Let every heart say amen. Amen. Amen again. Amen. And amen again. Amen. What a joy it is for us to be alive, alert, and active for it is in the Lord Jesus Christ we live, move, and have our and he has blessed us beyond measure and certainly we ought to be glad about it. This is the second watch of our revival and certainly we thank god for his divine visitation on last night and we have great anticipation of god showing up again tonight. by looking at somebody and tell them you're in a blessed place. Amen. Look at another neighbor and say you're in a blessed place. Amen. There's no place like the house of God. You're in a blessed place. Amen. Amen. God has set you up to bless you. Amen, and to empower your life through the Word of God. Certainly we thank God for all of these pastors and preachers that share this second watch with us. We thank God for evangelists. We thank God for these deacons and trustees who have devoted us in posture and prep our heart for the reception of God's holy word. Listen, you can't have revival without the word of God. Amen. Thank god for the presence of doctor Craig. Amen. Here tonight with us, Reverend Sandy, Reverend Nunes, Doctor Atkins, our lecturer, Doctor Walker, Pastor Emeritus, Reverend Shepherd. Amen. Reverend Erskine and Reverend Woods. Amen. And certainly our friend and brother, Amen, and his lovely wife. I know you by Miss Brian's son. What's your name one more time? Reverend Michael Sturdivack. You know, I saw you last night and I was trying to figure out something. I didn't know why I didn't show up. But it was at a funeral and then at service. Amen. Where you at, New Jersey? All right. Thank you for being here. And while you're here at the revival, your presence makes a difference. Amen. We thank God for all of our visitors that are here. Amen. Thank God for you. Let's get revival perspective. First John chapter one. First John chapter one. Listen, after I give perspective and after the choir would have sang one song, the next voice you would hear is that of our lecturer, the person of Dr. Alphonso Atkins. Amen. Amen. He talked about packed ground last night. That you don't need too much traffic. You can't let everybody run up and down in your life. and occupy the space of your heart. Amen. If you're expecting God to do a God-sized thing in your heart. And so we have great anticipation of what the Lord will say to us tonight through Dr. Atkins. 1 John chapter 1, verse 3. Verse 3. that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son amen amen you may be seated encapsulated in that verse is our focus for these three nights, we're dealing with relational revival. Relational revival that we want God to revive us, restore us in our relationship with him, number one. Now, I understand that John said that we declare the word that we will have fellowship one with another. That's the visible fellowship that we have one with another, but that's not the first fellowship. The first and most important fellowship is fellowship with the father and with the son. And if you have right fellowship with the father and with the son, you have right fellowship with his children. That we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. So this revival, we're praying that God will restore us in our relationship with him. Listen, we're not as fervent as we used to be. We're not as passionate about God and of God as we used to be. We have become indifferent. It really doesn't matter to us if we attend church, if we hear word, if we are part of the prayer meeting and all of that kind of thing. So we have to admit that there's something wrong with our fellowship with God. So we pray that God will restore us in our fellowship with him. But then, we want god to restore us and revive us in our fellowship with church members that we can come to church and avoid folks we got an issue with we don't like and folks who don't like us and we have done it for years you know you come in this door here and the person you don't like is about me it weighs the hour And you see them and you mess around and see them before they see you. You bag back out. Walk around the corridor and then come into this door over here. And you don't come down this aisle, you want to make sure you miss them so you go up against the wall. Because you don't want to interact. That's a breach of fellowship. with brothers and sisters in the Lord that you should be in good with everybody in the house of God. Because the word says do good to them especially those of the household of faith. So we want them to restore us in our fellowship with church members. but then listen it gets bigger because we have a responsibility of going out into the hedges and highways so we want him to restore us in our relationship with the community that since the Lord has called me to go ye therefore I need a relationship with the people that I plan to evangelize and witness to because listen A word without relationship leads to rebellion. so we need a relationship so we want God to restore us in our relationship and fellowship with him restore us in our fellowship and relationship with fellow church members and restore us with our fellowship and relationship with the community because God wants to do kingdom work to us and kingdom work requires Fellowship and relationship now say that with me tonight fellowship and relationship Yeah, come on that just sounds real good to me say fellowship We are all fellows in the same ship. I y'all missed it didn't you? So, fellowship. Let me hear you. Fellowship. Fellowship. And relationship. Relationship. Amen. Listen, the choir's coming and after the choir, the next voice you hear is that of our lecturer and the person of Doctor Alfonso Atkins. Amen. If I feel it, feel it I'll draw me to me You're my purpose when you are near Am I being, I wanna draw closer Need to know more I want to All I need. I need you Happy New Year! Amen. God bless you. Let us pray. God, we are asking for mercy and grace. We're asking for understanding. We're asking dear God, dear Lord Father, that we will speak from heaven, not from the perspective of man, that you would be glorified. This is our prayer. In mercy we ask. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. I thank you all again for coming out, being so polite, nice, witnessing, loving, doing like God's folk ought to do. Amen. To once again, to the chieftain of this house, Dr. Rogers, amen, Pastor Emeritus, and this great array of pulpitarius. It is just great to be able to extrapolate on the word of God around such great minds. Amen. Tonight, we want to once again give honor to any ministers or first ladies out there, especially the first lady of this great church. Amen. Amen. to our very own Sister Atkins. God bless you. It's just great. This is She Is My Ride or Die. Tonight, we would like to go back into the same passage of scripture again, and I would like to Tonight, I would like to just read a little bit of it to give us a little more understanding. Last night, we talked about this parable. This parable of seeds that fell on prepared ground and unprepared ground. And the ground represents the heart. And tonight, we want to know, as we review, we talked about last night, seed that fell along the wayside. And for those that was here last night, we found out that it represents hearts that have been packed. And these hearts that have been packed, they have been packed with certain wrongful and unrighteous things that cause us not to want to serve God in the