And | Dr. Jerry Mason

To the Lord this morning, what a privilege it is to be in God's

house and I I personally testify today of how good it is to be in

his house. A man just shy of 15,000 air

miles traveled, not including hundreds of miles by train,

trains, multiple multiple trains and vehicles.

I am thankful for the Lord's protection and I I had texted

the prayer band group started getting a little nervous before

I left Tokyo Friday, Japan time because of our government's

shutdown and the impact it's having on air traffic

controllers. They were starting to reduce air

traffic, so the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck

anywhere but home. After almost two weeks, I was

ready, so ready to be back home. I appreciate prayer.

I should have been just a little more specific.

Sometimes you don't know how specific to be.

I got back home. Got back home to Evansville

Airport. Planes were on time, pilots were

good, God was great, and my car battery was dead.

So Lord still good, He's still gracious.

So next time I might add a few more elements to my, my

specifics on on praying to get home.

But I am thankful and it's so good to be here this morning in

the presence of the Lord with all of you wonderful people

today, the book of Romans, chapter 8 and 28.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

I give honor to our Bishop and our pastor this morning, my

beloved, beautiful, wonderful wife who was waiting to greet me

coming home. I was so never so thrilled to be

back with my best friend. So thankful for her, my son and

daughter-in-law. And the last time I was in this

pulpit, Piper wasn't here yet and I talked to her from the

pulpit so I can continue that tradition because she's here now

and Pops has the microphone. So I'll say, Piper, I love you.

And you can scream and holler all you want to today.

It'll be just fine. Romans 8 and 28, the Bible says

everybody shout that first word with me and I'm going to make a

whole lot of friends right now because that's all we're going

to read. I'm not going to keep you

standing very long today. So I'm in I'm in the the mood to

make friends this morning at least for 5 minutes.

I want to talk to you this morning on the subject of and

powerful little word that has a great amount of meaning and a

great amount of context in the Word of God.

And we're going to dive into that with the Lord's help this

morning. Would you lift your hands this

morning and ask God to touch us today in the name of Jesus?

God, we're thankful for you this morning.

Help me to minister today with wisdom and clarity.

Let your anointing be present with us.

God, do things in the spirit realm this morning that I cannot

do. Go before us right now.

Make every crooked way straight. Bind every spirit that is unlike

you. In the name of Jesus, let our

ears be attuned to the Spirit of the living God.

So there is but one Lord, 1 faith and 1 baptism.

And today we're thankful for your holy Word.

In the name of the Lord Jesus, we say Amen.

The Lord bless you this morning. You may be seated.

That is a courtesy and not a command.

So that I not make any traditionalists uncomfortable

this morning because I didn't finish reading, I will read the

entirety of this verse. Romans 828 And we know that all

things work together for good to them that love God, to them who

are the called according to His purpose and the Word.

I've often seen the power of this word used in meetings and

discussions, particularly in team environments.

When someone suggests a particular idea and it initially

gets shot down quickly, And when another person responds and says

yes and they offer some alternatives to go along with

what was already said, it often shifts the conversation.

It adds more possibility. It adds context.

It adds a shift from that small little word and that doesn't

reject what was already said. It doesn't reject what is true,

but it simply begins to build on it.

The initial vision may not have been received very with clarity,

but when you add and and you start to build on it, it starts

to add some clarity. It turns limitations into

opportunities. It turns hesitation into

collaboration. It turns ideas into

breakthroughs. The word and is a simple

connector that joins 2 things together, like links in a chain.

It tells us that one idea, action, or statement is

connected to another, sometimes happening at the same time,

sometimes as a result of the first thing that was said.

Alternatively, the word and is often used as a verbal comma

where someone will finish a sentence and they'll say and

because they don't want to get interrupted.

This happens in multiple languages because people by

nature are just impatient and we want to jump in.

Sometimes we shove that and out there just to put you at a pause

to say, hey, I'm not done, but I need to take a breath to

indicate they've got a little bit more to say.

In the English language, it usually just adds one thing to

another. But in the Bible's original

languages like Greek and Hebrew, it can mean much more.

It can show purpose, sequence, and it can even show cause and

effect. It was important for me to

verify the use of this word and was not merely an English

grammatical edition made when the Bible was translated.

