[Music] let [Music] get let's get it good morning online family good morning and welcome to the Alpa Street Baptist Church in the Prelude my name is Gabrielle good morning ala Street online family my name is Aiden and Gabrielle and I are both students within the higher ground Ministry and we're excited to take over the Prelude this morning today Higher Ground is taking over not only the Prelude but also the entire worship service we are thrilled to present a black history play in honor of Black History Month today during the 11:00 service celebrating the rich Legacy
of black excellence and the important figures who shaped American history get ready to be inspired because it's going to be a great Sunday here at Alfa street Now one of the things we cherish the most is connecting with our online family we're so grateful for each and every one of you who are tuning in online this morning okay for our first shout out shout out to Trin pits from Brun Roswell Georgia nice to see you this morning good morning wendale woods from planfield New Jersey okay good morning to Jerry Marshall from Tampa Florida thank you
for joining us today Edith Lacy coming in from Lawrenceville Georgia good morning okay shout out to Daryl Jones from Southside Chicago Gail Green from Atlanta Georgia and shout out to Brittney wheeler from another Georgia Covington Georgia and good morning to marua rudo from Germany gut we've been celebrating so much of our black history all month in the past few weeks we've had black history moments from our drama Ministry we've celebrated HBCU and we've even learned about some of our very own and this is My story and it's all been so amazing and inspiring and we
would love to share more of our Alfred Street history with you right now check out this video of Alfred Street's former Pastor the great Reverend John O Peterson closing out our February black history moments we'd like to celebrate the seventh pastor of our Alfred Street Baptist Church the Reverend Dr John O Peterson he Faithfully served our historic church on the corner of Alfred And Duke for 42 years believing women could hold leadership positions he ordained nine female deacons in 1991 eventually disbanding the Deacon's board a year later in 1992 the church began construction to enlarge
the complex the march in into the current Church complex was held in 1994 and by 2001 the church burned the mortgage during its 198th Church anniversary he expanded membership exponentially initiating the new 8:00 a.m. Sunday service and Increased the budget from $122,000 to a whopping $3.5 million his tenure brought tremendous growth in the church regarding the number of congregants Ministries programs operating budget and visibility of Alfred Street Baptist Church worldwide we celebrate Reverend Dr John O Peterson the seventh pastor of Alfred Street Baptist Church Alfred stre Street we celebrate our history our [Music] impact okay
welcome back guys and we Have a special guest with us here today this is the writer of Alfred Street's Higher Ground Ministry black history youth play please introduce yourself hi everyone I'm Alicia Prince super excited to have our play Minister this morning good morning Miss Alicia we're very happy to have you here what's the play's name and what message do you hope to convey through this play sure this year's play's name is the Hallelujah Express and I want to convey Joy through Our journey our people have always face trials and tribulations but there is so
much joy in that Journey because God has always guided us through and I'm so excited to be able to celebrate that do you have a favorite moment from the play that you're excited to see in action oh every moment but most certainly really excited for everyone to be able to see all the hard work that all the teams from Higher Ground from our our youth dance lurgical ministry From our choir all the work that they've done to prepare and I think people will get a really big surprise when we open up the Play play this
year for anyone considering attending the play today what can they expect in terms of entertainment and education well we're definitely going to tap into some new folks in black history who you may have heard of but you might not know all those important details so you're going to learn those things today and you're Going to have a good time we are going to minister through dance through drama and through song and it's just going to be a really good time this morning I'm excited you I'm excited man thank you for joining us today we're excited
to see the play wait and also the final episode of the seek series watch the preview of episode 6 right now on your screen now how has your seek Journey been you know it's been going good I'm glad you guys talked me into to joining I mean I know I joined a little late but 2024 was a really rough year for me so I figured what do I have to lose I've never fasted before it seemed very daunting and so I wanted to see what you know God could possibly do through this I know I
started the fast a little late but you know better late than never and I can definitely say I've started to get accustomed to the tradition of like waking up reading my Bible and this actually may turn into a habit [Music] now now to our new segment the faces of the Prelude not only do we get to connect with the online alfha Street Community but we also get to see some of our wonderful asbc family yes yes our online members can send in pictures of themselves and their families watching Sunday service and the Prelude and they
can get featured on the screen all you have to do is send an email to the Prelude alast street.org that is the Prelude alfor street.org including their name and location okay so for our first shout out shout out to Sylvia clap tuning in from Greensborough North Carolina thank you for joining us today Lynn watts and her sons tuning in from Cincinnati and oh good morning Corbin and West okay and Sharon mcneel right up the road in Woodbridge welcome to the prud and Daryl sadell from Lyon New Jersey good morning we want to see you online
family Remember to send the pictures of your family or you to the Prelude dorg and you'll see on the screen now let's check back in with you guys in the chat good morning Gilbert Francis from Lorraine Ohio good morning scra Smith from Sacramento California Judith Tucker is coming in from Colum GA good morning good morning Dan header from Berlington North Carolina okay we're happy to have you here Monique L good morning Rebecca Caldwell from Baltimore Maryland you right here and thank you for tuning in Myra Woody and finally thank you Roland cochart for tuning in
from Fort way Indiana okay exciting news Pastor Wesley is back in the Pulpit for the 8: a.m. service the psalms of praise is at 8:00 a.m. and the gospel in inspirers are coming in at 11:00 a.m. service thanks for tuning in to the Prelude we'll see you next week [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] praise the Lord everybody come on if you come to give God glory come on open up your mouth tell God something this morning say thank you Lord for how good you being thank you for covering my family thank you for keeping me
in my right mind God we glorify your name we magnify you today we you we worthy are You Lord worthy are you Lord we lift you up higher father has anybody come to give God glory today it is cold outside but we can warm up the sanctuary with praise and thanksgiving uh somebody shout thank you Lord somebody shout glory Lord and say God we extol you we extol you now we're going to close out the month we have been enjoying our bless history month and traveling down and honoring our styles Of music so today I'm
going to take you back to the Caribbean is that all right oh yes now I remember some time ago I talked you a little bit my family is from Jamaica and so it's my hubby Bubby Hallelujah and one thing we do say when we go to the islands if you've ever visited Jamaica if somebody says hello we say gu Guan you remember that remember I T you that okay so I want you to try that I'm going to say hello and you're going to Say oh yes I think you got it now turn to your
neighbor and said hello did they say wagan that's right and then you need to ask one question to your neighbor say did you come to praise the Lord and they should say y man now turn to your other neighbor and say did you come to give him glory and they should say yeah man that's right so it might be cold but We're going to think like we're in at a nice nice Beach clear water and we're just going to rock because he's an awesome God right come on rock with us just like that and sway
to the music think about how lovely it would be when we get to glory and we don't have to worry about not a thing especially Angry Bird amen our God is an awesome God he reigns from heaven above with Will Z and love our God is an awesome God you say our God is an awesome God When Heaven above with God that's right try again say our God he's an awesome God he reigns from heaven above above the r [Music] that's right your turn our [Music] God that's right hey sing to him sing it again
