In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of spreading the gospel and sharing the message of Jesus with others. He emphasizes the commandment to go into all the world and preach the good news. The speaker also highlights the need to be led by the Holy Spirit and to look for open doors and opportunities to share the gospel. He uses the example of the apostle Paul, who used his citizenship to avoid a beating and continue spreading the gospel. The sermon concludes with a call to love one another and to reach out to people we don't know, reflecting God's love for all.

The book of Acts. So what have we been learning? It's the fifth book of the new testament written by the only gentile writer of a new testament book. He wrote two books Luke And acts and he was a physician who got converted in one of paul the apostle paul's missionary trips It's the history of the christian church from its beginning As they waited in an upper room about 120 of them They received the promise of the holy spirit that jesus had told them about before he died on the cross Resurrected from the dead and then ascended back into heaven supernaturally The church began and the message began to spread Very important as we've been studying it started in jerusalem, and the only converts were jewish The only preachers were jewish why because the apostles were all jewish So the roman empire thought that christianity was an offshoot of judaism some little cult or sect but then Cornelius an italian guy who was in the roman army as a centurion over a hundred people His whole household got converted during a visit by peter one of the apostles And now the gospel is spreading and the church is some Something no one ever imagined jews who hated the gentiles and called them dogs And gentiles who looked down on jews and anti-semitism as old as dirt And here they were together loving each other believing in the same jesus The promised messiah of judaism and the savior of the world for the gentiles Meeting together. This was unheard of unthinkable The apostle paul was a former persecutor of the church, but he was wondrously converted And now as we've been going through the book of acts i'm reviewing all that we've studied He is making missionary journeys. Why? He goes through turkey on his first trip Why to spread the gospel and to start churches? Why because jesus said go into all the world and preach the good news? It's a message you have to share. You can't be quiet. You're not supposed to circle the wagons He loves the whole world, but how will they be saved unless they believe? Because whoever believes and calls on the name of the lord shall be saved But how can they believe if they haven't heard? How can they hear unless someone speaks? How can someone speak unless they go? To where the people are to tell them? So paul is fulfilling that his second missionary journey He ends up in greece and churches are founded in places like thessalonica and corinth and philippi Where we get our letters thessalonians? corinthians philippians He writes to them later on and they become part of the new testament Well now On his third missionary journey. He is heading back to jerusalem Where he's been forewarned by the holy spirit that he's going to face trouble and sure enough it happens Where we left off when we were last talking about this He goes to jerusalem and he goes in the temple to worship Even though he's worshiping different than the rest of them are worshiping Some jewish people from other parts of the roman empire where he has traveled spot him and they have no love for this guy Because he's preaching that they have missed the messiah That jesus was the promised one and that they the jewish people rejected him. This is not a message that makes them happy so They grab him and they're about to beat him to death and a riot breaks out They pull him outside the temple gates because they were very conscientious about these things They wanted to kill him but not in the temple. It wouldn't look good. So they pull him outside the gates They shut the gates, but then the roman army that is a fort right outside the temple So they keep an eye on things they run down because remember they're ruling everything Israel is part of the roman empire and they pay taxes to caesar and rome They come in and say wait a minute. You can't have riots here and they grab paul And save him from probably being killed Paul now says to the roman officer Let me speak to the crowd and he speaks in greek And the guy says you speak greek Because greek was the language of the roman empire at that time the universal language paul was very educated Spoke multiple languages. He said yes And then always looking for a chance to speak and testify about christ He starts to talk to the crowd and he speaks in aramaic or the jewish tongue and they got quiet when they realized this is Not some person who's not familiar with our ways and he gives his talk which we've been studying Imagine the emotion of it here. He's almost killed And now he's speaking to the crowd that try to kill him and the romans are just holding them and guarding them And he's speaking now to hundreds thousands And he tells them basically listen I i'm not here looking for trouble You can check who I am. I was raised here in jerusalem. I went to school here I sat under a famous rabbi by the name of gamaliel And I was a I was more Dedicated to judaism than any of you guys In fact, I was so dedicated. I was persecuting people who believed in this. Yeshua this jesus the messiah But one day on the road to damascus and syria where I