 you for waking us up this. Thank you for your loving kindness that you showed us this last past week. Lord, thank you for the privilege that you've given us to come into your house today to praise and to worship you. We ask that your shekinah glory fall upon our hearts. Hallelujah. Lord God, receive our praise and our worship today. Meet us here as you met the Samaritanister to our hearts. Lord God, receive our praise and our worship. Annoying every portion of this service on today will forever worship and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to be reading from Psalms, 23rd Psalms. Amen. Amen. We should all know that one by heart. Okay, ready? Yes. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastor. Yes, Lord. He leadeth me besides the still water. He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, so I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I would fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff thy comfort me. Thy prepares the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thy anoints my hand with all. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's the word of the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah. What a promise we have in the Lord to be able to dwell in his house forever. Amen. Hallelujah. We're here to lift up the name of Jesus this morning and give him all the glory. I'll never forget Lord God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh God is so good. He's so kind and merciful unto us. Hallelujah. And he even promises us that one day we will be with him in eternity. Hallelujah. The word of God describes it so beautifully. And this was one of brother Edwards. It was his favorite song. Hallelujah. He loved this song because he desired to be in the presence of the Lord and that's what we should be seeking for. That's what we should be striving for is to be in God's presence. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. I can only admit when I see what it will be like. Hallelujah. When I walk by your side I can only imagine what my eyes will see is before me. I can only I can only imagine surrounded by what it will be larger when that day. Bless the Lord. Can you imagine to be on the streets of gold to be in the presence of the king? Amen. Take a seat if you can. And we want to recognize all of our visitors that includes anyone that is not a member or hasn't been here for a long time. We just ask you to stand so we can recognize you today. We're just so happy to have you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. We want you to know that you are welcome to come and to worship with us at any time and we are so honored that you took the time to come and to worship with us. Amen. Take your seats. Go give my hand if you will saints of God. What a blessing. What a blessing. We don't take that for granted. Right now I'm going to have minister Amber wise. She's going to come and she's going to bless us. Then after that our bishop is going to come and bring us a powerful word. Amen. Amen. Greet them as they come in Jesus name. And I can only imagine. Amen. There's so much going on in the world today. Amen. And how many know it's such a privilege and an honor to serve the Lord today. Amen. Keeps us safe. And he just provides for us. Amen. Worship us. We sing this morning. Jesus God for saving me because we don't have brain power enough enough to know all but I thank him for that that I know that he's done for me God that I can testify that he makes a difference in a life. That's my testimony. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I was lost and undone but Jesus came and he claimed me as his own. I'm so glad. So glad. Words can't express my vocabulary. Certainly can't express how great God really is. But our testimonies thank the Lord for the anointing on the service. Amen. God visit us. He comes to us and he encourages us. He leads us. He guides us. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank the Lord because he helps us to understand what he requires. And when the requirements are set forth, we understand we don't have to do it all by ourselves. Hallelujah. Thank God that he walks with me. He talks with me. He directs my path. And he tell me not that this and I thank God that he is such a wonderful Savior. I'm excited to see each of you who are here today. I thank the Lord for those who are visitors. And I thank the Lord especially for my nephew. Amen. Amen. Michael Sykes. Amen. The Lord is good. He's looking good in New York. Amen. God is good. Glad to have him here. I'm glad to see the Adams also. Amen. The Lord bless you. God bless you. Let's see. Who else? Who else do we have that I'm not mentioning? All right. Maybe that's all the visitors. All right. I'll go up. Go ahead. All right. If a visitor doesn't wish to be acknowledged if they, you know, let's say a prerogative. I'm not saying there's anybody who's in that. That's just my position. All right. The Lord is going to speak to our hearts today. I thank the Lord because he loves us. He loves and he has great compassion upon us as we struggle through these last and evil days. And I've heard down through the years, oh, my musicians, let's say hallelujah for our musicians. Amen. Our musicians are on top of it. And I thank the Lord for them. Amen. The scripture said, play skillfully on the instruments and that they do. All right. The Lord leads us and guides us and he gives us strength to go on the rest of the way. We often say I've come too far to give up now. That's right. That's right. I've been walking with Jesus for a long time. I've been tested and tried for a long time. And I'm glad to say I'm not tired yet. Amen. Not tired yet. Not yet. And I don't expect to get tired before this journey is over because I am a child of the King and he's my daddy. And he loves me. So I'm delighted to be in the Kingdom of God. Let me call your attention this morning still to Ephesians chapter number two. This is one scripture. This passage is one that is very dear to me. It helps us understand who we are, where we come from and what another can do to assist us in our journey. As we travel through this land singing as we go pointing