not only orders our steps, but He orders our stops. And so the passage brings to us Jacob's family, chapter 25, turn your Bibles there, verses 26 to 28. Isaac had how many sons? Two sons, Jacob and Esau.
Chapter 25, verses 26 to 28 says, the Bible says Esau came out first as a hairy, ferocious one, but with no hesitation, look on the screen, Jacob comes out, popping out, holding onto his brother's heel, Esau. Are you with me, saints of God?
Jacob, watch this, enters this world wrestling with a personal issue, holding onto something that doesn't belong to him. Fast-track to verse 29 of chapter 25, both brothers are big men. They're what? Big men. Esau and Jacob. The Bible says that Esau was the strong herdsman and worker in the field, an industrious man. He came home hungry, seized his brother cooking and cleaning in the house.
Jacob was a mama's boy, in Jamaican terms, a mama man. Y'all know those terms? You don't know what I'm talking about. He was very tender-eyed, soft. He was a soft kind of guy. He was a mama's boy, very different from his brother. There are a lot of mama's boys in our world today.
The kind of men, ladies, that watch everything that you do, watch how you spend your money, want to see the receipt for everything. If you can't say amen, just say ah. And you can't go anywhere. You can't go with your girlfriend, your brother, and sister, Tamisha. You don't got that drama in your life. Click, click.
You know those kind of guys, where you go? Where are you at? Oh, where are you at? Wherever you go, they're trying to figure out what... These kind of guys, they want to know what you're making, but you never know what they are making. Jacob was a mama's boy.
Esau saw Jacob cooking up some curried goat and oxtail with chicken. I'm sorry, wrong church. Wrong thing I'm saying. It's not lentil soup and curried veggie tofu, El Leroy. Praise God. That's what he was eating. Lentil soup and veggie tofu.
And if you want to be like Sister Archie, Carly Greens may have been in the mix. Peach cobbler, banana bread. He was hungry, and the Bible says, Esau begged Jacob, "Give me to eat." Jacob said, "I will give you if you give me your birthright."
Watch this. Jacob is taking something that doesn't belong to him. Are you still with the preacher today? I'm heading somewhere. Fast forward to chapter 27, verses 6 to 13. Jacob now hooks up with his mother, Rebecca. And by the way, mother also had a lying problem.
Rebecca hooks up with her son, devises a plan, fooled up the father or tricked the father to believe he was Esau because her father was blind. The Bible says in verse 27 of verse 41 of chapter 27. Here it is. When he heard and realized when Esau recognized he was tricked twice, once for his birthright and twice for his blessings, he said, "I will kill my brother as soon as my father is buried."
The Bible says Esau wanted to kill his flesh and blood. And even in the Church of God, you meet upon people, they'll smile in your face, but they really want to take your place, and they will stab you in the back. What a messed-up family, a real reality show. Jacob is a liar. His mother is a liar. And his uncle Laban also is a liar.
Jacob runs away from his brother's anger and seeks refuge in his uncle's home, Laban. Laban was the brother of Rebecca. And let me tell you something. Generational cycles are real in the church. And these are things we don't want to talk about. We want to talk about prosperity. We want to give it and have it and give it and have it. But many families are hurting because of bad choices made by generations before them.
Incest and divorce and rape and child abuse and verbal abuse are issues festering in our church. And many of us, the reality is we need therapy and not only prayer and fasting, but we need to go and get therapy because hurt people hurt people. I got a therapist. Separate from both of us because we all have issues in the church of God that we need to work on.
Are you still with the saints of God? Footnote to those who are dating, make sure you observe closely who you date and know the family and ask the Lord for spiritual discernment. Are you with the saints of God? Check the facts. Facts come first, feelings after.
We check the car facts to purchase a car. It's the same way we should check out the person who we're going to spend the rest of our lives with. Check the facts, then look at the feelings. Ladies, if you're dating a man for more than six months and you don't know his mom or dad, much less his parents, you're not the only one. There are many other ones. You can't say amen, just say ouch.
Laban, the Bible said, had two daughters. I'm moving quickly. I'm heading somewhere serious here. One was Leah, and the other was Rachel. The Bible fixed it nicely in the description. Leah was tender-eyed, but in plain Caribbean terms, she was cross-eyed. Y'all sit with the preacher? She was ugly. She was a hot mess, Sister Archie. She never looked good. Leah needed a lot of prayers and a full makeover from Sister Tamisha's place.