was going to go and arrest more of them Because I was beating them down possibly killing them having them put in prison Breaking up families. This guy was just Making havoc of the church. He said on the road to damascus a light shined down at 12 noon Brighter than the sun and it knocked me off my mount and I heard a voice saying to me Saul saul, why are you persecuting me? And he I said to this voice This appearance who are you and he said i'm jesus whom you're persecuting And we learned by the way that when you persecute the church you're persecuting jesus However, you treat christians. That's how you're treating. Jesus. He identifies totally with the church notice saul Saul, why do you persecute me? Saul wasn't persecuting. Jesus. Jesus was in heaven. How do you persecute someone in heaven? No, he was persecuting the church, which is the body So when you talk nasty about a christian when you hurt a christian you're doing it to jesus That should make all of us get real cautious and kind. Let me say amen The way we treat one another And he said what what do you want me to do jesus lord? He said go into the damascus and i'll i'll send someone to tell you what to do And he's telling this to the people supernatural and they're listening. No one's breaking in And then he says now look you can check this out. There's a guy named ananias. He lives in damascus. Check him out He was a practicing jew, but he was a believer in yeshua And the the lord sent him to me and I had been blinded by the light and he prayed for me And I was I began to see and then I got up and I got baptized just like we're telling you He said get up and get be baptized. He told that to to paul ananias did So paul's telling this story like hey, what do you think i'm making this up? I'm trying to make money out of this I'm only here because I met him He changed my life. I realized I had been wrong. You know, it takes a real man a real woman to say i'm wrong We're good at telling other people they're wrong, but it it takes a lot of grace And humility to say you know what my whole life's been based on a lie This is the one so now we pick up his the rest of his message and the surprising reaction look I went back to jerusalem after this all happened He tells them and while I was praying in the temple right where he is standing right then I had a vision in which I saw the lord as he said to me hurry and leave jerusalem quickly Because the people here will not accept your witness about me Then paul tries to reason with them lord. I answered They know very well that I went to the synagogues and arrested and beat those who believe in you And when your witness stephen was put to death back earlier in the book of acts I myself was there Approving of his murder and taking care of the cloaks of his murderers the ones who stoned him Go the lord said to me for I will send you far away To the gentiles and the people listened to paul until he said this But then they started shouting at the top of their voices away with him kill him. He's not fit to live They were screaming waving their clothes and throwing dust up in the air, which was a sign of hatred and discontent And possibly the loosing of the garments was let's get ready to stone him The roman commander ordered his men to take paul into the fort and they told him to whip him in order to find out Why the jews were screaming like this against him and the word there for what was going to happen to him is called He was going to be scourged And what scourging was was torture by physical beating until you they could elicit what they wanted Many people didn't make it through the scourging they got they died during the beating to get the information And if you didn't die, you were certainly going to be maimed and scarred and disfigured for life Now this is what they were going to do to him notice the brutality of it all What are they screaming about scourge him and the way they scourge him was they made a post They tied you to the post they spread you out and then they started beating you to a pulp So let's look As they're about to do this, but when they had tied him up to be whipped paul said to the officer standing there Is it lawful for you to whip a roman citizen who hasn't even been tried for any crime? When the officer heard this he went to the commander and asked him what are you doing? The man is a roman citizen. They were not allowed to be beaten and you could only bring him to court if you had a charge So the commander went to paul and asked him tell me are you a roman citizen? Yes answered paul the commander said I became one by paying a large amount of money He bribed someone to become a roman citizen, but paul answered but I am one by birth At once the men who were going to question paul drew back from him And the commander was frightened when he realized that paul was a roman citizen and that he had put him in chains So what by the way, what do we learn here at the end that paul although he was punished and he suffered for christ He never was looking for it. And if he could get out of it legally he got out of it He wasn't a masochist. In other words. He's about to be beat, but he says yo Well, he didn't say it that way but he spent time in brooklyn so he said Is it right to beat a roman citizen And they went what you're a citizen. He said yeah They called the commander And then they realized we can't touch him like that because you weren't allowed to scourge You could scourge a jew you could scourge someone in some other any part of the roman empire But not a citizen citizenship was honored and he must have