yeah yeah [Music] it's who you are that's who you are [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] here's Who You Are way maker in my life is who you are [Applause] that's who you are that's who you are [Music] double driver no that's who you are who you are who you are Who You Are [Music] here that's who he was that's whoever shall be that's who he was that's who he is that's who he ever shall be world without him that's who you are my mind [Applause] God is a Wonder that's who you are in case you don't know him today before the service is over you can get to know who he is [Applause] my my take it thank you thank you thank you gracious God we thank you now for what you have in mind we thank you now Lord for what you desire to do again and again we bind thee expectation of entertainment and we say have your own way holy spirit of God do your sweet work make the work of these pastors easy because I've come this way bless your people today save the Lost capture the wandering feel the empty and let your will be done through Christ the Lord we pray strengthen me the alpha I am thy I have no help but you I have no strength but you you think through my mind speed through my lips and whatever you do that is good and right and we'll tell people you did it in Jesus name we pray amen and amen to our leaders the bishop the bishop of this house Dr Granger Browning man of God overseer Visionary man of God we honor yourself and we thank God for your love we thank God for your life holy Reverend mother holy Reverend months doctor Joanne skagg's brother she said don't y'all call her that birth to many in the Kingdom and we thank God for her journey give me just a little less bass up here please take it out of this microphone rev induct Ingram a too long time girlfriends how we honor her life and her leadership into each of these cool chairs in your respective places to the officers and members of this great church sometime words denigrate from what has already been demonstrated sometimes words are inadequate and yet we try to give honor where honor is due Minister Moret thank you for staying the course thank you thank you the world would have loved to have you [Applause] but you stayed with Jesus to these amazing musicians and psalmists we honor you we honor you and to all the Lord's people covet your prayers this morning I believe the Lord will hold me up and give me what I need two passages this morning one Old Testament reading in one from the new familiar texts for those of you who are Bible readers Ecclesiastes the third chapter and then first Peter 4 and 7. Ecclesiastes third chapter and it sounds like this to everything there's a season and a Time to every purpose under the heaven time to be born and a time to die a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted Time to Kill the time to heal time to break down and a time to build up a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance I'm to cast a cat to gather Stones together brace and a time to refrain a time to get and a time to lose a time to keep and a time to Cast Away time to Rend and a time to sow a time to keep silence and a time to speak time to love and a time to hate I'm a time a do everything there is a season time to every purpose unto heaven first Peter 4 and 7 from the New Testament says but the end of all things things is at hand therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers this two is the word of the Lord I want to share for just the time that is Ours from a thought and often neglected reality one that may cause you to turn your hearing aids down and prematurely pull the shade down on the preacher's discourse I don't want to talk for a few moments from this thought when I came up in the sanctuary the other night even before Dr Gina preached it's done when I came up in here I I heard the spirit drop in my spirit to talk to you about necessary endings um necessary ending it's a time for all things and we love the time for the upswing but we resist the reality of the circularity of the change of times let's talk to you if I may from that thought necessary but the end of all things is at hand there were specific pillars in the drama of Christian they were particular Foundation stones upon which the kingdom house the gospel not motivational thinking not what you hear on the internet but the gospel has certain unalienable to upon which the kingdom house is built there there there is there is the fact that under our table is the pillar of the creation somebody say foundation stone the creation it is God who has made us and not we ourselves it is God who is the manufacturer the warranty Giver the one from whom we came and to whom we shall return foundation stone of our our Christian Life begins with the creation all things come of thee O Lord and of thine own we give back to thee there is the creation and then secondly as a pillar under the kingdom house there is what I call the alienation we live in a time now where people don't believe in the reality of sin [Laughter] people don't invite you back to their churches when you preach against sin ah but the alienation the the relationship in the garden was disrupted and this separation is called sin y'all can't even open your mouth to form the one syllable word sin somebody say sin the foundation stone under the reality of the Kingdom House the alienation Paradise was Lost Innocence was contaminated by the manipulation of evil the fall and God has concluded all under sin that he might have mercy on all creation and the Alien Nation it