Transcription
[screaming] >> Won't you pray with me? >> [screaming] >> For thine, oh Lord, is the kingdom and the power >> [screaming] >> and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Found me on this last Sunday of Advent. I want to invite you to a different portion of scripture. We have been listening to God speak to us from accounts of our savior's birth. Today, I want you to hear the Lord speak through an account not of the birth of Jesus, but of the origin of Jesus. If you're physically able, won't you stand as I read in your hearing from the prologue, the opening of the Gospel of John. John, chapter 1, verse 1, and then journeying down to verse 14. Listen for the word of the Lord.
In the beginning was the word. The word was with God, and the word was God. And then verse 14 says, "And that word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of God the Father, full of grace and truth."
You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. And the word became flesh. I said I want to tell you all God has spoken. God has spoken.
Family, one of my favorite Christian authors is a Dominican Catholic priest, philosopher, and theologian named Herbert McCabe. In 2007, a few years after his death, his unpublished writings were released in a book called Faith Within Reason. In the opening introduction to that book, he makes a statement that is somewhat disturbing to us in the body of Christ when he says that whatever God is, whatever you think of when you hear the term God, he said it must be synonymous with the unknown. At the end of the day, God is ultimately a mystery. That God is more than our minds can comprehend. Now, I know that may be difficult to digest, but what McCabe was trying to do was attack the hubris and hypocrisy of contemporary Christianity that wants to sell you a prepackaged, fully understood God. And remind us that at the end of the day, God is more mystery than certainty. I know you don't want to hear this, but God is more of a question mark than an exclamation point. And at some point in your life with God, in your walk with the Lord, you will find out that God will leave you with more questions than answers.
Beloved, each and every one of us will have seasons of our life when we are wrestling with the ways of God, the whys of God, why let something happen, and trying to discover the will of God. We're going to struggle because at the end of the day, God is bigger than our ability to understand. It's the prophet Isaiah who reminds us in Isaiah 55 that as the heavens are above the earth, so are God's ways greater than our ways. It is that experience of Job when he tries to subpoena God to the throne to give an account for why God has allowed what God has allowed to happen in Job's life, and God says to Job, "I'll answer your question if you can answer mine. Where were you when I formed the earth? Who were you to understand the ways of God?" That God operates in ways that are bigger than our understanding. And in multiple moments in your life, each and every one of us will struggle to really discern what God's will is, to understand God's ways, to figure out how God is speaking to us. How When when you pray and you wonder how God is going to speak, how does the Lord reveal himself to you? How does God speak to you? How do you know what God wants you to do in any given moment of YOUR LIFE? HOW DO YOU discern the will of God? When someone says to you, "God spoke to them." What does that sound like? When someone stands with conviction and says, "I heard the Lord say." Well, was that a voice that woke them up in the middle of THE NIGHT? HOW DO YOU know when God is speaking?
Well, beloved, that's why Christmas is so critical to us. For you see, Christmas, Deacon V, is not just a story to count of the birth of Jesus. It's also a real-life lesson in how God speaks to us. How we hear the voice of God, how we discern the will of God, how you can know God for certain IN YOUR LIFE. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN GOD is speaking to you? Well, come back to the birth of Jesus and the account of the birth of our savior that you're so familiar with now, and look at the ways in which God speaks, and allow me to share with you the problem with each one.
Sh- Shaban, the very first voice that you hear around the birth of Jesus with God speaking, the most dominant voice in the birth of Jesus Christ is the voice of the angels. The angels take center stage in the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel that Luke identifies, the angel that Matthew leaves unnamed. Mary finds out she's pregnant from an angel. Joseph finds out Mary's pregnant from an angel. It's the angel who tells Mary what to do when he says, "Go visit Elizabeth." It's the angel who tells Joseph what to do when he says, "Don't be afraid to marry her." The shepherds are out in the field and the angel shows up and tells them where to go find the baby Jesus. AND WHEN CHRIST IS BORN, IT'S AN ANGELIC HOST THAT SHOWS UP SAYING, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill towards men." THE VERY FIRST VOICE of God in the birth of Jesus is the voice of angels. And God speaks to us through angels.
