Ascension Family and Friends, Bible Study for Thursday, March 19, 2020 is cancelled.
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Sermon Notes – March 8, 2020
March 8, 2020
KEEPING YOUR FOOTING WHEN THINGS ARE CRUMBLING AROUND YOU
Psalm 11
Just about every day something is happening locally, nationally, or globally that serves as a reminder that we are living in troublesome times. Any rational, reasonable person would conclude that the problems that we are experiencing in this country and around the world are concerning. We’re now wrestling with a global outbreak of the coronavirus, with no vaccine to treat it—that’s concerning. There is a toxic political climate in this country. Our leaders are fighting with each other, while the issues that are plaguing the nation—health care, education, good paying jobs, reducing crime, getting guns off the streets, are not being addressed—this is concerning. On a personal level, we have reason for concern. You can prepare yourself, map out your plans, and in the blink of an eye, things can go in a different direction. It can happen with your heath. It can happen with your marriage and your family. Just the other night, right up the road in Middle Tennessee, people went to bed with no idea that a deadly tornado was going to tear through their communities, and leave the lives of so many changed forever—that’s concerning. Things can happen that will cause you to come unglued, make you feel like the bottom has dropped out—I’m talking about things you can’t control. Yes, we are living in some very troubling times. And in this psalm David is also troubled by what was taking place in his world. We are uncertain of the historical setting of this psalm, but we do know that David was experiencing some terrible ordeal that was very concerning to him, because of the danger it posed for his nation and for the people of God. It appeared that the very foundations of the kingdom were crumbling beneath him. We can identify with what David was feeling, Can’t we? Now the question is posed to him, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” That’s a good question isn’t it? Well, let me ask you, “What can you do when it seems that everything meaningful is crumbling right beneath your feet?” Here are some things we learn from the psalmist:
Be careful of who you turn to for advice. When David’s crisis arose—and let me say this, even though David was God’s anointed, he was not exempt from trouble. You know that being a Christian does not exempt you from difficulties and trials. There will be times when we will have to face adversity. But in David’s case, when disaster struck, his counselors immediately advised him to leave Jerusalem and “flee to your mountain” (v.1). Listen, when adversity strikes, be careful of who you turn to for advice—be careful who you listen to. David’s counselors were not bad people; they were just walking by sight. In adversity, you need spiritual counselors. Peter was walking by sight when he tried to counsel Jesus not to talk about dying on the cross (Mark 3:32). That was bad advice. David’s counselors were afraid because they saw dangerous conditions and crumbling foundations. But listen to the psalmist, “In the Lord I put my trust; how can you say to my soul, ‘flee…” (v.1). David was saying, “I believe the Lord will see me through. How many of you believe that? We have to learn to trust God in all situations.
When things are tough, instead of giving up, try looking up. The psalmist says this in verse 4, “The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven…” The temple represents God’s presence amongst His people. His throne in heaven represents His sovereign power. When was the last time you thought about looking up? Isaiah looked up and saw the Lord on His throne, high and lifted up (Isa. 6:1). Instead of giving up, try looking up. When you look around, you see problems; but when you look up, you see the answer to problems. God will help you keep your footing when things are crumbling around you, because He is in control—“He’s in His holy temple, His throne is in heaven.” He’s sovereign, and His power is not diminished by anything that’s going on in this world or in your life. Instead of giving up, try looking up!
In the end God’s justice will prevail. Finally, when things seem to be out of hand, David offers some things in these remaining verses (vv.4b-7) that should enhance our perspective. First, God observes all that people do (v. 4b). Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place…” And then God “examines both the righteous and the wicked” (vv. 4c-5). Some never consider their accountability to the Lord. They feel as if they can live their lives however they please and not be accountable to anyone. But God sees and God will examine or test every life. And in the end, His justice will prevail (vv.6-7). There will be a day of reckoning. The wicked will not win or get away. The wicked will one day stand before God, and face destruction—coals, fire, brimstone, burning wind is how the psalmist describes their day. But concerning the righteous, God tests will become a refining fire. In other words, God does not shield us from every trial, but He will use our troubles to bring out the best in us. And this is the result: David said, “The righteous shall see His face” (v.7).
It’s time for celebration now!
No matter what’s going on, don’t forget that one day, “The righteous shall see His face!”
When storm clouds hang low, remember the righteous shall see His face!
When your problems seem big, remember the righteous shall see His face!
When your journey seems long, remember the righteous shall see His face!