inherited it from his father the experts think So notice he didn't look for a beating. He didn't glory in suffering for christ But when he had to he suffered for christ, but he when he could calmly use his citizenship He did this twice in the book of acts. He would use that to say no treat me with a little more the dignity that I deserve So what do we learn here in this story? It's a fascinating story, isn't it? Why would luke be inspired by god to take so much time to tell this story about an arrest? And all this commotion and all this stuff that's going on and he claims he's a citizen and all these things are going on it takes up as as his message takes up a good part of Chapter 22. I want to add one more verse to this look at this verse The founding of the jewish people to abraham look at this The first words ever said to abram leave your country your relatives genesis 12 And your father's home and go to a land i'm going to show you notice First words ever spoken to the father of all the jewish people and to everyone who has faith The lord said to abram leave your country your relatives and your father's home and go to a land that i'm going to show you We learn here a couple things number one we learn that paul is presenting jesus christ In the best way that he can And as he's presenting this message, he does it fearlessly And the crowd is just like this, but then they get quiet And he tells them after my conversion I'm, just telling you straight up I went back to jerusalem the very place. He's standing right after I got converted and I was praying in the temple And the lord appeared to me and said don't stay here and witness They won't receive it And he reasoned with the lord lord how they're not going to believe me I was persecuting the christians. They know where I was trained. They know who gamaliel is my my rabbi teacher How will they not believe it but jesus said no get out of town They're not going to receive it which tells us an interesting thing Not all people are ready at all times to receive the gospel and you have to be sensitive When to talk and when to be quiet You got to know when to hold them when to fold them I don't think that's in the bible, but it's the same principle And when to walk away What it is is that? Some people are not in a position to hear the gospel That doesn't mean they're not going to hear the gospel. It's just not the right time for them They're adamant. They're closed and to give it to them is going to be non-productive. That's an interesting thought You can't witness to people mechanically. We have to share jesus led by the holy spirit. How many say amen? We got to look for an open door. See that's why paul prayed pray that god will open a door. What's an open door? It's an opportunity it's it's a chance to speak but you can't just run up to people Did you know that god loves you and has a plan for your life? We have to be led And now he's back in the very city where this happens And he's used his citizenship as we see later to take avoid a beating but let's just Bring this part out Did you notice the reaction of the crowd? when he said gentile Supernatural jesus a light at noontime. Yo, i'm i'm down for that A voice from heaven voices don't speak from heaven unless you believe in the supernatural. I'll listen to that You're knocked off your mount. You're blinded You're led into a town Now now you're talking about jesus who we know was crucified here. They're listening to all of that We'll give that a hearing we'll listen to it Ananias is sent for to come to where paul is blind and not eating for three days not drinking anything We're down for that, too so then When he says the magic word gentiles, which we'll get to in a second notice their reaction they go wild They start taking off their garments like who's going to stone them first And they start taking dust You know tearing the garments back in those days or taking the garments off and flinging them in the air The commentators are not sure whether it was to take off the garments to pick up stones to kill him Or whether it was just a sign of their fury And their hatred of him and what he was saying and taking dust and throwing it up in the air that happened one time to king David by a man named shimei who cursed him and threw dust up in the air as if to say Just get out of here. I can't stand you when people disagree with us The way we react or when they say something we don't like the way we react tells us Whose side the truth is on? It's the reaction that we have when someone rejects what we say Or they propagate a teaching that we don't agree with our reaction tells us If god is on our side because the apostles for the rest of the book of acts They're rejected. They're cursed. They're saying get out of here We don't believe this all kinds of things are said to them and they never get crazy not even one Like what do you mean? You don't believe in jesus Hey, you're gonna believe in jesus. You know what i'm saying? No, they never say that someone else preaches about some false god of the roman empire and bow down to caesar What are you talking about caesar? I don't believe in caesar. You're never gonna Never you never find that in the bible But when he preached something they didn't agree with They said kill him Which tells you what spirit they had? So how we react brothers and sisters ladies and gentlemen to people who disagree with us Will really tell a lot about our relationship with jesus I can't stand the phrase culture wars culture wars To me are ruining the name of christianity Because i'm around christians all