Now, the reason your neighbor is real quiet right here with that huh look on their face is because when you hear the term angel, you think harp and halos. You think white robes and wings. You think flying creatures with light shining all around them. No, angels are not just divine beings. Let me give you a real definition of an angel. An angel is anyone God has chosen to speak through. An angel is a voice God is using to speak to you, to comfort you, to counsel you, to convict you, to encourage you, to pray over you, to give you counsel, to give you wisdom, to instruct you, to mentor you, to guide you, to enlighten you, TO BROADEN YOU. GOD USES ANGELIC VOICES TO SPEAK TO US, AND ANGELS ARE NOT just divine beings. Angels can be people God uses to speak to you. All summer long we preached at Alpha Street, what I hope you remember today, that when God wants to bless you, God doesn't send you things. God sends you people. Somebody, I want you to know you can know the voice of God and the will of God through the voices God is using to try to speak TO YOU BECAUSE GOD has in his grace the ability TO PUT SOMEONE UNDER ANGELIC assignment and send them into your life to speak the right word at the right time to lead you in THE RIGHT WAY. OH, YOUR MOMMA AND YOUR DADDY HAD AN ANGELIC ASSIGNMENT. YOUR MENTOR CAN BE AN ANGEL. YOUR professor can be an angel. Your therapist CAN BE AN ANGEL. YOUR BEST FRIEND CAN BE AN ANGEL. OH, YOUR SPOUSE OUGHT TO BE AN ANGEL. AND YOUR PASTOR BETTER BE AN ANGEL. THAT THERE OUGHT TO BE A VOICE GOD USES TO SPEAK TO YOU. CAN I PAUSE REAL QUICK AND JUST TAKE A SURVEY? IS THERE ANYBODY HERE GRATEFUL THAT GOD SENT THE RIGHT PERSON at the right time to give you the right instruction and THE RIGHT MOTIVATION, AND THROUGH THEM GOD GUIDED YOU RIGHT TO WHERE GOD WANTED YOU TO BE? THANK GOD [screaming] FOR ANGELS.
God speaks through angels. Uh, but the problem with angels, the problem with other voices is that they can be misleading. Can I teach Bible for a moment? In Jewish culture in the days in which angels were these divine beings that spoke, within Jewish culture they understood that angels can also be fallen. They once were sent by God, but now they're fallen. And in the realm of Jewish culture, a fallen angel was a demon. They understood demons to be fallen angels. Now, the problem was that they still looked like angels, but they were no longer under angelic assignment. So Lucifer is a fallen angel who becomes a demon named Satan. There were other fallen angels that you read about in extra-biblical sources like Azazel and Mastema and Belial. These were fallen angels who became demons, and they understood that fallen angels, demons, didn't come to bless you, they came to harm you. As a matter of fact, in the time in which Gabriel speaks to Mary, y'all stay with me, there was a common story known among Jews of an angel that had fallen that showed up to bring greetings to a wife only to gain access to kill her husband that this fallen angel, this demon, greeted the wife in order to get access to kill the husband. So when Gabriel shows up to Mary, who's aware of this story, and he greets her, remember how Mary responds? She's terrified, and she says, "What manner of greeting is this?" Cuz Mary's trying to figure out, are you an angel or you a demon? Have you come to bless me or have you come to curse me? HAVE YOU COME TO HELP ME or have you come to hurt me? And Mary's hesitancy is a reminder to us, watch this, grown folk, YOU CAN'T TRUST EVERYTHING PEOPLE TELL YOU. You can't believe everything that comes out OF SOMEBODY'S MOUTH. STOP JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS SIMPLY BECAUSE SOMEBODY TOLD YOU GOD TOLD THEM TO TELL YOU. EVERYBODY WHO TELLS YOU GOD SENT THEM AIN'T BEEN SENT BY GOD. AND you can be misled by folk you thought were under angelic assignment. And our world is filled with fallen angels. >> [screaming] >> Adulterating pastors, fallen angels. Molesting priests, fallen angels. Right-wing evangelical preachers >> [applause] >> who tell a woman what she can't do with her body and condemn queer folk to hell and then get arrested soliciting sex from teenage boys. Just cuz they look like an angel doesn't mean they ain't a demon.
