baptized into the beauty of blackness

Good morning Peace Fellowship family

for those who don't know me or if you're working with us the very first time,

my name is Pastor Delonte Gholston, I serve as

the lead pastor here. Peace Fellowship Church.

We're so glad that you joined us this morning for worship.

I want to give a special shout out to Minister Jeremy Berkeley

and his team for leading us in musical worship this morning.

What a wonderful job.

What a wonderful way to bring us into the presence of God this morning.

I'm so grateful

to God for you and your team, especially for filling in for minister jo

as as minister Zhou and qi laura takes some time of rest and recuperation

and recovery

this week we're praying for you low

praying for you. Minister jo

God will fully heal

and be present with you right now

and and and and every day

we thank God we thank

well, it's good to be together, beloved. Um

you may have noticed that I'm wearing a hoodie

this morning.

I'm not,

I'm not wearing my hoodie because because it's cold or because of snow last night.

I'm not wearing it as a fashion statement

this morning, I'm reminded

that last week was

the birthday of Trayvon martin

who we know was killed

florida

by George Zimmerman

2013.

So I I wanted to honor his birthday. He would have been 27 years old

on his birthday. I wanted to honor him.

I also wanted to take a moment to honor

the life of Sandra Bland as well

Who also had a birthday this past week, she would have been 35 years old.

So before we move on

to the preaching moment,

but it would

not robbery, not be robbery for us.

Take a moment

Black history month to just pause and to and to remember

hold some space and some silence.

I love ones

many of home

continue

to greed

as the process is a long process of healing for each of us.

We heard just this past week, of course the sentencing of the vigilante killers

of a modern library as well.

And so we want to

just hold a moment of silence

for

the life of Trayvon martin, Sandra bland and so many others

we've lost in this season.

You'll you'll see the words of Ella jo baker

That which that were out of the 1964

just as true then as they are today,

she simply says, until the killing of black

men,

black mothers sons

becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of white mothers sons.

We believe in freedom

cannot rest until that happens.

And I would answer that until the killing of

black women,

black trans

loved ones

to the killing of all black

lives, two homicides and our streets. Until those into those murders matter

just as much as

Arora, just as much as Newtown in every town,

right?

We who believe in freedom

cannot rest.

Let's hold a moment

of silence

for all those

who will be lost and simply recognize that all Black lives matter.

Amen.

Amen

for those who

we're journeying with us. Last week we started a series

for Black History month and we're simply calling

that series, basking in the beauty

of Blackness,

basking in the beauty

Blackness.

I would invite you to open your bibles, your tablet,

your cellphones and journey with me as we

turn to the word of God for the people of God.

This morning there is a word from God for the people of God

that's found in

no callbacks.

We're going to read

In the 8th chapter.

What thus sayeth the Lord,

agree with me.

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip

get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This is a wilderness road.

Somebody say wilderness road.

So we got up and went

and now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the canvas,

Queen of the Ethiopians in charge of her treasury.

He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home,

seated in his chariot. He was reading the prophet Isaiah

and then the Spirit said to Philip, go over to this chariot and join it.

So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah?

He asked,

do you understand

what you are reading?

He replied, How can I

unless someone guides me?

And he invited

he being the eunuch invited Philip to get in and sit beside him

and the passage of scripture that he was reading, was this

like a sheep? He was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearers, so he does not open his mouth

in his humiliation. Justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation

for his life is taken away from the earth?

The Union

asked Philip.

About whom may I ask you? Does the prophet say this

about himself

or about someone else?

Then Philip began to speak. And starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him

good news

about

jesus.

They were going along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,

look here is some water.

What is to prevent me from being baptized,

command of the chariot to stop. And both of them

Philip. And the eunuch

went down into the water,

and Philip

baptized him

the time that we have together this morning.

Want to preach and teach. I really just want to teach.

Not really lead to preach so much as teacher

around the topic or subject with thought baptized into the beauty

of blackness,

baptized into the Beauty!

Blackness

won't you pray with me, Please

Spirit of the living God!

We need you Lord to fall a fresh upon your word.

Follow pressure.

