Concord Church Service and MLK Tribute

The We cannot talk about America without talking about Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. America simply would not look the same without his efforts towards equality and against racism, poverty, and violence. He fought for justice and equality for all people, all around the world, like so many civil rights heroes did before him. He lived to combat hate. hatred with love and understanding, an understanding of empathy and cultural change in America for the marginalized and the disenfranchised, to bring hope and change to those who lived under racial apartheid. These are the very ideals we strive to uphold even today. Freedom, equality, hope, joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. How then do we reflect on these things? We must create the margin and slow down to ask ourselves, when I look into the face of my neighbor, will I choose to see these things? When I see myself in the mirror, will I be a reflection of these ideals today? This is how we remember Dr. King. By how we live our lives. By how we treat one another. By how we treat ourselves. How will you remember this MLK Day? Hey family, welcome to our worship experience here at Concord Church. Our mission is people growing people by connecting them to their next step in Christ. If you're tuning in online, please take this time to share the live, chat with our team, and stay connected by visiting concorddallas.org connect. For our first-time visitors who are here with us in the building, we have a special gift for you. So don't forget to stop by the fireplace lounge on your way out. You can give at any time throughout the service, and we have four ways you can do that. Just scan the QR code, text the number on the screen. Visit ConcordDallas.org slash give or drop it in one of the boxes around the building. We have started the year off with a time of prayer and fasting. During this time, we are striving to be the unstoppable church, which is a church that is determined to honor God in our lifestyle, service, and our witness. We're encouraging prayer twice a day at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. We're also practicing the Daniel fast. So please drink plenty of water. This fast ends on Sunday, January 26th after service. February is approaching, which is Black History Month, and one way we are celebrating is by supporting Black-owned businesses. So if you're interested in possibly getting your business promoted, please scan the QR code on the screen. Also, Grow Groups are kicking off in February. Get more information on joining a group from one of our volunteers standing in the foyer. The annual point-in-time count is approaching. Harmony CDC, in partnership with Housing Forward, comes together each year to account for the number of unhoused individuals in our community. This annual count aids in creating change and helps organizations like Harmony CDC, who serve the unhoused population, determine new ways to help end homelessness. During the count, volunteers will engage with the individuals they see experiencing homelessness by way of praying for them, providing essential hygiene items, and additional resources. The information is on the screen if you are interested in volunteering. Concord Scholarship applications are now open. If you are a high school senior or current college grad student, we highly encourage you to apply. The application deadline is February the 16th, 2025, and you can apply online at concorddallas.org or email scholarship at concorddallas.org. We want to encourage you to invite someone to church. Grab a few invite cards from one of the door greeters and pass them out throughout the week. Keep up with all the things going on in the life of the church by visiting our website concordallas.org. Follow us on Instagram at Concord Dallas and Concord Church on Facebook and YouTube. Listen, we love you. God loves you even more. Let's get into service. Praise the Lord everybody, Concord family and friends, come on, come on, clap your hands, all you people that stand on your feet If you're glad to be in the house of the Lord today For this is the day That the Lord has made Anybody choose to rejoice and be glad in it today Come on, I said anybody choose to rejoice and be glad in it. Come on. Can I give you a reason? Thank you. Lord. You woke me up this morning. Come on. Thank you. Lord. I got my family under my I got activities up my limb. Everybody just wave your hand all over the sanctuary. Thank you Jesus for another day. And I'm glad about it. Come on. I'm glad to be alive. Yes Lord. Yes Lord. Now while you're waving your hand, look at somebody around you and say good morning neighbor. the Concord come on test the matter around you don't look behind you sound good morning good morning come on yes Lord yes Lord a prayer that's been on my lips all morning all this hallelujah anybody can shout hallelujah in this place when I'm up hallelujah when I'm down hallelujah let's sing the song You know the song The Lord is high above the heavens Sing and his glory above the nations Let's sing the Lord is high above the heavens Sing and his glory above the nations Come on, everybody sing it. The Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens. Sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory above the heavens. We sing, the Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens. Come on, sing, and there's glory above the nations. Yes sir, feels good y'all. Come on, put your hands on, here we go, let's do it. The Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens. Sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory above the nations. We sing, the Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens. is high above the heavens. Sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory One more time, everybody. The Lord is high above. You say, The Lord is high above. Come on, sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory above the nations. The Lord is high above the heavens. Yes, Lord, and His glory abounds in me Here we go, put your hands on, here we go Give God the highest praise, acknowledging Him always And all God's people shout Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah One more time, do it again Hallelujah, hallelujah Hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, h Say Hallelujah, Feeling sad, still hallelujah, shout hallelujah, let's go to church, here we go, listen If you love to praise the Lord, say yeah, yeah, oh yeah Hey, if the Lord's been good to you, say yeah, yeah, oh yeah If it's made a way for you and your family, shout yeah, yeah Oh yeah If he woke you up this morning Start you on your way Say yeah Yeah Here we go Yeah Oh yeah Hallelujah Hallelujah Shout hallelujah Hey Your soul, hallelujah, down in your body, hallelujah, shout hallelujah, hallelujah, let's go to church, here we go, say if you love to praise the Lord, shout yeah, yeah, if it's been good, good, good to you, shout yeah, yeah, hey y'all, come on, if you love to praise the Lord, shout yeah, yeah. Come on, if it's been real good to you, y'all. Say yeah. Hey. Hey. Oh yeah. Say hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory, Since I laid my burdens down, since I laid my burdens down, since I laid my burdens down, friends don't treat me like they used to, friends don't treat me like they used to. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Come before his presence, with thanksgiving, enter into his gates, with thanksgiving, come, enter into his courts, with praise, be thankful unto him, and bless his name. I said bless his name shall bless his name shall bless his name I will bless the Lord at all times his praises shall be in my mouth anybody love him anybody need him shall holly come on put your hands up I'm so good at hearing y'all, come on, now boys and shout, Hallelujah! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sunday I shout, Sunday I shout, move your feet, move your body, leave for joy, leave for joy, leave for joy, shout hallelujah, hey everybody. Lift your voice, lift your voice, shout hallelujah, say hallelujah, breathe, last breath, praise the Lord, he died on us, from my sin, he died on us, hallelujah. Oh, y'all see it! Julia! But three days later! Julia! Say three days later! Julia! Hero! Hero! Say holla! Say Louie in it! Do something! Pop your head! Hey, I'm so hot! Say Hallelujah! Everybody say Hallelujah! Say Hallelujah! If you need to, if you need to Hallelujah! Here we go! I'm going to shout hallelujah. I'm going to shout hallelujah. Listen, if you didn't know, hallelujah means praise to the Lord. Now somebody shout hallelujah. Yes, y'all give them praise. You might be seated in the presence of the Lord. What? Anybody got a hallelujah in their spirit? Anybody come to give God their best praise this morning? Come on, lift your hand and say hallelujah! God, we bless you! God, we honor you! God, we thank you. We lift you higher, God. You're worthy of praise. Worthy of adoration. You deserve all the glory. You deserve all the honor. Your people come to say hallelujah. He is worthy of praise. He's worthy of glory. He's worthy of honor. And we bless his name today. Can I, can I brag on God just a little bit this morning? I gotta brag. because he's been too good to me. Hallelujah. He's been a keeper when I didn't want to be kept. That's the God I serve. And so I can give him my hallelujah. I can lift my hands in the sanctuary and shout out to God with the voice of triumph. Hallelujah. Hey, He's been so good to us. He's been so good to us. He is great and guess what? He is greatly to be praised. Come on, one last time. Give God a great praise in this place. Hallelujah. Bless the name of Jesus. The old church used to say, have your seat if you can. Well, bless his name today. Bless his name. today. I stand before you this morning with a heart of gratitude and I feel it in the room today for God's goodness. Can I direct our praise in a particular direction today? I want to bring your attention to the work that God is doing in our student ministry. Our youth pastor, our student pastor, Pastor Eric Patterson did something special last week. He had our lead students, our student leaders stand up at the end of service across the front of the church and had them stand there to offer prayers up on behalf of the other teens. And so if they had prayer requests, guess what they did? They got up and stood in front of one of their peers and teens were praying for teens in student ministry last Sunday. Isn't God good? Not only that, but in the middle school space, Pastor Benny did an altar call y'all. And three middle school girls gave their lives to Jesus. If that don't excite you, I don't have much else for you. Heaven rejoice. Can we rejoice for those three souls? Bless the name of Jesus. They took their first step in student ministry. Can you wave at me if you also received salvation when you were a middle schooler or a teenager who devoted their lives to Christ? See how important it is. Yes, your church is partnering with the Lord and the work that he is doing. Concord. And I want to invite you to partner with God in what he's doing. I invite you at this time to give and give and give unto the work of the Lord. As you know, there are several ways that you can give. You can text the word give to 43905. You can use the app. You can use the website concorddallas.org slash give. You can also use the envelope system if you prefer. Put your offering in the envelope and leave it in the reception. to go on your way out, you can give them to our general tithe and offering, or you can be a blessing to our pastor and his family by donating a love offering. And so now that our hearts are shifted in a direction, y'all still ready to praise him, right? Hallelujah. Can you join me in prayer for just a moment? Father God, we say thank you for goodness and mercy and grace that has kept us. We say thank you. And God, we offer our offering up to you, not a debt that we owe, but a seed that we... we sow. And we ask, Lord God, that you would use it to further the agenda of your kingdom. Thank you for the honor and the privilege we have to partner with Concord Church. We love you and we honor you in Jesus name. Amen. And now I want you to direct your attention to the screens. Hey ladies, guess what? Sisterhood is back and we're kicking off the new year in a major way. There's no better way to start the year than with your sisters. Gathering for community, worship, and connection. We've got something special planned and trust us, you don't want to miss it. Mark your calendars. February 1st at 9 a.m. hosted by Lady Stephanie Carter. We're coming together for an incredible morning of worship, fellowship, and guaranteed fun. It's the kind of joy you won't want to miss, and we've got a seat saved just for you. Here's the best part. Our special guest this year is none other than the phenomenal Nona Jones. She's a preacher, bestselling author and entrepreneur who will bring an on time word to encourage and inspire us all. You'll leave feeling uplifted and ready to tackle the year ahead. So meet us there sis. We can't wait to worship with you. Bring a friend, grab your journal and let's start this year strong. February 1st at 9 a.m. See you there. Ladies, are you excited about the sisterhood kicking off? Mark your calendars now, February 9th. You don't want to miss it. The brothers kick off the week after that, but mark your calendars. It's going to be an amazing time. Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to each and every one of you. everyone and can you give god praise for the legacy of the life of dr king who spent his life investing in his community fighting for social justice and are we our lives are the better because of the work that he and others put in doing that movement At our 8 o'clock service, 830 service, we were able to host Dr. Martin Luther King's son, Martin Luther King III. He was with us, and we were able to interview him, and that will be up on YouTube later this week. But he was able to tell us and encourage us to continue this important work. This holiday is not so much about a day off, but a day on. For us to be reminded that the work continues each and every day as we continue to serve in our cities and our communities, to continue to advance the work of serving the marginalized and oppressed. And so we celebrate you and let's continue this important work. I'm also incredibly thankful. This weekend, a few months ago, I got a call from a dear young man, young preacher, pastor, that I am so very, very proud of. He said, Pastor, I want to come and spend the weekend with you guys and spend some time just shadowing. So he flew in last night and we'll go to lunch after dinner, after church today. And then we're going to spend the next three days going to all the same meetings together as he prepares to step into it. Well, he's already been. elected to follow his father. He is the son. He is now the newly elected pastor of the Eastern Star Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Would you help me just to celebrate Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II? Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II. I am so incredibly proud of him and all the Lord has been doing in his life. He graduated and then served two years at the Pilgrim Church there in Indianapolis. And now here recently, just in November, he was elected and now will be following his father, who pastored there, Pastor Jeffrey Duns, for some almost 40 years. 