God speaks through angels, but angels can be misleading. Joseph, gets a little bit deeper, Joseph not only hears God in an angel, Joseph hears God in a dream. You remember the dream? It was the dream that told him that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. In a dream God told him to take baby Jesus to Egypt to protect him from Herod who was trying to kill the baby boys. That God speaks to us in dreams.
Now, let me broaden this because I don't want you to think a dream is something a vision that you have when you are asleep. A dream is symbolic of this, that God has a way of speaking directly to you. God has a way of speaking to you that doesn't require any middle person, doesn't require any prophet, any priest, any preacher. God has a gift for you called the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit God is able to speak directly to you. I wish I had someone that knows what it's like for God to speak directly to you. That the Lord the Lord can put a passion in your heart that's meant to lead and guide you. The Lord can make certain that you hear something over and over and over and over again, and you know God is speaking to you. God can give you that funny feeling and that sneaky suspicion when you're dealing with someone that you ought to take a step back cuz they're not everything they appear to be. God is speaking to you. God is giving you a sound mind, and you can rationally weigh out the options that are in front of you because God IS SPEAKING TO YOU. GOD GOD CAN WAKE YOU UP AT 4:35 EVERY MORNING for eight days straight until you realize THAT GOD IS TRYING TO SPEAK TO YOU DIRECTLY. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD GOD SPEAK TO YOUR HEART, SPEAK TO YOUR MIND, SPEAK TO YOUR LIFE, SPEAK TO YOUR SPIRIT? GOD CAN SPEAK TO YOU DIRECTLY.
Ah, but faith, the problem with dreams. The problem with God speaking directly is that it can be mistaken. Angels can be misleading. Dreams can be mistaken. You can easily confuse God's will with your want. Go on, teach, Pastor Howard-John Wesley. The greatest enemy to discerning God is desire. The greatest enemy to what God wills is what you want. And this is only for the grown folk in here, you can want something or someone so badly that you convince yourself that's what God wills for you. And you can be mistaken. Boy, I ain't going to ask you to raise your hand cuz I don't want your neighbor to know you ain't as holy as you think, but there's some folk in here who know you've gotten God wrong before. You thought you were clear and certain and sure about what God wanted for you and what God willed for you only to find out that is not at all what God wanted for you in your life. Is there anybody here humble enough to admit I've gotten God wrong before? Let me be the first to put my hand up. In 2007, the Lord was calling me here to Alfred Street Baptist Church, the search committee offered me the job, and I told them no. Let me tell you why I told them no, because I went back and I started praying, Marci. I prayed and prayed and prayed, and I was certain that God told me I am not supposed to come here to Alexandria, Virginia, only for me to really realize that wasn't God, it was my fear. Fears can talk to you, and you mistake them for God. Insecurity can talk to you, and you mistake it for God. Anxiety can speak to you, and you mistake it for God. You can mistake God speaking directly to you because of what you really have going on inside of you.
Angels can be misleading. Dreams can be mistaken. But there's another way God speaks to us as we look at the story of Jesus' birth. You remember those wise men? The ones the Bible says they came from the east, they came all the way from Persia, traveled thousands of miles to bring Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh. How did they find Jesus? They followed a star. Now, scholars know that that moving star would have been a comet, so they followed a comet because they were astrologers, and God spoke to them through the stars. God speaks through angels, God speaks through dreams, and God spoke through the stars.
