Converted Heart Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Guest (Male 1): Welcome to Converted Heart Church. Whether you’re joining us for the first time or are a valued member of our community, we’re delighted to have you with us today. As we continue to navigate through these challenging times, we believe that every person who enters our virtual doors is guided by the Lord. Though we may be apart physically, we greet you with a smile and embrace you with a virtual hug on behalf of our Pastor, Dr. Darryl and First Lady Burton, and the entire Converted Heart community.

We joyfully welcome you into our spiritual home. We are Christ-centered, preaching messages of love and hope, community-minded, being aware of the needs of the community, cultivating relationships, partnering with businesses who have the same vision, and a caring heart, connecting the heart of God with the heart of the people. Thank you for being with us. We’re thrilled to have you here and look forward to sharing this journey of faith and fellowship with you. Please enjoy the service.

Reverend Kim: Hallelujah. We are always happy to be in the presence of the Lord. Why? Because you're here. The Spirit of God is in you, and the Spirit of God is in me. Where two of us are gathered with the Spirit of God in us, there lies the presence of the Lord. Amen.

You don’t have to go into a particular building to meet God there. But if you’re there and there’s one other person there, the book says that where two or more are gathered in His name, there He shall abide. Hallelujah. I am always grateful and thankful.

We’re going to do a familiar song. The song is real easy. How many of y’all are in the choir? I saw y’all last week, so I know there's at least five of y’all here that are part of the choir from our visiting church. Oh, absolutely. Hallelujah. If you don’t want to come up and sing with us, come on up. But if you don’t, you can sing from your chair. If you do, there’s another mic right there. The song says, "Be Glorified." Here we go.

Father God, we are grateful and thankful for Your loving-kindness, Your tender mercy, and Your faithfulness unto us. We thank You for Your grace and Your goodness. We thank You for unmerited favor, the favor that we have not asked for, God. We thank You for open doors. We thank You for closed doors. God, we thank You for our family, loved ones, and friends. God, we thank You for the strangers whose hearts You touched that blessed us. We thank You, God, for all that You have done.

Father, we come before You with things on our hearts and minds. Some concerns and even some worries, Father. We thank You that You are the God who says that we can cast all of that upon You, that You care for us, that we should cast our cares on You because You care for us. God, we know that You have the world in Your hands. You have our lives in Your hands.

There is nothing that happens in our lives that You are not aware of, God, and even orchestrated for a blessing on our behalf because the word that I read says all things work together—the good and the bad and the in-between. God works together for our good. We thank You, God, for that promise.

Now, God, we ask that You would be in the midst of this worship service, Father, that something that is done or said or sung would encourage our hearts. But not just our hearts, but that we can leave this place and share the thing with someone else to encourage them and be a healing or refreshing in their soul.

Father, we thank You for the Holy Spirit that leads, guides, and directs us. We thank You for that still, small voice. We thank You for the something said that comes into our mind and says go right when we were about to go left. God, we praise You in advance for the things that You're doing already to work out situations and circumstances in dilemmas and confusion.

We thank You for being a mind regulator, God. We thank You for being the heart fixer of our lives. We thank You, God, that we can put our trust in You, and in no other person, no man, not even ourselves shall we put our complete trust in, Father. We thank You, God. We praise You. We magnify You.

We thank You for Jesus. We thank You for the blood that covers all of our sins, God. We thank You that nothing can pluck us out of Your hand. We thank You. We praise You. We magnify You. We thank You when we pray in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

Reverend Kim and Congregation: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day He arose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Reverend Kim: I’ve got Bible on my phone now. And the blessing is I asked the Pastor for the scripture so I could try to coordinate it with the hymn of preparation. This is what ministers of music and people that sing in choirs do for the minister that’s going to preach. Amen. Hallelujah. Acts 16:25 through 28. The title is "The Philippian Jailer Saved."

But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosened. And the keeper of the prison awakened from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. Amen. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." Amen.