fullness thereof. Tonight, we read these two passages of scripture as we try to deal more with this text in Matthew 13 and 5, Matthew 13 and 20, Matthew 13 and 21. And we'd like to submit you some excerpts from this passage as we speak tonight about a rocky heart. The Bible says in Matthew 13 and 5, The Bible says, some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth. And for with they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth. And then in the explanation, again, after Jesus has spoke once and told them that for you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, he went and explained it further in 13 and 20. He said, but he that received the seed in the stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it, Yet hath he not rooted himself, but doreth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution ariseth, because of the word by and by, he is offended. And in the context of this rocky heart, I find a twofold reason for the heart being rocky. And it is dealing with fire and fizzle. You may be seated. My brothers and sisters, we need to believe that in order to operate correctly in the kingdom of God, it is very vital that we have the tools we need. For salvation comes through the heart. To follow Jesus through the word and worship, it'll actually saturate the heart. To uncover the hidden gems in the kingdom truly empowers the heart. In Matthew 3 and 2, Jesus comes on the scene getting straight to business as he talks about what we call repenting. Repenting for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent simply means to change one's mind or purpose. You know, many will soon find out as we review this text that if your heart is not prepared, it's hard for you to change what you've always been doing. If your heart is not prepared, the Bible says, Jesus said that my sheep know me. If your heart is not prepared, you can have distorted hearing. If your heart is not prepared, Jesus says in his word, we walk by faith and not by sight. If your heart is not prepared, you could have stumbling in your feet. Tonight, the Bible teaches us in Matthew 7 and 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But the deal is that he says the ones that has the right and the attitude that will succumb to doing the will of God, he's saying, but the one that does the will of my father, which is in heaven. Tonight, the interesting thing about our lesson tonight is that this what we call a rocky heart, it has this twofold dilemma. My brothers, we need to understand that first of all, in Matthew 13 and 5, it says, some fell upon stony places. where they had not much earth. You know, you need some earth in order for a seed to be able to germinate. And if it can't germinate, it'll never be able to sprout. And if it can't sprout, it'll never be able to take root. And for whip, they said, it sprung up. Because it had no depthness in earth. Listen what the text said. It sprung up. But in order for a plant to spring up, it first have got to spring down. Because it's got to have root before it can shoot. But the text says it sprung up. Even though it didn't have no depth, it sprung up. I got news for you today. Let me talk about what I call fire in the text. My brothers and sisters, this is really, really interesting that we understand that many Christians, sometimes when they hadn't thought it all through, and they get emotional rather than spiritual, sometimes they run down the aisle and give the preacher their hand and said they gave God their heart, and all of a sudden they don't Y'all help me now. I ain't got long. I ain't got long. All of a sudden, they on fire. You can't beat them doing nothing in the church. They on fire. Amen. They want to sing in the choir. Amen. They want a deacon on the deacon board. Amen. They want to do everything. You'll find them in the kitchen serving and passing out tracts in the community. They on fire. But they didn't have no death. The Bible says when the sun was up. You see, the sun, when it shines on you, it is said that it really shows you who you really are. And even though the Bible says that in this life you shall have tribulation, he said, cheer up because I've already overcome. He said, those that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, they shall suffer persecution. Sometime when folk come into the church, they need to be fed the right information because they need to understand your problem sometimes may just be beginning. But with all of that fire, sometimes because of the rocks, you ain't got no desire. scorched and because they had no root, they withered away. Now, here we go. If I can for a little just greater understanding, let me use the explanation of the text that Jesus describes in the ESV. He says in 13 and 20, as for what was sown on rocky ground. This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Amen. It's nothing wrong with receiving God's word and getting on fire. But the thing about it is, if it's not real, we need to understand something's going to happen. Let me just go ahead and just pop it out to you like this. I believe that you got to have faith when you come to God. You got to believe it, but you got to understand that faith, faith that ain't been tested, it can't be trusted. If you're going to have some faith, you got to understand God is going to send you through some things. You've got to go through some things. Amen. The Bible even says, talking to the preacher, he said, brother, study to show thyself approved. A workman that needed not a shame of rightly dividing the word of God. But then he goes on in the next verse and said, there's going to come a time. Just as sure as you wake up, there are going to be some ungodly folk going to try you. And y'all know we're living now that the ones that say they're godly, they'll try you too. I need us to understand tonight, my brother's fired. is created in the spiritual, amen, when we trust God and we allow the power of God to rest upon our lives. And when God creates this fire, it can consume us and control us without burning us up. Just like God used Moses and expressed on the backside When he went and saw the flame burning, but was not being consuming God God has a way of putting us on fire and never letting our flame go out as long as we're following him and are being Discipled by the Word of God. I say we can be on fire from the beginning to the end But here is the text where we go from fire to fizzle. When we move from verse 20 to verse 21, The Bible says he immediately receives it with joy, but verse 21 says, but yet, yet means we've been looking at this thing for a while and now it's turning. It's taking a turn because what we thought was, now we done figured out it ain't what it really is. I've been pastoring, I've been pastoring for almost 30 years now. And I have had quite a few sons in the ministry. And sometimes they came up in the pulpit, and they done everything I asked them to do before I licensed them. And they look like they were on fire. They studied. They put together the message right. Prayed. They came and done everything right. And after a couple of sermons in the pulpit, He started missing Sunday. I even got a call about one at a club one night. And it wasn't his wife went and got him, it was his girlfriend. But I'm trying to say he was on fire. And look, the fella could preach. But you know, Big Mama once told me that you ain't got to be a preacher to know how to preach. But a preacher that's been called, he the one need to know