Sermons

· Who is the prime mover of this story? Who made the difference? The youngster with no power, position, authority, title, office, influence.
· This little girl had 4 things: courage that caused her to stand up, conviction, clarity and certainty in her faith that caused her to step up, confidence that caused her to speak up.
· Be clear about who you are & whose you are – God’s child, God’s creation.
· Life matters to God! Black life matters to God! My life matters to God! Walk in that!
· Things don’t change automatically. They must be changed. We must change them.
· I can make the difference, I can be the difference God calls for when I stand up with courage, conviction & confidence.
· Stand up, Step up, Speak up for what is right.
· I must make the difference! It is my time!

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE:
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brough us thus far on the way, thank you for this moment. Thank you for your abundant grace and your renewing mercy. Empower our young people to believe and behave their faith in you. Provide them with the courage, conviction, and confidence to stand up, step up, and speak up for what is right. Give all of us spiritual eyes and open hearts to know their lives matter to you. Bless all our youth as they continue to navigate this often confusing and complacent world. We thank you in advance for each and every paradigm changer, atmosphere shifter, and ground breaker at Morning Star. We love you, we praise you and we are clear we are nothing without you. Oh, how grateful we are for this amazing seed sown by your messenger, our Pastor, and all the fruit it will produce. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.

RESURRECTION SUNDAY – THE AGENDA OF HEAVEN

· From law to grace, Heaven has an agenda!
· God has an agenda! I am part of that agenda.
· Agenda: schedule, checklist, work list, program, itinerary, gives identification, intention, implementation, important.
· Jesus is central to heaven’s agenda! The body of Christ is central to heaven’s agenda.
· My agenda is NOT higher than heaven’s agenda. Heaven’s agenda is Jesus.
· The agenda of heaven revolves around the resurrected living body of Christ.
· The agenda of heaven revolves around life, salvation, liberation, elevation.
· I am the center of heaven’s agenda. For that I say Hallelujah & thank you Jesus!
· #HeavenHasAnAgenda #Life

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE: Christ the Lord has risen today! Hallelujah! Gracious and giving God, thank you for this moment, and the liberating work of the cross of Jesus. We receive your endless mercies and your everlasting grace. Restore, refill and continue to refine our Pastor. May this message give us the faith to desire heaven’s agenda above and beyond our own. We praise you! We worship you! We honor and adore you! Because of your sacrifice we have life, and that more abundantly. Heaven has an agenda and we are happy about it! In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.

· Palm branches symbolize victory.
· Triumphant entry (already won the victory) vs Triumphal entry (victory has not yet occurred).
· Jesus declares: “I am who I said I am, I will do what I said I will do.”
· Foundational lessons in Christianity can be found in the Palm Sunday story.
– 1) I walk by faith. I am liberated! God can use me when I am liberated.
It’s already done! I have already won! I am already there! I have already arrived!
– 2) I gotta make the trip! I gotta show up! By faith! Jesus predicted victory in the ultimate battle – life over death.
– 3) I am victorious! I am the winner! Praising & giving thanks to God is: significant, essential, critical, foundational, important. No matter what – pain, hardship, difficulty, start shouting now!
Sermon In Action
Affirmations: I AM LIBERATED! I AM VICTORIOUS! I AM THE WINNER! I AM WHO GOD SAID I AM! I AM ALREADY THERE!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: What has got you tied up these days? What post do you feel you are unable to be untied from? This week, be free! Shake yourself loose! Detach from negative thoughts, negative behaviors, and negative expectations.

Testify: Tell at least one person about a time when you were assured by God your victory was already won. Make sure you tell them, despite what things looked like, you kept the faith, believed God’s word, and continued to give God thanks and praise.

Creative Application: Make a card or sign that says; It’s already done! I am already there! Place this card in a place you can read it and repeat it daily.

Gratitude: King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Great I am, we thank you for this holy moment. We thank you for your awesome and amazing grace that has brought us thus far along the way. Bless your servant messenger and keep him filled to overflowing with your anointing. Give us determined spirits and made-up minds, so that we can shout and praise you right now, knowing the victory has been decided, and the end of story has been written. We win! You are the lifter of our head and the director of our steps. We are grateful to you Oh God, wonderful counselor, strong tower. We worship you for being from everlasting to everlasting. As we walk through this Passion week, let us keep our eyes focused on the promise, knowing in the end we are triumphant! In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.

· The main intention of God: Blessing & blossoming my life through my faithful obedience to God’s word.
· Repeat this to myself – GOD WANTS TO BLESS ME!
· God’s thoughts, ways, words are higher in authority, activity, achievement & advancement than mine.
· The word of God (Jesus) is constantly trying to move me forward, enlarge my spiritual territory.
· Don’t settle, be satisfied, comfortable or complacent with where I am.
· God uses everyday, routine, regular things to challenge, stretch, & move me forward.
· God starts with where I am, what I have, what I know.
· Bring what I have and dedicate it to God.
· When I hear from God, God wants me to respond! My response can get me through the storm.
· Greatness: learn to think outside the box.
· With God anything is possible!