But the Bible says Rachel was gorgeous. She was beautiful in the fingertips. Her body was fine like wine. She was hot in the Holy Ghost. She had a Malaysian weave on. She wore a bracelet. She didn't buy low-grade ear. Because when you're a child of God, you've got to fix up yourself, ladies.
This is family life. Am I in family life? Let me talk to my married ladies in the house. Since family life, ladies, still be attractive for your husband. Don't be old and cold. Stay fine and fabulous. Don't be coming up in here all jacked up and looking like a hot mess. Fix up yourself. Look good. Smell good. Stay good. Because when you are happy, he's happy. Be happy for you. You're not here to please him.
Look good for yourself. Sister Blossom has a new hairstyle today. Amen. She thinks I won't call her out tonight. You've got to stay. And sometimes you say, "Pastor, this is a place we should talk about because people are watching."
And this is my challenge as a counselor and other counselors we talk about it. People are going on TikTok for relationship counseling. Young people are trying to figure out what is the right way to dress. How should we deal with men? How do we deal with men? They're looking on TikTok. And COVID had done a bad thing on our church because people now look to TikTok and Instagram Reels even for relationship counseling.
Even how to deal with themselves fashionably and Christianly and otherwise. But the issue of sexuality and the issue of family life and the issue of relationships should be discussed in the church. We got the blueprint here of how God wants us to live when somebody says amen.
It's all about feeling good about yourself, ladies. You go do your nails. Go to the gym. Do a facial. Do a massage. Look good. And feel good. And ladies, the poor man is trying to do his best to love on you, to give you all the things you need, and you're locked up because you're cross, angry, and miserable.
Open the supermarket. That's the best way you can put it. Every day can be red hills. Some women, every day they're upset and miserable, and some men can be annoying and boring. And these are the things we have to wrestle with when people come for marital counseling because we don't want to talk about it in the church.
Some women, every day they're miserable. Marriage is about compromise. Learn to love and work with each other. Fight or will somebody say amen? Find time to compromise.
Let somebody give God praise today. Sister, do me a favor. Let's rub your husband's head for me. Let's rub his head. You see, it's a long time he's asking you. Look at his face. You got him locked down. This is family life. We're not doing anything inappropriate. That's family life.
Our kids must see, hold some family values, hold some love when somebody says amen. Hold some relationship between a man and a husband, a husband and a wife, a wife and a husband when somebody says amen. Brother Archie looks much better now. Not saying that since Archie, I know you're taking care of him, but he's being happy today.
And man, let me talk to my man. I'm hastening on, but I got to put this in, man. Clip the toenail. Rub down your foot sometime. Fix up yourself too. You're coming on with your rough, rough legs. I mean, you can't say amen to yourself. Scraping up the poor lady's legs.
I mean, you can't say amen to yourself. Scraping up the poor lady's legs. Cut down the beard. Groom yourself because we're fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm biblical. I'm in my text. We're children of the most high God. We should look the best. Clip down the beard so she can kiss those lips.
Jacob wanted Rachel, not Leah. Rachel was the kind of girl who always had her weave at a weak one point. She always had her natural hair done together. Her pencil skirt was well done. She had her shoes from Neiman Marcus. She was flying all the way to the sky.
But the Bible says though Rachel was beautiful, the brother worked seven years and got the wrong woman. Those days for sexual pleasure, you would not see the face of the bride until the time after the wedding ceremony. And so his body was turned on and turned up and turned on.
And to his amazement and disappointment, when he unveiled the veil, he got the wrong woman. Her eyes were crossed-eyed. It was Leah because, get this, Jacob didn't check the facts to make sure he had the right lady. He went on feelings.
Facts over feelings. Leah tricked him. I'm done now. A second point. He had lied to Jacob. And so Jacob decided to work seven more years for Rachel's hand. But notice what the Bible says in verse 41.
And after 14 years away from his brother Esau, the Bible says Esau still hated his brother for 14 years and still wanted to kill him. Chapter 27, verse 41.
Application. This is so applicable to some of us in the body of Christ. In our relationships, we have unforgiveness in our hearts. We don't want to forgive our brother or sister or husband or wife. Unforgiveness is one of the major diseases that the devil is using to break up families. Are you with me?