is called sin and and the third pillar in the Kingdom House in which we live is the pillar called the Incarnation when the law of Moses could not make us holy when the correction and the condemnation of the prophets could not free us from the bondage of sin God came God's self In the Flesh embody when we could not get to God God said let me put on some flesh and go down there where they live and walk among them with Miracles and and Ministry and manifestation the Incarnation it is a pillar it is a foundation stone under the Kingdom House in which we live the Incarnation it's more than just about Santa Claus it's more than just one time of year where we celebrate the coming of the Lord somebody say incarnation where he is tempted in all points like as we but yet without sin do you all read your Bible there are foundational Stones it is it is it is the the creation and the alienation and the Incarnation and then there is the crucifixion oh my God the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the earth God created a remedy for our trouble the Lamb of God who died a vicarious death touch your neighbor if you're not scared of covet and say he died for me touch your other neighbors say other neighbor he died for you the crucifixion he suffered and took upon himself the sins of all creation the crucifixion oh my God this ain't motivational talk right now this is foundational teaching the crucifixion he died an undeserved death on a Roman cross years I spent in vanity and pride caring not my Lord was crucified come on here knowing that it was for me he died what at Calvary yo don't talk about that much no more he was buried in a borrowed tomb somebody said crucifixion y'all better talk back to me I'm old and I'm tired I need to hurry up somebody holla crucifixion uh yeah he was buried in a borrowed tomb asking me why because he wasn't gonna need it long ah he borrowed a tomb but on the third day in accordance with the scripture the Bible say God raised him up it is a pillar Stone of all that we believe and then it is the resurrection Oh my Jesus became the first fruits from the dead and what God did in Jesus Oh my God in Jerusalem one day he will do in us on the final day somebody say the resurrection he was raised from the dead and I believe we we I believe I believe the Bible put it this way that that one day my God one day one day the dead in Christ shall rise and the Sea gonna give up there Dead come on here you might have been cremated but when he comes back with resurrection power all things are coming back together and he's gonna get us up [Applause] Hallelujah he was raised and and is exalted and sits at the right hand of majesty ever living to make intercession for you and me and modern theology leaves it right there we rejoice in the victories of of the resurrection and we dress up on Easter Sunday to commemorate this pillar of our faith but I suggest to you we have amputated the end of the story because not only not only is the the crucifixion and the resurrection and the exaltation but the Bible says and then comes the end what what we have amputated the end of the story you all know y'all know about big mama big mama we're in the kitchen and and uh when rain she picked up the phone and and Mama and and Pookie they were in the kitchen cooking and they were cooking a ham and mama mama said cut the ham cut the ends off the ham and put it in the pan put the ends off the hand put it in the pan put the ends off the hand put it in the pan and and and and so Pookie wanted to know well why you do that she said well let's call big mama big mama big mama why do we cut the ends off the ham and put it in the pan big Melissa I don't know let me call Great Grandmama and call Great Grandmama Grandmama why do we cut the ends off the ham and put it in the pan and Big Mama had a little snuff in her mouth she said well baby look at here look at him Rick the only reason I know we did it because we ain't never had now pan big enough to fit the hair [Applause] some things we amputated some things we cut off but God is sin in large Japan and put the whole ham in because theologically oh my God we need to remember the end of the story that there is not only the the crucifixion and the resurrection and the exaltation but there is also the consummation there's an end that's coming by God and it is going to be the end that celebrates the entirety of human history the end of all things is at hand and and then comes the end when all Rule and Authority shall be made subject to God somebody say necessary endings I want to inform you that every preacher preachers from his or her own vantage point in personal history and every listener hears in the same way the lens the telescopic window to the scripture it correlates with the time of life and the length of our walk with God whether you are birthing and building or whether you're riding high on on the victories of of acquisition or whether you're Looking Backward now on the journey and contemplating the lessons you have mastered through the years we hear and we preach through the lens of our history with God and often we see Revelation and insight most clearly from my position on the cycle of life do you do you hear the gospel through the lens of frustration do you hear correction through the ends the lens of irritation do you listen to God through settled faith knowing that there's a time and a season for everything in your life ah necessary necessary ending when you walk with God a while you've been able to synthesize the then and the now and