36 years and so he will begin serving there and so i'm doing thank you to spend time together learning about pastoring learning about ministry sharing together i remember when i was about his same season i uh i called uh pastor ralph west and uh church at our walls there in houston texas and said listen pastor we're going from two to three services you're already doing that i want to come and learn and watch and so he said yes come on down so i came down and then on the way to the church from the hotel, I got a call from his assistant who said to me, you're going to be preaching. Pastor West wants you to preach at the service you're coming to. I said, I'm coming to watch. I'm not coming to preach. And so I figured I would pass that on to my dear brother. I said, I know you're coming to watch. Come watch the eight o'clock. Enjoy all that. But I gave him a few more days than I got, right? And so I am so incredibly excited that Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II, also going by Pastor Jay, is going to come today. and bless us with the word of God. And we are honored. We are encouraged. We are blessed that the Lord is raising up so many pastors across this country to continue to declare the word of God. He's gifted. He's married to his wife. Janelle and their three amazing children and so we are praying for you and we are excited about the Lord's hand that rests on your life as you catch this baton and continue to run for Jesus Christ both in preaching pastoring declaring the word of bring in transformation to your community. So Concord, our choir is going to come, or our music minutes are going to come, and directly following them, you will then hear from Pastor Johnson. Can you give God one big praise again for Pastor Johnson? It was we prepare our hearts for the word, whatever your posture is of worship. Why don't we take that opportunity to lift up our hands and open up our mouths and steady our hearts to receive this morning. Come on, you can stand and join us in worship. As we prepare, you can kneel. You can open up your mouth and speak well of the Father. You can extend your hands. Father, we love you. Your worthy praise. you spoke those words let there be light and there was and in that same breath the stars fell in line with one voice creation christ you do all things well can anybody testify that this morning yeah you do all things well so be Be praised, be praised, be praised, be praised, be praised, be praised forever and always. Come on, take that other opportunity and lift your hands in the room and open up your mouth and praise the Holy Spirit. God we worship and adore you you're worthy yes Lord lost in the dark up under the dirt I was buried left to die I heard your voice calling my name from the tomb I came alive you do all things well in the room can you declare it you do all be praised and this morning for you to be praised be praised be praised you should sing forever and always One more time in a row, say it out. Be praised. You alone are still to your name. Be praised. You should, you deserve it. Be praised. Be blessed, you're one to be If you glory, you will not deserve it You deserve it, you deserve it Forever and always So when I think of all you've done, and all the battles you've brought me over, Hallelujah! Somebody ought to respond this morning to the goodness of God When I think of all you've done and all the battles you brought me over I'll respond, hallelujah Somebody ought to think about it and respond Say it, when I think, say it When I think of all you've done and all the battles you brought me over You've been faithful to me when I think of the goodness of Jesus And oh, I respond, yeah Somebody ought to think about it and say, you never failed me How you never let me fall Somebody say, how he never let me fall Now I tell you, we say God Oh, your goodness, I'll be your day, let there never be a day that I don't rise to bring you praise. Hallelujah! You've been kind, you've been holy, you've been faithful, you've been righteous, let there never be a day that I don't rise to bring you praise. Hallelujah! Sing hallelujah! Hallelujah. We respond to your goodness. We respond to your kindness. We respond to your faithfulness. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You've been a healer. You've been a way. I say, Say, praise the name of Jesus. Praise the name of Jesus. I hear you singing. Shake it out. Say it. He's my rock. Oh, you are my deliverer. In him. In him. In him. What? Praise the name of Jesus. Jesus, because he's worthy. Listen church, we'll say it this way. That's how long you're worthy. That's how long I'll bring you praise. That's how long. That's how long I'll bring you praise. You say it's such. That's how long you're worthy. Forever is a long time. But you've been gone a long time. Here we go! It's just press like, it's Sunday, somebody's got a mic, so I'll give you praise till I get there, so I'll give you praise till I get there. Listen up and say that, let there never be a day That I'm so good Decision, let there never be a day That you won't find, you won't, you won't win It's my big guilty of giving you praise I'll always give you praise, let there never be That I've said it all Somebody got reason to praise him this morning. We're moving on, but if you got reason to praise him, you ought to open your mouth and speak well of him. Be praised, be praised. Forever and always. Forever and always. You'll always be worthy. You'll always be worthy. We give you all the glory. Go, go, go. We worship you. I know. Hey. You are worthy to be praised. Can we lift it in the room? We're moving. We're ready for the word. Say it. We give you. Oh, The glory belongs to Jesus. We worship you, Lord. We worship you, Lord. You are worthy. You are worthy. To be praised. Now somebody do it in the room. Come on, just don't say he's worthy. Don't just say he's worthy of praise. But activate it in your soul. Come on, don't just say he's worthy. You ought to show some sign. Let the routine of the Lord say so. Wow! You've been a good cook. You've been a good God, you've been holy, you've been righteous, you've been kind, merciful, you've been gracious. We give you the glory that's due to your name. You've done by the color of who you are. We give you the glory. Yes, Lord. We worship you. This is the day that the Lord has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. The God we serve is worthy to be praised. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise is the glory of the Lord. Praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The saints shall hear thereof and be glad. Somebody magnify the Lord with your boy. Let us exalt his name together. If you know that your God is good, why don't you give your God some kind of praise in this place? Like he's worthy of it. Like he's deserving of it. Like he's faithful of it. Somebody shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can we keep that praise going for your pastor, my big brother, Pastor Brian Carter? Come on, y'all can do better than that. We praise God for him and his leadership and his vision and his pastoral gift and his preaching gift. And then what can we say about the lady by his side, Lady Stephanie? We praise God for her as well. Hallelujah. I'm honored to be here today. I thought I was coming to just observe, but I'm grateful to get to work. I thought I was coming to warmer weather, but I'm not grateful for the cold. Y'all can keep the cold, but I'm glad to be here today celebrating the God that we serve, who is faithful and he is just. he's worthy to be praised amen um i won't be before you long there is a word from the lord that is found in john chapter 11 john chapter 11 john chapter 11 beginning at verse number 44 I feel like a black preacher, giving life to the black leaders, and all black riding around in my black Kia. Empower the bros, live on the gold, the black needers, giving them black Jesus. I take you to black Egypt where black people founded the gold, it was right in the heart of their soul. Matter of fact, black is where all people are born, the black woman is the mother of all. Now, if you ain't living like a king, why get the queen involved? Me and mine and the chariot, we destined for the stars. So high up, I think I seen God. Nah, that's just me and my all black teeth. Surrounded by black angels, that's my black team. You know that boys stay woke telling black dreams. After the bag turned this black green, stay on these knees and stay in these black jeans. You see these power wearing these black prayers, ask my great grandmama. Turned a black slave into Obama, straight out of Wakanda. God is my judge, your honor. Progressively progressing, no pause, all commas. Pay my tithes, no dollars. Do it for the folk with no money, all problems. Turn your black up just to tell them God's got them. Shouting at the top, cause we struggled at the bottom. Black Messiah, magnify him. God will lift his name higher. John chapter 11. I'm just trying to wait for y'all to get there. Y'all there yet? Okay, okay, just just making sure. John chapter 11 beginning at verse number 44. When you have it, could you say amen? I have the new living translation, but whatever. translation you have today should be just fine. And the Bible says in verse 44, John 11, and the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, unwrap him and let him go. I want to speak from this thought simply, I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out of this. As you take your seat, can you turn to somebody around him and tell him, I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out of this. Matter of fact, encourage him and tell him, you coming out of this too. You coming out of this. You coming out of this thing too. I'm coming out of this. The Hanson brothers during Christmas Eve decided that they wanted to spend their Christmas Eve morning with their snowmobiles there at the Logan Canyon in Utah. Braden and Hunter Hansen took their snowmobiles up the canyon and began to work their way up to higher ground and what started off as a winter wonderland soon became a nightmare. While the younger brother, Braden, worked his way up to one of the higher heights there at the canyon, he began to see an avalanche beginning to form in the direction of his big brother, Hunter. And little brother testifies and said, I lost sight of my brother. That's because that avalanche knocked his big brother back 150 yards away and covered him. in two feet of snow. Now big bro is covered in snow. He can't move. He can't breathe. He's in a dark, cold situation and in over his head. He was stuck at an avalanche. And I bring that up this morning because I wonder if there's anybody who felt like that brother there stuck. In fact, avalanche is probably the best word to describe the season that you're in right now. Where it wasn't just one problem that has taken you out, but it's been hella problems. It's been one problem after another. And now you find yourself stuck. Stuck in fear. stuck in rejection stuck in failure Stuck in depression, stuck in anxiety. I don't know what you are stuck in. I don't know what has you in over your head, but I'm glad you pulled up the Concord today because I'm on assignment to let you know that we serve a God of restoration. We serve a God of renewal. We serve a God of deliverance. We serve a God that can break every chain. We serve a God that can bring you out. We serve a God that can make all things new. And I don't care how long you've been in your situation. I don't care how far off you think you have been. I don't care how long you've been in this cycle. But how many of you know we serve a God that can give you the power to bring you out? Tell somebody I'm coming out of this. I've been in the same cycle. I'm coming out of this dysfunctional relationship. I'm coming out of this financial illiteracy. I'm coming out of this mindset. I'm coming out of that toxic work environment. I'm coming out of that family drama. I've been in this thing too long and it's time for me to come out. And this is where the Lazarus family finds themselves. Lazarus, the brother and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, find themselves stuck, stuck in sickness and disease, stuck in death and grief and mourning. And now the verse I read to you, we. The story of Lazarus doesn't start in the grave, which is why you can't judge people when they're in their grave season, because you don't know how they got there in the first place. But if you scroll back up to verse one, you'll discover. that Lazarus was sick. And I don't know what type of sickness brother Lazarus was dealing with, but I do know that whatever the sickness was, it had his sister's concern. Because whenever you got a sick brother, there's some sister who's messed up about it. Matter of fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that there's a Mary and Martha in the room today. And I don't know if you brought your sick brother to church or maybe you left him at home to deal with his sickness. But I know that that That Lazarus here was dealing with a physical sickness. But you do know that you can be physically well and still be sick. Because somebody, you came to church today and you look physically fine. I mean, you put your own clothes on today. You drove yourself to church. You know all the church slogans are saying. Somebody just simply asked you how you were doing. And you responded with God is good all the time. And all the time God is good. You look physically fine. But if you could be honest with yourself and honest with God, you're emotionally sick. That's why the smallest thing can trigger your anger. The smallest setback can trigger your emotional eating. The smallest petty issue can trigger the wrath of your tongue. Why? Because you're emotionally sick. Somebody else is mentally unwell. Because whenever suicide is an issue to black men between the ages of 15 and 24, there's a mental issue that needs to be addressed. Maybe fear has you mentally bound or depression or anxiety. You're mentally under what matter of fact, somebody in the room today or online, perhaps you are spiritually sick. Because whenever you don't have a relationship with Jesus, whenever you are unsaved or unchurched, that is a spiritual sickness. And I don't care how many therapists you see. I don't care how much medication you take. I don't care how many life coaches you got on Instagram. That can't save you from eternal damnation. The only thing that can heal you from a spiritual sickness is when you confess the hope in Christ Jesus. Because you can be physically sick, physically well, but still be sick. And what these sisters Mary and Martha teach us is that even when you are not sick, you can be impacted by the one who is sick. So maybe you're not sick, but maybe your spouse is sick and now your marriage is impacted. Maybe you're not sick, but your parents are sick and now the environment of your home is impacted. Maybe you're not sick, but your employer is sick. And now you're dealing with a toxic work environment where the issue is not the fact that you're sick, but you are impacted by the sickness. But that's why I love these sisters, Mary and Martha, because as they were dealing with the sick brother, they came to a point where their resources couldn't help this brother. So what they decided to do was