And cause church hurt not to go away. Time magazine, in an article, "Forgiving Others is Good for Your Health," says people with greater exposure to stress over their lifetimes had worse mental and physical health due to unforgiveness. Researchers also discovered that if people were highly forgiving of both themselves and others, that characteristic alone virtually eliminated stress and mental illness when we learn to forgive.
And let me tell you something, brother. I say it all the time. I have no time to be holding up people in the church or in my family. I have no time for that because the Bible says an unforgiving soul will not enter the kingdom of God.
It doesn't matter how old you look. It doesn't matter how much time you give to the church. It doesn't matter how righteous you think you are. It doesn't matter how much you keep the prophecies and how well you keep the commandments. If there's unforgiveness in your heart, you will not see the kingdom of God.
Listen to the preacher today. And then White says in the book "Ministry of Healing" that some of the sickness and medical challenges that were affecting our bodies are often caused by unforgiveness, stress, and anxiety, and madness when it's harnessed in our minds and our bodies.
We will become sick, but today many of us need a touch from Jesus. I don't know about you, but I want Jesus to touch my mind and touch my body and touch my soul.
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me. Take me, mold me, break me. Spirit of the living God, listen to the preacher today. The Bible says after 14 years, Esau still had anger towards his brother.
Even though Jacob sent his brother gifts, sent him cattle, sent him his wife and children, his nieces and his nephews, Jesus had to step in. Can I close this sermon?
Chapter 32, verse 24. The Bible says Jacob was left alone, alone at midnight, alone with no one to talk to, alone to wrestle his sins, alone to think about his mistakes, alone to reflect on his shortcomings.
Have you ever been alone before? Alone in your brokenness, alone in your sins, alone when everybody has alienated you, alone with nobody to talk to. But I'm so glad it's in these alone moments that Jesus steps in and picks a fight with us. Not to hurt us, but to humble us.
Sometimes God orders our stops to wrestle His will in us, not to hurt us, but to help us. I'm a living witness. Have you ever been there before? Alone in your mess, alone in your stress, alone until you feel far from God, no friends, no money, hopeless and helpless.
Help the preacher today, Holy Spirit, alone to fight your fears, alone to fight your anxieties. Jacob was fearful for his life. He had no one to turn to. Jacob was left alone with his issues, alone to fight with himself.
Jacob had a personal issue that he was blaming his brother for, but his brother was not the issue. Can I talk to my church? Do we all have stuff where we need to work out at the altar with God? Do I have a witness today?
We have some stuff in our lives that we're blaming other persons, we're deflecting to other people, but the issue is not with them; it's with our own self. And so Jacob had to be alone so that Jesus came in angelic form, picked a fight with Jacob, and he wrestles with Jacob because in these moments we gotta be like the songwriter and say, "Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole. I want you forever to live in my soul, break down every idol."
All of us need to sing this song, "Cast out every foe, and wash us, Holy Ghost, be with the church and community, wash us."
The Bible says a heavenly messenger, Michael Jesus, the archangel, came in pre-incarnate form, came before His time, before the cross, and He picks a fight with Jacob, not to hurt Jacob, but to help him.
I'm done; here it is, final point. Sometimes in order for you to walk in purpose, I won't be long, amen, somebody, God has to break you to make you. Can I help somebody today? Some of us need some breaking.
Break us of our masturbation problem, our pornography problem, our addiction to sexual immorality outside of marriage. Break us of our lying and our malice and our hypocrisy. Sometimes God wants to break us, but we have to allow God to break us.
You see, we like the blessing, but we don't like the breaking. Am I preaching right today? Is there somebody in our sins? I always say we'll be alright, I'm good. One day the cup is going to run over if you don't go and seek the proper help for yourself.
We're unforgiving to our husband or wife, sickness that you can't find a solve or find a problem to solve the solution rather. But today, can I tell you, all you got to do is allow God to break you and to make you.
Take your mind, take your body, take your anxiety, take your children, take your marriage, take your family, take my will and make it fine, take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, today.
We all have to stop fighting God and let God win the wrestling match. Let go and let God picture them in the theater of your minds. Look at the street, the two men, the God-man fighting a madman, Jacob. You can't fight God and win.
You can't fight God. Picture them in the theater of your minds, these two men fighting, but Jesus wears Jacob's strength out to win the battle. The application reminds me of one of my favorite boxers, Muhammad Ali; they call him the GOAT. You all know him, don't you?