Now, when I say that, I'm not telling you to read your horoscope more than your Bible. Stars are simply things God shows you to direct you. Stars are experiences God allows you to go through to redirect you. Stars are ways in which God opens your eyes so that you can see clearly the road that is in head of you. That is that that undeniable experience that God allows you to walk through that's meant to change the way in which you are walking. Y'all, one of my favorite writers, another brother named Henri Nouwen, said this, and I want them to put it up. He said, "We search for God's will as if it's a buried treasure hidden away in a remote place. God's will is not something hidden or far away. It is daily discerned in the signs, the wonders, and the miracles of life." Those are the stars, signs, wonders, and miracles.
Signs, God can give you a sign. Have you ever had God just show you something? God speaks through signs, y'all. If if if if that thing you've been praying for and wanting all your life and the door keeps closing and you can't seem to GET IT OPEN, THAT MIGHT BE A sign that God is telling you that's not his will for you. If you keep going through the same thing over and over and over and over again, the problem ain't them, the problem is you cuz you've missed the sign that God's telling you it's time to make a change. If you go to your doctor and you take your annual exam and the numbers are going in the wrong direction and that outfit don't fit no more, that's a sign that it's time for you to get back in the gym. If you keep calling them and texting them and leaving voicemails and they never respond to your text, they never call you back, they never ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR MESSAGE, THAT IS A sign that you feel A WAY ABOUT THEM THAT THEY DON'T feel about you. When they raise their voice and call you out OF YOUR NAME, THAT IS A SIGN THAT YOU ARE IN THE WRONG RELATIONSHIP, BABY, AND IT'S TIME TO GET OUT OF WHERE YOU ARE. WHEN YOU PRAY AND PRAY AND PRAY AND YOU SHOW UP TO CHURCH AND THE SERMON IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEEDED TO HEAR, THAT IS A SIGN THAT YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE at the right time. IS THERE ANYBODY HERE EVER HAD GOD SHOW YOU A SIGN? GOD SPEAKS THROUGH SIGNS.
And a star can be the wonder of God. The wonder of God IS GOD'S CREATION. GOD REVEALS himself in the beauty of his creation. Read Psalm 19:1 when you get home. Psalm 19:1 says this, that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of God that you can sense and see and know God in the beauty of God's creation. For all y'all who clowned me for taking time to sail down the white water through the Grand Canyon being the only black person within 300 miles. For all y'all that said I would never do that. Let me tell you why I did it. Because there was something reaffirming about God as I sat and looked at the beauty of what only God could have done. The beauty of that Grand Canyon, there was something about sleeping outside and waking up at 3:00 in the morning and seeing the Milky Way pass in front of me that made me know there must be a God somewhere cuz only a God could create this. This is not the creation of human hands. This is the earth that the Lord has made and THE FULLNESS THEREOF. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT AFFIRMING GOD'S PRESENCE WHEN YOU SEE THE BEAUTY OF WHAT GOD HAS CREATED. SO, THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE WONDERING ABOUT GOD AND CONFUSED ABOUT GOD'S WILL AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF GOD IS REAL, DO ME A FAVOR. SHUT OFF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA. TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION. GET UP OFF YOUR COUCH AND GO TAKE A WALK IN THE WOODS AND SEE THE BEAUTY OF GOD. BUY YOU A PLANE TICKET AND GO SIT ON A BEACH SOMEWHERE AND PUT YOUR FEET IN SOME WARM BLUE WATER AND SEE THE GLORY OF GOD. [screaming] SIT OUT ON YOUR BACK PORCH AND LISTEN TO THE BIRDS CHIRP. GET UP IN [screaming] THE MORNING AND WATCH THE SUN RISE OVER THE SKY AND KNOW THERE IS [screaming] A GOD SOMEWHERE.
