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Sunday Morning Worship Service | Pastor McCool

First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)

Transcript of a published sermon by Mark McCool, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.

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Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The text: I must be about my Father's business (Luke 2)

  • A reader brings the text at his direction: after three days they found the child Jesus in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, and to his mother's sorrowful question he answered, how is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business; the preacher also reads how they lost him — supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance, found him not, and turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him.
  • His subject: prioritizing the essentials. People lose Jesus by supposition — supposing someone else will do the praying, the fasting, the Bible reading, the witnessing — and find he is gone and they did not know it; Christ in you, the hope of glory, must be kept for yourself.
  • The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost dwelleth with you and shall be in you: I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you — don't lose Jesus in your marriage, your business, your holidays or your distresses.

Scriptures: Luke 2:43-50; Colossians 1:27; John 14:17-18

The musts of Jesus (Judges; Matthew; John 4)

  • The saddest loss in Scripture: Samson awoke and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself — and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But if you have lost him you can find him where he was: they went back to Jerusalem, back to the house of God, and found him in the temple.
  • He tells of losing his own four-year-old son in a department store and finding him hiding under the clothes racks — the horror of losing a child pictures what Mary felt, and the scolding that followed; the child Jesus already knew his essential: I must be about my Father's business.
  • Jesus named his own musts: he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day — and he rebuked Peter for standing against the essential; and he must needs go through Samaria, because a woman at the well needed the testimony of life-giving water.
  • Worship itself is a must, in many forms: the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him; God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Scriptures: Judges 16:20; Matthew 16:21; John 4:4; John 4:23-24

The essential of salvation (Acts; Hebrews; Mark)

  • Peter, called into question for a healing, did not stop at healing: neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved — the only saving name is the name of Jesus Christ.
  • The progression of the essentials: without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is; and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved — believing is the first prerequisite, but it does not stop there.
  • When Peter stood in the second chapter of Acts and the hearers were pricked in their hearts and asked, men and brethren, what shall we do, he answered: repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost — that is the legacy, and that is what is essential.
  • The close: repent of unrepentant sin at the altar, be baptized in the saving name, receive the gift — and reprioritize whatever has waned, thanking the Lord for the essentials.

Scriptures: Acts 4:12; Hebrews 11:6; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-38

Scripture index: Luke 2:43-50; Colossians 1:27; John 14:17-18; Judges 16:20; Matthew 16:21; John 4:4; John 4:23-24; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 11:6; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-38.