sing our aw now one thing I want you to do I want You to sing like you know God is Awesome we've been going through some things since January got here and I know we're also in the month of March but Lord it feels long but the most you can do is give God glory because he's worthy to be praised if you believe he's awesome wave design say God you're awesome and that's how you're going to get to open up your mouth and declare how awesome he is sing it again come on say a Aw
sing it for yourself sing it [Applause] again we got another part for you God He reigns yes he reigns he yes he He reigns yes he reigns God He reigns yes he reigns heign yes he Reign He reigns yes he Reign aome from the top our God is aw that's right everybody singing yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Yeah with wisdom come say he yes he Reign heign yes he Reign He reigns yes he [Applause] Reign He reigns over everything he Reign he he he reigns over my life he's awesome awesome God
it in He reigns yes he Reign he yes he He reigns yes he somebody ought to sing yeah yeah yeah Yeah he yes heign he Reign yes he reigns one more time our God is [Applause] from Heaven God everybody [Music] say God awesome one more time our God is an awesome you sound good sing to the Father yeah [Music] [Applause] our God is an awesome he is an awesome he is an awesome yeah yeah hallelujah our god is an awesome if you know he's awesome celebrate him where you are celebrating where you are that's good
we're going to take another trip down to South Africa and I need you to come on and get up on your feet if you Light up already because God's love is all around the place and we got to make noise for him because that's what we're here for come on put your hands together hey right there Africa hallelujah we're so grateful that we can worship in our own way yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah come on let me see those hands everybody who came into the building to give God glory put those hands
of gratitude together yeah yeah Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah here now here now here now here now let's go all around all around everywhere I look you love is all around all around all around everywhere I look you love is all around you say all around yeah yeah yeah all everywhere I everywhere I around yeah yeah yeah all around yeah yeah yeah all around everywhere I Everywhere I let's go let's go come on let me see all the happy people who thankful for all of the love God pours over us each and
every day each and every moment we're going to do that again hey say all around come on let me see you use those hands everywhere oh yes all around all all around everywhere that's right let's go you know where we Are now if you're happy in you know yall to say amen [Music] hallelujah say let the nation sing the na sing people somebody shine in the building yes let your kingdom pour your spirit oh manifest manifest manifest manifest God Have Your Way manifest manifest your say all around all around let me See those hands say
everywhere [Applause] I all around all around all around everywhere I clap it out let's go right here that's right make noise for Jesus he's been much too good to you to keep signing on [Music] him let the nation sing the nation sing Let me hear you shout in here hallelujah let your kingdom Pour [Applause] out say manifest manifest manif yes sir say manifest manifest [Applause] hey all around all around all everywhere I everywhere I all all all all around all everywhere I look hear the family you see shout it out all Everywhere that's right P
say oh that's right what you say exactly come on everybody say oh that's right everywhere I am all around all around everywhere [Applause] iwh me come on hey hey hey hey hey if you're happy and you know it you got to clap those hands yeah yeah yeah yeah hey let the nation s [Music] [Applause] let your kingdom letom that's good manifest manifest manifest manifest Your Love Lord come on over us today manifest manifest hey manifest [Music] your All Around All Around All Around T all around everywhere I am everywhere All around all all around all
everywhere iwhere watch this next part give me that hey yeah hey give me the be come on he this is what this says right here hi everywhere I look Your Love Is All Around everywhere I look your love is all around you say everywhere I look your hey everywhere I look it's all everywhere I everywhere I look hey Everywhere iwh come on everywhere I look everywh everywhere I look hey all around all around say everywhere everywhere all around all around all around all around everywhere everywhere take it up yeah everywhere I everywhere I all around
all around all around all Around everywhere [Applause] iy come on come on all around everywhere I everywhere I all around all around all around all around everywhere everywhere everywhere everywhere everywhere [Applause] iwh everywhere [Applause] iwh 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [Music] come on give God glory right where you are praise the Lord [Applause] hallelujah good morning Alfred Street good morning oh I think we need a little bit more excitement good morning Alfred Street morning that's what I like to hear my name is Gabrielle Harbor and I am a senior in Higher Ground youth
ministry and today is the day that the Lord has Made let us rejoice and be glad in it and happy Blacky Black History Month alred Street I hope that you all are as excited as we are for the black history play coming soon at 11 a.m. service so we're here to give you a little preview of our original Play Hallelujah Express we will be LED in worship by Higher Ground songs by the psalms of praise and in dance by the lurgical dance ministry and of course our very own conductor Pastor Wesley we have a very
groovy time plan for you today and we pray it's a right on time blessing for all who are here and worshiping online [Applause] [Music] good morning aler Street good morning my name is Aiden Scott and I'm a senior from The Higher Ground Ministry and our scripture reading for today comes from Galatians chapter 6 verses 7-10 we'll be Reading from the new King James version so please stand if you were able to for the reading of God's word and it reads do not be deceived God is Not mocked for whatever man SWS that he will also
reap for He Who SWS to the flesh reap corruption but he who SWS to the spirit will the spirit reap everlasting life let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose Heart therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith the word of God for the people of God thanks be to God you may now be seated will you guys stand with me for a word of [Applause] prayer oh good morning aler stre
morning my name is Olivia Harris and I'm a junior in The Higher Ground youth ministry uh will you join me in praying For Kevin Marshall and Rachel Gregory in the passing of their mother and sister Elise Marshall Norman Staples in the passing of his brother Dwayne Staples gwendelyn Tony and Chante Whitaker Tony in the passing of their sister and aunt-in-law Martha Goodwin Verna pay in the passing of her uncle George Smith Pamela Hodge Moore and Jaylen Moore and the passing of their father and grandfather the W Hodge Senior Joseph Meyers senior and the passing of
his wife Renee gston Meyers Serita watts in the passing of her husband James Watts Jonathan mcain in the passing of his grandmother and two uncles Annie Bernice chamber mcain and George Murphy Senior and Daryl Wayne mcain Margaret Callaway in the passing of her nephew Dwayne Larry and dedri Davis in the passing of her mother Barbara Thomas Brenda White Law in the Passing of her brother-in-law Lee Allan Curtis dear Lord we thank you for another day of life we know you do all things well from The Av to ushers and greeters the songs of praise and
the musicians to all of you in the Pew and watching online give us hearts that are ready to worship and receive a word from our pastor help us to be thankful for all that you do today we ask this in your precious name amen am alha Street if you Went to HBCU then you know that this next part real well everyone else do your best we will be singing lift every voice and sing but this is fourth Sunday so the lyrics will not be shown on the screen if you know it sing loudly and help
your neighbor let us [Applause] [Music] sing every [Applause] to with the ofy let our [Music] reing high as the let every as the [Music] Sing Us full of the faith that the dark has taugh us sing Us full of the hope that the [Music] has the rising of our new day be done let us march on to Victory is one [Music] the The trting Rock in the [Music] days with [Applause] a not our we come to the place for of all the we have come over a away that the tears been water we have blood