Signs and wonders and miracles. WHAT'S THE LAST MIRACLE YOU SAW GOD perform in your life? Now, the reason your neighbor has got that hard look is cuz you don't have the right definition of a miracle. You've been taught a miracle is a phenomenon that can't be explained. That that's not a miracle. Let me tell you a real A miracle i- is a blessing you couldn't control. Here it is. It's not what you can't understand, it's what you KNOW YOU DID NOT DO FOR YOURSELF. NOW, IF YOU GOT THAT DEFINITION, YOU SEE A MIRACLE EVERY DAY. EVERY DAY YOU WAKE UP WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT WORTHY, THAT IS a miracle. EVERY DAY YOU MAKE IT HOME SAFELY AND WERE NOT KILLED BY A STRAY BULLET, THAT IS A MIRACLE. EVERY TIME YOUR CHILDREN GET OFF THE BUS AND COME BACK SAFELY, THAT IS A MIRACLE. EVERY TIME YOU ARE SANE WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN CRAZY, THAT IS A MIRACLE. AND IN EVERY MIRACLE OF YOUR LIFE, GOD IS TALKING TO YOU. E- E- EVERY TIME YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING, GOD'S SAYING MY MERCY IS A BRAND NEW. EVERY TIME YOU MAKE IT HOME SAFELY, GOD IS SAYING MY HAND IS STILL ON YOUR LIFE. EVERY TIME YOUR CHILDREN [screaming] COME HOME, GOD IS SAYING I'M STILL IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING AROUND YOU. [screaming] GOD IS SPEAKING. THROUGH MIRACLES.
Oh, but the problem with stars. The problem with signs and wonders and miracles is that they are often and easily misinterpreted. Angels are misleading. Dreams can be mistaken. And stars can be misinterpreted. People get signs and miss them all the time. As a matter of fact, have you ever been frustrated with someone you know cuz you saw the sign that they missed? It was clear as day to you that he was crazy. And they missed the sign. People stand in the wonder of God's creation every day and still doubt that there's a God. People experience miracles all the time and think they were responsible for it. It can be misinterpreted.
But there's another way God speaks. Angels, dreams, stars. But God also speaks through his holy word. You remember those wise men, they followed the star. But Earl Brown, the problem is the star led them to Jerusalem. So, they get to Jerusalem and they say, "Where's the baby that's to be born?" Because they think the baby's in Jerusalem. But the baby's not in Jerusalem. So, Herod calls the teachers of the law together. They go back and have a Tuesday night Bible study. And after studying the word, they come back and say the baby's in Bethlehem. Watch this. The star led them to Jerusalem, but the word led them to Bethlehem. The word guided them to the right place. If there's anything that can guide you into the will of God, it's the word of God. If there's anything that can reveal God's will for you, it is the word of God. If there's anything that can tell YOU WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU IN YOUR LIFE, it is the word of God. If there's anything that can direct you out of sin, it is the WORD OF GOD. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THESE 66 BOOKS AND THESE 1,189 CHAPTERS AND THESE 31,102 GOD'S WORD. THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MY HEART THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE. THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH. THE GRASS MAY WITHER AND THE FLOWER MAY FADE, BUT THE WORD OF GOD STANDS FOR SURE. ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY THE INSPIRATION OF GOD AND IS PROFITABLE [screaming] FOR YOUR WALK WITH GOD. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE WORD OF GOD. AND IF YOU [clears throat] WANT TO BE A BETTER CHRISTIAN, READ YOUR BIBLE. It'll make you a better Christian. As a matter of fact, I would tell you you can't really know God if you don't know God's word.
Deacon Russell, Matthew chapter 22, Jesus is having a debate with the Pharisees about the resurrection of the dead and Jesus says to them Matthew 22, "You're wrong cuz you don't know the scriptures." You can't know what God is doing if you never pick up your Bible. If your Bible sits in your lap in church and then in your car all week long, you will never know the voice of God.