The matters of the heart with Pastor Dr. Burton will resume on September 7th. We will continue our discussion on defining your marriage. Listen to relevant content that’s reliable for today’s world on our YouTube channel. Journey through the Word Bible Study will resume on September 9th at 8:00 p.m. The corporate prayer is always. We don't take a break from corporate prayer. Amen. Corporate prayer will continue on August 14th. Please use the toll-free number 605-313-5682. And the access code is 785-343#.

August 22nd, District Conference Planning Meeting with Elder JAG. Virtual registration is required. It’s at 10:00 a.m. The cost is $25. Mark your calendar for the September 26th upcoming Community Health Day. It’s here at Colesville United Methodist Church in the parking lot. Come and get yourself checked for your pressure and your diabetes and all the things, and bring your friends and neighbors.

Prepare now for our fall outreach clothing drive in October. This is a great time to assess what you wish to give away as many persons have need for fall clothing—sweaters, windbreakers, jackets, socks, sweat suits, undershirts, women’s sweat suits, and undershirts. October 31st, Black Ministers Conference of Montgomery County will celebrate their 45th year celebration at the Black Rock Arts Center Theater. That’s a good place. Starting at 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Tickets are $75. Details forthcoming.

I also have an announcement for the Beautiful Feet Women’s Conference. If you are interested in joining me, Bishop Kesha Ford has this women’s conference. Used to have it every year but it’s back. If you’re interested, it’s in September. But if you’re interested in joining me to go to Baltimore for the Beautiful Feet Conference, let me know, and we will give you the information.

Guest (Male 2): Let the church say amen. Let the church say amen. We are so delighted and grateful to have this opportunity to worship today with you. Thank you for all of our guests who are here from Williams Chapel in Front Royal, Virginia. What a pleasure and what an opportunity of fellowshiping again with you. God bless you for being here. Amen.

I have the honor to introduce our speaker on this morning. It’s none other than the Reverend Tanya Leavy, who is the pastor of Williams Chapel CME Church in Front Royal, Virginia. She’s the middle child, y’all. The second of three children born to Jean and the late Edmund Davis Sr. She’s happily married to Gregory and they’ve been married for 24 years. Amen. Somebody needs to say amen to that.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a minor in Management. She has faithfully served in ministry for 19 years. That’s a long time. She began her journey as an Exhorter in 2007 under the leadership of Reverend Dr. Linwood Leverette, the late Dr. Linwood Leverette. Amen. What a great man of God he was. Amen. So we're grateful for Reverend Leavy sitting under his tutelage and teaching.

In 2009, she was ordained as a local deacon. In 2015, under the leadership of Reverend Elder Kevin J. Agee and her pastor presiding Elder Patricia D. Graffree, she was ordained a local elder. In July of 2026, Reverend Leavy reached another significant milestone in her ministry journey when she was ordained a Traveling Elder. She went from local to traveling. Do y’all know what that means? Amen. But she ain't going nowhere. I know if Sister Geneva has anything to do with it, she ain't going nowhere.

But we thank God for her journey thus far. Pastor Leavy is now entering her fourth year as the proud pastor of Williams Chapel, where she has been blessed with her God-given vision, leadership, and divine direction. Her love for God and the commitment to the ministry continue to inspire and encourage the people of Williams Chapel who are here today and those who are watching on our YouTube channel. Thank you.

Her favorite song is "I Love the Lord." Her favorite scripture is one of my favorite scriptures, Romans 8:28 through 31. Reverend Leavy stands firmly persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, powers, things present nor things to come, height or depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate her from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Amen.

We want to also let you know that we want to honor God with our tithes and our offerings. It was not mentioned before, but we certainly want to let you know that we do honor God in that way because it is a form of worship when we give. As you can see, we have an offering box over here to my right and to your left. When you leave today, just put your offering envelope in that box. Make checks payable to Converted Heart CME Church.

And for those who are watching on our YouTube channel, if you’d like to give, you can take out your mobile device and text the word "GIVE" to 240-269-5193. Text the word "GIVE." Somebody say "Give" to 240-269-5193. If giving electronically is a challenge for you, you’re just not comfortable with that—we are very sensitive to know that that may be a challenge—you can mail your check payable to Converted Heart CME Church to PO Box 10157, Silver Spring, Maryland 20914. Again, that PO Box is 10157, Silver Spring, Maryland 20914.

