The Family Table | Bishop McGee

Welcome to the First Apostolic Church podcast.

Our church mission is to love as God loves showing compassion

every soul, thus winning those souls and equipping them to be

sent out to plant and to harvest.

Thank you for joining us today, and we hope that you are blessed

by today's podcast. Praise the Lord everybody.

It's good to be in the House of the Lord this morning.

Amen. Hallelujah.

The weather is just don't know where we're going from there,

but God does one thing that I'm sure of.

I know that I know a God that's got his hand on the knob of

nature and he's taking care of it.

All right. I know he is Hallelujah.

Glad. For you, that came this morning.

Amen. Praise the Lord.

We got a people that come even in the midst of storm and all of

that. We thank you and we praise God

for people like that that are faithful to His house this

morning. Hallelujah.

We've got the table spread ready to eat, so we're doing good.

Praise the Lord. Psalms 128 is where I want to

turn this morning. For some time now I've had notes

and been laying them aside and then I had to put all this

together and by the help of the. Lord, this morning I want to be

a blessing to you and not a curse.

Thank the Lord. Psalms 128.

I'm just going to read the whole.

Chapter 119 verses right. Thank you Jesus.

Psalms. 1/28 Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord that

walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of

thine hands. Happy shalt thou be, and it

shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as the

fruitful vine by the sides of thine house.

Thy children like all of plants round about the table.

Behold that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the

Lord. The Lord bless thee out of Zion.

Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy

life. Yeah, thou shalt see thy

children's children and peace upon Israel.

Heavenly Father, we ask you this morning, God, that you would

move in this place. This morning, God, I ask you,

Lord, for your presence to come in this place.

Lord, I need your anointing and your help this morning, God, to

encourage, to strengthen your people this morning in the name

of Jesus. God, let the word go with us.

Let it not leave us. Lord, I pray in the name of

Jesus, Amen and Amen, and you can be seated in Jesus name.

I want to use this subject this morning.

I'm going to take you back a few years this morning, but I want

to use this subject. The family table.

The family table. I set a table this morning and I

I put what we had at our house. So that's seven people.

So I thought, I want to I want to say that at the at the onset

of this, I thank God for my lovely wife of all these years,

because she had a job. She not only she not only took

care of the house, but she worked also for several years,

probably 10 years of our married life.

She worked and I thank God for her Amen and and even really and

she might be watching this morning, but my oldest daughter.

I thank the Lord for her because in the process of Mama working

and she worked evenings and I remember those days when my wife

would in fact, our children could go and they could look at

the at the refrigerator and they could tell what was going to be

for supper because my wife had a menu made out.

So you kind of knew it was, you know, it was just like a

restaurant. We knew what we was going to eat

before it come time. So you kind of look forward to

your special meals. And I thank the Lord for a wife

like that and for my oldest daughter that.

Mama would go to work in the afternoon and that'd be on their

cooking and stuff and and my oldest daughter would come home

to school and she'd finish it up.

She learnt to cook that away. What a great thing.

I want you to take a look at our text this morning.

I began. The Lord some time ago just kind

of grabbed a hold of my heart and I began to study about the

family table and my there's this Psalms 128 just paints the

picture for us of what a godly family should look like.

A godly home is a place where you feel at ease.

Yeah, let me say that again. I want that to sink in.

I said a godly home is the place that you feel at ease.

And let me remind you this morning that not all homes have

this. We are proof of that.

We had a lot of children that come into our home.

And some of those were rich kids that were, were, you know,

friends of our kids. And they'd come to our house and

they loved our house. They they, and it wasn't because

of its beauty. It wasn't because of that.

But when they come through the doors, there was something about

it that they felt at ease. I'm going to tell you when you

got God in the house, there is going to be an ease.

There is going to be a refreshing spirit.

There's going to be a feeling that comes with that.

Now that's why I always want God in the house, not only in my

home, but I want him in the church because I want to feel at

ease in the church. Not at ease just to sit down,

but I want to feel at ease for the Freddie to, to worship the

Lord. I want to feel at ease to praise

him and honor him and everything that he does.

And I began to look at these scriptures began to study and,

and it just kind of, and I'm going to I'll get to my message.

It may take me a little while because I got some things that I

want to go through. Because when we look at verse

one and two, it gives us a picture of the husband that is

blessed because he fears the Lord, the Bible said, and he

walks in his ways. Now, I don't, I don't know about

you, but that's pretty special to me when He honors God and He

walks in his ways. You give me a husband like that

and I'll say that he's probably going to have a family like him,

and I'm glad for that this morning.

The Father is blessed, Amen, in himself.