When you’re condemned and criticized, remember the righteous shall see His face!
Is there anybody here who wants to see His face?”
“If you trust Him, keep the faith, and live right, you will see His face!”
I don’t know about you, but I want to see Jesus!
Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith!
Jesus, who said I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, ye may be also!
Jesus, who died out on Calvary, but arose early Sunday morning!
Sermon Notes – March 1, 2020
March 1, 2020
A VISIT TO THE POTTER’S HOUSE
Jeremiah 18:1-6
The Old Testament Parable of the Potter and the Clay is essentially a picture or illustration of how God works in our lives. In this parable the clay actually represented the people of Judah, but this representation can also be applied to you and I. Clay has no value in and of itself; but it can become something of great value if it is placed in the right hands. Nobody can calculate the potential of a life that has been touched by the Lord’s hands. Let’s take a trip with Jeremiah down to the potter’s house. As we stand in the doorway looking in, we see a craftsman sitting in front of two parallel stone wheels that are joined by a shaft. The potter is turning the bottom wheel with his feet and working a lump of clay on the top wheel. The potter is transforming a simple lump of clay into a useful vessel. As we think about how God deals with us, there are some of the lessons we can take from this visual of the potter working with the clay. First, the potter’s work on the wheel illustrates the fact that:
Our lives are in the hands of Someone who genuinely values us.
God shapes our lives with a vision in mind.
Real transformation results only from the Master’s molding ministry.
Sermon Notes- February 16, 2020
February 16, 2020
LIVING TO CAPACITY
Joshua 17:14-18
Beginning with chapter 13 of the book of Joshua, we have the division of the Promised Land to the various tribes of Israel. After seven years of battle, the major strongholds in Canaan have been dismantled, the land is distributed, and the people are to finish taking and settling into the land. Canaan—the Promised Land, is not a type or picture of heaven, but it represents living the victorious Christian life, which is inclusive of battles and blessings. God wanted Israel to possess all that He had given to them. And He wants the same for His people today. He wants you to live on the level of God’s provision for you. God want you to live to capacity—nothing less. But here in this passage, the descendants of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are examples of some who failed to maximize their potential. We learn from their mistakes what it takes for us to live to capacity. First of all:
Our attitude must be right (verse 14)
If we want more, we must be faithful right where we are (verses 15-16)
We must believe that what God has promised He is able to do (verses 17-18)
Sermon Notes – February 2 , 2020
February 2, 2020
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING
Romans 11:33-36
One of the common responses to life’s trials and tragedies is to want to know why such things happen. The recent death of Kobe Bryant, along with his 13-year old daughter and seven other persons in a helicopter crash is just one example. Huge numbers of people are still struggling to process this tragedy. So many times we simply want to understand why things like this happen, and God just doesn’t reveal the reasons to us. But when life doesn’t seem to make sense, those who know God have to trust that He knows what He’s doing. Corrie Ten Boom, author and Holocaust survivor, wrote, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” It’s no different with life. We have to trust God farther than we can “see.” “We walk by faith, and not by sight,” (2 Co 5:7). Our God is awesome! It has been said that, “What truly defines us is what we think of God. At the end of Romans 11, Paul moves from theology to doxology (praise). After completing a lengthy section of doctrinal teaching, including how the death and resurrection of Jesus makes it possible to be righteous before a holy God through faith in Jesus Christ, and how we are to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh, and how God plans to incorporate both the Jews and Gentiles into His kingdom; Paul then paused to consider the greatness of a God who could accomplish all of these things, before completing the last part of his letter. The God that Paul celebrates is a God who knows what He’s doing, even when life is mysterious and doesn’t make sense. And in his doxology, Paul points out some basic truths that give us reasons to praise God:
God’s perspective is complete, but ours is limited (verses 33-34)
God doesn’t owe us anything, but we owe Him everything (verse 35)
The world does not revolve around us it revolves around God (verse 36)
Sermon Notes – January 26, 2020
January 26, 2020
SPIRIT-LED MINISTRY: WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Acts 16:1-12