The Bible says that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Amen. So if you're giving grudgingly, please just keep it to yourself. And we'll be praying for you that God will turn and transform your heart to give because everything that we have, the Bible says that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. So everything that we have came from God. Amen. So we want to honor God with our giving. Now, Reverend Kim will come and give us our sermonic selection. And then the next voice we will hear would be that of Reverend Tanya Leavy. Let the church say amen.

Reverend Tanya Leavy: I thank you, Dr. Burton, for the opportunity to come into your home. And I must say we were ecstatic because I got the late 8:00 o’clock this morning and I only had to journey about an hour. So I thank God for it. Amen. I thank God for Williams Chapel, the ones that found it not robbery to follow God here, not me. Follow God. And those that could not make it, I pray that You continue to keep them blessed.

But there is a word from the Lord. Reverend Kim read Acts 16:25 through 28. It’s one of the most common scriptures that's read in the book. It talked about Paul and Silas and breaking chains. But the study is really not just so much on those actual scriptures. I just threw that there as a beginning. But I want you to read verses 29 through 40 at your leisure. But I come this morning with a title: "All Over in the Morning." If I had to come with a subtitle, I’ll come with a subtitle: "The Other Side of Midnight."

Dr. Burton indicated that he preached and taught about the Holy Spirit the last several weeks, which is something great because you can't have the Father without the Son, the Son without the Father, neither of these without the Holy Spirit. Because all three are one. The Holy Spirit is the critical element that makes the New Covenant possible in contrast to the Old Covenant, which failed because of Israel's disobedience.

Hebrews 8:10, which quotes Jeremiah 31:33, states, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: and I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be them a God, and they shall be me a people." Receiving God’s Spirit begins with the process of having His laws in the mind and written on one’s heart. And the absence of that vital element is why ancient Israel continuously disobeyed God, as does modern Israel today, as we do today, as everybody keeps on doing. Amen.

Someone may be saying, well, how does this coincide with Paul and Silas? Give me a moment. I'm going to get to that. But I want to come this morning to let you know we wouldn't have spiritual survival without all three. We wouldn't have spiritual survival without the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Spiritual survival which depends on the following condition: but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, and if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. That's the word and not mine.

The Holy Spirit is the very power of God by which He creates all things. The miraculous act of creation shows the unfathomable power of the Holy Spirit. And it was by this power that God could keep the Ten Commandments perfectly. And what is most fascinating is that a measure of the same power can enter our minds. Even this small measure can grow and expand. So this was probably the reason why Paul and Silas didn't panic, but tapped into the Holy Spirit to shift the atmosphere where they were at.

Spiritually, it is said that the other side of midnight represents the quiet space past the 12:00 o'clock hour, when the physical world sleeps and the spiritual veil is the thinnest. It is viewed as a sacred boundary for deep prayer, inner reflection, and breaking heavy life chains. Midnight is said to open a door to a much deeper level of consciousness and awareness, making it perfect for spiritual practices like prayer and meditation.

I must say it’s not always menopause that wakes me up at the other side. But a midnight prayer is the type of prayer that makes you feel and come out like a spiritual warrior. In my life, y’all, it’s the time where the voice of God is the loudest. It’s a time in my life where I put the boxing gloves down and I surrender all. It’s a time after the midnight hour where I realize that I don't fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities in them dark places.

And I see things that God—I ask why I got to see it. He said because you're one of my faithful warriors. It’s a time where I plead the blood and cover my family, cover my marriage, cover my children, and cover my church, and cover my friends, and cover everybody, and cover my neighbors. It’s during those times when I come up and I’m sweating and I’m hollering out, "Oh God, have mercy!" Amen.

It’s after the midnight hour that I question God: why me? He tells me, why not you? The question is, what would you do if you ended up in a place like that? Would you have done what Paul and Silas did? We read that at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. This was a sacrifice of praise. There was nothing circumstantial to rejoice about.

