Let us go to God in prayer.
Great is Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this morning.
For you didn't have to wake us up.
You didn't have to stop the storm at our corner.
You didn't have to do many things, but you did anyhow.
Lord, we thank you for sending your Son Jesus.
We thank you, Lord, for sending Him and allowing Him to take on the sins of the world
so that we might be saved.
Lord, we thank you for the gifts and the graces that come with this new morning,
this new blessing, and this new covenant with Jesus Christ.
What a blessing it is.
Lord, move me behind the cross that the words that I say may be words that are pleasing unto you.
Lord, let this sermon be a sermon that helps us in the way that we need to be helped.
For you know our hearts and our minds personally.
Lord, let this seed be planted that we may continue to see your grace in the lives of this church,
this community, this world.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Usher, thank you for your service this morning.
Choir, thank you for your blessing.
Ms. Marietta, glad the fingers are working and Arthur is not doing what Arthur does.
Thank you, Ms. Allen, for being the late speaker of the hour
and for the ushers and the communion stewards and all that will assist
as we do communion later on. It truly is a blessing.
And thank you for all those that were here throughout the week behind the scenes,
Ms. Patterson, Mr. Seedum, trustees, all those who have helped
to make sure everything was in place for this man.
And then I am truly grateful for an exciting week in the Lord.
Last Sunday was Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday morning.
We had an opportunity to not only be blessed by the Lord once,
but be blessed by the Lord twice.
And it was truly one of those kind of things where you look up and you say, wow.
And then throughout the week I was in and out of Houston twice, actually three times.
And it's not often that I go to Houston that many times, but I went for a conference
and I will say to you that I had a chance to be in the presence
of some great theological individuals that truly are a blessing to me.
I saw two bishops this week.
The first woman bishop in the Texas Annual Conference, I heard her give a word.
She gave a word about going out in this community.
I don't know how many times she said it in that speech and direction to preachers,
but she said, don't wait for the denomination.
You need to get out in your community.
And you know I'm an acronym kind of person, and if you spell the word get
and then you put the word out, put those two first letters together,
it just simply says go.
Amen.
So I got the first mandate in the proclamation early in the week to just go.
Then I had a chance to hear various preachers and teachers at the E-Church,
which is a conference that's on excellence.
Robert Shuler was on the panel that I heard.
Kirby John Caldwell was on the panel.
And two or three other people were on the panel.
And their mandate again was get moving.
But I met a young man at that conference as I was sharing with someone
where I was located now as a preacher.
And they said, go see this young man.
Him and his wife are from Futter.
His name is George Johnson, Jr.
Some have mentioned to me, oh, he was a classmate of mine,
and he was a very interesting young man, and we didn't know where he was.
But he's in Houston, Texas, and he's a developer,
and he builds great buildings in Houston, Texas.
He said to me, he said, we need to talk.
That's my hometown.
He said, if there's anything that my wife and I can do, we're ready to do.
So in other words, another statement of proclamation for go.
Then last night I had a chance to hear the first woman Hispanic bishop
in the United Methodist Church share her testimony,
and she hung on these words about the reign of God being massed.
In other words, she said another proclamation of go.
Go forth and be the church.
Go forth and be the people of God.
Go forth and know that we are called to serve and be great people.
So on this first Sunday, our confirmation students served
with the feeding ministry yesterday.
Another part of our youth were in Houston for late-sleeping school,
getting certified to bring forth the Word and do great things with this church.
And then all in all, I saw people working together all week long
under the heading called go.
And you may say, why is that important?
Because all during Lenten prayer service, we kept preaching and teaching
and proclaiming that miracles were coming.
Miracles were right in front of our face.
Miracles were happening everywhere around us.
The number of people that were served yesterday, that's a miracle.
The people who called in and were able to get the food
and things that they need, that's a miracle.
As I left the parking lot with four students,
two female, two males, and three leaders,
seven of us stood in a parking lot at Sandra Center Mall.
I didn't know where the mall was, but I kept being told it's right off of I-10.
I said, I-10 is pretty long, and usually when I get on the freeway,
I have a 30-30-31.
I have 30 minutes in Houston, 30 minutes on I-10,
and 30 minutes from Winnie to here.
Anything else that's in between, I really don't know what's there,
because I do a 30-30-30.
They kept saying it's right there on I-10.
You had to have seen it.
I said, I set the car, and it just goes 30-30-30.
Well, I got off the freeway because I found where it was,
and they kept saying, you'll see us flicking our lights.
Well, there we were.
And these students had received the mandate to go.
They had been touched by a relationship they didn't expect to be touched by.
They had met students from all around the United Methodist Churches.
They had connected with some people who were becoming lay speakers
in their school and their churches, and they connected with people
and immediately understood that they needed to go.
The excitement was high.
We were standing in the parking lot,
and even the security guards rolled around a couple times,
because here were seven African-American people standing in a parking lot,
holding hands and professing who God is.
