Converted Heart Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Come on, let's celebrate the Lord on this morning. Hallelujah. Clap your hands together to give God some praise. He's worthy of the praise, isn't that right? Amen. So we are here this morning to worship and to praise the Lord on this last Sunday of July 2026. Amen. I just love the fact that we are able to come in this room, this upper room, on the second floor of this building. Amen. To praise God and to glorify His name on today.

And I'm so excited to be with you all today, as we begin to go into a time of worship. Our musician is here, Aaron is here, Rev. Kim is here, and all of you are here and ready to engage in worship on today. I'm actually not altogether together. Amen. I need this hymnbook. Amen. And so as we continue our or go into our time of praise and worship, Sister Lynette, I don't have a song, I'm just looking for a call to worship. Amen. If you can play something softly as I am preparing myself on this morning.

Amen. How appropriate that the Lord would have me to turn the page 190 of this hymnbook, and our call to worship is called the "Mind of Christ". Amen. Sister Phyllis, "The Mind of Christ". It says, "If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being on one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in the lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than ourselves."

"Look not at every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Amen." Amen and amen. That's our call to worship on this morning. So are y'all ready to worship the Lord? Y'all ready to give God some praise? Well, come on Rev. Kim, lead us into our time of worship this morning. Amen.

Rev. Kim: Come on and sing with me, "This is the Day". This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, this is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. Oh, this is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, this is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made.

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter His courts with praise. I will say this is the day that the Lord... I will rejoice for He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. Yes, He is good. Yes, He is good. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. Yes, He is worthy. Worthy, for He is good. Yes, He is good.

Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. Yes, He is good. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. Yes, He is good. For He is worthy. Worthy, for He is good. Yes, He is good. For He is worthy. Worthy, for He is good. Yes, He is good. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. Yes, He is good. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. Yes, He is good. For He is worthy. Worthy, for He is good. Yes, He is good. For He is worthy. Worthy, for He is good. Yes, He is good. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Hallelujah. That is something to give God praise. For His goodness, His grace, and His mercy towards us. Amen. Let us talk to the Lord in prayer at this time. Father God, we thank You for You are good. Your mercy and Your grace. We thank You for showering us this morning once again with Your abundance of love that You have poured into us and on us today, Lord God. As we are here in this place, Lord God, to worship You, to praise You, Lord God, to magnify Your glorious name.

We thank You for last night's lying down and this morning's rising up. We thank You that we are still clothed and in our right mind. We thank You that we have our health and strength in the bodies You've given us, oh Lord God. We praise You from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun. Your name is great and greatly to be praised, oh Lord God. Father God, thank You for meeting us here this morning, Lord God. Thank You for meeting us here because Your Word declares where two or more are gathered in Your name, You are in our midst.

We thank You for those who fought their way to be here. Somebody had to fight to get here this morning, Lord God. Somebody struggled to get here, Lord God. But Lord God, we thank You that the struggle, the fight, did not win, Lord God. That we made it here ready to worship, ready to praise You, ready to glorify Your name on this morning, Lord God. So thank You for the opportunity You have given us to be here, Lord God. We certainly ask that You'd forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, Lord God.

Please look beyond our faults and see our needs on this very day. Place us gently upon Your divine operating table and create in us a clean heart and renew in us a right spirit, Lord God, on today. Father God, we pray, oh Lord God, for Sister Val's mother right now, Lord God. We stand prayers towards her right now, Lord God. We thank You, Lord God, that she will recover from what she has experienced, what she's gone through on yesterday, Lord God. That's yesterday, but today is a new day. Today is a day of healing. Today is a day of restoration.

We declare and decree in the name of Jesus, Lord God, that her body will be restored, Lord God. What's going on in her brain will be fixed, Lord God. Oh Lord God, we thank You for what You're doing right now. Oh Lord God, we lift up all of those who are preparing for surgery. Sister Sharon, Lord God, we lift her up this morning, Lord God, and ask that You would touch her as she prepares for her surgery this week. We ask, oh Lord God, that You cover and keep the McCain family, Lord God, as they continue to mourn the loss of their dear father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

Bless, Lord God, his legacy and bless the children who are left to carry it on, Lord God. We ask, oh Lord God, that You extend Your hand upon the leadership of this country, Lord God. We pray, oh Lord God, that You would touch our leaders from the president all the way down. Allow them to humble themselves before the almighty hand of God, oh Lord God, to confess of their sins, Lord God. We pray because Your Word says if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, then You will hear from heaven, heal our land and forgive us of our sins.

