Video Transcript: Another Friday Night Recovery

Yes, He breaks stuff going on, right? She's got wonderful stuff. So thank you, mama bear for encouraging us and inspiring us here tonight.  So let's give it all to God and worship. Come on, man. Yeah, come on.

Thank you. Lord, we need you on the rock, Lord that we can celebrate because for you have set us free. For the Son sets us free. We are free, indeed, Father God. Indeed, Father, as we come together in prayer about our intentions, about our life issues, we know it's not about the problems, it's not about the alcohol, it's about life, But the stuff, Lord, that we struggle with, that's what we're coming  about. Lord, thank You that we can be spiritual moms and dads to one another.  in the love of Jesus and others father in the prison tonight, who is still singing and trying to understand who you are, Lord, reveal yourself to him, to her. Bless that girl. Early, bless them, illuminate them. Bless them, change them, Father as I pray, whatever it takes that they may find freedom in You. Thank you, Jesus. Pray for him, that person. Father, Son and I pray specifically for the Richardson family. They serve on Monday night so faithfully. Father, we pray for mother Louise, who lost her sister last week. And Father, for others, the Fresno family need too; bless them, Lord. Carry the lifting up outside. We also pray the posterior prayer, those of you who have prayer on the screen, and this whole version was written back in 1940s Ryan LeBor, three scholars, and also a yellow recovery person. Nobody really knew what was going to happen one day after the next World War Two was and he wrote this prayer, God, we are yours. We are yours. Help us through. He said, Because there were churches in Germany that were still stood for Jesus and not the Nazis. All the other was making justice before where they would meet and Worship still practically because we be hard By suspended to your will and Abigail Dominiak, we got you, girlfriend. Oh, God, worship. You need a blue mic on Yes, ma'am, let's say together we continue to take personal inventory. Said, so be careful. Thank you, God, altogether you don't, but that's okay, God, that's the hope you can hear from a few testimonies tonight. We've got Antoine, we've got Brent and John, and also get some celebration. So stay tuned. Here we go. Amen.

 Oh, man, God is good, you guys. I am so amazed to be here today. In the last couple weeks, I lost three people, three jobs, and that is why we're here, amen, because I don't want to lose another person. I don't want a family member to lose another person. It is unacceptable to me. As a mama bear, I love each and everyone of you as my very own bear cub. I don't care if you've never spoke a word. I don't care if I've never hugged you, shook your hand. I don't care; I love you. God has called us to love one another. Amen, alright, so we here at Community Recovery work very hard behind the scenes to make sure that this program runs perfectly. We want it to be so seamless that it seems effortless, but it is not without effort. It takes so many volunteers. It takes so many hours to put these programs together each week. It cost us money, it costs us time, and it costs us God leading the way. Amen.

On last week, on Friday, we have a situation here, and as mama and so heartbroken and very disappointed in what happened now, it's already been reconciled. We already have a plan. We're moving forward. There is no blame, there is no shame, there is no guilt, because we will without conditions. Amen. However, that being said, these are my baby bears. The people in the kitchen are my baby bears. The people that are PSR are my baby bears. These pastors are my brothers, my baby bears. Every single volunteer that comes through this door, every single guest that comes through the door, I love and care very deeply about. And so when there is something that is jeopardized in this program that I fight so hard for, I bought the free store for you guys. I bought a woman's craft day. We have a Bible study, we have a volunteer appreciation tomorrow. I'm working so hard to continue to bring these things forward, and if we have incidences like last Friday, it jeopardizes the whole program, and that is unacceptable to me. We have to have structure. We have to have accountability, because without them, do you know where we end up? We end up dead, we end up in prison, we end up in a mental hospital, and that is not okay for me, because you are my baby bears, and I do not want you there. I want you here. I want you growing and recovering and finding God's love for you, because you are worthy of love. Thank you. Bless you again. So moving forward. Anytime there's a situation and you don't know how to handle it, I want you to find somebody in a black shirt. I want you to find a pastor. I want you to come talk to me, because there is no reason for people in pain to continue to cause more pain. That is unacceptable,  and I am not going to stand for it. I have this bag that filled with hunger love, but I got each. Every week on my own pocket. I have my volunteers. I have people that come here, that bring things, that donate to my basket. Praise God for them. Amen to do that if we don't continue to be respectful and show respect and work hard on our recovery. Because I met a man who was angry he had lost his mother to cancer. Then his son was struggling with a heroin addiction, and his daughter was about to lose her kids to the state because she was too busy chasing a man. He was angry and maybe justifiably. Somebody called the police on him because they saw him out in the woods screaming and yelling and being angry. Police showed up. They took him downtown. He was like, why'd you pick me up? He became even more angry. Then they took him to the hospital and cuffed him to a bed, injected him with some medicine. He was so angry, he was now belligerent. They transferred him to Detroit and locked him up for 18 days, continuing to give him medication to keep him calm. Right or wrong is not the reason I'm telling the story; he will tell you today that it was his anger that put him in. So it is your attitudes they need to get it to check when we do things like Friday night, and I'm not calling blame here:  there's no blame. This is simply for awareness. But when you have situations like Friday night that's so unacceptable, whether it's here, whether it's out there, because this can happen to you. If you don't end up in a jail or a prison cell, you could end up somewhere with some kind of medication to keep you home and ask my baby girls as unacceptable, and I do not want that,  so I will continue to fight for you, but I need you to be accountable. I need you to fight for yourself, harder and for your purpose.

