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[ Silence ] [MUSIC] ♪ That we may be saved ♪ ♪ But a world before ♪

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♪ Is too grand in joy ♪ ♪ Can you name a greater scale ♪ ♪ I lay my soul in the heaven of rest ♪ ♪ I there with mercy is no more ♪

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♪ For every great sin ♪ ♪ Our Almighty King ♪ ♪ In peace our Savior ♪ ♪ Our God and our Savior ♪

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♪ In pleasure and praise ♪ ♪ You say, "You have power divine" ♪ ♪ I'll make of your soul in the name of our friend ♪ ♪ And save that you are a rich man ♪

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♪ I'll make of my soul in the name of our friend ♪ ♪ I'll save the price of gold ♪ ♪ I feel this feeling ♪ ♪ It fills my soul ♪

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♪ I make up my soul ♪ ♪ I sing my sweet song ♪ ♪ I feel this feeling ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪

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- Amen, amen. Let us pray for lift up. The verses from our scripture lesson Acts the 27th chapter 6 through the 8th verses for our basis of this message.

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Centurion found a ship of Alexandra sailing into Italy and he put us therein. And when we had sailed slowly many days and scarce were come over against Sinaitis, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete over against Salmoni.

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And hardly passing it came into a place which is called Fair Havens, nigh where unto was the city of La Silla. came to a place called Fair Havens. The subject of the message is anchoring in Fair Havens, anchoring in Fair Haven. There were stages along life's way. We arrived at a particular place at a

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point in time and we're challenged to remain there and make the most of it and then move on. Guided by the Spirit of God, Paul the exponent of Gentile Christianity is on the journey to Rome where he is to stand trial before the Emperor. We are given this account of the journey by Luke the historian of the

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early church. We are fortunate to have many details provided because Luke is a companion on this journey. This particular passage of scripture is what is known as one of the "we" sections because the writer says "we, we, we." It It suggests that he was one of the company.

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And so he tells us, after sailing slowly with gentle breezes near the south side of the island of Crete, they came to a place called Fair Havens.

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This is a harbor called Fair Havens. It was known as a good place for shelter from storms that arise on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a harbor partially protected by a few small islands.

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In fact, Fair Havens was a rest stop for seafaring vessels. So after many days of sailing, Fair Havens is a place where the passengers

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come to stop and rest. They can relax. Each of us needs a harbor called Fair Havens in our lives. in our lives. We need some place of quiet rest, free from the hustle and bustle of the daily

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grind of our existence. Fair Havens. The ship needed to stop in Fair Haven and every one of of us needs to stop. There are times to stop and there are times to go. Fair Havens is a rest stop and as we make the journey from week to week we need to come to a port called Fair Havens for rest and really in a sense our being

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here today is sort of pulling into the harbor called Fair Havens. It's sort of a rest stop from one week to the other. It's a good place to be, Fair Havens. When pilgrims came to this country from the old country, they came to the new world and many of them settled in a

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place called New Haven in Connecticut. They had found a new place that could provide them the freedom to rest free from persecution the opportunity to begin again. Fairhaven is a refuge from contrary winds. Fairhaven is a place where people are free to be themselves. Fairhaven is where we bask in the

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sunlight of success. Where the rain falls gently, the breezes blow that are warm and at our back. Fairhaven is a port in which travelers are free to park and stay as long as they like and then they are free to embark free to park and free to embark. So on the journey toward Rome Paul and his company drop anchor at a

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at a port, at a harbor called Fair Havens. You know, it's necessary to anchor somewhere and it's best to anchor in a safe place. It's best to anchor in a place that provides shelter

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from the fierce winds and protection from the angry waves. angry waves. Every person needs a safe harbor in which to anchor. Every person needs some shelter from brutal attacks by forces over which we have no control. Paul and his company anchor in Fair Havens.

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And you see, it's a sense of timing that has to do with why they're here and they stop at this particular time. Because they recognize that in Fair Haven

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more time is needed. Time is of essence we say. And sometimes we recognize more keenly than in others that we need a waiting period.

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And in this journey they recognize that there needs to be a waiting period before they set out again on the journey toward Rome. The Feast of Pentecost has passed

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and after Pentecost it was considered an unfavorable time to be upon the seas. There were winter storms and to be on the sea at such a time after Pentecost it would be extremely dangerous to human lives and damaging to the cargo.

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Here they are at Fair Havens. And so you see that the company faces a significant decision. How long shall we stay here?

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Well, they have a meeting of the crew and the passengers, they discussed the matter. Paul says now, I would urge you not to leave Fair Havens at this time.