get word to Jesus because they understood that the only way. way my brother can be restored from this type of sickness is if Jesus makes a move but notice what happens when these sisters get word to Jesus They said, hey, Jesus, the one you love is sick. That's interesting to me because it was almost like they were trying to expedite the Savior to give them to know, hey, the one you love is sick. And that wasn't a lie. Lazarus was Jesus's homeboy. That whenever Jesus will pull up to Bethany, he would always check in on Lazarus. They had an experience together. They had some intimacy with one another. But even... Even Lazarus, who had an intimate relationship with Jesus, even Mary and Martha, who was connected to Jesus, they still ended up in a sick situation. Because I don't care how long you've been in church. I don't care how many verses you can quote. I don't care how many songs you can sing with the praise team. At some point or another, all of us will experience a sick situation because Jesus says you see what they do to a green tree. Now what you think they're gonna do to a dried up with a tree? You shall have tribulation. And when Jesus gets the word about his homeboy Lazarus, the Bible says he ain't even move. Mary Martha thought that if the one you love is sick, perhaps you'll drop everything you do and come see about your boy. But no, Jesus didn't move because y'all, Jesus ain't on our time. You thought that Jesus was concerned about your calendar invite? He ain't concerned about your clocks or calendars. He ain't concerned about your deadlines. He's not concerned about the fact that you said, God, if you ain't gonna move by 2025, I'm gonna have to figure this thing out by myself. No, his ways are not. our ways his thoughts are not our thoughts they as high as ours as the heavens are above the earth a day is like a thousand years to God and a thousand years is like a day he doesn't move when we want him to move or how we want him to move he moves at his own time and that's what Mary Martha had to discover because the text says that Jesus didn't move he stayed where he was for two days and matter of fact He messed around and told his disciples that after he got word that Lazarus had passed away, Jesus says, I'm glad I wasn't there. Wait a minute, that ain't the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. You glad you wasn't there? Wait a minute, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Lazarus is not he's not sick anymore he's dead the sisters aren't concerned anymore they're grieving they're mourning they're crying the death of their brother and you got the nerve to say I'm glad I wasn't there And notice what he said, I'm glad I wasn't there so that the glory can be revealed. Oh, I don't know about you, but that's good news to know that whenever your situation goes from bad to worse, that's the prime opportunity for God to show up and reveal his glory. OK, I know what it is. See, see, Pastor Carter, we in the generation now where everybody want to hear sermons about being rich and healthy. That if you give $10 in 10 days, you'll have a million dollars. That if you pray and fast for 21 days, the next 21 days, you'll get a blessing for every day. Sometimes that's not how God works. Sometimes the blessing is on the fact that God will show up with his glory. Okay, I see. You don't know what glory is. Glory is the manifestation of God's power. Glory is the manifestation of God's presence. Glory is the display of his character. A new car is cool, but I need some of it. his glory because Jesus is letting us know that the very problem you find yourself in is the platform for God's glory to be revealed in your life. That's why you ain't got to give up. That's why you ain't got to slit your wrist. That's why you ain't got to turn your back on the church because when things go bad, that's when God's glory is going to be revealed. Because here's what I discovered. I heard about God, but I didn't know that God was the God of all comfort until my friend died. I heard about God, but I didn't know that God can reconcile marriages until mine went bad. I heard about him, but I didn't know that God was a lawyer until I got arrested. I didn't know that God was a healer until my daddy got sick. I didn't know that his grace was sufficient until I had a thorn in my own flesh. I sung about it, but I didn't know his blood reached to the lowest valley until my worst sin had me low down. No wonder why my grandmama said, if I never had a problem, how would not know that God could solve it? I would not know what faith in his word could do, but through it all, I learned how to trust in Jesus. Anybody learn how to trust in God? Anybody learn how to look out for his glory? Lift up your head, O ye gates. Be lifted up the everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. I'm glad Pastor Carter allowed me to come to Dallas this week because I get a little break from the kids. I love my kids, but I love them though. I love my kids. My wife and I have been married six years. We have a blended family, so we have a 15-year-old teenage son. Then we got a five-year-old and a three-year-old. Y'all pray for us. Shout out to wifey. She's watching from home, holding down with the boys. But I recall taking my youngest son, Jeremiah, to a birthday party for his cousin, Jackson. He was turning... I think four years old and we got lit on cake and pizza and punch. And then they decided to bring out the pinata. And and my son was a little scared because they started blindfolding kids and gave him a stick. Now, that's probably the worst thing. you can do is to blindfold a child and give them a stick. But they cleared the area, they hung up the pinata, and all my little cousins at the party began to swing, take their hit at the pinata. And one kid after another began to swing and hit the pinata. And my son, Jeremiah, was off to the side, and I could see the concern on his face. So I began to explain to him what a pinata was, what is going on in this party right now. And so I tried to explain to my three-year-old. Now, they're taking this. stick and they're swinging at the pinata because there was something on the inside of the pinata and the more you begin to hit the pinata the more it looked like the the pinata begin to have holes in it and and and it looks like that is going through something real bad but but if you keep taking hits at it if you keep swinging at it there's some sweets and some treats on the inside There's some glory on the inside of the pinata and the more you hit and swing at it the more glory begins to reveal. I had to bring that up this morning because I got a sneaky suspicion that somebody is in your pinata season right now. It feels like life is just hitting on you and swinging at you. But don't you know that God got some sweets and treats lined up for you? That the more you endure, the more you persevere. How many of you know the more his glory shall be revealed? God is working this thing for the good. Do I have a witness in this place? I'm glad I wasn't there so the glory can be revealed. And then check out yo Jesus, he finally gets there. And he late late. No, he just not late. He late late. He gets there four days late. He's missed his best friend's last breath. He missed the celebration of life. He missed the opportunity to give his remarks under two minutes. He missed the repass. for four days and can you imagine what his sisters was dealing with after sending out an invitation to jesus to show up to the sick situation and jesus ignored the message he left the text on red he didn't even show up now now now i wonder i wonder how you would have handled that situation Have you ever tried to wait on God? I ain't talking about four days, I'm talking about four weeks, four months. You've been saying the same prayer for four years, and still God ain't shown up. I got a question for you. Do you wait patiently for God? Or do you anxiously wait on God? I know, I know what they taught us in Sunday school. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew your strength, and they shall mount upon wings as eagles. That's a good scripture to highlight. Try living it out. Because what these sisters had to deal with in the death of their brother, not just an emotional distraught, but now... Their social status has been affected because these are single sisters in a male-dominated society. And it was their brother that looked out for them. It was their brother that protected them. Now that the brother is dead, they've lost their covering. And for four days, they've been waiting on Jesus to show up. And Pastor Carter, I think these were some black sisters. If I can use my Holy Ghost imagination, I can imagine these sisters in the house waiting on Jesus to pull up. They probably going over their thoughts that they gonna say to Jesus to give him a piece of my mind. That's why when he finally got there, they both said the same thing. Had you been here, Jesus? My brother wouldn't have died. That don't sound like a sister to y'all. Had you been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And notice the response of Jesus. He didn't show up to the scene just pulling miracles out of a hat. Notice what he does. He begins to have a theological discussion with the sister. Had you been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And notice what Jesus says. He will rise again. Jesus, I ain't trying to hear that. Jesus, listen, I know he gonna rise at the great resurrection. Jesus says, I ain't talking about no great resurrection. I'm talking about the here and now. He says, I am the resurrection. I am the life. Then notice the question that he asked Martha. Do you believe this, Martha? Do you have faith in me? me Martha do you trust in me Martha now Martha I know you heard that I can heal the sick but you ain't know that I can raise the dead and sometimes problems have to go from bad to worse so that God can reintroduce himself in a way that you ain't never seen before. Do you believe this, Martha? And Martha said, yeah, I believe that you are the life and the resurrection. Now, you just can't take it. this statement without taking it in its totality because you know New Testament scholars they talk about the I am statements of Jesus and you know Jesus he begins to play on this word I am It was the same sort of messaging that his father had with Moses at the burning bush. If you graduated from Sunday school with honors, then you know that when God pulled up on Moses through the burning bush, God told Moses, hey, Mo, tell Pharaoh, let my people. go moses says hey who i'm gonna tell who sent me god said tell them i am that i am sent you i am that i am yeah that whatever they need me to be that's what i can become for them And so the Hebrew people were in slavery. So they needed, they needed liberation. They needed freedom. They needed, God says, tell them freedom sent you. Tell them liberation sent you. Tell them deliverance sent you. And so now check out Jesus talking like his daddy in the New Testament now. He says that, he says that I am the bread of life. I am. the light of the world. I am the way, the truth, and the light. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection. Whatever you need me to be, I can become that for you. So in this season, if you need substance, Jesus says, I'm the bread of life. If you're in darkness, Jesus says, I'm the light of the world. If you need a connection with God, Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus says, when you need a way out. I am the door. Whatever you need me to be, I can become that for you. And so check out what Martha says. Martha says, I believe. And I believe that Martha had faith because even though her brother died, her faith was still alive. How you know? Because while her brother was in the grave, she's still talking to Jesus. While she's upset with God, she's still in communication with Jesus. While she's frustrated and confused, she's still in conversation with Jesus. Because there's somebody in the room today, you've stuck, you've been stuck in the same cycle, you've been stuck in the same sin, you've been stuck in depression, you've been stuck with your back against the wall, and you're frustrated with God. You're angry with God. You've got questions for God. And I don't really connect with them church folk to try to make me think they never had to ask God a question. But they just ain't never been mad or upset at God. Like they ain't never been frustrated or confused with the way their life was going. But I love what Martha does, being real about her emotions, calls out on Jesus and says, I'm upset, but I'm still talking to you. Because sometimes... God will take your anger just to get you to pray to him. God says, I will take your questions just for you to be in communication with me. And the longer your faith stays alive, sooner or later, God says, I can bring you out. I remember my wife took my son, Jeffrey Allen, to his first Guinness appointment. And I'm glad, like Jesus, I'm glad I wasn't there. This is his first dentist appointment, and my wife told me the story that by the time they pulled up, he was crying in the car, he was crying in the parking lot, he was crying in the elevator, he was crying walking down the hall. He just had a sense that something went right. They called him. They called the name. Now he's crying down the hall to the dentist's office and he sits in the chair and he's just crying and crying and crying. My wife, so apologetic, told the dentist, I'm so sorry. He's causing all this ruckus. I'm so sorry. He's crying. He's loud. And the dentist says, you ain't got to apologize because at least he has his mouth open. Okay, you missed it. He's at the dentist's office, tears in his eyes, mouth wide open. She's apologizing for the tears and the crying and the yelling, but at least his mouth is open. Now I can work on him. Now I can clean them up. Now I can get them right. And every now and again, God will leave you in a messed up situation just for you to have your mouth open, just to have the tears fall down. your face just to get you to take your questions to God and how many you know will you take your tears to God God says what you sowed in tears you will reap in joy do I have a witness in this place and I said all that I said all that to say this that when Jesus gets to the grave He says, now, I know your faith is alive, but let me see if your faith is active. Because I ain't going to be the only one working in this situation. This is not observation. This is participation. This is collaboration. So if you want to bring your brother out, the least you can do is show me where you laid him. The least you can do is roll the stone away. Wait a minute, show me where you laid them? Yeah, because Jesus ain't gonna do all the work. You at least gotta show me where you laid them. Show me where you gave up. Show me where you threw in the towel. Show me where you put... up the white flag of surrender. Show me where you walked away on your child. Show me where you hit rock bottom. Show me where you laid him. And they say, hey, Jesus, I will show you, but it's stank now. Jesus says, I don't care about your stanky situation. Show me where you laid them. And when we get there, roll the stone away. Because there was something that is blocking God's power from being displayed in your situation. And God is saying, once you roll the stone away, way now i can get to work and check