Sermon In Action
Affirmations: I AM MOVING FORWARD!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: This week, spend less time talking and more time listening in your devotional time. What is God calling you to do? Where is God calling you to go?

Testify: Tell at least one person how your response to God’s call got you through a storm. Make sure you let them know where you were at the time, what you had, and what you knew about your situation, and the part faith played in the outcome.

Creative Application: Walk on water this week! Find a picture of water that speaks to you. Place it in your prayer space, hang it somewhere you can see it daily, use it as your screensaver. Whenever you see it, reflect on this message.

Prayer of Gratitude: Great God, thank you for this moment. Thank you for your blessings, past, present and future. Never stop speaking to us. Even when it appears we are not listening. Continue to unsettle us, challenge us, stretch us and move us forward. We are grateful for this message and your messenger. God, in this moment, we bring and dedicate to you what we have, believing with you anything is possible. We give your name all the honor, all the praise, and all the glory in advance, knowing you have heard our prayer. We count all things accomplished in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

· Spiritual God nature vs Physical human nature
· The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!
· Growth: increase in size, number, value, strength, capacity. Growth is movement, dynamic, maturation.
· My flesh has to grow!
· My gift is designed to grow the body of Christ.
· How do I grow?
· Make a DECISION, I will grow _____. Start with what I have, right where I am.
· DEDICATION, commit myself to growth.
· DISCIPLINE, stay with it! Don’t be distracted, keep going.
· DETERMINATION: Don’t yield to circumstances, make circumstances yield to me.
· Give what I have to God. God will make my not enough more than enough.
· God is growth! God wants me to grow! Every experience & opportunity with God is a growth experience.

Sermon in Action
Affirmations: I AM A DECISION MAKER! I AM DEDICATED TO GROWTH! I AM DISCIPLINED TO GROW! I AM DETERMINED TO GROW!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: This week, reflect and appreciate what you have, right where you are. If needed, change your language, and adjust your attitude toward your own five loaves and two fish.

Testify: Tell at least one person about a time when God made your not enough more than enough. Make sure you let them know how YOU grew in the process.

Creative Application: Spring is coming! Make a decision to apply the 4 elements of growth to seeds, flowers, a plant, an outdoor or indoor garden, a pet, a relationship, a business plan, or an educational or professional goal.

Prayer of Gratitude: Wonderful, Wise and Welcoming God, thank you for this moment. We are grateful for the abiding presence of your Holy Spirit, and thankful for every gift given to grow the body of Christ. Help us to shake off any resistance from our flesh, and make a decision to live out this message. We can grow, because with God anything is possible. We will grow! We are growing! All praise, all glory, all honor and all our gratitude belong to you God. Thank you in advance for hearing and answering our prayer, AMEN.

· Awesome – extremely impressive, amazing, awe-inspiring, breath-taking, astonishing, magnificent, incredible, phenomenal, mind-boggling.
· Awesome does not stay the same. Awesome moves, continues to go higher, from generation to generation.
· God will ALWAYS be described as awesome, yesterday, today, forever!
· God loves me! I am a child of God! God respects & cares for me! I am important, significant, precious, God’s image, seed, representative, I count, I matter.
· God welcomes me! God values me!
· If you love God, you love me! If you know God, you know me!
· It’s not your station in life, it’s what’s in your heart.
· I am God’s child right now! What will be hasn’t yet appeared. God’s kingdom come, God’s will be done.
· I am the future of awesome! God loves the caterpillar me & the butterfly me!
Sermon In Action
Affirmations: I AM AWESOME! I AM AWESOME RIGHT NOW! I AM THE FUTURE OF AWESOME!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: You are God’s child right now! What are some of the ways in the past you have believed and embraced that statement and some of the ways you forgotten and turned away from that statement?

Testify: Tell at least one person this week about an awesome event or time in your life. Witness to them how the awesomeness of God was present, both in the event of time and in you.

Creative Application: What will be hasn’t yet appeared! Write a letter to yourself about how awesome you are right now. Seal it and mark it “Do not open until Sunday, December 26, 2021. On that date, read and reflect again on your awesomeness.

Prayer of Gratitude: Wonderful and most High God, thank you for this moment. Thank you for your ever- lasting grace, and your ever-renewing mercies. You are an awesome God! We are grateful for this needed and necessary word. Bless your awesome messenger as he strives to move us higher and higher. We are your children right now! May your deep and abiding love for us manifest in our deep and abiding love for others. All praises be to the King of Kings and the Lord our God, you are awesome! Your kingdom come, your will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.

