News and Announcements

MONEYWISE FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT TOUR IS BACK AT METROPOLITAN AME CHURCH !!

On Saturday, November 3, 2012 the historic Metropolitan AME Church and the Daniel Alexander Payne Community Development Corporation join forces once again with PBS-TV’s Moneywise with Kelvin Boston to present the “Moneywise Financial Empowerment Tour 2012.”

Do you want to know HOW TO FIND SUCCESS IN THIS ECONOMIC MESS? JOIN US Saturday, November 3, 20112, 8:30am ET to 4:30pm ET, 
Metropolitan AME Church
, 1518 M Street, NW
 Washington, DC 20005.  DOWNLOAD THE UPDATED AGENDA!

REGISTRATION IS FREE and includes FREE lunch and FREE parking until 5pm at PMI Parking, 
1615 M Street  (Bring parking ticket for validation at the church)
. Metro Exits: McPherson Square (Blue/Orange) and Farragut North (Red).

National Experts and local resources on topics including:

▪   Moving from Economic Distress to Financial Success

▪   Jobs and Securing Employment in the 21st Century

▪   Starting a Business/Entrepreneurship by Necessary

▪   Home Ownership, Housing Assistance & Avoiding Foreclosure

▪   Financial Planning, Investing, and Retirement Options

▪   Health & Wealth Discussion

Last year’s Moneywise @ Metropolitan Tour attracted OVER 500 ATTENDEES!!  So REGISTER TODAY!  Sponsorships and Exhibit tables are still available, or buy a page in the Program Booklet.

program highlights:

Kelvin Boston, Author and Host of PBS-TV’S popular Moneywise with Kelvin Boston multi-cultural financial empowerment show.

Dennis Kimbro, Ph.D, Success Coach and best-selling Author of Think and Grow Rich:  A Black Choice and soon to be released: The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires

Marie Johns, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
 (invited)

Donna J Gambrell, Director, CDFI, U.S. Department of the Treasury (invited)

Reid Temple AME’s Sandra L. Thompson, Director of Supervision and Consumer Protection, FDIC

Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton, Senior Pastor, Metropolitan AME Church

Robert Ferguson, Author, Fitness for Life

Nat Alston, former President, African American Human Resource Professionals

Ken Yancy, CEO, SCORE

Jahi Davis, President, Operation Hope Financial Dignity Center-DC

Eugene Profit, CEO, Profit Investment Group

Harrine Freeman, Author, How to Get Out of Debt:  Get an “A” Credit Rating for Free

Jennifer Matthews, Author, 12 Ways to Put Money in Your Pocket

Musical performances by national gospel recording Doreen Vail

…and much much more!!

REGISTER TODAY at www.moneywise.tv/empowerment-tour or contact a member of the Planning Committee for more information or for sponsorship, to buy a page in the Program Booklet or to exhibit.

Committee Co-Chairs and Volunteers: Maurita Coley Flippin (202-973-4314 or maurita@coleylawmedia.com),Terry Johnson (301) 461.1112 or tajohnson@ibroadcasts.tv, Jocelyn Harris (jocieyh@verizon.net ), Claire Wilson (Claire@clairewilsondc.com) Rachelle “Viki” Browne, Trotter Collier, T.J. Nicholson, Emanuel Payton, Pamela Bell Payton, Ulysses “C’s” Little, Charles Breece, or contact the Church Office at 202-331-1426 or secretary2@metropolitanamec.org.

The annual “Men Who Cook” will be held on Sunday, November 4 following the 11:00 worship service. Participating chefs should contact Carlos Botts at 202-550-5246 / carlos.botts@verizon.net  or Geoffrey E. Tate at 202-320-0571 / grojen@msn.com.

