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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] For for [Music] Amen. Praise the Lord! The [Music] Lord! Everybody praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! That's too hard for us to do. The the Bible says that the Lord, everything that has breath, praise the Lord. That means the Lord has blessed us to wake up to see another day. The Lord assigned an angel about our vehicle and guided us. Amen. And led us to uh to to this very spot. Praise the Lord! Amen. So it shouldn't be too hard for us to to give God some praise. Praise the Lord! It shouldn't be too hard for us to give God His praise and His glory. Amen. I like I like to say, giving the Lord His just deserts. Amen. The scripture says, "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord," why? Because He is good and His mercy endureth forever. Come on, let's give the Lord a hand! Praise! Scripture says, "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord!" Let's bless Him with our whole heart. Amen. We're going to uh we thank God for for those that are with us. Amen. On various platforms, those that are here in person. Amen. Those that are with us via uh Facebook. Amen. And YouTube. God bless you! Thank you for being here with us this Sunday morning. Amen. You could you couldn't be uh in a better place. You could have found a better place to come and worship and glorify the Most High God. Amen. And God bless you and thank you again for being here. We're going to ask, amen, our very own Brother Overmire, amen, if he would come and just bless us with the scripture. Amen. And following him, amen, our own Elder Jews would come and lead us in prayer. And following him, amen, we will be in worship and praise by our worship and praise team. God bless [Music] you. This is from Psalm 95, verses 1 through 4: "Oh come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is his." [Music] Amen. That's your scripture. Say Amen. Scripture says, "In all things and for all things give thanks." And today we have so much to thank God for, so much to praise Him for. Amen. He's worthy of all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor as we stand in His presence today. We go before Him in prayer. We ask you to prepare your hearts. And one thing I want you to do, if you have a desire or you need something for God to intervene on, this is the time, right place. Put it to the forefront of your heart. Oh yeah! And as we pray to God, that your petition be known. Father God, we thank you for being God and having all power in Your hand; power to do the impossible, power to do what man says can't be done. Oh God, because of You, oh God, we move and have our being today. It is because of Your will for us. And God, we accept Your we accept Your way today. Lord, we are saying by our presence today that yes to Your will, yes to Your way, yes Lord! Yes Lord! My soul says yes to You, Lord! Lord, my soul cries out to You, Lord! In the name of Jesus, Lord, bless us now, oh God! Even in our Jes oh God, in our hom Lord, let Your presence be felt today. Encourage us, oh God! In the name of Jesus, Lord! As we lift You up, our scripture said, "If I be lifted up, that I will draw all men." God, we lift You up because You are the way, You are the way, oh God! You are the truth, oh God, and You are the life. We thank You now, oh God, for the outpouring of Your Spirit. We thank You, oh God, for having Your way in this place, in us today. Move as never before! Let Your will be done in me today, in this sanctuary today, and those who are listening by way of Facebook. Oh God, move now, in the name of Jesus! We decree and declare by God's power that it is done right now! If you need help, oh God, if they need help, oh God, help them now! Whatever they stand in need of. We know that You are all things, and there's nothing too hard for You, oh God. We ask You and we praise You, oh God, for the outpouring of Your Spirit. Have Your way, oh God! Lord, as we surrender and submit our wills to You, saying yes Lord, yes Lord, yes Lord! Let Your church say Amen! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on, give God praise in this place! We come to magnify Him! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We come to glorify God! He's worthy to be praised! How many of you know that God is great and greatly to be praised? Come on, stand with us momentarily. We stand in honor in the presence of the Lord, and we glorify His name! Hallelujah! Come on, put those hands together! We bless Your name, God! Your word is all praise! Hallelujah! God is great! God is great and greatly to be praised! Glory, glory, glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! God is great! God is great and great to be praised! Glory, glory, glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! God God is great and great to be praised! Glory glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! God is God is great and great to be praised! Glory glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! God is God is great and great to be praised! Glory, glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul! Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul! Oh my soul, I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall always be in my mouth! Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul! Oh my soul, I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall always be in my mouth! God is great! God is great and greatly to be praised! Glory, glory, glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! God God is great and great to be praised! Glory glory to His name! God is God is great and great to be praised! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! Come on, help us say, "Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul! Oh my soul, I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall always be in my mouth!" Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! Oh my soul, I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall always be in my mouth! Help say, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul! Bless the Lord, oh my soul! Oh my soul, I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall always be in my mouth!" I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord! I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall always be in my mouth! Put those hands together! Let the Lord know that you love Him! He loves you today! He does miraculous things for us. Amen! Hallelujah! Woke us up this morning! Amen! Started us on our way! Gave us a mind to come in the house of the Lord! Amen! Put health and strength in our bodies, and we come to bless Him! We stand before His throne. Amen! And we acknowledge the God that we serve! He's greater than anything! Amen! He is the God of all! He's the God of all flesh! Amen! And we come to love You today, God! Hallelujah! How many came to love Him today? I came to love You today, to appreciate You! Amen! The song says, "We sing," Amen. We we somebody say, "We we sing praises to Your name, oh God!" We lift You higher than any circumstance, any problem, any issue. Amen! We celebrate the God, the King, the Creator of heaven and Earth! We come to adore You, oh God! In the name of Jesus! Hallelujah! Somebody say, "He's the lover of my soul!" Amen! He's peace in the mind! Amen! He's joy in the heart! Amen! And we come to love Him today! Bless Your name! Glory to Your name! [Music] Hallelujah! We sing praises to Your name! We sing praises to Your name, oh Lord! Praises to Your [Music] name, oh, for Your name! Your name is great and [Music] to be praised! Don't help us sing! We sing praises! We sing praises to Your name, oh! Praises to Your [Music] name, oh Lord! For Your name! For Your name is great and great to be