I love you all unconditionally, and I am so glad you're here, because I need this recovery program maybe more than you. Who knows, God knows. So I want to move forward by acknowledging one of my volunteers. We have gone the star of the month program. Where we tried to do this on Monday, but I'm very sick, and there is no actual certificate, right? So today, we would like to honor one of our very own who has met with us faithfully for 10 years. Yeah, somebody who I talked to regularly, come here, I need you to bring your phone.

You got a phone in my office, and I need a picture of this. 

That's it right there. That's a million dollars. None of y'all got any warrants. This is only here. Man, oh, man, you alright, Baby, you're the man. You're the man.

I want to struggle in your life, which is this is happening in your seat? Amen, I remember to come here alive, as you said.

I  never hada job. I enjoy. I've never had a job, right?

At the time, we have leaders right here in these seats, right? All you gotta do is stand up and say yes to God, yes. I want to help. Yes. I want to be here 10 years later. Wow, standing in front of everybody receiving a certificqte being proud of who you are. That's all being proud to help other people. Being proud to build up this kingdom.

To you find your bus, provide your bus with you. God bless you. Alright, so we have Mama Bear love time. There's a few people. Did anybody bring a new person in today? That was today's thing with you? Yeah, and alright. And anybody can use subscribers. We've got new subscribers on our Facebook our YouTube channel. It's so special. You can pick one thing, whatever you want. We love and appreciate you at this time, but I have a map anybody who's here for their first time, so cool. I know you guys are up here, and we're going to get through those maps. If you want a map, if you want to know what groups we offer and where they're located. We're trying to get it to the sky friends, bringing them around right now. We want to try a new group. We offer that you're welcome. God bless you. You're welcome to try a new group. We encourage that. Up there on the screen where there's balloons popping, that's the area where we suggest that you do not go  if you are above the age of 17, wow. We met pray last week. She loves loving on your babies, and that's where they are. Do not go back there. 

In there. So tomorrow we are family in women, our queens, craft day at the care center from 11 until one, and we, I would like to personally invite you. We are going to paint water, we are going to sing, and we're going to eat and we're going to have a great time. If you thought about checking it out and you haven't checked it out yet, what are you waiting for? Yeah, come on, get involved with your recovery. Let's have your time. We've always set the bus. Please come join us. Can I have a people doing the offering this time come forward? We also have Tuesday night at the care center, a Bible study our ladies and gentlemen in this album, Tony and Pam, hold 530 Tuesday nights at 530 and then we got na at six o'clock right on Tuesday nights. So make sure you're utilizing these services. We have always volunteers that show up to help maybe life better. Help you grow. We want to make sure that you're taking advantage of that. 

Yeah, we're going to get you right back to Pastor Mark. God bless you all. I love you so much. Please invite up to the front. Please. Marilyn and Lindsay, come on down, ladies.