Oh Lord God, so thank You because our land is in need of healing. Oh Lord God, bless those who are dealing with mental health challenges, mothers and fathers. Bless our children, Lord God, who are sometimes in abusive situations, Lord God. Cover and keep them, Lord God. We just thank You because we know that there's nothing too hard for You to do. Now, Lord God, as we go further and higher in this worship experience today, oh Lord God, bless everything that will take place. Prepare my heart, Lord God. Prepare my mind as I bring forth Your Word on today.

This is my prayer that we lift up before You today in the wonderful and the powerful name of Jesus Christ. And if you believe that, agree with me and say amen. Amen. Amen and praise the Lord. Come on, put our hands together let's give God some praise. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We'll be having our scripture reading this morning coming from Sister Phyllis Renders. She'll be reading Acts chapter 13 verses 1 through 4. Amen.

Sister Phyllis Renders: Bless God. Amen. So we'll be lifting up this morning from the book of Acts, the 13th chapter, beginning with verse number 1. "Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'"

"So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus." Amen. The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Ouch. Ouch. I was just trying to adjust. Amen. Amen. Aaron, you good? Our announcements this morning found in your program. Amen. We'll be coming back home next Monday for our Madness of the Heart with Dr. Darryl starting at 8:00 PM on our YouTube channel. And then, amen, on this coming Wednesday the 29th, amen, starting at 7:00 PM. We're going to have our church conference and planning session. Please use the Zoom number that we use for our journey through the word Bible study, amen, for our church conference and church planning session starting at 7:00.

Somebody say seven. Seven. 7:00 PM, amen, on the 29th of July. Amen. And hang around for Bible study afterwards. Amen. We are encouraged you to do that. And then of course on Friday we have our corporate prayer time. How many of y'all believe in the power of prayer? Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. So you can dial the number 605-313-5682 with access code of 785-343#. The number is 605-313-5682 with access code of 785-343#. We've been missing some of y'all, amen, on our prayer call.

Y'all come to Sunday School and y'all come to church, but you're not on the prayer call. Amen. So Pastor's asking you to be on the prayer call. Somebody need to say amen. Because I know I get a call from time to time, but Pastor, can you pray? Well, I need you to be praying with us in a group too. Amen somebody. Amen. So be with us together. Let us do it together in unity of being together as we go to the Lord in prayer. Amen.

We are also, I'll be talking a little bit more about this, but mark your calendars for September 26th right here in the parking lot. We're going to have a community health day. Amen. So we're looking forward to having a mobile health unit that's going to come and be here and some other potential vendors. I'll talk more about that in our church conference and also when we start planning. I'll let you know a little bit more as we go. But mark your calendars for September 26th, starting around probably 10:00 that morning going to about 1:00 in the afternoon. More information will come.

And then also if you have fall clothing, amen, that you're no longer wearing, let's prepare now for our fall clothing outreach. We typically do something in the fall. Amen. So get your things together so that we can begin to disperse our clothes to our brothers and sisters who are unhoused and who are living on the streets. Amen. Sweaters, windbreakers, and things of that nature and socks. Amen. We want to be able to get those things out. Let us remember again our sick and shut-in and our those on this morning, those who are down and out.

Let us also remember as I mentioned in my prayer, Sister Valerie's mother, amen, and Sister Sharon as she's preparing for surgery. And then we'll be celebrating some birthdays this month. Amen. Where are my August birthday babies at? Where are they? Amen. That's right. Amen. So we only have one birthday in August? Amen. Get all the presents. Amen. Amen. Get all the presents. Amen. Amen. So we got one in August. Amen. Amen. So we're going to be celebrating the end of this... end of August, we typically mark it as the fourth Sunday in August that we will celebrate the birthday of those who are celebrating birthdays in August. Amen. And so thank you, amen, for being here today. Praise God for all of you. Love to see your smiling faces. Good to see everybody here. Amen.

I'm going to step aside now that I've made those announcements. One other announcement, I don't know why I keep forgetting this, amen, our offering. Amen. We take up an offering. Amen. Come on somebody, y'all help me. Pray for your Pastor. Amen. We have offering envelopes in the back. A lot of you give electronically and so we want to thank God for that. But if you need an envelope, amen, raise your hand, we'll make sure that we get you an envelope. For those who are watching online, you can take out your mobile device because I can't give you an offering envelope. Amen.