Follow fresh upon thy servant,

all of fresh even upon me.

All the fresh upon the hearers and listeners of this

word that we might be not only hearers and listeners,

but do. Was also

may the words of my mouth and the meditations of

my heart be found to be acceptable in thy sight.

Oh Lord, you are our strength and our demon

in jesus name.

Amen,

baptized

in

beauty.

Blackness,

baptized

in

Beauty

of

blackness.

As we look at our text this morning, we find ourselves

in the book of luke acts, which was a two volume book

that was written by, by luke, the physician, luke takes great care

to make sure that we don't miss any details. He writes this book,

addressing

both jews and gentiles in the early

church.

And what I love about luke is that luke in both luke and acts.

The spirit is always on the move.

The spirit is always speaking, drawing

God's people beyond the borders.

So you'll find that in luke,

you'll find more of an emphasis on class divides because

the spirit is leading us to stretch across class divides.

You'll find that in luke,

you'll find more women mentioned in luke's gospel than any other gospel and

luke's gospel. You'll find

more references to the liberation

uh, to a, to a gospel of liberal liberation that you'll find in any other gospel

and in this particular Perica p in this particular story

And in Acts Chapter eight,

we find that the spirit of God that an angel of God has led Philip one of the disciples,

one of the early disciples of jesus who is now an apostle

of the church,

you'll find that the spirit is leading,

he's leading philipp

to an Ethiopian

uh unit.

And and the first thing I want us to see or recognize in the text. As we look at the text,

it says that the angel of the Lord

spook

to Philip and said get up and go toward the south

to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza,

this is a wilderness road.

And so he got up and went

and there was an Ethiopian unit

court official of the Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians in charge

of her treasury.

First thing I want us to see and recognize in the text

is that first, God

beckons

God beckons

for each of us. God is still speaking. God is still calling. God

beckons us

when God.

And one of the things I want us to know is that whenever God calls,

whenever God speaks, whenever god moves whenever God ministers ministers to you,

you ought to know that you are not going to be called into a comfortable place.

The way that you know that God is speaking with one of

the ways that we know that God is calling is that God

doesn't call

qualified, but God always qualifies the call

when God speaks to Abraham, God says to Abraham, go to the place where I will send you,

God doesn't even give abraham an address to where God is calling Abraham.

But God says go to the place where I will send you

God when God calls David. David is not a king.

David is not even in the line of kings, but David is out tending sheep,

somebody else's king.

Saul is king.

But God calls David and anoints David and places David into the line of kingship.

Even while somebody else

is on the throne, moses when he is called is a murderer.

When he's called moses and nobody is a murderer, he is, he is, he is,

he has transgressed the will and the law of God.

But yet God calls, when paul is called paul is a terrorist paul

as a persecutor of the body of christ.

But God calls him

anyway, when Amos is called, he's out in a field

ah he's a nobody,

but God calls him

anyway.

When Philip is called, All we know about Philip,

we find in john's gospel, john's records in uh in john chapter one,

verses 43 to 50 all we know about Philip is that Philip

is from Bethsaida where the man is healed and where the,

where the man who has an infirmity is healed

at the pool of Bethsaida. All we know about Philip is that Jesus sees Philip

in galilee

that Jesus calls Philip and and that Philip simply responds, Jesus says,

come and follow me and Phillip

follows Jesus and then Philip turns around as soon as Philip

is called Philip then turns around to Nathaniel and says,

I want you to come and see this man from galilee.

We learned two things about Philip,

even though we don't really know much about Philip,

we learned that Phillip is obedient to the voice of God

and that Philip is ready to invite others into what he has experienced.

We don't know where really much else about the life of Philip,

except that when jesus calls, when God speaks,

Philip

responds, and not only does Philip respond when jesus says

follow me, but then Philip wants to call somebody else and says come and see

about what I have now experience.

So that begs the question in our lives,

what is God calling you

to do? Where is God calling you,

Philip is called. The text says that the angel of God speaks to Philip and calls

phillips

down a wilderness road, down a difficult path

down a difficult journey to a difficult person to an Ethiopian

unique.