Now, the problem with the word of God is that it can be misused. Angels can be misleading. Dreams can be mistaken. Stars can be misinterpreted. And the word of God can be misused. That that was Jesus' number one problem with the Pharisees. How they misused scripture. They used scripture to create some hypocritical judgment of people. They used scripture as a microscope to examine other people's lives rather than a mirror to reflect on their own. They weaponized scripture to hurt people rather than using the word of God to help people. If there's one thing I hope you take away from your one Sunday at Alpha Street Baptist Church, is that simply adding scripture to something don't make it godly. Stop being misled by folk who can quote chapter and verse. Because history has taught us, saints, that every atrocity in human history has somebody quoting scripture. Can I call the list? >> [cheering] >> When you look at the evil of racism, somebody was quoting Genesis 9 about the curse on Ham. When you look at the evil of manifest destiny with colonizers who slaughtered and stole from Native Americans, somebody was quoting Deuteronomy 1 when God told Moses the land is yours. When you look at the evil of the Holocaust, when millions of Jews were killed, somebody was quoting Matthew 27 when the Jews said his blood be upon us. When we look at the mistreatment of our queer brothers and sisters, somebody is misquoting Leviticus 18 and using the word abomination when not knowing what it truly means. When you look at the misogynistic oppression of women within the church, somebody is quoting 1 Corinthians 14 that women ought to keep silent in the body of Christ. WHEN YOU LOOK AT ALL the evil OF THIS ADMINISTRATION AND THOSE WHO BLINDLY FOLLOW IT, SOMEBODY is quoting Romans chapter 13 SAYING THAT ALL HUMAN AUTHORITY HAS BEEN ORDAINED BY GOD. THIS EVIL IS NOT OF GOD AND PUTTING SCRIPTURE ON IT DOES NOT MAKE IT GODLY. >> [applause] >> FAMILY, THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN evil is how scripture is misused to JUSTIFY IT. OOH, LET THAT SIT IN YOUR MIND FOR A MINUTE. THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN THE EVIL IS TACKING SCRIPTURE onto it to make it seem like it's godly.
So, we've got a problem. If God speaks through other people, but they can mislead me. If God speaks to me directly, but I can mistake it. If God shows me signs and wonders and miracles, but I can misinterpret that. If God speaks through God's word, but people can misuse it, what can I trust in? How can I know [screaming] that I'm not misled? That I'm not mistaken? That I haven't misinterpreted? That it's not being misused? How can God speak in a way that can't be messed up?
I'm so glad you asked that question. Because in the beginning was the word. THE WORD WAS WITH GOD. THE WORD WAS GOD. AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH >> [screaming] >> AND DWELT AMONG US AND IN HIM WE BEHELD THE CLEAREST GLORY OF GOD. Y'all, Matthew and Luke give us shepherds and angels and wise men. But John says all that can be mistaken and misinterpreted and misused and misled, so I've got to tell you another way that God speaks. [screaming] That in the fullness of time, because you continue to get it wrong, God stepped [screaming] down and incarnated God's self in the flesh of Jesus [screaming] Christ. And in Jesus, God has spoken. >> [cheering] >> In Jesus, God has taken the mystery of sovereignty and translated it into human language. In Jesus, God has taken the complexity of eternality and put it in the temporality of human understanding. In Jesus Christ, God has stepped out of the domain of glory and stepped into the realm of sin so that you could [screaming] know that God loves you and know what God wants for you and hear the voice [screaming] of God in Jesus Christ.
