Evangelist Carolyn Malaika Foster-Brooks
The Ministry of S.A.R.A.H.
(serenity*atonement*restoration & healing)
Lyons, GA.
Pt. 1 of a series:BAD CHOICES=FATAL MISTAKES
July 2003
PRAYER:
Father God, Thank you for Your Divine guidance in directing me on a subject that our people need to hear and be educated in. God I thank You for the clear understanding I am receiving as I progress in my research and continued study of Your Word and how it all applies to our lives today!
Lord, I realize that your Son Jesus was rejected by His peers in His own hometown when He went there to preach the gospel truth and I realize that I too will be persecuted for telling the Good News!
Father, God, I stand firm on Your directions for my life and I know that as long as I serve You with a willing heart, I can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives me strength when I might want to give up!
I pray, Lord that this thought provoking message will be like a lamp by the feet of someone who has been in darkness! Lord let this message bring serenity, atonement, restoration and healing to the ones who are in need of a touch from You on high.....
In the precious and Holy Name of Jesus, I have prayed and have prepared this sermon to be delivered to the world!
Amen and so it is!!!
MAIN SCRIPTURE AND THOUGHT:
1 Corinthians 15: 21-26....DEATH CAME INTO THE WORLD BECAUSE OF WHAT ONE MAN (ADAM) DID AND IT IS BECAUSE OF WHAT THIS OTHER MAN (CHRIST) HAS DONE THAT NOW THERE IS THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. (22) EVERYONE DIES BECAUSE ALL OF US ARE RELATED TO ADAM, BEING MEMBERS OF HIS SINFUL RACE, AND WHEREVER THERE IS SIN, DEATH RESULTS. BUT ALL WHO ARE RELATED TO CHRIST WILL RISE AGAIN. (23) EACH, HOWEVER, IN HIS OWN TURN: CHRIST ROSE FIRST; THEN WHEN CHRIST COMES BACK, ALL HIS PEOPLE WILL BECOME ALIVE AGAIN. (24) AFTER THAT, THE END WILL COME WHEN HE WILL TURN THE KINGDOM OVER TO GOD THE FATHER, HAVING PUT DOWN ALL ENEMIES OF EVERY KIND. (25) FOR CHRIST WILL BE KING UNTIL HE HAS DEFEATED ALL HIS ENEMIES, (26) INCLUDING THE LAST ENEMY- DEATH. THIS TOO MUST BE DEFEATED AND ENDED.(nlv)
SERMON TOPIC:
ARE YOU POSITIVE, YOU ARE NOT (HIV)POSITIVE?
INTRODUCTION:
Today I want to illustrate and provide you with facts on the drastic effect that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Disease, more commonly known as AIDS is having on our community right here at home in the State of Georgia.
My topic is not just a fancy title, but it is a thought provoking question that I am asking you to ask yourselves! Why? Because we are asking a lot of the wrong questions about a lot of the wrong issues. Often we are trying to judge someone else ( which is not our heavenly right anyway) and are not judging ourselves according to the Word of God, which is the bible!
On top of that, we have the sanctimonious audacity to talk about how we are living, yet we are dumb when it comes to talking about how we are killing ourselves! And because I am a black person, I can bring it really close to the "house" and direct this to black citizens in the rural south! Amen?
This message, through me, from God ,is not one to create a controversy, because God is not the author of confusion. Yet is a controversial topic for His chosen people who are called by His name!
If you are offended by His message to you today, then that is well with my soul because we sometimes have to be "pricked" by the truth , for in Proverbs 26:12 we are reminded, THERE IS MORE HOPE FOR FOOLS THAN FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE WISE. (nlv)
TEXT:
AIDS is a killer in our communities and our local churches are not doing enough nor are we saying enough from the pulpit to educate our congregations on the danger of this dis ease.....well, it is time out for The Ministry of S.A.R.A.H. being dumb on this issue! (Dumb is also defined as one who cannot or who will not speak!) I am not pointing fingers at anyone else because when I do that, there is only one finger pointing outward and four more directed at me!
Therefore I will stand firm on God’s Word as recorded in Proverbs 12:19-20,22...THE LIP OF TRUTH SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER: BUT A LYING TONGUE IS BUT FOR A MOMENT. DECEIT IS IN THE HEART OF THEM THAT IMAGINE EVIL; BUT TO THE COUNSELORS OF PEACE IS JOY. LYING LIPS ARE ABOMINATION TO THE LORD: BUT THEY THAT DEAL TRULY ARE HIS DELIGHT.