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This is not a good time to leave Fair Havens. And there were others who said, well, I think we ought to just get on the road soon as we can. We've been on the sea long enough anyway. Now they were

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concerned about hearing what Paul had to say because they recognized the fact that Paul was a veteran of many voyages. In fact he tells us in a letter that has been written prior to this time in Corinthians that he had already been shipwrecked three times. And Paul's advice is significant. Paul says now

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sirs it would not be good to leave Fair Havens. But you see there was the captain and the owner of the vessel and the owner was anxious to get to Rome so he could dispose of his cargo and get his money as quickly as possible and be about his business we can understand that. And so the captain and the owner

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decided against Paul and said let's let's go on and so they left Fairhaven. They sailed away from Fairhaven. They anchored there for a number of days and Paul refreshed himself and visited some friends while he was there but now the decision is made to leave. Leave Fairhaven. The problem, one of the

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problems is that even though we have advice, good advice, that so many people don't stay long enough at Fair Havens. They drop the anchor for a while and they leave too soon. They leave Fair Havens. I have a dear relative who was a very brilliant girl. She went to college and she made the best grades. She

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excelled in her classes. She wanted to be a physician and I think she would have been an outstanding physician. She was in Fair Haven, she was doing well in Fair Haven. But she had a job offer where she could work in an office performing some work for a physician and it was paying pretty good money at that time and so

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she she pulled up her anchor and left Fair Havens. Now a little later the job played out and it was really too late for her to go back and to go to medical school. She would have done well but somehow she just left Fairhaven too soon. Anchoring, I'm talking about anchoring in Fairhaven. Stay in Fairhaven

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long enough. One of the problems we face as a people is that too many of us Pull up our anchor. We don't stay long enough at Fair Havens. Our colleges, many freshmen, they start out college but they don't stay long enough. Almost 80% of them fail to go on and finish. The dropout rate is high. They don't stay

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long enough at Fair Haven. They pulled up the anchor. They left. And when they left Fair Haven, they get out there at the wrong time of the year to be traveling. It's the time of the winter storms and the winds are blowing and the waves are dashing against the ship because they have left Fair Haven too soon. You know we have a great problem as a people and what we call teenage

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pregnancies. Do you know that one half of all of the black women in this country are pregnant before they reach the age of 20? And that from the ages of 15 to 19 that most of them who become pregnant are out of wedlock, just leave Fairhaven too soon. And as a result there are many marriages that occur. What we really have

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so often is that children are trying to rear children. Leave Fairhaven. It's a wonderful thing to have a family, wonderful thing to have a child. That's wonderful, but you can leave Fairhaven too soon. Too soon. Leave Fairhaven too soon. And so they left Fairhaven. And now they're out there, the storm is raging and Luke tells us that they had not seen sun, moon, or stars for many days.

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In fact as the storm is raging they are fasting because they many of the passengers have become seasick. No food will stay on their stomachs. The storm is raging. And while the storm is raging, Paul stands upon the ship and says, "Sirs, I told you so. I told you that you ought not have left Fairhaven. You should have anchored there longer. Because if you had obeyed the word that I gave you, we would not be out here in this storm. We left heaven. Too soon we should have hankered there longer. But we left. I told you so.

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You say, "But while I slept last night, an angel of the Lord stood by me." You see, even though we may do wrong, even though we may do some things before we ought to do them. The angel of the Lord is around. And Paul says that while I slept last night that the angel of the Lord stood by me and whispered good news in my ear. And he told

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me to tell you that there will be no loss of life, that the angel of the Lord said to me, "Paul, be of good cheer, you're gonna make it on to Rome and you're gonna stand trial before the Emperor and every member of the crew will be saved." That's a good word. It's a good word. I said, "Paul, now what are you talking about?" Paul said, "Well, now,

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the truth of the matter is I haven't seen the sun since you have. I haven't seen any stars out there that you haven't seen but while I slept last night the angel of the Lord stood by me and whispered good news in my ear that God somehow will give you his presence even in the midst of the storm. You know many times you

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find yourself in a storm it's not of your making. You see a storm is something you don't control. You don't control the winds, you don't control the waves, you're just in the ship and when you're in a ship that's being tossed about you're just subject to whatever may happen. And while I slept, Paul says

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that the angel of the Lord stood by me and told me that there'd be no loss of life? Well that's a wonderful thing to know that in the midst of the darkness because Luke tells us that they had abandoned all hope, all hope was lost. And what happens in our lives when we look around and all the human props are

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removed and all hope is lost and that's some that's some crisis experiences that everybody must face like that. All hope is lost and somehow in the midst of it Paul has a vision of God. It's a vision of the presence of God that there's no conditional circumstance, there's nothing that can happen to us that God is not

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around. And God speaks to him giving him his abiding assurance while he sleeps. Why are you unaware of it? You know, you're not even aware. Many times you've done everything you know to do and you've just given it over to God and somehow God speaks in the midst of the vision. And somehow in the midst of all

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of the darkness that surrounds you get a vision of God. Have you ever had an experience like that? That somehow is what Paul is revealing to us in this experience of that, that there is the presence of God and God is there and he says he's there. He talked to me while I slept in the midst of the night. Here we

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are in a season, a season of hope. Some may well say that our world has left Fairhaven. God created a beautiful paradise for us in the Garden of Eden, but something went wrong and we find ourselves launched out here on the stormy sea. We find ourselves with all kinds of conditions and circumstances

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and there seemed to be wars and rumors of war and we hear the word that that God is present, that even in the midst of all of it there is hope to be of good share. God manifests his presence among us and he tells us to be of good share. Paul says to them sail on, sail on through the storm. That's the Word of God.