Rev. Ronald E. Braxton
October 14, 2012

Rev. Dr. Ronald Eugene Braxton
Rising with a Passionate and Aggressive Faith”
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Metropolitan AME Church
www.metropolitanamec.org
Scripture:  Hebrews 4:12-16

Scripture:  Hebrews 4:12-16 (NIV Translation).  12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Jesus the Great High Priest. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The late theologian and Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoffer was born in Germany in 1906.  Much of his writings came out of his pastoral experiences, especially as he lived and suffered through Nazi Germany. But it was his stay in New York when he heard Adam Clayton Powell preach his social justice sermons that sensitized Bonhoffer to the social injustices experienced by minorities in this country.  It was there in Harlem that Bonhoffer began to see life and faith from a different view—from the perspective of those who suffer great affliction and oppression yet rise with a passionate faith.  It was there in Harlem that Bonhoffer is quoted as saying, “I turned from phraseology to reality.”

While experiencing the passionate faith of a disenfranchised race in Harlem, NY in 1931, little did Bonhoffer know that he too would meet a similar fate down the road of life.  Because God has a way of preparing us and fixing us, and getting us ready for another day.

In 1943, Bonhoffer was arrested by the Gestapo and two years later he was executed by hanging while imprisoned at a Nazi concentration camp. Ordained at the age of 25, but before he reached the age of forty, he clearly came to experience God, in a different way:  He came to experience God “where the rubber hit the road” – harassed by the Nazi authorities; forbidden to speak in public; required to regularly report his activities to the police; forbidden to print or publish; imprisoned; estranged from his fiancé – whom he was never able to marry – and from his family; left only with a passionate and aggressive faith to see him through each day.

I submit that in, in our own individual lives and everyday living, when the rubber hits the road in your life, we are called upon to rise with a passionate and aggressive faith.

In our text, the writer writes to a small church of second generation Christians who at some time in the earlier history of the church had had some great teachers and leaders, and had suffered some persecution.  The writer of the letter writes, possibly because there is a fear on his part that his small church, while doing rather well at the moment, is drifting away from the faith.  The letter itself is a word of encouragement, a word of exhortation, a challenge to for them to remember: when the rubber hits the road in their lives, they are still called upon to rise with a passionate and aggressive faith.

In a very unique way, the writer is clear that God knows each of us; it is as if each of us, “are standing naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”  Brothers and sisters we cannot hide from God. The Psalmist writes, “There is no place to hide…He not only knows us, but He knows our going out and our coming in.” Not only does God know who we really are, God also knows what we experience from day to day.  The text assures us that, in Christ, God sympathizes with our weaknesses.  The Message Bible put it this way, “We don’t have what he has; [he has] experienced it all.”

Brothers and sisters, life will try you – it doesn’t matter who you are; it doesn’t matter how faithful you think you are – life will try you, and it will test your faith.  Moses, on a journey for God, on more than one occasion found his faith tested and tried.  Abraham, called out by God, on more than one occasion found his faith tried and tested. Deborah, the great female prophetess and judge of the Old Testament, found her faith tried and tested. Hagar, the young abused slave girl of Abraham and Sarah, after her encounter with the angel of God, after fleeing from trouble, went back only to have her new faith in God tried and tested.  Richard Allen, Martin King, Rosa Parks, and the list is endless, all of us like Bonhoffer, at some point in life and on more than one occasion will meet up with a test or trial of our faith.

1.  There is living and active power in the word of God.

The text this morning offers us three assurances; here’s the first: (1) There is living and active power in the word of God.  I think that, too often, we play down the effective and active power of the written and spoken and living word of God. We really believe that the word of God has power.

In the Old Testament, when God spoke, stuff happened—walls came down, the earth shook, mountains moved, waters rolled back, enemies were defeated, mouths of lions were closed.

In the New Testament, when Christ, the living word of God spoke, stuff happened—the blind began to see; the lame began to walk; the sick were healed; the deaf heard; diseases were cured; the hungry were fed; the poor, the suffering and needy were empowered to rise with a passionate and aggressive faith.  The writer of Hebrews challenges his church that God’s word – written, spoken, and living – still has the power they needed, and thank God this morning, it is still available to us! When the rubber hits the road, there is power in the word and in faith in God.

Whatever life offers you, with a passionate and aggressive faith, you can rise.  The world can knock you down  - it can throw you all kinds of ways, but with faith in the word of God – written word, spoken word, and living word you can rise above… “I come that you might have life.”  Maybe this is what Easter was all about.  As Christ rose from his tomb and grave, we too can rise out of our tombs and from our graves, “All power is in his hand…” Never walk around like a weakling with no power.

