10:45AM "Faith At Midnight" Rev. Dr. James Wesley Dennis February 25, 2024

1:15:10 That was for me. Acts chapter number 16. In your custom, we stand to honor the word of the Lord. I told you I couldn't sing. Acts chapter 16. Bless you, son. Bless you. Would you hear the word of the Lord? Acts chapter 16, verse number 25. Just these words. About midnight. you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. God, open our ears that we might hear. Open our eyes that we might see.

1:15:54 Open our hearts that we might receive. Open our minds that we might know. But speak to us so that we will know that we have been with you. through Jesus Christ our Lord. We say amen, amen, and amen. I want to talk to you just for a few moments of your time today from this thought, faith at midnight. Would you look at your neighbor and say, neighbor, faith at midnight. Friends, I am convinced that when you pull out the resumes of your life and look past all of the accolades, all of the fancy job titles that you might have, all of the education that you might have, if you look past all of that and you get to that section of your resume that says experience, I think you will find that we all have one thing in common, and that is we have all had to deal with some midnight experiences.

1:17:14 You know midnight. Midnight. When the chains of hopelessness shackles hope. Midnight. Midnight, when faith takes flight and fear settles in. Midnight, when joy is attacked by despair and sorrow surprises us in the morning. Midnight, when you are tired of waiting for all things to work out for your good. Midnight, when patience turns into impatience. And impatience turns into frustration. And frustration turns into anger. Midnight. The almighty choir, let me go this way. You know midnight.

1:18:08 Bills are due, but the money is nowhere to be found. Midnight. Bad news from the doctor. Midnight. The loss of a loved one. Midnight. Faye May Kweesha left you. Midnight. she left you for bobo midnight teachers straight up tripping midnight you know midnight midnight is that time when everything that could go wrong all went wrong at the same time midnight is the time when the psalms of davis is replaced with the words of that great psalmist grandmaster flash when he says it's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under. So don't push me because I'm close to the head. I'm trying not to lose my hair.

1:19:06 Ha ha ha ha ha. Friends, life is full of midnights. But friends, I believe that you discover, watch this, what you are truly made of at about midnight. You discover at midnight what you are really made of. You discover at midnight what you truly believe. You discover at midnight your strengths and your weaknesses. You discover at midnight if you have what it takes to make it. You discover at midnight who you truly is. And it is there in the middle of the night that you will face the question, can you make it until daybreak? And brothers and sisters, that answer depends on what you do at midnight. What decisions you will make at midnight.

1:20:00 The answer is how you will shape your faith to master your midnight experiences. It's true. You can have faith in the daylight of your circumstances. You can have faith in the daylight of God's grace when the pantries are full, when the rent is paid up, when all is well. But what happens when you get to those moments when you have to walk by faith and not by sight? what happens when you get to those moment when all of the resources dry up? What happens when you get to those moments when your theology doesn't have the answers to your questions? What happens when you get to those moments when your friends walk out on you? What happens when you get to those moments when every day seems like a bad day? What happens when you get to those moments when all hell break loose? What happens when you are mentally and emotionally and physically and spiritually burned out?

1:21:00 What happens when holding on looks like an insult to your sanity? Yeah. It all really depends on what you do at midnight. And my dear brothers and sisters, it's important that we all relax because experience isn't necessarily what happens to you. Experience is what you do with what happens to you. And my dear friends, I'm going to my seat. Let me tell you a secret. It's only what you do at midnight that matters. Yeah, because faith works best when it's tested. Hope shines the brightest at the darkest hour of the night. Therefore, it is our obligation to embrace our midnights because wisdom is found in the midnights of our life.

1:21:56 Strength is found in midnights. Joy is found in the midnight hour. Midnight is when your test turns into a testimony. And I know there's somebody by fellowship today who can testify I became a better person because I went through a midnight. I learned how to trust God because I went through a midnight. I learned how to have some strong faith because I went through an experience that almost took me out. But all for a faith that will not quiver in the face of defeat and in the face of darkness. I come to talk to some midnight dwellers who can understand that midnight is when you can see the glory of the Lord best revealed. You can't see the glory in the daytime.