souls to Calvary to the crimson flow, many arrows pierce my heart from without within. But my Lord leads me on through him. I must win. I'm determined to win the race this morning. I brought my old Bible. I brought my old Bible and I'm going to take some of the notes out of my old Bible and the Lord is going to speak to us. And he's going to help us. He's going to satisfy our soul. In Ephesians chapter number two, this is a very familiar passage. I'm going to read into your hearing down through verse 10. And then I'll go on from there. All right. Now this is this is the apostle Paul writing beginning at verse number one. And you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Now he said two mouthfuls right there. He said you're in a different place than where you started. You started out you were born in sin shaping an iniquity, didn't love God, didn't love his people, weren't anxious to do the right thing. He said but wherein time past he walked according to the course of the world. He said now you're in the body of Christ. He said but look back over your shoulder and you'll see how you were no better than all the the rank centers there. And you lived according to that, to the prince of the power of the air who was the devil. He said among whom verse three went to whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh. Fulfilling the desire of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others. He said you would like all the rest of them, all the rest of the sinners. You were no different. You couldn't control yourself or you wasn't willing to control yourself just like everybody else. He said you was jacked up from the floor up. You needed some help. He said and so I I quickened you and when he says quickened he said I gave you life quicken is the light. Verse four, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sin had quickened us together with Christ by grace ye are saved. He said when you didn't care about God and you were living in a worldly atmosphere and going along with the gang God has rich mercy but God who in who is rich in mercy he's not staging a mercy he's got plenty mercy pause here because sometimes even in the body of Christ perhaps someone will make a misstep. They'll miss the mark sometimes the other soldiers in the army will catch one who's down and kick it won't let him up have no mercy I knew they wasn't doing right all the time so God has mercy. He has he shows us mercy. Now if you can't give mercy you can't receive mercy. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed they're happy. Let me get them back but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sin had quickened us together with Christ by grace or you saved. He said now you're saved. You're not living the life you used to live because God quickened you and gave you his spirit and his spirit caused you to catch. He said by grace ye are saved and has raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. He said don't over evaluate who you are all saints are saints but you didn't get here by yourself regardless of what you've done. You didn't bring salvation to yourself. You can't get salvation without going through Jesus. So he said he sent to you saying to us that we belong to Jesus. We need to understand that we need him every step of the way. The songs that the praise team sang this morning some of them just fit so so well and I like the one when they got to Jesus I'll never forget what you've done for me. Jesus I'll never forget how you set me free. I was bound in sin and I couldn't help myself in spite of the fact that I tried to behave. I tried to stay out of trouble but it just wasn't the art of the day for me because I needed somebody to help me. It was more than I could bear and Jesus knew when he saw me that you're not capable of being a challenge for the devil. He said I'll help you. I'll strengthen you. I'll give you what you need to persevere. He had raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Jesus, in Christ Jesus, that in the age to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved? Through faith and that not of yourself it is the gift of God. Not of works, let's any man should boast while we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in him. It was foreordained that you would line up. You were born with a purpose and you couldn't fulfill your purpose until you lined up with the Word of God and that's by receiving the gift of his spirit. The gift of his spirit is I like to say it like this, when you see a person laying on their dying bed and they're still breathing and finally they go, that's the spirit leaving. But see the Lord wants his spirit to be in us because he claims us. We're his family. Now let me just give you a little insight on this second chapter. In the second chapter the Jews were, they had it in for the Gentiles and they say they can't be saved because they're not circumcised. So they set their standard as to what God was requiring and they ran back and they were sure that that was the truth. So now this is the foundation I just read for you. Now I want to, okay, I want to begin to emphasize some things over here beginning at chapter, I mean verse number 11. It says, well, I missed his one point. Well, we are his workmanship in Christ Jesus unto good works. What that verse right there says, you are God's project. He says, I'm going to take a sinner and I'm going to put my spirit in them and I'm going to work on them, work on them, work on them, no matter what comes, no matter what goes. I'm going to work and work and work. They're my pet project and I'm not going to stop working on them till they become perfect. Come on, how about that for an assurance? The Lord said I'm going to work on you when you make a misstep. I'm going to say get up from there and keep going. He said, I'm going to give you courage. I'm going to give you strength. Because you are my pet project, how about it's good to be a pet project of Jesus Christ the righteous. Hallelujah. That makes me feel good. Sometimes I'm not satisfied with who I am. I know the rest of y'all perfectly. Sometimes I don't feel like I, you know, I don't feel like I got it made perhaps like