out what he says the bible says in verse 43 that jesus shouted with a loud voice lazarus come forth i love the way he does this here because if you read through the gospels then you know that jesus resurrected three people in his ministry that was recorded He raised Jairus'daughter. He raised the widow's son in the funeral procession. Now he's raising up Lazarus. And when you read all the stories, he does it three different ways. The first time he raised Jairus'daughter, he whispered in her ear, Baby girl, get up. Second time at a funeral procession, he touched the casket of the widow's son and the boy got up. Now at the graveyard of Lazarus, he screams with a loud voice, Lazarus! Come forth. Because Lazarus has been stuck in a grave. He's been sick, he's been stuck, and a whisper ain't gonna work. A touching of the tomb ain't gonna work. He's got to call this thing out by name and if you and I could I'll just be honest I've been stuck in something I've been stuck in some stuff for so long that God said this whisper ain't gonna handle it me touching your retirement ain't going to work. I'm going to have to call you out by name. And I love what the old preacher said. The old preacher said he had to call Lazarus out by name because if he just said, come forth, everybody would have come forth. came forth. Abraham and Isaac would have came forth. Sarah and Rachel would have came forth. Because sometimes you got to call that thing by name. Lazarus, come forth. The next time you're in a dead situation, call that child out by name. Call that spouse out by name. Call that dream out by name. Call that ministry out by name. And how many of you know God will give you the power to come forth? Come out. I'm sorry. I'm over my time. Can I give you one more thing and I'm done. I promise you. Notice what he says. When Lazarus finally came out, he says, it ain't over yet. He's alive, but he ain't living yet. He's still bound to what he just came out of. So I need y'all to go to work on this man. Take the grave clothes off of him. Take the cloths off his hands, because I need him to work again. Take the cloths off his feet, because I need him to move in the direction of his future. And take the cloths off his face, so that I can give him visions. So he can see again, because some of us are living. Some of us are alive, but we ain't living because we still bound by the thing that God got us out of. That's why you still respond to his DMs and his texts. messages because you still bound by the thing God is trying to bring you out of. But at some point, somebody say, take the grave clothes off. Lift your hands in worship. Take the grave clothes off. Dance before the Lord. Take the grave clothes off. Because no eyes have seen, no ear has heard what God is getting ready to do. I'm coming out of this. Okay. I know why you're not saying amen. Because I left you with the brother who got stuck in the avalanche. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you there. He got stuck in the avalanche. Can I tell you how he got out? His younger brother was up high. The older brother got knocked back 150 feet down low. And he's stuck in two feet of snow. The brother said, I left where I was, came down, and began to dig him out of what he was in. And the more I began to dig, the more I saw my brother stuck in what he was. And I began to pull him out. You missed him. He had a brother that was sitting high and looking low. And when he found his brother stuck in a situation that he couldn't get himself out of, he didn't stay up high, but he missed. at the point of his need. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds like my testimony that when I was stuck in sin and stuck in the grave and stuck in death, I had a brother in Jesus that was sitting high, looking low, but he got involved. With nails in his hand, he got involved. Nails in his feet, he began to dig. A crown of thorns on his head. They hung him high. They hung him high. strikes him wide. He hung his head for me, God, but that's not how the story is. Three days later, he rose again. Is there anybody that knows that God can bring you out? Somebody ought to thank God for his saving, keeping, delivering power. What a word. What a word. What a word. Come on, we're standing all over the building together. Let's give God praise for Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II, all the way from Indianapolis, Indiana, to bless us with the word that we needed to hear for our... lives. Somebody declare I'm coming out. Come on, say it like you mean it. I'm coming out. Praise God for that word. God bless you. We come to an hour time in our service today where somebody today needs. to make a decision, to decide that you are coming out. And the preacher made it so clear that Jesus was there, but it was participation that was required for the healing. And somebody in this room, what God wants to do in your life requires your participation. It requires you giving him your yes. It requires you saying, yes, thank you for dying for my sins. I want to follow you for the rest of my life. It requires you saying, I don't want to just die for my sins. do life on my own, but I want to get connected to a church family so that I can grow and walk together and learn together. It requires you making a move. If you're in this room today and you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, if you're in this room today and you've got questions about your faith, or you're in this room today and you need a church family, I want to invite you right now to grab your belongings right where you are and begin to meet me right here at this altar. I'm going to pray with you and then our team will walk you out and lead you through your your next step with Christ. But for somebody today, if you go come out, it starts today. You choosing to follow Jesus Christ, it starts today. You choosing to get connected to a church family, starts today. You rededicating your life back to him, getting baptized so you can start this thing all over again. Would you come today? I see you, my friend. Come on, would you come today? They're going to sing and as they sing, come on, we invite you to come. Come on, we invite you to come. Come on, all over the room, we invite you to come. We invite you. Come on. Come today. Yes. Come on. We invite you. Come today. Come on. Who will never fail, say? Never fail. Something ain't fair. He will never fail, say. Come on, everybody, one more time. I trust in God. I trust in God. My Savior, the one. My Savior. Who would never fail, never run out, never give up on me. Oh, he would never fail, say. Here's how I know he'd never fail. Listen, cause I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I sought the Lord. And he heard and he answered That's why I trust him That's why I sing I saw the Lord And he heard and he answered Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer Thank you Lord for hearing my cry That's why I, that's why I trust him I saw the Lord He heard the new day, the single day of my life, I'm gonna say it, that's why I, that's why I, sing I saw, I saw the Lord, Jesus, and He answered me. I'm standing in the need of a blessing, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of a blessing, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing I saw the Lord. Yeah. I saw the Lord. That's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, oh, I'm so good. Would you help us with this invitation? There might be some... Somebody sitting next to you that wants to make a decision, but they don't want to walk by themselves. Would you ask your neighbor two questions? One, do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Secondly, are you a member of Concord Church? They say no to either. The questions say, I'll walk with you if you want me to. Would you check with your neighbor right quick, family? Would you do a check? There just might be one more person in the room that wants to say yes to Jesus, but they don't want to walk by themselves. Would you do a neighbor check? There might be one more person in the room that wants to give Jesus their yes. Come on, let's go. I saw the Lord, and he heard. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a healer we have. What a friend we have. We have come on And all that way And He will direct your path. That's why, that's why I, that's why I, I serve the Lord. And He will direct your path. That's why, that's why I, that's why I, I serve the Lord. That's why I'm a town, and it's so awesome, yeah I'm so naked, I'm so picky, to be all turnin'That's why I'm awesome, my lord That's why, that's why I, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail, he will never fail. Come on everybody, I trust in, I trust in God. Come on, you sing it, my Savior. My Savior, who will never fail. You'll never leave him, I'm saying. Come on, sing. He will never fail. He will never fail. We are so excited about your yes to Jesus Christ. We are overjoyed about this new beginning, this new season in your life. We celebrate. you giving him your yes we celebrate your walk of faith to say i want to follow after him i want to get connected to a church family we are overjoyed and excited about what the lord is doing in your life I want to pray for you. Father, we come praying right now for our new family that stands at this altar. We rejoice, Lord, that you are doing a new thing in their lives. We rejoice, Lord, that they are coming out. They are entering a new season with you, a new journey with you. So, Father, we thank you for everyone today that is accepting you as Lord and Savior. We thank you for everyone today that's connected to your church family. And we ask you, oh God, would you leave them? Would you cover them? Would you guide them? Would you direct them? Would you show them? Would you navigate the path of their lives? Protect them and lead them, God, as only you can. We celebrate their faith in you. And we celebrate this new beginning with you. We honor you, God. And we can't wait to see all that you have in store. Dear God. It is in the matchless name. of your son Jesus Christ that we say this prayer and all of God's people said amen come on family would you celebrate all of our new family members at this time we're gonna split it up half will go this way and the other half will follow sister lindsey all right wonderful wonderful concord you may take your seats at this time as you take your seats let's we got to share a couple things with you and then we'll be ready to be this miss together, the first thing we want to share with you is that, man, help us once again thank Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II for such an incredible, powerful word. What a word, man. And we were all blessed and encouraged by such a helpful, encouraging word. It's amazing. You've got glimpses of your father while you have your own unique way, man. A great blend, man. So we celebrate you being you and watching God work in your life, man. Praise God for you, man. It's amazing. I'm in the middle of his father. I listened to his father for years growing up. And now watching God work in his life brings so much joy. A couple of quick things, family, and then we'll be dismissed. We are in the last. Last week of the fast. We got one week left, y'all. One week left. One week left. 21 days, y'all. We got our readings. We got our devotionals. It's going. Are you enjoying your fast? Is God using it to guide you, to remind you? I hope you are. And we got one week left. We can't wait to celebrate the last week of the fast on next Sunday. But we are grateful for how the Lord has been using this season in each of your lives like he's been using it in mine. I'm grateful. for we've got a couple of funerals coming up this coming Friday and Saturday. I want you to be in prayer for the family of Brother Felix Spencer, Deacon Felix Spencer, longtime deacon of Life of Our Church. Those services will be this coming Friday at 10 a.m. So please be in prayer for his wife and family and children and grandchildren. Please come to them in prayer. And then the husband of Sister Pat Walker, Brother Walker, passed away, and those services will be on this coming Saturday at 10 a.m. So keep boiling. both of those families in your prayers in this season. Amen. All right. All right. I see the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha up here. Why don't y'all stand? Brothers, come on. All the men got a little cold in the room when I was standing here. It's so good to see you guys. Thank you guys for coming and worshiping with us from the Arlington chapter, man. Thank you guys so much for coming to celebrate the King holiday by worshiping with us on today. We're remembering and reflecting Dr. King, who was a man of faith, a preacher and pastor, and he was also a member of Alpha Phi. Biophysicist Attorney Incorporated. And so we are grateful for you guys coming to help celebrate his life and his legacy. All right, family. If this is your first or second time here, we would love to say hello to you in the foyer directly following services. We will be up there. Our team will be up there just to greet you and thank you. Pastor Johnson will be up there as well if you want to say hello to him. I'm sure we've got family from the Indianapolis area always in the life of the church. But we are grateful for you. I want to ask now Pastor Benny, one of our middle school pastors. He's doing an amazing job. Help me celebrate. Pastor Benny, man, he helps love and shepherd our middle school pastors. We appreciate it. He's going to come and bring our closing at this time. Come on, y'all. Help me celebrate Pastor Carter and all the work that God is doing here at Concord Church. What an amazing word by Pastor Johnson Jr. Is there anybody in here who is coming out of this? Is there anybody? If you're staying in, then be quiet. But if you're coming out, give God a praise. praise online. If you're coming out, put it in the chat so we can know. Come on, somebody. Listen, a couple of quick announcements and then we'll get out of here. I want to celebrate, if y'all will help me celebrate some babies that are being dedicated on today. So we have Jamore. and Courtney Westmoreland who are dedicating their daughter, JC Westmoreland, and also their son, Jakari Westmoreland. Come on, come on. Y'all can help me celebrate God. If you're in the building, if you're in the room, you guys are dismissed to go to your ceremonies. Also, I want to let you guys know every third Sunday, our next gen youth serve in different capacities throughout the service. But today we want to highlight two high school students that have taken the gospel to their campuses. I'm talking about Kirsten Hicks and Herman Backus III who are reaching the one at red oaks high school by leading their peers in prayer and scripture reading on campus come on somebody come on somebody pray our hands in the chat come on we got the students who are praying and declaring the word of god on their campuses right now in fact let me have a student come on nyla nyla is going to give us our blessing so church will you stand with me right now to receive our blessing it's coming from number six verses 24 through 26 thank you amen um i'm nyla i attend the school for this talented and gifted at Town View and I will be reading the blessing. The blessing reads as follows. May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. Y'all are dismissed and I pray that you have a blessed week.