How easily it could have read that Paul and Silas groaned at midnight. We could have understood that. We could have read that they cursed the men who beat them or they cursed the jailer. But instead, we read that they sang praises to God. Was it because they knew all that was going to transpire after midnight? Was that because they tapped into their mustard seed of faith?

See, when you are in pain, the midnight hour is not the easiest time for a worship service. But the Bible promised that God can give the songs in the night. We are told by Psalm 42:8, "But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing His songs, praising to God who gives me life." There's something about that nighttime that can amplify our problems.

When you’re getting ready to go to sleep, you know they got restless leg syndrome. It seems like it hits you when you’re trying to get rest. Your problems can suddenly crowd in on you, and it seems worse than what it really is. It’s something about the midnight hour where it's a great burden to carry and we should pray and commit these things to the Lord. The Bible tells us, "Give all your worries and care to God, for He cares about you." But how many of us really realize that and give all our cares to Him?

You see, the blessing of the Lord just don't stop at the midnight hour. But that’s where your praise would. Some of you would stop singing after the chains are broken. Many will miss out on their shouting moment because not only were they set free, but many around them were set free. But y’all would give up once the clock strike midnight. Better yet, when God tell you to praise me, you’ll let Him know, "I’m tired. I’ve been through a heavy day. Felicia pissed me off and I got stopped in traffic." You would not have woke up at the midnight hour when He gave it, because we are disobedient.

But how many times do we talk about after the midnight hour of Paul and Silas' situation? Most of us just close the book because they see the chains been broken. All throughout the word of God, we see odds stacked against God and His people, but He never backs down and He is never intimidated. This is where He shines the brightest.

One of the best-beating-the-odds stories is this one right here. We enter into a scenario where Paul and Silas have been spreading the Gospel and preaching the word of God. And they were totally doing the right thing, and what do they get for it? Many a preacher then left the pulpits because they're tired, because they wonder what do I get for this? They’re looking at the quantity of people showing up and not the quality.

They was totally doing the right thing, and what do they get for it? They get prison. They get thrown in jail. And these aren’t in the decent jails we have today. They didn’t get three meals a day. They didn’t have a gym time. They didn’t get clean linen and commissary. The arrangements they had during that time was less than desirable. These prisons were extremely dark, often causing prisoners to experience major psychological damage.

They would often sleep on hard floors, and not even a blanket was provided to cover them. There were no baths or haircuts resulting in the worst level of hygiene, and some of them even had head lice. They were chained to walls and surrounded by all types of feces, and I can go on, but I think the picture is clear. This wasn’t a pleasant experience.

So here we find Paul and Silas, who are chained by the feet in this dungeon. Their jailer was given specific orders to ensure they didn’t escape. So after the earthquake had quaked and their chains had fell off, the jailer was about to take his own life because he failed his mission. He didn’t understand God’s mission. He failed his mission. And I’m here to tell somebody this morning that no matter what you're chained to, no matter what they put you in, God can break loose everything from you. Everything.

But Paul and Silas remained there long enough so this man, who had no doubt mistreated them, could be saved. Some of y'all, God said you got to speak to your neighbor. You got to love your enemy. Because contrary to your belief, your enemy is after you because they see God in you. And you got to speak to them. You got to stay in your situation long enough not for you, but for your enemy and the people around you to see God do what He does in you.

I thought I was talking to Converted Heart mixed with a little bit of Williams Chapel in here. You got to stay in your situation long enough because there’s a whole bunch of people that’s watching you in the midst of your situation—not to see how you get out, but how God bring you out. To break every chain.

So the other side of midnight. Y’all stopped after the chains was broken. Then what y’all do? What do y’all do once the jail door opens? The chains is broken. Sister Yolanda, what y’all do? The door is open. The chains is gone. What you do? Y’all stop. What happens on the other side of midnight? See, once you got what you want from God, it would have been every man for themselves.

