News and Announcements

Watch night service, Sunday worship service and Church School will be held at the church. Please note that the electrical system and the heating system are up and running. We look forward to seeing you Friday night, 10:30 and Sunday morning, 9:00 am.

Mighty Men Christmas Feeding 2010 by Isiah Dupree.

Tags: Christmas

Handel’s Messiah photos by Eugenia Jacobs

Tags: Christmas, Handel's Messiah

Metropolitan AME members collected gifts for Project Angel Tree. Working through churches, Project Angel Tree accomplishes its mission of ensuring that the nation’s 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents have presents for Christmas.

 

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Tags: Angel Tree, Christmas

Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton, Senior Pastor
Metropolitan AME Church at the Madison Hotel
Sunday, December 26, 2010, 9 a.m.
www.metropolitanamec.org

Scripture Lesson, Matthew 2:13-23: 13After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.” 14-15Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.” 16-18Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.) That’s when Jeremiah’s sermon was fulfilled: A sound was heard in Ramah, weeping and much lament. Rachel weeping for her children, Rachel refusing all solace, Her children gone, dead and buried. 19-20Later, when Herod died, God’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: “Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead.” 21-23Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” The Message Bible Translation

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Joseph is a missing link in all the stories of Jesus’ birth. In Sunday School, children are confused by the question: “Who was Jesus’ father?” and don’t know how to answer. Some scholars refer to Joseph as Jesus’ “earthly father”. On one occasion in the bible, Jesus is referred to as “the carpenter’s son”. When Jesus reappears in the bible at age 30, some scholars suggest that there was no mention of Joseph because Joseph was dead by that time. Though there are not many biblical references to Joseph in the bible, one thing is clear: he lived his life close to God; and he faithfully surrendered to God’s plan for Jesus.

In the scripture text, Joseph is given specific instructions by the messenger of God. And Joseph obeys. There are lessons from Joseph and the scripture about living your life close to God:

1. When you live your life close to God, OBEDIENCE is the byproduct of complete trust in the power of God to direct your life. A spirit of obedience is developed over time. Joseph obeyed, because Joseph had gone through some “stuff”. He understood that you have to trust and obey, and God will direct your path. But you don’t just get up and obey without going through the give and take of life’s experiences. If we look back over our lives, we see that God will sho-nuff direct our paths. At every step, when we trust and obey God, He will show us his purpose and his will for our lives. Because God majors in the two “P’s”: Protection, and Provision.

2. If you live your life close to God, God will PROTECT your life. Joseph lived in uncertain times. In the scripture, the messenger of God came to Joseph and said: “You gotta get up and go”. Most of us are living in an uncertain era. Most of us in this place today can witness that, all year long, God has been our protector. We’ve lost jobs, we’ve fallen on hard times; but even so, God has been our shield and our protector. Every morning, some wake up depressed, some are downtrodden, some wake up crying, not knowing what is going to happen that day. Yet every morning, God has been our protection.

3. When you live your life close to God, God will PROVIDE. In the scripture, Joseph had to leave home with his family. God provided. The accommodations were not like they are here at the Madison Hotel; it was just a stable and a manger. Then Joseph is told to move again, from Bethlehem to Egypt. He is assured that God will be with him on the journey; that God will provide on the journey; and that God will provide in the strange land. Then he is told to get up again; to go back to where he came from, and he is told that “God will provide for you when you get there.”
It all goes back to trusting and obeying. God will provide on the journey when you are going through your “stuff”; when you have hills to climb, when doors shut in your face. God will open the door for you and He will provide.

4. The theme of the whole bible is this: GOD WANTS US TO LIVE CLOSE TO HIM, AND HE WILL PROVIDE. Ask Moses and he will say: “I went to the top of the mountain; God said go back to where you came from.” Ask David and he will say: “I was just a little boy with a slingshot and 5 smooth stones. The king wanted me to put on his armor, but I knew that if I leaned on God, He would protect me.”

You still don’t believe me? Ask Daniel and he will say: “They put me in a den of lions; I slept there all night and made the lion my pillow.” Ask a sister named Esther and she will say: “They said we are about to be destroyed; go talk to the king. So I said I’m going to meet the king.” Paul and Silas were locked up in a jailhouse; they prayed all night, and sang songs of Zion because God provided.