2.  Live with a passionate and aggressive faith that God will meet us at our point of need

Here is the second assurance that this text gives us this morning.  (2) When the rubber hits the road, we can live, everyday and every hour, with a passionate and aggressive faith that our God will meet us at the very point of our need.  Look at verse 15 and 16:  “He sympathizes with our weaknesses…he has been tested as we are…we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Maybe, just maybe that is where Bonhoffer was moving towards when he witnessed the passionate and aggressive faith of African Americans living in Harlem.  Despite their abuse, despite their disenfranchisement, despite their ostracism, despite their dire poverty, despite their suffering, they lived assured that every day, this God they served, praised and worshipped would meet them at the point and at the time of their needs.

At some point, like Bonhoffer discovered, phraseology goes out of the window and it has to become “real.”  It’s not what your mother or your daddy told you, it’s not what the preacher preached At some point, when the rubber hits the road in your life, all the pretty little sayings; all the fancy clichés; all the trite phrases just don’t add up or mean much.  When you’ve lost your job and don’t know how you are going to make ends meet. When your children are in trouble, you don’t want little fancy sayings.  When the rubber hits the road, all you want to do is call on God and be able to know that He is coming.

When the rubber meets the road, the only thing that will keep you struggling, keep you trying is a passionate and aggressive faith that the same God of Moses, the same God of the Hebrew boys, the same God of Daniel, the same God of Esther, the same God who sustained Jesus on that not so good Friday, the same God of your mother’s mothers and your father’s fathers, will meet you at the point and hour of your need.  And it does not matter what others say, it does not matter how foolish it might look, you can hold fast to your God and your Christ that his power, his grace, his goodwill, his mercy will carry you through!  Sometimes you may look foolish, but sometimes the only thing you can do is lift up both hands and wait on God to come.

Sometimes we talk more faith than we live.  When we talk more faith than we live, we talk a good game.  We have a little money in the pocket this week? The bill collectors are not calling this month? There’s no real need to run to the doctor this month. We talk a good game, but when life starts crashing in, we cannot be weak about our faith. We have to be passionate and aggressive about our faith before the rubber hits the road. Before the crisis, before the turmoil, before the disappointment; before you find yourself on the bottom, you have to be aggressive about your faith.

3.  God does not expect us to come to Him like weaklings or cowards

And this is the final piece, and I like this one.  (3) When the rubber hits the road, God does not expect us to come before Him like weaklings – like cowardly, rejected and abandoned creatures. Yes, come with humility; yes, come meek, but come! “Approach the throne of grace with boldness so that you might receive mercy and grace to help in time of need.” 

God does not look for us to approach Him like weaklings, like cowards – He wants us to stand up, stand firm, hold your head up, put you shoulders back, and you can cry out: “God I need you today, I’m back; just like I came yesterday I’m back today!” With His strength, I can rise when the rubber hits the road.  I can stand on His throne; I can stand on His work; I can trust in Him.

I’ve said so many times, I can’t stand weak, mealy-mouthed Christians, feeble Christians, powerless Christians. I can’t stand old, moaning Christians.   When God steps in; when God moves on your life, God will give you power to stand. Hold your head up, be bold, tell the world “I serve a risen Savior.”  Tell the world:  “The Lord is on my side.”

Stop crying, stand on God!  Come bold!  Tell God what you need; tell God what you want!  Get up off your do nothing and go tell Him!