Transcript

Lord bless you I'm going to let you move to your seats greetings and welcome to First Apostolic Church what a privilege it is to see every one of you back here in the house of the Lord on this Sunday morning I'm blessed beyond measure to be with this church family and I'm so full and and blessed with the blessings of God I have to just say I am so glad to have Brother Richard and sister Darlene Huffman back in the house of the Lord sister Darlene we've been praying for you she's fighting the good fight over cancer and she's winning hallelujah we're taking that step by faith we're believing the Lord and we're still praying for you sister Darlene and we have so many friends and guests who are joining us here today brother Terry Williams I'd like for you to be making your way on up to the platform I want to tell you a little bit about somebody we have dear friends that we meet around the country in our lifetime one such church family was a covenant Apostolic church family where Bishop Joe David Sizemore was the pastor for many years till he went on to be with the Lord and that was the second Revival that my Mom and Dad held after they were married they went to Covenant Apostolic and had Revival with brother and sister Sizemore and through the years the Sizemore family were so dear and so special to us we would see them at camp meetings and conferences they were a icons and fixtures at the Ohio District camp meeting bishop and brother Sizemore preached so many camp meetings together and these are dear friends and through the years we developed so many friends and fellowship with our church families and I got a call here a while back and found out that one of my friends from the I'll call it the old Covenant Church because they've done a lot of things building new Sanctuary bunch of stuff going on but brother Terry Williams got in touch with me and his family had plans to come and be in Knoxville and I'm not going to give you testimony because if I did then you would have it but just suffice to say God is still doing a work in his life and we're so honored to have brother Williams with us today I asked him to give his testimony to you and greet you today would you welcome brother Terry Williams in the lower thank you and God bless everyone [Applause] I hope I can get through this without crying well we know everybody had a good day yesterday the volunteers wanted the Buckeyes one but uh it's been many many years as a matter of fact this McCool family is part of my family foreign of 19 61 brother Billy and sister Betty McCool came and preached a Revival at our church which was then called the Carthage Apostolic church I think it was not only a Revival but it may have been the dedication of the building that was built in 1960 and brother Sizemore wanted to have the dedication when flowers were blooming and tree so he waited till April every April is when we had our anniversary services brother McCool you were 24 years old dead and I was eight eight years old and now believe you're 86. just had a birthday August the 26th correct I just had a birthday August the 30th turned 70 years old that's a lot of years but uh I received the Holy Ghost through that week we had you know back then we had Services every night of the week except Monday night and my dad worked second shift so he said wait wait wait you can't be baptized till Saturday night you got to be there so Saturday night I got baptized in Jesus name 1961. and then we had service on Sunday morning and Sunday night again we did it all in Afghani I will never forget that week sister McCool I thought you were so beautiful and you still are today but more than your beauty is the Holy Ghost she's one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met I'm not saying that because I'm here in Knoxville I'm saying it because it's the truth over the years as brother McCool Mark McCool said the sizemores and the mccools became best friends best friends and I know why because there's I don't know there might be there might be somebody better than Billy and Betty were cool but I don't know him foreign I determined in my heart to follow Joe David Sizemore and Billy McCool and Jackie Sizemore and Betty McCool as they followed the Lord I'm like those are pretty good people eight-year-old kid could figure that out when every time they preached the Holy Ghost fell [Music] my daughter Tiffany is here today she was baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost at age five my son Aaron is here today he was filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus name at age six they say they serve the Lord today with their spouses Jessica Jared and Jared and their children and they're all here today [Music] this summer we had an outdoor Crusade and I wasn't able to go because see I plan on coming here on the 60th anniversary that was in 1920 at 2021 but I had knee replacement surgery and they bumped it back so I couldn't come in April then I planned on coming in April of 22 but I came down with stage four kidney cancer in March you're only seeing half of me I've lost 90 pounds but during that Crusade my three grandsons Stand Up Guys Peyton Preston Brody all receive the holy ghost at the same time [Music] before the service ever got started good they received the Holy Ghost and I appreciate that and I baptized two of them and the other one's about to get baptized the Legacy continues brother McCool these 61 years and Beyond [Music] you got a big family over there to take care of they're all your spiritual children you got some more mouths to feed brother [Music] the Lord spoke to me a while back and gave me this thought don't squander your legacy don't squander your legacy and I've talked to many people about the mccools and about the size Wars and a lot of them aren't in church anymore and they said you know Joe David Sizemore greatest teacher I know Billy McCool who had an example and I'm thinking yeah but why aren't you following that