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Men’s Season 2012: Reclaiming Our Own  For Kingdom Building: Unlocking the Seven Keys for Success,  Power & Service

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2012 Men’s Season Schedule

Weds. Feb 8th • Rev. Dr.
Jamal Bryant

Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church, Baltimore, MD

Thurs. Feb 9th • Rev. Dr.
Michael Bell, Sr.

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, Washington, D.C.

Fri. Feb 10th • Rev. Dr.
Grainger Browning, Jr.

Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, Fort Washington, MD

Sat. Feb 11th • 10:00am •
Panel Discussion

Moderator JJ Green • Panelists: Harry Coker • Ernie
Green (Little Rock Nine) • Wendell Johns • Councilman
Vincent Orange • Rodney Slater

Sun. Feb. 12th • Men’s Day •
Rev. Tony Lee

Community of Hope A.M.E. Church, Temple Hills, MD

Men’s Season Committee

Guy Charity • Trotter Collier • Richard Corley • Isaiah
Dupree • Greg Johnson

Gary Jones • Leroy Nesbitt, Jr. • Eric Ramey • Geoffrey
Tate • Paul Tue II

Rev. Ronald E. Braxton • Rev. Jonathan V. Newton

Metropolitan African Methodist
Episcopal Church

1518 M. Street, N.W. • Washington, DC 20005 • (202)
331-1426

Free Validated Parking at PMI Garage, 1615 M. Street,
N.W.

Dinner served at 5:30 pm • Service starts at 7:00pm

METROPOLITAN  IS  PART OF 2012
LIVING BLACK HISTORY ON WDCW-TV50

Commercials, Vignettes to Air Throughout February

Metropolitan A.M.E. Church will be featured in a commercial, an on-air vignette and  an  on-air snipe that will air repeatedly on WDCW-TV DC50  during Black History Month.

This unusual  media blitz is an effort by the Senior Board of Stewards to attract new members and  inform the  Greater Washington  community about  worship services,ChurchSchool,  church ministries and activities of  the National Cathedral of African Methodism.

The commercial and on-air snipe  that will air repeatedly throughout February is part of the station’s Living Black History presentation.   The focus on Metropolitan will be seen as part of a series of specials that air every Sunday in February, beginning February 5.  , The  on-air vignette featuring Rev. Ronald E.
Braxton will be among the historical vignettes by Washington notables  that will air daily.  Exact air times were not available as of the deadline for the Updates.

Heart disease is still the number one killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year. More women die of cardiovascular disease than from the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer. But 80 percent of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.

Each year on the first Friday in February, thousands of hospitals, small businesses, multinational corporations, news broadcaster, schools, individuals and even landmarks “Go Red” to help raise crucial awareness and significant funds in the fight against heart disease in women.

There are many ways to show support on National Wear Red Day or any day throughout the year – from simply wearing red to helping organize an event at your workplace, school or local organization.

For Your Information
Heart Attack
A heart attack occurs when the blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked, usually by a blood clot. If this clot cuts off the blood flow completely, the part of the heart muscle supplied by that artery begins to die.

Signs of a Heart Attack:
1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help.

Stroke
Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death in America. It’s also a major cause of severe, long-term disability. Stroke and TIA (transient ischemic attack) happen when a blood vessel feeding the brain gets clogged or bursts. The signs of a TIA are like a stroke, but usually last only a few minutes. If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help.

Signs of Stroke and TIAs
1. Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
2. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
3. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
4. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
5. Sudden severe headache with no known cause

Also, check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared. It’s very important to take immediate action. Research from the American Heart Association has shown that if given within three hours of the start of symptoms, a clot-busting drug can reduce long-term disability for the most common type of stroke.

Bring questions on How to Finance College, How to Make College Decisions, and the Admissions Process.