how to preach. But you ain't got to be one to know how to preach. Cause Big Mama have set many of us down in our families and she was able to preach to us and tell us. And sooner or later the road gonna run out. Sooner or later that bridge you crossed over, you gonna have to need to cross back over that bridge. Big Mama have gave us some words that every tub gotta sit on it's own body. Big Mama had some preach in her, but she wasn't no preacher. The Bible say, yet he has no root in himself. Look what the text didn't talk about in the ground. Now here he's suggesting to us I'm simply talking about the heart right now. He's talking about the heart right now because he said this fella ain't got no root in himself. And we've got to understand the word has got to go deep. If you say your soul been anchored in the Lord. Your root has got to be deep. If you say strong winds may ride, strong winds may blow. But I have a Savior, and He's sweet, I know. You got to have some deep roots in your heart to understand. Amen. No weapon. formed against me shall prosper. It won't work. You got to have some strong roots when Jesus said you got to love them who despitefully misuse you. When they cut you down, you got to know how to stand your ground and just pray. But y'all already know, if you got strong roots, I know, I know what color we are. If you got strong roots, it difficult to turn the other cheek. You gotta have some strong roots to turn the other cheek. My brothers and sisters, the text says immediately, meaning I'm straight up. Immediately when I was on fire, I received the truth. Immediately means I'm leveling up with you. I understand what you're saying. I'm good. I'm good. I know that Jesus Christ, I'm good. I have a desire. I'm with the Lord. I'm with the Lord to the end. Just like Peter said, I'll die for you. I'm saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost. But I didn't have no root. in myself. I put up with it, here the text goes, I put up with it for a little while. I put up with it for a little while. Because you know the saying is, when you put up with it for a little while, if they say one more thing to me. See that means a little while. That's your last chance. If you say one more And then the Bible say when tribulation of persecution Arises and look what the word said when tribulation of persecution arises because of the word Not because of you not because of something evil is because you have discovered the word done God in your grits and Immediately, I fall away. Immediately, in the King James Version, it says, I'm offended. But I want us to know as I leave you today, that a rocky heart, a rocky heart, is something we've got to overcome. But I don't have the exact cure for the rocky heart, but a prepared heart. But I like what Psalms 1, verse 1 through 3 says. He said, blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungod, nor standeth in the way of the sinner, nor sit in the seat of the scoffer. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Now let me show you where your roots are, but what he is like. Huh? He said this is what he's like. He's like a tree. Planted by the rivers or what? Because he already know I got provision, water's running right here. Long as I stay here, I'm gonna be able to grow. And it says streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither, and in all that I do, I'm going to prosper. If anybody here wants to prosper, and you know you might have some rocks in your heart, you need to get by that water. Stay put. and let the water feed you. And if you let the water feed you, the Bible says God will wash away things by the washing of the word of God. Let the word of God wash you. And if he washes you, you'll sing that famous song, what can wash me? Amen. Cleaner than anything. It said nothing but Nothing but God bless you Remedy for a rocky heart Is the word the water of the Lord You need some roots in yourself The old folks said I'm from Mississippi, some roots. Amen, amen. Listen, it is prayer time. Stand where you are. Create and alter a place of exchange. You may have come in heavy, weighed down in burden. One thing I discovered is that the Lord never designed our shoulders to carry loads. Jesus gives an incessant invitation to come unto him, all ye that are weary and heavy laden. And he says, I give you rest. He says, come to me when you are extremely burdened and extremely wearied. And he says, you will find rest unto your soul. There's a difference in soul rest and physical rest. Rest of the soul is resting the, you know, triune part of you, the trichotomy of the inner you, the immaterial you. Rest in your mind. Rest in your emotions. Rest in your will. Listen, give it over to the Lord. It may not be something that's personally yours. It may be something your children are going through. Your spouse going through. A friend, a coworker that said, when you pray, pray for me. It may be something going on in your community that's troubling you. Got you been all out of shape. Children are going to school next week. Are you just worried to death, seemingly, about how the school year is going to go? Will they be taught properly? Will they survive the school year because of the mass shootings that occur across the country, across the landscape of our world and across the landscape of the United States. The Lord says, give it over to him. Listen, the word says, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to your stature? So worrying is senseless, but we worry. Dr. Craig is coming. He's praying you pray Pray listen for the revival Pray that God will Revive you in your heart Concerning him Look to your left look to your right Concerning your relationship with the people you see to your left and right people that are not even here and in the community. Bessemer needs us as a faith community. Birmingham need us. Alabama, Jefferson County need us as a faith community. Come on, Dr. Craig. Let us pray. Father, we come now in the name of Jesus. Lord, we just want to tell you that we need revival. Lord, we we come to you. We humble ourselves before you. Lord, praying for our relationships. Our relationship with you. Our city and our neighborhoods seem like so many people have walked away from you. And that relationship has been torn. But Heavenly Father, we come now in revival time, praying for those relationships. Lord, that our sons and daughters. Lord may come back to you, dear God. And restore their relationship. Lord, when we look at the killings that's going on in our community, It's a relationship problem. One, Lord, that lets us know that a lot of our folk have walked away from you. And your word, you told us in your word to love one another. So that God, we pray tonight for a revival in our relationship with one another. Lord, that we can ask the question, am I my brother's keeper? Well, Lord, you were impressing upon them to know that he was his brother. And when we see each other as brothers and sisters, Lord, we love each other. And so that God, we come now, we pray for our fellowship. Lord, with one another, Lord, that we can just get along. white folks and black folks. Yes. Brown folks. Yes. God. That all of us living in our community to god that we can love and respect one another. Yes. And so that god we know that revival lord can be prayed up and be sent down by you. Mm. The lord we open up our hearts. Yes. Lord forgive us of our sin, dear god, as we forgive others, dear god, that have trespassed against us. Lord, that we can