somebody else would. And I know that I can lean on him. I know that it is promised to me that he's going to keep working on me. He's not going to ever forsake me. He'll never let me down. The only way we can become a part is I got to leave him and I ain't leaving him. I'm holding on to God, so change your hands. He's everything to me. Hallelujah. Amen. I got a baby clapping back there. Praise God. Hallelujah. Verse 11. Wherefore, remember that ye being in time pass Gentiles in the flesh who are called un-circumcised. But that which is called the circumcision is the flesh made by hand. He said, God didn't do it. The flesh did it. That at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and stranger from the covenant of promise having no hope and without God in this world. Now that's scary. When you find yourself in a position where you have no hope and without God in this world you in bad shape. I can't imagine how it must be. See the Lord brought me out a good while ago and he put me in the family, but I can't imagine how it must be to try to get through this time that we live in in this society and have any kind of hope. When I get in trouble I got somebody to call on. Come on somebody and you know the thing about it is in this situation like that when you get in trouble you don't have to start a prayer almighty and everlasting God. Now who are willing to more willing to listen than us to pray? No, no. When you get in trouble all you got to do is say Jesus! And when you call his name he's right there. You get to know that he's right there beside you all the way and that's a comfort to know that there's nothing that can come against you that's going to cost you to lose out. You just hold on to God's unchanging hand. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Now they were separated from God the Gentiles separated the the Jews separated the Gentiles from themselves and they put up a barrier from God where Gentiles and uncircumcised people could never get to God. That was their theology. Thank God. We were without Christ and we were aliens from God's people who was Israel and so an alien is one from another country who has no right in the present country. He said we were strangers from God's covenant and promises. We had no claim on what God had to give to mankind to ease their situation. We were without hope without God. Then verse 13 comes with that great conjunction but but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Come on somebody. He said he said what used to be an obstacle for you when the Jews refused to let you in anybody know about wanting to get in and you can't get in no kind of way and you're looking you say seem like it's a little open slot right there I'll ease through that and when you get to there you they had a barrier up but verse 13 said in spite of what they were doing in spite of the barriers that were before you he said but now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh and it was by the blood of Christ. Oh thank God for Calvary thank God that he cared enough thank God that he saw our plight and he was willing to help us and so he got off his throne wrapped himself in a human flesh and he said I'll be what is needed for every mankind not just the Jews he said but it'll be for worldwide everybody on the face of the earth hallelujah so he wrapped himself up and he came on down and he said I'm willing to pay the price for your sins your sins your sins your sins your sins he said I'm willing now I can't imagine that Jesus was just up in heaven on a picnic and thought he would extend extend his picnic down on earth it was a great great emotion for him to even come down he had to wrap himself up in sinful flesh in human flesh and he was willing to pay the price from my salvation at this point when the praise he was singing I'm a witness the Jesus will make a difference in your life I can testify to that I said I can testify to God God opened doors made ways saved spirit my life all kind of stuff and like I said before we don't even know how to praise him like he ought to be praised because we don't know what all he's doing when we're acting crazy and and thinking we're all right and he said I'm gonna hold on to you I'm not letting anything take you out I'll be a shield against the adversary of your soul he said you can be sure I've made a promise that I'm gonna bring you through I made a promise you're gonna be all right hallelujah and so I'm a witness that Jesus make a difference in your life hallelujah I've been walking with Jesus and I've not regretted it not one day come on somebody yes tests and trials will come your way and people will put all kind of obstacles in front of you trying to prevent you from getting over and when they find out you're a child of God they say oh I got one here hallelujah amen I can witness to that I have that testimony three intelligent fellows want to take me to lunch when they took me to lunch they start questioning my philosophy on religion they start talking all kind of foolishness and I let them talk because it didn't bother me amen the Lord gave me the strength and the wherewithal and I witnessed to them and then one of them came back for another dose and I told him I said you're really a nice guy I sure hate to see you go to hell I'm confident in where I stand there's no question in my mind whether I've got it right or not I've got Jesus and that's enough for me because he can make everything all right I count on him and I found that I can trust in him in his word and he never fails he's never failed yet not yet hallelujah and he ain't gonna he can't fail hallelujah thank you Jesus but now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Jesus he said you were way off base in your theology in your self satisfaction about how you're doing you're preparing yourself well I'm much better than Susie way better than Johnny but that ain't the standard that's right that's not the standard holiness is the standard living free and separated from sin is the standard hallelujah for for he is our peace Jesus is our peace who have made both one and have broken down the middle wall of petition between us now when Jesus died on the cross the