the tomorrow and know that there's going to be celebration when this thing is over the consummation it depends on the time of life that you're in some of y'all don't have the same testimony as I I once was young but now I'm old but I ain't never seen the righteous forsaken I don't know where you are on the cycle of life I don't know whether you cutting the ham off at the ends or whether you got a larger pan for it but often there is the the vantage point on the Ferris Wheel of Life through which you hear God's voice and God and I'm clear that the longer you walk with God the clearer some things become there will be a consummation and then the end comes you begin now to realize that nothing lasts forever I decided to quit crying about it quit complaining quit putting it on Facebook nothing lasts forever and in God's economy there must be some necessary endings I read in Ecclesiastes that third chapter the verses one through eight and when you study that book you understand that the ecclesiastical writer Bears witness he he understands that he has embraced wisdom and he and he sat down in wealth and he and he and he experimented with wine and women come on here and he has exalted work and found weariness in it all because there's a time and a season for everything unto heaven some things start and then they cease some things begin oh you're happy about that but inevitably they must give way to the next some endings are necessary now in order to have a great ending then so did I get too comfortable in today don't get too comfortable in today that's so comfortable that you fail to make provision in your mind for the unexpected tomorrows I want to try to talk about necessary endings some some some things and then cometh the end first thing I found out in in my journey on the cycle of life is that there are abrupt and ambushing endings don't get so comfortable in today that you fail to make provision in your mind that then cometh the end some things are going to come in your life with a no knock warrant ah there will be collisions with your known reality that are going to take you by horrible surprise Dr Copeland I thought we were supposed to be happy preaching at the end of this conference I came to tell you I don't want you to be fooled while you're going through the dis associations of having to deal with abrupt endings don't want you to lose your bearings when you get ambushed by things you had not planned for abrupt endings sudden and intrusive unscripted ending huh somebody say but they're necessary unplanned endings endings that will barge in you and upon you without your permission or your consultation and they will bring a screeching halt to the way you had been planning to live your life touch your friends say hold on baby hold on hold on hold on seat belt on there are abrupt and ambushing endings in life what you find out that your mama ain't really your real mama and there's a disorienting ambush the man you called Daddy all your life was not your daddy and family secrets start to populate your existence abrupt endings to your perspective about what Safety and Security meant huh an Abrupt ending an Abrupt ending come on here you discover that your spouse has been in a long and entrenched affair outside the marriage and the spouse you have loved and supported and believed in and swallowed their dookie and all of that and and you find out some things and it causes an Abrupt ending to all of your Illusions about a life it's supposed to be I'm in here by myself I see and it blows up and ends the sense of security that you had built in a human being your organization your job your denomination yo yo yo yo your village betray you and exclude you come on here and steal from you and and you wonder God I've been good how could some I have to give God my resume and I'm saying God did you forget I've been a good girl sometimes there are abrupt and ambushing endings to the way you had scripted your life and I came just to remind you baby that no matter what you're going through now there is a consummation keep your eyes on the horizon there is there is there is a celebratory end your body betrays you what you thought was just a small thing it's now been found to be an incurable thing and the doctor's medicine won't help you I'm in here by myself but it ends your sense of invisibility I've been coming to this church 30 years but my testimony ain't expired ambushes come ambushes come when I went I was on my way to play tennis and I went by the doctors to have a little examination and and and what I had been told months before uh Dr Sharon that was just a little cyst the man said I got to run this across the street to the Pathology man and and you sit right here and I stayed in the office a long long time anytime you got to stay in that long long time you know something's going on fast forward he said there's no good way bad news huh I'm cute I'm I'm preaching all over the country I'm all over the world I'm I'm well right now I'm in my 30s and I'm riding high on the cycle of life but life came with a no-not warrant said infiltrating ductile adenocarcinoma one kind that is aggressive and will rise quickly and kill you quickly I said oh I didn't plan for this but sometime life will cause a necessary ending to all of your illusions about what you think you deserve in God job what happens when you get ambushed by bad news I guess I'm in here alone what happens when the financial stability is lost and your 401 is wiped out and what happens when covid takes your mama and your sister and