But where is God calling you? Who is God calling you to? Where is that?

What is the wilderness road that God is calling you to in your life?

Is God calling you to love somebody that's difficult

to love?

Is God calling you to to to minister to somebody or in a place that you don't want to go,

is God calling you to uproot your life and to move into a season of uncertainty.

Where is God beckoning you, How is God calling you?

The voice of God is still speaking and this time in this text,

God calls Phillip

an uneducated man Philip, a man from galilee

to minister to and to and to cross a divide.

To minister to an educated man and to minister to a black

man.

As I said in luke acts, the spirit of God is always transgressing.

The spirit of God is always crossing boundaries. What are the boundaries?

What are the barriers that God is calling you to cross?

God calls Phillip to, to to minister to Philip.

What we know about Philip and all the disciples is that they're not wealthy,

but yet God calls Phillip

a poor man to minister to a rich man.

God calls Phillip a galilean

to minister to an Ethiopian.

God calls Phillip a heterosexual man to minister to a eunuch.

But we know here's what we know about eunuchs.

What we know about eunuchs. First thing we know about eunuchs

uh is that they're not welcome

into

the house of God.

Eunuchs are those that either one of two things took place.

Either they they their genitalia were crushed

uh and they were made to be servants for the rest of their lives

and entered into a life of servitude or servant

of servant hood or servitude

or

they were born as intersects

they were they were born with more than one sexual organ and

were therefore made to be servants for for their entire lives.

And so God is calling Philip God is calling

Philip? The spirit? The angel of God is calling

Philip to to not only cross a class barrier, not only to cross a racial barrier,

but also to cross a gender

Barrier. Here is what we read in Deuteronomy chapter 20

three about

eunuchs,

No one

whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off,

shall be admitted into the assembly

of the Lord.

Let's keep reading.

Those born of an illicit union

shall not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.

Even to the 10th generation, none of their descendants shall be admitted

into

the assembly

of

the Lord.

And so here's where God beckons God

Becca's. Now I I wanted to read diverse one and verse two because the truth be told

if if where, whereas we may not be a eunuch, we may not have been born with

multiple organs or intersects.

We may not have had our testicles crushed.

Um, as the text says, but many of us,

we're born for what we may have,

what may be described as an illicit union are in our community.

Many of us are born out of wedlock and untraditional relationships and

untraditional partnerships and based upon the law of

moses that would have disqualified any of us

from being able to enter into worship to

be able to experience the fullness of worship.

So before we just focus on one aspect of exclusion.

Let's be able to see ourselves in the text because

in most of our families, I know we have somebody,

but you may not have somebody who identifies as non binary or somebody was intersex,

but we most certainly have somebody in our families

and we may be the one in our families.

Can I get one witness

who, who,

who is a part of what of what the law would have thought of as an illicit union?

Can I get one witnesses anybody willing to just be honest,

that we ourselves would have been prevented from fellowship?

And so in our text,

Philip is called to this black man to this man with education and class. He's reading

he has authority, He has power. He works for the Queen of Ethiopia.

The canvas as she is called in that time,

Philip is called to correct

cross that class divide,

To cross that educational divide,

to cross

that gender divide

and to and to and to minister to

this Ethiopian unit. So, first,

first God beckons.

But then

God beckons. But I want to suggest to us that you

that me that we

are

the bridge.

Somebody say, I'm the bridge.

Somebody say on the bridge,

let's look at the text,

text says. And the spirit, here's the spirit beckoning and calling

fill up. Yet again.

The spirit says to Philip go over, go over to this chariot and join it.

And so Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and asked him,

do you understand what?

You are reading this again.

This is Philip that we found in John's Gospel, John 143 through 50,

jesus says, follow me, Phillip follows right? We learned about Phillip.

He's obedient to the voice of God,

but not only is Philip that we learn about Philip's character,

that Philip is obedient, but Philip is also an evangelist.

He Philip is has the personality and is shaped and formed

by God as one that as soon as he obeys God,

he invites others in

and so he is a bridge. God calls us according to our unique abilities.

And so I want to invite you to consider the ways in which you might be a bridge.

What are the ways in which you might be called to be a bridge?