petition between between the holies split from the top to the bottom and what that meant that now everybody who wills whosoever will let him come let him come there's no barrier now it's broken down you can get to Jesus by yourself you don't have to go to the priest or the preacher or whatever you need to go to Jesus come on somebody you can go to Jesus by yourself having a abolished in his flesh the enmity even the law of commandment contained in ordinance or to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace yeah so Jesus began to make a new man he said far far to make in himself yeah of twain he said I got two I'm gonna make them one and by making them one there will be peace now thank God for the peace you know I I could say some of those might have split personalities and the law says I want to make you one I don't want you to struggle with yourself I don't want you to to wonder if you're going crazy or have gone crazy he said whatever the confusion I find in you I want to bring it together I want to make it one yes thank God for Jesus who's able to do that yeah and he said you want to make it one that he might recon reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross having slain the enmity thereby he said I'm going to go to the cross he said what a gift for you what a help that you're receiving because I'm willing I have the power I have the knowledge he said all knowledge it comes from me he said and so you don't have to worry about it he said because I'm gonna do what I need to do in you if you let me come on somebody and that he might reconcile both the Gentiles and the Jews unto God in one body by the cross having slain the enmity thereby all that mankind would be willing to surrender all that they would lose their pride all that they would surrender their life unto the king of kings and the lord of lords what kind of world might this be can't imagine it can't wrap my head around that but that was what what Jesus called himself to do he said I'm going to take it on myself and I'm going to go down I'm going to give my life shed blood for their sins and reconcile them bring them back if they'll come he said and it and came and preached peace to you which were a far off and to them that were nigh now he came and preached to people who were way way off that meant in my mind that meant to me that he preached to people who didn't have a clue about what was to take place didn't have a clue how they could be set free they just knew they were bound but didn't know what to do about it he said and there were some who weren't in that category but they were near come on somebody near is not enough so he preached to them he preached to everybody song came to my mind is draw me nearer nearer blessed Lord to the cross where thou hath died draw me nearer Lord nearer blessed Lord to your precious bleeding side help me to get close enough to you that I realize and I understand what that meant to me and my situation when the blood came streaming down when they pierced pierced your hands and your feet were nails at Calvary help me to appreciate and know that that's what will will help me to come to you last verse for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father so now Lord make us one this is my prayer Lord make us one Lord we don't need division Lord there's enough trouble much in this world there's many tests and trials that we don't need to go through but Lord you help us make us one bring us together cause us to to embrace one another if we can humble ourselves I'll say probably the greatest thing that needs to happen is is we need to understand what the scripture said man ought not to think more of himself than he ought and so sometimes we're walking around thinking we got it all going and we're thinking more than we are see what you need to do is look back where you came from come on somebody now that's where I want to go look back where you started and see what a wretch you were how undone you were how you didn't love God you didn't love your neighbor you didn't even love yourself he said if you look back where you started from you'll run to Jesus come on somebody you were a wretch and undone but God loved you in spite of yourself and he said I'm gonna come to you I'll come I'll shed my blood I'll give you my spirit to live out on the inside I'll help you to make it through every test every trial you'll never lose if you walk with me I got you hallelujah thank God that he reached out his hand for me thank God when I was lost and couldn't couldn't help myself he reached out and pulled me from the muck in the mire and called me into his kingdom and I'm glad about it hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah what I think of the goodness of Jesus even though I can't embrace it all I can't get it up yet my soul cries out hallelujah hallelujah not my lips my inward part the most important part of me who is my soul my soul cries out hallelujah hallelujah thank God thank God you didn't have to do it come on somebody but he loved me anyhow come on somebody I was a 10 year old thief hallelujah hallelujah and I couldn't get it right hallelujah hallelujah but he reached out and got me anyhow hallelujah I thank him I thank him hallelujah thank you Jesus thank you Jesus now let me say this when you look back most of what you will see was who you was with y'all get that and who you was with that's who you was if you knew that they wasn't hitting it that mean you wasn't hitting it neither thank you Jesus but when I look back and see who I used to us come on somebody y'all like that ebonics I look back and see where I was and I see me now and I say thank you Jesus thank you Jesus this it doesn't seem like this is really me but it's by his grace by his mercy that he loved us when we were unlovable come on somebody oh you you may have smoothed it out now and maybe you're probably lovable now but you wasn't lovable not when he found you hallelujah he could have left you on the trash heap but he picked you up he turned you around he said I want you in the family hallelujah sometimes sometimes when people come into big money I'm talking about big money then they find that they're more relatives