· “For His steadfast love endures forever.” God’s love is steadfast! God’s love endures forever!
· In all situations, circumstances, conditions, God’s steadfast love endures forever.
· God’s steadfast love is a deeper, more powerful, life-changing love. God is challenging me to live out this type of love.
· God is love! God loves us! God loves me!
· 3 types of love: Eros (romantic), Filia (brotherly), Agape (unconditional).
· I have love for God when I have love for others.
· Love is powerful, life-changing, serious, not superficial. Love makes a difference.
· It’s easy to thank & love God when things are going well, but can I love God when things are going badly?
· Keep loving God! God still loves me! Thank God for God’s love!
Sermon In Action
Affirmations: I AM THE LOVE OF GOD! I AM LOVED!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: This week, read Psalm 136 every day, both silently and out loud. Reflect on the words and relate them to your life.

Testify: Tell at least one person about a time when you felt unloved. Let them know how the love of God challenged and changed your definition of love and the ways your actions reflected that new definition.

Creative Application: It’s okay to love yourself! This week, make a difference in your own life by speaking to yourself with love, taking care of your body with love, and enriching your mind with love.

Prayer of Gratitude: Most High and Holy God, Lover of All, thank you for this moment. Thank you for loving us unconditionally. Help us to BE the love of God wherever we show up, and in our actions toward others. Let nothing separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. May our love for you God be tangible, an expression of our gratitude because you first loved us. We lift up praise and worship, glory and honor to your name. Always and forever, continue to be the center of our joy. In Jesus’ name, we declare our prayer heard and fulfilled. AMEN.

· Greatness tracks & connects with history-making.
· Greatness does not conform to this world. History makers do not conform to this world.
· All history makers make a choice!
· Greatness = Service, serving God by serving others.
· Greatness is available to everyone. Everyone can be great.
· Greatness is a choice! I can choose to be great. Greatness makes a choice not to be conformed to this world.
· Today’s time of great crisis call for the choice of greatness. Am I responding to the call?
· It’s my time! I am here for such a time as this! I don’t have to conform to my surroundings, circumstances.
· What is my big idea/bold thought?
· Greatness is available! Greatness comes through God.
Sermon In Action
Affirmations: I AM A HISTORY MAKER!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: This week, reflect on choices you have made regarding your career, family, relationships, and church since the COVID 19 pandemic. What has been your response to God’s call of greatness during that time?

Testify: Tell at least one person about a time you bucked the crowd, went against the prevailing wisdom and made a choice that resulted in a far better outcome than you expected. Be sure to tell them the part God played in your decision making.

Creative Application: Learn more this week about a Black history maker. Research their life story, including what was happening in the world during their lifetime.

Prayer of Gratitude: God Great God, you are greatly to be praised! Thank you for this moment. Thank you for your grace and your ever-renewing mercy that gives us hope and a future. We appreciate your message and your messenger. Help us to be still long enough to hear your voice and your call to greatness, and not be distracted by the noise of the times we live in. Today we make a choice! We will be great! We will serve you, God, by serving others. We love you; we praise you; we give your name all the glory and all the honor. God, you are great and you do great things. In the mighty name of Jesus, we count this prayer heard and received. AMEN.

· There is greatness in all of us!
· Greatness advances & moves the human condition forward.
· Everybody can be great! Greatness is about service, helping, sacrifice.
· More greatness = more advancement of the human condition.
· I can be great!
· For greatness to occur I have to follow God, step up & step up.
· Don’t be conformed, comfortable, compliant to this world.
· God put greatness in me! Believe it!
· Greatness is unconventional, inconvenient, uncomfortable, uncommon, exceptional, out of the ordinary.
· How much has God placed in me?
· The size of a seed is not an indication of how much is in it or in me.
· Challenge: I need God’s help!
· Transformation is a God created process. I must submit to the process, be willing to do what I have not done.
· Greatness requires struggle!
· How much has God put in me? Don’t waste it! Don’t give up!
· I can be transformed!

Sermon In Action
Affirmations: THERE IS GREATNESS IN ME!

Reflect and Apply Scripture: This week, think about the call of God. Where has God called you to go? What is God calling you to do?

Testify: Tell at least one person about a time when you accomplished something that you initially believed you could not do. Be sure to let them know how God transformed you in the process.

Creative Application: Gather a few seeds this week. Consider their size in relation to what those seeds produce.

Prayer of Gratitude: Precious Lord, thank you for this moment. Thank you for your grace and your mercy that provides us with hope. We are grateful today for the seed that is your word. May we plant that word deep in the ground of our heart and be transformed. Greatness is in us! We receive it, we believe it, and with God’s help, we will achieve it. All praise, all honor, and all glory belong to God. In Jesus’ name, we are confident our prayer has been heard and accomplished. AMEN.

YOUTH SUNDAY

RESURRECTION SUNDAY – THE AGENDA OF HEAVEN

PALM SUNDAY

A GROWTH EXPERIENCE

A GROWTH EXPERIENCE

YOUTH SUNDAY

A LOVE THAT IS STEADFAST

GREATNESS

GREATNESS

Proverbs 3:6

…in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.