He lived to combat hate. hatred with love and understanding, an understanding of empathy and cultural change in America for the marginalized and the disenfranchised, to bring hope and change to those who lived under racial apartheid. These are the very ideals we strive to uphold even today.

Freedom, equality, hope, joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. How then do we reflect on these things? We must create the margin and slow down to ask ourselves, when I look into the face of my neighbor, will I choose to see these things?

When I see myself in the mirror, will I be a reflection of these ideals today? This is how we remember Dr. King. By how we live our lives. By how we treat one another.

By how we treat ourselves. How will you remember this MLK Day? Hey family, welcome to our worship experience here at Concord Church. Our mission is people growing people by connecting them to their next step in Christ. If you're tuning in online, please take this time to share the live, chat with our team, and stay connected by visiting concorddallas.org connect.

For our first-time visitors who are here with us in the building, we have a special gift for you. So don't forget to stop by the fireplace lounge on your way out. You can give at any time throughout the service, and we have four ways you can do that.

Just scan the QR code, text the number on the screen. Visit ConcordDallas.org slash give or drop it in one of the boxes around the building. We have started the year off with a time of prayer and fasting. During this time, we are striving to be the unstoppable church, which is a church that is determined to honor God in our lifestyle, service, and our witness. We're encouraging prayer twice a day at 7 a.m.

and 7 p.m. We're also practicing the Daniel fast. So please drink plenty of water.

This fast ends on Sunday, January 26th after service. February is approaching, which is Black History Month, and one way we are celebrating is by supporting Black-owned businesses. So if you're interested in possibly getting your business promoted, please scan the QR code on the screen.

Also, Grow Groups are kicking off in February. Get more information on joining a group from one of our volunteers standing in the foyer. The annual point-in-time count is approaching. Harmony CDC, in partnership with Housing Forward, comes together each year to account for the number of unhoused individuals in our community. This annual count aids in creating change and helps organizations like Harmony CDC, who serve the unhoused population, determine new ways to help end homelessness.

During the count, volunteers will engage with the individuals they see experiencing homelessness by way of praying for them, providing essential hygiene items, and additional resources. The information is on the screen if you are interested in volunteering. Concord Scholarship applications are now open.

If you are a high school senior or current college grad student, we highly encourage you to apply. The application deadline is February the 16th, 2025, and you can apply online at concorddallas.org or email scholarship at concorddallas.org. We want to encourage you to invite someone to church.

Grab a few invite cards from one of the door greeters and pass them out throughout the week. Keep up with all the things going on in the life of the church by visiting our website concordallas.org. Follow us on Instagram at Concord Dallas and Concord Church on Facebook and YouTube.

Listen, we love you. God loves you even more. Let's get into service.

Praise the Lord everybody, Concord family and friends, come on, come on, clap your hands, all you people that stand on your feet If you're glad to be in the house of the Lord today For this is the day That the Lord has made Anybody choose to rejoice and be glad in it today Come on, I said anybody choose to rejoice and be glad in it. Come on. Can I give you a reason?

Thank you. Lord. You woke me up this morning.

Come on. Thank you. Lord. I got my family under my I got activities up my limb.

Everybody just wave your hand all over the sanctuary. Thank you Jesus for another day. And I'm glad about it.

Come on. I'm glad to be alive. Yes Lord.

Yes Lord. Now while you're waving your hand, look at somebody around you and say good morning neighbor. the Concord come on test the matter around you don't look behind you sound good morning good morning come on yes Lord yes Lord a prayer that's been on my lips all morning all this hallelujah anybody can shout hallelujah in this place when I'm up hallelujah when I'm down hallelujah let's sing the song You know the song The Lord is high above the heavens Sing and his glory above the nations Let's sing the Lord is high above the heavens Sing and his glory above the nations Come on, everybody sing it.

The Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens. Sing, and there's glory above the nations.

And there's glory above the heavens. We sing, the Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens. Come on, sing, and there's glory above the nations. Yes sir, feels good y'all.

Come on, put your hands on, here we go, let's do it. The Lord is high above the heavens. The Lord is high above the heavens.

Sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory above the nations. We sing, the Lord is high above the heavens.

The Lord is high above the heavens. is high above the heavens. Sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory One more time, everybody.

The Lord is high above. You say, The Lord is high above. Come on, sing, and there's glory above the nations. And there's glory above the nations. The Lord is high above the heavens.

Yes, Lord, and His glory abounds in me Here we go, put your hands on, here we go Give God the highest praise, acknowledging Him always And all God's people shout Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah One more time, do it again Hallelujah, hallelujah Hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, hale, h Say Hallelujah, Feeling sad, still hallelujah, shout hallelujah, let's go to church, here we go, listen If you love to praise the Lord, say yeah, yeah, oh yeah Hey, if the Lord's been good to you, say yeah, yeah, oh yeah If it's made a way for you and your family, shout yeah, yeah Oh yeah If he woke you up this morning Start you on your way Say yeah Yeah Here we go Yeah Oh yeah Hallelujah Hallelujah Shout hallelujah Hey Your soul, hallelujah, down in your body, hallelujah, shout hallelujah, hallelujah, let's go to church, here we go, say if you love to praise the Lord, shout yeah, yeah, if it's been good, good, good to you, shout yeah, yeah, hey y'all, come on, if you love to praise the Lord, shout yeah, yeah. Come on, if it's been real good to you, y'all. Say yeah. Hey.

Hey. Oh yeah. Say hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Glory, Since I laid my burdens down, since I laid my burdens down, since I laid my burdens down, friends don't treat me like they used to, friends don't treat me like they used to. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Come before his presence, with thanksgiving, enter into his gates, with thanksgiving, come, enter into his courts, with praise, be thankful unto him, and bless his name. I said bless his name shall bless his name shall bless his name I will bless the Lord at all times his praises shall be in my mouth anybody love him anybody need him shall holly come on put your hands up I'm so good at hearing y'all, come on, now boys and shout, Hallelujah! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sunday I shout, Sunday I shout, move your feet, move your body, leave for joy, leave for joy, leave for joy, shout hallelujah, hey everybody. Lift your voice, lift your voice, shout hallelujah, say hallelujah, breathe, last breath, praise the Lord, he died on us, from my sin, he died on us, hallelujah. Oh, y'all see it!

Julia! But three days later! Julia!

Say three days later! Julia! Hero!

Hero! Say holla! Say Louie in it! Do something! Pop your head!

Hey, I'm so hot! Say Hallelujah! Everybody say Hallelujah! Say Hallelujah!

If you need to, if you need to Hallelujah! Here we go! I'm going to shout hallelujah.

I'm going to shout hallelujah. Listen, if you didn't know, hallelujah means praise to the Lord. Now somebody shout hallelujah.

Yes, y'all give them praise. You might be seated in the presence of the Lord. What? Anybody got a hallelujah in their spirit?

Anybody come to give God their best praise this morning? Come on, lift your hand and say hallelujah! God, we bless you! God, we honor you!

God, we thank you. We lift you higher, God. You're worthy of praise. Worthy of adoration. You deserve all the glory.

You deserve all the honor. Your people come to say hallelujah. He is worthy of praise.

He's worthy of glory. He's worthy of honor. And we bless his name today. Can I, can I brag on God just a little bit this morning? I gotta brag.

because he's been too good to me. Hallelujah. He's been a keeper when I didn't want to be kept. That's the God I serve.

And so I can give him my hallelujah. I can lift my hands in the sanctuary and shout out to God with the voice of triumph. Hallelujah.

Hey, He's been so good to us. He's been so good to us. He is great and guess what? He is greatly to be praised.

Come on, one last time. Give God a great praise in this place. Hallelujah. Bless the name of Jesus. The old church used to say, have your seat if you can.

Well, bless his name today. Bless his name. today. I stand before you this morning with a heart of gratitude and I feel it in the room today for God's goodness. Can I direct our praise in a particular direction today?

I want to bring your attention to the work that God is doing in our student ministry. Our youth pastor, our student pastor, Pastor Eric Patterson did something special last week. He had our lead students, our student leaders stand up at the end of service across the front of the church and had them stand there to offer prayers up on behalf of the other teens. And so if they had prayer requests, guess what they did? They got up and stood in front of one of their peers and teens were praying for teens in student ministry last Sunday.

Isn't God good? Not only that, but in the middle school space, Pastor Benny did an altar call y'all. And three middle school girls gave their lives to Jesus. If that don't excite you, I don't have much else for you.

Heaven rejoice. Can we rejoice for those three souls? Bless the name of Jesus. They took their first step in student ministry.

Can you wave at me if you also received salvation when you were a middle schooler or a teenager who devoted their lives to Christ? See how important it is. Yes, your church is partnering with the Lord and the work that he is doing. Concord.

And I want to invite you to partner with God in what he's doing. I invite you at this time to give and give and give unto the work of the Lord. As you know, there are several ways that you can give. You can text the word give to 43905. You can use the app.

You can use the website concorddallas.org slash give. You can also use the envelope system if you prefer. Put your offering in the envelope and leave it in the reception.

to go on your way out, you can give them to our general tithe and offering, or you can be a blessing to our pastor and his family by donating a love offering. And so now that our hearts are shifted in a direction, y'all still ready to praise him, right? Hallelujah. Can you join me in prayer for just a moment?

Father God, we say thank you for goodness and mercy and grace that has kept us. We say thank you. And God, we offer our offering up to you, not a debt that we owe, but a seed that we... we sow.

And we ask, Lord God, that you would use it to further the agenda of your kingdom. Thank you for the honor and the privilege we have to partner with Concord Church. We love you and we honor you in Jesus name. Amen. And now I want you to direct your attention to the screens.

Hey ladies, guess what? Sisterhood is back and we're kicking off the new year in a major way. There's no better way to start the year than with your sisters.

Gathering for community, worship, and connection. We've got something special planned and trust us, you don't want to miss it. Mark your calendars.

February 1st at 9 a.m. hosted by Lady Stephanie Carter. We're coming together for an incredible morning of worship, fellowship, and guaranteed fun. It's the kind of joy you won't want to miss, and we've got a seat saved just for you.

Here's the best part. Our special guest this year is none other than the phenomenal Nona Jones. She's a preacher, bestselling author and entrepreneur who will bring an on time word to encourage and inspire us all. You'll leave feeling uplifted and ready to tackle the year ahead. So meet us there sis.

We can't wait to worship with you. Bring a friend, grab your journal and let's start this year strong. February 1st at 9 a.m. See you there.

Ladies, are you excited about the sisterhood kicking off? Mark your calendars now, February 9th. You don't want to miss it. The brothers kick off the week after that, but mark your calendars. It's going to be an amazing time.

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to each and every one of you. everyone and can you give god praise for the legacy of the life of dr king who spent his life investing in his community fighting for social justice and are we our lives are the better because of the work that he and others put in doing that movement At our 8 o'clock service, 830 service, we were able to host Dr. Martin Luther King's son, Martin Luther King III. He was with us, and we were able to interview him, and that will be up on YouTube later this week. But he was able to tell us and encourage us to continue this important work. This holiday is not so much about a day off, but a day on.

For us to be reminded that the work continues each and every day as we continue to serve in our cities and our communities, to continue to advance the work of serving the marginalized and oppressed. And so we celebrate you and let's continue this important work. I'm also incredibly thankful.

This weekend, a few months ago, I got a call from a dear young man, young preacher, pastor, that I am so very, very proud of. He said, Pastor, I want to come and spend the weekend with you guys and spend some time just shadowing. So he flew in last night and we'll go to lunch after dinner, after church today. And then we're going to spend the next three days going to all the same meetings together as he prepares to step into it.

Well, he's already been. elected to follow his father. He is the son. He is now the newly elected pastor of the Eastern Star Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Would you help me just to celebrate Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II?

Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II. I am so incredibly proud of him and all the Lord has been doing in his life. He graduated and then served two years at the Pilgrim Church there in Indianapolis.

And now here recently, just in November, he was elected and now will be following his father, who pastored there, Pastor Jeffrey Duns, for some almost 40 years. 36 years and so he will begin serving there and so i'm doing thank you to spend time together learning about pastoring learning about ministry sharing together i remember when i was about his same season i uh i called uh pastor ralph west and uh church at our walls there in houston texas and said listen pastor we're going from two to three services you're already doing that i want to come and learn and watch and so he said yes come on down so i came down and then on the way to the church from the hotel, I got a call from his assistant who said to me, you're going to be preaching. Pastor West wants you to preach at the service you're coming to. I said, I'm coming to watch.