He's blessed in his business. Look at the Scripture.

He's blessed in his family. He's blessed in his church and

he's blessed in his community. He's blessed all the way around

only because he fears the Lord and he walks in his ways.

Now I'm going to tell you this morning, what a better, what a

better reason to walk with the Lord than if you're going to be

blessed all the way around. I don't know about you, but

that, that sounds pretty good to me.

That's a pretty good promise. Amen.

So this, this man, this was a husband and he, he was blessed

all the way around just because of that.

And now let's get to verse #3 I want to, I want to touch here

for a moment. JB Owens stated something that

grabbed a hold to me and I felt good enough about it that I

wanted to write it down. He said a godly mother.

Now we're going to get to the mother.

A godly mother is a fruitful vine.

It was a common thing in the East to train a grape vine along

the side of the house, partly to save ground, partly because it's

a good exposure for fruit, and partly to protect it from

thieves 'cause they had them back there.

They steal your grapes. So a good thing.

It became an emblem of a mother with many children.

The and the work was kept at home.

It was right close. She could go out and pick

grapes. Amen.

But when somebody walked by that house and he took a look, he

could see that there was a Mama there that had many children,

Amen. It was a blessed home, see, many

children was counted a blessing in that day, and to be barren

was a curse, Amen. Praise the Lord, I don't want to

be a curse. I want us to have children,

Amen. And, and children, it said in

verse #3 that the children were like olive plants round about

everybody, said the table, Amen. So children were olive plants.

And then the olive plant is a emblem of peace.

And then the olive oil that comes from that is a emblem of

grace and it means vigor and strength, Amen.

So here we go. We got a we got a father that's

blessed by all the children and now a mother that's blessed

because she is taking care of the children.

She is providing for the family. She's got grapes growing up the

side of the house and she can go out and plant grapes and still

take care of the children too. What a blessing, Amen.

To be a Mama at home. Amen.

Hallelujah. The circle of the godly home is

God loving children. I said.

The circle of the home is God loving children.

If the enemy I I want to bring this.

If the enemy can affect your home, it will affect the church.

Come on now. I said if the enemy can affect

your home, it will affect the church.

If he can affect your children, it's going to affect the home

and it's going to affect the church.

It just kind of goes down the line.

So I would say this morning that we need to protect our family.

We need to perfect, protect our home, protect our children.

Oh glory, what we make of our homes will become the church.

Let that sink in. What we make of our home, the

church will become Hallelujah because it all starts at home.

Praise the Lord, I said it all starts at home.

We teach them at home, it starts at home.

And I, I began to think if it all starts at home with the

mother and the father, then I wonder what kind of example we

are right now. I wonder what kind of example we

are. I wonder what we're saying to

our children in this time, 'cause this is perilous times.

Children are not easy to deal with it.

It is kind of a, a few, I don't know, maybe in last week that we

went into McDonald's. Imagine that Sister McGee and I

went in McDonald's and we was talking to another couple in

there and I guess they may have been there when this happened.

I don't know. But you know, there's children

who come in there from high school and and eat every day.

And we, you know, we're, we may somewhat sometimes we go up

there, then sometimes we go up in the evening.

You know who are usually there at least once a day and children

was there. And Sister McGee and I had

commented a few times because there was some kids that said

over and another table over from us and the language they were

using was not fit to even be said.

I mean, they were using, you know, the word that it's not a

good word, but I'll get it was the F word.

Every other word out of their mouth.

And there's there's younger kids in there with parents.

There's us older people in there.

And I looked at my wife and I said, this is a sad day that we

live in, that kids haven't got enough vocabulary without using

that word. We need to teach them more.

Hey, man. So this other couple that's

round our age began to talk to us.

And they, they had noticed it. They began to talk about it.

And I guess it had got so bad that somebody marched up and

told the manager and they, she called the police and the police

come down and said, you're, you get out of here.

If you got to talk that way out of here, that's the way it ought

to be. We need to teach our children

manners. We need to teach them respect.

And this is all done at home, if you please.

It's got to start at home. Come on.

Hallelujah. I said it's got to start at

home. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord, to have good children, there must be

correction. I said for there to be children,

there must be correction. In Proverbs 22, and I give you

many other verses, but I'm just going to do this one.

Proverbs 22 and verse #15 says foolishness is bound in the

heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far

from him. So hey, Bishop, I'm not going to

use a rod on my child. I'm not going to use a, a steel

rod. Well, if you want to know what

that means, you need to look up and see what it means.

It means a stick. And, and then the story came to

me. I've heard my daddy tell this

story many times. His the, the middle brother, the

youngest brother, his youngest brother.