That was used solely to help us English speakers understand a

bit more clearly because you have to understand when

translating from one language to another.

There is so much figurative language used that what is often

translated by word is not exactly what was said.

It's the spirit of what was said.

It's the meaning of what was said.

So it's quite possible that the word and or any other connector

could have just been added in there for us, but it wasn't.

What I found in research to verify this and in study was

that the word and was a verified word in both Greek and Hebrew

used in not only the way that we would use it, but in also a

deeper meaning and way to help us understand how God connects

one thing to another. So it wasn't an accident.

It wasn't a feeler. By definition, the word and is a

coordinating conjunction, one of the most fundamental connectors

in the English language. Its primary function is to join

words, phrases, clauses, or ideas.

Ideas of equal grammatical rank Examples could be word

combinations. We talk in the Bible about faith

and works, phrases to love God and to serve others or clauses.

He prayed and the heavens opened and typically signals 3 things,

addition, continuation and connection of equals.

In addition, it links one idea to the other.

In continuation, it indicates a sequence of thought or action.

In connection of equals, neither part is subordinate to the

other. They're both equal.

They're both important and disconnecting them, unlike the

word but in contrast or the word.

Because the word and does not inherently change tone, meaning,

or logic, it just extends thought.

In languages like Hebrew and Greek, the words translated for

and often carry heavier meaning or nuanced than what we have in

our English language. They express sequence or

causation, emphasis or contrast. When these are transliterated

into English, the word and can sometimes seem repetitive or

unnecessary to US English readers, but in the original

language it carried theological or narrative weight.

The word and can serve as a connector of divine action,

revelation or continuity, showing that one event or

promise is LinkedIn purpose to the other.

So I want to look at some references in the Word of God to

help us understand this a bit. Today Micah, six and eight says,

But to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with

thy God. The words and here are used with

intentionality because we need to understand today that the

prophet is tying together justice, mercy and humility.

He's doing so on purpose because it's important for us to

understand that justice without mercy is harsh.

Mercy without justice is chaos. Everything goes both without

humility is nothing but pride. The and weaves them into a

single moral fabric that helps us understand that God's not

asking for one virtue at a time. He's asking for a life where

justice and mercy and humility walk hand in hand, not just on

Sundays, not just on Wednesdays, but every day of my life.

He's looking for a lifestyle where that I demonstrate in my

walk with God his justice, his mercy, and I do so with

humility. And it's the and that connects

them. It's the and that brings the

power there to help us understand that all three are

equally important and we cannot leave one without the other.

Mark 12 and 30 says, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with

all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and

with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.

Jesus refuses to let us separate devotion from compassion because

He's connecting our love for Him from our soul, from our mind,

from our strength, and telling us that this is the first

commandment. You want to know what the

greatest thing is? Love the Lord thy God with all

your heart. He didn't stop there.

He could have just said love me with all your heart, but he goes

deeper and connects it with and with all your soul.

And then he adds another layer and says and with all your mind.

Because what you think has power to reveal in your actions.

You don't have an action without first having a thought.

And I read something yesterday that said you're not responsible

for your first thought, but you are responsible for your second

thought. So there's a responsibility that

we carry with what we think and with what's in our mind.

And God's telling us that he wants us to love him with all of

our mind and not just that, but with all of the strength that

means everything that we've got in us.

He's not separating, just saying I love you.

He's saying I love you with my heart, my soul, my mind, my

strength. What's that?

It's the equivalent of saying I love Him with everything that is

within me, from the top of my head to the sole of my feet.

Uniting spiritual love with social love between God and

others so powerfully connects us.

Love for God proves itself in our love for people.

I'm letting that marinate on purpose because that's a

powerful statement. Love for God proves itself in

our love for people. Bishop.

It has baffled me for years how people can say that they love

God, but they clearly have nothing but hatred for mankind.

There are things about people that I don't like, there are

qualities about people that I don't like.

But when I get in the presence of God, I have to equally

recognize their qualities about me.

Somebody else not like it either.

So when we stand before God, we stand equal in what we don't

like. We stand equal in those things

that aren't right or those things that aren't appreciated.

But if we can somehow develop a love for people, our love for

God will prove itself in how we love humanity.

The cross has a vertical beam and a horizontal beam.