So, again sisters and brothers, let’s look at ourselves and ask: ARE YOU POSITIVE, YOU ARE NOT (HIV) POSITIVE?
......these are the facts and they are unfortunately changing for the worse daily:
If you were sitting a congregation of 210 people right now and all of them were heterosexual (not bi-sexual or a homosexual) and of that 210, there were 160 black women and 50 black men, 2 of those people by national statistics will be infected with the AIDS virus. That means that one black women and one black man in the church could be HIV positive, but what is more alarming is the fact that they could not be affected by it (yet) because THEY DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE INFECTED!......WHY?????BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN TESTED!!!!!!
In my spirit I can feel that someone receiving this message today, is on the defensive and are telling themselves, ’well, that could be true, but it’s not me ! I don’t do drugs ! I don’t shoot up! I am not gay! I am in a monogamus relationship and have been for years! I don’t this and I don’t that’.....and the defense goes on and on and on!!
"So preacher! This does not apply to me and, Yes, I am positive that I am not HIV positive!! How dare you approach this issue with me! Give me that old time religion, I don’t want to hear this!!!"
Well, if you were expecting the usual, Jesus is alive and well, halleujah, Praise the Lord....give you a little bit of "whoop", make you wanna "shout all over God’s Heaven!", Holy Ghost dance, speakin’ in tongues , go into a comatose trance AND THEN go home and can’t remember what was preached, kind of sermon..... THIS IS NOT THE ONE!!! Amen?
God has sent me by here today to let you know that yes, Jesus Is Alive and He Is Well! For in Hebrews 13:8 JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER.
But unfortunately, because we are living in a sin sick world, there are many of us who are alive, but we are not well. We are not the same today as we were even on yesterday and we cannot exist like this forever........
I said to you before that many of us are dumb when it comes to the discussion of AIDS in the church!
(including myself, until now!) Again, dumb meaning that we fail to talk about what we know to be true.
How can I say that I love you and that I am concerned about your well being and safety, yet I ignore encouraging you to get tested for HIV!
What kind of love is that?????
It is absolutely imperative that we take a stand and the the black congregations in America, especially in the rural south, play a vital role in educating and empowering other black Americans to face this devasting pandemic and to increae our efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Not only that, we must learn to be caregivers and prayer partners to those who are infected with and who are affected by this dis ease.
AIDS is another ploy being used by satan and it is quickly attacking our youth . Of those who are between the ages of 13 and 24 , 65% of all reported case nationally are black American youth! In the state of Georgia alone, of 26,000 diagnosed cases, 15,000 are among black Americans!!!!
Not car accidents, not heart attacks, not shootings, not spouse abuse,no, not any of these....but AIDS IS THE ONE! AND IT IS THE # 1 (ONE) CAUSE OF DEATH FOR BLACK MEN AND WOMEN, AGED 25-44 IN AMERICA TODAY!
WHY? WHY? WHY are we dying at such an alarming rate compared to other Americans?
Well, it is partially because in the early 80’s when the dis ease was attributed largely to the white male homosexual community, we as "straight" black people (especially Christians) felt that "the virus" would not impact our community. We have failed in our duty of Christian education!
We have demonstrated a false sense of security for ourselves and for our families. We have thought and many us still do think that as long as we stayed away from "gay" people or "crack heads", we would not be affected and infected! Well sisters and brothers , how wrong we have been because you can’t simply look at a person and KNOW that they have HIV!!!....until it is too late.
There is nothing new under the sun and leprosy was the AIDS of Jesus day!! A highly contagious disease causing patches on the skin, running sores, and the loss of fingers and toes! A leper was ceremonially unclean and was unfit to worship God. And anyone who came in contact with a leper was also unclean. Therefore, lepers were isolated from the community! Yet in teh book of Mark 1:40-41 JESUS WAS FILLED WITH COMPASSION FOR A MAN WHO CAME TO HIM ON HIS KNEES BEGGING, "IF YOU ARE WILLING, YOU CAN MAKE ME CLEAN!"..JESUS REACHED OUT HIS HAND AND TOUCHED THE MAN. "I AM WILLING, HE SAID. BE CLEAN!’
.......how many of you know that it must have taken great faith in Jesus for this man with this dreadful disease to come to Jesus as he was? Yet this sick man so accustomed to being shunned by people because of his obvious disease gave Jesus an opportunity not to touch him when he said to Jesus, ’If you are willing."