But you can take out your mobile phone and text the word "give" to 240-269-5193. Text the word "give" to 240-269-5193. Seriously, we want to say thank you for your offering because we cannot be in this space that we rent, we cannot do some things... we just purchased a van to pick up individuals, we've got to maintain the van. Amen. We've got to do a whole bunch of other things that require you being faithful, my brothers and sisters, with your tithe and offering. The Bible declares that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Amen. So give cheerfully unto the Lord.

If you're going to give grudgingly, keep it for yourself. Amen. Deal with it on your own terms. Amen. But I know for me, amen, I've been a tither for many, many years, and I can testify of how God has always made a way out of some way. Can someone testify with me on this morning? God has always opened a door, amen, that I did not see happening or coming my direction, but God opened a door, amen, and made all things possible because I believe, because I've been faithful over what He has given me, amen, to give back to the house of God to bring the tithe into the storehouse of the Lord. And so I'm grateful for that.

Amen. So again, for those who want to write a check, those who I'm talking to on our YouTube channel this morning, you can make a check payable to Converted Heart and send to PO Box 10157, Silver Spring, Maryland 20914. Again, that's PO Box 10157, Silver Spring, Maryland 20914. Amen. Those are all the announcements I believe I have before me on today. Again, it's good to see everybody. And now let us prepare for our sermonic selection and then we'll have the preached word. Let the church say amen. Amen.

Rev. Kim: Okay, so this is an old song, it's a high energy song. So we're going to need some help. All right? Say, "I'm going to help you Rev. Kim." All right, here we go. But it's appropriate for our theme. Amen. I'll try to be appropriate. Presence of the Lord is here. Presence of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere. Presence of the Lord is here. Oh, the presence of the Lord is here. Spirit of the Lord is here. Spirit of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere. Spirit of the Lord is here. Yes, it is. Spirit of the Lord is here.

Power of the Lord is here. Power of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere. Power of the Lord is here. Power of the Lord is here. Come on and put your hands together. Presence of the Lord is here. Presence of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere. Presence of the Lord is here. Oh, presence of the Lord is here. Spirit of the Lord is here. Spirit of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere. Spirit of the Lord is here. Spirit of the Lord is here.

Everybody blow the trumpet and sound the alarm because the Lord is in the temple, let's everybody bow. Because the Lord is in the temple, let everybody bow. And all the people praise Him now. The Lord is here. This is the part you declare: Presence of the Lord is here. Presence of the Lord is here. I feel it in the atmosphere. Presence of the Lord is here. Presence of the Lord is here. Everybody blow the trumpet and sound the alarm because the Lord is in the temple and let's everybody bow. Because the Lord is in the temple, let everybody bow. Let all the people praise Him now, the Lord is here.

I can feel the presence of the Lord and I'm going to get my blessing right now. I can feel the presence of the Lord and I'm going to get my blessing right now. I can feel the presence of the Lord and I'm going to get my blessing right now. I can feel the presence of the Lord and I'm going to get my blessing right now. I can feel Him moving on the inside. He's opening up the windows of heaven and pouring out a blessing you can't even... everything you need. I feel His power in this room. It's all up to you, whatever you want to do. Trust and believe and you will see. Right now. Hallelujah. I can feel. Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I trust God right now. Right now. Thank You Jesus.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Hallelujah. Come on, let's put our hands together and celebrate the Lord. Hallelujah. Somebody's in need of a blessing right now. Come on, you need a blessing right now. Come on, give God some praise. Amen. He's right now ready to bless us. Amen. Right now. I don't know what you need. Maybe you need some rent this week. Maybe you need some food on the table this week. Maybe you are in need of a healing this week. I am declaring and decreeing that right now God can bless you right now in this place. I don't know how y'all can just sit there and just smile.

When you think about what God has brought you through, when you think about what God is doing right now with anticipation, I can't help but to raise my hand, I can't help but to shout hallelujah because I know that God is turning some things around in our lives. He's working some things out. Hallelujah. I just feel the presence of the Lord and I'm going to get my blessing when? Right now. Hallelujah. Turn to your neighbor and tell them, "I need a right now blessing." A right now blessing. Hallelujah. A right now blessing. Not later this afternoon, but right now. Somebody need a right now blessing. I'm talking to somebody on YouTube right now, you need a right now blessing. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen.