There was three of them and my, my Uncle Jim was a, was a big

guy when he grew up. He was a big guy.

He was big this away. He was tall.

And Uncle Jim, my, my, my daddy used to tell the story, said he

whenever Uncle Jim would get in trouble, said, you know, said he

had said Grandma take off when she was on crutches all of her

life. She was, she was born with a

short leg one, but she could get around on.

She could sit down on the floor and beat you up.

She could get up or you get up. Even at 91 years old, she's

still going and and grandma would take off toward the tree

and Uncle Jim would start saying, Mom, please don't get

that King Cutter. Don't get that King cutter.

Mom, what he's talking about. And I know what it means because

we had one in our backyard too. It's called a weeping Willow

tree. And I think there's AI think

maybe there's something to that weeping part, that weeping

Willow, because don't get that king cutter.

He said, man, that thing would cut.

He didn't want that King cutter. He'd rather had a stick than

that thing, but that King Cutter made him think a little bit

about what he was going to do the next time.

He was going to mind Mom and be a better boy.

Now I'm going to tell you if you know.

In another place it said. It won't dry.

It won't. It won't kill him, but it'll

drive. It'll drive all of that foolish

and the mischief out of them, and it will.

I don't know what Paul Junior would have been like if we

hadn't hoped his rear. I really don't.

Hey, man, as a child, it seemed like that I was every time I

turned around, he was getting a, a whipping and my mother-in-law

and father-in-law, you know, we go to their house and he, he

just had a way of getting into things and doing things and, and

he said, Oh no, Oh no, he's going to give me another

whipping. And then I did.

And then, hey, a lot of times I've left a platform and home

church and when he was acting up and outside and we'd have a

little talk most time on the see the bridges and and come back

in. And, but guess what, at 8 years

old on a Friday night news service, God got a hold of that

little guy and he came to the altar and repented and received

the Holy Ghost the same night. He man.

And after that, I don't ever remember giving Paul a whipping.

I don't think I ever had to. You know why?

Because we had taught him all the other things before, but he

did not really ever taken hold till he received the Holy Ghost.

Come on, when you get the Holy Ghost, things change.

Come on, life becomes different. You talk different.

You, you don't do the same things because there is a spirit

of God in you now that's giving you direction.

See, the Holy Ghost, the Bible says in John 1426 that it was

given for a teacher. It's come to teach you some

things. So I'm going to tell you, if

you're having trouble with a kid, the best thing you can do

is get them filled with the Holy Ghost.

It'll teach them some things. Thank you Jesus, Hallelujah.

So to have you good children, there must be.

Correction. Amen.

All right, we corrected our kids now, few of them.

We didn't have to whip. I got one sitting back there

that if you looked at her wrong, she start crying.

She just. Oh, yeah, do speak, Daddy.

Just say a few words and she's crying.

I got nothing back here in the office that you know, just one

look and that's all it takes. You know she's crying, but

that's good, that's good. Hallelujah.

And then we go back and then to verse Psalms 127 and verse five

says blessed or happy. Can I say happy?

It says happy. Happy is the man that hath his

quiver. Full of them.

It's talking about children. A man is happy as if he has a

quiver full of children. I guess that's why I'm so happy

'cause I had a, had a had children.

We were blessed with children. A.

Man, and, and, and still today we can get together and still

laugh. You know, it's, it's good to

have a good home and and many children makes a happy home.

Sister Jen, I'll bet you can vouch to that.

There's always something going on at her house.

I guarantee you, if it ain't, if it ain't the biggest child they

got that's out working, it's them at home.

Yes, Sir. I'm talking about you, Kevin

man. See, happy is the man that hath

his quiver full of them. I'm not saying you're not happy

if you don't. But if you're blessed and God

gives you all those children, because, see, Sister McGee had

already thought that it was over after four, after four girls,

it's enough. You know, we're not going to do

this again. But God seemed different and he

give us a blessing not only to us, but to the whole world of

all the places that he has ministered.

I had no idea when Mama told me, Sister McGee, that that God had

had saved my life at three years old and he had done that because

one day, son, she said, you're going to preach.

And I tried my best to make a lyre out of Mama.

But Brother Reese, it didn't work.

My Mama, my Mama was see, my daddy was when I was little, my

mom and dad didn't know God. My daddy was a backslider and my

mom had never ever come in contact with the Pentecostal way

until she met my daddy and he kind of filled her in a little

bit. So she wasn't she wasn't a

Christian lady. But when I got sick, momma began

to pray because this afraid I was going to die and momma began

to pray and she said, Lord, if you'll heal my son off, I'll

serve you the rest of my life. Come on, you know what God is

looking for some people that'll make him a promise and stick

with it. You know what, come, come on.