But receiving the Holy Spirit isn't just for you. It’s for others to receive it too. There's a lot of things I don't like sharing, but my God I will share. It is in your faith that many will believe God is God. It is in your faith, son, that many will believe God is God. It is in your faith, Reverend Kim, that many people will believe God is God.

You see the jailer, whatever y’all want to call him, who had brought harm to Paul and Silas was doing what he was told to do. But afterwards, after he did all that, he brought them to their home and began to clean their wounds. See, God would use the same person that talked against your name, that beat you down, to turn around and use him for His good. What the scripture say? What the devil meant for evil, God will turn around for good. I’m a witness of it. My life is a witness of it. Because if the enemy had his way, I wouldn’t be standing here today.

So he took them to his home and began to clean their wounds and give them food to eat. And it didn’t stop there. The jailer, not only received Christ, but his whole entire house heard the Gospel and they all got baptized. Am I in the right place? So the jailer indicated that as for me and my house, we're going to bless the Lord. So if I believe, I want my wife to believe. If I believe, I want my children to believe. If I believe...

Last Friday, we had to lay to rest our beloved dog. His name was Buddha. God only gave him to us for four years. There will be no other Buddha. Not because I don’t want another dog, but because he was one of a kind. He was a Rottweiler, weighing in at 171 pounds. He was a big boy. And I often talked to him to let him know don’t be intimidated. You know they're going to be intimidated because you're a big black dog in this world. But he served his purpose in our life and it broke our heart to have to lay him down. He was diagnosed with diabetes and because he was so stubborn, he didn't want us to treat him. So we had to watch him decay.

So he was my son's dog, and my husband and I took care of him while my son was away to college, and my son came home and he was able to take care of him. But he protected us. He had a relationship with each one of us separately but individually. And I say this because when I say me and my house will bless the Lord, he bowed his head to pray when he needed to pray.

And many times when I was in the house and we was on Zoom, he was laying at my feet at that particular time when I gave the message or prayer. Even when I wanted to put him outside, he wanted to come in because he wanted to hear the word. And when it got good to him, he sat up on the couch and sat there in my right hand to give the word. So even my dog, because the word said let everything that has breath praise the Lord. And as my son said as we laid him down, he said it reminds me of the old saying, all dogs go to heaven. And I believe he’s going to—but he was even saved. The other side of midnight.

The transformation in the jailer’s life was immediate and radical. He brought Paul and Silas into his house, set a meal before them, and was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—not just him, he and his whole household. This joy is a hallmark of genuine conversion, reflecting the profound inner change that faith in Christ begins.

Some of y’all not going to be able to go back to your home and convert the whole house. Sometimes it’s just not that easy. But if you can continue to sing the praises of God in your house, I had a friend say, "you be so deep in God that anybody that wants to be connected to you wants to meet you there." This reflects the profound inner change that faith in Christ brings.

So the next day after they go to the jailer’s house, the judge sent officers to release Paul and Silas. Maybe this just fell on me now: the reason why Paul and Silas was so arrogant in their situation because they knew they was not never going to be bound. We allow things in our life to take control and bind us up, not realizing that we serve a God that is omnipotent, all-powerful, almighty. We need to take Him on His word.

However, Paul insists on a public acknowledgment. Y'all know who Paul was, Paul was Saul and went to Paul, but he was arrogant in his thing. Paul said, "No, y’all ain't going to do this behind everyone else. I need you to get on Zoom. I need you to go on Facebook Live, Instagram Live. I need you to go out and broadcast. Just like you did it to me in the corner, I need you to come up to the mic and I need you to tell everybody. Tell everybody."

Paul insists on a public acknowledgment of their wrongful imprisonment, revealing that they were Roman citizens. The judge was alarmed and came to ease them, escorting them from the prison and requesting them to leave the city. See, if I got to do it, y'all going to have to get up out of here because I don't want to hear nothing of—that’s one thing about the enemy, Dr. Burton, you know, after you prove him wrong, because he’s already wrong, he don't want to keep hearing it. Now move on. I did it, now move on.