remember that as you have forgiven us, that we can turn other folks loose. Yes. We can walk in love and not hate. Yes. And so that god, we're here tonight for a revival. Yes. We pray now, lord, as we've Lord, we know you can change our heart. Lord, so that we can receive the word. Yes, sir. And that we can grow and be all that you will have us to be. Yes, sir. So that when persecution come, for the word. Lord, you give us a testimony. Lord, of how you brought us through. Because we stood on your promise, dear God, that, Lord, that we can say that you did it one more time. And so that God, we thank you for sending revival tonight. We pray for New Bethlehem. We pray, Lord, for Pastor Rogers and, Lord, all the members at this church, dear God, that, Lord, that you would just knit their hearts together so that they'll be a mighty force. Lord, that their light will shine. And Lord, they'll be the salt that this community needs. And Lord, we're not just here for a service, dear God, we want a movement, Lord, where you can touch our hearts. Lord, that we can be like the salt, Lord, that impacts our community, dear God. That our influence will go deep and far. And so dear God, I just want to tell you right now, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for a revival. Thank you. Thank you for our evangelist, dear God. Thank you, dear God, for our hearts being made ready to hear your word. And Lord, then in hearing it, Lord, we can rejoice in your word and then that God obey your word. Lord, that we'll be like a tree. Lord, that planted by the rivers of water that bring forth its fruit and its season. And our leaves, dear God, will not wither. And Lord, in whatsoever we do. Lord, I'm just going to prosper. There ain't nothing wrong with you blessing us, dear God. I just want to thank you right now for what you are doing. What you are going to do. I thank you for the blessings of today. I thank you for the blessings of tomorrow. I thank you, Lord, for making us brand new. Lord, when we are done tonight, Lord, we'll thank you for everything that you've done. Fix our hearts to God to live for you. We pray, dear God, for that sinner man, that sinner woman, that do not know you, dear God. Lord, that as we go out from this place, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they'll hear about Jesus and be saved. And so now, Lord, I just want to say thank you one more time. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer tonight. Lord, we thank you lord for what? What? Revival. Yes. For relationship. Yes. For fellowship. Yes, sir. Lord, that our hearts will be made ready for your word and produce like you want us to. Yes, sir. Lord, I ask all this in the mighty and the powerful name of Jesus the Christ and I give you praise in Amen. It's giving time. We act that our finance committee come. Listen, take out your best gift. Take out your best gift to soul. Amen. We honor the direction of our Hirsha ministry. Let us bow. Heavenly Father, we come again in Jesus' name to ask you to please bless this offering. Lord, please and bless everyone that gave and those that desired. In Jesus' name, amen. Let everybody sing. Oh Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Can I get a good if he's worthy? Somebody say he's worthy. Make a choice for lord. Come on, say it again. Come on, say it. Come on, one more time, let's worship. Everybody, let's bow. Come on, worship the Lord. Magnify. Everybody in the building, worship. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Oh, yeah. Come on, say it one more time. I can't stop. What's his name? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Let me hear you say it. Jesus! One more time, can't stop! Can't stop! Can't stop! Jesus! exceedingly exceedingly all according to Don't give up on life cause he won't give up on you I mean, you know that. Don't give up on love Don't give up on love Don't give up on love He's able He's able He's faithful and he's faithful Oh, I have to say, he's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. Whatever he says. He's able. He's gonna do it. He's able. Whatever he promises. He's able. He's gonna do it. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able He's able, He's able, He's able He's gonna do it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no Don't give up on God No, no, no, no, no, no, no Don't give up Don't give in Don't throw in the towel He's able How many know it? Have you tried it? He's able He's able He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able. Don't give up on love. Cause you won't give up on you love. Searched all over. Couldn't find nobody. I looked high and low. Still could find nobody, nobody greater, nobody greater, nobody greater than you. Stand with me, would you? Will you stand with me? God our father, how we we thank you for this night. We thank you for We recognize you for your ability. might not be sure tonight of your activity. but we thank you tonight because of your ability. Lord, we confess tonight you are able. Lord, forgive me. I pray of my sins. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Fill me full of your Holy Spirit. Oh, hallelujah. In the full of your Holy Spirit in the hearing of your word. Yes. And then after that, fill our hearts that we might do your work. Yes. That's what we ask tonight in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Well, amen. Amen. to our pastor tonight, Pastor Rogers. I want you to praise God for his heart. How blessed we are that God has sent us a pastor like Dr. Rogers. And just a blessing for the, just the family, Sister Rogers and Little Rogers, what a blessing. Come on, thank God for them, wouldn't you? And then I'm just, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, just watching the energy of Dr. Walker, if I can. He's directing the choir. Lord, if I could just have that energy. Come on, thank God for him tonight, would you? And then, I pray for sense enough to know when there's a whole lot more of something than what I see. I can just tell that if Dr. Atkins didn't have time restraints, And he had some more, he would have said. So I thank God for him. I thank God. Come on, thank God for Dr. Anthony, would you? And to all of this, this pulpit power in here, preachers are very, very busy. And man, thank y'all for being here. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your prayers. This music ministry is second to none. Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. I want to talk about something tonight that for somebody in this room If you practice what I'm gonna talk about tonight, your life will never be the same. If you do what I'm gonna tell you to do, you'll never be the same. I don't know who you are. but things are about to drastically change. for the better. If you do, what I'm going to talk about tonight. Acts chapter twelve verse one. Now, about on some who belong to the church in order to mistreat them, to vex them. King James says, now by that time, King Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of unleavened bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer for him was made fervently by the church to God. And the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was between two soldiers, bound with two chains. And the guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell. And he struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying, get up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, gird yourself and put on your sandals and he did so and he said to him, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. You may be seated. And he went out and continued to follow and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real but thought he was seeing. vision when they had passed the first and second guard they came to the iron gate that leads into the city which opened for them by itself and they went out and went along one street and immediately the angel departed from him when Peter came to himself he said now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting look at somebody and tell them pray They didn't hear you look at him again straight in the face straight in the eye if you can stand it and tell them pray Look at the person on the other side look at him straight in the face and tell him pray I'm going to get to the text in a minute, but I need to fuss a little bit. Shame on us. Shame on us. We don't pray. Shame on us. Shame on us that the least attended gathering in our weekly calendar is prayer meeting if we have one at all. The least attended service in our weekly calendar is prayer meeting If we have one at all, you can get Negroes at choir rehearsals, missionary society meetings, better not get ready to vote a pastor out. They come in wheelchairs, that boy ain't been to church in years, just to vote. but we can't get him to pray. That's right. That's right. My lord. My lord. I thank god for what I see tonight. I've been doing a little preaching since since the pandemic and even before the pandemic, this is a good gathering. There are churches all over the country that are not don't have these many people even on Sunday morning. We've stopped going to church. If we could have gotten this many, if we would have said, we just coming out to pray. By the way, the Better Business Bureau could shut us down for false advertising. International House of Pancakes. has pancakes in it. There's a place in New Orleans, I saw it the other day, called House of Wigs. Can you imagine what's on the inside? Wigs. I preached up in Detroit a few years ago. They took me over into Canada before it was illegal to go into Canada. There's a place called the International House of Liquor. It was bigger than this. And they had wine from all over the world. If the International House of Pancakes doesn't have pancakes, the Better Business Bureau will shut it down for false advertising. If the House of Wigs doesn't have any wigs in it, the Better Business Bureau will shut it down for false advertising. If the International House of Liquor doesn't have any liquor in it, the Better Business Bureau will shut it down because of false advertising. This is called a house of prayer. This is called the house of prayer. And the least thing that takes place in this room is prayer. Most of the time we designate somebody to pray for us. For devotion, the deacon pray. For pulpit meditation, the preacher pray. You come to church and leave and never ever pray. And this is called the house of prayer. I think it ought to be a requirement before you can vote for a new pastor, you got to show up for at least three prayer meetings. Before we ordain you as deacon, do you pray in prayer meetings? Shame on us. Most of us, personally, including the pulpit, if you take all of our prayer time in a week, we might get 10 minutes. If you add all that up in one week's time, you might get 10 minutes. If you're studious, because we want to make sure we're right with the word, most of us spend most of our time with our butts in a seat studying than we do knees on the floor. And we ain't got no power. Because we don't pray. If the choir gets ready for their annual concert, they'll sing for about three hours every night for about six weeks and not have one prayer meeting dedicated to the concert. They'll practice their parts, sopranos, altos, and tenor. They will know those songs, but they will never get together in the average church and say, our concert is Sunday night. Let's spend Saturday night one hour not rehearsing any songs, but let's just spend some time on our knees. Shame on us. Shame on me. There is nothing that I have done in almost 30 years of preaching and pastoring that has blessed my life more than prayer. God has done more for me in answer to prayer than he has in any other thing, any other action that I engage in. And we don't pray. Now I want to write something down. There are at least four reasons you ought to pray. Four reasons you ought to pray. I ain't dealing with the text yet. Number one, prayer changes anything. that's not functioning in the will of God. That's number one, prayer changes anything that's not functioning in the will of God. Number two, prayer changes anybody that's not functioning in the will of God. Number three, it's called a homograph. It's a word that's spelled the same, two different meanings. P-R-A-Y-E-R spells prayer. But it also spells prayer. So that whenever I am a prayer, I'm a practitioner of prayer. God doesn't just change things and he doesn't just change people. God changes the prayer. Prayer is not how you get your will done in heaven. Prayer is how God get his will done on earth. Hold on, wait a minute. The reason you need to pray is because sometimes God will not make the valley better. Sometimes he's gonna make you better in the valley. You prayed and your mama still came out of the hospital through the morgue. I prayed and asked the Lord to heal my sister, my brother, and they died. Did I pray for nothing? No, because now you're going to be able to handle it. You don't need to pray just because of God's yeses, you need to pray because of God's no's. I got some real folk in here tonight that testify God does not always say yes when you want him to say yes. Sometimes God says no. But since you've been praying, you're able to function with God's no. I'm praying and them fools are still on my job. Ask the Lord to get them fired. They keep coming in late, but they never get caught But I've been praying. Let me tell you what God is going to do. Ooh, Lord have mercy. Every blessing that you are supposed to get, you are going to get in spite of them fools who come to work every day. Thou preparest a table before me right in the present. Last three. Let me give you number four. Yeah. You know why y'all pray? Not just because god changes things and people and the prayer. Y'all pray cuz Jesus told you to. That's right. Amen. Number one. Number one. He said, men That means practicing the presence of God. This is gonna bless somebody in this room. Prayer is talking to him. In all the 66 books of the Bible, you never see anybody closing their eyes when they pray. You think you need to close your eyes to pray. You can pray going down the highway. If you're praying going down the highway, do not close your Touch them out and tell them pray! Talk to them. You can pray while washing dishes. Students, y'all can pray while going into class, getting ready to take a test, or going into the class before you take the test. Now Lord, I'm sleeping. And I need to be able to pay attention to what the teacher says. Bless me to listen to what the teacher says. Bless me to hold on. I had a young man. He lives, matter of fact, in Birmingham right now. He was in school at ULM getting his master's. He met a young lady. He came to me and just got his call to preach. And he came to me, he said, man, he says, pastor, he says, I'm taking this young lady out on a date. Matter of fact, at my church, he said, I'm taking her out on a date, man, and I'm