Metropolitan Spirit Spring/Summer 2012

Inside this Issue

Graduates, P.1
Sister’s, P. 2
Delegate’s, P. 5
Bates, P. 7
Smalls, P. 9
Lay, P. 11
Gilliam, P. 13
Scholarships, P. 15
Men’s, P.15
Youth, P. 16
Kenya, P. 18
Personalities, P. 19
History, P. 20

The Metropolitan Spirit is a Publication of the Commission on Public Relations

Rev. Ronald E. Braxton
Metropolitan AME
October 7, 2012

Rev. Dr. Ronald Eugene Braxton, Senior Pastor
Metropolitan AME Church
Sunday, October 7, 2012

www.metropolitanamec.org

Scripture Job 1:2; 2:1-10

Chapter 1: 1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. Chapter2: 1On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from? ”Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (NIV Bible Translation)

George Lucas describes the book of Job as, “An epic battle between good and evil as a timeless conflict applicable to all of us.” The text, either a historical account or a legendary parable, presents us with a narrative and story centered on a man named Job. It’s hard to grow up in a Christian home and not find someone talking about Job.

From out of nowhere Job finds himself caught in the middle of a deep theological dialogue and struggle which he knows nothing about, but which is framed as a “heavenly contest:”  “One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord…”

In chapter one, Job is introduced, not as one of the ordinary men of his hometown of Uz, but rather, as one who lived blameless; one who walked upright; and one who was sincere and genuine in his worship of God.  The introduction goes on to tell us that Job was the model to which every person should ascribe:  “He turns away from evil…” The Message Bible describes Job in this manner, “He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion.” According to the narrative, even God thought highly of this legendary character.  When the adversary/accuser of God makes the claim that he had been walking back and forth looking, and there were none on earth who were really faithful, even God dotes on Job, “Have you noticed my friend Job?  There’s no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil.” (The Message Bible)

As the legend or historical account unfolds, Job is set-up by Satan and God.  Satan propositions God to turn Job over to him and he assures God that if his blessings are taken away from him, Job will denounce God. It’s a set-up in the workings.  Bu God has impeccable trust in Job’s faithfulness, integrity and trustworthiness; thus, God relents to the wishes and will of the adversary and accuser. Either way, Job, without ever knowing anything about it, because of his stature and reputation, has been set-up.  It’s all a set-up.

JOB IS A LEGENDARY PARABLE TO HELP US WRESTLE WITH LIFE

Maybe not so much an historical account, but this book of Job is more of a legendary parable to help us wrestle with the tragedies, suffering, and pain that life sends our way.  Even when we try hard to choose good over evil, live blameless, walk upright and sincerely and genuinely worship God, there is still a timeless conflict in our lives.

Remember, Jesus told legendary parables to make a point—the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Parable of the King’s Banquet.  Maybe it’s not Job who is at the center of this narrative after all.  Maybe at the center of this narrative is not Job, not God’s adversary, but maybe at the very core of this narrative is US, you and me and our walk with God when life throws us a set-up.

ARE YOU ASKING:  WHY GOD, WHY?

Has life ever been real good to you and then – all of a sudden – it pulled the rug from under you?  That’s because it’s a set-up.

Have you ever felt just blessed and then, from out of nowhere, all hell broke out and you were sure that you had been cursed? It’s a set-up.

Have you ever had a sense that the adversary of life has launched an attack on your body, on you, on your family, on whoever is around you, on your church? Have you ever tried everything you could and nothing would take and nothing would work? It’s a set-up.

Have you ever found yourself unable to come up with the answer to the nagging, longing “why” that constantly plagues your spirit? Every time you get ready to ask it, you cannot bring yourself to ask God – but it’s still down on the inside: you want to ask God: WHY?  Now I know you might not admit it, but have you ever asked yourself or God, in some form or fashion, God, what in the world are you doing? What’s going on… what in heaven’s name is God doing? Where in the world is God in all this mess?  I got news for you, it’s a set-up.

Look here, Thomas Frank warns us in his Pastoral Perspective of this text that “when the hyperbole and adjectival descriptions of praiseworthy behavior start piling up, you better start sniffing for a rat.”  You are open for a set up.

Whatever your devastation, whatever your pain, whatever your frustration in life at any given moment, whatever cries of alienation or bitterness, whatever suffering, as life is giving you her worst, here are some suggestion from the text on how to wheel and deal when the adversary when the attempt is made on your life and you find yourself in a set-up.