praised! Oh, we sing praises to Your name, God! We sing praises to Your name, oh Lord! To Your name, oh, for Your name and praised to be! Oh, help us sing this morning! Bring to Your name! Praised it to Your name! [Music] We Your name, oh Lord! For Your name! For Your name is great and great to be praised! [Music] Sing praises to Your name! Praises to [Music] Your oh Lord! Praises to Your name, oh Lord! For Your name is great and great! Help me say, "For Your name! For Your name is great! For Your name is great [Music] and to be praised!" For You! Your name! Your holy name! For Your name is great and praised to be! Your name! Your name above every name! For Your name is praised! Your name is great and great to be praised! Hallelujah! Come on, just a few moments! Bless His name, the great God! The Great I Am! We bless Your name! We magnify! We lift You up! We give You praise! We exalt You! We exalt Your name on high! There is no other God like You! None can compare! And we come to celebrate You, oh God, for who You are! Hallelujah! You do great things! Great things! Great things! Great things! How many of us are experiencing great things from God? You do great things for us! You are a great God! You are God alone! You're sovereign! Hallelujah! We bless Your name! Hallelujah! Just a few moments, let's worship and adore Him! Hallelujah! We magnify You! We rejoice in Your name! We celebrate You! We celebrate the God we serve! The one that woke us up this morning! The one that touched our bodies! The one that kept us in our right mind! We come to bless You, God, for the great God You are and the great things You shall do for us! [Music] Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You deserve it! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Just praise Him just a moment! Hallelujah! He's in the praise! Hallelujah! He's in the praise! He's in the worship! Hallelujah! It is the praise that moves God! Hallelujah! It is praise and faith that operates! Hallelujah! For Your name! Your name is great and greatly, greatly, greatly, greatly to be praised! Hallelujah! For Your name! Your name is great! Oh, Your name is great! I praise You to be praised! Hallelujah! For Your name is and praised to be! [Music] Praised! Oh, Your name is great and great to be praised! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on, house! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We glorify Your name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on, praise the Lord one more time! Somebody say that God is a good God and is worthy to be praised! Amen! Hallelujah! We just want to thank the Lord, amen, for His work, for His grace, amen, His unmerited favor, amen! Somebody said, "If God loved us, He thought of us!" Amen! We wasn't even thinking of ourselves! Amen! Come on, bless the Lord! Ain't He good on today! Ain't He good on today! I don't know about you, but I'm just glad to be here! The Lord woke me up! Somebody didn't wake up this Sunday morning! Somebody woke up with issues, with problems, with physical illness. Amen! But God blessed us! Amen! Come on, bless the Lord! Amen! Lord! Somebody said, "If I had 10,000 tongues, I couldn't thank God enough!" Amen! Somebody said, "What I think of the goodness of the Lord and all He has done for me!" Amen! I tell you what, when it comes to me, that's a cap! Those a cap! All caps! A cap! L L! All He has done for me! Amen! I go to thinking about all the opportunities and all the times the devil tried to take my life over the course of my life! My soul cries out! Hallelujah! Come on, say Hallelujah in the house! Come on, say Hallelujah in the house! Come on, say Hallelujah in the house! Come on, say Hallelujah in the house! David said, "I will bless the Lord at all times," says, "Praises shall continually be in my mouth!" Amen! I can hear somebody saying, "Well, Gary, just shut up and move on!" But I can't shut up right now! I'm just trying to thank the Lord! Just trying to give God the praise and the glory that He deserves! Is that alright? Come on, let's give the Lord a hand of praise one more time! You can't thank God enough on today! You can't thank God enough on today! Amen! We just thank the Lord, amen, for our service, amen, up until this point. Amen! We just thank uh Brother Overmire for bringing us that scripture. Amen! We thank uh our own Elder Jews for opening up, setting set set that atmosphere, amen, with an awesome prayer! And our praise and our worship team! God bless them! Amen! We just want to move on in our service. Amen! I have a few a couple if not a few announcements for you. We're entering into our Black History Month. We have a couple of things going on uh forthcoming. Amen. Uh, so we enter into our uh first fruit pledge season. Amen. Uh, a pledge campaign. We want you to get yourselves ready, get your mind and your heart ready. Amen. To be a blessing! Amen! Not just a blessing, but to sow a seed into this ministry! Amen! To sow your first fruits pledge, amen, for the month of of March. Amen! More information about that is forthcoming. Amen! We just want to put that throw that out there and put that on your mind. Just begin to make preparations for that also. Amen! We just want to uh take another opportunity. Amen. To congratulate our very own. Amen! Mr. and Mrs. Alri McKinney! Amen! Come on, let's bless them! A hand of congratulations! Amen! To they were wa it! Amen! Last Sunday! Amen! It was an awesome event! Amen! What they call it, the uh coming together! Amen! And nals! Amen! If you will! Amen! Amen! I told Dr. Garrett, I said, "Man, we we we we we giving people reason to not have to go to to Las Vegas!" Amen! Folks go to Las Vegas to get married! Amen! Man, you come you come right here! Great man! Everybody get married in Greater Love! Put you on the map, Dr. Bishop G! You ain't got to go to Las Vegas no more! Come right on here! Amen! We'll do you right up! Is that alright? Amen! We Al we also want to say congratulations to our very own Bishop Bishop G, First Lady G, for 32 years! Been as long as I [Music] 32 years! I'm just kidding with that though! 32 years, that's a long time! Amen! I remember I remember back in the day with with my old parents, they was married over 50 years! Yes! And boy, I tell you, my God! A person married that long, they got big respect back in the day! Man, they married 50 years! Bishop G, First Lady G, they they coaching upon coaching upon that that that realm of respect! Amen! Hold on to a relationship and the so seize into that relationship and uh nourish that relationship for so long, that to keep it going! Yes, sir! Amen! And also we have a we have a also want to make an announcement. Amen! Awesome announcement! Amen! Regarding one of our very own members, Brother Overmire! Amen! Who has published a book! Amen! On, let's give him a hand! Got some [Music] achievers! Got some high achievers in this ministry! Amen! Just want to raise this book out for those that are ah, you might want to check with Brother Overmire. That might—he said he nodded his head, he say it is! Amen! This is his book! Amen! The Animals of the Bible! Amen! The Animals of the Bible! Amen! And you can go on Amazon and and let the Lord use you! Amen! Buy buy as many copies as you can! Bless this man's ministry! Amen! God has blessed him to compile, amen, awesome information, amen, regarding the animals of the Bible! Amen! It it is a ministry because it's it's pulling out and extracting from God's word! Right! Right! Want to want to give you some information concerning the animals of the Bible on Amazon! Amen! So by all means, support him in this effort! Amen! This is what it looks like! Amen! You can go on Amazon and purchase this book! Like I said, let the Lord use you! Is that alright? Amen! And uh before we get—well, I'm going to go ahead and lead us