I can't love God and leave people out because the cross of

Calvary had only the intent to horizontally reach over and save

humanity. So I can't say that I love you

and then treat you like I don't not love, not God's love.

John 4 and 24 says God is a spirit and they that worship him

must worship him in spirit. Everybody say it with me.

And and in truth, there's a lot of people today that love to

worship. We have had in this assembly

over the years, we have had on more than one occasion that I

can count. I don't know that I can count

them on all hands. I, I think the number goes

beyond what, what appendages I have.

But I have seen Brother Fred a number of times over the years

in this assembly where we have had people come to this church

and enjoy the music, enjoy the worship and leave when it come

preaching time. Because there's a, there is a

spirit in the land today that wants to worship him.

They'll take the spirit, but they aren't looking for truth.

But the word of God said God is a spirit and they that worship

him. If you're truly going to worship

him, if you're going to love him, if you're going to devote

your life to Him, it is in spirit and connected together.

Not replacing one, but adding to it the importance of worshiping

Him in truth. Jesus is redefining worship

here, not just as emotion or intellect, but both.

Spirit speaks of sincerity in life.

Truth speaks of understanding and alignment.

I've got to know where I stand before God based on His word.

Not based on what people tell me, not based on what my friends

say, not based on what my family is saying.

I have to align myself to the truth of God's Word based on

what he says. And that's where we find true

worship, the conjunction and is holding worship in perfect

tension between passion and principle.

True worship. True worship goes beyond just

enjoying the song. True worship goes to the depths

of the heart. True worship extends beyond just

the beat of the drum or the the click and the clang of the

piano. True worship is when the song

stops. My worship carries.

True worship is not predicated on having to praise team or a

praise band to sing and play. True worship is based on my

belief system in God. It's based on where I stand

before Him. If the platform is silent, I

still have occasion to worship Him.

I still have occasion to bless Him.

I still have occasion to give God the glory He deserves.

My worship is not predicated on the sounds system carrying

volume. My worship is based on Jesus

Christ and He is the God of glory.

True worship. True worship in spirit and in

truth. The day that we start excusing

truth from our worship is the day that we stop worshipping Him

because He said God is a spirit and they that worship Him must

do so in spirit and in truth. So if we do not follow that

recipe today, then we start worshipping something else.

Psalm 85 and 10 says mercy and truth have met together.

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

It's a poetry of reconciliation. Attributes that seem to pull in

opposite directions. Meet in harmony through God's

redemption power. The and here speaks of divine

balance at Calvary mercy and truth met justice didn't lose,

grace didn't compromise, and peace kissed righteousness.

Acts 2 and 42 and they continued steadfastly in the apostles

doctrine and in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in

prayer. The and is connecting sound

teaching with community. Fellowship, we draw strength in

fellowship. No man is an island to himself.

The worst thing you can do. Let me, let me let me rephrase

that because I don't know if it's the worst thing you can do,

but I definitely believe it's on the top five list of bad things

you can do for yourself is isolate yourself.

And that's one of the most tempted things we are to do when

we start going through trials and situations is we want to

isolate ourselves because the enemy convinces us.

No one understands, no one understands me, no one knows

what I'm going through. No one's walked in my shoes.

Sound familiar? So we isolate ourselves.

And when we isolate ourselves, then it's easier for our

adversary to convince us that we're alone because we are,

because we did it to ourselves. You isolate yourself out of

fellowship. You will end up isolating

yourself out of God. We draw strength in fellowship,

but we cannot have fellowship without worship.

We cannot have fellowship without prayer.

They broke bread. That's fellowship.

But it says they also prayed. That's keeping truth center

focus to my fellowship. I'm not fellowshipping just for

a barbershop gossip. I'm fellowshipping so I can keep

him center focus in my life. I need to draw strength from

you. I might be weak and I need

fellowship. I need strength from my brother.

Or maybe my brother needs strength from me.

And if we excommunicate the church and we knock ourselves

out of fellowship, we're losing the opportunity for God to help

deliver us from our valley. You cannot go through a valley

alone. It is not God's will nor God's

design. The Word builds the church's

foundation in a world of extremes.

God's truth often lives in the middle of and faith and works.

Some people preach faith. Some people preach nothing but

works. The people who preach faith only

preach against works. The people who preach works

only. Don't worry about faith because

they think it's all just in demonstration.