your babies what happens when your children die a premature death what happens come on here when mental illness grabs hold to your own mind and you wonder if you're gonna make it I came to tell you sometime there are necessary endings that will come to pushed me into full dependence on God Alone I used to trust Ed used to trust my lover I used to trust my money but oh my God God had to put a Line in the Sand of my life and push me into his arms so that there's nobody that I trust like I trust God it wasn't necessary ending some endings are going to be abrupt and some things are going to be out of your hands and sometimes the friends you depended on for comforter now subtly blaming you for your dilemma Satan will even begin to accuse God you say do job serve you for nothing his way is hedged in he walks on milk and cream but then God makes you an example of one who will stay the course for the consummation of all things so life arranges abrupt unnecessary endings necessary endings I gotta hurry on Hagar must be abruptly ripped from Abraham's bed so that in the end of things God will make her son Esau a great nation come on come on come on Isaiah King Isaiah got to die so that Isaiah can get a Clear Vision of who God is huh the Bible says this that I am I am and I will have no other gods before me God has a way of breaking down my idols God has a way of rearranging the things I thought I couldn't live without and bring unnecessary ending to the way I have constructed my walk in the Kingdom if I had if I had a minute I would raise what the old people say time is filled with swift transition not on Earth and move can y'all don't know the song build your hopes on things Eternal my mind and a whole to God's unchanging hands trust in him who will not leave you whatsoever he is may bring if my Earthly friends forsaken still more closely to him there will be abrupt and necessary endings guys for the end of all this stuff is at hand secondly as I hurry on not only will there be abrupt endings but there are some necessary endings that must end by amputation life brings abrupt endings life pushes in on you but there are some things that that must end by severing and intentional amputation take the ends of Ted ham so you can fit it in the pan amputation to sacrifice one portion so that the other portion can live the act of surgical removal I must remove this person or this portion because it is necessary that I might live [Applause] huh it's a it's an amazing thing I tell you my testimony is not expired it's an amazing thing to be young and cute and switching this amazing thing to to still want to be desirable to your mate I'm talking to the ladies on women's day and then they tell you that the intersection between the erotic and the maternal got to be amputated so you can live there will be times in your walk with God that there must be intentional amputation it's the portion you've lived with for a long time it's the thing you've benefited from it's the portion or the person connected to your history yeah it may be even the portion of the person that you love and long for and that tickles your fancy in your secret fantasy life maybe the central focus of your natural life but because that portion of that person or that problem is now poisoning your survival that that portion of that person is now metastasized and moving throughout your future there comes the demand for a necessary endings of amputation I know this runs counter to your theology and and it goes against your Messiah complex you believe that you could save everyone and take everyone with you and help everyone but God is calling you that if you're going to be saved something you got to empty oh I know they pretty I know they perky come on here oh they might be droopy and they might be old but whatever it is if it is not benefiting your future and and taking you to the place of a joyful consummation time for amputation ah it's a necessary ending it is a command from the Lord I'm the Lord your God and I gotta be Lord of your life or I will not be Lord at all amputation might be a necessary I know I'm preaching long but but but I'm going back to Texas in a minute so don't send me no emails and tell me that I did wrong amputation might be a necessary ending uh what are you talking about Dr Copeland wealth it means that if you're going on with God and you're going to make it all the way to the Celebration come on here a consummation and the joy that God brings in full reward first of all I'm going to tell you somebody say amputation talk back to me say amputation it means you're gonna have to cut all content I'm coming for the bound this morning cut all contact s some of us have been here today and you love God and you'll be here in the church and you're trying to do you're trying to have one foot in and one foot out but the Lord said there's a necessity for you to end some things cut you can't even fix your mouth to say say cut all contact may I tell you you cannot amputate this limb with a butter knife but a knife is too dull it's going to take too long somebody's holler it will only prolong your suffering if you don't choose amputation as a necessary event in your life you can't end this thing this toxicity this trauma this cycle of pain you can't end it by discussion the Lord's saying I brought you to this conference this week I brought you to this church this morning to demand from your life participation in the amputation yeah come on here you can't do this by talking about it some of y'all hear me today and you know the Lord