into another awesome period of praise and worship! Man, I took a class one time and they they opened my eyes! First Lady and they taught me, they said, what uh offering and uh your tithing, your offering is another form of praise and worship, glorifying God! Amen! Uh, in a in a tangible way! Amen! Not so much with our word, with our uh action, as far as uh being involved in the church spiritually, but to bless God and to give in the work that God uh is doing in the Earth! [Music] Amen! We represent the work! We are the body of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ, and we're doing the work of the Lord! Every church! So when you sow uh into your when you give your tithe and you give your offering, you uh participate in our upcoming first fruit pledge campaign! Amen! You are affirming to the Lord that, Lord, I agree! Is a uh I have a, amen, spirit supporting what You are uh supporting those that are supporting You and trying to forward those that are forward in You and Your Gospel of Jesus Christ! Amen! So this is our opportunity for prosperity! Amen! Come on, let's bless the Lord! This is the opportunity! Amen! Our praise and our uh opportunity! Amen! With our tithe and our offering, our first fruit pledge! Amen! This is this is you putting God first! Putting His ministry, putting His work first! Amen! For those that are here, amen, if you would just raise your hand! Amen! Brother Clark will be glad to make his way to you! Amen! If you have a gift or offering or tithe on today, just raise your hand! Amen! For those that are here with us via the various platform! Amen! Social media platforms, by all means, if you will, go on to gmwc.org, gmwc.org! Just hit on the Donate button, and you will come to realize that you have two ways to give, either through Givelify or PayPal! Amen! Givelify or PayPal! Amen! And I and I love saying this, just let the Lord use you! Let let the Holy Spirit minister to your mind, to your heart, to bless this ministry! No caps! Amen! I mean, there's no limit to what you can do! Amen! We used to sing a song back in the day! Amen! If I can try a couple of chords, Lord! If I if I can, You can be God's giving! No matter how [Music] you you give, the more He'll give to you! Well, just keep on giving, because it's really true! You you can't beat it! No matter no matter how you try! More time [Music] you He gives to you! Just keep on giving, because it's really true! Than You Who Came! I know You came! Come! God's giving! No matter no matter! Amen! Come on, give the Lord a hand of praise! Amen! I thought I could impress upon you a little bit more effectively by leaving a a sermon on your mind by singing it to you! You can't be God's giving, Lord! Amen! If He blesses you to wake up, you can't be this giving! If He put breath in your body, you can't be this giving! If God helps you overcome sickness and disease! Amen! You can't be God's giving! If God blesses you with a job promotion! Amen! Advancement! You can't be God's giving! No matter how hard you try! With that said, let us go before the Lord in prayer! We pray a blessing over our offering on today! All heads and eyes bowed all over the building! Father God, now we come to You, Lord, as humble as we know how to come, Lord God! We thank You for life! Thank You, Lord! We thank You for health! Thank You, Lord! We thank You for strength! Thank You, Lord God! We thank You for a mind! Thank You, Lord! Even to be saved! A mind even to say that You are the truth! To glorify You as God our Father! A mind to believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Father God, we ask that You bless these gifts on today as we put them in the hand of the undershepherd, God! Even though they might be small, even though they might be minute, God, we ask You to bless the man of God! Let him do a mighty work, God! Let him do a wonderful work, God! Let him do the work that the vision to uh to fulfill the vision that You have given him! The uh the man and the woman of God! God, we ask You to look upon those that desire to give but they just don't have it! God, You know the situation! You know the circumstances! Touch them right now! Somebody needs a car! Somebody needs a job! Somebody needs some extra money! Somebody needs for somebody to be mindful of them! God, we just ask You to touch them in the circumstances! Touch them in the situation! God, when You do, Lord, let them know that the blessing is not just for them, God, but it's meant for them to be a blessing to somebody else! Now, God, we be so mindful to give You all the glory! We give You all the honor and all the praise in our Lord and our Savior's name, Jesus Christ! Everybody in the house just said Amen! Amen! Amen! And Amen! Come on, give the Lord a hand of praise! Amen! If you would just go on to gmwc.org, you can give through Givelify or PayPal! Amen! And we want we want to acknowledge and honor, amen, this being our Black History Month, we want to assign a Black History moment, if that's okay uh and we have a video, Amen, to present to you, amen, and uh we have three young men, amen, that's going to uh present to us, make presentations to us! Amen! Brother Israel, uh Brother Mosiah, and Brother David! Do they come? Do they come now after the video? Amen! So after the video, uh Israel, Mosiah, and David, in that order, by all means come forward! God bless you! Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States when historian Carter Godwin Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be Negro History [Music] Week. Since the 1890s, the Black community celebrated the birthdays of two people considered to have a big impact on Black history in the United States: Abraham Lincoln, February 12th, the American president that issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that declared all enslaved people be forever freed in 1863; and Frederick Douglass, February 14th. After escaping slavery, he became a national leader of the Abolitionist Movement to end slavery and famous for his anti-slavery [Music] writing. In 1915, Woodson traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in a national celebration of of the nationwide emancipation. He was inspired by experiences from his trip to create an organization to promote the study of Black life and history. Soon after, he helped to form what is now known as The Association for the Study of African-American Life and [Music] History. This Association, in 19 19 26, sponsored a national Negro History Week, choosing the second week of February to coincide with Lincoln and Douglass's birthdays. This inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize events to celebrate. The first Negro History Week was met with a lukewarm response, gaining the cooperation of the Department of Education of the states of North Carolina, Delaware, and West Virginia, as well as the city school administrations of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Woodson felt that at least one week would allow for the general movement to become something annually celebrated. He realized the subject needed to resonate with a greater audience. Woodson contended that the teaching of Black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of the race. "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition; it becomes an unimportant factor in the world, and it stands in danger of being [Music] exterminated." By 1929, with only two exceptions, officials with the state Departments of Education of every state with considerable Black population made the event known to their teachers and distributed official literature. Churches also played a significant role in the distribution of literature, with the Black press aiding in the [Music] publicity. Throughout the 1930s, Negro History Week countered the growing myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, that