[Music] of from the to now we last where The our star [Applause] is God of our we God of our th who has brought us far on the way th as my my us into the light keep us forever in the we Pray be straight from thees God where we BL our Str with the wine of the world we [Applause] foret [Music] Shadow we forever stand true to our god to our [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning Alfred Street good morning my name is Rita Holland and I am a senior in Higher Ground youth ministry
and I put the cello for the jhd orchest ra it's Black History Month the peace that our ancestors f for wasn't just the piece of freedom but the freedom of change opportunity and happiness to have peace is to have the strength to fight even when no one is watching that peace Is active not passive so be the peace in your own way and others Alfred Street pass the peace [Applause] [Applause] [Music] and I know the of the Lord there are sweetpress on each and I know that is the presence of The Lord Sweet Holy Spirit
sweet Heaven stay right here with us fing us with your love and for His blessings we lift our hearts in Praise without a doubt we know that we have been reiv and we shall leave this Sweet Holy Spirit sweet Heavenly God right here with us fing us with your Love for blessing we lift our hands in Praise know that we have been we shall [Music] leave amen good morning Alfred Street to those who worship with us online in overflow and in the sanctuary Grace and peace be unto you from God who loves us as our
mother and our Father and Jesus Christ who always and alone is our resurrected Our Risen our reigning And our returning Redeemer if you're grateful to be in the land of the living grateful to be in the Lord's House on the Lord's day if you're black and you're proud about what God is and who God is do me a favor would you help me celebrate and give thanks to God for this another day that the Lord has made what a blessed privilege it is to be in the Lord's House on this day as we continue to
celebrate our history and our heritage I am excited that at 11:00 Our high ground youth will come and lead us in our time of worship with a 70s theme so do me a favor if you're not able to stick around make sure you watch online as we join in with them as they lead us let's get this sound right Malik something's off please we're preparing our hearts and Minds now to break bread and share in cup as we remember the death the resurrection and the imminent return of Jesus who always is loone is our Christ
If you acknowledge accept and Believe In Christ as your lord and savior and you did not receive the elements of the Lord's Supper would you kindly raise a hand that our deacons may have an opportunity to serve that together we may break bread as one body in Christ Jesus if you're watching online we encourage you to also take hold of this moment to grab the bread and the cup that you will use to join in with us that we might worship and Remembrance Together both in this space and online with our family and [Music] friends
I was at a conference this week with pastors and our theme for our learning was understanding the future of AI in the church with artificial intelligence and one of the presenters was a a pastor involved in and black Tech share with us that AI is kind of like a disobedient Seven-year-old say you've got to train it so that it understands who it's going to grow up to be he shared one of the dangers of the destruction of Dei and the removal of black history in juneth and the curriculum for black history in our schools is
that AI will not learn black history and 10 years from now a generation will be raised who are fluent in AI but AI doesn't know our Story and a generation will be raised that never hears about the history of those who brought us through racism and slavery to understand the projection we're headed on how important it is that we continue to tell our stories how important it is that we never forget and fail to remember not only in our history as a people but our history as a people of Faith that's why every Sunday we
tell the same story that one day on a cross Outside of Jerusalem Jesus Christ surrendered his life as a sacrificial death that you and I might be forgiven of our sins that we might be reconciled in right relationship with God that we receive our commission to go out and make more disciples as the true way of spreading the love of Jesus Christ around the world so we tell our story as we take bread which represents the broken body of our Lord and Savior Jesus who always And alone is our Christ crucified dead buried resurrected ascended
interceding and one day returning this we believe as we break bread and eat together and in the cup we lay hold of that which reminds us of the blood shed on the cross of Calvary for the remission of our sins the Redemption of our souls that in this cup we receive the Forgiveness of all that we repent of and that God gives us the capacity the Ability to live a new life a life that is not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what is the good
and acceptable and perfect will of the Lord the blood of our Lord and savior let us drink [Music] together won't you pray with me God of amazing and unconditional love it is with our faith in Jesus Christ that we access what you offer to Us in the abundance of your grace thank you oh God for the complete forgiveness of our sins we adore you for the eternal security of our Soul's salvation we thank you for the precious indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into a life that is acceptable in your
sight and oh God how we accept our commandment and commission to live out the transformative love of Jesus as we Seek to make more disciples God you've loved us now we seek to love one another you have forgiven Us in like manner we forgive each other this is our prayer in Jesus name amen as we welcome each and every one of you into the space today and in online to worship we always take time to recognize our guests who are with us in just a moment we're going to ask our guests who are comfortable to
stand but as always I want to recognize she's I Don't know if I'm going to call her a guest because she's been here more than six times and we have a common law membership practice at Alfred Street if you come six times you are a member would you welcome the international president of the link sister Ethel Isaac Williams is with us back today president Williams welcome back to Alfred Street on today glad to have you in worship if you're a guest of our church family this morning you don't mind us Recognizing you as well would
you stand and allow us the chance to thank God for you will all of our other guests stand who are with us today any other guest Alpa Street help me welcome them on today welcome welcome welcome welcome to all of you thank you for joining us in worship today may God give you traveling grace and mercy to wherever home may be if ever you're back in this area please stop by and visit and worship with us Again it is our joy to receive you as we recognize that in the face of a new F friend
we find an angel in our presence welcome to the Alfa Street Baptist Church anybody celebrating a recent birthday if God has blessed you with another another trip around the Sun would you stand as we recognize our birthdays Dr congratulations happy [Applause] birthday there are those who are excited That God has given them another year praise the Lord and happy birthday to each and every one of you and finally we do recognize our anniversaries if you and your spouse is celebrating another marit anniversary would you stand as well that we may acknowledge our anniversaries and please
stand remain standing we may count out our years all right okay is your man standing all the way in the back my couple in the red how many years is this for you All 36 congratulations on your 36th anniversary and how many years are you all celebrating today 30 years 30 years congratulations on your 30th anniversary the Bookers what is this for y'all what year is this 47 [Applause] amen we celebrate the gift of God's presence and our guest and the gift of life and the gift of love worship is so important to have a
place where you can come and Celebrate you come and remember that in spite of all the lunacy that we are seeing in government that we have a reason to Rejoice that God is still in the blessing business and I thank the Lord I thank the Lord for worship on this Sunday morning listen won't you heed and hear these quick announcements as we get ready to give our offerings for those who are guests with us please know that we don't lift up a formal Offering in church we don't believe that we need to take time to