He was fighting George Foreman. Was it George? No, Joe Frazier. He was fighting Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier was an undisputed champion of the world, and Muhammad Ali was an upcoming boxer. He was fighting Joe Frazier, brother, and as he was fighting Joe, he was skipping around for a couple of the rounds, and Joe Frazier was bigger in size.
He was much more muscular in his physical anatomy. Muhammad Ali was more of a slimmer version of Joe Frazier. Muhammad Ali had something called... And Joe Frazier, first round, second round, third round, he was packing all the traps. The commentators were saying, "What is Muhammad Ali doing? Why isn't he fighting?"
Muhammad Ali was laughing and cheering him, taking the blows to his body. By the time he got to the eighth round, Joe Frazier was now losing strength and slowing down. And that's when Muhammad started to move faster. And he poured on the jabs. By the time he got to the ninth round, bam, he was a knockout.
And that's what Jesus did to Jacob. Jacob couldn't fight Jesus all night long. Sometimes you gotta let go and let God knock you out. So you can come to a place when you're not down, you're on your knees. And you say, "It is me, it is me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my mother, not my father, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer."
Jacob said, "I will not let you go till you bless me." Because I need more strength. The word bless me said I need more strength. I need help to fight my issues. God, I'm not gonna let you go till you bless me.
God is something to Jacob. He reminded Jacob, "You are a man. You can't beat me. All you need to do is surrender to be here." He hit out the hip of Jacob's leg. Jacob is now walking with a limp. Walking like Dwight, yeah, like Dwight.
Notice, if you will, the touch that Jesus gave him was not to kill him, but to bless him. What do you mean, preacher? Not to hurt him, but to humble him. Not to break him, but to make him. Because Jesus is in the saving business. Jacob was wounded, but he was still walking. Will somebody say amen?
But he was leaning. Come on, Jesus, come. You have a powerful name. Jesus, come on, Jesus, come. Jacob was limping, but he was leaning. Because sometimes God has to leave you with a limp to remind you of who God is.
He gotta give you a limp in your marriage, a limp in your relationship, a limp at the workplace, a limp with your children, to remind you that He is God and you are man. Don't thank God for your limp because your limp allows you to lean.
Come on. And when you lean, you're leaning on Jesus. Will somebody say amen? I'm leaning, but I'm limping. I'm limping, but I'm leaning. I'm leaning, but I'm limping. And as I lean, I lean on Jesus.
What a fellowship. What a joy divine. I'm leaning, I'm limping, but I'm leaning on... touch me, I'm leaning, touch me, touch me, I'm leaning. Yes. I've learned how to lean and depend on Jesus. He's my friend, and He's my God.
Anybody want to lean on Jesus today? Take a stand with a preacher. I'm done. Quick sermon. Take a stand with a preacher today.
The Bible says Jesus walked past Peniel. Peniel means a place of struggle, a place of pain. But sometimes your place of struggle can be a place of purpose for you. Will somebody say amen?
Sometimes your pain can give you gain. Because the Bible says after he passed Peniel, the sun arose. Will somebody give God praise? And just for a night comes in the morning.
Thank God for that limp. That limp is the only thing that will keep you under the battle of Jesus. Glory in your adversities because they teach your patience. They teach your fortitude. And they keep you leaning on Jesus.
Today you're saying, "Pastor, I need to lean on Jesus more in my life. I got issues. Trauma. Generational baggage. Generational cycle." But today you can bring it to Jesus, and He can break the chains.
You don't got to be a rapist like your dad. You don't got to be an adulterer like your mother. You don't got to be a prostitute. You don't got to be a liar. You don't got to be a drinker. You don't got to be a smoker. There is room at the cross.
Listen to the preacher today. He can break your chains and set you free. You want to walk out and you say, "Pastor, I need help." But I'm going to ask you to pray. 9-1-1 help. Come on out. Come on out. 9-1-1 help. Come on out.
Run for your life today. Run out of your seat. Come. I'm your heavenly... You're in your issues. You're going through your struggles. There's some stuff in your life that you want to surrender to Jesus. Leave them out today.
Leave your family trauma. Leave your brokenness. Leave your issues. Walk out of your seat. Run for your life. Run for your life. Run to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Give your Jesus a second chance.
Give Him a chance in your life. Hear my humble cry. Yes. Come on up to Jesus. Come on up. Come, sister. Come. Come. Come right up here. Come right up here.