the time as I travel in different parts of this country Who are not weeping over people who don't know jesus They're angry at people who don't know jesus And people who believe and and propose anti-biblical immorality all kinds of things and you know same-sex marriage and abortion and all these kinds of things that Politicians and leaders are proposing. We're we're to disagree with that But we're not to hate anybody Because by hating and reacting with anger we show that we've lost the spirit of god Because jesus said love your enemies Bless them that curse you pray for those who despitefully use you Am I correct in what i'm quoting here? But see their reaction shows you and other religions their reaction if you don't convert Which we all know about and the sad parts of christian history Is when the roman empire went from pagan to so-called christian when emperor constantine got saved Supposedly became converted in the early 300s and christianity moved to become The state religion of the roman empire it went from persecuting christians under the previous emperor diocletian And now constantine supposedly got converted and now if you're in the roman empire and you're a citizen Yo, you're gonna you're gonna you're a christian. What do you mean? You're not going to be a christian They would mass convert people. They would convert people by force They would take jewish people and baptize them against their will That's not the spirit of jesus The way we treat people who disagree tells us a lot about whether we really know the lord all in favor say aye so culture wars and fighting and the republicans and the democrats And the right wing and the left wing and tell me something who's it changing Tell me tell me who's is changing. The only way to change america is to change americans that follows How could america be different than americans? Do you want to change america then americans have to change? Well, how will you change an american? The only way anybody can be changed is by believing on the lord. Jesus christ and getting a new heart and a new mind No laws will change them. Nothing will change anybody the bible clearly tells us you must be born again So the way to change anybody any country any city any state is to spread the good news of jesus That's the power of god. I am not ashamed of the gospel of jesus Christ paul says for it the gospel is the power of god not laws not protests not marches Get people saved. Come on. Can we put our hands together? Let people know jesus as their savior And if they don't want to believe we treat them with respect And if they preach another message and they want to build a mosque or anything else we respect that right? Because we are believe we practice here plurality of religions in america not one religion We don't believe in forcing one religion because if we do and the wrong people get in charge They will ban christianity and then where will we be? so everyone worships according to the dictates of their conscience but their reaction so unlike the apostles who when they preached and were reviled never reviled back so that's a good lesson for all of us because sometimes people when they talk bad about Christ or something it gets you angry doesn't it come on how many honestly admit that I mean I get upset only about 5 others plus me alright but let's get to the crux of the whole matter tell us about the supernatural fine tell us about even this Jesus that's fine but when he said that Jesus said I'm gonna send you to the Gentiles and that put Jews and Gentiles on the same footing it ended right there well we hear about the supernatural well the Pharisees believed in healings and the supernatural they believed in the afterlife the resurrection the Sadducees didn't we'll listen to anything but if you think that we are going to be on the same footing as those Gentile dogs you are out of your mind we are special we are superior we're the children of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and now you're telling us that this salvation is not just for us but it's for the Gentiles we're on equal footing with the Gentiles you mean like you know everybody join hands and sing we shall overcome no no kill him kill him get your jacket off stone him why he says we're the same as Gentiles which shows you the power of prejudice takes away your breath they didn't say a word while he was telling about his conversion he didn't say a word talking about a light at noontime knocking him off his mount they didn't say a word when he was talking about he was healed of his blindness and got baptized they didn't scream until he said the G word Gentiles are you talking about Gentiles they lost a chance to have eternal life because of their ingrained prejudice which they had taken in with their mother's milk just think of the power of it they won't listen to the message or the messenger because he says something that strikes at the deep rooted prejudice superiority feelings we're special and Gentiles still practice antisemitism and Jews to this day Jewish people tell me behind closed doors refer to Gentiles in derogatory ways and in Israel they have on bumper stickers a curse related to Jesus put as a sticker on there so it's 2000 years later and nothing has changed now the first word that as I close that God ever said to Abraham Abraham is the father of everyone who believes the father not only to Jewish people Paul says that in Romans that Abraham is the father of everyone who has faith he's our model we're like part of the family of faith what faith Abraham's faith and did you notice the first