do that there's so many online platforms we're congregation that believes that when you mature in Christ no one's got to beg or plead you to give you simply think about how good God has been to you and you give back unto the Lord we're going to pray today that you would just ask the Lord and the Holy Spirit to move on your heart about what your gift should be and then using one of these platforms you Would give if you brought an actual uh gift today you will find receptacles in the narx on your way
out of church where you can leave those but we would encourage you today to continue to mature with us and know that in our giving we are changing the world and I thank God for all all of those who continue to open their hearts in obedience to the Lord a few announcements about where our giving goes so you may know what we're doing This week y'all this is day 35 of seek we are in our 35th [Applause] day do me a favor it don't sound right but it's true lean over someone say five more five
more five more praise God yo these hunger headaches are real uh these hunger headaches are real if if the sermon is short today you know why praise the Lord uh but listen I pray that you all are continueing to Journey with us as we Seek the face the voice and the will of God we are proud to announce that over 25,000 Christians around the world have been in Covenant with us for seek and I know I know that uh the concert and the celebration was very difficult for some because the tickets there was only so
much space my deepest apologies for anyone who was not able to join us in this space but please join us online on Friday as we gather together to declare the end of The Fast and to Celebrate and rejoice with John P in this place if you wouldn't mark your calendars Ash Wednesday's coming right up the year is moving so fast we're about to enter the Linton season on March 5th is our Wednesday and you all know that we have distribution of Ashes both inside and outside as our ashes to go we will begin um at
6 a. then at noon and at 4 P.M and we invite you to join in with us you can come by and get your ashes either outside or in the building If you have time to come in for a moment of devotion that'll be from 6:00 a.m. to about 8:00 a.m from 11: to about 1 in that noon hour and then in the evening um at 4 PM with a worship then at 6 PM so join in with us um for Ash Wednesday on the 5th of March we're getting into March gladness you know every
Tuesday in March we gather together for time of worship and Revival and renewal this year we're proud to welcome the Reverend Dr Otis Moss III the Reverend Dr Danielle Brown the Reverend Dr John Faison and Reverend Marissa frell you will be blessed in worship both in this space and online on Tuesdays join in with us as we give thanks to God continue to make our way towards the cross Cross of Calvary to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday morning just as a heads up Easter Sunday morning April 20th we will have our
6:00 amm worship service here as always for Sunrise but for our regular service at 11: to make certain that we can accommodate all who would join in with us we know that last year the venue was not large enough to house those who wanted to celebrate the resurrection of Christ so we will be over at George Mason at their athletic complex which we're going to transform into our Sanctuary there are more than 6,000 seats there so we know that we can accommodate the entire family of Alfred Street in that space so come on and join
with us come in from out of town if you would we would love to welcome our family from out of town to celebrate Easter with us at George Mason finally two things that are happening that we're supporting to continue to help change the world we believe that we don't just sit by and watch the world deteriorate we believe that we pray you all know that one of my favorite quotes from Howard Thurman is that the Power of prayer is directly connected to your willingness to be part of God's answer that what we pray for we
Avail ourselves to be used in I'm going encourage you to do two things today one we mentioned it last week we're supporting our brothers and sisters at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington DC as they have now taken ownership of The Proud Boy logo and are using that with black lives matter praise the Lord Um the proud boys want that logo back and in order for Metropolitan to maintain it they have to say that show that they are using it so I'm encouraging those who will to pause in the fast and purchase one of
those t-shirts all proceeds from those t-shirts am uh Metropolitan is giving back into organizations that continue to fight for justice and equality among our people and so I'm asking if you would to consider purchasing that and then I'm Going to ask you if you would join in with me as a church family beginning Ash Wednesday through Resurrection Sunday to join in the target fast that we will stop spending our money at Target for 40 days if you don't know much about this I want you to go to Target fast.org after church not right but after
church uh to read up a little bit about the history Target made a$2 billion commitment in the black community that they were nigged on within 30 days of this Administration as a people we spend $12 million a day day in Target it's time to recognize the power of our black green dollar that change in Corporate America doesn't come by our voice alone or our complaint it comes by our ability to show that we can shut you down and so I'm asking and encouraging you to read up Target fast.org if you're so inclined sign up we
want to take data to Target that more than a 100,000 people join point in this Fast that we restricted our spending that it affected their bottom line that it affects their stockholders and target has got to recommit itself to diversity equity and inclusion or we will not spend our money in that place amen so join us if you will join us join us if you will this is how civil rights began that bus boycott in Montgomery Those folk knew that if we withhold our money you will change your policy I invite and encourage you to
read up Target fast.org and if you're so inclined and led by the spirit join us in the fast fill out the Covenant form let them know that you're part of the fast we need to take actual hard record data to the table of the numbers that we were able to change and effect so I would ask that you be prayerful about that I'm going to lift up our prayer Over our offering we're blessed today by psalms of praise who will bring us the word of God in song We'll quickly get into word of God in
sermon and then we'll leave this place to change the word of God as we live it out won't you bow in prayer with me I hear your word oh Lord that to whom much is given much is required Lord never allow us to look at what we hold in our hands and think it Doesn't qualify as much you've given us so much much more than we deserve and sometimes even more than we asked for now Lord remember remind us that much is required of us to not only give to support the work of your kingdom
but to hold back and starve the work of evil Lord may we be good stewards of the gifts you've given unto us that through our giving and our fasting we change the world in Jesus Name we pray amen I the world [Music] [Music] to my world [Music] about this [Music] he he heal sick and heed he he did When he did he did heed my onent he did yes he did I the world about Nations [Music] bless and Hallelujah [Applause] [Applause] hu bless [Applause] he Brought to [Applause] thank you psalms of [Applause] praise Speak Lord
for your servant to listen in Jesus name we pray amen we're going to move quickly this morning that we may have time to transition and prepare for Higher Ground leading us at 11: our teens are here early and prepared to lead us in worship They've got breakfast and they're not on the fast that bacon [Applause] is smelling mighty good right now um I'm going to ask you to hustle in your words to the book of Nehemiah and while you're turning to the book of Nehemiah let me remind you that our Old Testament with its 39
books are divided into five sections you've got five books of law Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy that establish the law of God with God's people you've got five books of poetry job psalm Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon then you've got these books of prophecies the five Majors Isaiah Jeremiah limitation Ezekiel Daniel where God speaks to God's people you've got the Minor Prophets and they're 12 of those Hosea Jeremiah Hosea Jeremiah Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah nahca Zephaniah Hagi Zachariah Malachi and the only reason they're called minor is because they're shorter than the larger ones but
the core for the Old Testament are these books of history that set the framework in the context of the law and the poetry and the prophets you got Joshua and judges that tell the story of the children of Israel as they enter the promised land then you've got the book of Samuel and Kings 1 12 Samuel 12 Kings to tell the story of the rise of Israel The split of Israel and then the destruction of Israel the North in 72 in the south in 586 when you get to Chronicles you'll find First and 2 Chronicles