AsAs we said, we have some clean time to celebrate tonight, and we are so thankful. Thank you. Right. There she is.

That's okay. We're all good.

That's okay. We're going to build here within it. And ladies, of course, you would say by grace, by faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And that is what we reaffirm every time we celebrate fame time. And of course, we always are thrilled to know what that year is, and we're in another day and another minute, another moment. We accept that. But tonight, of course, we celebrate that milestone and also that God is with you. Jesus says, My peace, I give unto you not as the world gives, but as I give unto you. So Lindsay, we celebrate with you five years playing and Marilyn, yes, ma'am, I'll go with the other side anyway, but so thank the Lord for what God has done in Lindsay's life. And we thank God Marilyn tonight for 27 years.

Sake of time, we've got two other guys who are going to share their heart tonight, but let's pray, Father heaven. We thank you for Lindsay and Marilyn, bless them, indeed, help them learn to move forward another minute of the moment in recovery and you're in the clean time you've given them Jesus. Or how you empower them to be all that you pray them to be and Lord, protect them in Jesus Christ, we pray our Gospel said, Amen. 

Antoine. Where's Antoine? There he Is.

You okay, tonight, what we're going to do, first we have Antoine. Antoine's going to be sharing his story, and after him, Grandpa John's going to be sharing his story, amen. And from there, we will carry on, and as we learn more about what God does with continuing our spiritual moral inventory, brother,

alright, let's start this off with prayer. First of all, amen,  Abraham, Lord I pray that You gave me your strength. Lord Jesus, and the judgment is like in Christ, Lord. I am very tempted, personally, but right now I want to be able to keep on this call. Uh, first of all, my name is Antoine. My name is Antoine. Antoine, uh, I'm here from North New Jersey. I came over to Grand Rapids to actually become a police officer, uh, black families, because I tell you that, especially growing up with the inner city was mid uh, been through some hardships in my life, you know, seeing some crazy things in my life. And the only thing I can say, Who's that? God is sovereign and people, amen. So first I like to give, I like to give praise for all the Savior, Jesus, Christ, as I say, God, I'm grateful, truly grateful to have a. Step outside, step outside the box, something that I won't be with unless I was great. Um, I'm just glad. And congratulations also to the celebrant. I mean, 27 years, wow, amen. Um, I moved around a lot. This is the Italian rule. So one thing I noticed about Grand Rapids, first of all, let me just say, is the the brother from love that I got. You know what I mean, and at first I was nervous to be able to come up here to speak, but I feel just like our mama just said, y'all are my brothers and sisters. You know, sometimes people actually understand and know the things that I want. You know what I mean? Everybody knows these weird truths that we had, crazy eatings. You know what I mean, going to the Gospel, buying everything, right? So, you know, the one thing I can say, growing up wasn't easy whatsoever. I mean, all my friends, like dad and Jeff are going to get down to 83 Wow. I'm just glad that, you know, I was able to learn that, you know, life had been changed, and I had to be able to change it. It wasn't until I said the secret did I heard man say he was preaching. He said, Something changed my life. He said, God can't start on me unless I stop. Mm, hmm. I came back that night. I was to eat, right? So started looking at it, started really getting into the word, you know, and then just asking the Lord, if it dwells in, you know,  let it be done. Let God's will be done, not mine And I just don't know how to say how grateful, you know, like I said before the band, now, uh, they didn't take any jails, institutions, everything like that. You know, I just had to learn how to do that as a fastest partner. I mean, it started off at a young age, when I was 11 years old, when I had my first drink. My aunt passed away recently, and it definitely wasn't easy. It definitely wasn't easy. First time I got drunk was inside the church. Was leaving now, Halloween party moms gave me a drink. She said, Just keep drinking. Just keep drinking.