word that God ever spoke to Abraham leave get away from your family get away from your home get away from the food you're used to get away leave I have something better for you where am I going don't worry I'll show you when I know when I get there don't worry about that just leave and go to a place that I have for you you know what the problem is brothers and sisters a lot of us want to go to a new place in God we want to go to a place of greater blessing how many want to go to a new place in God greater blessing greater closeness to Christ just lift your hand up if you want to go to that place the only problem is to go somewhere you have to leave where you are it's an amazing thing for me to go to my office I have to leave the platform but I like the platform that's the problem most of us are rooted in something that we refuse to leave see the Jews of that day they would not leave God was doing something new Jesus had come it was a new day a new covenant no longer the law and Moses and just Jewish people it was Jesus and loving the whole world they would not leave where they were so they couldn't go to the place of blessing and salvation that God had for them that's the way it is with a lot of us even when we find the Lord why a lot of Christians don't grow is they're locked in they're locked into where they are their culture what they're used to born a Baptist gonna die a Baptist born Pentecostal gonna die Pentecostal born Kojic church of God and Christ I'm a white southerner I'm dying a white southerner born a black I'm dying I'm West Indian brother and we can never go where God wants us to go because we won't leave where we are our culture stuff that's been drilled into us most people when they read the Bible I talk to ministers around the world most ministers read the Bible God help me and God help all of us to read it different you know how most people read the Bible they're looking for ammunition for what they already believe they're not reading to learn they're not coming like a child to the word of God no no this is what they learn that they're locked in they're in their 2x4 they're in their little place and God says no I want you to go I want you to keep going I have something better from you for glory to glory and from faith to faith I want you to keep moving but to move you gotta leave where you are and we get comfortable where we are we get locked into where we are been about all my life to be honest with you because growing up in church I heard some good things a lot of bad things in that church my mom and dad dragged me to all due respect mom a lot of nonsense I only found it was nonsense when God gave me more light and I read the Bible do you think my wife and I if we follow the traditions of the people that I was around growing up who were a lot of them racist you think I would be here in downtown Brooklyn no no to go where God wants you to go you have to leave your moorings that's why Abraham never could live in a house did you know that that all the time Abraham lived God never permitted him to build a house he could only live in tents why because God said you gotta move gotta be ready to move gotta be ready to move because I'm doing new things I want to lead you a different way and once you get settled you get mechanical and you're locked in and that's the way I was raised I was born in Trinidad and church of the open Bible or whatever and that's how I was raised or whatever is that not true Spanish Pentecostalism church of God in Christ Pentecostalism white narrow Pentecostalism some of you have some other background and we're locked in for life for life oh we're not going to say kill someone usually like they did to Paul but we're locked in we're not ready to move and God says no your ways are not my ways your thoughts are not my thoughts my plans are different than your plans but how are you going to follow them unless you're willing to leave but if you're locked in and you say this is the way it will always be I just trying to help a pastor in another place in the country and they're having division in the church because he wanted to start a prayer meeting in the church and the board said listen this church has existed for 35 years we don't have prayer meetings here praise God but he said that's in the Bible I don't care what's in the Bible this is the deacons I don't care what's in the Bible we don't do that here they do that over there and we're not going to be lifting up our hands like them charismaniacs and all those other people and all that come on how many know what I'm talking about prejudice if anyone if Jesus freezes from anything it should be from this kind of prejudice think of the prejudice of this country the history of white people in this country think of the crusades where Christians went with the cross on their shield and on their chest and massacred and raped Muslim women and on the way there by the way when Peter the hermit and some other people preached up that first crusade and they actually took over Jerusalem from the infidels who were living there the Muslims on the way there they stopped off in France and Germany a few places and killed every Jew that was breathing in some villages why because those are the Christ killers you think the Jews have ever forgotten that you don't think that's been passed down from generation to generation you don't think the Muslims have passed down from generation to generation they did their atrocities what is it all built on ignorance and prejudice slavery in this country black prejudice we have people come to me and say I got relatives