trying to do right, and I'm good as long as she don't touch me. I said, man, you gonna be alright? He said, nah, pastor, I'm telling you, I don't want her to hold my hand or nothing. I'm good long as she don't touch me. I'm trying to preach, trying to start my life right, you know, and listen, I said, well, tell the Lord about it. Talk to the Lord. The girl couldn't go to the movies at night, they had to go at noon day. They went during the noon day, it was a school of children who had to come to the movies at that same time. They left there, they went out to eat on their first date, broad open daylight. The only place they could sit in the restaurant was right there in the open in front of everybody. That was their first date. They're married right now. Because if you ask the Lord... prayer is talking to it. I'm telling you, it's going to bless you. Lord, I'm going into Dillard's. All I need is a dress. I don't need shoes. I don't need, I don't need an earrings. I don't need two dresses. All I need is one dress. Help me to find that dress. You walk in there and somebody made a mistake earlier that morning and marked the wrong dress down and you're going to Shame on us! We don't pray. My Lord, I'm going over to Betty Jean's house. I know I don't need to go over there. You get over there, and her ugly friend answers the door. What you want? Nothing. God does amazing things in answer to prayer. Shame on you that you don't talk to him. In all thy ways, acknowledge The church in Acts was the church at its best. The church at its beginning was the church at its best. And that church in the book of Acts is saturated with prayer. They were ignorant and unlearned, but they had some power. Hold on, just leave Acts, leave Acts, don't even worry about Acts right now. Black soul. In the United States of America, we didn't have money, we didn't have education, but slaves had praying ground. Great-grandmama them had praying ground. They knew how to pray to the Lord. Now Lord, Here it is once more and again. The weak and humble handmade servant felt knee bent and body already bowed. We need you and can't get along without you. You are God and self-sizing you, there is none of that. I never knew what self-sizing was. But God did. Down in the country they would pray, Lord, look and have mercy on dying men and sinking women. What's a sinking woman? Let them know that hell is mighty hot and eternity is mighty long. What are they talking about? Don't know, but God heard it. They prayed. That's why you got some stuff now you know you don't deserve. Because grandmama done prayed for you. Husbands, when was the last time you grabbed your wife before she left that morning, before you left for work that morning and said, let me pray for you? See, brother, you are the pastor of your house. Pastor Roger is the pastor of this church. Too many of y'all want to pastor this church and you ain't even pastoring your house. You got children who are about to leave now for college and they'll be going off. They're going to hear and see all kinds of stuff in college. Before your child leaves your house, grab them and say, let me pray for you. And then when you get through praying for them, I tell them, go on out there. You're going to be all right. I can't go to Alabama A&M with you, but I'm sending the Lord with you. The church at its birth was the church at its best because it was a praying church. Them disciples walked up to Jesus one day. Jesus is a miracle worker like nobody else. Listen, you're talking about could preach. Jesus could preach. He could preach, but they walked up to him and they did not say, show us how to work miracles. They did not say, Jesus, show us how to preach. They walked up to Jesus and said, show us how to pray. Because they understood the reason that he could preach like he preached and the power that he had was because of his prayer life. He would wake up in the morning, get this, to pray. You pray when you get up. Jesus got up in the morning just to pray. You pray when you get up, maybe. My daddy said Jesus would get up in the morning and go get his route and go get his schedule for the day. So he knew where to stop, where to go, what to do. That's why when the 5,000 men, not counting women and children, showed up and he asked the disciples, when shall we buy bread that these may eat? And the disciples said, we don't know. But the Bible says he already knew what he was going to do. Because when he prayed that morning, the father already told him, listen, I got a little boy that's going to be there with two fish and five loaves of bread. Some of y'all are going to go to work in the morning. and you're going to look at a board and you're going to get your instructions on that board because your supervisor or your boss has put the instructions for your schedule for that day. They ain't going to speak to you, ain't going to talk to you. You're going to look at that board and then you're going to go immediately about your way. Or they're going to email you your schedule and you're going to look at that email and you're going to go about your way. And you ain't even seen them, ain't even spoke to them or nothing. And the Lord can't tell you nothing to do tomorrow. God does supernatural things in answer to prayer. Give me about seven more minutes and I'm through. The Bible says in Acts chapter 12, Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he laid his hands on Peter, intending to kill him after Easter. After the Passover. Wait a minute. Number one, he stretched forth his hands. Because the church had been praying so much, until in order to vex them, they were not in hands reach. He had to stretch forth his hands. Is it easy for the devil to vex you or does he have to stretch forth his hands? Is it easy for him to make you depressed? Is it easy for him to keep you up all night? Is it easy for him to make you give up? Or does it cause him a lot of work because you've been praying? He understands that he can't get you with just an average thing. It's got to be something tough if he's going to make you depressed. If he's going to make you cry, it's got to be something rough. Just somebody not speaking to you today ain't going to really bother you because you've been praying. You're used to people not speaking to you anyway. Just because your money is funny and your change is strange, that ain't going to bother you because you've been praying. And you know that the Lord will make a way. Devil, you gotta come with something else. I've been through this before. This ain't my first rodeo before. I know somebody that is healed of cancer, so this cold ain't no problem. You got to... Bible says that he stressed forth his hand. I like King James. King James says to vex certain of the church. So he gets James and Peter because they are part of the certain. See the devil ain't messing with everybody anyway. And if the devil ain't messing with you, that might be a sign that he either already got you or you ain't worth having. I watch National Geographic all the time. I love National Geographic. I've seen some lions that sat in the bushes and they waited for some antelope to get real close so they could pounce on them. I watched them. They sat all day till one of them got close. There was a sick antelope that was already dying. They stepped over him looking at one that was healthy. And maybe you ain't got no problem because you a self-check. The Bible says that he stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. He gets