example why are you squandering that Legacy you know back in the day where he had them camp meetings at Ohio brother Mark that was the greatest days of my life they'll tell me oh yeah that conferences those youth conferences brother Mark and I were State youth directors for the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ at the same time that's right those were great times awesome times you know what they tell me when I went to the Christian school and you were my teacher that was the best days of my life well let me tell you something it wasn't the conferences that made it that way it wasn't Terry Williams that made it that way it wasn't the old camp meeting and the Old Brick Tabernacle up in Ohio that made it that way it was a spirit of God it was the Holy Ghost Power and you know what it's still here today that you can you can have those old days back all you got to do is give your heart to God give it back to God don't squander your legacy my God doesn't take a rocket sorry it's to figure that out don't squander your legacy yes in my mind I'm screaming out you can have those times again it was The Fellowship of the Holy Ghost it was The Fellowship of God's people that made those days special not the buildings not the camp meeting not the conference not the pews [Music] you can have those days today anybody listening to me and you've squandered your legacy you can have it back you can have it back he's the same God yesterday today and forever [Applause] bishop and sister McCool I just want to say thank you from my heart for allowing me for you [Music] I'm not squandering my legacy because it's sitting right there and brother's eyes more I'm telling you right now Joe David size or Billy McCool I don't know where you can find two better preachers I don't know where you can find them and you know what if you've squandered your legacy and you're listening to me there's a church here in Knoxville Tennessee that keeps the robe clean they keep the robe clean there's a church here in Knoxville Tennessee that keep the shoes polished and they keep the ring shining and they keep the calf fat there ain't no skinny calf in this church he said the father said bring forth the fatted calf we don't want no skinny calf when the prodigal comes home we don't want no tarnish to ring we don't want no shabby shoes we don't want a robe with spots and wrinkles in it But First Apostolic Church you guys out here are keeping that [Music] get a bunch of rings ready get a bunch of robes ready get a bunch of fatted calves ready we're about to have a reunion Revival across this country where people are gonna wake up and say I can't squander my legacy anymore [Applause] The Prodigal is coming home and I know this church is looking out for him they said the father was way out there he was looking out for him and I know this church is looking for the prodigal son to come home I love you guys brother McCool I love you dearly I love you I love you my friend thank you thank you I love you would you stand with us don't squander your legacy in case you didn't know Holy Ghost is trying to confirm some things I said in case you didn't know the Holy Ghost is trying to confirm some things you already heard Bishop's title for his message tonight by the way did I tell you Bishop's going to preach tonight [Music] we haven't heard of him on Sunday night in a while it's well overdue so I want to make sure I'm in tune with what the word would have us to hear today and what God would have us to know someone reads you a verse of scripture and give you my title Luke 2 46 States and came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers and when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said to him son why hast thou dealt with us Behold thy father and I have sought The Sorrowing and he said unto them how is it that you sought me wished ye not that I must be about my father's business everyone say must I must be about my father's business and they understood not the saying which he spake unto them for a few moments this morning I would speak to you on this subject prioritizing the essentials prioritizing the essentials let's pray savior I love you Lord I Thank You for Your Mighty and sweet presence that we feel in this house right now Lord I Thank you for the testimony of a faithful Warrior as brother Williams who has reminded us again that we have a marvelous Legacy a marvelous heritage and savior we want to never forget that we have a task and a responsibility to our past to the present and yes to our future God now anoint my lips that I would speak as your mouthpiece we thank you for this opportunity in Jesus name we pray amen and amen Lord bless you you can be seated prioritizing the essentials there are some things that we want to do and there are some things that we don't want to do there are some things that we should do and yes there's some things that we shouldn't do there are some things that we can do and some things we can't do and there are some things we will do and there's some things we won't do but when it comes to prioritizing Essentials there are some things we must do there are some things that are essential that we must do that term must defined is to be obliged or obligated to express necessity as we review the passage of scripture that we read as a text we find a young 12 year old Jesus who had gone with his family to the every year Feast of the Passover and as they had journeyed there for the Feast of the Passover he is a 12 year old young man was there in the city of Jerusalem and the Bible says we can paraphrase from Luke 2 about verse 40. the Bible talks that he grew in in spirit and in and and he was filled with all wisdom of God and he began moving around as a 12 year old would do in the city and they were there for the customs of the feast and when it came time to go home something happened I'll read it verse 43 it said and when they had fulfilled the days as they returned the