And the thing is about this: the enemy knows if you tap into who you fully is in God—that’s us—the power that’s vested in us. We don't tap into the power. Because if the enemy knows if you get a hold of who you really are and the mighty power of the Holy Spirit that’s invested in you, and that you got the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the tongue that you can speak over and move mountains, it’s all over. And he knows that. That’s why he’s tripped you. He’s at the table before you get there.

So Paul and Silas however went to Lydia’s house to encourage the believers before leaving. This was after the midnight hour. Did y’all know that? After the midnight hour, there was still work done. See, after them chains would have been broken, y'all had gone home. Y’all had asked God, "Give me a few days to get my stuff together, God." Paul and Silas said, "When I get out of these chains"—no, it wasn't no "if," Paul and Silas said, "When I get out of these chains, when this door open up, man, when I get up from here, better watch out. Because if you was mad before, you're going to be mad even more."

So there’s several things. These several things I want to leave you guys. There’s five things. One is, out of this scenario, is the power of worship and prayer. Paul and Silas' response to their suffering was to pray and sing hymns. If you don't have anything else to do, pray. Prayer don't have to come, "Father God in the name of Jesus." Prayer is just a communication to God, speak from your heart. One of the things for certain, two things for sure, He already knows. It’s especially if it’s not lined up with His will.

Don’t go praying Him at midnight hour for a brand new car and some more money because you can't purchase something off of Shein and Amazon and none of that. You need to come with a sincere prayer that you believe is lined up with His will. And lately here, y’all, let me tell you something, I don’t even been coming like that. I just say, "God, allow Your will be done." Because His will’s been greater than anything that I’ve been asking for.

The worship was a testimony to their faith and trust in God, which not only sustained them but also influenced those around them, including the other prisoners and the jailer. So one, the power of worship and prayer. Second one is divine intervention. The earthquake was a clear act of God, breaking the chains and opening the doors of the prison. The miracle served as a sign of God’s power and presence, leading to the jailer’s conversion. So if the earth get the shaking, you know it’s a shake-up from God. God is moving.

So we have the power of worship and prayer and then we got the divine intervention. And next is Christian witness. When’s the last time you testified for somebody? Have we just turned around in a line and just say God is real? And they say, "How you know?" "I feel Him in my soul. If you have a moment, let me just actually tell you about what He done in my life."

And sometimes your witness doesn't have to just be you telling something. It could be just as much as you're in a line and paying for the people behind. You don't know what the people behind you are going through, and they just seem—that’s right. Paul and Silas' behavior even when unjustly treated reflected the love and grace of Christ. Their refusal to escape and their concern for the jailer’s life were powerful witnesses to the transformative nature of the Gospel.

So we have the power of worship and prayer, divine intervention, Christian witnesses. Next we have salvation and baptism. You can't preach God’s word without letting them know about salvation and letting them know about baptism. The jailer’s question: "What must I do to be saved?" Someone asked you that question, what would you say?

The Apostle's response highlights the simplicity of the Gospel message: faith in Jesus Christ. The immediate baptism of the jailer and his household signifies the importance of baptism as an outward sign of an inner faith and repentance. What’s repenting, y’all? Not doing it again. If you do it again, it’s not repenting. Why ask Him if you're going to go out and do it again? One of the things Williams Chapel know I constantly tell them, stop saying, "Oh, the Lord knows my heart." That’s a dangerous thing to say because your heart’s posture tells us all what you're about to do.

So we got the power of worship and prayer, and divine intervention, and Christian witness, and salvation and baptism. And my fifth thing that I’ve chosen to pick out of this—the joy of salvation. They said the joy of the Lord is our strength. So if you're not strong and you're walking around here weak with your head down, then where is your joy?

The joy experienced by the jailer and his household is a compelling evidence of his new life that faith in Christ begins. This just dropped in my spirit: maybe the jailer didn’t even know that it was for him. Because you know sometimes the people on the opposite side, they don't like to be on the opposite side. But sometimes we are not welcome enough to welcome them in because they gotta look at us how we're looking right now and think they gotta look like this.