I'm not coming to preach. And so I figured I would pass that on to my dear brother. I said, I know you're coming to watch. Come watch the eight o'clock. Enjoy all that.

But I gave him a few more days than I got, right? And so I am so incredibly excited that Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II, also going by Pastor Jay, is going to come today. and bless us with the word of God.

And we are honored. We are encouraged. We are blessed that the Lord is raising up so many pastors across this country to continue to declare the word of God.

He's gifted. He's married to his wife. Janelle and their three amazing children and so we are praying for you and we are excited about the Lord's hand that rests on your life as you catch this baton and continue to run for Jesus Christ both in preaching pastoring declaring the word of bring in transformation to your community.

So Concord, our choir is going to come, or our music minutes are going to come, and directly following them, you will then hear from Pastor Johnson. Can you give God one big praise again for Pastor Johnson? It was we prepare our hearts for the word, whatever your posture is of worship.

Why don't we take that opportunity to lift up our hands and open up our mouths and steady our hearts to receive this morning. Come on, you can stand and join us in worship. As we prepare, you can kneel.

You can open up your mouth and speak well of the Father. You can extend your hands. Father, we love you.

Your worthy praise. you spoke those words let there be light and there was and in that same breath the stars fell in line with one voice creation christ you do all things well can anybody testify that this morning yeah you do all things well so be Be praised, be praised, be praised, be praised, be praised, be praised forever and always. Come on, take that other opportunity and lift your hands in the room and open up your mouth and praise the Holy Spirit. God we worship and adore you you're worthy yes Lord lost in the dark up under the dirt I was buried left to die I heard your voice calling my name from the tomb I came alive you do all things well in the room can you declare it you do all be praised and this morning for you to be praised be praised be praised you should sing forever and always One more time in a row, say it out. Be praised.

You alone are still to your name. Be praised. You should, you deserve it. Be praised.

Be blessed, you're one to be If you glory, you will not deserve it You deserve it, you deserve it Forever and always So when I think of all you've done, and all the battles you've brought me over, Hallelujah! Somebody ought to respond this morning to the goodness of God When I think of all you've done and all the battles you brought me over I'll respond, hallelujah Somebody ought to think about it and respond Say it, when I think, say it When I think of all you've done and all the battles you brought me over You've been faithful to me when I think of the goodness of Jesus And oh, I respond, yeah Somebody ought to think about it and say, you never failed me How you never let me fall Somebody say, how he never let me fall Now I tell you, we say God Oh, your goodness, I'll be your day, let there never be a day that I don't rise to bring you praise. Hallelujah! You've been kind, you've been holy, you've been faithful, you've been righteous, let there never be a day that I don't rise to bring you praise.

Hallelujah! Sing hallelujah! Hallelujah. We respond to your goodness. We respond to your kindness.

We respond to your faithfulness. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

You've been a healer. You've been a way. I say, Say, praise the name of Jesus. Praise the name of Jesus. I hear you singing.

Shake it out. Say it. He's my rock.

Oh, you are my deliverer. In him. In him. In him. What?

Praise the name of Jesus. Jesus, because he's worthy. Listen church, we'll say it this way.

That's how long you're worthy. That's how long I'll bring you praise. That's how long. That's how long I'll bring you praise.

You say it's such. That's how long you're worthy. Forever is a long time.

But you've been gone a long time. Here we go! It's just press like, it's Sunday, somebody's got a mic, so I'll give you praise till I get there, so I'll give you praise till I get there.

Listen up and say that, let there never be a day That I'm so good Decision, let there never be a day That you won't find, you won't, you won't win It's my big guilty of giving you praise I'll always give you praise, let there never be That I've said it all Somebody got reason to praise him this morning. We're moving on, but if you got reason to praise him, you ought to open your mouth and speak well of him. Be praised, be praised. Forever and always.

Forever and always. You'll always be worthy. You'll always be worthy.

We give you all the glory. Go, go, go. We worship you.

I know. Hey. You are worthy to be praised.

Can we lift it in the room? We're moving. We're ready for the word.

Say it. We give you. Oh, The glory belongs to Jesus. We worship you, Lord. We worship you, Lord.

You are worthy. You are worthy. To be praised. Now somebody do it in the room.

Come on, just don't say he's worthy. Don't just say he's worthy of praise. But activate it in your soul. Come on, don't just say he's worthy.

You ought to show some sign. Let the routine of the Lord say so. Wow! You've been a good cook. You've been a good God, you've been holy, you've been righteous, you've been kind, merciful, you've been gracious.

We give you the glory that's due to your name. You've done by the color of who you are. We give you the glory. Yes, Lord. We worship you.

This is the day that the Lord has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. The God we serve is worthy to be praised. I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise is the glory of the Lord. Praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord.

The saints shall hear thereof and be glad. Somebody magnify the Lord with your boy. Let us exalt his name together. If you know that your God is good, why don't you give your God some kind of praise in this place?

Like he's worthy of it. Like he's deserving of it. Like he's faithful of it. Somebody shout hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can we keep that praise going for your pastor, my big brother, Pastor Brian Carter?

Come on, y'all can do better than that. We praise God for him and his leadership and his vision and his pastoral gift and his preaching gift. And then what can we say about the lady by his side, Lady Stephanie?

We praise God for her as well. Hallelujah. I'm honored to be here today. I thought I was coming to just observe, but I'm grateful to get to work.

I thought I was coming to warmer weather, but I'm not grateful for the cold. Y'all can keep the cold, but I'm glad to be here today celebrating the God that we serve, who is faithful and he is just. he's worthy to be praised amen um i won't be before you long there is a word from the lord that is found in john chapter 11 john chapter 11 john chapter 11 beginning at verse number 44 I feel like a black preacher, giving life to the black leaders, and all black riding around in my black Kia. Empower the bros, live on the gold, the black needers, giving them black Jesus.

I take you to black Egypt where black people founded the gold, it was right in the heart of their soul. Matter of fact, black is where all people are born, the black woman is the mother of all. Now, if you ain't living like a king, why get the queen involved? Me and mine and the chariot, we destined for the stars. So high up, I think I seen God.

Nah, that's just me and my all black teeth. Surrounded by black angels, that's my black team. You know that boys stay woke telling black dreams. After the bag turned this black green, stay on these knees and stay in these black jeans.

You see these power wearing these black prayers, ask my great grandmama. Turned a black slave into Obama, straight out of Wakanda. God is my judge, your honor.

Progressively progressing, no pause, all commas. Pay my tithes, no dollars. Do it for the folk with no money, all problems.

Turn your black up just to tell them God's got them. Shouting at the top, cause we struggled at the bottom. Black Messiah, magnify him.

God will lift his name higher. John chapter 11. I'm just trying to wait for y'all to get there. Y'all there yet?

Okay, okay, just just making sure. John chapter 11 beginning at verse number 44. When you have it, could you say amen? I have the new living translation, but whatever.

translation you have today should be just fine. And the Bible says in verse 44, John 11, and the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, unwrap him and let him go.

I want to speak from this thought simply, I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out of this. As you take your seat, can you turn to somebody around him and tell him, I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out of this.

Matter of fact, encourage him and tell him, you coming out of this too. You coming out of this. You coming out of this thing too.

I'm coming out of this. The Hanson brothers during Christmas Eve decided that they wanted to spend their Christmas Eve morning with their snowmobiles there at the Logan Canyon in Utah. Braden and Hunter Hansen took their snowmobiles up the canyon and began to work their way up to higher ground and what started off as a winter wonderland soon became a nightmare. While the younger brother, Braden, worked his way up to one of the higher heights there at the canyon, he began to see an avalanche beginning to form in the direction of his big brother, Hunter.

And little brother testifies and said, I lost sight of my brother. That's because that avalanche knocked his big brother back 150 yards away and covered him. in two feet of snow.

Now big bro is covered in snow. He can't move. He can't breathe. He's in a dark, cold situation and in over his head.

He was stuck at an avalanche. And I bring that up this morning because I wonder if there's anybody who felt like that brother there stuck. In fact, avalanche is probably the best word to describe the season that you're in right now. Where it wasn't just one problem that has taken you out, but it's been hella problems. It's been one problem after another.

And now you find yourself stuck. Stuck in fear. stuck in rejection stuck in failure Stuck in depression, stuck in anxiety.

I don't know what you are stuck in. I don't know what has you in over your head, but I'm glad you pulled up the Concord today because I'm on assignment to let you know that we serve a God of restoration. We serve a God of renewal. We serve a God of deliverance.

We serve a God that can break every chain. We serve a God that can bring you out. We serve a God that can make all things new. And I don't care how long you've been in your situation.

I don't care how far off you think you have been. I don't care how long you've been in this cycle. But how many of you know we serve a God that can give you the power to bring you out? Tell somebody I'm coming out of this. I've been in the same cycle.

I'm coming out of this dysfunctional relationship. I'm coming out of this financial illiteracy. I'm coming out of this mindset. I'm coming out of that toxic work environment. I'm coming out of that family drama.

I've been in this thing too long and it's time for me to come out. And this is where the Lazarus family finds themselves. Lazarus, the brother and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, find themselves stuck, stuck in sickness and disease, stuck in death and grief and mourning.

And now the verse I read to you, we. The story of Lazarus doesn't start in the grave, which is why you can't judge people when they're in their grave season, because you don't know how they got there in the first place. But if you scroll back up to verse one, you'll discover. that Lazarus was sick. And I don't know what type of sickness brother Lazarus was dealing with, but I do know that whatever the sickness was, it had his sister's concern.

Because whenever you got a sick brother, there's some sister who's messed up about it. Matter of fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that there's a Mary and Martha in the room today. And I don't know if you brought your sick brother to church or maybe you left him at home to deal with his sickness. But I know that that That Lazarus here was dealing with a physical sickness.

But you do know that you can be physically well and still be sick. Because somebody, you came to church today and you look physically fine. I mean, you put your own clothes on today. You drove yourself to church.

You know all the church slogans are saying. Somebody just simply asked you how you were doing. And you responded with God is good all the time.

And all the time God is good. You look physically fine. But if you could be honest with yourself and honest with God, you're emotionally sick.

That's why the smallest thing can trigger your anger. The smallest setback can trigger your emotional eating. The smallest petty issue can trigger the wrath of your tongue.

Why? Because you're emotionally sick. Somebody else is mentally unwell. Because whenever suicide is an issue to black men between the ages of 15 and 24, there's a mental issue that needs to be addressed. Maybe fear has you mentally bound or depression or anxiety.

You're mentally under what matter of fact, somebody in the room today or online, perhaps you are spiritually sick. Because whenever you don't have a relationship with Jesus, whenever you are unsaved or unchurched, that is a spiritual sickness. And I don't care how many therapists you see.

I don't care how much medication you take. I don't care how many life coaches you got on Instagram. That can't save you from eternal damnation. The only thing that can heal you from a spiritual sickness is when you confess the hope in Christ Jesus. Because you can be physically sick, physically well, but still be sick.

And what these sisters Mary and Martha teach us is that even when you are not sick, you can be impacted by the one who is sick. So maybe you're not sick, but maybe your spouse is sick and now your marriage is impacted. Maybe you're not sick, but your parents are sick and now the environment of your home is impacted. Maybe you're not sick, but your employer is sick.

And now you're dealing with a toxic work environment where the issue is not the fact that you're sick, but you are impacted by the sickness. But that's why I love these sisters, Mary and Martha, because as they were dealing with the sick brother, they came to a point where their resources couldn't help this brother. So what they decided to do was get word to Jesus because they understood that the only way. way my brother can be restored from this type of sickness is if Jesus makes a move but notice what happens when these sisters get word to Jesus They said, hey, Jesus, the one you love is sick. That's interesting to me because it was almost like they were trying to expedite the Savior to give them to know, hey, the one you love is sick.

