Allen Temple AME Church: Recent Episodes
Rev. Dr. Hugh B. Marriott
Join Allen Temple AME Church and Pastor Marriott every week for inspiring messages that encourages you to Just Believe!
The grave couldn’t hold Jesus, so the stone was not rolled away so that Jesus could get out, the stone was rolled away so that the witnesses could come in.
When you come into the knowledge of what Jesus Christ has really done for you, then it is easy to look at all your accomplishments as worthless.
Jesus has empowered us, his church, to rebuke all unclean spirits, to bring healing to every sin-sick soul, for return to their Heavenly Father.
The Bible is inerrant in its description of people, places, and events, and it is the only source of truth!
Moses face shone because he saw Jesus, but veiled his face to hide the glory, believing that the Israelites wasn’t ready for Jesus.
God will not forsake the works of His hands which is perfected through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We all harbor feelings of entitlement, yet no one is entitled to have any blessings for it is God alone who chooses who and how to bestow His blessings because of His gracious nature.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, (DEI), is not a new concept, it is foundational to the character and nature of God.
Teh Spirit recognizes the Spirit and if you find that another spirit is questionable to you, then pay attention to it.
Worship is life changing and life directing, therefore we cannot enter into God’s presence one way and go out the same way.
As we look to the New Year, we need to pay close attention to what was happening in Babylon, for the spirit of Belshazzar is ready to assume his throne in our nation.
Being changed after worship is not just a temporary emotional high, but a deeper commitment to live according to spiritual values.
In the presence of God, wise men exercised great wisdom when they Fell Down, Worshipped, and Gave as their appropriate response to a holy God.
The wilderness is a period where we see no growth and no progress, but will always respond to the cry of His people.
Jesus reveals himself in the community of worship through the preaching of his word and the sacrament of Holy Communion.
A weary land is the place where you question your faith and God, in the hopes that your situation will make sense.
The fruitfulness of our ministries will not come from mimicking someone else’s anointing, but through our own authentic relationship with Jesus.
Sometimes what appears to be a rejection only ends up being God’s divine providence and protection.
Who are the people in your neighborhood? It’s the people that you meet; when you’re walking down the street; it’s the people that you meet each day!
Jesus is the firstborn of all creation and because of that, he has provided for us an opportunity to see all our possibilities.
Jesus took on your and my afflictions and infirmities and died a criminal's death so that you and I can live.
If we are created in the imago Dei, and you understand the forgiveness and love with which you have received, then how much more should you “incarnate” yourself into the lives of those that need a demonstration of your love for them.
Because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, you too can take hold of Salvation today, even if all you get is a crumb that falls from The Master’s Table!
Jesus prayed for God the Father to intervene in the spiritual war for our souls, and after suffering the shame of the cross, God granted him what he requested, and today, you and I are representatives of that enlarged territory.
While you and I can make up any rules we want about anything according to how we understand ourselves and our purpose, the fact is these are mere cultural appropriations and do not have much value as it relates to the doctrines and orthodoxy of the church.
Is there an abundance of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control being demonstrated in your life, and if so, are you a part of cultivating that in the lives of others as well?
No matter how you may feel about yourself today, know this to be true, in the mind of God you have never been nor will ever be someone’s mistake or An After-Thought!
God never stops speaking, even when we do not hear Him; for if we do not hear Him, perhaps He has stopped speaking to you.
Part of the empowering that comes from the Holy Spirit is the resolve that makes us see that we have the ability to overcome our most adverse situations when we actually believe we can!
The manner of God's love is not merely seen in the infinite value of what he gives (his only begotten Son), but in the rebelliousness of whom he gives him for.
To fully understand the term "Father", we need to explore what the term meant in the social world of ancient Israel.
You can’t know God intimately apart from Jesus Christ, and you can’t experience Jesus intimately without communion with him!
Because of our very rote behavior and routine, we can miss the very power of the practice and preparation that becomes spiritual muscle memory for the times we face seemingly insurmountable challenges
The harmony of The Holy Spirit is the blending together of the lives of the members of Christ’s church who have assembled as The Same People, in The Same Place, and moving in The Same Direction.
Sound judgment is what will define your witness and testimony of the grace and goodness of God working in your life.
For those that believe in Jesus, no explanation is necessary; however, for those that don’t believe in Jesus, no explanation is enough.
