"It's TIme to Rebuild", Min. Archange Antoine

0:03 Alfred Street Baptist family, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support this summer and supporting the summer interns in 2021. Without your support, we would not have taken the steps that we need to take to get closer to God in our journey towards fulfilling our ministry in the Lord. I want to especially thank Pastor Wesley for just being a beacon of light and showing us what excellence is at Alpha Street Baptist Church. We want to also just thank so much all of the staff. We want to thank all the preachers, all the ministers. Reverend Dr. Judy was so helpful. Reverend Marcia was beyond helpful as our supervisor. as Reverend Mark was just a guide for us and all of the AV technicians and deacons and staff members and custodians, just wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to grow as a minister in the Lord.

1:05 And more importantly, I want to thank my pastor back home, Pastor David Ford Sr. and the whole St. Matthew's Baptist family for allowing me the privilege to represent you when I travel the world. And I just want to thank you for investing in my life. Alpha Street, today we have a word from the Lord. And today's reading will be coming from 2 Kings 12, verses 4 to 8. And you read with me. And I'll be reading from the New International Version. Joash said to the priests,

1:52 Collect all the money that is bought as sacred offerings to the temple of the Lord. The money collected in the census, the money received for personal vows, and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. Let every priest receive the money for one of the treasurers, then use it to repair whatever damage is found in the temple. Verse 6, but the 23rd year of King Joash, the priest still had not repaired the temple. Therefore, King Joah summoned Jehoiada, the priest, and other priests and asked them, Why aren't you repairing the damages done to the temple?

2:55 Take no more money from your treasures, but hand it over for repairing the temple. And in the final verse, the priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves. Today's title is It's Time to Rebuild. Join me in prayer. oh God God of love God of liberty God of freedom we thank you for today we thank you for your people we thank you for your church family Lord God we just ask that you be with us as we encourage your people today penetrate their hearts penetrate their minds and show them the way, God.

3:58 Give us encouragement, Lord God, as I try to articulate your word and edify the body of Christ. thank you for your obedience God thank you for your long suffering and thank you for the forgiveness of our sins we pray for glory in the name of your son Jesus Christ Amen sisters and brothers I want you to know that God loves you and so when God challenges us it comes from abundance of love and more importantly we must realize that every instruction that God gives us is for the edification of God's people. And this is why obedience is so difficult at times because God is saying it's not about you, but it's about you and God's people all throughout our church and our communities and the world who needs us to do our part.

5:19 And this is what makes the body of Christ. We cannot operate 100% like the world because the world does not operate on faith. and what I believe the Lord is saying today is that the church needs to prepare itself for the 21st century and meeting the needs the wants and the demands of God's people and so the story of Joash is a story of the king who continues in the lineage of King David and as we know Saul was the first king of Israel. Then came David and his other son Solomon who built the temple of God. Then came a split which divided the kingdoms between Israel and Judah. And King Joash is who ruled Judah at the time. King Joash called the priests to say that there has been damages in certain areas of the temple, and that all resources needed to be redirected in order to fix these damages.

6:36 Jehoiada the priest affirmed the instructions that he heard. However, over the years, he collected the money from the people, but not one repair was done. And this caused the temple to go from simply needing repairs done to now requiring the redoing of the entire infrastructure that was falling apart. And why would such a respected priest not do everything in his power to fix the damages of the temple of God? And if you know anything about Jehoiada, the priest, he was a great leader who was caught up in a tradition of protecting and defending the temple. That he was blind for how much damage the temple's infrastructure had.

7:41 He was no ordinary priest. He was a warrior who was consumed with protecting the temple from attacks from the outsiders. He fought battles to ensure that the bloodline of David remained in the kingdom. And he used all of his power and authority to destroy altars and temples that belonged to Baal. He was effective at defending and protecting the temple, but he was blinded from seeing that the temple had infrastructure damages. And so the church today has also suffered damages over the decades and the centuries by maintaining certain traditions. And in this pursuit of upholding some church traditions, we have lost our ability to see the damages we have.

8:49 I remember being in a church about a little over a decade ago where one of the pastor declared that people who were not at the physical church were going to hell. Yes, Reverend H.E. Double Aki Stick. And while many congregations did not take those extreme approaches, they frowned at the notion that you can call yourself a Christian and watch church on TV or partake in services on social media. They alienated so many people who did not make their way to the physical church. In the name of tradition, we have violated so many of God's precious children. Some of our traditions have prevented the restoration of the church needs to penetrate beyond the walls of our congregation and shine a brighter light into dark places and bring the gospel of liberation to the people around the world.