Thank Rev. Kim, the Lord, amen, for using you and leading us in worship on this morning. Hallelujah. Amen. We have arrived. We have arrived to our last sermon for this last sermon series called "Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit." Amen. And we believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is here. Yes. Amen, on today. Amen. We have been preaching about being baptized in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, developed by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, bearing fruit through the Spirit, and strengthened by the Spirit.

Seven sermons. Somebody say seven sermons. Seven sermons, amen, the number of completion that were designed to equip you for the work of the Lord. And if you missed any of those sermons, amen, then go back, listen and study because those sermons were designed to equip you to become effective men and women of God. Amen. Amen. So I want to give you my final sermon of this sermon series. If you turn your attention back to Acts number 13 verses 2 and 3. "While they were worshipping the Lord..." Didn't we just get through doing that? Yes. Yes. Amen, we're still doing it. Amen.

"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" So after they had fasted and prayed, Sister Sharon, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. After, somebody say after, they fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. This is a good place to stop in the text here. And from this text, I'd like to title this sermon, "Sent by the Spirit, Empowered to Witness." Sent by the Spirit, empowered to witness. Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for this preaching moment. Now may the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be found acceptable unto You. Open now the hearts of each of Your people that this word may be poured into fertile soil and there may bring forth a rich fruit. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Right around the corner is a fire station on New Hampshire Avenue, right down the street, around the corner there's a fire station. But imagine with me if you will, that every morning you drive past this fire station, you see firemen inside. They have polished the equipment.

They have cleaned their uniforms. The fire trucks are fueled and ready to roll out. The hoses are rolled up and every tool has been inspected, Sister Phyllis. The firefighters have spent hours of training and exercising and studying their rescue technique manuals and preparing for emergencies. But imagine if every day they simply kept polishing the trucks, practicing how to roll up the water hose, held meetings, ran drills, and encouraged one another, yet when the alarm sounded, no one left the building. They simply stayed inside.

I believe the county executive of Montgomery County, the postmaster around the corner at the Post Office, and the person who runs the rehabilitation center a few blocks down would eventually ask this question: what's the purpose of all this preparation if nobody is ever sent? What's the purpose of all this preparation y'all come in here and get, amen, if nobody is ever sent? The fire station for the firemen was never meant to be a permanent residence. It was always intended to be their launching pad.

The church, this church, amen, was never meant to just be a place of preparation on Sundays, gathering information on Bible study on Wednesdays, and praying for each other during corporate prayer on Fridays. No, this church, and the one in the text this morning, are preparing disciples of Christ to go out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the first ten years of this ministry called Converted Heart, it's been about preparation, learning people's theologies, educating the mis-educated in whatever kind of relationship, if they had one, with Jesus Christ.

It is here that the like the fire station, the value of training and preparation, you make yourself available to receive a measure by what happens after the alarm sounds. Can I say that one more time because I worked on that, amen. Like the fire station, the value of training and preparation, you make yourself available to receive is measured by what happens after the alarm sounds. Anybody know anything about alarms? Amen. I'm not talking about the smoke alarms. I'm not talking about the car alarms. I'm not talking about the baby crib alarms.

We had a baby crib alarm so every time Andrew or Aaron would move in the crib, the alarm would go off. Come on somebody. We would know that we need to go check on our babies. And if you have come here Sunday after Sunday and not availed yourself to the preparation, the building of relationships with one another with Christ, there could be some damages, amen, if you have not prepared yourself. There is a church in the Book of Acts called Antioch. It's not a big church, Rev. Kim.

In fact, depending on how you read the text, there seem to be only five members who perhaps who make up this church. Or if it's a church that is made up of some powerful witnesses of Jesus Christ. It is a church plant, amen, newly established within the Jewish community there in Antioch. And the membership, the members, the members, amen, the powerful witnesses are teachers and prophets in this church. The roll call goes something like this: the church of Antioch, Barnabas, whose name is means "encourager"; Simeon, our African brother who is called Niger; Lucius of Cyrene, another brother from North Africa; Manaen, one who brought and hung around with Herod; and Saul, the same brother who was converted on the road to Damascus.