Said, Alright. When I had first time I went to rule, to 26 years old, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect before 20 years old. That's something that every single you know, 20 year old should be able to drink, right? I mean, he's leaving us in a school. You can do whatever's important. Um, later on, I realized drinking wasn't for me, even though I thought I was a professional, that career ended, and I went ahead and dealt with the ideas and learned out how to addictive personality, you know? And that that could be anything, you know? What I mean, if one addiction leads you to another addiction, it's just unexplained, right? So the way I lead you guys is, I mean, I have kids. They keep me strong, my son, Justin, which I love, my daughter, Christina, which I love, my other daughter,  which I love, um, they keep me right every single day, every single day. I think I was, I got a chance to talk to my son. He told me, want to be an architect man. So today I go ahead. I go downtown Grand Rapids. I started looking at every architecture in school already from starting off right, amen. Um, I know it's one thing, but our generation, especially my generation, I was born in the days that we got blessing. Bless each generation to give one to the next. It's not supposed to be like that, right? My father was real strict growing up. Mean, ex marine ex Marine Corps. You know, I got four brothers and eight sisters. So the man was definitely angry. You know, thinking about it, you know, I like to give a lot of, like, a lot of praise to Him, because he don't become the man that I am. I had a lot of brothers with fellowship and a lot of mentors to be able to show the event that I want to be able to be shaped to be, because you want to be better than the person at what you want. So one thing I can say, I stand up here not thinking that I'm special like anybody, just like everybody else, and that's the one thing that had I had to learn how the Bible speaks, that I learned that, learned that hard. I had to be able to prophesy. It's hard to be able to put some river from those big shot to step up. You know, being able to just show me the break I turn on things of life. You know, each and every morning, the people got out, just going along the halls, you guys know, it's not just something that, you know, it's just always like life. You know, I want to take up too much time, because I want to I want to take up too much time, but, uh, when it said, I stand before you by God, our God's grace and glory. Like I said, Pastor Marcia, we Yeah, Pastor Marcia, we are saved by grace and faith. And that's something that I wish that you guys could really understand, the idea of of that. You know what I mean? It's different than saying, than when actually saying it saved by graceful faith, to understand that somebody who did not even know the man who was in the womb gave their life to come down to earth, to go ahead and take it, since we, when you start to catch a decent means it really starts to hit home. Amen. 

Thank you. Antoine, bless, give blessing. Grandpa John, come on up, brother.

Yeah.

Many years, everybody, and he finally said to me, that's mark time to do it. So I said, Okay, to do it.

So is it okay? So, yes, Sir, hello, everybody. Yes. Well, I don't know too many people that really want to share your life history. I'm only telling this because I feel that if there's anybody in here that maybe can relate a little bit on maybe how you live in a light than it was worth doing otherwise. I'm sure you wouldn't be telling anybody. Anyway, I just try to make it short and sweet. But when I was younger, very few people know this, is you can count on my one hand, probably get some extra things. When I was very young boy, I was sexually abused by a relative. This caused me to be very insecure and have a very little self esteem. Because of this, I began hanging around wrong crowds, which I believe said see that matured into a life of pornography, wild parties, drugs and drinking. So I can relate with a lot of people on some of this stuff, because, like Anna said, One addiction can lead to another, and I cannot explain why, but I know when I was younger, in my early adult years, I probably should have been in prison from drunk driving so many times that I wouldn't even want to try to come. I never got pulled over. I was very fortunate. But anyway, this life on my impression and drugs led me to a divorce and a whole lot of other things. I wound up in the hospital with large liver, and then with medicine and everything. I'm fine, you know, I'm fine today, but as I struggled with these addictions I realized I didn't want my life to continue this way. Eventually asked the Lord and forgive me and take these terrible addictions from me. This took years, and it was a gradual process. This didn't happen overnight, but when I truly gave my life to Christ, with his help, I was able to overcome just so even though we all have some dirt in our closets, I have learned that the only way any of us can fix their problems is through Jesus. Christ. When we truly say Jesus is forgiving and mercy on me. I want to live for you, and he'll take us into his arms and say, Well done. Once they started really living for Him, things aren't necessarily always easy, but now life has a real meaning. I thank the Lord every day for what he has done for me. He can do the same for you. Amen. 