10:05 The pandemic has given the church a reality check about its infrastructure damage. And as we moved into social distancing, most of our churches around the nation and around the world were not prepared to meet the need of God's people. Because we were focused on maintaining a tradition that we did not prepare ourselves for doing effective ministry in the 21st century. There are 330 million people living in the United States, but we've limited our congregations. We've acted selfishly and attempted to hoard and limit the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And what I hear the Lord saying is, restore and rebuild my church to reach people in and out of the church walls. We have to touch people who have reached hard to reach locations and connect with those who have been hurt by the church.

11:12 And we still, but they still need our fellowship. And they need our community. And most importantly, they need God. And God is saying that we have to go out there and reconnect with them. People who've lost hope, who stay in the darkness trying to figure out where they're going to go. We have to go everywhere from the hood to the mountains, from the rural to the suburbs. They all deserve to be a part of God's community and listen to a liberating gospel to free them from the hands of the wicked one. There will be many questions that arrive when we take these steps forward to determine the who, the what, the when, the why, the how. However, we must remember that when we move from complacent traditions to radical obedience, God is still in control.

12:30 And the children of Alfred Street preached such a wonderful message a couple of weeks ago. And they said something which was so profound, it lit me shaking in my seat. And they said that your success is in the obedience of God and not always in the achievement of a goal. And the world has tried to figure it all out. But they take in the steps. However, the church must take the steps because we know that the Lord is in control. And to all of you, praise the Lord, who say praise the Lord, because the church does need change. Hallelujah, because the church does need change. I say to you, it is not fair for you to expect the church to adjust, to change and to modify and to repair its infrastructure and the damage of traditions that kept it hold.

13:39 But you remain the same. Oh, Lord, I know they weren't going to like me today, but I'm going to keep on preaching in the midst of complete chaos. The Me Too movement, the Black Lives Revolution, a president that's gone nuts in the insurrectionists who had a failed coup d'etat, a historic voting presidential election, the COVID-19 that took 600,000 of God's precious children. you remain the same How is that possible? 1 Corinthians 3.16 says, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit dwells within you?

14:44 what changes are you making in your own life to repair the damages that some of you have countered over the years and over the last few decades? Don't get it twisted about the story of Jehoiada, the priest, and King Joash. when King Joash asked the priest to repair the temple and he did not listen. We have to remember that they were allies, not enemies. And can I go a step further? if it was not for Jehoiada, the priest, Joash wouldn't have been king of Judah.

15:38 Matter of fact, Jehoiada, the priest, protected Joash when he was a little boy from being killed at the liab, who was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. And he was the one that called the nation to gather around and to accept one king.

16:00 So King Joash literally owed Jehoiada the priest his life. The point is that sometimes it is the people who helped you along the way who are going to be the ones that prevent you from making the change in your life. and sometimes it is the people who are closest to you, who love you, who care for you, but they pacify you from making lifestyle changes to get the God's glory in your life. And some of you have suffered damages from relationships and you're walking around like you're all fine and dandy. And some of you have suffered the trauma of seeing your loved ones lose their lives during the pandemic. You need repair. And some of your moods have changed since this COVID-19 has started, and you no longer are showing the love of God to people who need it the most. And some of your financial insecurities have forced you to put your faith in things instead of the God that has guided you this far. And some of your job insecurities and the transitions that you've had to make, you're now so focused on your needs that you have forgotten about the God that he put you in the midst of all these people that you have to give them instructions. And some of you ministers have stopped preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ because of all the hell that you've been through. And so no longer do some of you have that hope that everybody used to see in you. When we walked around you, you used to be the one to

18:09 encourage us and that's all gone because of the injustices that you've seen in the world. The hope for a better world is gone and some of you have health issues that you've been through so much that you've allowed yourself to no longer want to go to the doctor. Sisters and brothers, we need repair and God wants to repair God's temple. And the only way that we can do so is by investing money, time, energy, and resources to getting it done. And so family, I say to you that if you are serious about making the repair, you have to shake yourself up and do something about it. Repair is not going to meet you where you're at.

19:07 You have to shake yourself and say, loose me. I'm ready to go. Go to the gym. Go to the doctor. Go to the psychiatrist. Go get you connected to your family and your loved ones. Get yourself checked and get your repair done for the kingdom of God. so the Lord wants the church to repair the damages so they can be the beacon of light for the world and meet the needs of people in the 21st century and beyond and the Lord wants us to get our lives together and repair the damages that's been done to us by people situations and life experiences that stripped us away from the hopefulness in our faith in Jesus Christ. And the Lord is not calling us to restoration because God wants us to look good. I know many of you look good, but the point of restoration is not for you to just look good with your beautiful suits and your nice Rolexes and your jewelry and your beautiful cars. No, no, no, no. God wants us to repair so that he can get us to go out there and transform the world. That is the commitment that we have to have. God is investing time and energy in us because it's not about us, but it's about the world. And the world is in pain and we are losing our youth. And people in the church are so hurt and people that are not in the church are church hurt. And there is a deeper need for us to go into every nick and cranny and connect with God's people. And those are the ones who are oppressed and marginalized and suppressed and forgotten and repressed.