and when you read it it's going to sound awful familiar because Chronicles is just a retelling of the same stories that you read in Samuel and Kings but it's told on the other side of the Babylonian exile and critical is the book of Nehemiah de compan you need to know that In the original Hebrew Bible Ezra and Nehemiah are combined into one book because the book of Ezra Nehemiah tells the story of the children of Israel after they leave Babylonian captivity and make their way back to Israel to restore rebuild and renew the glory of
God in the city of David that being said Nehemiah chapter 6 beginning in verse number one if you're physically able won't you stand as we heed and hear the reading of God's word from Nehemiah Chapter 6 I'm reading The New International Version listen for the word of the Lord when word came to S ballot tobah gam the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates s ballad and gam sent
me this message come let us meet together in one of the villages on the plane of Ono but they were scheming to harm me so I sent Messengers to them With this reply I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you four times they sent me the same message and each time I gave them the same answer then the fifth time Sam ballot sent his Aid to me with the same message and in his hand was an unsealed letter in
which was written it is reported among the nation and gam says it's true That you and the Jews are plotting to revolt and therefore you're building the wall moreover according to these reports you are about to become their King You've even appointed prophets to make this Proclamation about you in Jerusalem saying there's a king in Judah now this report will get back to the king so come let us meet together I sent him this reply nothing like what you are saying is happening you're just making it up in your own Head we going to preach
today they were all trying to frighten us thinking their hands will get too weak for the work and it will not be completed but I prayed now strengthen my hands do me a favor would you give someone the sermon title and tell them neighbor neor oh neighbor oh neighbor finish what you started started amen finish what you Started y I want to begin very quickly today by telling you the story of the creation of the subway system in Cincinnati Ohio now if you've ever been the s or you're from Cincinnati you're going to tell me
Pastor there's no subway system in Cincinnati exactly you see in 1903 Cincinnati was a growing thriving City and in a desire to look like Boston and New York City Officials wanted to revamp The Trolley system and create an underground Subway that was prospering in Boston and New York in 1906 the contract for Designing the subway system was given to a brother by the name of Henry Thomas Hunt and in 1910 the city gave him a $6 million bond to begin the construction of the underground Subway in Cincinnati Ohio when the project began every business downtown
supported it and the Cincinnati Inquirer the newspaper of the day said it's going to create a more prosperous healthier and happier Cincinnati the work began but it was quickly stopped at the beginning of World War I after the war construction began again in 1920 but this time the cost had doubled to $13 million after a lot of economic trial politic debates and depression the construction ended in 1927 only two miles of tunnels had been dug out four stations were now abandoned and not a single track had been laid in the ground after several years two
miles of tunnel four stations and not a single track had been laid efforts to rebuild and restart the project continue to come up even as late as 2002 today if you go to Cincinnati you can pay to take a tour to See these tunnels these abandoned stations and not a single track lying on the ground the taxpayers of Cincinnati in 2024 paid $25 million to maintain empty tunnels abandoned stations and an unfinished subway system and the same newspaper which almost a century ago said it would create a happier Cincinnati recently said this it is the
city's biggest Embarrassment and it would have been better to have never started than to never finish it would have been better to have never started than to never finish one more time because you think I'm talking about construction I'm talking about your life with God that sometimes it's better to have never started than to never finish let me argue my case for you I Would suggest to you that as you mature in your walk with God your life with God there are seasons when it is clear that God is pressing an assignment on you becomes
clear that God has a purpose and a plan for you that God has giving you a dream that will not stop that God is pointing all the signs in the right direction that God has lit a fire in Your heart to get something done maybe it's starting a business maybe it's writing a book maybe it's running for office maybe it's starting a new ministry maybe it's applying for a new role maybe it's it's finally getting on your knees and saying will you marry me but sometime in your life God presses an assignment on your heart
and you know you can't rest until you start doing what God has called you to Do beloved and whenever God has called you to an assignment I promise you three things will happen whenever God has called you to something it will prosper you it will bless other people and it will give God glory let me reiterate that whenever God has pressed an assignment on your life it is meant to prosper you to bless others and to give God glory and because it's going to prosper you because it will bless others and Because it will give
him glory the enemy always gets involved you missed your first shout right there because whatever God wants to use to prosper you whenever God wants to bless others through you whenever God's going to get Glory from you the enemy always gets involved now I know why some of you all haven't said amen you don't have any Pentecostal Apostolic holy ghost in you And you don't subscribe to demonic interference you don't believe in satanic working you you you don't you don't embrace the gift of an eternal enemy that's all right you don't have to believe it
for it to be true Peter says that we fight a roaring lion who walks around looking whom he may devour Paul reminded us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and evil and wickedness in high places ah Jesus Reminded us that the thief comes to steal to kill and to destroy and whenever God has an assignment on your life the devil gets involved not because it will prosper you not because it will bless others but because it will give God glory hear me Beloved the devil's not worried about you being prosperous
as long as you don't give God glory devil doesn't mind you blessing someone else as long as you don't Encourage them to give God glory the devil's not after your Prosperity the devil's not after you blessing others what the devil is after is the glory that God will get from the work you do you do remember that Satan was the first praise and worship leader and he was kicked out of heaven and so now he's mad because God has chosen you to do a work that then gives God the same Glory that the enemy was
supposed to give so the enemy ain't After after you the enem is after the fact that you took his job to give God glory so he's after the glory of God go on teach our John so hear me if I haven't lost you let me give you some devil 101 the devil in the fears not to discourage your dream hear me the devil is not threatened by your dream anybody can dream big anybody can come up with a vision Board anybody can write a business plan anybody can talk about what they going to do and
the enem is really not worried about that because the enemy gets very little from what you don't start hear me no one knows what you didn't start Nobody Knows the vision you laid out on the table but never began nobody knows what God put on your heart but you never started it's not not starting he's after He's making certain that when you start you're too discouraged to finish because what threatens the glory of God is not what you don't begin it's what you don't finish let me argue my case from NE from Nehemiah the book
of Nehemiah in order to understand what happens you got to go back to 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquers Israel and that begins the period of the Babylonian Exile in 539 BC Cyrus and the Persians conquer Nebuchadnezzar they take over Jerusalem and cus the emperor allows for a small band of Jews to leave Exile and go back to Jerusalem it happens in three movements theen the first is led by a brother named zerubabel and zerubabel goes back to rebuild the glory of the temple where the people of God worshiped The Next Movement is led by Ezra