Child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew it not but they supposing him to have been in the company went a Day's Journey and they sought him among their kin folks and acquaintance and when they found him not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking them now think about it just a moment all you parents in the house how horrible it is to think of losing one of your children what a terrible thought a few times here at the church through the years we've had some parents thinking that the other parent had the Child leave a child sleeping on the Pew only to see them come rushing back into the parking lot so fearful and afraid that their child was going to wake up in horror or without Mom and Dad it's a horrible thing your mind's racing most terrible scenarios are going over your mind what could happen to your child there's a sense of great loss and irresponsibility can you imagine how Mary and Joseph felt to experienced after a Day's Journey that they had left their son Jesus behind how could this happen they had been entrusted with God robed in flesh and they've been so careless they've lost him Angels heralded his arrival Mary was highly favored because she would bear Jesus they have been entrusted with deity robed in flesh and now they've lost Jesus and some of us would maybe condemn them for their carelessness in fact nowadays somebody would have called DHS or Child Protective Services on Mary and Joseph but let me wonder aloud before we condemn Joseph and Mary too much I know a lot of folks who had Jesus living in them and they've lost him I know too many that have been acquainted with him and have been intimately serving him only to lose Jesus you see Colossians said Christ in you the hope of glory Saint John the 14th chapter told us that the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the father would send Jesus speaking even the spirit of Truth that the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye knoweth him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you he said I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you you see when you get the Holy Ghost the comforter inside you Jesus is in you Jesus is with you and I tell you today don't lose Jesus keep it a priority a must don't lose Jesus out of your life how did they lose Jesus well it said they supposed he was with the family they supposed he was with the group they lost Jesus by supposition or by assumption they just assumed Mama thought he was with Daddy and daddy thought he was with Mama Adam Clark commenting on Luke 2 44 that statement supposing him to have been in the company some have supposed that the men and the women marched in separate companies on many of these occasions which is very likely and that sometimes the children kept company with the men and sometimes with the women that might have led to what otherwise seems to be an inexcusable carelessness in Joseph and Mary Joseph not seen Jesus in the men's company might suppose he was with his mother in the women's company and Mary not seen him with her might imagine he was with Joseph this is the way I see a lot of folks lose Jesus by supposition they suppose that somebody else is taking care of praying they suppose someone else will do the fasting they suppose somebody else is reading their Bible they suppose that someone else is teaching their children they suppose that someone else is witnessing only to find out by supposition they've lost Jesus from their own life they suppose somebody else is taking care of it so I don't have to do it let me tell you you need to have Jesus in your life for yourself so don't suppose somebody else is going to do your praying for you Mama may be praying but you need to pray too Daddy may be fasted but you need to fast too don't let my supposition Jesus leave your life it's a must you must have him you see suddenly they've journeyed a Day's Journey and they begin looking for Jesus and they can't find him what's a Day's Journey did a little study the average U.S adult walks 2.5 to 3 miles per day the maximum adult can walk per day is much more than that an average adult can walk three to four miles per hour comfortably in a 24-hour period the numbers come out to that the average adult could actually walk some 96 miles I'm sure they didn't want quite that far but they had walked a Day's Journey the natural man can travel a long way just walking in one day but I submit to you some will be with Jesus on Sunday and by Monday afternoon they can find themselves walking a million miles away from his presence they walk away from the fellowship they walk away from all the blessings because they supposed that somebody else took care of the spiritual things it's a must that we do not lose Jesus from every facet of our life don't lose him in your marriage don't lose him while you're on vacation don't lose him during the holidays don't losing during the distresses of life don't lose Jesus because the cares of Life have distracted you don't lose him in your business don't lose him if you're a fan at a basketball game I've heard some say well man I just lost it it might be you didn't lose it you lost him don't tell me you lost your temp temper find Jesus don't lose control find Jesus don't lose your morals find Jesus the saddest situation one can find yourself in is to one walked with him and had his Spirit living in you and lose him and you don't even know he's gone you can read the story and judges again I will paraphrase rather than reading it all but when Samson Finally Revealed the source of his strength the Bible says that he told his heart to Delilah and when she cut the locks of his head that signified his strength and was the source of his strength when she awakened him and said the Philistines be upon thee one of the saddest scriptures you can read it says and he awoke out of his sleep Genesis 16 20 and said I will go out as at other times and Shake himself and he wished not that the Lord was departed from him