Tell me, who among you is sick? What does a person with the "virus" look like???
LOOK IN YOUR MIRROR! That is how a person infected and affected by the HIV Disease might look like!
Church, we must be willing to touch the untouchables, just as Jesus was willing!
It is a known fact that anyone exposed to high risk activities can contract the HIV virus. These activities involve the interaction with with an infected person who might only be a carrier of the virus and who themselves are showing no symptoms! Sharing syringes, receiving infected blood into the blood stream, receiving blood transfusions....doctors, nurses, nurse assistants, home health aides and other health care providers are all at high risk because they are exposed to body fluids. Women in child bearing years comprise the fastest growing group of AIDS/HIV patients who often pass the virus to their unborn children are also of concern!!!
3 John 2- MY DEAR FRIEND, I KNOW YOUR SOUL IS DOING FINE, AND I PRAY THAT YOU ARE DOING WELL IN EVERY WAY AND THAT YOUR HEALTH IS GOOD.
....but the question still remains the same, if you have not been tested or have not recently donated blood to the American Red Cross to save a life ( which could be your own), ARE YOU POSITIVE THAT YOU ARE NOT (HIV) POSITIVE? For HIV can live in your body for at least 10 years before they cause symptoms, but the longer HIV goes untreated, the harder it becomes to control.
So brethern, if you have been sexually active in the last 10 years and did not protect yourself , then you are at high risk no matter what profession you are in. And sisters beware, because we have Christian and unsaved brothers who "are on the down low"- meaning they are secretly bi-sexual, which is causing some of the main reasons black American "straight" Christian and unsaved women (married and unmarried) are dying of AIDS today! And to add additional insult to injury, your man may not be on the "down low", but one of you or both of you have been unfaithful! Do you know the history of the other people and who they have been with in the last ten years????......
ARE YOU POSITIVE THAT YOU ARE NOT (HIV) POSITIVE???????
The bible talks to us about unacceptable sexual behavior and its consequences in Romans 1:18, 21,26-28, so fellow clergy, "Why are we so dumb when it involves us saying what thus saith the Lord and saving our congregations and our communities from the hands of satan and the demon called HIV?"
GOD’S ANGER IS SHOWN FROM HEAVEN AGAINST ALL THE EVIL AND WRONG THINGS PEOPLE DO. BY THEIR OWN EVIL LIVES THEY HIDE THE TRUTH. THEY KNEW GOD, BUT THEY DID NOT GIVE GLORY TO GOD OR THANK HIM. THEIR THINKING BECAME USELESS.
THEIR FOOLISH MINDS WERE FILLED WITH DARKNESS. BECAUSE PEOPLE DID THOSE THINGS, GOD LEFT THEM AND LET THEM DO THE SHAMEFUL THINGS THEY WANTED TO DO.
WOMEN STOPPED HAVING NATURAL SEX AND STARTED HAVING SEX WITH OTHER WOMEN. IN THE SAME WAY, MEN STOPPED HAVING NATURAL SEX AND BEGAN WANTING EACH OTHER. MEN DID SHAMEFUL THINGS WITH OTHER MEN,
AND IN THEIR BODIES THEY RECEIVED THE PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE WRONGS.
PEOPLE DID NOT THINK IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. SO GOD LEFT THEM AND ALLOWED THEM TO HAVE THEIR OWN WORTHLESS THINKING AND TO DO THINGS THEY SHOULD NOT DO.
.....brothers and sisters in Christ, now more than ever it is desperately important for the black church to address the demon (aka) HIV in our communities with education, testing, caregiving, advocacy, compassion and prayer. It can no longer be ignored.........
2 Samuel 14:14- WE WILL ALL DIE SOME DAY. WE’RE LIKE WATER SPILLED ON THE GROUND; NO ONE CAN GATHER IT BACK. BUT GOD DOESN’T TAKE AWAY LIFE. INSTEAD HE PLANS WAYS THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SENT AWAY WILL NOT HAVE TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM.
Romans 8:6-8- IF PEOPLE’S THINKING IS CONTROLLED BY THE SINFUL SELF, THERE IS DEATH. BUT IF THEIR THINKING IS CONTROLLED BY THE SPIRIT, THERE IS LIFE AND PEACE. WHEN PEOPLE’S THINKING IS CONTROLLED BY THE SINFUL SELF, THEY ARE AGAINST GOD, BECAUSE THEY REFUSE TO OBEY GOD’S LAW. THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE RULED BY THEIR SINFUL SELVES CANNOT PLEASE GOD.