is convicting you and you know there's some things and some people some portions that you need to get out your life and right now you've been sitting there thinking well if I text him and we just and and if I just send a nice email maybe we could discuss it and see how we could renegotiate and when you get ready to obey God in necessary endings there's gonna always be a counter reality presented to you cause bookie gonna call you and say well baby we ain't got to do it right now let's go to Jamaica and talk about it in this let's go to the Ritz Carlton for a weekend and just see maybe you could forgive me for all I've been doing he even repented 17 times and he ain't changed yet it's time for amputation there are ambushes that are abrupt but there must also be amputations you have negotiated this season after season season after season but there's a time now for every season and every purpose under heaven touch three people say the time is now time for a necessary ending if you're going to live and go on with God so get a sharp knife get a sharp knife this behavior only becomes extinct by ending it full stop intermittent listen you can't get free from foolishness by weaning yourself [Applause] foolishness won't lean foolish is Gonna Keep On knocking on your door and tapping on your window pane psychologists tell us tell tell us that that that intermittent contact intermittent contact only reinforces the longing content put down the butter knife and get you a scalpel and tell God I want to go with you I want the consummation in my life I want my reward not to be lost and so help me right now oh God to amputate the things in my life that are contaminating my walk with you cut all contact cut all contact cut somebody said she's talking about a necessary ending cut all kinds and then don't just cut all contact but cleanse your environment yeah you don't see him no more you know I'm talking to the brothers too you don't see her no more but in your environment there are objects that have become Landing paths for your memory cleanse your environment oh God help me write quick to finish preaching in seven minutes you don't see him no more you don't hang out no more you don't go to Jamaica no more but every now and then you go in your bedroom in the back of the drawer and you got a handkerchief with his cologne on it [Applause] and it invites in a flood of memories and longing that begin to want to pull you back into the bondage that you have come out of talk about necessary endings this morning get a sharp knife cleanse your environment throw out them trophies and burn those pictures and give away them lamps he bought you last time y'all broke up go to the pawn shop and and I know you don't want to give away your diamonds but get some money for them it's a landing pad [Applause] Billy Joel 50 years ago sang a song there must be 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover hop on the bus Gus don't need to discuss much drop off the key Lee and get yourself free cut all contact cleanse your environment call upon the deliverer I'm finally getting ready to leave call upon the deliver recall upon the deliverer in the old days these microphones had chords in the old days before we was Wireless the microphone that Amplified The Voice was connected by a cord and the cord delivered power to the amplification you got to you got to decide if you're gonna amputate that there must be a deliverer involved in your progress since and cut it so that there can be no delivery from the power source to the amplification you want to be free you better call the deliverer you want to be free come on here you got to enlist the help of the one who knows how to unplug the amplification in your spirit mind Holy Ghost can cut the cord Holy Ghost can be the strong delivery somebody say amputation when they amputated my stuff they had to put me to sleep because it was going to be too painful to stay awake during the procedures and and yet yet when you call upon the deliverer the Holy Ghost I'm talking about now he is able he is able the Bible says he's the one that comes alongside to help the Holy Ghost he is the the paramuthia the one who comes alongside look at here and and he and he speaks in your ear yeah yeah stuff that other people don't need to hear about he is the one who brings counsel somebody said he's a deliverer he's the one that holds on to you when you know that you're getting weak and you want to go back he cuts the cord of the thing that has given power to your addiction enter your longing call the deliverer when you can't get an appointment with your therapist s all the deliverer when it hurts come on here because God knows you cared and you love him and you've been used to it knew it's been good to you and it's been listen the the power of the Holy Ghost is not only the power of Thea but it's the paragoria it is the paragoria it is it is the it is the Holy Ghost function in your life while you're amputating while you're giving it up while you're walking away from those Negroes and the others it is it is the thing that God knows you hurt but he says I'm gonna comfort you why you do the right thing [Applause] paragoria oh people and I'm and I'm about done the old people used to say big mama them had something called paregoric ain't but three people that know about it DOC and and they used to give it to the babies and they put it put it on the bed and put it under baby stuff and and Big Mama and him had a baby and the baby be saying oh ah no matter how sick and know how no matter how