Over the years, you that's been in this church, we've watched

him come and we've watched him go and there's many of them

that's still out. There's a lot of them that's

still going to other churches. They've moved away and they're

going to church and thank God they're still in truth.

And that just, that just tickles me to death, you know.

But there is some that's still in this area.

A man that's backslidden. They fell away.

That bothers me, you know, because I keep praying.

Lord, give us a revival of souls.

Give us a revival of souls that have walked through these doors.

God, replenish them. Bring them back to the truth.

Lord, bring them back to this way, Hallelujah.

And you know, we need to pray that God will bring those in

cause I've got, I've got nieces, nephews, great nieces, great

nephews, a man that knows this way that's lost.

Now I got children that needs God.

They're, they're coming, but they, they need him all the way.

They need every bit of him back. Amen.

So I'm praying about that. So, so children in in Psalms 127

and five. It also says that happy is a man

that hath his quiver full of them, and they shall not be

ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies at the gate.

Hallelujah. And children are a heritage.

Children are a heritage of the Lord.

They're a heritage. And heritage in the Hebrew means

heirloom or estate or inheritance.

But I began to look this up, and then there becomes a separation

here. The words inheritance speaks of

material things. All right, still stay with me.

The inheritance speaks of material things, but when it's

talking about a heritage, it speaks of spiritual things.

So I don't know about you. I'm not crazy about it.

You know, the inheritance might be all right, but I want the

heritage. I want the heritage of my

children. I want the heritage of my

family. I want the heritage of a godly

family. I want to know that I got family

that's going to go with me. I've preached all of my years

and taught all the years that I've been teaching and

preaching. One thing that I've always told

people, I said there is nothing that you can take with you, only

people. When you leave this place, you

can't take nothing with you. But I can take people and that's

what I want to do. I want to be a blessing.

I want to be a soul winner. I want to take people with me.

I want him to make it to heaven. Hallelujah.

Thank you Jesus. So I don't know about you, but I

want a heritage. How many wants to the heritage,

you know, just take the inheritance.

That may not do me any good, but the heritage will glory.

I I will be rich anyway. Hallelujah.

When Peace and Grace takes hold of a household like Psalms 128.

When Peace and Grace takes possession of the heart in a

whole family. And he listened to me listen

well. I said When Peace and Grace

takes possession of a heart in a whole family, everybody said

whole family glory, It becomes a place that people like to visit.

You know, there's people that have come to my home to visit.

See, I just like being around you all.

I don't know why. There's just something feels

good. And the truth is, it's not me.

It's not Sister McGee. It wasn't our children, but it's

the God we serve. I said it's the God we serve

because there is righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy

Ghost. So why wouldn't you desire the

Holy Ghost? Why wouldn't you want it?

If there's righteousness, joy and peace in it, if it's all

wrapped up in that and that's what it takes to get it, then I

want it. I, I want to, I want the Holy

Ghost. I want all of those things.

I want, I want my whole family to possess it.

See what, what we got to realize it becomes a place that people

like to visit. It's not the beauty of the home.

It's not because our carpets was so thick.

It wasn't because our furniture was nice.

Come on, it it it wasn't because we had a new home because it was

built in 19 O 4 wasn't that. But there was a feeling brother

Ethan probably just like was in y'all's home.

I know his mom and daddy from kids.

Especially his daddy. And then I knew his Mama after

they started going together, his mom and dad.

So yes. They've said under my teaching

and, and so I know I've been in their home.

I know there's a feeling there's a there was.

Always a feeling in love of love and brother Jim's sister Anne's

home. It's a place that you felt at

ease. Come on, you felt good.

You felt good about where you was at.

It wasn't that kind of a you've walked into some homes, you'd

just like to turn around, walk right back out and you're hung

there and can't, can't do that. You know, it wouldn't look good.

So you just kind of bear it, praise the Lord.

But when the peace and grace takes possession of the whole

family, things began to change. See, it's not the beauty of the

home, but it's the feeling of the home.

Come on now, I'm going to say. This, and not that it didn't,

but I'm just saying we need it. We need our church to have this

kind of feeling also. Because when we get a church

that's got that kind of feeling, they'll be something that makes

one people want to come back. This won't be a one trip, you

know. It'll be they.

They'll want to come. In fact, the young lady that

Brother Mason asked request prayer for Ivy.

Ivy. Came here as a child.

Her. And what's her name?

No Sandy. Yeah, her mom used to come too.

But I'm really thinking about Dixie's daughter, huh, Molly?

Molly used to, they used to come together.