PANELISTS: Admissions Officer, Student Affairs Representative, Financial Aid Administration & other Higher Education Representatives
WHERE: 1518 “M” Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005
DATE & TIME: Saturday, March 03, 2012; 11am – 4pm RSVP: (202) 789-8496 More details to come!

Download the updated College Day flyer!

Please join us and support the Norfolk State University Choir Winter 2012 Scholarship Tour. They will sing several selections at the 11:00 am Worship Service. Donations accepted to fund the choir’s scholarship fund and the MAMEC Restoration Fund. View details and give online!

Ministers Jamal Bryant, Michael Bell and Grainger Browning Headline Revival Series As Metropolitan A.M.E. Hosts Men’s Season 2012

Six Events Celebrate Qualities of A.M.E. Founder Richard Allen

Three leading Washington-area ministers headline a Revival series when the men of Metropolitan A.M..E Church host Men’s Season 2012. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore will preach on Wednesday, Feb. 8, Dr. Michael Bell, pastor of Allen Chapel AME in the District, will preach on Thursday, Feb. 9, and Dr. Grainger Browning, pastor of Ebenezer AME Church, Ft. Washington, Md., will preach on Friday, Feb. 10. All services begin at 7 p.m.

The Revival Series and other events will be held at the newly- renovated sanctuary of the historic Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, 1518 M Street, NW, Washington, DC. The events will celebrate Bishop Richard Allen’s exemplary qualities during two Sunday services, three revival nights of rejuvenating praise, worship, and ministry, and a panel discussion, all focused on the theme: “Reclaiming Our Own for Kingdom Building, Unlocking the Keys for Success, Power and Service.”

The panel will feature Ernest Green, a member of the Little Rock Nine, DC Council Member-at-Large Vincent Orange, and Rodney Slater, former US Secretary of Transportation. It will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will focus on the theme, “The 7 Keys for Success, Power and Service and Their Relevance to Election 2012.”

The men will serve light meals before all events and they are free and open to the public. Free parking is available for the evening services and the Saturday panel at the PMI Garage, located at 1615 M St. NW.

The Men’s Season 2012 coincides with the 252nd birthday of Bishop Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and concludes on Sunday, Feb. 12 with two powerful worship experiences. Rev. Tony Lee, Senior Pastor, Community of Hope AME, Temple Hills, Md. will preach at 7:45 a.m. and Dr. Lee P. Washington, Senior Pastor, Reid Temple AME Church, Silver Spring, Md., will preach at 11 a.m. Free parking is available for the Sunday services at the NEA Garage across the street from Metropolitan.

All services and events will be webcast on the church’s website: metropolitanamec.org.

METROPOLITAN AME CHURCH
1518 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20005

Contact: Greg Johnson
202-331-1426

Rev. Dr. Louis M. Anthony speaking at:
Metropolitan AME Church
Sunday, January 22 2011
www.metropolitaname.org

Scripture: John 1:10-12: Jesus, the Light of the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

John 13:12-17: Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

On this Annual Hospitality Day here at Metropolitan, I say to you this morning: “There Are Still Feet to Wash.”

It takes no degree in Sociology to figure out that we are living in a suffocating, narcissistic society – folks are into themselves and off to themselves. The church is even an island unto itself. In too many churches, we measure who is worthy to come through the doors of a house that is not supposed to be our own. The word for hospitality in Greek is “love” and “strangers” – we are the lovers of strangers when we engage in hospitality. Not folks in your Class, or your clique. You are to be a lover of strangers. Your sainted mother 50 years ago decided that your church had to have someone who would welcome the strangers. Ushers sometimes act as if they are part of security instead of hospitality.

In the first part of the scripture text in John (John 1: 10-12), John reminds us that the Creator of the world comes to the world He created, and He finds himself a rejected stranger. The Creator, the Savior of the world, was not welcome in his own place.

I submit to you that our young people don’t come to church because they have figured out that we are FAKING. You have been in the presence of people whose smile or whose gentle touch affected you deeply, and you know they are genuine. But others are not; we refuse to give tithes; we come up with excuses for not worshipping, we have to go out and raise money because we sit on our tithes.