The Bible desire is to have balance of both, for without

faith it is impossible to please him.

But it also states faith without works is dead.

Not my word, I didn't translate it.

That's that's God's word that says faith without works, faith

without demonstration, faith without proof is dead grace and

truth, worship and service. We, we live in a world of

extremes where it's often far right, far left, and I'm not

talking politically, but outside of politics.

Our world demonstrates extremes because there's a lack of

balance, but God's Word lives and operates in divine balance.

There's no other way that you can find divine balance than

through obediently submitting to God's Word.

God had a plan. He had a plan that is revealed

to us in His Word. Acts one and eight says But you

shall receive power after that. The Holy Ghost has come upon

you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and

all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth

in this verse and just doesn't join 2 clauses.

It ties together empowerment and purpose.

Because God didn't save you to be quiet.

Jesus was revealing one promise with two sides.

Power received and power revealed.

The greatest witness we will often ever be isn't with speech,

it's with demonstration. It's how we live.

It's how we conduct ourselves. It's where we go.

It's where we don't go. It's the choices and decisions

we make above and beyond what we say.

You shall receive power after that.

The Holy Ghost has come upon you, then your witnesses.

The implication here is that we we lack valuable witness until

we have the power of God because he said we would have we would

be witnesses after the Holy Ghost come upon us.

Mark 1616 States and it's a bit of an indictment to non

believers but it says he that believeth and is baptized shall

be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned or cursed.

It indicates and reveals to us the importance of baptism, the

importance of going beyond the step of repentance. 2 related

actions are present, believing and baptism.

Believing is internal. Baptism was the demonstration.

You can't see repentance, but repentance demonstrated is

baptism. It's public obedience to God's

Word. It signals connection and

completeness. Salvation involves both faith

and an outward act of obedience. Joel 225 He said, I will

restore, and you shall eat in plenty.

Hosea 6 and 1. He has torn and He will heal us.

Psalm 5112 restored to me the joy of my salvation, and uphold

me with Thy free spirit. Jeremiah 31 and three, I have

loved you with an everlasting love, and I will rebuild you

again. First, John 1:00 and 9:00, if we

confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins.

Confession opens the opportunity for God's demonstration and is

connecting it there. It's adding to it.

It is not either or. We have to understand that in

our walk with God today. The Bible is not either or.

It's and either or implies there's options.

Either or implies there's another way.

The Bible emphatically tells us that there is but one Lord, 1

faith, one baptism. I didn't write that word.

He wrote that word and it is our our option to obey that word.

But when we obey it and we confess our sins to him, the

Bible says he's faithful and he's just to forgive our sins.

Back to Romans 828. And it starts us off with it.

It's connecting us to something else that's already been said

before we can understand the and in this verse, we need to

understand its connection to the verses leading up to it.

Romans 8 and 26 says likewise. The Spirit also help with our

infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we

ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with

groanings that cannot be uttered.

And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the

Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the Saints

according to the will of God. And then the next word is and,

and it's not replacing everything that was just said,

but the culmination of everything that was just said in

poetic fashion comes together in verse #28 And he says and, and

by the use of and the apostle Paul is saying, in effect, that

what I'm about to say is not separate from what I just said.

All things are working together for the good to them that love

the God. And this is the assurance that

you can claim everything in a believer's life, everything in

your life, in my life, struggles, blessings,

uncertainty is actively cooperating under God's purpose.

In other words, the Greek word here for and functions like a

hinge connecting human experience, God's sovereignty

and the ultimate good, bridging what is with what could be so

that He writes and we know that all things work together for

good to them that love God. How do I know I love God?

I demonstrate my love for God through my life with God,

through my worship to Him. If I'm demonstrating true

worship, I'm proving my love to Him and to them who are the

called according to His purpose. God's will is divine.

His purpose is Our Calling. His desire is our mission.

We seek after His purpose. There's a reason we seek after

His will. Because He knows how to protect

us from things we shouldn't be involved in.

And if we don't give Him permission to protect us, then

we do our own thing, our own way, our own time, and then we

take credit for the success and we blame everybody else for the

failure. All of this leads us to the

capstone of all the ands, and that takes us to Acts 238.

