Forty-fifth Street Baptist Church Weekly Sermons

Speaker: Pastor Sparks

Text: Philippians 3:12-14

-An optimist stays up past midnight to see the new year come in, the pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves

-Paul wrote this scripture while in prison

1. Everybody Has Errors In Their Past

• There are some things in your life you wish you could press 'backspace' on
• Paul was as religious as they come, but he still messed up!
• The reason I have an imperfect past is because of the junk/sin in my life

2. You Don't Have To Be In Bondage To Our Past

• Some of us stay stuck on the page of our mess ups
• We have bookmarked the page and we keep rereading the same page
• Paul said to forget what is behind and STRAIN towards what's ahead!
• You do not have to be a slave to what's behind you

3. No Matter Your Current Circumstances, You Can Start A New Chapter

• Colonel Sanders was 63 years old when he launched into KFC
• At 43, Circuit Court Judge Helen Shores Lee (first black civil circuit judge in Jefferson county) STARTED law school after a career as a clinical psychologist

4. Change Requires Intentional, Determined Effort

• All of us would get closer if all we had to do was sit & wait with our hands folded; Paul said we have to PRESS!
• You have to actively try to be better!
• We'll press for a ton of other things before we press to get things better with Christ

What do I do to make this relationship better? I HAVE TO BE CONTENT. To do that:

A. I have to turn the page on a casual relationship with Jesus

• No more DIY faith
  • You have to be willing to be taught
  • If you're not being fed, do you have an appetite?
• Stop being a decent devil
  • The kingdom of God does not need any thugs or heavenly hustlers---Christ is supposed to change you!
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • Stop worrying about keeping it real and just BE real!
• Stop acting like someone makes you come to church/work in the church
  • If you're pressing, you ought to WANT to be and do in the church!

B. Turn the page on unforgiveness

• Move on and let it go!
• Some princes come with mud on their boots & know less than you, BUT they know how to love you the way you want to be loved---that's enough!

C. Turn the page on THAT sin

• Whatever your THAT sin is, stop it!
• You have to care more about your reputation!
  • Don't present yourself one way but live another!

D. Turn the page on handling God's money your way

• You don't have to be rich to live well

E. Turn the page on being common

• Common means you're mediocre or of inferior quality; lacking rank or distinction
• Zig Ziglar: A rut is a grave with the ends kicked out 
• We're not in a rut anywhere else in our lives (cars we drive, clothes we wear, techology, etc) but we're ok with an average relationship with Christ

Sermon Notes Courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

ADVENT SEASON 2020
“REDISCOVER CHRISTMAS:
Good News In Troubling Times”
Speaker: Pastor Sparks
Text: Luke 1:5-7

-If all the stores that sold gifts, closed, Christmas would STILL be here

-Just like a circus elephant is able to stay chained [to a small stake and a rope] because it’s been conditioned since birth,  the enemy plays on our minds and conditions us to remember when we were “chained”. And unfortunately, all he has to do to keep us chained/stuck in our past, is remind us of the time when we were chained...

-It’s time for you to get unstuck from what you’ve experienced and come into the FULLNESS of freedom that you’ve been given in Christ!

-Your joy has nothing to do with your strength, might, or power, but it has everything to do with who you believe is in control and who you put your faith in!

-We can never allow ourselves to get in a place of saying “I can’t wait til Christmas is over”; if you’re in that place, it might be time to check what your Christmas spirit is rooted in...

It’s Ok to Be Joyful—AND HAPPY
Joy should be present in spite of situations; and you should absolutely be happy when something good happens to you!
The two things are NOT mutually exclusive or at odds with one another!
Christmas, at its core, comes with joy. If you don’t feel it, ask yourself what you’re celebrating in this season
Joy Is Our Strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
If you’re struggling to tap into your joy, you need to remind yourself of how you felt when you first fell in love w/ Jesus—and what led you there!
It’s possible to forever have this joy because THE WORLD DIDNT GIVE IT...SO THE WORLD CANT TAKE IT AWAY!
We Can Choose Joy
We can choose how we react to our circumstances
Rejoice is the verb form of “joy”; re- signifies that it’s something you DO AGAIN. In order to REjoice, that means you can constantly tap into the joy you’ve experienced before!

Sermon Notes courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

Rev. Andra D. Sparks 
This sermon series is entitled Rediscover Christmas. The weekly themes will be 

December 6- Peace 
December 13- Joy 
December 20-Love 

This year, Forty-fifth Street Baptist Church will be engaged in reading a plan containing devotions for each of the four weeks before Christmas. Based around the weekly themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, there are seven devotions for each theme. The Advent season begins on Sunday, November 29th. For a copy of the devotional, please visit - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NJhLhfDhHNtINm_WfXkdvnDAwYTFbjod/view?usp=sharing 
To give to the ministry - https://app.easytithe.com/App/Giving/fort7600279oly Spirit lead you on a journey of peace, joy, and love—and ultimately to a deep encounter with Jesus.