In every church, there must be a Hospitality Club, a Mrs. Williams, a Robie Beatty who will say: “I don’t care how you smell or what ‘club’ you are in, you are welcome in God’s House!” Someone has to be in the house of God to let someone know: “I was once a stranger too – a stranger to grace, to mercy, to forgiveness – and one time He stopped by and touched me and made me a part of His army.”

In the second scripture text (John 13: 12-17), Jesus is washing feet. “There are still yet feet to wash”. In those days, they did not have roads, so your feet would get dusty, and it was the sign of grand hospitality that when you visited someone’s house, they washed your feet. In this Upper Room excerpt from the scripture, the disciples’ feet are in need of hospitality, but instead of allowing someone else to do that job, the Master himself gets up and washes the feet of all 12 disciples, including Judas. Jesus says: “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me teacher, Lord, but if I – the teacher – have washed YOUR feet, I expect that you will manifest your love for me by washing the feet of others, and you are blessed if you do it”.

Brothers and sisters, there are still yet feet to wash – Ray Ray, Shanequah and Pookie – people of different cultures, people who are seeking God but who are caught up in an intellectual exercise. The judgment of God is on any house who has visitors and strangers, but no foot-washers.

There are reasons that we just don’t like washing feet, why we don’t like being hospitable, why we cut people off in traffic, why some people rejoice in leaving others out. Here are some of them:

1. Some people won’t wash feet because they are so insecure about their own worth/value/significance that they have not come to know who they are. So many people in the church won’t wash feet because they say “Not me!” Or they are too cute to wash feet. “I went to Harvard; I have a doctoral degree; I can’t condescend to cookies or coffee – we hire caterers for those kinds of things.” But Jesus was not too cute to come to where we are, to die on a cross, to endure humiliations and brutalities so that by His stripes, we are healed today.

2. Hospitality means learning to “be the best to the worst.” Some of you won’t wash feet because you are so happy with your achievements that you think helping someone else is beneath you. Others of you won’t wash feet because they have not learned to “be the best to the worst.” Hospitality does not just embrace people who are nice – it means being hospital to the very people who have an uncanny ability to pluck your last nerve. If you are authentically a Christian, the devil will send you the one who will push your buttons, and when he does, will you be hospitable, or demonic, with them?

Dr. Heschel said the opposite of “human” is not animal; it is “demonic.” Some of us won’t wash the feet of our neighbor, but Jesus even washed the feet of his assassin (Judas). You have to wash the feet of your assassin – of the very person who is trying to do you in – because your gratitude for the hospitality of God is so overwhelming.

3. Some people won’t wash feet because you have not learned how to be patient with ignorance and stupidity. When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he got to Peter who said: “No Dog; you’re not washing my feet.” Jesus said to him: “You don’t really understand what I’m doing. And if I don’t wash your feet, you can’t be a part of me.” You can’t be hospitable to people until you have learned to be patient with ignorance and stupidity. Patience in Greek means “the capacity to hold your heat.” You can’t be hospitable until God through His spirit has enabled you to “hold your heat” in the face of ignorance and stupidity.

But if you are not insecure; if you’ve learned how to “be the best to worst”, if you’ve learned how to be patient with ignorance and insecurity, there is a place for you. Stephen had been chosen to be a deacon – deacon means: “one who waits on tables”. He was supernaturally gifted, but his first assignment was to handle a “food fight” among the people.

When God looks at authentic hospitality, He tests you to see if you are authentic. Some are just hospitable, gracious, smiling, on an annual basis, until this “Annual Hospitality Day” is over. But God always puts you in the basement before he puts you in the penthouse; He wants to see if you can handle the low place, and then he will trust you with the high place. So Stephen went to the food fight. And with his face shining like an angel, he speaks to them with power that can only come from God. He says: “…Furthermore I looked up and I saw the son of man standing!” The Apostles Creed said the Lord sits at the right hand of God. But back in Stephen’s day, when you were a witness, the witness stood up to give their testimony.