Blacks were better off under slavery. "When you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions," Woodson wrote in his book *The Mis-education of the Negro*. "You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go there; he will find his proper place and will stay in it." Throughout the following decades, Negro History Week grew in popularity, with mayors across the United States endorsing it as a holiday. [Music] Black History Month was first proposed by Black educators and the Black United States student at Kent State University in February 1969. The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State one year later, from January 2nd to February 28th in [Music] 1970. By 1976, Black History Month was being celebrated all across the country when President Gerald Ford recognized a month during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. He urged Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history. Black History Month is observed in the United States and Canada in February; Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom celebrate in October. [Music] On February 22nd, 2016, 106-year-old Washington, D.C. resident and school volunteer Virginia McLen visited the White House as part of Black History Month. When asked by President Obama why she was there, McLen said, "Look at right there, yeah! I'm here to celebrate Black, yeah! That's what I'm [Applause] [Music] Good morning, everyone! [Music] Morning! Actually, a great thing back in high school, about like that is observed commandment originality in the United States way is also known as African American history month. It began as a as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora, lasting a week before becoming a monthlong celebration in 1976. He celebrated in February in the United States and Canada, where where is as receive official recognition from government and more. It has also been celebrated in Ireland and the United St I mean, United Kingdom, where is observed in October. And one thing I like about Black History Month, there's one guy I would never forget his name: M I MK, M L King Jr., actually like a great guy, TV light movement, and there's one thing you always say every time I walk and there's like a bunch of people around him. You always say like, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the I mean, but by the content of their character." Yeah, I would say that's a good one. I always have a dream. [Applause] Bless [Music] [Music] Bless! And my name is Mosiah! Yes, sir! And we're about to talk about the Black traffic—was the first Black person in Cleveland, Ohio, to own a car. After he witnessed a serious car accident at at an intersection in the city, he expanded on the traffic light by adding yellow warning, coming driving stop! Good morning! First, we have Sarah who made the filing cabinet! She was the first to receive a US patent. She moved to Chicago and opened a furniture store, and it was there she came up with an industry-changing idea that brought more urban residents with limited space into her store: the potato chips! George Crum was working as a chef at in the resort in New York. Uh, a customer sent his dish, French fries, back in the kitchen, claiming that they weren't good. But in an irritated f—he cut the potatoes as thinly as possible, fried them until they were burnt crisp, and then drew a bunch of salt. Right, and then the chip was born! The gas mask! Garrett Morgan developed what after he noticed how many firefighters were killed by smoke on the ground: the hood, which went over the head, feet the tubes connected to wet sponges that filtered out smoke and provided fresh oxygen. And lastly, the protective Philip B. Dow created a mailbox design that featured an outer door and an inner safety door to avoid parcels from being stolen. This safety device allowed mailboxes to be set up everywhere. [Music] Amen! Amen! We're going to go forth. Let's amen for them! They did an awesome job! Very highly skilled and intelligent young people! Amen! And so we just want to acknowledge Black history! Amen! We do acknowledge all history, but this is designed for the month of February. So let's just sing, amen, before uh Bishop comes with the word of the Lord. I think we've covered everything. I hope we have! Amen! According to amen our but the song says, "I love to praise Him!" Amen! Alright, we're going to school! Amen! Amen! Come! Amen! Come on, stand stand with me! Hallelujah! Come on, y'all know this song! Y'all know this song! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on, help me say, "I love to praise Him! I praise His name! I love to praise Him! I love praise! I love to praise Him! I love praise! I love to praise His holy name! I love to praise! I love to praise! I love to praise Him! I love to praise! I love to praise! I love to praise! I love to praise Him! I praise Him! I love to praise Him! [Music] I love to praise! Glory! Oh, Rock! He's my rock! My rock! My sword! He's my will! He's my will! I know I know He never never let me down! The joy! Just the joy! And I am Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise His name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise His name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise His name! Oh, I come to praise You! For His name! I love to praise Him! I love praise! I love to praise Him! I love to praise His name! I love to praise Him! I love to praise His name! I love to praise His name! I love to praise Him! I love praise! I love praise Him! I love praise His name! I praise Him! I praise His name! I love to [Music] praise my [Music] Savior! He never ever let me down! I am Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I praise His name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I praise His name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I love praise! I love I love to I love I love to I love to I love to I love I love to I love to praise You! [Music] Oh! Alright, let's bless the Lord one more time! Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord, oh my rock! My rock! My sword! He's just a joy that I have found! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I love to praise His name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I love to praise His name! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I love to praise [Applause] I [Applause] [Music] His name! Oh yeah! Come on, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! [Music] Hallelujah! God, we thank You for this day! We thank You for this time! We thank You for just bringing us together again! We thank You now! And we've come to sit at Your feet, God! We know that You have a word for us today! We thank You, Lord God, because You told us in Your word that we uh will live by every word that proceeded out of Your mouth! Amen! And we need Your word more than we need to breathe! And we thank You now and we give You praise! Come on, bless the Lord, everybody! Bless the Lord, everybody! Amen! Amen! Amen! God bless you! Take your seat! Amen! I can tell Mama you was liking that too now, wasn't Mama? Was getting into that! When she likes that! Told Ella Jew, "Praise God! Praise God!" That's one of my favorite songs! Thank you for Lady, amen, and you Sister Robin for singing that beautiful beautiful—I'm just listening! I I'm just overjoyed today! Amen! I see my chaplain over there today! God bless you! [Music] See, I'm just so excited! Sorry for coming in a little late! I got a call uh that we had uh one of our chaplains, Savannah, that I supervised, passed today, yeah, early this morning, and I got a call uh one of the lead chaplains, I got down there, want me to talk to the husband, so that held me up a bit, and uh we'll be following up with that, but just pray for the