African-American people in our church who say relatives who make fun of us and say I can't believe you're going to that church with the man as the pastor you're going to the plantation the guy got a plantation going there but they're going to their church shout glory yeah I feel it I think what we all need is a baptism of love can we put our hands together for that Latinos, Asians, white people, Eastern European Polish, Ukrainian like me oh God in heaven people are talking about speaking in tongues and the gifts of the spirit I'm happy to talk about those things they're in the bible they're valid but what good is it if you don't love everybody what good is it people are talking about we believe in the Holy Ghost I believe in the Holy Spirit too but the fruit of the spirit is love and what love gets rid of is prejudice imagine when they said the G word they got lit and they were going to kill him because their sense of superiority could not even fathom that we all need the same Savior who do you and I feel superior to I watch it it's so funny prejudice is just so ugly it's so rampant I've been around it and observed it I have a special sensitivity to it because I'm sometimes disliked by white people because we have an interracial church and I'm disliked by black people because I'm not black but I have a black suit on you know what I'm saying and in Puerto Rico if you're dark skinned Puerto Rican they treat you different you can't get a job at a hotel desk no no no no it's light skinned Puerto Rican oh what are you kidding me and the caste system in India and the Hutsis and the Tutsis over there in Africa too black tribes they kill each other why because they're not us don't you get it and the West Indians who remind me I'm not from Jamaica I'm from Trinidad I am not do not call me a Jamaican I'm not African American I'm not African either I'm West Indian for what look at me everybody for what how many know you take off the skin we all have a heart that bleeds lift your hand if you believe that right so I want to close with this thought what does God want you to leave so he can get you to the place he wants you to be Jaron's been around he'll tell you most people are stamped by the time they're 30 years old they're just stamped they're not moving anywhere they're just staying within that little world that little microscopic little world that they think is like this is what God is doing in the earth they have no clue what God is doing in the earth God's doing a lot of things in the earth most people are stamped and that's what they are no new learning no changes white prejudiced churches black prejudiced churches I was so happy last Sunday I helped a church in Charlotte North Carolina a pastor there is on a sabbatical he's going through some kind of physical emotional problems and they wrote me a letter that I felt the Lord wanted me to go and try to help them and it was integrated in North Carolina Charlotte integrated church made me so happy brothers and sisters let's leave all that junk come on how many are with me let's leave all that stuff and where we're from and we're from the Brooklyn tabernacle and we at the tab oh no that's not what we do at the tab who cares about the tab? I'm asking you who cares about the tab? I care about Jesus does everyone have their own personality? yeah but whatever I don't want to miss out on God's blessing because I won't leave from where I am to go where he wants me to go and it's not physical it's psychological spiritual it's your heart it's the way you think so let's die to our West Indianness let's die to our blackness our whiteness our southerness our Pentecostalism our whatever if someone asks you what you are take a tip from the pastor here if someone says well what are you I'm a Christian I know but what kind of Christian I'm a Bible believing Christian no I know but I want a label give me what you are tell me what you are are you Baptist are you this I'm none of those things because I don't want to defend all the things that have been done under those names how many are with me say amen so the best thing to say is I'm a New Testament Christian if it's in the New Testament I believe in it I want to practice it I believe in the Bible and if you want to know if you want to know more come to the church and hopefully taste and see that the Lord is good but brothers and sisters don't be held back from the growth God wants for you because you are so unwilling to leave where you are you can't go where God wants you I'm not talking location now physical you can't go where God wants you to go unless you leave you can't think a different way until you leave your thinking the way you think now I can't feel differently about people unless I leave the way I feel now about people you got to leave before you can go and that's why God's first word to Abraham was leave leave everything you're used to because I got something better for you all the men and women that God has used down through the ages come up into my office and I'll show you church history books and biographies by the galore everyone who God has ever used in a signal way they were leavers they left what was so they could go to what God wanted them to do and they were fought many times because the moment you say leave and do something God leads you to do a lot of people say that's not the way I was raised so when Wesley realized that John Wesley the Anglican church wouldn't let him preach to the common person because pews were paid for and you couldn't sit in a church unless you paid money for the pews that was commonplace