Ivy and Molly would come together.

And her mom has worked at McDonald's forever, a morning,

early morning manager. And she's just a sweetheart.

Sandy is a sweetheart. And and that little daughter of

hers has grew up to be that same kind of young lady.

And when I went through the drive through yesterday evening,

she was the one taking the money and and I could when I when,

whenever she took my order, I knew who it was.

And I got around the wind and I said, Ivy, I knew that was your

sweet little voice. And she said, you just know how

to make me feel so good. You made my day today.

And then she said, I want to ask you something.

Would you Remember Me in prayer? She said, I've got some tests

coming up and I don't know whether it's going to, I mean,

surgery or what. And she said, I'm fearful I've

never had surgery. I said, well, sure, Ivy will

remember you in prayer. We'll pray for you.

She's sweet just like she was. And she's she's a sweet little

girl. And I thought, and she she said,

what time does church start in the morning?

I said 10. She said, oh, I like that a lot

better than nine. And.

So she didn't hear, but, you know, storms, all that.

I don't know, You know, people, you know, tend to want to stay

close to their family. And I understand that.

So what we need is we need this feeling not to only be in our

homes, but it needs to come to our church.

And if we will let that be felt at home, I believe we'll.

Feel it at church. Because if you're a person at

ease, then when you're going, I'm going to tell you people is

going to notice that about you and they're going to like that

about you. They're going to like to talk to

you. They're going to they're going

to like to have to be around you.

Come on. And if we can get our church in

that mode, hard telling what God will do Hallelujah, Hallelujah,

Jesus, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. If you have enough feeling.

Nobody looks so much at the beauty.

You hear me? I said, if, if, if the church or

if the home has that kind of feeling, They're not paying

attention to the looks and how wonderful and beautiful it

looks, but they're looking at the beauty of the feeling.

This feels good. The them, them, them rich kids

who had won this one specially. And, and she she said at her

house they had a what they called a great.

Room and it had a grand piano sitting in there in white carpet

and they were not allowed in there.

What would you want with a room that you couldn't even be in?

So she liked to come to our house because we we used.

All the rooms, yeah, there wasn't very many, but we used

them all. I mean, hey Laurie, we had hey 3

bedroom house and we used every every one of them and and in a

in a kitchen, eat in kitchen. Yeah, and a living.

Room and we used all of those rooms.

Come on. They could go in any room they

wanted to. They could make a circle if they

want to. Kids.

Our our our twins were like two years old when we bought that

house and moved out of the mobile home.

Anyway, because we was expecting, you know, thought one

and we thought the trailer be big enough, you know, and and we

had bought it just a few years before and guess what?

We had twins instead of just one.

And doctor, he blamed it on me that we picked up on the extra

one on the way over from Princeton to Mount Carmel.

And I blamed him. I said shut the faucet off.

You know, it's time to quit after two.

So you know, hey, but I'm going to tell you there, there is

something about the home. There's something about a

feeling in a home that we can bring to the church and have

church 'cause that good feeling, if we can get that good feeling

in our church from the very beginning, from the start of the

service, we're going to have church.

Amen. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord. Now I want to get to my main

message. I want to talk about the family

table. I thought maybe I'd be better

off just to put it out here and set the table and, you know,

and. Give you a little picture of

what it's supposed to look like. It has been said that Thomas

Jefferson's Monticello home was one of the first American homes

to have. A room specifically for dining.

A lot of times in your older homes, they didn't have a dining

room. It was like, you know, a circle.

It was built in a circle and you had four maybe large rooms.

And we had a bedroom that had been built on on the back.

But homes didn't always have dining rooms.

But Thomas Jefferson built a home that had a dining, I think

it was like 1872, something like that.

This place to dine had a family table cultivated, the place for

parents to educate their children.

It became a place that was considered even sacred, part of

the home. And I I can tell.

You that it was a it was a good place in our home.

It was a it was a good place to eat.

It was a good place to play games.

It was a good place to have Bible studies.

In fact, I don't. I don't really remember her

system again, I ever have in a dining room until we moved to

the Parsonage. We had to.

Eat in kitchens, but when I can remember in the dining area,

Kingsburg Parsonage where we lived in it that we was in a

time of growth. Brother Freddie, you remember

1996 we had 28 new souls that came to God, receive the Holy

Ghost, was baptized in Jesus name.

And I'm going to tell you we had a bunch of new people that

didn't know anything. They come from different walks

of life. We had we had one man that

showed up at you know, when we went out and we was knocking on

doors. Nobody wanted to go to his door.

You know you allowed to get cussed out or whatever, but I

went there a few times anyway and all at once.