Maybe you don't understand that, but those kids could have been anywhere.
Angela Malvo didn't have to go with them,
because all of those weren't her own children.
But she said, I was so proud of our children,
and the message that they brought forth that it stopped people from going.
Our children have a testimony by the grace of God,
and they need to be able to tell it right here.
They need to be able to profess the love of Jesus Christ
and be all who God is calling them to be.
That's a miracle.
When we left, they went one way, and we went another way, I'm sure.
We got to the traffic light, and I was so excited.
I was saying to God, did you see their energy?
And of course, we did.
And many of you have heard me speak about red lights in Houston, Texas.
I've been at many of them, and it's my light to go,
and their light to stop, and they just keep right on going.
And I said to God, oh, my God, right then and there, we could have been a cashless.
But because of the proclamation of Jesus Christ
and because of the protection of the Lord we love
and because of situations we were held at that corner,
I said thanks be to God,
because whatever it is that you have getting ready to happen through these children,
help me help them.
Help us to make that goal statement real.
So you see, this was the commercial for the sermon today,
because the sermon today is called Open the Box.
Open the box, because the tomb is already there.
Open the box of gifts that God has in each and every one of our hearts
to be all that He's calling us to be.
Have any of you watched late night TV?
And it's a guy that comes on and he always has the top ten,
and they're really crazy, top ten.
You ever see it? He counts them down.
Ten this and ten that.
And we're going to treat this passage as a countdown
to we're opening the box. Amen?
I'm not going to go line by line,
but I want you to write it down somewhere on your podium,
because when you get back home,
this passage from John is so important to us,
because Jesus was speaking to His disciples,
and the language that He was having was He was speaking to a group of people
who were behind closed doors.
They had escaped to a quiet place behind closed doors out of fear.
They knew Jesus was there,
and they also understood the governmental moment of that day.
They knew the seeds that they were under,
but they were fearful of how they would walk out their call.
And they were behind closed doors,
and you see they needed the peace of God because they had fear.
Anybody ever hear them fear?
Some of us have and some of us want to live it.
So I'm not fear.
God didn't give me a spirit of fear, and I fear nothing.
And I need to be just as shaken.
The news reporters say the most fearful thing that people have
is not seeing other people or connecting with other people,
but they fear public speaking.
So to know that we have four students that are on their way to become
certified lay speakers that can come before anybody at any time,
be able to say, I love the Lord with all my heart.
So these disciples had fear that those children did not have.
They were fearful because they had not come to the recollection
that Jesus Christ had given.
So the first topic in verse 19, I say to you,
the proclamation of God is get free from fear.
By any means necessary in the name of Jesus.
Get free.
And when you get free of fear and you done prayed it out
and you done laid it out and you done asked God to remove it,
gain the peace of God.
Verse 19 tells us about the peace of God.
Then there's the number nine.
Many of you have heard the doubting Thomas story.
Thomas didn't believe who Jesus was.
And he simply says, until he shows me the marks in his hand
and the pierce in his thigh,
y'all can tell me he rose and I'm not even going to see that.
So number nine says Jesus shows that he is the one who was on the cross.
That's verse one.
He shows it to us and it provides not a blame game
but an opportunity for Thomas to confess.
To say, wow, forgive me for not some reason.
Let me receive this house.
And then the number eight is that the disciples are commissioned
and sent forth, get out of your field.
I've shown you who I am.
Now go forth and be who I've called you to be.
So the second call for peace comes.
Anybody need peace?
All you have to do is call me.
To God be the glory and let me have your peace.
That's in verse 21.
And then, circle vase 22, highlight it in your Bible,
get to the point where you can actually look at that and say,
that's deep.
That's deep.
Verse 22 simply says, then he said to Peter,
put your finger here, see my hand.
Reach out, that's 27, I'm sorry.
Let me go back up to 22, jumping down, getting ahead of me.
22 simply says, and with this he breathed on them and said,
receive the Holy Spirit.
Why is that important in our Christian journey?
Because in true reality, the commentaries that I read,
they mentioned the fact that until the Holy Spirit has been
breathed upon you, you will struggle with fulfilling the
statement of going.
You will have trouble with forgiving people.
You will have trouble receiving and accepting the peace of God.
You will be challenged in your Christian journey more than ever
because you have yet to be breathed on by the Holy Spirit.
And that's not to say everybody's breathing experience needs to be
the same.
Some of us are slain in the Spirit.
Some of us the Spirit just comes upon us,
it's like a new twinkling kind of thing.
And some of us say, I don't know what just happened.
That's something that came over me and I really can't explain it.
I'll get back with you when I can articulate it.
And then some of us are like our grandmothers and our
grandfathers and our big aunties and our little aunties,
but they just come and say, don't talk to me like that.
I'm going off in my spirit, deep down in my soul.