And that wasn't a lie. Lazarus was Jesus's homeboy. That whenever Jesus will pull up to Bethany, he would always check in on Lazarus. They had an experience together.

They had some intimacy with one another. But even... Even Lazarus, who had an intimate relationship with Jesus, even Mary and Martha, who was connected to Jesus, they still ended up in a sick situation. Because I don't care how long you've been in church. I don't care how many verses you can quote.

I don't care how many songs you can sing with the praise team. At some point or another, all of us will experience a sick situation because Jesus says you see what they do to a green tree. Now what you think they're gonna do to a dried up with a tree?

You shall have tribulation. And when Jesus gets the word about his homeboy Lazarus, the Bible says he ain't even move. Mary Martha thought that if the one you love is sick, perhaps you'll drop everything you do and come see about your boy.

But no, Jesus didn't move because y'all, Jesus ain't on our time. You thought that Jesus was concerned about your calendar invite? He ain't concerned about your clocks or calendars.

He ain't concerned about your deadlines. He's not concerned about the fact that you said, God, if you ain't gonna move by 2025, I'm gonna have to figure this thing out by myself. No, his ways are not.

our ways his thoughts are not our thoughts they as high as ours as the heavens are above the earth a day is like a thousand years to God and a thousand years is like a day he doesn't move when we want him to move or how we want him to move he moves at his own time and that's what Mary Martha had to discover because the text says that Jesus didn't move he stayed where he was for two days and matter of fact He messed around and told his disciples that after he got word that Lazarus had passed away, Jesus says, I'm glad I wasn't there. Wait a minute, that ain't the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. You glad you wasn't there? Wait a minute, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Lazarus is not he's not sick anymore he's dead the sisters aren't concerned anymore they're grieving they're mourning they're crying the death of their brother and you got the nerve to say I'm glad I wasn't there And notice what he said, I'm glad I wasn't there so that the glory can be revealed.

Oh, I don't know about you, but that's good news to know that whenever your situation goes from bad to worse, that's the prime opportunity for God to show up and reveal his glory. OK, I know what it is. See, see, Pastor Carter, we in the generation now where everybody want to hear sermons about being rich and healthy.

That if you give $10 in 10 days, you'll have a million dollars. That if you pray and fast for 21 days, the next 21 days, you'll get a blessing for every day. Sometimes that's not how God works.

Sometimes the blessing is on the fact that God will show up with his glory. Okay, I see. You don't know what glory is.

Glory is the manifestation of God's power. Glory is the manifestation of God's presence. Glory is the display of his character.

A new car is cool, but I need some of it. his glory because Jesus is letting us know that the very problem you find yourself in is the platform for God's glory to be revealed in your life. That's why you ain't got to give up. That's why you ain't got to slit your wrist.

That's why you ain't got to turn your back on the church because when things go bad, that's when God's glory is going to be revealed. Because here's what I discovered. I heard about God, but I didn't know that God was the God of all comfort until my friend died.

I heard about God, but I didn't know that God can reconcile marriages until mine went bad. I heard about him, but I didn't know that God was a lawyer until I got arrested. I didn't know that God was a healer until my daddy got sick.

I didn't know that his grace was sufficient until I had a thorn in my own flesh. I sung about it, but I didn't know his blood reached to the lowest valley until my worst sin had me low down. No wonder why my grandmama said, if I never had a problem, how would not know that God could solve it? I would not know what faith in his word could do, but through it all, I learned how to trust in Jesus.

Anybody learn how to trust in God? Anybody learn how to look out for his glory? Lift up your head, O ye gates. Be lifted up the everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in.

I'm glad Pastor Carter allowed me to come to Dallas this week because I get a little break from the kids. I love my kids, but I love them though. I love my kids.

My wife and I have been married six years. We have a blended family, so we have a 15-year-old teenage son. Then we got a five-year-old and a three-year-old.

Y'all pray for us. Shout out to wifey. She's watching from home, holding down with the boys. But I recall taking my youngest son, Jeremiah, to a birthday party for his cousin, Jackson. He was turning...

I think four years old and we got lit on cake and pizza and punch. And then they decided to bring out the pinata. And and my son was a little scared because they started blindfolding kids and gave him a stick. Now, that's probably the worst thing. you can do is to blindfold a child and give them a stick.

But they cleared the area, they hung up the pinata, and all my little cousins at the party began to swing, take their hit at the pinata. And one kid after another began to swing and hit the pinata. And my son, Jeremiah, was off to the side, and I could see the concern on his face. So I began to explain to him what a pinata was, what is going on in this party right now. And so I tried to explain to my three-year-old.

Now, they're taking this. stick and they're swinging at the pinata because there was something on the inside of the pinata and the more you begin to hit the pinata the more it looked like the the pinata begin to have holes in it and and and it looks like that is going through something real bad but but if you keep taking hits at it if you keep swinging at it there's some sweets and some treats on the inside There's some glory on the inside of the pinata and the more you hit and swing at it the more glory begins to reveal. I had to bring that up this morning because I got a sneaky suspicion that somebody is in your pinata season right now.

It feels like life is just hitting on you and swinging at you. But don't you know that God got some sweets and treats lined up for you? That the more you endure, the more you persevere. How many of you know the more his glory shall be revealed? God is working this thing for the good.

Do I have a witness in this place? I'm glad I wasn't there so the glory can be revealed. And then check out yo Jesus, he finally gets there. And he late late.

No, he just not late. He late late. He gets there four days late.

He's missed his best friend's last breath. He missed the celebration of life. He missed the opportunity to give his remarks under two minutes. He missed the repass. for four days and can you imagine what his sisters was dealing with after sending out an invitation to jesus to show up to the sick situation and jesus ignored the message he left the text on red he didn't even show up now now now i wonder i wonder how you would have handled that situation Have you ever tried to wait on God?

I ain't talking about four days, I'm talking about four weeks, four months. You've been saying the same prayer for four years, and still God ain't shown up. I got a question for you. Do you wait patiently for God?

Or do you anxiously wait on God? I know, I know what they taught us in Sunday school. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew your strength, and they shall mount upon wings as eagles.

That's a good scripture to highlight. Try living it out. Because what these sisters had to deal with in the death of their brother, not just an emotional distraught, but now...

Their social status has been affected because these are single sisters in a male-dominated society. And it was their brother that looked out for them. It was their brother that protected them. Now that the brother is dead, they've lost their covering.

And for four days, they've been waiting on Jesus to show up. And Pastor Carter, I think these were some black sisters. If I can use my Holy Ghost imagination, I can imagine these sisters in the house waiting on Jesus to pull up.

They probably going over their thoughts that they gonna say to Jesus to give him a piece of my mind. That's why when he finally got there, they both said the same thing. Had you been here, Jesus? My brother wouldn't have died. That don't sound like a sister to y'all.

Had you been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And notice the response of Jesus. He didn't show up to the scene just pulling miracles out of a hat.

Notice what he does. He begins to have a theological discussion with the sister. Had you been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

And notice what Jesus says. He will rise again. Jesus, I ain't trying to hear that.

Jesus, listen, I know he gonna rise at the great resurrection. Jesus says, I ain't talking about no great resurrection. I'm talking about the here and now. He says, I am the resurrection. I am the life.

Then notice the question that he asked Martha. Do you believe this, Martha? Do you have faith in me? me Martha do you trust in me Martha now Martha I know you heard that I can heal the sick but you ain't know that I can raise the dead and sometimes problems have to go from bad to worse so that God can reintroduce himself in a way that you ain't never seen before.

Do you believe this, Martha? And Martha said, yeah, I believe that you are the life and the resurrection. Now, you just can't take it.

this statement without taking it in its totality because you know New Testament scholars they talk about the I am statements of Jesus and you know Jesus he begins to play on this word I am It was the same sort of messaging that his father had with Moses at the burning bush. If you graduated from Sunday school with honors, then you know that when God pulled up on Moses through the burning bush, God told Moses, hey, Mo, tell Pharaoh, let my people. go moses says hey who i'm gonna tell who sent me god said tell them i am that i am sent you i am that i am yeah that whatever they need me to be that's what i can become for them And so the Hebrew people were in slavery.

So they needed, they needed liberation. They needed freedom. They needed, God says, tell them freedom sent you.

Tell them liberation sent you. Tell them deliverance sent you. And so now check out Jesus talking like his daddy in the New Testament now.

He says that, he says that I am the bread of life. I am. the light of the world. I am the way, the truth, and the light. I am the door.

I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection. Whatever you need me to be, I can become that for you. So in this season, if you need substance, Jesus says, I'm the bread of life. If you're in darkness, Jesus says, I'm the light of the world.

If you need a connection with God, Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus says, when you need a way out. I am the door. Whatever you need me to be, I can become that for you.

And so check out what Martha says. Martha says, I believe. And I believe that Martha had faith because even though her brother died, her faith was still alive. How you know? Because while her brother was in the grave, she's still talking to Jesus.

While she's upset with God, she's still in communication with Jesus. While she's frustrated and confused, she's still in conversation with Jesus. Because there's somebody in the room today, you've stuck, you've been stuck in the same cycle, you've been stuck in the same sin, you've been stuck in depression, you've been stuck with your back against the wall, and you're frustrated with God.

You're angry with God. You've got questions for God. And I don't really connect with them church folk to try to make me think they never had to ask God a question. But they just ain't never been mad or upset at God.

Like they ain't never been frustrated or confused with the way their life was going. But I love what Martha does, being real about her emotions, calls out on Jesus and says, I'm upset, but I'm still talking to you. Because sometimes... God will take your anger just to get you to pray to him.

God says, I will take your questions just for you to be in communication with me. And the longer your faith stays alive, sooner or later, God says, I can bring you out. I remember my wife took my son, Jeffrey Allen, to his first Guinness appointment.

And I'm glad, like Jesus, I'm glad I wasn't there. This is his first dentist appointment, and my wife told me the story that by the time they pulled up, he was crying in the car, he was crying in the parking lot, he was crying in the elevator, he was crying walking down the hall. He just had a sense that something went right.

They called him. They called the name. Now he's crying down the hall to the dentist's office and he sits in the chair and he's just crying and crying and crying. My wife, so apologetic, told the dentist, I'm so sorry.

He's causing all this ruckus. I'm so sorry. He's crying. He's loud. And the dentist says, you ain't got to apologize because at least he has his mouth open.

Okay, you missed it. He's at the dentist's office, tears in his eyes, mouth wide open. She's apologizing for the tears and the crying and the yelling, but at least his mouth is open.

Now I can work on him. Now I can clean them up. Now I can get them right.

And every now and again, God will leave you in a messed up situation just for you to have your mouth open, just to have the tears fall down. your face just to get you to take your questions to God and how many you know will you take your tears to God God says what you sowed in tears you will reap in joy do I have a witness in this place and I said all that I said all that to say this that when Jesus gets to the grave He says, now, I know your faith is alive, but let me see if your faith is active. Because I ain't going to be the only one working in this situation. This is not observation. This is participation.

This is collaboration. So if you want to bring your brother out, the least you can do is show me where you laid him. The least you can do is roll the stone away. Wait a minute, show me where you laid them?

Yeah, because Jesus ain't gonna do all the work. You at least gotta show me where you laid them. Show me where you gave up. Show me where you threw in the towel.

Show me where you put... up the white flag of surrender. Show me where you walked away on your child. Show me where you hit rock bottom.

Show me where you laid him. And they say, hey, Jesus, I will show you, but it's stank now. Jesus says, I don't care about your stanky situation.

Show me where you laid them. And when we get there, roll the stone away. Because there was something that is blocking God's power from being displayed in your situation.

And God is saying, once you roll the stone away, way now i can get to work and check out what he says the bible says in verse 43 that jesus shouted with a loud voice lazarus come forth i love the way he does this here because if you read through the gospels then you know that jesus resurrected three people in his ministry that was recorded He raised Jairus'daughter. He raised the widow's son in the funeral procession. Now he's raising up Lazarus.