family, pray for uh those in her network! Amen! And she had been suffering a little illness and and didn't realize it was quite that bad, but uh you know, we just have to have our business fixed! We have to be ready! Amen! To meet the Lord, 'cause really at any time, Sister K, any moment, my God! God God can come! God! And we may think we got a lot to do, but God may say, "Uh, it is finished! The work is done!" And so it happens, and we just have to be prepared for that! Amen! And so we're certainly praying for the family, praying for her husband! Amen! That they would be able to navigate the waters during this time! Praise the Lord for them! But I'm just so so glad! I always love it when I walk in the church, even if I'm behind, running a little behind, that there's a spirit of energy, of joy, as an excitement that just you know, you know, you don't have to just get excited when the pastor's in the house! Okay, let me say, yeah, you should have that energy to flow in you! Amen! Already! You should have that! You should carry that no matter who's here! You know, sometime we don't get excited 'til certain folks show up or certain guests or whatever! "Oh, I'm going to put my best foot in today," you know! But you got to praise God because you when you got a genuine praise, Lord Lord in your heart, you going to praise God! Amen! At the strap of a dime! Know you going to be right
Weather like this tries our immune systems to the fullest. Um, you know, we don't want to spread stuff, and they don't want to spread stuff, so I get it. But we just want to encourage people—everybody—that's sick. Encourage people to come to church. Like to see you. It's all right to join us on the internet and stuff; we appreciate that. Glad to have you participate in one way, but we would love to see you if you can make your way here. If you can come on out and celebrate, it's just something about the people of God getting together. That's right. That's right. Uh, you know, something is lost when you don't come together. And so we want to do the best we can to come on out and encourage somebody. You haven't seen somebody; say, "Hey, uh, come on out; you'll be blessed." The word of God is there, the spirit of God is there, amen, and the saints are there. Come on out and partake in fellowship, amen. And so we're just looking for you to do that, and I know you will be blessed, amen.
But I'm so glad I think I heard it mentioned that we got a couple—well, we got two couples—that recently got married. We got Elder Jewes and Sister Kim [Music] got married, and they're looking good. Y'all looking well. Marriage looks good on you, amen. Amen. I know they've been friends for a while and been there, done that, but God saw that it was their time. That's right. Yeah, it was their time to rekindle the fire. Come on now. Yeah, S.K. had a little spring in her step right there. A little right here. Those are different levels of praise. You have been preaching and praying right here, never before. Just something that seems better; just looks good. Come on, say it: "It looks good on you." But praise the Lord. God bless you.
Uh, we're just going to share this thought with you here. I'm not going to be very long. Thank God for our musicians that just [Music] work hard. You all doing a good job; your business, amen. Amen. Praise God for you. Just everybody in the house. And I don't think we did announce it, but we do have Brother Kyle, who has officially taken on the realm of media director for our [Applause] ministry. We officially have our media director. That's so… we're building. He's been doing it kind of on a sort of part-time basis, but he has officially accepted that and taken that on officially. So he'll be happy to… He did a good job at the bank. He did a good [Music] job. If you made a mistake, y'all didn't know it. Y'all didn't know. He did such a good job covering everything. So praise the Lord. We're going to look at the word of God in Luke, the 16th chapter, amen. Luke, the 16th chapter. Praise God. Sister Kim, you're a pretty good reader here. She's honest. El, I want you to help me. Then we're going to look at Luke 16. I know he's a good reader, amen. I want to get you to help me there. Luke 16:1-13. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Give him a mic, yeah, so they can hear on the stream. It's a good [Music] pass. And I'm not going to be that long, but give me those 13 verses there. Luke 16, verse 1 through 13, as we're standing all over the house. God sees the word, Lord, amen. The word of God: "And he said unto them, unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same [Music] was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I know what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses: So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Therefore if ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true [Music] [Music] riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Amen. Amen. The word of the Lord is blessed, amen. Thank you all; tag-teaming in there. I appreciate that. Appreciate that you did good.
So I want to talk to you this morning and just sort of, I guess, leaning in a little bit heavier on verse 12 in that passage: "If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" I want to, just for the next few moments, just talk to you about being dedicated, determined, and dependable. Come on, say: "Dedicated," "dedicated," "determined," "determined," and "dependable," "dependable," amen. As we look at this passage of scripture, as it relates to the unjust servant, he's been given that sort of label, yes, for a reason. All right, it's unjust because he didn't do what was right. All right. All right. Uh, not just in the eyes of the Lord, but he just didn't do what was right morally. Didn't do the right thing. As you, you kind of… we sort of read through it; you pick up that he was kind of doing a little deception there, Lord, as he was… right. Right. Right. He was… his job was to do what was… you know, to give an accounting… the… the… the… he says, "the Lord," which representing… is a small "l," representing not God, Lord, but representing his overseer, yes, his leader, his manager. So when you see that small caption with "Lord," it's not talking about God, all right? It's not talking about our Supreme Being; it's talking about overseer, leader, manager. You know, they refer to themselves as "Lord," those that were in supervision or leadership. So that's who's asking him to give an account of the books. Come on, somebody. Give an account of what's in store. And so he… he does that because he starts to think about it. He said, "Well," he said, "I got to do it because, uh, if I don't, then, uh, I'm going to lose my position. Yeah, I'm going to lose my… my stewardship. I'm going to lose what I'm in charge of." Amen. Man. And so he… he… he's… he's a little deceptive in how he goes about it, but the thing about it is he is dedicated, God, to the lie. He is determined about the lie, and he is dependable concerning the lie, amen. He… he… he… he takes… takes this thing and he looks at it and he meditates and marinates and does all that with it and thinks about it, and he said, "You know what? I got to figure something out here because I got to do what I've been asked to do," amen. But he… he's not very virtuous about it, God. Yeah, he's… he's kind of looking at it from the wrong vantage point, amen. And… and… and… and so what… what are you saying? What I'm saying is, uh, just as much as this unjust steward is dedicated, yes, determined, all right, all right, and dependable about doing… doing this the wrong way, we… we have to be just as dedicated, just as determined, just as dependable. What are you saying? What I'm saying is he figures out a way to do this and to cook… cook the books a little bit here