If you are familiar with the old westerns, you probably remember seeing the self-defense approach or strategy the pioneers used called, “Circling the wagons.” They would form their wagon train into a circle so that the people could camp inside and keep Indians and wild animals out. Today, some people see the church as a circle of wagons, protecting them from the world around them. That was not Jesus’ intention for the church. He taught His disciples to reach out to those on the outside. In case you didn’t know it, the church is not here to keep people safe from the world; the church is here to change the world. We’re not here to hide from the world; we’re here to offer hope to the world. That was the major focus of Paul’s ministry. No other person, with the exception of Jesus Himself, shaped the history of Christianity like the apostle Paul. Before his conversion, little had been done to take the gospel to non-Jews. But after Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, he dedicated his life to taking the gospel throughout the Roman Empire, which included three missionary journeys. In Acts chapter 16, Paul was just beginning his second missionary journey. The purpose was to visit the churches that had been established on his first campaign. After revisiting these churches, Paul had a vision for greater outreach. He wanted to take the Gospel into new territory. It’s great to have a vision; it’s great to want to see Kingdom expansion, and it’s great to be a part of helping to change lives; but this passage gives us insight into what Spirit-led ministry looks like. One of the first things that jumps out in the text is this:
The Holy Spirit will supply the workers that are needed. Before Paul could begin this second mission trip, he had already lost two members of his team. Barnabas and John Mark had gone in a different direction. When it comes to ministry, we cannot accomplish all that God has given us to do without people to help us. And for ministry to be successful, we need the right people. Paul replaced Barnabas with Silas, and when they arrived in Lystra, The Holy Spirit guided Paul to a young believer by the name of Timothy. Timothy had probably gotten saved during Paul’s first visit to Lystra. Now look at what it says in verses 2 and 3: “Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey.” We don’t know much about Timothy’s skills, talents or education. What we do know is that he had proven himself to be faithful to the Lord. The Lord is not concerned about your abilities—He’ll take care of that; but what He looks at is your faithfulness. Paul invested in Timothy, and trained Timothy to invest in others, so that more and more people would be equipped to do ministry. We see in verse 5 that with the right team in place, the church was strengthened spiritually and continued to grow.
The Holy Spirit will direct us to the right opportunities for ministry. After visiting the churches he had founded, Paul did not wait for directions from God on where he was to go next. He went to the most logical place. He went to where he thought there would be an opportunity. But verses 6-8 tell us that when Paul tried to enter the province of Asia, the Holy Spirit stopped him. And then when he tried to go north into Bithynia, the Spirit closed the door again. God will sometimes open doors, and then sometimes He will close doors. He will open and close doors to direct us to what His will is. You may have things all planned out. You are going this way. You’re convinced that God’s will is this way. And then you get a phone call that changes the course of your life. Your boss tells you that they’re downsizing, and your job has been eliminated. The Holy Spirit stopped Paul, because God had something else for him to do. And what we see is that Paul was in tune with God, and dependent on His leading. Spirit-led ministry is sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, ready to change plans or direction at the Spirit’s instructions.
We have to be ready to act when we are called to our tasks. The Lord can use a variety of means to reveal to us the tasks He’s calling us to. In this case, we’re told that Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia, who was begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us, (v.9).” This vision convinced them that God wanted them to go to Macedonia and preach Jesus. So, what did they do? They got on a ship and headed for Macedonia. They acted on the revelation they received. Once you have determined the will of God, what’s your next step? Your next step is to do it! Once His instructions are clear, we don’t need to sit around and talk anymore. It’s time to get up and get busy! When we get busy with Spirit-led ministry, great things will happen! The Lord will open doors for us! The Lord opened a door for Paul in Macedonia and many souls were saved. It started with a woman named Lydia and her household; next it was a demon-possessed slave girl; and then it was the jailer who was guarding Paul and Silas, and his family.
You ought to want to see people saved!
No, we can’t reach everybody, but we can reach somebody!
The Lord has need of workers to till His fields today, so kindly He has led me to walk in wisdom’s way; I pray for grace to help me with all my heart to say, O blessed Savior count on me!
Can He count on you today?
Sermon Notes – January 19, 2020
January 19, 2020
THE CHURCH IS BETTER WHEN WE’RE ALL TOGETHER
Ephesians 4:3-12
When it comes to believers, unity or oneness, is being on the same page spiritually.
Before coming to chapter 4 of Ephesians, Paul has explained to his readers about God’s
great mystery and plan for His church, and he has prayed a powerful prayer that they
might know all of Christ’ love and all of His blessings. In chapter 4, Paul deals
extensively with the call for unity among believers. Many of the challenges that churches
were confronted with in Paul’s day are not very different from the challenges of the
church today. One of the major problems that the early church had to deal with was the
problem of disunity. Sadly, disunity—divisiveness—disharmony are clearly problems
that continue to hinder our ability as the body of Christ to show the world who Jesus truly
is. Today’s text offers several insights with regards to oneness. First:
- Our lives ought to communicate the conviction that the Body of Christ is one (verses
1-6). - Every believer is gifted in their own way to serve this one body (verses 6-7).