The spirit says go over to the chariot and join it. So Philip runs

into it

and and and and and and asks him, what

are you, Do you understand what you are reading? He replies,

How can I unless someone guides me?

And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

All right, what does it look like for us to sit in

the shoes of someone that we don't know

that we don't understand?

What does it look like for us to sit with and to journey with

someone,

to walk in someone else's shoes, to journey with and to and to invite

to sit with before we can welcome

before we can truly uh make a move of liberation.

The first thing that we're invited to do is to begin to sit with

one of the most transformative experiences in my life when I

was organizing with black lives matter and doing police accountability work.

There was a sister transistor, her name was Chela

and Stella was born and raised in the church.

Uh, and Stella was born as a man but cello was trans And so she was,

she was making a journey and walking out her identity

as a trans woman as a black trans woman.

Chelo was also uh in transitional housing. She was living living in S. R. O. Housing.

Chela

struggled and and and and and and

and endured

and was struggling with mental health

challenges because of her oppression and constant

victimization as being a black trans woman.

But she

wasn't an incredibly and is an incredibly powerful organizer

in Los Angeles

On the streets shallow grabbed grabbed the mic on the streets when

we had an encampment for 58 days holding the LAPD accountable uh,

in in in L.

A.

For the killing of

a cell ford

and many others.

It was Chela who held down our encampment and our tent city and kept us

organized and made sure everybody had food and make sure that people were loved on.

And as we began to get to know each other myself as a, as a,

as a cis gendered black man and and Chela as

as as as a trans woman.

I noticed that as we began to talk together and pray together,

the walls began to fall down and my interpretation and understanding of scripture,

I began to God began to reveal God's self to me in new ways.

I can't say that I was there yet, right? I can't say that I was fully

affirming and of trans people because I wasn't at that time.

But what I was willing to do was to get in the chariot with

with chela.

What I was willing to do was ask Stella asked me questions about scripture,

to give her my understanding of scripture

and to hear her understanding of scripture.

What I was willing to do was to respect her enough

to if she wanted me to identify her with her pronouns.

I learned

to use the pronouns that she wanted me to use.

How do they love for her? Out of the respect for out of relationship

for her? And so each of us listen, I don't know where you are on the journey,

right? But we have trans loved ones in Dean.

Would we have non binary gender,

nonconforming loved ones and our community gender nonconforming simply

means that someone doesn't feel like they were born,

like they are living in the body that they were born in,

right? And and I would just posit this biologically for just a moment,

if it is possible,

if we know that it is possible

For people to be born

intersects with more than one

Uh genitalia again with more than one sexual organ.

How far fetched is it

2? Therefore believe that it is possible

for someone to be born with the sense that they are living in

uh in in in in the body that they were not born to live in.

If we know that it is possible for someone to be born with multiple sexual organs.

Is it that far of a stretch to walk with someone to get into the chariot with someone to

to journey with someone

who is telling you

that they are experiencing

gender confusion or they are experiencing

not being at home

in their birth body.

And I would offer that that each of us should take the time

to sit to get in the chariot to do what Philip did and to and to be a bridge to get

into the chariot

with

with with the eunuchs in our midst with the

with the non binary trans loved ones into sex,

loved ones,

gender. Nonconforming loved ones. In

in our midst.

Many of you have seen the movie

Selma

I'm wearing

today. I'm wearing

those. You can see I'm wearing a hoodie from E. J. I. The Equal justice initiative.

I was privileged clear and our privilege to go down to Birmingham Alabama.

This past week.

I spent some time at 16th Street

Baptist Church where the four little girls were killed

in September of 19

65.

We went to Selma and had the privilege of walking across the

Pettis bridge

spent time in Montgomery and went to the lynching

the national venturing memorial.

And some of you may remember

the movie by Ava Duvernay Selma, that that that laid out when dr king joined with

people so many faiths

to cross the Edmund

Pettus bridge

and I was struck

this myself.

I was able to to walk across

that bridge myself

this past week.