Ezra goes back to remind the people of the word of God to establish the Covenant that they had in the laws of Moses the third movement is led by Nehemiah Nehemiah comes to scene under the next Emperor named erses and Nehemiah is the cupbearer of erses can I teach Bible as the cupbearer his assignment was to sip the wine before the emperor drank it to make make certain it wasn't poisoned so it might not take much for You to know that erses trusted Nehemiah nehemiah's assignment was to make certain that the emperor was not poisoned
Nehemiah receives a vision from the Lord sharing with him that the walls of Jerusalem have not been restored the gates of the city have not been put back in place the Temple's been rebuilt the law is being proclaimed but the walls of Jerusalem and its 12 gates to the city need to be repaired and God presses a passion on Nehemiah to get the work done nehemiah's disturbed until he decides to do what God has called him to do he realizes that God is calling me to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the
city and to put the gates up God has given him a dream and a pass passion he goes to erses it says I have an assignment from God to go rebuild the wall erses because he trusts Nehemiah not only grants him permission and favor but he sends them Back with resources so Nehemiah goes back to Jerusalem to repair the walls that were destroyed 115 years ago please don't forget the data he goes back with resources from the King to rebuild the walls that were destroyed 115 years ago and when he gets there from day One
he's got trouble from Three Brothers toaya gim and sand ballot these brother Brothers oppose him with every move he makes every time he tries to do something they stand in the way every time he tries to move the ball forward they kick it back every time he tries to inspire others they speak against him they do everything they can to discourage Nehemiah from completing the work that God had called him to do they Stand as opposition and the Bible declares that Nehemiah is never discour enaged by them Nehemiah never quits his assignment Nehemiah never gets
depressed Nehemiah never walks away as a matter of fact Nehemiah is more persuaded by the opposition to continue than he is to give up let me tell you why that's a word already because whenever God puts an assignment on your life a passion in your heart a purpose over your efforts One of the quickest ways for the en enemy to discourage you is for you to find out that people ain't with you I don't know who I can't preach you this morning but uh the reality of opposition sometimes causes us to become discouraged because you
can't understand why people would be against you how could you fight this when you know I'm trying to do what God called me to do How can you not support me when you know I've been praying for this how can you be opposed to something God put on my heart it's discouraging to find out that people are in opposition to something you know God has called you to do can I push it especially when it's folk you thought would support you especially when they got your last Name especially when they share your skin color especially
when they say they worship the same God that you do how can you not support what I feel God has called me to do sometimes we get discouraged by the reality of opposition can I push it they oppos him and the tripped out thing about it Denzel is that before Nehemiah got there The three of them didn't even mess with each other as a matter of fact history shows that gam and San ballad were enemies but now that Nehemiah is on the scene they become friends well I came about to help somebody uh let me
tell you how you know what you're doing is called by God when you see new ungodly alliances being formed between folk who couldn't even stand each other they didn't like each other but they Don't like you and so now they have bound up together and the only thing that holds them in common is their dislike of [Applause] you when you see folk hanging in a break room that don't like each other when you look out the window and you see that meeting in the parking lot you might be on to something these folk didn't even
like each Other and now they can't stand Nehemiah let me move because I've been trying to figure out why they didn't like Nehemiah I'm trying to figure out why you would oppose me I'm trying to figure out why why you can't support what God has called me to do I'm trying to figure out why we have enemies when God has called us to a great work as sharesa I figured it out let me tell you why folk don't like the Nehemiah in You because the walls have been destroyed for 115 years they were destroyed for
all of gash's life all of tobias's life all of s ballet's life and the three of them had learned to be functional in Brokenness and so now here come Nehemiah talking about these walls got to get fixed cuz this ain't right and now they are angry because Nehemiah is not content to live with a Brokenness that They have become austo to oh I came by to tell you the reason folk don't like Nehemiah in you is because Excellence exposes mediocrity oh that that whenever you walk in excellence you expose mediocrity all around [Applause] you you
you you want to have some enemies start doing better than the folk around you you you want to have folk roll their Eyes at you raise the bar of expectation you you want your co-workers not to like you start coming to work early and leaving a little bit later you want to know why folk don't like you uh because you walking in with new vision and you're pressing the borders and you're talking about that this in the past is not good enough whenever you push the bar of Excellence you expose the dysfunction of folk who
are around you that's why they don't want us in the Boardroom that's why they don't want us in the corporate office that's why they don't want us running the business cuz [Applause] Excellence exposes mediocrity can I push it the uh they don't like him cuz he's raising a bar of expectation let me tell you why they don't like him this going to hit everybody but a few of y'all going to Say amen he has what the three of them don't he's got the favor of the king he showed up and everybody knew AR xerses had
favored him y'all y'all this is a tough pill to swallow uh but favor ain't free Grace will cost you something God's favoring you will lead other people to despise you because you walk in a favor that they don't have and They can't understand how you keep getting where you are other than when God has chosen you and God has not chosen them and it leaves a bad taste in their mouths come here come here come here come here somebody I want you to know this you can't be favored and liked you can't be anointed and
popular you can't walk in Gra and think that everyone's going to stand by You so here's a word for somebody the opposition against you is confirmation of the favor on you that the only reason they stand against you is because God is doing something through you that they cannot understand and therefore they cannot control and if they cannot control you then they don't like you because they've come to realize that God is the one who is or ordering your steps God opened that door God put you in that room God Gave you the criteria God
put you there and they can't do nothing to stop what God has begun somebody holler favor fa so watch this they send word and say hey Nehemiah uh come on down off the wall so we can talk um stop what you're doing cuz we got some issues we need to discuss I I like this uh Melvin they say let's go to the plane of oh No and Nehemiah says oh no I'm not I'm not coming down stopping what God has called me to do to deal with y'all boy I'm I'm sorry I'm sorry forever this
applies to you but I came by to tell you some stuff ain't worth your time and the groer you get in god the more mature you get with the Lord you realize that I ain't got time to be dealing with No Nonsense I ain't got time to be dealing with no stuff like That what God has called me to do is too important for me to waste my time somebody needs to learn the word oh no no no he doesn't go down to deal with them I figured out why he doesn't deal with them you
ready to hear this cuz he's realized nothing I say will change you you have been against this from day one and y'all can I tell you one of the Greatest places of peace and maturity in the walk with God is when you accept that people are who they are and I don't expect you to be no different today than you were on yesterday and when you make peace with they ain't no good when you accept that they just slow down when you know that they lie whenever they open their mouth when you accept the fact
that they are just jealous and insecure there's a Peace that comes over you because I have come to the place of realizing I don't need the approval of folk who are insecure folk who are jealous folk who are bitter folk who are nasty the word of God to somebody today is stop seeking approval from folk you don't need in your [Applause] life stop wasting your time trying to prove yourself to people whose approval you don't Need I'm say that again h stop wasting time trying to prove yourself to people whose approval you don't need girl