he went out in the fields and preached and the people they went wild they went crazy he was attacked by Christians you're preaching in the fields to common people with no altar and no pews what are you doing you lost your mind but it brought about the Methodist revival when General Booth saw that the churches in England didn't want the prostitutes and the drunkards in the east end of London he developed something called the Salvation Army and the women wore uniforms and they beat drums and they went and knelt in the street and they gave the good news of Jesus to people who were dissipated and wrecking their lives and they were fought not by the world they were fought by the church the church said you're out of your mind what are you doing if you're going to meet you don't you meet in church and you don't hang around those people and if they get converted don't bring them to our church we don't want people like that church has got to be a nice place for the family and when Charles Finney I close the great revivalist opened Broadway Tabernacle in New York City 30 years before the Civil War which he predicted and he said this country is sowing to the wind and it's going to reap a world win and we're still reaping it now his school in Oberlin in Ohio was a place for the underground railroad and runaway slaves could go there and know that they would be protected he was the first one to ordain women he was the first one to have interracial Bible school which set the church going wild and when he built the Broadway Tabernacle before he went even into that school he said nobody will pay for a pew which was unheard of because the only way you went to church is you paid money and you got the pew for the year by paying a certain amount of money we should start that right now that's not a bad idea right? only joking so you had to pay for the pew he said no all seats are free and he said it will be black and white I'm talking about 1830's I'm talking about New York City in the 1830's and he walked out for the first meeting God bless him and his memory he went out and he saw that by habit all the blacks poor obviously because of the messed up country that we were were all sitting together and all the whites were sitting together Finney ran out he stopped the singing and he said stop it we didn't build this building for this everybody sit with one another everybody be together in 1830 and people scandalized him and said he was for all kinds of wrong things but he was willing to leave you can't go unless you leave let's pray Father God help us to leave we're all captive to our backgrounds every one of us starting with me and you know how I battled with this and how you've convicted me and sometimes chastened me because instead of following you I was settling in Ur of the Chaldees and said I want your blessing but I'm not leaving not changing the way I think not changing the way I do things not changing my culture and the way I look at other people no I'm not changing that but God do a new thing and it can't happen to go we have to leave first save us from our backgrounds save us from our cultures save us from the color of our skin save us from our denominational traditions get us back to you Jesus and your word and give us the faith and the boldness to be ready to just go where you want us to go not just physically but in our minds and in our hearts God help us to love each other when we think of the bad name Christianity has gained not from you from people who profess to be Christians mean nasty prejudice break that in us break that in us break that in us we pray and cause us to love one another for you said in your word by this shall all men know you're my disciples not because you go to church on Sunday not because you read a bible not because you speak in tongues or believe in the power of prayer no everybody will know you're my disciples because you love one another help us to love people who are different help us to love Christians who believe a little differently than us help us never to react against people who reject Christ in a violent way save us from anger and wrath resentment and bitterness give us the spirit of Jesus who when he was reviled he never reviled back but he opened not his mouth but like a sheep led to the slaughter he just in love prayed for the people make us sensitive who we can talk to and when we can talk to them but Lord if the apostle Paul was charged up to talk to a crowd that was trying to kill him help us to open our mouths and talk to people about you and not worry about reactions if he was so bold and brave get us out of the closet and make us strong Lord to speak your word to people in love in kindness in sensitivity but revamp some of our ideas about what even Christianity is some of us have a skewed idea of what even Christianity is we're relating it to stuff that's not really found in your word so God speak and we will leave and we will follow you and go and let your love flow deeply among us for we pray this in Jesus name and everyone said I want to close the service like I've never closed a service in my life but it just came to me get the time up for the next 2 minutes you can leave but not for 2 minutes guard the doors don't let anybody out for 2 minutes block them for the next 2 minutes we're going to look for 10, 15, 20 people we don't know I don't care where you have to walk across the balcony across downstairs give somebody a hug hopefully they look different than you they're not from where you're from because God loves when we love one another come on everybody stand start the music