Amen. This was an international church. It was a diverse church. It was a multicultural church. But there was an alarm being sounded off in the community and beyond. When you read Acts chapter 13 and the following chapters, you'll understand what is happening. But I could give you the Cliff Notes. Amen. There was a build-up of false teachers coming up in the community. People were being deceived, amen, all kind of evil was going on in the surrounding communities. However, God was up to something because our text tells us there's a worship service that was happening at the church at Antioch.

Yeah, yeah, there was a worship service and praises were going up, amen, hands were being lifted up, amen, God's name was being lifted up, amen, God's name was being magnified at the church at Antioch. Any worshippers in here on this morning? Know what it's like, amen, to begin to raise your hand and praise God. Any worshippers here on this morning begin to know how to open your mouth and call out unto the Lord. Any worshipper here on this morning knows what it's like, what it feels like when you're around a bunch of other believers who know the name of the Lord and begin to call on the name of the Lord.

They had spent time fasting, no doubt praying. And here in the text in this worship experience, the Holy Spirit speaks. This is the first time in scripture that we hear of the Holy Spirit speaking, y'all. Verse 2 says while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work in which I have called them." They were worshipping, or as we say in our church, they were getting their praise on, Sister Lynette. They were getting their praise on, amen, they were getting their shout on, and somebody was dancing perhaps in the back.

I don't know, I wasn't there but I can just use my spiritual imagination. I believe they were having church. They were worshipping, they were calling on the name of the Lord, they were magnifying God's name because His name is great and greatly to be praised. Come on somebody. His name is awesome, amen. They were magnifying His name and and there was a shouting going on perhaps, amen, somebody perhaps was on the backside playing the organ and playing the piano, or somebody was doing something, amen. And they were there worshipping the Lord.

And I don't know, but what I do know is that the Holy Spirit showed up. And can you imagine what could happen here if we came in the room with a spirit of worship on Sunday morning here, amen, instead of a spirit of wanting to be entertained? Amen, can you imagine, brother Mike, what it would be like if we walked through the doors of this church, amen, and begin to leave what's on the outside on outside and begin to just worship the Lord when we come inside of this church, in this upper room, and classroom number 22 here at 152 Randolph Road, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904?

Amen. Can you imagine, Sister Phyllis, what it would be like if we came into this place, amen, ready to worship, ready to give God our best praise and our best worship on Sunday mornings? I believe the theological heart of the sermon is here in verse 2. Why do I say that? And I'm glad that you asked. Because the Holy Spirit had already been active in the community. You will remember that in Acts chapter 2, they were being filled by the Spirit. Amen. And became powerful witness of Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 4, they gave boldly out of their abundance, amen.

In Acts chapter 10, Peter was guided out of the prison by the Spirit. So it is here in Acts chapter 13 verse 2 that in this place, amen, this is the first place in Acts where Luke explicitly records the Holy Spirit speaking in a direct quotation. I believe the text will reveal why the Holy Spirit speaks. What were the men doing? They were worshipping. The Bible said they were worshipping and fasting. What happens when we are in the spirit of worship and fasting, church? What happens? You are going to like this.

I know you're going to like it because I shouted when I wrote it down. What happens is that the Spirit speaks in an atmosphere of worship. Yes. You just missed why I just said back there in the back. Amen. When you begin to worship, when we are all together worshipping the Lord in this place, the Spirit begins to speak. Come on somebody. That doesn't mean that God can't speak anywhere else. It means that worship positions our heart to hear from God. When we are worshipping the Lord, we open ourselves up to the Spirit speaking to us.

We become in tune with the Spirit in worship. The evidence of you being filled with the Holy Spirit is not merely that you can speak to God in prayer, it is that you have learned to recognize when God speaks to you. And that's what happened. They were worshipping, they were praising, they were getting their praise on, they were fasting, they were in a position of fasting too, and God begin to speak to them through the Holy Spirit. And since we are examining verse number 2, I believe this is a good place to go ahead and make my first observation on this morning and that is, the Spirit calls us before He sends us.

The Spirit calls us. Say the Spirit calls us. The Spirit calls us. Before He sends us. Before He sends us. Yeah, yeah, this is a powerful move of the Holy Spirit. This is a powerful move of the Holy Spirit that occurs in this text because God always works in our hearts before He works with our hands. Come on, y'all missed it. Y'all missed it. Y'all missing it. Listen, God works on our hearts before He begins to work with our hands. Amen. We are the hands, the feet, and the mouth of God.