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Sail on through the storm. You know the story of Columbus, how he was looking for a new world. There was mutiny aboard the ship, many of them after a long time sailing out there on those uncharted seas. Maybe Columbus doesn't know really what he's doing. And finally one of them came to him and he talked about the sea,

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how mad the sea seemed to be and he said to Columbus, "My captain, what must I say to the members of the crew?" And Columbus says to them, "Say it all." And there comes a word to the servant of God in the midst of the crises that we face on the stormy seas of life, "Say it all." Through trials and tribulations, "Say it all." When

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fierce winds are blowing and when the waves are raging, sail on, sail on, sail on. When you're growing old and feeble and your life seems to be a burden, sail on, sail on because God is present and he's promised never to leave us alone. Sail along, sail on. Oh there's a time when we anchor in Fairhaven, but when we must

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leave Fairhaven and we find ourselves caught in a storm, God does not desert us, but he commands us to sail on, sail on toward our destination. So in times like these, whenever there is difficulty, when there is danger, when it becomes necessary many times even as was the case here to throw the cargo overboard

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sail on because the most important thing is the preservation of your life sail on as the choir leads us now in singing we extend the blessed invitation [ Music ] In times like these, you need a savior.

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In times like these, you need a friend. Be very sure. Be very sure your anchor holds ungrimmed the solid rock. This rock is Jesus.

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Yes, he's the one. This rock is Jesus. ♪ The only one ♪ ♪ Be very sure ♪

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♪ Be very sure ♪ ♪ Your anchor holds ♪ ♪ And grift the solid rock ♪ ♪ In times like these ♪

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♪ You need the Bible ♪ ♪ In times like these ♪ ♪ Oh, be not idle ♪ ♪ Be ♪

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♪ Be very sure ♪ ♪ Be ♪ ♪ Be very sure ♪ ♪ Your anchor holds ♪

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♪ And grips ♪ ♪ The solid ♪ ♪ The solid rock ♪ ♪ This rock is evil ♪

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♪ There's in the world ♪ ♪ His love is deeper ♪ ♪ He knows it all ♪ ♪ Be very sure ♪

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♪ Be very sure ♪ ♪ Your anchor holds ♪ ♪ On grips the solid rock ♪ ♪ This rock is Jesus ♪

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♪ There's he's no one ♪ ♪ It is rock, it is Jesus ♪ ♪ The only one ♪ ♪ Be very sure ♪

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♪ Be very sure ♪ ♪ You reign, O Lord ♪ ♪ On the grips of silence ♪ ♪ The rock ♪

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♪ This rock is Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes, He's the one ♪ This rock is deeper, the only one. Be very sure, be very sure.

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Your anger holds, your anger holds, your anger holds, and grips the solid ground. Amen. Let us listen now to the report. We have sister Patrina Coney she comes she's a former member of Ebenezer. All right sister Coney would you stand please?

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She has been a member of this church. And so she comes on the basis of her Christian experience They unite with this church to come back home all who in favor of accepting her. Would you say I? All of us may be found working together According to God's will and way. We're glad you're here. God bless you

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You may be seated. All right. We have brother Richard Coney brother Richard from greater Mount Zion from greater Mount Zion He comes to unite with our church how on the basis of his Christian experience All right All who are in favor of accepting brother Richard Coney as a member of this church on the basis of his Christian experience

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Would you say aye? Come God bless you we give you this welcome as we accept you into the fellowship of our church Let's all say amen. All right. We have Carl Dennis Grant.

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He's a member of God's House in Oklahoma, the Holiness Church. Brother Grant has been baptized by immersion. Alright, and he comes to unite

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with this church on the basis of his Christian experience. All who are in favor of accepting him, would you say aye? We're glad you made this decision to become a part of the family of God here at Ebenezer and we welcome you We're glad to have you as a part of this family here And we trust that all of us together will be found doing his will let's all say

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All right, this is the nephew of sister grant here who's already a member of the church family And so we're so pleased that God sees fit to continue to add to his church to have these three persons who have Just united with the family of God here Let me remind you to be back at four o'clock for the Messiah

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Everybody back at four Father Messiah, we'd like to have you and all of your friends that you can bring with you at four o'clock May we bow our heads Lord

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