- The expected outcome of our unity is spiritual development (verses11-13).
Sermon Notes – January 12, 2020
January 12, 2020
BEING IN THE PLACE WHERE GOD WANTS YOU TO BE
Genesis 35:1-7
One of our greatest struggles as believers is surrendering our wills to the Lord and following Him to the place where He wants us to be. When we are not in the place of our appointment, which is the place where God wants us to be, then we cannot be as productive or effective for the Kingdom. In fact, we can find ourselves moving farther away from God. In today’s text, that was Jacob’s experience. God had met with Jacob at a place called Bethel, when Jacob was running from his brother Esau. Jacob had vowed that if the Lord would bring him back safely to his own land, then God would be his God. God did His part, but when He brought Jacob safely home to Canaan, Jacob did not return to Bethel—the place God wanted him to be, but he settled in a place called Shechem. When Jacob recognized the consequences of going his own way, he decided to go to Bethel—the place God wanted Him to be. As we look at this passage about Jacob’s journey to Bethel, we glean several insights:
We have to listen when God is speaking to us (verse 1).
We must get rid of the stuff that hinders our spiritual focus (verse2, 4).
We must acknowledge God with our worship (verses 3, 6-7).
Sunday Bulletin – January 2020
2020 Theme: Embracing God’s Vision In 2020
A Church That’s All In
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your min, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
(Romans 12:1-2 NKJV)
Ascension M.B. Church
3000 New Allen Rd
Memphis, TN 38128
(901) 383-8285
Willie S. Williams, Jr., M.S.; M.A.R.
Pastor & Founder
January 1-31, 2020
Order of Worship Service
(Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving)
Call To Worship
(Ministers)
Scripture & Prayer
(Men of Ascension)
Praise & Worship
Recognition Of Guests
(Sis. Joyce Thomas)
Worship Thru Song
Pastoral Period
Worship Thru Giving
(Deacons)
Worship Through Song
The Spoken Word
Pastor Willie S. Williams, Jr.
Call To Discipleship
(Pulpit)
Altar Call and Intercessory Prayer
(Pulpit)
Pulpit
(Communion/1st Sunday)
Benediction
***
Article 1
Of The Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of the heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.
Weekly Calendar
Worship
Enrichment Hour Adults — 9:00 AM
Enrichment Hour Youth — 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Couples Class – Every 5th Sunday — 9:00 AM
Morning Worship 10:30 AM
Prayer Service: Thursday @ 5:45 p.m.
Lesson For Life: Thursday @ 6:15 p.m.
Choir Rehearsals
Mass – Thursday Before 1st & 2nd Sun @ 7:30 PM
Youth/Young Adult – Thursday before 4th Sunday @ 7:30 PM
Male Chorus – 8:30 AM on Saturday Before 3rd Sunday
Praise Team – Tuesday before 2nd & 3rd Sunday
Ministry Meetings
S/s Teachers – 4th Saturday – @ 9:00 AM
Ministry Leader’s Meeting — TBA
PUSHPAY
TEXT: 77977
MESSAGE: Ascensionmb give
http://www.ascensionbaptist901.org
info@ascensionbaptist901.org
Sermon Notes – January 5, 2020
EMBRACING GOD’S VISION IN 2020: A CHURCH THAT’S ALL IN
Romans 12:1-2
As we begin a brand new year, some of you are excitedly setting new goals for 2020. You’re ready to take on new challenges. You’re ready to conquer new territory. What a great place to be! But there are some, for them; the beginning of 2020 is a time to push the reset button, a time to refocus, it’s a time to get things back on track. God wants 2020 to be a great year for you. And He has a plan for each and every one of you. In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, he dedicated most of it to doctrinal teaching. But in the last section, chapters 12-16, Paul’s focus shifts from the doctrinal to the practical, from what we should believe, to how we should live in this world. As we look at the first two verses of Romans chapter 12, Paul shares some principles with us that, for those who will embrace them, they will position us for a great year in 2020. Here is the point: “If you want to be blessed and live up to your potential in 2020, you’re going to have to embrace God’s vision for you.” Here’s what that looks like:
You have to give yourself to the Lord completely (v.1)
The Lord is only interested in living sacrifices (v.1)
The Lord’s vision for us is transformation and renewal (v.2)