However, there are some things that God and only God must do in our hearts before we could truly be used for His divine purpose. I can preach all day of what thus says the Lord, Sister Val. But if only if your heart is not open towards the Word of God, the in-filling of His Word that will move you to trust Him, it will be difficult for you to move on what God is calling us to do. It starts with our hearts. Say it starts with my heart. It starts with my heart. It starts with my heart. Point to yourself. It starts with my heart. Some of you must remember this.

King David, after his ordeal with Bathsheba and the loss of the son they had together, he penned these words in Psalm 51:10, and you've heard me say it all the time: "Create in me..." what? "...a clean heart." And do what? "Renew in me a right spirit." David, like some of us, had hearts that were not right. Hearts that were torn and filled with the wrong agenda. And until we get our hearts right with God, you will remain on the launching pad, unwilling to move when the Spirit speaks.

Secondly, as I move my way through this text and through this sermon on this morning, not only does the Spirit call us before He sends us, the Spirit also equips those He sends. That's right. The Spirit equips. Say He equips. He equips. He equips those He sends. Verse number 3 of the text says, "So they fasted and prayed. They placed their hands on them and sent them off." After hearing the Holy Spirit speak, they conferred with one another, Sister Denise. They prayed for Barnabas and they prayed for Saul by placing their hands on them.

If you've ever been to ordination service of the Methodist church, amen. The Bishop, amen, calls up, amen, those who are being ordained, the candidates. And what the Bishop do, he reads some some rituals, amen, and begins the process of placing his or her hand on top of the head of the candidate. But not only his hand is placed on top of the head of that candidate, amen, it is the other full-connection brothers, elders of the church who come and place their hands on top of the head of the candidate. Which means that the weight of the responsibility of that person now being ordained to go out and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ is a heavy weight.

Somebody say it's a heavy weight. It's a heavy weight, amen, because the hands give, amen, the approval of what the Lord has already ordained for you to become a pastor or a clergy or a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen. All that preparation, man, amen. All that studying, all that training a candidate has to endure has prepared them to be sent out. But I want to take I want to take it a step further because the preparation happens in the classroom. The preparation not only happens in the classroom. Not all the training happens in the lab. Not all the studying occurs in the library.

You may now you may not agree with me on this, but everything God has been doing in your life is preparing you for where He is sending you. Come on somebody. It's not always what happens in the classroom. It's not always what happens as you are doing the work, amen, and being trained. Sometimes life becomes the classroom. The issues of life become the classroom. That is your preparation. Every obstacle you have faced is preparation. Every illness you go through is preparation. Every rejection, amen, is preparation. I need somebody to agree with me on this morning.

That every disappointment is preparation. Every time they say they would, but they didn't, is preparation. Everything that seemed to keep you from reaching your goals is preparation. Every pink slip you have received is preparation. Every let-down, every let-loose, every let-go was preparation. Paul said it best in Romans 8:28, "For we know that all things work together. All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and who have been called according to His purposes." Yes, everything, amen.

The ups and downs, the trials and tribulations of life, amen, are preparation for where God is trying to send us. Your calling in life must go through some preparation. And preparation is what equips you to be sent out and not just stay settled in. Well, as I hurry to the close on this morning: number one, the Spirit calls us before He sends us. The Spirit also equips those He sends. And finally, my third observation is that the Spirit sends us to a transformed world. The Spirit sends us to transform the world.

It doesn't take a crowd. It doesn't take a whole bunch of folks to change the world. You have to go you don't have to go on a mission trip to transform the world. But it only takes one person. It only takes one who would listen to the move of the Holy Spirit. One who has a heart aligned with the will of God. One who knows that they have been given the power and the authority. So as I wrap up this sermon on this morning and this sermon series... we were baptized by the fire, is that right? Yes. We learned what it means to be filled by the Spirit. That's right.

We were led by the Spirit. We walk by the Spirit. We bore the fruit of the Spirit. We were strengthened in our inner being by the Spirit. But God never intended us to stay in the upper room. There is a community waiting for you. Your community may be your own family. Your community may be the place where you work. Your community may be those on the street corner. Your community may be those down at the courthouse. Wherever the Spirit is sending you, He's sending you to transform those communities. Do I have a witness out there? Amen.