and… and do this in a way where… see, because what he's really trying to do, as… as you read on in this passage of scripture, he's doing this in a way… he's… he's letting them sort of hold back a little bit of their accounting, even though it said that he had… the amount might have been one level, and then he said, "Well, just… just report a smaller portion." All right. All right. You know, "Don't… don't… don't expose everything that can come through there, my Lord, through the store. You know, just… just give a little bit. Just… just give a portion." He tells them, "Just give 50… you know, I know that your book said you got… under verse six, you got a hundred measures, all right, of oil," he said, "but just take the bill and just write down fifty. Just put down on your books, my good…" What he doing? He cooking the books. Uh-huh. You know, he telling them to, you know, don't just fudge the numbers a little bit. You know, just kind of… don't… don't really do what you're supposed to do, but just… just do enough to put forth the picture. Lord, y'all not saying nothing. Put forth the image that you're doing what's right, but really you ain't… Come on, somebody. You just… sometime that's how we… we sort of put the picture forth. Mother, we're just kind of… doing enough to make it look like we doing what's right, but tell your neighbor, but we really not… not doing what we supposed to do. We really not… we just… it's just a presentation; it's a picture, but it's not really the truth. And it's not a good thing when your leader kind of… coaches you in doing so. How do we do sometime? As leaders, we have to be careful because we can sometime be the reason why people are doing… we… we kind of going about it the wrong way. We're not holding them accountable to the level that they're supposed to be. Uh, we're not encouraging them to be… Brother K, dedicated, determined, and dependable in the right way. So we have to be careful that we don't do that. And so he… he kind of had encouraged him to cook the books and to do… do this the wrong way, amen. And really his behavior… the… the… the unjust steward… the… the manager… the supervisor… the one in charge… his behavior is really kind of disgraceful because now he's been put in charge of something. He's been given authority over something that is important, yes, amen. And so he going to tell his underservants… uh… to… to… to be deceitful, my God… to be… really kind of… disloyal and not to be faithful in what has been put in their care. What are you saying, Elgar? What I'm saying is sometime… uh, we are not doing the right thing that God has placed in our care. We're not being really that dependable. We're not being that loyal. We're not being that faithful as God has determined that we should be because there are going to be a day of accounting. There going to be a time when God going to say, "Okay, now bring it all in, my Lord. My Lord… uh, let me see what you're doing. Bring it all in. Let me… let me kind of take account of things. Let me see if you're really managing things like they should be done. I… I've given you… I blessed you in your house. I blessed you in your relationship. I bless you with possessions and… and… and I just want to see now, are you handling things, God? My God, are you doing things in a way that shows your… your… your faithfulness? Your loyalty? Showing your dedication to what I placed within you, Lord," amen. Somebody. Amen. A good steward. Come on, say: "A good ste… a good steward," a just steward, an honest steward, a loyal steward is going to be dependable. He's going to be dedicated. He's going to be faithful in his walk with the Lord. He's not going to squander what God has given him. He's not going to take advantage of what… what God has given him and hold a little bit back. Come on, somebody. But he's going to do everything God has required of him. It's going to do what the Lord has… put in hand to do. And see… a life… the life of a faithful servant is one where you have to be dedicated in your actions. You can't have… you can't… I'm just going to say it in this day: You can't lag and drag… let me go here… you can't lag and drag with what God has put in your care. You can't say, "Well, I don't feel like it today, my Lord. Lord, am I talking to anybody? I do… I don't want to just, you know… I… I do enough, my Lord. Lord, you know… I… I cook the books a little bit. Jesus, y'all… are you hearing what I'm saying? I do just enough, uh… Mr. Betty, to… to just make it look like I'm really doing something. Y'all ain't saying nothing. I'm really… I'm with the program. I'm with Pastor Garrett. I'm with Lady Garrett, but not really, God. God. Come on, somebody. Just enough. Ask your neighbor: "Are you doing just enough? Are you cooking the books? Are you cooking the… the physical books? Are you… are you cooking the… the… the… the… the… the… uh… the books where it looks like you're doing enough, but really not… really not?" And we as leaders have to make sure, First Lady, that we are not encouraging folk to just do enough, Jesus, to look like we doing the job. We got to encourage people to be faithful to their ministries. We got to encourage people to be faithful to what God has called them to do. We got to encourage people to do what's right even when ain't nobody looking. Come on, somebody. We got to be smart in our spiritual journey. We got to do… amen… the right thing. We got to carry the man… uh… carry the… the… the… the mantle of Jesus, amen, at all times, Lord. Amen. Somebody. So we don't want to do like this. He gives several examples here where they… he's… he's… he's going about and he's telling them, "Just… just make it look like… yeah, make it look like you doing… uh… what you're supposed to do, but really you're not." Us… us… amen. See… see, that's the thing about it. When you get Jesus in your heart and you're serious and you're genuine… don't do it to impress me, all right? All right. Don't do it to make it look like you're something you're not, but when you really get it in your heart, Igar, it's going to come from you. It's going to radiate out of your pores. You get it down in your DNA, then you sleep and breathe and everything you do and say will represent what's really down inside of you. I know I'm right about it. Yes, sir. That's right. When you make up in your mind that… that you're going to get serious about it and you're going to do… you're going to do what God has truly called you to do, amen, then… then… then… then you're not just doing… uh… just enough to please me, Lord. Come on, somebody. Because here he says that he did… you know, they did what they was told to do, and… and… and the Lord… the manager… the supervisor was all right with them because he… they did what he told them to do. So they were straight with him. They were good with him… him. But really, when it came to… when it comes to… uh… their accounting with the Lord… I'm talking about the big L, all right… the God… the God of our Salvation… that's the one that you got to give an account to. You see, you can put on and do just enough sometime just to make it look like, but it's God pleased with you. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? How that… I believe it was Cain that… you know… Cain and Abel… they both knew the procedures. They knew how to put on a good show. They had been taught the tradition of the church. They had been taught how to follow certain order and certain recognition and certain… certain tradition. They had been taught… tell your neighbor what they've been taught. They knew, Lord. They knew, Minister Betty, what they were supposed to do, both of them, my God. But… but… but the scripture said that… but Cain… he gave… he did the tradition. He did… he gave his offering. He came and gave enough to look… "I did give… they seem to give it, my Lord. They did see me making a presentation, but… uh… it just looked like, my Lord. It wasn't a chance; it wasn't… it wasn't really what God put in your heart to do." That's why the Bible say you have to give what's been purposed in your heart. Come on, somebody. Don't just do a little bit on the surface to make it look like you're doing something. Not talking to me. Not just financially; I'm talking about your service. 