Someone here ought to follow hospitality and live in such a way that God will stand up for a waiter. Waiting on tables, washing feet, dying on a cross (a slaves’ death) – those were the things that Jesus did for us. But if you do what you are supposed to do, you will understand that the slaves and the waiters get promoted. Go out and pick up the trash; take someone home; speak to a stranger who comes to the door so he or she will feel that, in this house, they are welcome.

Are there any foot washers in the house? Is there anybody in here who is grateful that even those we “dissed” Jesus – he didn’t’ get an “attitude”; he stayed on the journey for our redemption to transform his haters into hosts for his glory.

When you get to the other side, God won’t be interested in your degree from Harvard; He won’t be interested in how much money you made (money that you don’t want to tell anyone about). Your resume won’t matter when you get to heaven, only the dusty feet that you washed – only Bay Bay and Shanequa and Pookie and the empty, bruised people who came into your house and left knowing that Jesus had touched them – through a cookie, a cup of coffee, or a sanctified smile. And then people who visit this place will be able to say, “I am going back to that church because they took me just the way I am!”

The condition of being “dull of hearing” doesn’t mean you can’t hear; it means you are selective about what you DO hear. As disruptive as it may seem, the scripture says the same Jesus who went away is coming back. He is coming – the time is not known – but He is coming, and this time He will be coming not to save somebody, but to collect his own. If the glory of God came down during the Ravens game, would you see the end of the game, or would He take you to be with himself? He’s coming and He’s going to take somebody with him, and He’s going to leave others behind.

We live in an inhospitable world; your children are killing themselves; politicians have told so many lies that the lies start to sound like the truth. In some churches, there are enclaves of cliques and clubs – not restoration and redemption. When He comes – we cannot know the date, but even the Mayans are trying to help us figure it out. Something unusual is happening – come and present yourself to Jesus. You say, I’m protected – I am a member of the church, but so is the devil. You say: I grew up in the church – but so did the devil. You say: I know a bible verse or two, I come to church most Sundays – but the devil has never missed a service.

If you don’t know Jesus, “washing feet” won’t be something you will do for too long. But if you’ve been coming to church and listening to Reverends Braxton and Braxton talk about how important it is for the church to be authentic, maybe now you will have an epiphany and know:

“I get it Lord – I’m supposed to be a foot washer! Not once a year but every day! Whatever feet you want me to wash – delinquent children, pregnant mothers, children with disabilities, homeless folk, imprisoned people – whatever feet you assign to me — I won’t be too cute to be a foot washer!”

This is the Word of God for you on this Annual Hospitality Day!

Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton, Senior Pastor,
Metropolitan AME Church
Sunday, January 15 2011
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday
www.metropolitaname.org

Scripture John 1: 43-51 MSG Bible Version (Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael): 43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.) 45-46Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? [Can anything good come from there?]” But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.” 47When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.” 48Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.” Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.” 49Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!” 50-51Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

Pastor Braxton shared an extended excerpt from Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Story, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which described the decision-making process that Dr. King when through in weighing multiple career opportunities:

In 1954, after Dr. King had completed the course work for his Ph.D., he had job offers from colleges and churches in the North, and an offer from a church in Montgomery, Alabama, in the deeply segregated South.

The church was comparatively small, with a membership of around three hundred people, but it occupied a central place in the community. Many influential and respected citizens – professional people with substantial incomes – were among its members. Moreover, it had a long tradition of an educated ministry. Some of the nation’s best-trained Negro ministers had held pastorates there. From Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Story, page 3.