1:22:53 You got to wait till it gets dark in your life. That's when he'll open up the Red Sea. You got to wait till it gets dark in your life. That's when he'll creep in the sick room. Anybody in a midnight today? And so this morning, I'm done. The relevant question is, how do you handle your midnight? How do you grow a faith that will master your midnights? Follow me over the text. I got something to show you. If you come with me, I promise you, you'll be so glad you came. The text says, Paul and Silas, convinced by God to share the good news in Macedonia, has just started a new Christian community, the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Philippi location. Paul was the pastor, and Silas was the chair of the deacons.

1:23:49 And the Bible says that as one day as they were going to hold prayer meeting, the Bible says that a young girl met them. This child, the Bible says, probably a member of this wonderful youth group. This child, the Bible says, had a spirit by which she could tell the future. Now we don't know if the spirit tormented this child. The text is not clear. But we do know that this spirit made her masters rich. we don't know if the spirit tormented the child, but we do know that the spirit made the masters rich. And watch this, y'all. Instead of getting this little girl some help, the Bible says that the masters exploited her conditions for their own personal gain. In other words, they were more concerned about their profits than her well-being.

1:24:44 Can I be honest with you? it sounds like they were economically greedy in the first century right right here in Acts chapter 16 but I can't move on from this point without telling you that the same economic greed in the first century is the same economic greed that sits in our school board rooms that sits on our city councils because whenever you will raise money to build a stadium but won't fully fund education for black and brown children, am I talking to somebody? You have decided to put profits in front of people.

1:25:25 Whenever you decide to support a country who is bombing God's Palestinian children because of your own economic ties in the Middle East, here is what you're doing. You're just like these rich masters putting people in front of putting profit in front of people and can i tell you that our government even in our personal lives we have a habit of profiting instead of dealing with people yeah you don't want to see that homeless person because the homeless person on the side of the road is going to make you deal with the fact that you still won't profit rather than helping people Yeah, you have a pocket full of money, but because you want to keep your profit, you overlook the man who's begging. But can I tell you that there will come a day when Jesus separates the sheep from the goat.

1:26:26 And Jesus will say to the sheep and the goat, did you feed me when I was hungry? Did you come and see me when I was in jail? Did you come and clothe me when I was naked? If you did not do any of that depart from me ye workers of iniquity I knew you not And so we have to deal with the fact that these people are profiting off of this young girl. And that your city is profiting off of the negligence of our young black and brown. children.

1:27:14 And here's what the text says. The text says that Paul and Silas saw this. And the text says that they got so fed up with what they saw that Paul turns around and he calls the demon out of the girl. He gets so fed up. Can I tell you why this nation is in the condition that it's in? The nation is in the condition it's in because the church is not fed up yet. it's not fed up yet because it was fed up. You will be at that mayor's office every day until something happened. If it was fed up, you will make sure that Donald Trump is never reelected as president of the United States. If it was fed up, you will put your life on the line for your neighborhood and for your community.

1:28:15 and you'll make sure that everybody has a hot meal to eat. Y'all don't like me today, but can I tell you what your Christian duty is as someone who is fire baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost? Listen, when you see a demon, that's when you need to get fed up. It does not matter who the demon is. The demon can be in bed right next to you, but if the demon goes against God's justice in God's righteousness in this world, you better get fed up. So the Bible says that they get fed up. I got 12 minutes. I'm out of your hair. They get fed up. Now let me tell you something. When you get fed up and you make these kind of bold statements that I'm making, you will most likely end up in jail.

1:29:15 that's what Paul and Silas that's what happened to Paul and Silas right the Bible says they were beaten they were thrown in jail on trumped up charges when you fight for justice you'll most likely end up in jail when you tell the truth you'll most likely end up in jail not even in your personal life when you stand for what is right. People will put the people who stand for what is right in jail before they stop and even think about what Donald Trump is doing. but if you find yourself in jail, don't you worry. I want to share with you that perhaps jail is where you need to be because God gets God's best work done in jail.