brother man when you walk in the favor of God and God's got his hand on you it doesn't matter who stands against you I need about five folk who believe that if God be for me [Applause] watch this I I want to finish I want to finish he can I push it a little bit they say to him come on down they do It four times he says I ain't got time for y'all I don't need you to approve what God has already called me to do so Watch What Happens watch how the enemy works
so Sam ballad writes a letter and in the letter he says words gotten to me and gum said it's true that uh you're trying to be king and if you don't come talk to me I'm going send this letter to AR xerses saying that you trying to become king and gam said it's true and notice nehemiah's response this this where the Lord get my heart Nehemiah says you know what ain't none of that true you made it up in your mind and what I'm not going to do is stop what God called me to do
so I can correct your misperception of what you Think I'm trying to get done oh came by to help somebody when God has an assignment on your life one of the ways the devil tries to discourage you is to surround You by people who lie on you people who misinterpret what you're trying to do people who have skewed and perverted the work that God has called and I just come to the belief that God did not put me on Earth to fight or fix your imagination that God did not put me here to chase Down
a lie God did not put me here to correct W the rumor mill can I help you real quick I want you to reach a place where you are content to let folk be wrong I'm content to let you think whatever you want to think I'm all right where you running your mouth with whatever you want to run what I'm not going to do is Chase a lie what I'm not going to do is fight a rumor what I'm Not going to do is cater to that if it's in your mind go ahead and thank
it come here come here come here come here come here uh boy I feel like preaching um um um um I ain't got time to fight your imagination I'm not here to fix what you made up and I don't care if gum said it was true two Liars don't make a [Applause] Truth uh well let me get on out of here uh so you know where I found this out where Jesus is interacting with pilate and his trial and pilate goes to Jesus in Luke 23 and he says are you really the king of the
Jews and listen to what Jesus response was that's what you said Bo that that's that's that's my new T-shirt that's what you said and there's something powerful with letting yourself be at peace with the fact that some folk are just wrong about you I promise I wouldn't be long today because we got to move um so I'm reading through this story about Nehemiah and I gotta be honest I'm I'm a little frustrated with God because I said God if if you gave me the Assignment why didn't you handle the enemies before I got there I
mean why not shut them up before they start talking ain't nobody in here so holy that you ain't pray for God to do something to somebody somebody say I know that's right Lord Lord upset they stomach I'm give something Jesus just like God why why why not shut up S ballad why why not Silence tobah why not send gam away and why I'm trying to figure out why God hasn't handled it the Lord showed me something that's that's so powerful for us in our walk with the Lord as we finish the work God has called
us to do God said I want you to take note of when their attack began I want you to take note of when guest from s balad and tobah up their Attack it's right there in verse one when the attack came Nehemiah says the wall was built the frames were in place and all I had left to do was put the doors up that we were almost done when the lies started we were almost finished when the attack intensified we were almost at the Finish Line sir when they up their game y'all I Got some
good news and I got some bad news I'm going give you the bad news first here's the bad news the bad news is this the closer you get to the glory of God the more the attacks will come I want you to know the closer you get to the glory of God the more the attacks will come the more you'll notice who's against you the louder the lies will become the larger the opposition will be the more personal the attacks will become the more vicious and vulgar they Will get the more it's going to seem
like you're running out of time and money because the closer you get the more the attacks intensify here's the bad news the closer you get to the glory of God the worse the attacks become here's the good news the closer you get to the glory of God the more the attacks become somebody just went over your head uh the reason the attacks intensify is cuz you're almost at the Finish Line the reason They're running their mouth is cuz you're close to the glory of God and I want someone to know that uh you have gotten
close to the finish line and the intensity of your attack is because of the proximity of your glory how D it is that the more they lie on you the closer you must be the greater the attack is the closer you must be would you lean over to somebody tell them you must be getting close you must be getting close to the Finish you must be close to what God is doing [Applause] um um I'm I'm done y'all back back back in my running days when I was in Massachusetts I began training for the Army
10K uh they had 10k race every year and back in my running days I decided I'm going to run the Army 10K and so I'm training with someone who's run the race before and while we're training I said listen tell me About the terrain so I'll know what to expect he said don't worry about it it's it's really just a flat 10K not not too much to be concerned about he said but I want to let you know when there's about a half mile left you're going to see a hill they're straight up they said
now now I want to let you know that that when folk are running the race they're doing pretty good in the Flat but when they get to the hill there are two types of runners there are those who see the hill and decide to stop running and just walk the last half mile said but then there are some who when they see the hill they know that although they can't see it at the top of the hill it's where the finish line is and they don't get discouraged by the hill they get motivated by the
hill cuz they know I got one more Hill to climb I got one More battle to fight and if it's that much I must be close to the Finish goodbye Alford street but I wish I had some Nehemiah in here that can declare that when it looks like it's the worst it's cuz I might be at the end so God give me strength to run this race strengthen my hands to finish what I started finish what you started do me a favor n somebody tell them you must be close you must be Close come on
let's stand finish what you started God has called you to something when you too easily become discouraged you rob god of the glory God wants to get you will have Tobias you will have sand ballots you will have Gams you will will have attack but the attack is confirmation of the favor of the assignment God has placed on You stop wasting your time with folk whose opinion will not change and whose support you do not need know that when it seems like it's the hardest it's because you're almost at the finish so God I bow
today with all my sisters and brothers in this space believing that you've called us to a great assignment that will not only Prosper us But bless others and give you glory now we accept the Tobias come we acknowledge that gesim comes with the assignment that send ballad is just par for the course but God what you have started you will give us strength to complete so whatever the assignment is my sister whatever the dream is my vision you're my brother finish what you started let God get the glory out of you Crossing that Finish Line
in Jesus name listen as we open our eyes lift our heads today if you're ready to cross that line of coming into salvation and into the family of faith God started something in your life that has pushed you to this day to this moment to say that I need the Lord Jesus in my life and I'm ready to join the Alfred Street Baptist Church even if you're watching online the invitation is extended to you you don't have to be in this building to Give your life to the Lord you don't have to be in these
pews to join our church family all around the kingdom we open up our arms to Those whom the Lord is saying make that finish come to the Finish Line give your life to the Lord today my sisters bless you so listen to me if you're here and you know that that's God's press on your life today I want you to do me a favor excuse yourself from your neighbor make your way down the aisle and know that God has called you to a great work today won't you come my brother won't you come my sister