Tell your testimony! Tell them I was sinking deep in sin, away from the peaceful shore. Tell about them stories when you was out there doing what you was big and bad doing. Tell them! Tell them your story! 1997, I was at Woodstock at 11:00 o'clock while my mother and my daughter was at worship for midnight on New Year's Eve—actually it was 1996 going into 1997. And they was at church.

And it was chaos all around us. Woodstock shut down at 11:05, people fighting, people was drunk, and I said, "I'm going home." And the crazy thing was this: the church I joined at that time was right across the street. All I had to do was cross the street. But I chose to go all the way up to go to a club. So when I got off the cab to go in the house, it was 11:35. I turned around and walked across the street. I got to the altar and held hands with two people I don't know who they are.

In 1997, I gave my life to Christ under my belief. Because we grew up in the church and I was doing what my mother and father was telling us, they was sending us when they wasn't going. They was giving us money to put in the church, me and my sister saved ours, and we didn't put ours in there because we know we was there all day long. And they didn't—they fed the children last, so we went to the penny store to get the penny strawberry cookies. I know I’m telling my age, y’all, but we saved our money.

And it was that time I started finding God and seeing Him for myself. Tell your story, how even—and I still trip. I still battle against my flesh. I do the things where Paul say the same things I want to do, I don't do, and I do, I don't—y’all know the scriptures. I still do. But we are not let the world think that we only serve a perfect God. And the things that we do now is not for right now, it’s for our internal life.

So the joy of salvation, the joy experienced by the jailer and his household, is a compelling evidence of the new life that faith in Christ brings. Y’all, it says in Christ we are a new creature. Stop operating off of that old stuff and embrace your newness. This joy is a recurring theme in the New Testament, often associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Burton made it evident, he even broke it down and told me week by week what he preached on. And I pray that you received it.

This story is a powerful reminder that God’s grace can reach anyone, anywhere, even in the darkest and most unexpected places. It shows that the witness of faithful believers combined with a direct intervention of God can lead to the salvation of those who might seem the farthest from Him. You're not too deep in a dark place that God can't shine light to bring you out. You are not too deep down in a hole that God can't pull you out. You can't be too up that He can't pull you down.

But the key is this, my brothers and sisters: is that you got to allow God be God. You got to let Him in. You got to let Him do what He do. You got to. So the conversion of the jailer in Philippi is a testament to His boundless reach of God’s love and the transformative power of the Gospel. Don’t just stop after the midnight hour. There was so much beauty and blessings after midnight. When the chains are broken, then what?

Some of us stay in the jail cell, don’t come through the door. Some of us are so used to the pain that our jail holds that they would have the audacity to put the chains back on. And Dr. Burton say they like to be chained up. Because I told someone just as early as yesterday: comfortability doesn't mean it’s comfortable, it’s normal.

Trauma bond. And some people get so used to their trauma that when something feel good that they supposed to feel good about, they go back. I challenge you all today that whatever is holding you bound, that you will let God break that chain off. And that not only that is bound to you, that even your whole family would be blessed. Not only just the family but all the things that's been binding you up that would hold you down, that they would be blessed.

I challenge you and I pray over you all: the blood of Jesus. You got to name the blood. You know in the Old Testament they used goats and they used calves and cows or whatever animal they can. But we are in the New Testament, we’re under grace. So you got to name the blood. So I plead the blood of Jesus for everybody under the sound of my voice.

And if it’s okay with Dr. Burton, because he's supposed to be on the sabbatical, we don't want to leave here from this place. Romans 10:9 said if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God had raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Now we ain’t got that savvy yet with YouTube, but whoever on YouTube, whoever streaming, wherever you at, maybe somebody under the sound of my voice, we don't want to leave here without giving you the opportunity.

Some may say, "I'm not bold enough to even come up and walk to the front." We're not worried about that. We're worried about you confessing with your mouth. We're worried about your soul salvation. These are just our earthly bodies. But we want to know if you get there before us or we get there before you, we see you again. You can raise your hand or you can touch one of us in here and say, "It’s me. I confess."