I’ve got news for you: If you find your life on hard times, pray and sing and the doors will open; God will provide. Some say “Reverend, those are great stories of the days of old.” But I’ve got my own testimony. My mother was a domestic worker; but every morning we woke up, we had food on the table. I’ve got my own testimony that the Lord will provide, He will protect, He will make your enemies your footstool

I know you are going through some “stuff” – with your house, your job, your children – but put your trust in God and He will provide. Amen

Tags: Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton

Worship service on Sunday December 26, 2010, will be held at the Lowes Madison Hotel at 9:00 a.m. Watchnight service will be held at Metropolitan AME Church beginning at 10:30 p.m.on December 31, 2010.

Watchnight Service will be held at 10:30 P.M. on Dec. 31 at the church

Tags: Watch Night Service

Rev. Dr. Louis-Charles Harvey, Presiding Elder, 2nd Episcopal District, Washington Conference, Potomac District
Speaking at Metropolitan AME Church at the Madison Hotel
Sunday, December 19 2010, 9 a.m.
www.metropolitanamec.org

Scripture Lesson, Haggai 2: 1-8. 1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ 6 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

Luke 2: 25-32: 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The NIV Bible Translation

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We can depend on the promises of God; he knows exactly what we need. Today at Metropolitan AME we celebrate the 4th Sunday in advent. You are not in your sanctuary of 171 years, because Metropolitan is undergoing “restoration”. But God’s promise for you is a future of “greater glory”. Glory means “the presence of God in a place”. God’s promise in Haggai is one of greater glory, meaning that his presence will be even greater than it was before. God’s promise to Moses, to Joshua, to the Israelites after the flood was: “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. I’ve been with you the entire way.” God promised to send a Messiah, and he sent Jesus; Jesus represents greater glory. God is a promise-keeping God.

The fulfillment of God’s greater glory is through Jesus. In the second part of the scripture, Mary had birthed a bright bubbling baby; she put him in a manger. Angels confirmed his presence. When people pray, some want reputation, some want fame, some want more money in the bank. All Simeon wanted was the fulfillment of God’s greater glory in Jesus. He had witnessed Mary bring the baby into the world; and he held him up and said: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

The glory of God means that God is a promise-keeping God. If you do it right, God will continue to bless you. He brought Haggai through in a period of restoration. God’s temple had been destroyed, but some people did not give to restore the temple. Rain poured inside because the roof was not complete. You have given so much Metropolitan, but you have to continue to give to restore this temple. The promise of greater glory in Haggai means that God’s presence in this place in the future will be greater than his former presence. Who among you saw this house in its former glory? I’d suggest not many because this edifice is 171 years old! But if you do it right, you will have even GREATER glory. The message from God is to BE STRONG! The Lord is telling you: “I am with you. Get the house ready because I am going to shake all nations. Jesus will come and I will fill this house with glory!” If you believe it, you’ve got to work hard to make it happen. Get the house ready Metropolitan; and God’s gift to you is that the glory of this present house will be greater than the previous 171 years. Amen

Tags: Rev. Dr. Louis-Charles Harvey

Worship service will be held at the Madison A Lowes Hotel on Sunday December 19, 2010, and the Sunday School Christmas Program will follow worship service.

1. There will be no Christmas Eve service because of the heating situation at the church.

2. Church envelops will be available for distribution beginning on Sunday December 19, 2010. Please remember to pick up your envelopes.

3. Church Service on December 26, 2010, will be held at off site TBD. Although the heating system will be operating, and heat will be on, it may not be adequate for comfortable worship.

4. Church office will be closed December 27, 2010 and January 3, 2011, for holiday observance because legal holiday falls on a Saturday.

5. Church office will be closed on December 28-29, 2010, because of electric power outage relating to electrical switch over.

If we have inclement weather, please listen/watch TV announcements or go to www.cancellations.com or go to the church website for information about Metropolitan AMEC.

Please pass on to your email lists.

Tony Hawkins

Due to construction, we are temporarily worshipping at the Madison Hotel at 15th and M Sts NW at 9:00 AM on Sundays.

Tags: worship location change