And one of the things that I was struck by as I walked with it,

the team

that we were with this past week

was was was I felt the spirit asking me, I guess much as the spirit

led Philip,

I felt the spirit asking me,

what are the bridges

that I'm meant to cross?

And who are the people that I meant to cross it with?

Who are the people that I meant to cross it?

Four,

I want to invite you

to ask yourself the same question. What does it mean for you to be the bridge?

Who are the people that that God is that is beckoning you to sit in the chariot with

When the spirit calls the spirit always calls us to cross the divide.

When the spirit calls the spirit led Philip into the wilderness?

To an Ethiopian unit across the class divide.

A a gender divide, A racial divide, what are the divides?

That God is calling us to, to,

to to to bridge Some of the bridges will be short bridges.

Some of the bridges will be long bridges

as my brother Ben Mcbride, who led us on the journey.

I talked about,

he talked about short bridges which are bridges

that that that don't require as much effort.

But then they're long bridges that require a lot of effort.

At the Edmund Pettus bridge was a short bridge.

And and so for some of us it may be the short bridges in our lives. Might be

hard conversations with dear friends or, but then for some of us, the longer bridges

uh,

might be the bridge around a family member that's been excluded from

our family and having those difficult conversations with our loved ones.

But all of us are called

uh, to be

the bridge. What are the bridges

that you are called

to cross? And and here's the thing

about a bridge,

You can't be a bridge unless somebody is stepping on you,

you can't be a bridge unless there's traffic that's flowing over you

in order for you to be a bridge,

that means that traffic has got to come

across you and it ought to be crossing in both directions.

If you've got a bridge that only has traffic going in one direction.

Right,

What is the, how is the spirit calling you? How's the spirit leading you

to be a bridge with traffic that's flowing

and both

directions

because when we learned about the Ethiopian eunuch,

is that even though he was prohibited by law

to be in fellowship,

the bible says that he was actually returning from worship. So he was still,

what does the text say? The text says

that he was returning

from

from worship.

Right.

It says, it says he had come

to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home seated in his chariot.

Right?

So that means that there had been an evolution,

right? Even though

Deuteronomy says that the eunuch can't enter into worship

by the time we get to the text, it says that he had come to Jerusalem to worship

and was returning home seated in his chariot and was reading

the prophet Isaiah

Right?

And so already a bridge had begun to be crossed.

Right?

So and so what does that mean?

What, what are we and what is the bridge that we are invited to

to cross?

And so as he's reading,

it's so interesting the texts that he's reading because because even

though Deuteronomy says that the eunuch is not allowed into worship,

Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah, the prophet always push us beyond what the law,

what would ordinarily allow allow for?

Right? And so Isaiah records don't let the foreigner joined the Lord say,

the Lord will surely separate me from his people

and do not let the eunuchs say

I am just a dry tree

would thus sayeth the Lord

to the eunuchs who keep my sabbath,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast to my covenant.

I will give in my house and within my walls a monument

and a name better

than sons and daughters.

And I will give them an everlasting

name that shall not

b

cut off. Did you, did you hear that?

I will give in my house and within my walls

a monument and a name

better

than sons and daughters. And I will give them an everlasting name and they shall not

be

that shall not be cut off.

What is that saying?

That that is that is suggesting to us that that that the eunuchs,

those who are intersex or those who

who who who have endured generally utilized mutilation

right? Or those who are who are

who are who are gender nonconforming.

All right

may not fit into the category of son or daughter.

But God says, I'll give you a name better than even the sons

or the dollars and give you a name that shall not

being

cut off

and listen.

And to the foreigners who joined themselves the Lord and to minister to him

to love the name of the Lord and to be a

service and all who keep the sabbath and do not profane

and hold fast to my covenant.

These, I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted at my altar

for my house shall be called A house of Prayer for all

people's

right?

And what is

and what is the unique reading

When

Philip finds him

right? That that was taken from

from Isaiah 56. And what is the Eunuch reading when Philip steps into the chariot?

But Isaiah?

The Eunuch is reading Isaiah 53,

which says he was oppressed and afflicted,

but he did not open his mouth like a lamb

that is led to the slaughter like a sheet that is

before. It shares its silent and did not open his mouth.