Yes. My second sentence of sin that song. That's my second point. You're saying, "Pastor, I need you to come and pray for me. I need special prayer. I need special attention." Just raise your hand. Raise your hand wherever you are. Special prayer for you, for your family. You're going through your issues. Just raise your hand.
If you raise your hand, just come to the altar. Come right up here. Come, my brother. Come. Come. Come. If you raise your hand, just come right up to the altar. Walk out of your seat. Walk out of your seat as my interest comes.
Can I turn on the music a little bit? Turn on the music a little bit. My interest team is coming with the cards. I need those cards. Write your name, write your number. You want the pastor to work with you? You want me to work with you? Write your name, write your number. I'm gonna call you. I'm gonna call you. I'm gonna pray with you. I'm gonna work with you.
Yes, hear my humble cry. My final appeal invited married couples to come. Couples come. Families are coming. Come with your family. Come with your children. Come with your children. Yes, trusting. Come with your family. Come right up here. Come right up here.
Let's fill up the gaps over here. Come right up here. Come right on here. Come right on here. Come right on here. Would I seek your face? Come right on here. Come right on here.
Yes, you give my friend the card in the back. Yes. Come on, Thomas. Come right up here with your wife. Come right up here. Come right up here.
Come leaders. Come right up here. Come right up here. Fill up the gaps here. Yes. Lift up your hands. Come, let me pray for you. Come right up here. Come, Sister Macintosh. Come in here. Come, come in here.
Okay. Yes. God bless you, Destiny. I'm going to pray for you. God understands the tears. The tears are a language that God understands. Somebody just hug Destiny for me. Hug Destiny for me.
Let's Savior. Come, mommy. Let me pray for you. Come in, Claudine. Come in, mother. Come. Come in. Let me pray for you. Let me pray for you. Come right up here. Walk out of your seat.
Yes. Mothers are coming. Daughters are coming. Come right up here. I want to pray for you. I want to pray for you. I want to lift up your name to Jesus. Come right up here, mommy. You know I love you, mommy. Come right up here.
Yes. Come right in front of me. One more time. Savior. Save me. Bring the change. Set me free. Bring the change. Set me free. I don't want to be the same.
Yes. Hear my humble cry. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. One another's calling. One another's now calling. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus.
Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. We're going to pray. Let's make sure you write your name. Write your name. Write your number. Write your address so I can take your card tonight. Before I go to bed, I'll pray over your card. I'll call your name to God. I'll call your number. I'll call your address.
I'll be specific to God because we need to break these chains from the enemy. The Spirit of God has revealed to me there are addictions plaguing our church. But God wants you to break free. Fasting is good, but some of us need some immediate therapy.
God has blessed dentists to deal with our teeth. God has blessed doctors to deal with our bodies. And you trust them. Won't you trust the doctor to deal with you and help you with your mind? To help you with your issues.
God has blessed people with that ability. I love prayer. I believe in spiritual intervention. But sometimes God gives us practical intervention that we need to take advantage of.
So Lord, as I lift up my hands now, I pray for every burdened person here. Days are filled with sorrow and care. Hearts are weary and gloomy. But the songwriter says our burdens are lifted at Calvary. Jesus, you are very near.
We ask you, divine God, we have burdens we are wrestling with. Issues in our hearts. Burdens for our children. A burden for a son. A burden for a daughter. A burden for a father. A burden in our marriage. A burden with relationships with each other. In our finances, sickness is rocking our body.
We got the burdens, Lord, but we come to you because you are the burden lifter. You are the problem solver. You are the family counselor. You are the mind regulator. Because whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
I lift up my hands, cleanse me, God, for my righteousness so as I pray for your people, you will not allow my iniquities to block the face of God. So I pray for sweet anointing to fall upon every worshiper.
People are wrestling with stuff, personal issues, job issues, family issues, addiction issues, marital issues, emotional issues, money issues, a sickness issue. Oh God, we beg you, Father, that you break some chains today. Set some people free.
I pray for an anointing of healing. Mental healing is troubling our churches today. Anxiety and depression, fear. But I pray for mental healing. I pray for spiritual healing. I pray for physical healing. I pray for relational family healing. Marital healing. In the name of Jesus Christ.
So Lord, take our leadership, heal us. Take our church, heal us. Take the pastor's family, heal us. Take the praise team, heal us. The musicians, the deaconry board, the ushers, the elders, all members, all young people, heal us.
As if my people were called by my name, humble ourselves and pray. Seek of your face and turn from a wicked way. As you'll hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land.