Just out of the clear blue, I don't know, Sister McGee and I

started going and picking. He was raising his

granddaughter, so we picked her up for church every every time.

Church time for church. One morning, Sister McGee drove

up in front of the front of the house and and what I.

Do is anytime something's going on in this family this seemed

like they was having surgeries this that and I found out about.

It I just showed up I would show up at the hospital I find out

where they were at and I'd had prayer with that family, Brother

Reese before they'd go back to surgery.

Sister McGee showed up on a Sunday morning, Brother Freddie,

I won't ever forget it in that second church, showed up to

bring the granddaughter to church and she said you can go

on, Brother McGee, because. My aunt Papa's coming this

morning. All of that work, come on, all

of that, you know, sometimes you got to get your feelings out of

the way and say, all right, I'm going to make a difference in

that individual some way or other.

And I kept. Showing up and showing up

brought them to church. We he received the Holy Ghost.

Come on. He went to men's conferences

with us. He worked at the church hard as

anybody else. Come on, great man Amen.

I thank God for that. But the way we do it is because

there is a feeling. I don't know whether you know it

or not, maybe you don't even realize it, but there is a

feeling that goes along with you.

When you've got God in your heart and you're filled with the

Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus name.

There's something special when you get around people.

There's something special in you that they say I like this.

There's I don't know what. I'm drawn to you.

Why now you're not drawn to me, but you're drawn to the God that

I serve. Because he's real.

Oh Hallelujah. Because he changed my life.

He changed my family. He's changed the church family

and it's real. You need to get it.

It's good. It's you.

It's unexplainable. Hallelujah, Jesus.

Man, hurry up. Hallelujah.

A family table cultivated a place for parents to educate

their children. Guess what?

They guess what they taught them.

They educated their children on religious matters as well as

conversation. Taught them how to talk.

Like these guys and gals up there didn't know how to talk.

And table manners. This is a place that you taught

them table manners. It was a place that the family

came together, unified. You know, if if somebody wasn't

there, you waited on them to get there because you was going to

eat together. It's a place of togetherness.

Come on. That somebody said the table's a

place of togetherness. Yeah.

Come on. I'm.

I'm getting there. It's a place that you feel at

ease. It became the pillar of social

values. The family table was considered

one of the most sacred parts of the home, and many times the

Bible was read at the table. We said at the Parsonage when

there was people that they they needed some furtherance in the

Gospel. I don't know.

I don't remember what night we used to do it, but we had church

on Tuesday night then, so I don't know, Monday, Thursday,

whatever. Anyhow, one night a week, people

would come at our Parsonage table and we would sit around

that table and we'd teach them the word of God.

We'd teach them about Jesus. Hallelujah.

Then we, we Sister McGee, you know, hey, I'm this, this lady,

you know, we, the truth is back in those earlier years, you

know, and, and it's all right. I don't, I don't, I don't

condemn nobody that, you know, they don't do this now like they

used to. It's just the way it was.

But back in those years when we had an evangelist or somebody,

if they didn't have a mobile, if they wasn't pulling a camper or

something. We we'd bring them into our

home. Sister McGee cooked big meals

for him. Hey, man, Brother, Brother

Freddie Harrison can tell you all about the cooking.

He'd go raid the refrigerator every night He got low sugar.

He'd he'd go in and raid this refrigerator.

He wasn't going to have a sugar low very long because Sister

McGee, he knew would have something sweet in there.

And so, yeah, so she cooked and we, we kept the evangelist.

And you know, it was part of a blessing.

See, we got a blessing by doing that.

Nobody understands, but it gives you some some time with the

evangelists that you may not get otherwise.

It's it's time when it's just you and their family, whatever.

And you learn about a lot about the evangelist when you've got

them in your home. So Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus for those times.

Oh glory. The family table became a haven.

It was a place of safety and refuge from the outside world.

It was a place that you could feel comfortable at, that you

felt at home. Hey man, the family dinners

became a cornerstone of the family.

My children can tell you about that may not do it no more.

My wife though, done it for many, many years.

Every Sunday it was a normal thing that all the kids come to

mom and Dad's and we had dinner. My wife would get the meals

started before we ever come to church and we go back home.

And then it'd be ready. The Parsonage that come, the

Parsonage, all the kids, we had them all there.

And then that's that's faded. OK, It's faded.

It's not there no more, not like that.

But I want to tell you something.

There was a. Closeness in the family.

Now I'm going to get there. Y'all, you just hang with me a

little bit. Hallelujah.

The family dinners become a cornerstone of the family.

I would even say that when families quit eating together,

their relationships change. Anybody with me?

Brother Ethan, you probably know about that.