famed because it pleased the Jews. And after he saw it pleased the Jews, he got Peter intending to kill him, but he's not going to do it until after the Passover. He's not going to do it until after the Passover, because the last person he killed before Easter, that person got up Sunday morning. The last person that they put to death before Easter, he's superstitious. And he thinks it has something to do with Easter. But it ain't got nothing to do with Easter. It has to do with the Master. He got up early. He's got to wait for his right time because he thinks that your power is predicated on timing. So that if he gets you in a situation, you ain't going to have time enough to get out. But what he doesn't know is that it doesn't have anything to do with the time on the outside. It's got something to do with the power that's on the inside. I'm trying to hurry. So the Bible says that he puts Peter in jail. And here's the verse. Here's the verse. Here's the verse. He puts Peter in jail. And the Bible says, but prayer was made at Mary's house Without ceasing. Hold on. Wait a minute without ceasing without ceasing you do the research on that word without ceasing It means fervently. Hey y'all the word fervently suggests energy Lord have mercy it suggests energy. It's it's not it's not it's it's a prayer within a guy It's a it's a it's a prayer with hot sauce on it Oh god, i'm about to help somebody up in here. Here come your deliverance in here tonight. You're about to get it You're about to get it. See it's it's it's not just Father, Holy Father, have mercy. I need you to come. No, that's not a fervent prayer. A fervent prayer is a prayer with energy. Hold on, wait a minute. It matches the intensity of the troubles and the trials. See, your problem is you are taking an elementary prayer life into a high school problem. If you're going to get this, God, you're going to have to get ugly. If you're going to get this deliverance, you're going to have to lift your voice. If you're going to get out of this, you're going to have to not worry about what folk gonna say. If you're going to get through this, you're going to have to let your makeup run. If you're going to get through this, you can't stay cool, calm, and collective. Our Heavenly Father, Howard... No, that ain't gonna get it. It's going to take a lot of... Hold on. God ain't hard of hearing. He just wants to know how bad do you want it. And I got somebody up in here tonight who say, I want it bad enough to holler if I got to holler. I want it bad enough. The Bible says that the church matches the intensity of Herod. He stretched his hand toward them. They stretched their hands Touch him, I tell him, match the intensity. Match the intensity. Match the intensity. All hell is breaking loose in your life, and you're still trying to be cool. Well, bump what everybody else trying to say, because they can't help you no way. You've got to walk in church some Sundays, even when it ain't time. Get down to this altar, and I've looked at choirs singing a slow song, but you need to hear from. Father, I stretch my hand to thee. You prayed that time and the Lord answered your prayer. You prayed that morning by 8 and the Lord had answered your prayer by 830. Not this time. This time, you're about to miss lunch. This time, you're about to miss dinner. Because he's going to do it. But you've got to match the intensity. You've got to let him know how bad you want it. y'all remember blind Bartimaeus sitting on the side of that road and the Bible says he couldn't see but he could hear and he heard Jesus passing by and he said Jesus have mercy on me now son of David they tried to shut him up but the more they tried to shut him up the louder he hollered because he understood I've got to match the intensity Sometimes you need to cry out to the Lord. Here it is, three things and I'm through. Bible says they prayed at Mary's house. And God dispatched an angel from heaven. South Central Louisiana in the country, heaven. Dr. C.A.W. Clark said that angel came down with inconceivable rapidity. Because Peter is about to die the next day. An angel comes down, three things. Number one, prayer gives you supernatural relaxation. The Bible says Peter is about to die the next morning. And he's in here between these soldiers. Sleep. Sleep. Hold on, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm trying to hurry, wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Do you know who this is? This is cutting cussing Peter. Peter will cuss. And if cussing don't work, he got a blade on him. But he been praying. And now he ain't cussing and cutting, he's calling. There's some people in this room been praying and some folks said some stuff to you and if they would have said it months ago, years ago. Negro what? And first thing he said, you don't know me. When a black person say you don't know them, that suggests whatever you just said, don't say it no more. They're not telling you at that time that they want to introduce themselves to you. They basically said, leave me alone. You don't know me like that. But since you've been pre, Now folk can say stuff to you Supernatural Relaxation You can rest in a storm When you pray And the Bible says, secondly, a light shone in prison. Not just supernatural relaxation, supernatural illumination. Here's my question. Y'all, I promise I'm trying to hunker it off. I just got one question. I just got one question. One question. Hazard that he's sleeping between two soldiers. There are soldiers at the door, soldiers everywhere. And no, none of them see the light. Only Peter sees the light. If you pray, God will show you something that other people in the boardroom can't see. He will show you how to start your business. He will show you a plan to recover the streets. He will show you, teacher, how to teach that child and just how to handle that child that's dwelling in darkness. By the time they get to the room, he'll show you and you alone when you pray. How is it that scribes and Pharisees who knew the Old Testament probably word for word and then Jesus walked right in front of them and they couldn't tell who he was. Meanwhile, here is a woman with an issue of blood and she knows just which garment to touch. Lord have mercy, y'all missing me. Jesus, the son of God, God in the flesh, the hypostatic union, undiminished deity, perfect humanity simultaneously, right there in the midst of scribes and Pharisees and they can't see who he is. Meanwhile, he gets to a well, a woman who's having men problems, meet him at the well, leave the well running saying, y'all come see a man. That ain't get you? I had people, listen, I was never in danger of being voted valedictorian, selected valedictorian, or salutatorian. I was never in danger of graduating cum laude or summa cum laude. I graduated thank you laude. There were people who were much smarter than me. They still ain't saved today. And here my ignorant, stupid self is. I love the Lord. He heard my cry and pitted every groan. Long as I live. They can figure out mathematical formulas, they can figure out physics, they can read, they can understand a whole lot of stuff, but still don't know how to say, Father, I stretch my hand. Supernatural illumination. I got one more and I'm gone, y'all. I'll try to do better tomorrow night. Bible says, That the angel had to wake him up. Had to wake him up. And told him, stand up! This is what shouts me, and I'm through. Bible says change just fell off. supernatural liberation. God