this comes paregoric they took off the market because it contained narcotics baby when you're amputating and there's things in your life that you don't want to have to give up but you know you want to go with God to the consummation of all things you tell God I need you to comfort me and and give me some soothing medicine in this time of my obedience to you God will help you by the Holy Ghost will deliver you in your struggle I'm gone I'm gone there will be abrupt and ambushing endings and then there will be amputations that you and I must participate in for our own Deliverance and then finally there will be there must be anticipated endings I wish I was a Hooper and a runner I ain't never been so I'm sure ain't gonna try now but after we have known God my God as our creator and and as as our as our savior and and as a resurrected Lord and the one who sits at the right hand of the as we have known God in all these ways he said look at here and then the end shall come and there shall be the consummation the anticipated endings for the end of all things is at hand therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers some endings are abrupt some must be amputated some endings must be anticipated there will be a celebration of God's victory in your life I came to tell you this morning the devil ain't after your family the devil ain't after your health devil ain't after your money but he's after your faith this after the inability to see Beyond the Horizon see the tale will be consummation and the celebration of God's victory in your life childhood impatience longing for the end of a too long school year in hopes that the summer recess is coming and the playground is coming anticipation laboring mother gotta feed up in the stirrups pushing and pushing and pushing trying to get that baby out there but the laboring mother anticipates come on here that after this there shall be the gift of a child [Applause] anticipated the convicted person you got children right now that's in jail somewhere in the penitentiary the convicted person who is suffering a jail sentence but who prays that the good behavior will shave off time that parole is gonna bring an ending to the incarceration somebody say anticipation there are anticipated discussions in the midst of grown folks that we don't talk about in polite company the Wayward mate who doesn't seem to yield to your controlling and and you're threatening but because we have prayed and fasted and waited on God we are looking for things to change I came to stir your faith until you put your eyes back on the consummation that what you waited on is still coming that what the devil has caused you to stop believing for faith will make you dig it back up again and start looking for the consummation of all they come on here you got a child Who's acting out and don't seem to be moved because of your threats but because you trained them up on yesterday come on don't stop looking for tomorrow I went there oh they shall not depart from it endings that are necessary stay on tiptoes to see the manifestation of your tomorrows endings that must continue to be anticipated endings prayed for you sitting at the red light in the red light then you'll never change and you late for the appointment but baby don't run the light because in just a few minutes the light's Gonna Change and turn the green keep anticipating your breakthrough it's going it's going to work in your favor this sermon is going on too long I keep anticipating the benediction foreign [Applause] some of you are here today and you're sitting in a longing space and an anticipation space waiting on a conclusion to the temporary discomforts of your life somebody say necessary endings some of y'all in here today and worrying dilemmas and puzzling pain in your life you've been living right and you've been saying to the Lord Lord how long how long how long you've been serving your generation and secretly asking Lord when will you stop delaying my answer keep your eyes on the horizon you said to yourself I don't know how much longer I can bear this I came to remind you it won't always be like this God will perfect that which concerneth you sooner or later it's gonna work in your favor come on here it's turning around for me I'm finished [Music] sooner or later [Applause] it's gonna work in your favor [Music] grab hold of Faith he's turning around for you tell your neighbor tell your neighbor I'm anticipating a turnaround it's turning around yeah yeah it's turning around for me Jesus anticipated he said I haven't prayed for you Peter and when you're strengthened convert your brethren is turning around for me [Music] yeah yeah yeah [Music] the turning around can begin this morning your turn around can start right now start walking to this altar [Music] start believing for the consummation that your reward will not be lost start walking toward this Altar and tell God I want to be saved no matter what is broken in on my life no matter the things I might have to give up start walking this way I need to turn around in my life it's turning around to me I need the Lord to help me now it's turning around for me I need you it won't always be like this come on and tell the lord it's turning around for me I'm willing to give up my sins and my ways and my toxicity I'm willing to keep believing you in spite of what has broken in on my life yeah let it turn around for you that are angry with God and you don't understand why things have worked this way tell the Lord I need turn around turn around it's turning around