I John 1:9- BUT IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE WILL FORGIVE OUR SINS, BECAUSE WE CAN TRUST GOD TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT. HE WILL CLEANSE US FROM ALL THE WRONGS WE HAVE DONE.
Amen??
CLOSING:
If you are HIV positive, you deserve to know. Detection and treatment of HIV can help you live a longer, healthier life. Proverbs 14:27, 32- RESPECT FOR THE LORD GIVES LIFE. IT IS LIKE A FOUNTAIN THAT CAN SAVE PEOPLE FROM DEATH. THE WICKED ARE RUINED BY THEIR OWN EVIL, BUT THOSE WHO DO RIGHT ARE PROTECTED EVEN IN DEATH. You are God’s child, respect Our Father and do His will. the sooner you are tested, the sooner you can start taking care of yourself!
Even if you think you are HIV negative, it is still a good idea to get tested, so when you witness to other people, you will be able to encourage family, friends and loved ones to learn more about getting tested for HIV. Your courage to face the unknown with the Lord by your side, will be a testimony for someone else who might be hesitant.
THE LORD WATCHES OVER THE LIVES OF THE INNOCENT, AND THEIR REWARD WILL LAST FOREVER. IF WE LIVE, WE ARE LIVING FOR THE LORD, AND IF WE DIE, WE ARE DYING FOR THE LORD.
SO LIVING OR DYING, WE BELONG TO THE LORD. THE REASON CHRIST DIED AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD TO LIVE AGAIN WAS SO HE WOULD BE LORD OVER BOTH THE DEAD AND THE LIVING. Romans 14:8-9
If you are willing, there are many ways to respond with Christ’s compassion to people with AIDS and their families. Our local community has already been victims of this demon and we the church must stop being dumb.....Luke 17:20, 21,37-after Jesus healed the ten lepers (20) ONE DAY THE PHARISEES ASKED JESUS, "WHEN WILL THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME?" JESUS REPLIED, "THE KINGDOM OF GOD ISN’T USHERED IN WITH VISIBLE SIGNS.* (21) YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SAY, ’HERE IT IS! OR "IT’S OVER THERE!" FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AMONG YOU. (22) LATER HE TALKED AGAIN ABOUT THIS WITH HIS DISCIPLES.....(37) "LORD, WHERE WILL THIS HAPPEN?" THE DISCIPLES ASKED. JESUS REPLIED, "JUST AS THE GATHERING OF VULTURES SHOWS THERE IS A CARCASS NEARBY, SO THESE SIGNS INDICATE THAT THE END IS NEAR."**
A vast majority of black Americans with AIDS, have received signs that the end is near.......now is a time for us to be Christlike.
Jesus offered that leper man and the others riddled with the disease, not only physical healing, but spiritual and emotional healing as well. Some people with AIDS have made bad choices that equals fatal mistakes and they need to know the Christ who died for all sinners. Others have been rejected by their families and their friends, and they need to know the Father to the fatherless, the Friend who sticks closer than a brother!
For so many of these bretheren, YOU may be the only church they ever get a chance to see or hear and can lead them to repentance and to salvation.
Many have lost hope. But it is our duty and our responsibility to remind them that THE LORD IS NOT SLOW IN DOING WHAT HE PROMISED THE WAY SOME PEOPLE UNDERSTAND SLOWNESS. BUT GOD IS BEING PATIENT WITH US.(YOU) HE DOES NOT WANT ANYONE TO BE LOST, BUT HE WANTS ALL PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR HEARTS AND THEIR LIVES. 2 Peter 3:9
"THE MOUNTAINS MAY DISAPPEAR, AND THE HILLS MAY COME TO AN END, BUT MY LOVE WILL NEVER DISAPPEAR; MY PROMISE OF PEACE WILL NOT COME TO AN END, "SAYS THE LORD WHO SHOWS MERCY TO YOU. Isaiah 54:10
God Loves You!
GET TESTED.
YOU CAN LIVE WITH THE ANSWER.
ARE YOU POSITIVE THAT YOU ARE NOT (HIV) POSITIVE?
*call the CDC National AIDS Hotline 1-800-342-AIDS
God Bless You!