how horrible to have forgot the essentials the musts and not prioritize keeping the savior in your life and suddenly find yourself awaking and in Peril and in need realizing that the spirit of the Lord is no longer there don't lose him from your life you see I've got good news for you however if you're in this house today and you've lost him you can find him again but you got to go looking in the right place it said they lost him and the first thing they did they went seeking him among the kin folks and the acquaintances I've got news for you your family's not where you're going to find Jesus your friends isn't where you're going to find Jesus you need to go back where he was they went back to Jerusalem and they went back to church they went back to the synagogue let me tell you you're going to lose Jesus if you don't stay in church and if you've lost him you need to get back to church this is the house of God don't tell me you can stop coming to church and keep Jesus in your life I'm talking about prioritizing the essentials it said when they looked among the kin folks and the acquaintance they found him not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him and it came to pass it after three days they found him in the temple they went back to church they found where Jesus was but you see this takes us to the crutched of the matter for my title again is prioritizing the essentials when they found Jesus Mama scolded him a little bit Now understand he was flesh as well as God manifest in flesh and he was subject to his parents in flesh you know all of us parents know when we experience those situations at times when our children were in Peril we were worried about them we thought they were lost and you're praying oh God if I can just find them I'm going to hug them and love them until you find them then you have to pray that I'm going to beat him to death no I didn't plan on telling this but I've got to many years ago your own Pastor Anthony the one that's always got it together he was just a little old thing and we took him into a department store great big department store and he was with Mama and all of a sudden Jamie said where is Anthony where is Anthony and I mean just like that he was gone he had disappeared well immediately all those bad scenarios that I were I was telling you about earlier I rushed rushed to the front of the store to the the manager I said sir my four-year-old son has disappeared we can't find he was there and he's gone what's his name sir his name is Anthony employees start walking through the the store Anthony I'm standing at the front door watching everybody that goes out we'll make sure nobody's got my son I mean we're horrified Mama's looking Anthony Anthony Anthony and then out of the far corner of the building I heard his distressed cry but I realized it wasn't because a stranger had found him Mama had found him and what mama had found was looking up looking under one of those rounders of clothes she had looked down there were two little feasts and they're hiding and when she pulled the curb back he said sometimes that horror turns into anger Mary was like why have you done this to me and your father why have you kept us worried why have you kept us nerfed and Jesus said this it's not that I must be about my father's business you see Jesus had the Insight already as a 12 year old to know there was an essential priority I've got to tell folks about what's coming I've got to be the witness let me tell you there's some Essentials there's some things we got to teach our kids you said it brother Williams we can't squander our legacy and our heritage this Apostolic message the message of Holiness the message of separation from the world we can't squander it hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah Jesus was the best he was the ultimate example at prioritizing Essentials in Matthew 16 we read at verse 21 from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how he must go into Jerusalem and suffer man suffering don't sound like the kind of thing that you want to give in to must doing he said I must go to Jerusalem I must suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and Scribe and be killed and be raised again the third day he said I must do that I mean raising from the dead don't sound all that bad but the dying in front of it don't sound like fun at all but he said I must do it it's essential that I do it and notice Peter well-meaning a follower of Jesus then Peter took him and began to rebuke him Mama rebuked him when he tried to do the the he must do his father's business now Peter's rebuking him he said he said it's far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee Peter couldn't fathom what was a must but Jesus had already prioritized the essential he said I must go to Jerusalem I must suffer the things that I'll suffer at the hands of the chief Elders I must suffer I must die and be raised again to the point Jesus said Peter get thee behind me Satan he said you're speaking like Satan listen there's some things that we must do but let me pause here could I speak to my generation if we are careful there are some musts that we will send messages to our children we don't want them to have to suffer maybe this Holiness lifestyle is just too tough [Music] maybe this all-out commitment to church maybe that just needs to be a faction you know honey I understand if if you don't really want to be consistent going to church and being involved there's some other things of Mighty important in your life let me tell you there's some things that we cannot back up on the Holiness message the apostolic Jesus name message we cannot back up I will not back down I've got a legacy I've got to preserve there's got to be another generation that's strong that understands sacrifice say there's got to be a generation that understands sacrificial giving the Miracles that come when you give of your living when God has he's done two months for us I've