1:30:13 You don't believe me. The Bible says Joseph was able to save Egypt from his jail cell. the bible says that jeremiah was comforted by god from his jail cell the bible says that paul was able to write majority of new testament theology from his jail cell you still don't believe me let me go this way the bible says that fanny lou hamer song our souls into freedom from her jail cell. The Bible says that Martin Luther King Jr. challenged the shadow ethics of this nation from a letter from a Birmingham jail cell. Angela Davis taught us how to love our blackness from her jail cell. Nelson Mandela dreamed of freedom for South Africa in this world from his jail cell.

1:31:13 All I think I'm trying to tell you is that don't worry when you find yourself in jail because God's best work still gets done in jail cells. God's best work gets done in some unfamiliar places. God's best work gets done in the places where people say that God can never work. and I'm just so glad that I get to hang out in the places where God can do miracles I'm just so glad that I live in a neighborhood that's on God's miracle working list I live in a community that is about to be the place where God shows up and shows out And the Bible says that at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing. And I got to go.

1:32:13 There are two things that I want to share with you that will help you when you find yourself in a jail cell. The first thing you need to do is to recognize God's presence. The Bible says that they're beating, flogged, and thrown in the innermost part of the jail on trumped-up charges. That's enough to make anybody want to die. But for the longest, I could not understand why in the world Paul and Silas were singing and praying. And I did not understand until this morning when I reread the text and saw who they were singing and praying to. Look at the text very quickly. Look at the text. the text doesn't say that Paul and Silas were praying and singing about God. The text says that Paul and Silas were singing and praying to God.

1:33:07 Watch the text. The text says that it doesn't say that they were singing and praying about God. It says that they were singing and praying to God. The word to here functions as a preposition. Expression, motion towards something or someone. I got to go but in other words all I'm trying to tell you is that Paul and Silas were singing and praising to God what that means to me is that somehow God had gotten into the jail cell with them because in order to sing and pray to someone that someone got to be there in order to receive the singing and the praising can I help you shout today it occurred to me that Paul and Silas had recognize that even in that jail cell, God got in them, the jail cell with them. God was present in the jail cell. And can I help you to redirect your praise? You don't praise God because of what God can do. You don't praise God because of what God can give you. You praise God because you recognize that on your bad day, God will come off of God's throne, step into time and come walk with you and come talk with you. And so you ought to stop praising God to get out of trouble. And you ought to start praising God because God got in the trouble with you. Our praise was never intended to be a tool of manipulation. You can't manipulate God. Praise is a sign that you recognize that God is with you. Even when you're walking through hell, even when your body is racking in pain, even when your friends walk out, even when people are talking about you. Yes, sometimes you've got to look past the pain and the hurt and you've got to recognize that God's presence has been with you the entire time. Our slave ancestors knew this. That is why in the slave field, they would turn

1:35:18 cotton fields into a praise party when they sung, Jesus is a rock in a weary land. He's a shelter in the time of a storm. They sung, my soul has been anchored in the Lord. There is a bomb in Gilead and I just want to pause right here and thank God for every time God got off of his throne and came and saw about me. Is there anybody by fellowship who can testify that you walking with God right now? You've been talking with God all morning. He came to see about you when you were down and out. He came to see about you when you had no other options. He came to see about you. And so this next praise is a praise just saying, God, if you never do anything else, you've already done. Already done enough.

1:36:16 Recognize his presence. I'm done. But finally, here's what the text teaches us to do. Finally, the text teaches us to remain consistent. Watch this. The Bible says that they were going to Macedonia to spread the gospel because a man appeared to Paul in a vision saying, come help us.

1:36:40 Because they were obedient, they went to Macedonia. with the purpose of ministering to a man who appeared to Paul saying, come help us. So they had been in Macedonia for some days when they met a devastating diva named Lydia, who was a dealer of purple cloth. That means she had some money.