than they thought everybody everybody trying to be a family member and then they have to put up a resistance saying no thank you but you know I'm glad that our father is rich come on somebody he owns the cattle on a thousand hills all belongs to him and he's not resisting anybody he said whosoever will let him come and drink of the waters of life he said you're drinking poison water now but come drink of the waters of life he said I'm willing to put my spirit in you I'm willing to embrace you as my own thank God for Jesus that's it y'all that's it the Lord we're we're chosen I always remember this because I wasn't chosen a whole lot in the school yard you know tall guys and they wouldn't let me give me that ball but I thank God in spite of my statue I was a little fella in my sins and he chose me hallelujah hallelujah I thank him all right elder Ross come on me what a word what a word we've been drawn nigh unto God by the blood of Jesus Christ thank God for the blood it's a blood that saves us the blood delivers us the blood sets us free from sin when we can do it for ourselves and this morning if you have not been born again been born of the water and of the spirit been baptized in the name of Jesus been filled with the precious holy ghost we invite you to come is there one is there one praise God but if you're saved today and somewhere along the line you've missed the mark like Bishop said God doesn't throw us away we are his pet project the Bible said that he who has begun a good work in you he's going to be faithful to finish what he started if you have an issue like they just raise your hand and we're going to pray anybody I'm raising my hand I got some things I need to work on I don't know about you I see that hand I see that hand I see that hand I don't know about you if I had three hands I'd be raising all of them Father we thank you that you have delivered us we thank you Lord that even when we missed us that you have not thrown us away but Bishop said your grace is sufficient and so Father we repent before you right now we ask you to forgive us that you have done your part you are the forgiveness we will do our part we will walk in holiness and righteousness and godliness we will allow the spirit of God to finish the work and we will give you the praise and the glory and the honor I declare this morning in the name of Jesus for every hand that was raised the power of God is delivering and set free and opening doors and making ways we declare victory victory victory in the name of Jesus if you believe you've got victory shout hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we've got victory today in Jesus name amen oh don't start once you come and raise your arm free you better hold to his hands a god's unchanging hands the whole to his hand God's unchanging hands build your hopes your hopes the things that turn up oh yeah yeah yeah the whole to God's unchanging hands hold to his hands unchanging hands he say you'll never leave us forsakers hallelujah I will be reading to your hand in verse 18 it says but thou shall remember the Lord thy God for it is he that give us the power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant which he swear unto thy fathers as it is this day an niv said but you shall remember with profound respect the Lord your God for it is he is giving you power power to make wealth that he may confirm his covenant which he sword solemnly promise to your fathers as as it is this day you know we have a good job we make good money you know we have our health and our strength but without God we could do none it is the Lord makes the gives the promotion he give us the riches that we need in order to for us to obey the word of God the word of God said bring all the tithes and offering and to his storehouse that there may be me in his house and without that we can't do that without God we can't do none of that he's able to do a seemingly abundantly above that we may ask or thing so I ask you at the Lord has given to you give back not that he needs it he doesn't need our money but he wants us to be obedient to his word that's what he's wanting that's what salvation is all about being obedience if we can't be obedient we can't serve the Lord that means we don't even love him if we don't obey his word so we have to be obedient to the word of God he said give and it shall be given back to you with good measure pressed down shaken together running over shall men's give unto their buzzer so please stand with me in Jesus name everyone please stand let's be on one accord let's hold our offering up to the Lord in Jesus name father in the name of Jesus we thank you we praise you we glorify we magnify your name we thank you for the word that you sent us this morning Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord God Lord we come this morning to give back to you Lord God as you are given to each and every one of us Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord God Lord you said in your word that you love you love a chair forgive a Lord God Lord you said for us not to give grudgingly Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord God you made a way Lord God that we may give back to you Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord we ask you that you will bless this offering multiply Lord God need Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord God that you Lord God may be glorify and magnify Lord God in this church Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord God Lord we thank you for the givers Lord God in the name of Jesus Lord God and those that are not able to give Lord God we ask you in the name of Jesus that you will make a way for them Lord God Lord God in Jesus name in Jesus name we pray amen and amen you're now in the hands of this thank you Lord to continue in kingdom may we glorify you and praise you in Jesus name and somebody and say he wants me how bishop Jesus wants me and we're gonna get ready to go home God bless you is that it bishop no more amen amen amen well let's get determined hallelujah leave out of these doors hallelujah with your mind made up and your heart fixed i'm gonna stay with Jesus hallelujah come on