'Cause see, we often say, Sister Enit, that really what God is looking for is the three Ts. Y'all remember what they were? The three Ts? The time… what are you giving? Your time, your tithe, and your what? Talents. That's what God looking for, but not just the money, my Lord. Money can't go but so far. Trust me; I know. When that money gone, then what else you working with? Come on. What you got? What we working with? You see what I'm saying? 'Cause the money going to go, but when… when it's time to have somebody to help turn the lights on and off and come in and maintain the building and… uh… to do this and to do that and get the heat working… come on, somebody… that means more to me than how much you gave in the offering. Your time, your talents, God. Come on, say: "Amen," somebody. I know for Lady G, I appreciate having some help up here when she trying to sing. Sister Robin, I know she appreciate the talents; having some help. That's what talent looks like to me: having some help, some support in the ministry; having some help when it's time to… to go and do and to carry out the business of the Lord. We need people that's going to be dedicated enough to support the ministry, yes, determined enough to get with us when we're trying to… trying to do something, and it may be a push; it may be a little bit of work; it may be a little hard, amen. That's why I'm so glad when folks step up and say, "Hey, I'll help you. Hey, you can count on me." Come on, somebody. I know it ain't going to be… but you got me, and I'm going to do all I can to support the work. Somebody. Don't tell the Lord, "Thank you. I appreciate you. I appreciate good help. I appreciate good support." That's what talents look like to me, amen. So dedicated, determined, dependable. You need people that have that, not just on the surface, Lord. Because when Cain and Abel, as I was talking about… they both knew the procedure; they knew how to do what looked good, amen. But God… the Bible said… amen… with Cain… God wasn't pleased. He… he came and walked up; he walked up and gave his little… little offering and tithes… touched the basket; he did, amen. That's all right if that's what you got, but if you know you got… a whole lot more in your… in your back pocket and you going to come here and touch the basket… oh, Lord… come on, somebody… you know you sitting on a nest egg, woo! Y'all getting quiet, right? Y'all getting quiet. Come on, somebody. Yes, sir. Sir. Yeah. Yeah. You got to do what's right because sometime you can look like you're doing… you know… the procedure; you went through the process, and God wasn't pleased. But with Abel, it said… but he was well pleased. Why was he so pleased with Abel? Because they both looked like they were doing something, partaking. Come on, somebody. But look at your neighbor and say… but it was in their heart. It was in Abel's heart, amen. And God discerned his heart; he knew his heart. He knew… and it said that he was pleased with Abel because it was in his heart. He did what was in his heart. And when you do what's in your heart, you going to do what's right. That's right before the Lord. Don't just do it 'cause I said it. Don't just do it because I may make a mistake; I may get it wrong; I may… I may leave some out. Come on, somebody. All right. All right. But when it's in your heart… tell your neighbor: "When it's in… in your heart…" When it's in your heart, then you'll do like a good steward, and you… you do what's right. You'll do what's commanded. You'll do what the Lord has asked you to do. Come on, somebody. Dedicated, God, determined, and dependable. So he… so if you read the story, you go on, and I'm bringing this in… it kind of lets us know that… why was he telling them to do that? Why was he telling to hold back and crook the books a little bit? Do… because what he was trying to do was favor… see… 'cause that… 'cause if you read that it said that… well… uh… and… and the… and the Lord… the little Lord was happy with what they had done. Lord… Lord… don't do it just to make me happy. Come on, somebody. Don't do it just to make… do it because it's the right thing to do. Right… right now, amen. Somebody. So we got to follow what God has commanded us to do. We got to do the right thing. And so he's trying to curry favor with them. Uh-huh. He's trying to… trying to put some storage in his back pocket, all right? All right. Curry… getting a little favor. And… and so he's telling them to do that so that they'll… uh… they… you know… that they'll… like I said… they'll be his friend; they'll do whatever. And so we got to do what's right, not for… with motivation. We got to do what's right, not just because it's going to make us look good among the people. We got to do what's right, not just because it's the right thing at the right moment. We got to do it… it's the right thing to do. Amen. Somebody. Tell your neighbor: "You got to be dedicated… dedicated… determined… and dependable." Dep… are you faithful enough to be dedicated, determined, and dependable in your service to the [Music] Lord? Because God's going to give an accounting of each of us, and he going to say, "Did you do the right thing, not just at the right time, but did you do the right thing with what I put in your hand? Did you do the right thing? And did you take good care of what I put in your possession? Was your heart right? Was your motivation right? Was your intention right?" All right. All right. My Lord. Yes. And so then… having done the right thing with the right motivation at the right time… God can say, "Well done, thy good and faithful…" Come on, say: "Faithful." Faithful. Remember I just said that a good servant is faithful. He's doing the right thing. He's doing the right… has the right spirit. He has the right motivation. He's doing the right thing, amen. And not just to please man, all right? All right. All right. But he's doing it to please… to please the Lord… the Lord… the Lord, amen. Amen. So that God can declare, "Good and faithful servant, enter now into the joy of the Lord. You've been faithful over a few things; now I can make you ruler over much." Come on, somebody. And then he gives an analogy: "Say, you can't serve God and man. You… you got to have the right motivation. You know, you got to do the right thing for the right purpose, amen. You can't do it to please man. That's… that's… that's Mammon ain't just money, material. Sometime it's motivation, all right? All right. All right. We're doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason. We got to do it for the right reason because if you're doing it for the wrong reason, then it doesn't get the same value. All right. I know I'm right about it. Yeah, Lord. Now how you think this going to play out for the unjust servant that's telling them and coaching them and giving them the wrong motivation? How this going to play out for him, my Lord? Not good, right? Yeah, it's not going to end well for him because he's doing… and he's telling them to give… he's telling them… but it's not the right motivation; it's not the right attitude; it's not the right thing, amen. And so he… not… it's not going to end well for him, but it going to end well for them, my Lord. My Lord. Because God don't want part of you, Lord. He wants what all… Come on, say: "Dedicated, determined, and dependable." Come on, giving him all of you… everything that I am… everything that I