In Jesus, we have the clearest and greatest expression of God's will for your life. God has GIVEN US A LIFE WE CAN FOLLOW and mimic and model THAT WILL NEVER LEAD YOU WRONG. YOU CAN NEVER WIND UP OUTSIDE THE WILL OF GOD WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO LOOK, LIVE, AND LOVE like Jesus Christ. WHEN YOU WAKE UP EVERY MORNING AND SAY, "LORD, I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN IN MY HEART." WHEN YOU PRAY TO GOD, "GOD, LET ME LOOK LIKE JESUS. LET ME LOVE LIKE JESUS. LET ME SOUND LIKE JESUS. LET ME WALK LIKE JESUS. LET ME PRAY LIKE JESUS. LET ME HELP LIKE JESUS. LET ME ARCH [screaming] MY ARMS LIKE JESUS." THAT'S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN THE WILL OF GOD.
I'm done, y'all. I thank you all for your time this morning. I was reading and studying this passage and I came across a Professor Gail O'Day who said that these words there in are the most complicated in the New Testament. That when you look at the Greek and the translations and the difficulties of the language, she said that this phrase, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us," she said it's the most difficult to understand in all the New Testament. I wish I had her email. I would send her a message, "Deja, and say, Professor O'Day, it may be complicated in the Greek, but it's real simple in the English. Because all John is telling you is this, write this down, TAKE IT HOME. THIS is the end of your message. There's nobody like Jesus." >> [cheering] >> I'm sorry, I thought this was a Baptist church, y'all. Y'all acting mighty Episcopal this morning. THERE'S THERE'S NOBODY LIKE JESUS CHRIST. THERE'S NO ONE LIKE JESUS. HE IS MAGNIFICENT IN LOVE, SUPERNATURAL IN POWER, ETERNAL IN MAJESTY, RELENTLESS IN MERCY, SOVEREIGN IN AUTHORITY, EXCELLENT IN STRENGTH, MIRACULOUS IN ALL HIS WAYS. HE IS GOD IN THE FLESH AND THERE'S NOBODY [screaming] THEREFORE, GOD HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND GIVEN HIM A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT HE IS GOD [screaming] TO THE GLORY >> [cheering] >> I GOT TO GO.
Y'all know I I was raised old school Baptist. I was RAISED IN THE LILYDALE PROGRESSIVE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, 10706 SOUTH MICHIGAN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO. AND THERE WHEN THEY START TALKING ABOUT JESUS, THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT JESUS IN WAYS THAT I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHEN I WAS A CHILD. BUT NOW THAT I'M FULL GROWN AT THIS BIG OLD AGE IN LIFE, I UNDERSTAND WHAT SISTER CORDELIA MAE JOHN USED TO SAY. WHEN SHE GET UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN BIBLE STUDY AND BEGIN TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE GOODNESS OF JESUS, SHE'D SAY HE'S THE ROSE OF SHARON. HE'S THE LILY OF THE VALLEY. HE'S THE KING OF KINGS. HE'S THE LORD OF LORDS. HE'S MY WAY MAKER. HE'S MY MIND REGULATOR. HE'S MY GOD AND MY KING. AND CAN'T NOBODY [screaming] DO ME LIKE JESUS. CAN'T NOBODY >> [screaming] >> DO ME LIKE THE LORD. THERE'S NOBODY NOBODY NOBODY LIKE JESUS CHRIST. AIN'T [screaming] HE ALL RIGHT? WON'T HE DO IT? WON'T HE DO IT? I WISH [screaming] I HAD A WITNESS. THERE'S NOBODY >> [music] >> THOSE SAINTS USED TO SAY, "THERE IS A NAME >> [screaming] >> I LOVE TO HEAR. I LOVE TO SING ALL OF ITS WORTH. IT SOUNDS [screaming] LIKE MUSIC IN MY EAR. THE SWEETEST THE SWEETEST THE SWEETEST NAME ON EARTH. >> [screaming] >> OH, HOW I LOVE JESUS. OH, >> [screaming] >> HOW I LOVE IS THERE ANYBODY HERE THAT LOVES MY LORD? THAT LOVES THE NAME [screaming] JESUS? THERE'S NOBODY >> [screaming] >> NOBODY LIKE JESUS.