Right?

And so what that suggests to us is that

we are bridge,

but the but the for the for the Ethiopian eunuchs in our midst,

for those of us that need to crowd

cross barriers

that God beckons the spirit of God beckons right, God beckons

you are the bridge,

but at the waters of baptism

we

belong somebody say we belong,

bob says that as they were going along the road,

they came to some water and the eunuch said look

here is water.

What is to prevent me from being baptized.

So he commanded the chariot to stop the both of them

Philip and the eunuch and they went down into the water

and Philip

baptized him.

Alright. So here at this moment,

not only does the spirit beckon us to cross the device.

Not only is the spirit calling us to be a bridge.

That bridge creates a place of belonging

baptism. Uh for the early church. And baptism for us?

Now baptism says you are a part of God's family, you belong to God.

When jesus is baptized in the Jordan river, right the same,

the same is done for jesus,

God says to jesus and the spirit descends upon jesus like a dove and God says,

you are my beloved

child in whom I am well pleased in the same way to this Ethiopian unit to this gender.

Nonconforming

loved one. The spirit of God

leaves Philip to sit in the chariot with

the unique and then the eunuch

expresses an interest in being baptized and Philip is willing

as an agent of God,

as an apostle of the church of God to

welcome into just in the same way that Isaiah prophesies

that my house will be a house for all

peoples just in the same way that Isaiah prophesies

that that that you will have a name.

That units will have a name even better than than merely sons or daughters.

The spirit of God yet leaves Philip baptized into the church.

Someone who is nonconforming who is gender nonconforming.

God says you are

mine.

God says you belong to my family. God says, you are not alone.

You are not to live a life alone.

You were told you are to experience the joy

of the Lord as a part of the family of belonging the family

of believers

Philip must have been there that day in Matthew chapter 19 when Jesus was

teaching on marriage and it's interesting that

Jesus while teaching on marriage then says this

for there are eunuchs who have been so

from birth,

let me say that again, For there are eunuchs who have been so

from birth

and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others

and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs

for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

Let anyone accept this.

Can

jesus is giving what

God knows in christ to be a difficult teaching

that there are some that Jesus said are made eunuchs

right, meaning that that that they they endure genital mutilation mutilation,

but there are others who have been so who have been so from birth,

born born gender nonconforming

right in a body that is gender nonconforming.

And there are others

who make themselves eunuchs for the sake

of the kingdom of heaven,

meaning there are those who are willing to cross

the way I interpret this text is that those who make themselves units

are those who are willing to be the bridges that

that that that stand in the space in between

and I want to,

I want to invite each of you

to hear the voice of jesus

beckoning us

to be a bridge

for those who were born here,

for those who were made eunuchs as we know

that many Children are still enduring general in utilization,

many girls

are still enduring genital mutilation

or genital mutilation

in many, in many countries like Malawi and Zambia,

there are many young girls and many boys who are also

enduring

uh genital mutilation.

There are those who are born to the knocking form,

but then there are those who make themselves eunuchs

who put themselves in the space in between to be a bridge

of belonging and the way I want to, the way I and my

the holy ghost imagination, I envision you,

I envisioned myself, I envision us

as being those whom the spirit of God is yet calling

to make ourselves eunuchs to stand in the gap

to be willing

to stand in the space in between

with those who are gender non conforming

to to say I may not be able

to be in your body, but I'm willing to get in the chariot with you.

And that way when we enter into relationship

with our loved ones who are gender nonconforming.

When we advocate on their behalf, we make ourselves eunuchs.

We we we we we say I may not be able to be in your body,

but I'm willing to live a sanctified and holy life on your behalf.

I'm willing to stand in the gap on your behalf.

I'm willing to be like the one that the eunuch was reading about.

I'm willing the eunuch was reading about one who

though he was innocent although he did nothing wrong.

Although he did nothing wrong. Getting a phone call,

although he did nothing wrong,

he was oppressed,

He was oppressed.

The bible says he was afflicted yet he did not

open his mouth like a lamb led to the slaughter.

What does it mean for us to be willing to lay our life

down in the way that jesus laid his life down for us.