Somebody shout Amen. Family traditions took center

stage in the form of cooking methods.

Recipes was passed on to the next generation from the

kitchen. I can't tell you how many times

you know my wife. She she makes homemade noodles

and I'm, I'm telling you, you can go ahead and get all of them

you want. That's that's not homemade, but

there's nothing like the homemade with you can go get

those Amish noodles from the store and I'm going to tell you

my wife will make them better and I can watch.

In fact, it ain't really been all that many years ago.

She told her the oldest daughter, she she had to come to

the house and she said, mom, I want to know how to make

noodles. So mom made noodles and she she

helped. So that's the way they learned.

They, they, they. Learned in the.

Kitchen with Mama there to show him.

It was a show me thing, you know?

She didn't just tandem piece of paper, write it all down, say

this the way you do it. We had a family ordeal out of

it. We all got to eat, you know.

So here we go. So So what more can we want from

the family table? There's some blessed things that

come from the family table. Amen.

Hallelujah. Brother Mason could tell you

about a few of those family meals.

I guarantee you he can tell you. Hallelujah.

And the family took center stage in in these recipes and letting

them being passed down. And large and small

accomplishments were celebrated at the family table.

Challenges were addressed there and advice was given there.

And it defined the American family.

There was something more to it than just it was.

It's something a little extra that you put in your house.

Somewhere along the line, the family began to disperse the

other rooms to eat. You know where I'm at now.

You say anybody How many eat at your table?

Hey, good. How many remembers, though, when

it started kind of separating and people went off the other

rooms and he had done something to the family.

There was a connection lost. Oh, Glory.

They go off to other rooms to eat and the family table faded.

Glory. TV dinners and sandwiches showed

up. See, I can remember as a child.

I can remember as a child. We'd go, we'd go grocery

shopping once a week and we'd live down below Kingsburg, five

mile down in the country next to the river.

And on Friday night or sometimes on Saturday, we'd we'd drive

into the store in Kingsburg. They had like 22 grocery stores,

then, I don't know, 3412344 gas stations, two garages.

That's a big city, man 250 people, 2 Barber shops, grade

school, Hallelujah. I'm talking big stuff, you know.

But I'm going to tell you something.

Some of that closeness. People began to disperse and the

first thing you know, the connection's lost glory.

Hallelujah. Now TV dinners and sandwiches

showed up. And can I say, today we talk

about food, but very food. Few cook, am I right?

We talk about food, but very few cook.

If the family table I'm getting there.

If the family table was so important, then why should not

the family table be doubly important?

The church is supposed to be a little bit of heaven, a long way

from home. So I want to point to a family

table in church. We are the family table.

This is the place that people gather around and they come here

to learn and to, to be able to pick up on things.

Maybe this is a place of fellowship.

This is a place where it goes out from here and it spreads to

this city. It spreads to other families

and, and fellowship and it causes some good things to

happen. You know, you, you get in

contact with other people. We've got a family table, if you

please, to sit here and I, I want to tell you something

church, you, you know, you, you may not think it's not a big

thing to miss the family at the table, but but it is.

Come on, we need the family at the table in the church.

Come on because this is a place for you to come and get fed and

can I tell you that the family table at church has got

everything on the table that you need there call them not to feel

the Holy Ghost in this place. I'm telling you there's a

there's there is the word of God that teaches us come on and we

all need the word of God. Thank God for a preacher that

preaches the word of God straightforward come on without

compromise and he teaches the word Hallelujah.

It's a place, it ought to be a place to where we they all want

to come and join in as part of the family glory.

This is a family table and it's important.

Hey, man, this is important because this is a place that

this is the place that we we get fed.

This is a place that we receive nourishment and strength.

How many times have you felt weak and come to.

Church and got strong. Or you come feeling bad, went

home feeling good, maybe because of something somebody said or

you just there was something that was just a upbeat and

somehow it lifted you up. You got it caught up in the

middle of it. What a great thing Hallelujah

does not all the good of all of this that happens at the family

table at home. Show up at our church.

You hear me? I said.

Does not all the good of the family table at home show up at

church? Oh yes, it does.

Hallelujah. The blessings from home.

If I could say it in another word, the blessings from home

show up as a blessing to the church.

What you do at home shows up at church.

You come on it, it tells it almost.

It almost tells what you're doing at home.

Glory. Hallelujah, glory.

Sometimes I think we're so advanced in this world that we

have forgotten who we are. And where we came from, church

is important. I thought about it and I, I

don't think I, I needed to, but I, I, I wanted to just give you

just a, just a picture of the family table such as ours might

be 7 people glory. Everybody's sitting around the

table. We didn't eat until everybody

was there 'cause it's a place we shared our day.