will get you out of some stuff. Supernaturally. supernatural relaxation, you're going to get some sleep. He that keepeth Israel neither slumber nor sleep, you're going to sleep through it. Touch my temple, you're going to sleep through it. When you learn to pray, you're going to get some sleep. Supernatural illumination, God's going to show you something. I'm through y'all, but help me close it. Touch my temple, God's going to show you something. When you pray, He's gonna show you how to fix your marriage. When you pray, He's gonna show you how to get your house back. When you pray, He's gonna show you how to build your Sunday school class. When you pray, He's gonna show you whether or not you need to buy that car or wait until later. When you pray, He's gonna show you something. But then finally when you pray, he gonna get you out of some stuff. Some stuff that had you bound. There's some people in here tonight who say that I'm a product of 12-step program. Used to be an alcoholic, but I went through the 12-step program. But there's somebody else in here tonight that didn't need 12 steps. All I needed was one. got down on my knees, called on the Lord, and he supernaturally got me out. Can I get a witness in here tonight? Things that had you bound, they don't have you bound anymore. because the Lord has set you free. And who the son set free is free in me. And he did it all when you prayed. That's why y'all look at somebody one more time and say Quit pouting about it. Quit complaining about it. And pray. Because the lord will answer prayer. I am a witness tonight. answer prayer. And when he answers prayer, don't act arrogant. Don't be too submissive. Don't act like you're all that. But if you cried out, when you prayed, I'm about to get loud. I'm about to act a little I could not solve. I tried and I tried. Kept getting deeper involved. But I turned it over. Turned it over to Jesus. And I stopped worrying about it. I turn it over. and he worked it out. and that's why I'm going to wave my hand. I'm going to give him glory. I gotta tell him thank you. for answering my prayer. I've done something great for you. Give him a great praise. praise him. You ain't praising him. Lord, get out in the aisle. Lord, tell your neighbor, give me some room. Because when I think about what he done for me, when I think about where he brought me from, I gotta give him praise. Oh my god. Everyone to your feet the doors of the Lord's house stands ajar You hear tonight you're in a tight place in a dangerous place in a place where your life is threatened The Lord will Save you Deliver you snatch out Listen, if you're here tonight and you're not saved, that's a dangerous place. That's a place of death. But the Lord wants to save you. If you can simply believe in your heart, in the Lord Jesus Christ, believe the atoning work of Christ on Calvary. Believe in his death, his burial, and God raising him from the dead. The Bible says thou shalt be saved. If you're here tonight and you're not saved, come if you can simply believe in Jesus Christ. Come. Secondly, if you're here, then you need to be restored. The very essence of revival is to revive, restore, redirect, refocus, re-energize, rebuild you. Restore you. There's space between you and the Lord. You're not as fervent, you're not as passionate as you used to be because he's not the priority of your life. You allowed a lot of earthly things and cares to be in place of power at the first place. You're chasing and catting after things of the world and you got God on hold. You got him somewhere down the line. God says if he can't be first, he doesn't want any place. but he's married to the backslider. He loves you. And he wants restored fellowship with you. If you're here tonight and you're not saved, come. If you're here tonight and you're backslidden, come. Thirdly, if you're here tonight and you need a faith family. Listen, being unchurched is like a baby without a parent. You need a family. You need A place where God feeds you. To edify you. You need a place where you are instructed of God. Where you are confronted and convicted. To be converted from your ways. You need a place of washing. I remember a conversation with Peter When Jesus ungirded himself and wrapped a towel around his loins and said he was going to wash the disciples feet and Peter said, you can't wash my feet. And he says, if I don't wash your feet, I can't have any part of you and you can't have any part of me. Peter says, well, wash me all over. He says, you don't need a full bath. You just need your feet washed. See, once you give your life to the Lord, you don't need a full bath, but you at least need a weekly cleansing. That's what preaching and teaching of the Word of God is, is the washing of your feet. Listen, you need a faith family. come tonight. The doors of the lord's house stands ajar. You can come by ladder. Christian experience a candidate for baptism but don't you let this time this opportunity pass you by. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not promised. You only have now. Now, pastor and these preachers say come evangelist say come the lecturer say come deacon and trustees say come the choir is singing for you to come saints all over this house praying that you come because they know how important it is for you to be saved for you to be restored for you to have a faith family. Come on. Come on. Come on. One more round. The doors of the lord's house stands Come on, put your hands together for the preaching of the word of God. The teaching of the word of God. Where I'm from, some of the old folk would say, I've been hoped. Yet at night. So, we thank god for the preacher. We thank god for the lecturer. We thank god for all of you. Listen, uh right before we go, listen, look around and I want you uh to take a mental picture of all who's not here and your assignment tonight is to get on the hello and call and say, we got one more night. call your nieces and nephews and say, at least come with me one night. We got one more night. That's right, sir. Amen. Listen, because the more people we get under the word of God, the better our families will be, the better our communities will become. Amen. Because we know the power of the word of God. So will you do that? Amen. Y'all didn't say nothing. Will you do that? Amen. All right. All hearts and minds clear. Lord, we thank you for what eyes have seen, ears have heard, hearts have received. Thank you lord for your divine visitation. Manifestation of your presence. Lord among us. Lord, we pray for because lord you are giving us revival we feel better than we felt before we came that means that we're leaving lord with you by the power of your word working on us on the inside we're settled in our emotions We have been made settled in our minds and in our will. We're trusting you more. Loving you more. Willing to work for you more. For your glory's sake. Lord, you've been faithful to bring us in safely. We ask that you Lord, take us and arriving mercies. Do it father. And lord, if you see fit to shake us and wake us in the morning. We pray that our eyes come open to a new day. Yeah. And lord, we are pray more tomorrow. If it's your will, then we pray today. Yeah. Yeah. We'll praise you more on tomorrow than we'll praise you on today. And place of prayer. Lord, to hear you speak to our hearts again. We love you. We love you. And thank you. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. In every heart say amen. Amen. Amen. Be blessed. Be blessed.