What does it look like for us to lay our

lives down for somebody else for the sake of welcome?

For the sake of radical belonging?

What does it look like for us to embrace the Beauty?

The Beauty

to for us to be baptized together

in the Beauty of Blackness? What does it look like for you?

What does it look like for me to be baptized in The Beauty of Blackness?

To be a bridge to hear the spirit beckoning us to hear the spirit calling

us into the beauty of welcoming those

who society says are marginalized are outcasts.

What does it look like for us to make ourselves eunuchs

for the sake of the Kingdom of God as pastor.

Mirror

sometimes reminds us the family of God and for the sake of the Kingdom of God in which

each of us is treated as royalty in which

each of us is treated as priest and priestess.

How is God calling you? How is God calling me? How is God calling us

to be a bridge

through baptism?

To belonging

to be a bridge

through baptism

to becoming

to be a bridge

into the baptism

in the beauty

blackness.

Pray with

gracious God, I know that the word that

offer today as I've done it as

speedily and meekly

as

early as I can. I know Lord that

oh my God,

this word maybe as even as jesus said, it may be a difficult word

and Lord, I just pray that

it would help

this were to follow on good ground

or anything that I said, if it is not like you, I pray that

Lord God, that

that

for Gandhi would not bear any

the Lord. If anything I've said is

I pray that they would

bear fruit and that it will be multiplied some tin,

some 50

Some 100 fold

fruit,

righteousness through your kingdom

that your kid

to your family,

which we all belong

in jesus name. I pray

in bed

and

and before I pass this off to the worship team,

I want to invite you If you have questions or

if you have thoughts over the next few weeks

about the word that I've preached today, I want to encourage you send me an email

Pastor Delancey

Peace Dash, do you see that dot org

If you're looking for resources on the journey

addition to the word of God,

I highly commend you to just simply reading the word as we did together

today,

but I also want to come into you this resource which I have found to be really helpful.

It's on sexuality in the black churches by kelly brown

Douglas Doctor reverend dr kelly Brown Douglas at Union Theological Seminary.

I was committed to me by our sister hazel Cherry will be preaching for us

next week

and

and I just wanna

just encourage you, I know

each of us is in a different place in the journey and I

want for us to create space for belonging for all of us,

regardless of where we are in that journey.

And invite the spirit of God to continue to beckon us

and to and to speak to us

through God's word

and through our lives.

I wanna invite each of you also to save the date for our congregational

meeting.

Congregational Meeting is coming up on Saturday at 10:30.

The link and information and details are in your bulletins.

I want to encourage you to check your bulletin,

be there, we're going to be voting on and looking at sharing our vision

for the year and looking at our budget for the year. I want to especially shout out

our brothers, Joel and braulio

for this,

the really hard work and our brother Wesley and our sister Nicole Dominique

for just incredibly hard work they've done as trustees

and to the deacons and elders um for just a phenomenal

work that each of you have done and are ministerial staff,

everybody for taking the time

to pour into our vision and budget for the year.

Also, I want to share this opportunity for us to fellowship together.

I don't want you to miss these chances

to get together into

fellowship and love on each other and to laugh

and and be in relationship with each other.

And so I would encourage you if you haven't put on your calendar yet,

come out ice skating with us on Saturday,

26. In a couple of weeks.

I should be getting a little bit warmer by then maybe.

But let's just get out.

Even if it's cold, this is get out that we'll have hot cocoa there,

we'll have some time of fellowship.

All that information in terms of the cost and everything

is in your bulletin and we have scholarships available.

Just send us an email.

If you need a scholarship, don't even sweat it. We'll make sure we will cover you

and your family.

And then lastly, we're looking forward to seeing you in person

for ash Wednesday services on March the second Wednesday,

March the 2nd and seven p.m. At idea.

And I can't wait to see you

in person for our next, for our first sunday worship in the new year.

On sunday March the sixth, let's pack out the house on ash Wednesday.

Let's pack out the house

on on the first sunday

in March. I can't wait

to see you.

God bless you, each of you and heaven smile upon you.

You're now in the hands

of our worship team

baptized into the beauty of blackness

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