So it's important for us not to get hung up on what it looks like
or the process, but the reality is that in our Christian journey
to mature and go where God says don't,
the breathing of the Holy Spirit needs to occur in our lives.
And no sooner than we receive it, we have the power,
and that's number six, to forgive others and to be forgiven.
During the Lenten time, we had a community prayer time
and we talked about what is hovering over Port Austin.
And it was said to me that it was a little of this and a little of that,
and when I went to my prayer crisis, God said to me,
there's a spirit of unforgiveness.
We forgive, but we put conditions.
And that's not what I call my children of the Most High God to do.
I call them into forgiving and reconciliation relationships,
not relationships that say, look, I'm taking my toys home.
I ain't going to get along with you because I got one agenda,
you got another agenda, and when we get together on the agenda, okay, then fine.
But I'm over here on this point and you are, we are a body of Christ.
During this Easter season, a man walked past this church on Good Friday, carrying a cross.
A group of people came into this community yesterday,
evangelizing door to door, telling us, do you know Jesus?
I'd never seen the man, but you know, that's nothing for me.
I ain't been here that long.
But it was real obvious he didn't live here.
Y'all will catch that later.
But I can bet my last nickel he didn't live in this little neighborhood.
But he was knocking on the door, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, let me tell you about Jesus, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, let me tell you about Jesus.
Forgive others and be forgiven.
Each of us are worthy to accept the forgiveness we make.
Some of us say that you don't know what I did to him.
You don't know how bad I was.
I can't accept the forgiveness because I'm just here.
We came today to have Holy Communion to help you get off your cross so you can receive the blessing that Jesus Christ has for you.
You can give yourself permission to say today is a new day.
Today is a new covenant.
Today I receive the forgiveness in the name of Jesus.
This is my day, right now.
Some of us have unforgiveness that's so old it's turning color.
I don't know who you are, but there's a freedom that comes in Christ Jesus when you just say it's old.
Loosen and let it go.
Because guess what?
The forgiveness is the benefit for our relationship with Jesus Christ.
It restores us.
It puts us back into the right relationship with Jesus Christ.
I don't want somebody holding on to my joy.
I don't want somebody keeping me hostage and they'd have been forgotten.
The freedom, the benefit of receiving the peace of God is knowing that you forgive and give yourself permission to be forgiven.
Number five says we see Jesus and he shares the moment with those that are missing.
That's verse 24 and 25.
That's an important verse because guess what?
All of us didn't get to see Jesus at that moment.
But in those verses it's teaching us that even though we didn't physically see him,
but you see the Holy Spirit in each and every other.
You see what he's doing through Jesus Christ.
You see what salvation is doing in our lives.
So you can see the presence of what God does and still believe.
Seeing is believing.
But once you believe, it's good to move from believing to knowing.
When you know that you know that you know that you know that Jesus Christ is your Savior.
When you know that you know that you know that he has saved your soul.
When you know that you know that you know, you're forgiven.
That's a declaration that says I'll go and tell somebody else.
Couldn't keep it to myself.
I had to tell him.
Number four simply says declare the experience and remove the doubt.
Read verses 25 through 26 and then again, peace comes up for the third time.
But this time it talks about experiencing it for yourself.
Experiencing it for yourself.
He simply says a week later his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them
and though the doors were locked, Jesus came through and stood among them and simply said,
Jesus, Jesus.
Now I don't know about you but just reading that shook me up.
I'm like okay, all the doors are locked and see what you all may not understand about I'm a child of a cop.
Cop kids lock everything.
They lock the doors, the cabinets, the cabinets, cabinets.
I mean whatever we have that's open is a miracle in the name of Jesus.
I said it on the other day, we locked them and he said, baby, let it go.
But can you imagine all the doors locked, all the windows locked and Jesus just said,
Jesus, please be with Jesus.
I'd fall down on my face for that just on TV.
Oh, have mercy.
Experience the peace of God.
Know that he has it for you.
Number two, as we're counting down, is the blessing of Jesus where he was seen on the Mount.
Read verses 29 and 30.
That was the second commercial but he is the part of the Mount.
Verse 31 says, verse 30 and 31 says,
Jesus did many other miraculous things in the presence of his disciples,
which are not recorded in this book.
But, whenever there's a but in scripture, you want to understand what the but is there for.
But it says, but these are written that you, I, we, your cousin, mama's cousin,
your friends, your extended friends, all of us have the opportunity that they may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life, not in somebody else's name,
but in his name and his name is Jesus Christ.
So on this, the first Sunday of April, the top ten are for all of us.
But if you don't remember any of them, remember number one, in spite of it all, in spite of it all,
believe that Jesus is part of the body, giving you the gift of salvation,
the gift of peace, the gift of hope, the gift of life, the gift of everlasting life,
the gift of saving grace, the gift of love, the gift of mercy,
the gift of forgiveness, and the breath of the Holy Spirit.
The doors of the church are open. Will you stand as we sing our hymn this morning?