So we all need to remember that we can't earn salvation. We are saved by God's grace when we do have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, all we have to do is beleave. we are sinners, and Christ died for our sins. We need to ask His forgiveness, then turn, then we have to turn from our sin that is called repentance. Jesus knows us and He loves us. What matters to him is the attitude of our heart. So if you want to know more, please see one of the pastors or myself, so all I can say is I shared, probably some things that I want to share with anybody. Is when I grew up, life was not easy as a young child, and then that matured later into my early adult years, getting kicked out of high school and two jobs, I was not a very, very good person. So anyway, share this with you, and I hope, I hope it helps somebody. 

Story powerful, your heart, young and and older. You know, all generations, yeah, all have fallen short of God's glory, but all they knew through Jesus Christ, Amen, that's the hope that we give to you tonight, the hope because, as we reflect on Step 10, when we're wrong, we promptly admitted it, and are closed tonight to build on Antoine's testimony, to build on the grandpa John's testimony, to build on Step 10, to take the step to take the personal inventory of where I'm at with God, where I'm at with myself, right after my peers, my community. See there are two men that Jesus talked about in Luke 18, and to some who are confident of their own righteousness and look down at everybody else. Jesus told this story. Two men went out to the temple to pray. One was the Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Right. The Pharisees stood up and prayed about yourself to God.

Oh god, thank you. Political things and I am. And he said, you on, I am not like men, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector standing next to him, I fast twice a week. God know and I give a 10th of all I get. But the tax collector who stood next to him, he actually was standing at a distance at the altar. He would not even walk up to heaven, but beat his chest and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you, Jesus says that this man right, rather than rather than the others. Man went home justified before God Amen, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted as Antoine and John so well quote, I couldn't save myself, but God embraced me anyway. God, Jesus Christ, who is fully God, wholly man, took my hand and said, well done. I love you. I bring you into life, eternal. Amen. Maybe you're searching for that tonight. We are wanting to stand with you, to help you understand. And to accept that free gift of eternity, and maybe we need to speak to grandpa, John Antoine, others of us who have been there too. We can't save ourselves. We can't fix our doubt, but God does you see the middle of the middle of the Great Depression in New York, sitting there, Fiorello, The Guardian, strived to live with his people in the 1930s it was not the usual for him to ride the firefighters random rape of the police for taking your trips for the orphans on a bill of pro life in january 1935, the mayor turned upon the ninth court and served the poorest war into the city. The Guardian dismissed the judge the evening and took over the bench, and within a few minutes, a terrible woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a local bread. She told the mayor that her daughter's husband had left her, daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. However, the shopkeeper who owned the bread was stolen refused to drop the charges. Mm, hmm, it's a real bad neighborhood, Your Honor. The man told the mayor, she has got to be punished. Teach other people hear a lesson. The Guardian sighed. He turned to the woman and said, I've got to punish it. The law makes no exceptions. $10 or 10 days in jail. But even as he pronounced the sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. Now, remember, $10 is a lot of money. In 1935 Mm, hmm, he extracted a world and tossed it into his famous hat. He said, Here is the $10 fine, which I now remit, and furthermore, I am going to find everybody in this courtroom, 50 cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so their grandchildren can eat Amen, collect the passions and give them to the following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 which is probably a few hundred bucks today, was turned over to a bemoaned woman which stolen a loaf of bread to feed her grandchildren. 50 cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner, while some 70 criminals, people, traffic violations, New York City wasted each of whom, and this would be 50 cents the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor standing Ovation.

See Jesus Christ as we are at the judgment seat, if you will. He steps down from the bench. Just imagine he takes off that famous judges robe. Do it not to show Jesus was his office, but his God, who is ever and he comes down where you are. He says, Son, Daughter, I pay your debt, I pay your body, I'm gonna pay your prison sentence. That;sthat's the message of the gospel that sets you free from addiction, codependency issues. Yeah, you're slow through them. Jesus is right here to take you through Amen, as he did with Antoine, as he did with grandpa John, as he is doing through you. So you don't carry you Jesus, carry me. Amen, it's powerful, those hands together, though you're now alone tonight. Laid on the Lord is not in vain anymore. We are never alone. Christ is with us. We join hands together tonight, brothers and sisters in Bangladesh join hands together. There over 1000 of them. We know Jesus now because of what we what God wants us to do. Others in India, others in Kenya, now in Jesus, because your prayers, your support and support each other, because whose father, hallelujah, give us his love