Jesus is the fulfilment of all righteousness and we can claim his righteousness when we believe in him.
So valuable are you, that when the price of Jesus’ shed blood took you out of the great pit of sin by the Holy Spirit, one by one, God had you in mind to place you quietly and reverently in His great spiritual temple.
Our young people have great potential. They are smart, they are intelligent, they are capable, they are inspired, they are creative, and they too hear from God!
If you want to be in the presence of God, then connect with your believing community and not depend on your own sense of righteousness.
It is a sad testimony to be living as a person with no hope because your life seems dead. But when Jesus rose from the dead, he became hope for anyone in a dead situation.
Jesus met every principle, every criteria, every rule, every condition, and every requirement to be our Savior. And he is the foundation upon which everyone who would yet believe can build.
Sin is the ultimate cause of suffering and because God knew this, He had to do something about it, so He sent us Jesus.
Jesus will always respond to those that have been rejected by others by giving them an opportunity to be accepted by him.
You can’t make God love you any more or any less by offering to him any blind or foolish sacrifice. The only thing that God wants is a heart that is committed to loving and trusting Him with all of its cares.
When God saw the wickedness done to our people, he sent us The Ark of The Covenant which is the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Is the United States of America just about some people working to improve the lives of others at the expense of their own rights and liberties?
With all that you may have accomplished in your life, you are not exempt from the cave of despair; but fear not, God will find you if you choose to be still.
Whether through your fault or no fault of your own, sin has infected every one of us . The good news however, is that Jesus is the perfect cure!
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy, and his plan for this world includes you and me.
Jesus is more credible historically than Homer’s Odyssey, more scientifically provable than Einstein’s relativity, and more experientially provable than Newton’s gravity.
Our job as Christians is to bring the good news about what God has done in Jesus Christ so that people can lay hold of that treasure for themselves.
The new wine is the good news, the joyful news, the merry news that Jesus brings, and that merry news demands a new inner religious reality and a new lifestyle that will not be marked by Sabbath observances, or Ash Wednesday fastings.
What is said among the many in the congregation can sometimes be more impactful than what is said from the pulpit. Be mindful of your conversations.
If you are carrying something today that you believe to be your cross, then you must be willing to die on that cross! For if you are not willing to be nailed to that cross and to die, then you should not be carrying it!
It is foolish to try and analyze the Middle East conflict as if there is a rationale which will make it all make sense. War is war, and people are dying because man has not yet figured out that every act of violence is done in service to the god of this world that only comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
God can take a broken soul, repair it with His Reparative Presence, restore it with His Restorative Presence, but it will all be for naught if it does not lead to His Redemptive Presence.
Faith is confidence in knowing that God is willing to act in supernatural ways, and our appropriation through prayer and action.
By manifesting and coming to dwell among us, Jesus undid all that Adam and Eve did when they allowed Satan to try and cause us to forfeit God’s divine game.
We must be careful in our criticism of others that we do not give strength to our opposition.
Jesus became our scapegoat when all of our sin and shame was laid upon him, He took it all, and carried it away, never to be returned.
When you are the one to make the rules, then you are the only one qualified to modify those rules.
Whether or not families inherit spiritual curses, what we know to be true is that sins are passed down through families, and everyone sins.
All of us, being created in the image of God, means that we were designed to rule in the same manner as Jesus - which is always beneficial for those being ruled over – and not manipulation or abusive control.
If you are still looking for any kind of sign in order to be convinced that Jesus is God, or even to believe the message that he brings, then you will never repent.
Unless you, by faith, have an expectation beyond what you can see, then God will not do the miraculous. For if you argue for your limitations, then you get to keep them.
We have Career, Cultural, Ideological, Parental, Romantic, Material, and Social attachments, but all of those can be broken. We need to be attached to the love of God from which no one can break.
The fool ignores any evidence that might point to God and it is not so much that they do not believe in God, but they act and make decisions as if God did not exist.
If you are not experiencing the hunger you used to have for the things of God, remember that it was not God who changed.
Unless your desire for the goodness of God overrides your forbidden desires, then you will never have the strength to exercise your will to resist temptation.
Individuals don’t move mountains, generations do, and there are no mountains that cannot be moved.
it’s one thing to celebrate Pentecost, it’s another thing to be Pentecost. What fills you after you have emptied yourself?