He struggled with the decision, and prayed assiduously on it. While he despised “the tragic implications of segregation,” he felt that his place was in the South, where he could do more for his people. He decided to answer the call from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama…the rest is history…

The scripture text may seem to be about Nathanael, but it is more about “The Gritty Joy of Being Blessed to Bless”. There are several lessons to be learned from the scripture.

1. It’s not always easy to be a blessing. When Phillip found Nathanael to tell him that Jesus, Joseph’s son, “the one from Nazareth” had called them to follow him, without even realizing it, Nathanael made a racial and cultural slur. He said: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” You know what he is really saying: Can anything good come out of Montgomery? Can anything good come out of the South? Can anything good come out of Southeast (DC)? Can anything good come out of the African American community? Nathanael was contemptuous in his use of those words. Nazareth was an undistinguished place; not the kind of place that anything good was likely to come out of. But Jesus pierced through the unkindness of Nathanael’s words and poured into him a blessing of a lifetime. Jesus demonstrated the Gritty Joy of Being Blessed to Bless.

2. Sometimes as hard as it might be or get, don’t allow “the grittiness of being blessed to bless” rob us of the joy of being a blessing to others. Faced with a number of choices as to where he would go next – to preach, to teach, up north, or down in the segregated south – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had no idea where God would take him. But he knew that a blessing on him would be a blessing on the world. It wasn’t easy. But Dr. King chose the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama; and for him, that choice was the Gritty Joy of Being Blessed to Bless.

3. In the grittiness of human situations, we are best able to be a blessing when our witness, testimony and service are genuine and real. There is a lesson in Jesus’ response to Nathaniel’s derogatory slur, and Jesus’ choice to bless Nathanael with a compliment, despite his harsh language.

I grew up in Young’s Park in the projects in Norfolk, Virginia. Some teachers – and these were Black teachers just like me – despised the children from the projects. No matter what you try to do, you can’t succeed in being a phony. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming after having slurred “anything that came out of Nazareth”, instead of chastising him for his slur, Jesus declared: “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body!”

The real joy is in the grittiness of doing, the gritty joy of being able to bless someone else. If your testimony is fake, others will see right through you. Being a genuine, real Christian means taking off the façade, and blessing someone because God has blessed you.

You really can’t fake when Jesus is real in your life. You can’t fake when God has poured blessings, opened doors, moved mountains and stones out of your way. It will show, and others will be blessed because of you. You can tell when the preacher, the choir, the usher, the officers, the congregation have been blessed, and they know they have been blessed. There is something about a church’s witness when it is real. When the Lord has been good to you; when the Lord has answered your prayer, others can see it.

Sometimes, we would like to escape the gritty joy of being a blessing. We pray: “God just remove me from all of this work! Just let me come to church, pat my feet, put on my blinders, then go home to the comfort and security of my home. I’m tired of people asking me to do this and that!”

In verse 43, Jesus decided to go to Galilee, not to the big city of Jerusalem, not the Nile, but the sea of Galilee, and with gritty joy, to serve and be a blessing. When God can use you, go ahead and open the door and decide to go out into the streets, go out into the ghetto where people are suffering, go out there and help the people to find their way.
Richard Allen could have just chosen to stay in the Methodist Church. Rosa Parks could have just chosen to go the back of the bus. Harriet Tubman could have just decided to stay in the part of the country where she lived. But God had another gritty plan for them! And if you follow God’s gritty plan for your life, He will open doors and put joy in your heart.

Amen!

The Sarah Allen Missionary Society is sponsoring a free writing clinic for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The Writing Wizards Enrichment Clinic offers young writers an opportunity to enhance their writing skills, gain grammar proficiency, and write with clarity and confidence. Classes will be held at Metropolitan on second and fourth Saturdays, 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., beginning January 14, 2012 through June 9, 2012. A registration form may be downloaded at http://sites.google.com/site/samswritingclinic. Participation is limited to 12 students. To reserve a space, please send an email to Janet Oakley Huggins at jloh1926@gmail.com. Download the flyer.