Then Peter said unto them, repent, and y'all going to be

sick of the word. And before you leave here today,

repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus

Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the

gift of the Holy Ghost. I'll tell you today, repentance

is great, but it only happens internally and it's only the

start. The Bible does not tell us

repent and or be baptized. It doesn't tell us you might get

the Holy Ghost. It's very clear.

It's very purposeful. It's very black and white.

It's very easy to understand. There is no confusion here.

Repent first step. After you repent and we're tied

together next to our course of action, be baptized.

It adds baptism to repentance. This joins a personal turning

from sin with public action, and then for the remission of sins

or the removal of sins, joins forgiveness with empowerment and

renewal. Just as Joel chapter 2, Acts 238

Joel 2 · chapter mention

progressively builds on itself with each new statement without

contradicting the previous statement.

Instead, there's addition from one to the other.

Repent, change of heart, baptism, outward step of

obedience and cleansing, remission of sin, spiritual

restoration, receiving the Holy Ghost, empowerment to live new

life. And even after you get to that

point, repent, baptize in Jesus name, you get the Holy Ghost

even after you get to that point.

Many people have made the mistake of just stopping.

That's good. Yes, that's so true.

I have heard people say, I have heard people say, well, I got

the Holy Ghost, I guess I'm ready.

And they sat on the church Pew, never did another thing that,

ladies and gentlemen, is not in the word of God.

Acts 238 is just the fulfillment of your birth certificate.

I just became reborn. I just became a new creature.

I just started living a new life.

So now I've got a lot to learn. That's why the Epistles was

written. Now I've got a lot to learn.

The epistles was not written to sinners.

They were written to save Holy Ghost filled church members.

So they guide us principally on the foundation of how we should

live as a Christian. So and takes us from sin to

salvation. I'm closing this morning.

Takes us from death to life. Takes us from guilt to

empowerment. The passages we discovered today

in Hosea, Isaiah, Psalms, and 1st John all find their

expression in Acts 238. Forgiveness and restoration,

Repentance and baptism. Sins remitted.

Holy Ghost poured out. God can and God is willing to

work in your life through the and through the connector

because he wants to connect each of us to his Word.

He wants to connect each of us to the idea and the fundamental

principle that my life as a Christian is not about what I do

on Sunday. Society, Christian society,

worships the idea of church day. Please don't misunderstand me.

I'm not detracting from the importance of church day.

Church day, church night matters.

But we cannot worship the idea of Sunday morning church or

Sunday night church or Wednesday night church as the

demonstration of our Christianity.

My label as a Christianism isn't about me coming to church.

It's about me following Him. It's about me being connected to

him. The and in the Scripture is

bringing me closer to him is providing a bridge in a

connection between who I used to be and who I am now.

So God can and God will stand with me this morning.

Work in your life through the and to bring forgiveness to

bring his spirit to bring his power to bring his purpose

because God has a purpose for every individual.

Amen. My purpose today, my purpose

today is not predicated on whether or not I have this

microphone Bishop, what I am doing for what I've been doing

for the last 30 minutes and 52 seconds isn't about it's not

about this. That's right.

That's not the demonstration of who I am, right?

Right. The demonstration of who I am is

when this is absent in my life, what does my worship look like?

What does my walk with God look like in the silence?

What does my walk with God look like?

When I'm not asked to do something?

I'm not worshiping God because I'm being asked to do something.

I'm worshiping God for who he is.

We walk with him. For him the game is heaven, the

reward is Jesus, and He connects us today through His power.

Would you lift your hands to Him this morning and thank God for

His presence? Thank God for His connection.

Thank God for His interest in our life today.

I'm glad He's interested in me. I don't understand why he's

interested in me, but I'm glad that He's interested in me

today. I'm glad that He loves me.

I'm glad that every day when the sun rises from from this side of

the hemisphere that the Bible tells us that mercies are

reborn. I'm glad today that I'm not what

I used to be. I may not be what I want to be.

I may not be what I need to be, but I'm so thankful today that

by His power and by His grace and by His authority, today, by

His word, I am not what I used to be.

God is able. Today.

This altar is open. If you, if you need to pray this

morning, if you want to pray, if you want to draw closer to him

today, that opportunity is extended to you this morning.

As we sing and as we worship, God's deliverance is found in

the and connection of our life. Today, let's worship.