The same Spirit that fell like fire in Acts chapter 2 became the feet that walk in Acts chapter 13. The same Spirit who confronted them also commissioned them. The same Spirit that strengthened them also sent them. The same Spirit... somebody say the same Spirit. The same Spirit. The same Spirit who transformed them also used them to transform the world. Never underestimate, Sister Elizabeth, what one spirit-filled believer can accomplish. Never underestimate, amen, what one spirit-filled believer can accomplish. Somebody say it just takes one. It just take one.

And I'm so glad that God one day sent the One that it would take to save us of our sins. I'm so glad that God sent the One who would stand and be an intercessor for me right now. I'm so glad that God sent the One who would die for my sins on the cross at Calvary. Y'all know His name. His name is Jesus. Jesus became that one person who showed us how to transform the world. Jesus transformed the world, amen, in John chapter 20 verse 21, where the Father said, "Father has sent me and now I'm sending you."

The Father sent Jesus, the Holy Spirit sent Barnabas and Saul, now the Holy Spirit is sending us. The mission of sending has always been part of God's divine plan. How many of y'all believe that? We were not meant just to sit in this room and be comfortable on Sundays, amen. When you go outside of these doors, you have now been commissioned, amen, to be a spokesperson of the Word of God to the people of God. Amen. The Holy Spirit does not merely make us better Christians, amen, He makes us continued participants in the mission of Jesus Christ.

We are filled so that we can be sent. We are filled so that we can witness. We are filled so that we can transform lives. Amen. We are filled, amen, so we can let the world know that Jesus is Lord and He's coming back again. We are filled so that we can lift up somebody from their despair. We are filled so that we can encourage somebody along the way. Do I have a witness out there? Amen. We are filled, amen, just not to be filled and get somewhere and sit down. We are filled to walk, amen, with the power and the authority that God has given us.

Jesus transformed the world one person at a time, and He could transform us, amen, to be all that God has called us to be. Sent by the Spirit. Come on, let's give God some praise for His Word on this morning. Hallelujah. The doors of the church are open. The doors of this church are open on this morning. And we're grateful as you stand to your feet, as the musician plays softly. We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and to accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As I look over the landscape in this room, I know all of you have a relationship with the Lord.

Perhaps you are at a place though where you want to rededicate your life. So if that is you on today, if you want to rededicate your life, knowing that God can restore you and begin to speak to you and begin to put you back in alignment to send you out. If that's you on today, won't you come and give me your hand and give God your heart. If you want to rededicate your life today. There may be somebody who's watching who don't know Jesus in the pardon of your sins. Romans 10:9 says if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead, the Bible declares that you are saved.

If you want to give your life to Christ, you can simply take out your mobile device and text the word "join" to 240-269-5193. Text the word "join" to 240-269-5193. My sisters and brothers, you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. God bless you. Hallelujah. I love You, Lord today because You cared for me in such a special way. That's why I praise You. I lift You up and I magnify Your name. Hallelujah. That's why my heart is filled with praise. Come on, let's give God some praise. Amen. Hallelujah.

We thank God for His Word today. We thank God for this worship experience today. We thank God for all that has taken place in this worship experience today. We have given you seven, and today was the eighth sermon, which means new beginnings. Yes. The number eight means new beginnings. Your new beginning now means that you have been prepared to go and you have been prepared to be sent out, amen, to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. You have been equipped, you have been strengthened, you have been told what it means to walk, how to be led, how to be guided, how to be filled.

Yeah, I've given you everything I can give you, Sister Sharon. I don't have anything else to give. I gave you all I can give today. Amen. And I pray that you have received these messages over these last seven and a half, eight weeks of preaching about living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God wants you equipped because there's so much work to be done in our communities. Amen. Rev. Kim come and as we prepare for our benediction and doxology on today.

Rev. Kim: 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. We're singing amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. 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.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Let us pray our benediction before we leave this place. Father God, now we thank You for what we have learned, what we have heard. And we thank You, Lord God, for allowing us to be reminded of Your Spirit that sends us. As we go out, Lord God, may we go out prepared, may we go out ready with an expectation of what You're going to do, Lord God, in the weeks to come. Bless these Your servants, Lord God. Now, Father God, to Him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us before Your glorious presence without fault and with great joy, and to the God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore. Let the people of God say: amen, amen, and amen. God bless you. Come on, give God some praise. Hallelujah. We hope and pray to see you next week. And may God keep you throughout the rest of this week. Amen.