What kind of day we had, what kind, what kind, How was your,

how's school today? Are you doing all right?

Is things all right if you haven't had a family table, then

you need to start one because it's a it's it's a place where

problems are taken care of ahead of when they happen Sometimes it

is it is a place to work it out before it happens.

It's, it's that kind of a place it's a it's a place where you

receive teaching. Lord Hallelujah, Church, we need

to gather around the Lord's Table again, because everything

we have need of is right here. If we're not careful, I won't

say this. If we're not careful, we are

somewhere partaking of some other table when we ought to be

here. See, sometimes we're here but

not here. Our mind is at some other table,

partaking of something else. We check in and.

Out just by we were here. Not that we heard, not that we

learn anything, but we were here.

I'm about to close. I want to read this because it

came to me and it made me think where we are at now and how far

we could be if we was at the family table.

Someone once said, I sought for the greatness and the genius of

America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers, and it

was not there in her. Fertile fields and boundless

forest I sought for. It and it wasn't there.

In her rich minds, in her vast world, commerce.

But it was not there in her Democratic Congress and her

matchless Constitution. And it was not there, not until

I went to the churches of America.

And. Heard her pulpits flame with

righteousness. Did I understand the secret of

her genius and power? Did you hear that?

Not until I went to the church, as American heard her pulpits

flame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her

genius and power. America is great because she is

good. And if America ever ceases to be

good, she will cease to be great.

I want you to know this morning that the family table is very

important. It's it's in, it's important

enough to, we need to do it. And if we've lost it, we need to

reclaim it. It'd be, it'd be a good thing if

you haven't cooked and don't cook.

Maybe we ought to have a meal around the table again, call all

the kids in and reacquaint ourselves.

Jesus. Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you Jesus.

No Mike, but Mason, would you come up here, sing, give me a

key AD While studying through this, something struck me and I

just, I don't know, I might sing a verse and a chorus.

I can remember you at our home. We didn't even have ATV for a

little while. I don't know when we even got

one. When we got one, it was like a

13 inch black and white and we've probably done more things

without it than we did with it. We would get together and our

nights and I had a real, real tape recorder and our family,

we'd pull out the guitar and we'd all find our place in a

singing and we'd sing and then we'd play it back.

The kids will always like want to play it back and we wasn't

doing that. We would get the family table

and we'd get a game out, board game, whatever, a Bible game.

We stopped, still got that Bible game.

It learnt it. It taught you things about the

Bible. There's not a dull moment in our

house. We enjoyed our children, our

children enjoyed us. We enjoyed having company.

This whole song came to me. Oh, I can see a sitting round

the table when from the family Bible Dad would read and I

couldn't hear my mother softly singing Rock of Ages, Rock of

Ages Cliff for me. This old world of ours is full

of trouble. This old world would oh so

better be if we had more bibles on the table and mothers singing

Rock of Ages. Clair for me.

Oh, I can see a sitting round. The table went from the family

Bible that would read and I can hear my mother softly singing

Rock of age. Just Rock of Ages left for me.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I believe that's a lot to what's

wrong with our family. The family table is faded.

This altar's open this morning. I feel Holy Ghost in here and

just a special way I can envision Sister McGee.

Our table many times been visited by lots of people when

you're youth leader our family we had a large.

Youth Group. We had as many at Youth Services

some people have at church fact it it got so exciting that the

families would come with our kids.

God began to do things in the family.

I remember Thanksgiving. We never knew who was going to

show up. We had some kids, didn't have

family around here. They showed up at our home.

I think we, I think Sister McGee fed 3435 people that

Thanksgiving. Most of them was young people.

If I could get anything through to us this morning, it would be

to let's open the door of this church to whosoever will let him

come in and gather around our table.

We may be small, but we can grow.

Could we stand this morning? This altars open this morning.

I don't and I'm I'm not going to say just the altar.

I had a reason putting these down here.

I really did. I don't know.

Maybe this morning you just won't come and sit down at the

table. Maybe you want to reminisce a

little bit of what what it could be like to feel God's presence

sitting at your table. Maybe I want to remember what it

feels like to have that table full.

I guarantee you some of you know you've had people sitting around

your tables just from being around your Mama Sister Tracy.

I'd say there was some a table setting someplace.

Don't lose. Don't lose out on the family.

Don't miss out on the family table.

We need to come and get around this table.

This is the church family table. I'm telling you, there's a

feeling. Comes with it.

Thank you for listening. If you would like more

information about our services and activities, you can find us

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Again, that's FACMC. Thank you and have a blessed

day.