got to know I've got to know what I must do Peter mean well tried to discourage him for from fulfilling the musts in his life and still another instance Peter would draw a sword and try to defend Jesus from arrest as the events that had to happen took place and Jesus again told him in Matthew 26 52 he said put up your sword those that live by the sword we'll die by the sword I'm paraphrasing do you not pray that 12 Legions of angels could come down and Rescue Me in verse 54 he's Jesus said this but how then shall the scripture be fulfilled that thus it must be Jesus flesh knew that he could at a moment call down Legions of angels to free him from the bondage but he said I've got a priority to fulfill the essential that I must suffer I must die I will be born or resurrected again still another time Jesus used the statement must over in John the fourth chapter the fourth verse he said I must needs go through Samaria now if we took the time to look at all that Samaria wasn't a great place to go there was a lot of disbelief there Jesus didn't need in most folks instance or eyes didn't think he needed to go to Samaria he he had been in in Judea and he had departed under the Galilee but he said I must needs go through Samaria you know why because there was a woman at the well in Samaria that needed a testimony there was a woman at the well that needed the testimony of life-giving water listen folks there are some things that we must go through we're not even going to understand it but God may be opening the door for you to testify in your dire situation you may go through something there's some things that I don't understand why good people go through bad situations it's not that God is punishing them but there's some folks that go through very difficult situations but I know God's will is sovereign and I know whatever I must go through he's going through it with me and there's a purpose for it it may be making me a witness there may be a hungry woman at the well that needs to hear the Salvation message for some of the things that I go through so you see we will have some musts in our lives and I hasten toward a close for we are supposed to be worshipers in the kingdom of God but let me maybe pop a few of our balloons and discourage some of our preconceived ideas did you know there are many many different ways to Worship the Lord some of us sometimes we can get hung up on that if somebody doesn't worship the way I worship they're not really worshiping properly now stay with me I I'll take my Evangelistic hat off and be pastoral and teach just a minute that's some folk Holy Ghost get a hold of him they'll take off running just as hard as they can run but everybody don't run there's some folks they'll dance some folks they'll scream some folks will throw their hands up some folks their hands will get about that high well I worship this high and you only did that hey you worship your way let me worship my way okay now the flip side of that is you're going to worship some way you got to worship some way David was too vehement in all of his declarations everybody Gonna Worship some way whatever it is it may be this high or that high somebody may get laid out in the floor somebody may run somebody May scream somebody May laugh somebody May dance but you're gonna find some way to worship God God is Not worshiped [Applause] by just emotionalism but we are creatures of emotion and that's what we will use to worship now I guess one of the greatest measuring sticks you can have if you got more excited yesterday than you are today what are you worshiping oh I just can't get emotional in church but let somebody pull out in front of you in a [Applause] you had an emotion that was called anger and hope to God Siri didn't understand what you were saying inside your car let me tell you if you get more excited about anything else and then try to lay it off on oh I'm just being revered no God's looking for some praisers however you can praise however you can worship you better be a worshiper some way somehow I all right many years ago we had a gospel singing over here next door and there was a sister started coming to the service and she had been born with only half an arm so they would sing songs about clap your hands lift your voice and you noticed her she only had one hand you know what she'd do she'd go said my God if if she can Worship the Lord that way I'm going to lift my hands I'm going to clap my hands I'm going to dance when I Wanna Dance I'll run if I need to run I'm going to find some way to Worship the Lord here's what John said but the hour cometh and now is when true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and Truth for the father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship Him must messed worship Him in spirit and in truth Let Me Tell You Folks that know the truth have a right to worship but you also have a responsibility to worship oh Hallelujah praise team get ready we're gonna we're gonna head to the house [Music] but let me tell you there's one other must that I would address today for we are not in a social club and we're not here to be just part of a denominal world Paul was called into question rather Peter was called into question for healing and they asked him the magistrates those in charge the powers that be said by what power do you heal he said by the name of Jesus Christ and he said by the way again I'm paraphrasing you can read it all in Acts the fourth chapter he didn't stop with healing he said let's talk about salvation he said neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we May could have the option of no whereby we must be saved let me tell you the only saving name is the name of Jesus Christ Buddha didn't die for your sins Krishna can't give you salvation let me tell you Jesus Christ is the saving name stand with me for you see it's just simple as this progression you got to believe Hebrews said it this way Hebrews 11 6 but