And I know Dr. Burton is like me: if he had his way, he would be able to go tell them, "I need a bigger sanctuary, Lord, because the seats are here filled." But what good will it be if the seats are filled if your salvation is not given to you and you have not accepted Christ? So I know that he’s not more concerned about these seats as much as he worries about your soul. Is there one?

Break them chains off, let God break those chains off. I pray that you leave here with a different mindset. Be bold enough to go past the midnight hour. Several months back, I was exercising because you know when you get over—it’s a different thing on the other side of 50. So I called myself with the convenience of working out in the house. girl, she works us out for us to be in the living room.

And I got finished working out, and night come, and took a shower and thought I got into bed, got a pain in my left chest. Same time that my niece called me and she let me talk to the baby. And she said, "What’s wrong?" I said, "I just got this pain, but I thought I did a move wrong and they caught up with me." So I said, "I'll be okay." But it was something about this pain that was different than any other pain.

So I called my granddaughter and I told her, "Give me some of those Motrin and ibuprofen mixed pills and some water, I'll be okay." She said, "Gigi, you’re going to be all right?" I said, "I’ll be all right." But as the time settled, I said, "God," it was something about that moment, I said, "Don’t let me die prematurely." Didn't know then, but I knew now why I cried out. And I told Him, "If You allow me to see tomorrow, I promise You I’ll go to the emergency."

Right after the midnight hour, about 1:00 o’clock, He woke me completely up. Worst headache I have ever had, pain in my chest. He said, "I allow you to see tomorrow, and go to the ER." Got up, my husband being essential worker, we had a terrible freeze, and I called him, I said, "I'm going to the emergency." He said, "I'm going to meet you there." I said, "No, you do what you do."

My son and my granddaughter was in the house, didn't wake them up, I didn’t want them to be bothered. I talked to my husband and let me tell you, seven minutes from my home is a hospital, but I didn't want to go there. I drove 22 minutes to another hospital. I already got beat up about that. But let me tell you how God—if you keep your promise to God, He'll keep His promise to you.

We're in Baltimore, and if y’all know anything about Baltimore, there is no ER that’s empty. Not one. I have yet to come to an empty ER until this moment. Pulled up, went in there, told them what was wrong, nobody in there, not a soul. Took me in, took me to the back, started testing me, doctor came in, "Miss Leavy, you have a pulmonary embolism." I did the same thing: I said, "I know you're lying."

He said, "I'm not lying, Miss Leavy." So I said, "Okay, well, you’re going to give me a prescription, tell me to follow up with my doctor, right?" He said, "No, ma'am. I have to stick you with this needle in your stomach and I have to keep you for observation." So where I could have lost my mind because it was my midnight hour, I began to praise Him because I could have said, "God, I’m tired and I don't feel like getting up and going anywhere," and y’all would have heard about me back in February.

But the God we serve... Reverend Kim said, "Be glorified and let the glory of the Lord in," and "I am free." That’s how serious God is about us, and you should be as serious about Him as well as we are. Let’s give God a handclap of praise.

I read a scripture somewhere where somebody said, I think it was Paul, he was like, "Y'all have been in church all this time and I came back and it’s still ten of y'all." He didn't say that for real. He said, "How long I have to be here and you're not telling anybody about Jesus?" So I challenge us to take this word from this room and preach it to somebody.

All you got to do is go to that scripture. God will give it to you, I promise God will give you the points. Go to that scripture and preach it. Somebody going to say, "Did y’all go to church today?" Say, "Yes." "Do you want to know what it was about?" Tell them to turn to this scripture, Acts chapter 16, and go through it with them. You can do it. I promise you, you can do it. Hallelujah.

We are going to say our benediction. We invite everyone to stay for some brunch. And then we will let you go. The Lord bless you and keep you. Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace that surpasses yours and everyone around you's understanding.

That He would bless your household, your friends and loved ones, that you will be a witness to all the world of His goodness, His grace, and His mercy. This is my prayer for you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.