The only good reason for suffering is to suffer as a faithful believer in Jesus Christ, because suffering for any other reason is useless and not worth it.
The cross was so original that it would overwhelm us by its power; it would stands the test of time, and it would something that would change the way generations would forever think about themselves.
The purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is to effect your witness to the work, life and ministry of Jesus Christ
Because of Jesus and his ascended authority, through the general and special revelation of his majesty, your hearts will burn with the fire of The Holy Spirit as you walk along your road in faith.
Contrary to popular belief, the forty-day period that Jonah prophesied to the city of Nineveh, was not about the destruction of the great city, it was about the grace to repent before the destruction of the great city.
God created mankind, both male and female, so that together, they may do something that they could not do unless they were mane in His image.
God has given us as gifts. They are ours to use . . . but His to request at any time whenever He needs them!
When it seems that your back is against the wall and you feel like your adversary has you beat, that is the time to pray earnestly that your spiritual eyes may be opened so that you will be able to discern the things which are not so obvious, and that you may be aware of what people are up to in your life.
Your focus should never be about you, but has to be on your purpose and how God will manifest His glory and presence through your life.
You are a King and joint heirs to the Kingdom of God if you have accepted Jesus in your heart, for it is indeed your Father’s good pleasure to gladly give you the Kingdom.
Our Work of Missions is critical for the advancement of God’s Kingdom here on earth and it is the reason why Jesus Christ came, served, bled, and died.
God’s sending is good for the world, it’s good for the church, and it’s good for the sent.
God is not only as an unimpeachable truth teller but also as the source of truth itself. God’s Word is true not because it conforms to some external reality, but because His Word is an expression of His own essence.
The Word of God stands as our ultimate guide as it relates to our faith and walk as Christians. Jesus is The Word of God made flesh and who dwells among us.
God’s grace in Faith, Hope, and Love becomes our witness to the world, and it lets people know that God’s grace is actually working in our lives.
God The Father pledged to save a people who He had a legal right to condemn because of their sin, but instead used His only Begotten Son to consummate that pledge through the shedding of his own blood, and by his death gave birth to The Church, giving us the right to be called children of God
When things seem to be falling apart in your life and your soul is tired, let Jesus strengthen you, and when you have turned to him in faith, go therefore and strengthen your brothers and sisters.
In The Eye of The Storm, the humble light of Christ shines in the midst of darkness, and those who keep their eyes on him share in his light and possess a sense of calm.
Maybe the insurmountable mountains that you face in your life may not be so insurmountable after all if you would simply change your perspective.
Sometimes God imprisons His servants in a “Prison of Obedience” so that they can have a platform to speak into the lives of those who are in “Prisons of Disobedience”.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our Righteous Judge, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lawgiver, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our King; and the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone will save us!
Self-denial opens up your hearts to be able to love God in a way that allows you to be free to love yourself, and it is in this state of self-love that God wants us to use to love our neighbors.
We are not hearing from God because our hearts and our minds have become so distracted that we fail to see our need to return to worship in God’s house.
God has a plan for each of our lives, and if there is anything that we should remember, it is that he died so that we may have life and have it more abundantly no matter what we face in this world.
By participating in the sacrament of The Lord’s Supper, you are making a conscious declaration that you are endeavoring to live a life that is worthy of the call of ministry and proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes again.
Discipleship is not about you giving up something to follow Jesus, it is about your willingness to give up everything to die for him!
It is all too easy to live a Christian routine apart from any genuine connection to God and end up falling into the trap of putting on a holy façade without experiencing real heart transformation.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
When the word of the Lord comes to you, you need to do away with your own sense of self-importance and humble yourself.
Sometimes when your purpose in life is so great and powerful, God Himself will intervene when you have a hard time letting go.
Sometimes when our young people shows signs of daring to be prodigal, it might just be a good thing to let them go and learn the lessons that they would never learn by us trying to limit their passions, whether or not we like or agree with those passions.
God has made it possible that could live our lives in such a way that other people will see our light and want to learn from us. But we cannot do this in your own strength and intellect without the Holy Spirit.
What are you longing for in the deepest part of your soul? That is the place you need to pour out your heart to God.