We'll leave everything into your hands now, we pray. Pray for those who have their cards. Sister Destiny here, touch her, Lord. Give her strength and faith and healing. Whatever she's going to stand with her, never leave nor forsake her. Devil, take your hand off her.
And honestly, we claim her for the kingdom of God. Because all the tears, Lord, tears are the language that God understands. We pray for her father and her mother that you'll bless them and unite the family.
Pray for others who have cards. Pray for Sister Claudine's mom. She continues to come. We pray for her that you'll give her the strength to surrender into God. Pray for my friend here that you touch her too. Bless her and everybody else that took cards and everybody else that came to the altar.
Bless us, Lord. Heal us, Lord. Save our families. Save our children. Give some of them a prodigal son experience. A Damascus road experience, if you will. Open up their eyes.
We pray to the foot of the cross. We pray for wandering girls and wandering sons. Mothers and fathers who are praying night and day. Lord, won't you hear them? Grant to them the victory.
So Lord, as we go, consecrate us now to thy service, Lord. By the power of grace may our souls with a steadfast hope and all our wills be lost in thine.
So let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be found acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, you are our strength and our redeemer. Let the church say amen. Amen.
Lift up your hands and say hallelujah. God be praised. God be praised. God be praised. You can return the cards. This is the maritime. Praise the Lord, somebody. Amen.
We are preparing for this week. I'm asking you, church, please, brethren, let's come out this evening at 4:30 for a special presentation. My wife will be leading that out. She will help us to be better relationally.
When people come back to church, how do we talk with them? How do we talk to each other? When things go wrong, what do we do? We need to talk together about that. So Sister Wife will lead that discussion this evening at 4:30 PM. Amen, somebody?
Let us come and support. Be present. Be in the midst. You never know what can happen to help you navigate whatever you're going through. Amen.
So we meet here this evening, Sunday morning at nine. We check in, check out yourself. You know, see what's happening with yourselves emotionally. I had to check myself when I realized at the time I had high stress. I think it was high stress my wife was telling me at the time. But I'm better now. Amen, somebody?
So we gotta make sure that you check out yourself. Because you don't want some, you know, just last week a friend of mine, he was riding his bike. He left his wife and one daughter. He's just about maybe twenty, twenty-four years old. And he was riding, and he just collapsed and died.
He was always riding and doing stuff, but he had an issue. Stress. Sometimes we pray a lot, but we need the practical help. Amen, somebody?
And as Caribbean people, some of us as Caribbean people, Latinos too, we need to get this thing in. Even black Americans, all of us. Let me say all us black people, we all bucket some stuff in. But we need to talk to somebody. Talk it out. Process with somebody who can help you navigate what you're going through. Amen, somebody?
So this evening, we will have that Conflict Resolution presentation. Sunday, we come Monday. We will have a very special one online. I ask you just to come on wherever you are, you're driving, and just hop on and just participate.
We'll have question and answer Tuesday. It's a very important one with Doctor Jeffrey Brown. You don't want to miss him from the General Conference. Very, very good presentation for our parents. Bring your children on so we can all have that conversation together.
And as we move on, we will notify you of the different times and programs as we continue this week. Amen, somebody? We thank God for the family life department, Sister Annie and the team. Amen.
And we are praying that these presentations will be very beneficial to us all. Amen. Praise the Lord.
Let us sing that song. Let the church say amen as we leave. Amen, somebody? Praise the Lord. Just want to remind you next week's Sabbath my wife will be speaking a very powerful word.
We're looking at purpose through relationships all of this month. So Brother Chris will close. We'll still have the decoration up as we close relationships through purpose. We're looking at relationships with ourselves and God. That's what Brother Chris will be looking at on the last Sabbath of this month. He'll tie things around that.
And then in the month of March, we're looking at our revival and reformation, revival through purpose. Revival, revivals again. And so we ask you just to bear in mind those two notices. Our week of prayer, youth week of prayer, March 16 to 23, and right after that, we continue with our revival to the end of March into the first Wednesday night of April. Amen, somebody?
So please, as we see, March is very important. We're launching our evangelism month as we move into spring, and we have six months of intensive outreach as we culminate with our tenth revival in August. I believe it's August 8, right after Gillette.
Alright, so please let's pray about these programs. Pray for the personal interest team and everybody as we work together. God bless you. See you at the door.
on Feb 10, 2024