without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is if you don't believe you've missed the first prerequisite you must be a believer to have salvation but it does not stop there for you see there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus he came to Jesus by night he was the first naked night you'll get that later Nikita demons came to Jesus by night he said Rabbi I know you're a teacher but he said for no man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him Jesus answered and said and barely realize unto you except a man be born again you cannot see the kingdom of God Nicodemus said unto him how can a man be born again when he's oh he didn't understand the analogy how can he enter the second time in his mother's womb and be born Jesus answered verily verily I said unto thee except a man be born of water and of spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven that which is born of flesh is flesh that which is born of spirit is Spirit Marvel not that I say and I said unto you you must we're talking about prioritizing the essentials you must be born again now if you study the English language there's a closely related word to must it's the imperative command shall you look up the definition there you'll find that shall indicate certain actions are mandatory now I mean that's that's Webster speaking now shall is the same as must it's mandatory it's not optional it's not May it's not could so I submit to you once you believe you must believe you must be born again of water and spirit what does that take us to well Mark 16 16 said he that believeth and baptized shall be saved he that believeth not shall be damned but you see when Peter stood up in Acts the second chapter see a bunch of y'all are already ahead of me you know where I'm going [Music] but just in case somebody hadn't heard it again it said now when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles men and brother what shall we do what is essential what should I prioritize as the mandatory what shall I do then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized some of you know be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission for the forgiving of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that's my legacy that's what's essential that's what I shall do [Applause] foreign it's just that easy it's just that simple and I tell everybody in this house if you've heard this message a thousand times but it's your first time here you must prioritize in your life the essential you need to repent of your sins this signifies that's suffering and the dying out of the flesh that Jesus talked about that he must do this is symbolic repentance is the the Bible says Godly sorrow worketh repentance this is asking for forgiveness telling God I'm sorry repentance is just that first step and then you must be baptized in the saving name the name of Jesus baptism being representative of and signifying the burial and when you come up out of the water you're rising to walk in newness of life and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that's the resurrecting power that we sing about that we talk about that we experience it's just that easy it's just that simple let me say everybody in this house we're going to gather around this altar in just a minute but I want to give anybody that has not yet repented of your sins I want to give you a head start I promise you if you'll come you won't come alone there'll be someone to support you and pray with you but if you have any unrepentant sin in your life forget about what anybody else in this place thinks you need to come to the Altar and say God forgive me I need to forgive that's the suffering that's the saying I I'm giving it up to you I'm doing what the Bible told me to do is there one is there anybody then here's what I want us to have happen I want every Holy Ghost Field believer that's in this house that you're excited about the must and the essentials but maybe something has waned a little bit and you're wanting to reprioritize you're wanting to recalibrate in your life I want to ask everybody to step out in the aisle make your way around the front for a season of prayer saying I want to thank you Lord I Want to Thank You Lord For The Essentials in my life I want to thank you for your blessings would you come on right now hallelujah hallelujah yeah yeah yeah yeah Hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] fire fires [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] right now baby [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah let me tell you First Apostolic church God is sending us a message from multiple Messengers that we must value where we come from we must be blessed by what we're experiencing right now but we need to keep working toward the future for more coming into the kingdom of God if you think we've done our last building I submit to you God's Gonna keep blessing if we'll keep doing our part Hallelujah I Proclaim it in Jesus name don't miss service tonight we begin with prayer time at six main service at 6 30. our Bishop is going to be preaching to us I'm going to help narrate the induction ceremonies with a multimedia presentation that I know you will enjoy and I want to say thank you for your blessing First Apostolic Church on your pastoral staff for allowing us the privilege of having so many wonderful opportunities it was a pleasure last week I I have to say a special thank you brother menzer and I don't know if my brother Daryl is here but they provided us a vehicle to make that Journey thank you so much we appreciate that I think they deserve a great big hand Lord bless you you can't come back if I don't let you go you're dismissed in Jesus snake shake hands and be friendly

Scripture references as spoken: Luke 2:43-50; Colossians 1:27; John 14:17-18; Judges 16:20; Matthew 16:21; John 4:4; John 4:23-24; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 11:6; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-38.