if you're here don't let this moment pass you by it's your invitation to come and give your life to the Lord pass you Jesus is waiting Jesus is won't you [Music] come brother God is calling you in the Overflow w't you make your way take my advice take adice don't Let oh don't let are you here today my brother my sister come on one more time don't let this [Music] moment Jesus is [Music] waiting he's [Music] willing God bless you my brother my sister take my life oh don't [Music] Let listen if you're here today
you see what's happening don't let this moment pass you by the same God that has called our sisters and our brother today is the god that is calling you if you feel it in your heart you may not understand all that it means but all you got to do is say yes and there are some amazing things on the other side of your surrender to the Lord Jesus so at this last moment if you're Still here won't you make that decision to come even now as we say to you don't let this moment pass you
by come on one last time don't let this moment bless you my sister this pass you Jesus is great with his open wi will to bless you Sister yes bless you bless you brother bless you Sister don't let they're still coming They're still they're still coming bless you bless you [Music] oh take my [Applause] advice oh don't let let God how grateful we are today to welcome oh Lord those who you've started a good work in and we believe oh God that their acceptance of Christ and our fellowship with them as a family will help
them finish the great Work you've started in them Lord we thank you for their courage we thank you for their faith we pray now that we would infold them with the love of Jesus Christ that in this place they would grow in Grace deepen in discipleship mature in their Ministry and be empowered to witness and bring others to the saving cross of Jesus it's in your perfect and precious name that we do pray amen do me a favor Al stre before you sit down would you celebrate these Who come today let them know the decision
they made is the best of their life to all of you welcome today we don't believe this is an accident or just spur the moment we truly believe that you're being here is something God started long before you were formed in your mother's womb we welcome you to the Alpha Street Baptist Church we know that you bring something special to us we want to bring that same gift back to you we're going to ask if you would if you Would stand father the lead of our deacons to this my left and your right they may
share with you some of the great things God has in store and we pray for them you may be seated Alpa Street we're getting ready to leave this space today be mindful of all the announcements that were lifted up in your hearing if you're like me and sometimes you forget the dates and the details just go to the website for all the information you need to be active Involved and to participate in the work of God here in our church family reminding you that we close our seek Journey this week praise the Lord we'll be
here on Friday as we celebrate with John Key don't forget Ash wday is coming March gladness is coming help us support our brothers and sisters at Metropolitan am go to Target fast.org read up see if God has called you to be part of this great move and then finally if you will be prayerful and and don't let this day Go by without giving generously from your heart whatever the Lord would call you to give that together we might continue the great Mission and Ministry of our church family God's been too good to us for us
not to give unto the Lord back what the Lord has blessed us with we leave on the voices of the psalms of praise as we prepare to go out to Sunday school and then to change the world [Music] [Music] Let the [Applause] church Let the church say amen God has spoken Let the church sayen Let the church say Let the church God has spoken Let the [Applause] church and now beloved to the almighty and the all wise the Eternal and The Sovereign the faithful and omnipotent God who alone is creator of Heaven and Earth to
the god who's made God self perfectly known to us in Jesus who always and alone is our Christ Our loving Lord our sacrificial savior our resurrected risen reigning returning Redeemer to the God who chooses to dwell in these Earth and vessels of clay through the sustaining power promise presence purpose and person of the Holy Spirit to that Almighty and all wise God be both glory and Majesty dominion and all power from now until eternity and the redeemed of the Lord who loved the Lord and awaited his return said [Music] [Applause] amen amen go on the
grace of God May the grace of God go with you [Music] welcome to the Alfred Street worship experience we sincerely appreciate your Presence whether you're joining us in person at 8:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. this Sunday or live streaming online via our website and social media platforms your participation is a vital part of our community we are thankful and Beyond blessed that you remain faithful in your giving we have several giving platform options available you can give through the asbc app text 7 3256 or scan this QR code which will take you directly to our
website's giving page if you have any Questions regarding giving submit them to finance Alford street.org if you want to become a member of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church please email deacons alfredstreet.org or complete the membership form on our website or the asbc app join engaging co-hosts every Sunday for our fun and engaging pre-show the Prelude which connects our our online viewers live in the sanctuary every Sunday at 7:36 a.m. and 10:36 [Music] a.m. we shall trust in God but we shall also fight at the same time we will not stand on the sideline and
simply pray we will pray and [Music] fight that all you've got to do is say I need some help I need some prayer and they'll step away from the desk in the office and go into their prayer closet and say I got you because I know God I got you because I've got my own prayer Life I got you because cuz I have a special set of Waring skills I've tried to fix it I can't fix it I've tried to handle it I can't handle it I've tried to think through it and I can't figure
it out so God say you going to be up I'm going to leave it to you I came to preach to the people who know that sometimes the enemy Works overtime to try to distract you I'm not talking about ordinary opposition I'm talking about the opposition that is not Attached to what you have but opposition that is attached to who you are [Music] we are almost at the end of our c25 journey and want to celebrate with you the end of the c25 concert celebration featuring John P key will take place on Friday February 28th
at 7:00 p.m. in the [Music] sanctuary don't worry if you are unable to secure a ticket the event will be live streamed so every everyone can be Uplifted and celebrate our Collective achievement of completing c25 of praying and fasting the excitement is palpable registration for the spring Village session is now open through March 7th Village is an amazing opportunity to go from crowd to community Through small groups that meet weekly where you can connect grow and Thrive together find a village that fits your schedule interest and spiritual journey connect grow and Thrive together register today
Wednesday March 5th is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the Lenton season we will hold Ash Wednesday services in the sanctuary from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 700 p.m. additionally we will provide Ashes to go from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. making it convenient for all to participate the Girl Scouts of Alfred Street will have Girl Scout cookies for Sale on March 2nd and March 9th after the 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. services on the Portico this is a wonderful opportunity to warm
their hearts by supporting their efforts if you or someone you know is navigating the difficult journey of grief after losing a loved one remember that you're not alone Alfred Street Baptist Church's grief share Ministry is here for you you can also register for grief share spring session this 13-week support group Offers a safe space to process your grief connect with others and discover how God's word can heal your heart the virtual spring session begins February 27th at 700 p.m. make sure to register today also we invite you to tune in to our faith forward weekly
radio broadcast featuring Pastor Howard John Wesley every Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. eastern standard time on magic102.3 FM and 92.7 FM for a powerful sermon that will move you forward in your faith for More information on these and all the exciting events taking place here at Alfred Street please log on to alfredstreet.org