1:37:06 She was a devastating diva. and the Bible says that she convinces them to start a church by baptizing her whole family. You can't tell me that women don't get folks saved. By baptizing her whole family, they started the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in their living room Philippi location. But can I tell you something? The man that appeared to Paul was nowhere to be found. Bible says they're on their way to church one day and the little girl came up, started telling the future and they called out the demon. No man to be found. They cast out demons. They got beaten. They got arrested. And yet they had not found the man that God wanted them to minister to. And the story in the story seems like it's going to end before the man appears.

1:38:02 Here comes the earthquake Now the earthquake is not really the shout in this story I argue that the earthquake is just the centerpiece That prepares for the climax The Bible says that the earthquake happens Chains falls off The door to the jail cell opens up S-Sores! What must I do? Y'all missed it. Earthquake happened. Chains came off. Door to the cell opened up. And someone came around that corner.

1:38:57 And said, sir, what must I do to be saved? Can I help you understand something? I don't know why they had to go through so much just to get to jail. But can I tell you, you better be careful where you find your places, where you find yourself at, because those might be the places that God has your purpose. Can you come a little closer to me? Their purpose was not at the house. Their purpose was not at the church that Lydia founded. Their purpose was not going back and forth to this church that they've just founded. Their purpose was in a jail cell where a man who had come to Paul in a dream was waiting for them because Paul had some salvation to give them. And that's why you ought to remain consistent no matter where you find yourself in your life. You ought to remain consistent.

1:39:50 You ought to keep on being who God created you to be. If you sung before the midnight, you better sing after the midnight or during the midnight. If you prayed before the midnight, you better keep on praying during the midnight. If you read scripture before the midnight, you better read it during the midnight. But here's the reason why you never know who's watching you. And the season that you are in right now might be what they need to see in order to make it through the seasons that they're in.

1:40:25 Yeah, I'm done. But here's what I want to tell you. Here's really what I want to tell you. Don't change who you are because of where you are. can you come closer to me? Don't change who you are because of where you are. And there are a lot of you who are going to be judged by God because you were saved when things were going well. But as soon as things started going bad, you forgot your commitments. Can I help you? Don't you change who you are because of where you are. Even on a bad day, you steal God's child. even on a bad day you still empowered by his holy spirit even on a bad day you still the head and not the tail even on a bad day you still above and not beneath i'm gonna keep on talking until you believe it about yourself even on a bad day you were still fearfully and wonderfully made even on a bad day you're still the barrier and not the lender even on a bad day you're still healed even on a bad day you still have all your needs applied even on a bad day you still got a God who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more I'm done I'm done I'm done so here I gotta go is how you work on your faith I'm a big James Bond fan love James Bond love it so much that when I heard Otis Moss tell this story I stole it from him I'm such a big James Bond fan.

1:42:19 And can I tell you, I'm a Sean Connery James Bond fan. Because Sean Connery was the best James Bond there ever was. Sean Connery never spilt his liquor, did he? Dr. No could be chasing him to kill him and yet he could be on the helicopter about to to dive off the helicopter. You always wondered if James Bond was about to die. But here's the problem. Even at that near-death experience, in that next scene, James Bond was going to come around that corner and he was going to say, Bond. James Bond and y'all I was watching one night how in the world did James Bond make it to the next scene you saw him almost die in the previous scene and he shows up in the very next scene and I was watching a documentary on the James Bond movies and they started talking about that so my ears perked up and can I tell you what I heard they said that James Bond continued to survive from scene to scene simply because it's written in the script.

1:43:38 You missed it. they said that the reason why James Bond had the faith to face Dr. No, to face his enemies, here's, can I tell you the reason why? The reason why is because it's written in the script. You still ain't shouted, so let me say this to you. I don't know what script you're reading. But in the script that I'm reading, my script says that weeping may endure for a night, but joy will comfort you. Grace will redeem you. Mercy will save you. The Spirit will lead you. why because it's written in the script that love will affirm you that peace will soothe you that salvation will reclaim you that