1.      DRAW CLOSER TO GOD

Make every effort and attempt to draw closer to God.  The wife of Job and the mother of his children advised, “Curse God and be done with it.”  Satan is confident that Job will curse God, but Job clings and holds on; he hangs in there with the only source and the only power he knows, believes and trusts will get him through this devastation.  He draws closer and clings to God and says:  “It’s the Lord.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away…”

In verse 1:20 the Bible says that even after all the suffering he endured, Job worshipped God—“He fell to the ground and worshipped God.”  Even God praises Job for his sincere and passionate worship.  Brothers and sisters, nothing can take the place of sincere, passionate worship of God.  It is the key to living when your life has been set-up.  I’m not talking about just coming here on Sunday morning. On that job, you gotta worship, you gotta draw closer. If you draw closer to God, it will unlock a door for you:  When YOU draw closer to God, you will discover that God has drawn closer to you.  Jesus helps us here. On that Good Friday day, the darkest hour of his life, every step of the cross, Jesus draws closer and closer to God.

When you have been set up, draw closer to God; He is that source, that power, that only thing that will see you through the crap in this world.

2.  Hold on to your integrity, and stand with God

 Here is another suggestion on how we ought to “wheel and deal” when life presents us with a set up:  Hold on to your own integrity and stand with God.  God says, “I am confident with the integrity of Job.” In all things, affirm his everlasting goodness and stand firm with God.  Don’t let anyone, don’t let anything, and don’t let any occurrence in life make you think or feel less about your God.

Paul Capetz says about Job, “He is depicted as a model of theocentric piety and fidelity.  In spite of everything he suffers, Job persists in his integrity (2:3).”  In Timothy 2:12, Paul is going through a crises in his life but he declares, “I am not ashamed, because I know in whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard that what I have entrusted to him…”

I got news for you:  God has been too good to me, has brought me too far for me to be ashamed and not worship God.  I gotta stand up with God; I gotta stand up for God.  I love the Lord because He heard my cry!

3.  when you’ve been set-up…find praise in your soul

Here is the final suggestion on how not to just cope but how to wheel and deal when you are clear that it’s a set up.  Somewhere, somehow dig deep down in your soul, in the very depths of your spirit and find a praise to bless God.  Confused, hurt, crying suffering, mind all messed up, spirit tormented, but somehow, somewhere dig deep down in your SANCTIFIED SOUL and find a praise to bless God!

In verse 21 of Chapter 1, the NIV translation says that Job declares “May the name of the Lord be praised”…The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Job lost his family, his house, he got sick – but Job reaches down in his soul and cries from the depths of his soul:  “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Some years ago I preached a sermon from the first chapter of Revelation and the title of the sermon was, “Praise lifts burdens.”  You get down, feeling very low, and you start PRAISING GOD.  You go to a job you don’t want to go to – but giving thanks that you HAVE a job – you gotta deal with folks you don’t want to deal with. But when you start praising the Lord, the burdens will be lifted.  You’ll feel a little different, you’ll act a little different, you’ll walk a little straighter, you’ll find a smile on your lips, clapping in your heart, joy in your soul – you gotta cry out –“It’s a set-up – but I’m going to praise God anyhow, I’m going to make a joyful noise – anyhow!”

What the adversary didn’t know in the text is that when God stepped back and let him have his way with Job, God was setting the ADVERSARY up.  You can trust God to walk with you.  It may not look like it, it may not feel or taste like it at that moment, but you can trust God that he will NEVER leave you alone. He promised to walk with you, to guide you on earth – because it’s a SET UP!  And you do know what I’m gonna do? “I’m going to trust in the Lord… until I die!”

When I’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

I’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when I first begun.

(From: Amazing Grace)

The Moneywise Empowerment Tour returns to METROPOLITAN A.M.E. Church on Saturday, November 3, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Tour is the national outreach program of the Moneywise with Kelvin Boston public television series. This grass roots traveling money management seminar has become one of the leading African-American, faith-based financial tours in the country, serving to date more than 35,000 minority consumers and U.S. military members. In 2012 the Moneywise Empowerment Tour will visit churches in 16 cities, including Baltimore, Maryland; Los Angeles, California; Bronx, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Oakland, California; and Washington, D.C.