have… it belongs to me, amen. What are you saying? I'm saying let's kind of… let's get serious about what we're doing for the Lord. Let's get committed about what we're doing for the Lord. Let's get faithful about what we're doing for the Lord, and we… when we do that, God's going to bless us immeasurably. He's going to move in our life. You ain't got to worry about God blessing you; the blessing going to come when we're doing the right thing. We're living right. When we're talking right. When we're… when we're faithful and… and doing those things the Lord has declared that we should do, God can bless us immeasurably… immeasurably, amen. Praise the Lord. Come on, can we do that, saints? Come on, let's give the Lord a hand of praise. Come on, say: "Dedicated." At your neighbor: "Are you dedicated? Are you determined? Are you dependable in your serving of the Lord?" Come on, we stand. We're standing. We're standing. Give him a praise and give him glory. Come on, give him praise and give him glory. Give him praise. Give him praise. Give him praise in your faithfulness, in your honesty, in your integrity, in your servitude unto the Lord, amen. Amen. Come on. God wants us to give him all of us. As we're moving now, we're on our way in this new season, in this new year. I know we… some of us has kind of got through a little bit last year, but this year I want you to be purposed and intentional to do all you can in building the kingdom… all you can and making sure that your house is well… your house is whole… nothing missing. Come on, say: "Nothing missing." Come on, say: "Nothing lacking." Said: "Nothing broken in me." Come on, say: "Like y'all me…" Nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing broken in me. Come on, say: "In my family, in my ministry, in my service unto the Lord." Come on. That's where God wants us to be: nothing missing. I'm not giving a part-time thing; I'm giving him a full-time thing. I've given him all of me. I'm fully committed to the Lord. I'm fully committed. Come on, you're declaring… let me hear you… "I'm fully committed. I'm fully committed to the work of the Lord. I'm fully committed to the way of the Lord. I'm fully committed to my service to our Lord." Hallelujah. When we commit to the Lord, it ain't no problem doing what's right with his leaders… your spiritual leaders… you going to do… you going to… uh… follow in the word of the Lord… follow in… amen… those things God put in your heart. What's from the heart reaches the heart. Hallelujah. When you do the right things… scripture said: "Let the love of God be shed abroad in your heart…" You going to do what's in your heart… the right thing. Hallelujah. Come on. We're going to pray, and we're going to close out today as we are mindful of this word today. We don't want to be like the unjust servant, just doing enough… just kind of doing what looks right… encouraging the others to do what presents itself as righteous, but really we're not doing the right thing. We're not giving God… uh… what he is deserving of: full accounting of our ministries… full accounting of what he has called us to do… full accounting of our stewardship. But do what's right before the Lord because it's right. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord God. And if we're falling short, I pray… come on, say: "I pray…" I pray that the Holy Spirit… the will stir up in me… Hallelujah… the gift that I need to do us right. It is the Holy Spirit, Hallelujah… the do right down on the inside of us that pushes us to do what's right before the Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for letting your spirit be in control to make me do it. It is in him that we live. It is in him… talking about the spirit… that we move. It is in him, Hallelujah… that we have our being. Let your spirit cause us to do right. Thank you, Lord Jesus, so that we know… no matter what's being said… no matter what others are telling us… we know to do what's right because it's the right thing, right? Hallelujah. We thank you now, God, as you challenge us and charge us in this new year to give you the fullness of our ministry… give you the fullness of our stewardship… to give you the fullness of what you're asking of each and every one of us. God, cause us to move our… our… uh… commitment even to a greater level… what we thought we were going to do… now take it higher. Come on, say: "Take it higher." Say: "Take me higher. Take it to another level." Thank you, Lord. The commitment we thought we were going to do… take it to another level. Thank you, Lord God, so that we don't miss nothing… we don't hold back nothing… we're not short concerning nothing concerning the kingdom of God. Thank you, Lord God. Lord… thank you, Lord God. Thank you. Thank you, Lord God. We want to be good stewards. Hallelujah. Thank you for counting us worthy to be good stewards. Thank you, Lord God. Now, God, as we prepare to leave this place… thank you, Lord God… even before that… is there one here today? Is there one here? Is there one here? Thank you, Lord God, so well, God. I haven't done all I'm supposed to do. I know I'm guilty. I'm fallen short concerning your commandment. I fall in short like the story today, but I want to do better. I want to do right. I want to increase my level of commitment to the kingdom. I want to increase my level of… uh… service to you. Yes, I'm… I'm admitting it. I haven't done it, but I want to do it today. Matter of fact, just slip your hand up right there where you at. Not going to make you come up. Slip your hand up right there. You know it's a personal thing. You can do as you see in the story today. You can do what's right before me. You can get an amen from me, but more importantly, you want to get an amen from him. Come on, somebody. You can do enough to please me, like you saw today, but you want to please him. Hallelujah. Slip that hand up if you know you hadn't done what you need to do. You've been short concerning the call. You've been short concerning the commitment. You know what your… should be doing. You know what you've been called to do, but you've been sitting on it. You've been holding back. You've been doing just enough… just enough. The Lord saying it's time now. Time is getting short; it's getting late in the evening, and the sun's going down. You better do what you going to do and do it now. Even you online there, you lift that hand. Hallelujah. And say, "God, I've fallen short." Come on, say: "I'm fallen short concerning your commandment. I'm fallen short concerning what you've declared that I should do. I'm falling short, but I'm raising the bar now. I'm lifting up the bar now… the bar now. I've been encouraged and admonished today to elevate not just my praise, but elevate my commitment… elevate my service to the kingdom of God. It's time now to come on up a little higher. Come on up to the level that you should be at. Come on, somebody. Come on up. I'm making a commitment today that I'm going to move to the next level… be what you want me to be… be what you call me to be… be faithful concerning the ministry you've declared that I should have. Don't wait for nobody to acknowledge you… lay hand on you and say, 'Hey, I… I… I see a great ministry.'" You ought already know what God told you to do. You already know. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. And making a personal commitment today… young or old… white or black… it does not matter. We all have to give an accounting of our God, and I want you to know that today God is going to hold you accountable for what he told you to do. If I never come to you and say, "Hey, I… I… I see a great man…" If I never do that, God's going to hold you accountable for what he told you to do. Hallelujah. Amen. And so, God, I'm going to do what you told me to do. I'm making a declaration today that I'm