And when you read all the stories, he does it three different ways. The first time he raised Jairus'daughter, he whispered in her ear, Baby girl, get up. Second time at a funeral procession, he touched the casket of the widow's son and the boy got up.

Now at the graveyard of Lazarus, he screams with a loud voice, Lazarus! Come forth. Because Lazarus has been stuck in a grave. He's been sick, he's been stuck, and a whisper ain't gonna work.

A touching of the tomb ain't gonna work. He's got to call this thing out by name and if you and I could I'll just be honest I've been stuck in something I've been stuck in some stuff for so long that God said this whisper ain't gonna handle it me touching your retirement ain't going to work. I'm going to have to call you out by name.

And I love what the old preacher said. The old preacher said he had to call Lazarus out by name because if he just said, come forth, everybody would have come forth. came forth. Abraham and Isaac would have came forth. Sarah and Rachel would have came forth.

Because sometimes you got to call that thing by name. Lazarus, come forth. The next time you're in a dead situation, call that child out by name.

Call that spouse out by name. Call that dream out by name. Call that ministry out by name.

And how many of you know God will give you the power to come forth? Come out. I'm sorry.

I'm over my time. Can I give you one more thing and I'm done. I promise you. Notice what he says.

When Lazarus finally came out, he says, it ain't over yet. He's alive, but he ain't living yet. He's still bound to what he just came out of. So I need y'all to go to work on this man.

Take the grave clothes off of him. Take the cloths off his hands, because I need him to work again. Take the cloths off his feet, because I need him to move in the direction of his future. And take the cloths off his face, so that I can give him visions. So he can see again, because some of us are living.

Some of us are alive, but we ain't living because we still bound by the thing that God got us out of. That's why you still respond to his DMs and his texts. messages because you still bound by the thing God is trying to bring you out of. But at some point, somebody say, take the grave clothes off.

Lift your hands in worship. Take the grave clothes off. Dance before the Lord.

Take the grave clothes off. Because no eyes have seen, no ear has heard what God is getting ready to do. I'm coming out of this. Okay.

I know why you're not saying amen. Because I left you with the brother who got stuck in the avalanche. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you there.

He got stuck in the avalanche. Can I tell you how he got out? His younger brother was up high. The older brother got knocked back 150 feet down low.

And he's stuck in two feet of snow. The brother said, I left where I was, came down, and began to dig him out of what he was in. And the more I began to dig, the more I saw my brother stuck in what he was. And I began to pull him out.

You missed him. He had a brother that was sitting high and looking low. And when he found his brother stuck in a situation that he couldn't get himself out of, he didn't stay up high, but he missed.

at the point of his need. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds like my testimony that when I was stuck in sin and stuck in the grave and stuck in death, I had a brother in Jesus that was sitting high, looking low, but he got involved. With nails in his hand, he got involved.

Nails in his feet, he began to dig. A crown of thorns on his head. They hung him high. They hung him high.

strikes him wide. He hung his head for me, God, but that's not how the story is. Three days later, he rose again. Is there anybody that knows that God can bring you out?

Somebody ought to thank God for his saving, keeping, delivering power. What a word. What a word. What a word. Come on, we're standing all over the building together.

Let's give God praise for Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II, all the way from Indianapolis, Indiana, to bless us with the word that we needed to hear for our... lives. Somebody declare I'm coming out. Come on, say it like you mean it. I'm coming out.

Praise God for that word. God bless you. We come to an hour time in our service today where somebody today needs.

to make a decision, to decide that you are coming out. And the preacher made it so clear that Jesus was there, but it was participation that was required for the healing. And somebody in this room, what God wants to do in your life requires your participation.

It requires you giving him your yes. It requires you saying, yes, thank you for dying for my sins. I want to follow you for the rest of my life. It requires you saying, I don't want to just die for my sins.

do life on my own, but I want to get connected to a church family so that I can grow and walk together and learn together. It requires you making a move. If you're in this room today and you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, if you're in this room today and you've got questions about your faith, or you're in this room today and you need a church family, I want to invite you right now to grab your belongings right where you are and begin to meet me right here at this altar. I'm going to pray with you and then our team will walk you out and lead you through your your next step with Christ.

But for somebody today, if you go come out, it starts today. You choosing to follow Jesus Christ, it starts today. You choosing to get connected to a church family, starts today. You rededicating your life back to him, getting baptized so you can start this thing all over again. Would you come today?

I see you, my friend. Come on, would you come today? They're going to sing and as they sing, come on, we invite you to come. Come on, we invite you to come.

Come on, all over the room, we invite you to come. We invite you. Come on.

Come today. Yes. Come on.

We invite you. Come today. Come on. Who will never fail, say?

Never fail. Something ain't fair. He will never fail, say.

Come on, everybody, one more time. I trust in God. I trust in God. My Savior, the one. My Savior.

Who would never fail, never run out, never give up on me. Oh, he would never fail, say. Here's how I know he'd never fail. Listen, cause I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered.

I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I sought the Lord. And he heard and he answered That's why I trust him That's why I sing I saw the Lord And he heard and he answered Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer Thank you Lord for hearing my cry That's why I, that's why I trust him I saw the Lord He heard the new day, the single day of my life, I'm gonna say it, that's why I, that's why I, sing I saw, I saw the Lord, Jesus, and He answered me.

I'm standing in the need of a blessing, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of a blessing, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing in the need of prayer, that's why I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, yes Lord, I'm standing I saw the Lord. Yeah. I saw the Lord.

That's why I'm, that's why I'm, that's why I'm, oh, I'm so good. Would you help us with this invitation? There might be some... Somebody sitting next to you that wants to make a decision, but they don't want to walk by themselves. Would you ask your neighbor two questions?

One, do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Secondly, are you a member of Concord Church? They say no to either. The questions say, I'll walk with you if you want me to. Would you check with your neighbor right quick, family?

Would you do a check? There just might be one more person in the room that wants to say yes to Jesus, but they don't want to walk by themselves. Would you do a neighbor check? There might be one more person in the room that wants to give Jesus their yes.

Come on, let's go. I saw the Lord, and he heard. What a friend we have in Jesus.

What a healer we have. What a friend we have. We have come on And all that way And He will direct your path.

That's why, that's why I, that's why I, I serve the Lord. And He will direct your path. That's why, that's why I, that's why I, I serve the Lord. That's why I'm a town, and it's so awesome, yeah I'm so naked, I'm so picky, to be all turnin'That's why I'm awesome, my lord That's why, that's why I, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail, he will never fail. Come on everybody, I trust in, I trust in God.

Come on, you sing it, my Savior. My Savior, who will never fail. You'll never leave him, I'm saying.

Come on, sing. He will never fail. He will never fail.

We are so excited about your yes to Jesus Christ. We are overjoyed about this new beginning, this new season in your life. We celebrate. you giving him your yes we celebrate your walk of faith to say i want to follow after him i want to get connected to a church family we are overjoyed and excited about what the lord is doing in your life I want to pray for you.

Father, we come praying right now for our new family that stands at this altar. We rejoice, Lord, that you are doing a new thing in their lives. We rejoice, Lord, that they are coming out. They are entering a new season with you, a new journey with you. So, Father, we thank you for everyone today that is accepting you as Lord and Savior.

We thank you for everyone today that's connected to your church family. And we ask you, oh God, would you leave them? Would you cover them? Would you guide them?

Would you direct them? Would you show them? Would you navigate the path of their lives?

Protect them and lead them, God, as only you can. We celebrate their faith in you. And we celebrate this new beginning with you.

We honor you, God. And we can't wait to see all that you have in store. Dear God. It is in the matchless name.

of your son Jesus Christ that we say this prayer and all of God's people said amen come on family would you celebrate all of our new family members at this time we're gonna split it up half will go this way and the other half will follow sister lindsey all right wonderful wonderful concord you may take your seats at this time as you take your seats let's we got to share a couple things with you and then we'll be ready to be this miss together, the first thing we want to share with you is that, man, help us once again thank Pastor Jeffrey Johnson II for such an incredible, powerful word. What a word, man. And we were all blessed and encouraged by such a helpful, encouraging word. It's amazing.

You've got glimpses of your father while you have your own unique way, man. A great blend, man. So we celebrate you being you and watching God work in your life, man.

Praise God for you, man. It's amazing. I'm in the middle of his father.

I listened to his father for years growing up. And now watching God work in his life brings so much joy. A couple of quick things, family, and then we'll be dismissed. We are in the last.

Last week of the fast. We got one week left, y'all. One week left.

One week left. 21 days, y'all. We got our readings.

We got our devotionals. It's going. Are you enjoying your fast? Is God using it to guide you, to remind you? I hope you are.

And we got one week left. We can't wait to celebrate the last week of the fast on next Sunday. But we are grateful for how the Lord has been using this season in each of your lives like he's been using it in mine.

I'm grateful. for we've got a couple of funerals coming up this coming Friday and Saturday. I want you to be in prayer for the family of Brother Felix Spencer, Deacon Felix Spencer, longtime deacon of Life of Our Church.

Those services will be this coming Friday at 10 a.m. So please be in prayer for his wife and family and children and grandchildren. Please come to them in prayer.

And then the husband of Sister Pat Walker, Brother Walker, passed away, and those services will be on this coming Saturday at 10 a.m. So keep boiling. both of those families in your prayers in this season.

Amen. All right. All right. I see the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha up here. Why don't y'all stand?

Brothers, come on. All the men got a little cold in the room when I was standing here. It's so good to see you guys. Thank you guys for coming and worshiping with us from the Arlington chapter, man.

Thank you guys so much for coming to celebrate the King holiday by worshiping with us on today. We're remembering and reflecting Dr. King, who was a man of faith, a preacher and pastor, and he was also a member of Alpha Phi. Biophysicist Attorney Incorporated. And so we are grateful for you guys coming to help celebrate his life and his legacy. All right, family.

If this is your first or second time here, we would love to say hello to you in the foyer directly following services. We will be up there. Our team will be up there just to greet you and thank you. Pastor Johnson will be up there as well if you want to say hello to him. I'm sure we've got family from the Indianapolis area always in the life of the church.

But we are grateful for you. I want to ask now Pastor Benny, one of our middle school pastors. He's doing an amazing job. Help me celebrate.

Pastor Benny, man, he helps love and shepherd our middle school pastors. We appreciate it. He's going to come and bring our closing at this time. Come on, y'all. Help me celebrate Pastor Carter and all the work that God is doing here at Concord Church.

What an amazing word by Pastor Johnson Jr. Is there anybody in here who is coming out of this? Is there anybody? If you're staying in, then be quiet. But if you're coming out, give God a praise.

praise online. If you're coming out, put it in the chat so we can know. Come on, somebody. Listen, a couple of quick announcements and then we'll get out of here.

I want to celebrate, if y'all will help me celebrate some babies that are being dedicated on today. So we have Jamore. and Courtney Westmoreland who are dedicating their daughter, JC Westmoreland, and also their son, Jakari Westmoreland.

Come on, come on. Y'all can help me celebrate God. If you're in the building, if you're in the room, you guys are dismissed to go to your ceremonies.

Also, I want to let you guys know every third Sunday, our next gen youth serve in different capacities throughout the service. But today we want to highlight two high school students that have taken the gospel to their campuses. I'm talking about Kirsten Hicks and Herman Backus III who are reaching the one at red oaks high school by leading their peers in prayer and scripture reading on campus come on somebody come on somebody pray our hands in the chat come on we got the students who are praying and declaring the word of god on their campuses right now in fact let me have a student come on nyla nyla is going to give us our blessing so church will you stand with me right now to receive our blessing it's coming from number six verses 24 through 26 thank you amen um i'm nyla i attend the school for this talented and gifted at Town View and I will be reading the blessing. The blessing reads as follows.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. Y'all are dismissed and I pray that you have a blessed week.

Transcript for:Concord Church Service and MLK Tribute

Transcript for:
Concord Church Service and MLK Tribute