21:12 and those are the ones that God is calling us to. If we're going to make a difference in the world and the lives of people, we first have to start with our church and our bodies, which is the temple of God. And ministers, some of you have been so ineffective because you also need repairing. You've removed yourself and you've distanced yourself from the people that God has called you to minister to, to love, to partner with, to advocate on their behalf. You thought it was all about you and God is saying that he needs you and your needs will be met in your obedience to his will and the advancement of his kingdom. And some of you can't even invent a hot dog because you need repair.

22:09 It ain't about us. It's about the kingdom of God. It is about the people who are suffering. It's about the people who need to know we care. It's about the people who need to know we're alive and we care about their beings. And we represent God when we are in the world. and once the church has been reconstructed to meet the will of God and free ourselves from the harm of people doctrines and mindsets we must begin to transform this world I love the scripture that says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be the children of God Lord God called us to be peacemakers not peacekeepers peacekeepers are the ones that love status quo they're the ones that like things to stay the way it is but peacemakers are the ones that say get up I know you're down wake up cause the Lord is here to protect you the Lord is here to guide you and no matter what the enemy throws in our face we are going to prevail Lord says in his word that he will never believe us or forsake us. When we talk about transforming the world, we talk about good trouble. And a lot of times, people like to give it to John Lewis and say, John Lewis said that we need to create good trouble. But I know a man by the name of Jesus who was creating good trouble a long time ago. He was challenging authorities and speaking up for the poor.

23:51 He was flipping over tables and telling people we needed to stand for something. He gave power to men and women and people and told them, go out to the world and change this world and call down the kingdom of God. I know a man named Jesus who calls us to transform the world with the power he's given us. And so as I got ready to go to my seat, sisters and brothers, I want you to realize when King Joash said he was going to build the temple, the people gave. and even when Jehoiada the prince, the priest tried to delay the project the people continued to give and when the king decided to bypass the priest and hire a new group of people to build the temple the people gave even more I want you to know that when you decide to invest in the repairing of the church and the temple of God, that God will ensure that people help you achieve your goal. God is saying that God will send them your way to invest in you and the building of the church the way God wants it to be. Alpha Street Baptist family, I want you to know that I've also been repairing my temple. I'm headed into my final year at Princeton Theological Seminary, but prior to that, I ran a statewide nonprofit organization where we did faith-based community organizing. I worked with Muslims, and I worked with Jews,

26:00 and I worked with Christians and I worked with people of no faith to advance a public policy on the local, county, and statewide level. We worked with our national partners on the federal level to advance U.S. policy at the U.S. Congress. It was a rewarding job and every day I felt that I was doing the work of the Lord. I was the first black executive director of my job. I was making good money. Thank you, Lord. I had a good staff that were trailblazing and loved justice. And I had a network of people that were also trailblazing in the name of justice and helping God's people all around. However, the Lord done came my way. And he said, Archange, you got to get up and you got to go to seminary. Brothers and sisters, I'll be lying if I told you that that everything was all good. It wasn't all good because I didn't want to go to seminary. I didn't see the importance of making the investment of my life. The people around me thought I was crazy for even considering leaving my job because I had so much control over the organization.

27:24 I had a board of trustee that supported me and my vision for the organization. How many of you know that at every time of our life that as Christians, we cannot make carnal decisions, but we must be in tune with what the Lord is saying? I was nervous, church family. I got to be honest. I was nervous about my finances. I said, Lord, why are you doing this to me? I was a good steward in saving my money. Now you want me to go to a school that doesn't even want me to work. And so here I had this anxiety of running out of money. I had to figure out how my basic needs were going to be met and how I was going to continue to provide for my family and pay the mortgage and work and help my mom who just retired. This anxiousness was capping in all of me.

28:18 But there comes to a time in all of our lives where we're going to have to determine whether we're going to talk about faith or we're going to live faith. And I made the decision that I left everything alone. And I'm here to tell you that the Lord not only provided all of my needs, but the Lord, I was so dumbfounded, but he exceeded my finances abundantly. Not only was I able to take care of everything, I had more money than I ever had. God had to show me that are you going to serve me by your voice or you're going to serve me by your actions and sisters and brothers we have to make that same decision every day as hard as it is let's be obedient to the lord let's build the church that surpasses tradition and meets the needs of god's people and helps bring a liberating gospel to people around the nation in the world.

29:45 Let's make the investment in our lives, especially the ones we know we have to make and repair the damages that's been done to us over the years. Let's get our hearts and our bodies and our minds redirected and back to God's will because remember, it's about transforming the world and when we do this God will send us the help