God cares for the brokenhearted, the forgotten, and the lost. He cares for the disenfranchised, the discarded, the destitute, and the discouraged. God cares for the lowly, and with God’s help, the lowly will one day become a force that destroys even mountains.
The Generosity of God is to be able to see through the lens of God’s Kingdom and to realize that what God has for you is well beyond your comprehension and imagination.
The power of life and death resides in our tongues and despite what anyone may have done to us, no amount of cursing would be worth forfeiting our relationship with God.
Are you in a state of self-righteousness like Jonah? What are you running from and where are you running to? Are you on your way to Tarshish in disobedience or are you on your way to Nineveh in obedience? Where are you going?
Sometimes the choices we make in life are lose lose situations, but choices in faith are always win win.
Jesus died and rose again. That is a fact. And he is coming back again soon. That is another fact. And for us who believe, we shall see him as he is when we are caught up with him in the clouds.
You are only able to rejoice in the midst of challenging circumstances if you’re secure in your foundation in Jesus Christ and Christ alone.
We must understand that trials come most frequently not when we’re stumbling and struggling but when things are going well.
God provides everything that you have, and therefore out of reverence to a Holy God, you set apart something that you deem worthy to show your adoration to God and consecrate it to Him.
Whatever you are building, you must build your lives because of God, with God and for God.
Whatever you think your moral failings are, Jesus will meet you at the places in your soul where you feel you have no other hope.
Richard Allen was not just the founder of African Methodism, but he was also a Founding Father of Methodism in the United States.
No matter what or how the world may see Jesus, it is vastly more important how we as the church see him.
We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, and for that we must declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful and marvelous light.
Jesus was suffering at the hands of a people that were willfully causing him pain and who were feeling no concern about it. But he held on! He kept the faith!
The issue of self-sacrifice is a concept that is sorely lost on our present generation because we live in a society that is governed by extreme individualism and an overly warped sense of entitlement.
Because of Jesus who lives within our hearts, when the question is asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper”, you can answer confidently “YES I AM!” and if you cannot, then you already know who your master is?
God does not want your money! God wants your heart. And the only way that He can get some of your hearts is if He allows you to lose your money! If you can give when it is really, really hard to give, then you know where your heart really is.
If you have lost Jesus, how long will it take you to miss him? If you have lost Jesus, where will you look for him? and, if you have lost Jesus, what will you do when you find him?
In the darkness of your despair, Jesus is The Light of The World , and if you hear His voice, harden not your heart. Receive Him today and take a step out of the dark and into his marvelous light.
Even though we all preach and teach of the voice crying in the wilderness and rightfully celebrate John the Baptist as the male forerunner, it was a woman named Elizabeth that first announced the Advent of The Lord Jesus Christ!
There is a huge difference between the world’s hero and a true hero. People are, so they do. Heroes do because they are.
The believer's authority is a God ordained privilege that flows out of your relationship and position in Jesus Christ.
In many ways we have rejected the Truth of who Christ is, but you can’t deny the Truth because the Truth will still resurrect!.
Sometimes when things don’t work out for you, it’s not always because the devil is against you, it just might be that God is not for you!
God will turn your chaos, whatever it may be into order, and He does this by bringing the light of Jesus into your darkness.
God’s presence transforms a space from profane to sacred, which is reason enough for us to want to be there - not only because God is there, but also because we know that evil is not, and cannot be there!
Cry out to God and He will hear you. And when HE hears you, He will heal you. And when you have been healed, follow Him!
Because of Jesus, who ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, God will raise us up with Christ and seat us with him in the heavenly realms.
What do you do when the God you serve, the God you love, the God you believe in is elusive and nowhere to be found? If you are like me, then you become frustrated, not because you no longer believe, but you become frustrated because where you left Him is not where He is to be found!
There is no longer any need for there to be anymore sacrifices for the brethren because Jesus Christ paid it all, once and for all, and his perfect sacrifice was oblation for everything that you and I have done or will ever do.
The promise of the Savior to the disciples teaches us that real fruitfulness is a product of genuine living, and personal dependency upon Jesus Christ in faith.
True spirituality is a matter of the heart. And it is only when our hearts are tuned in to the Holy Spirit, will our eyes be cleared of illusion, and we will see reality as Jesus knows it to be.
Expectancy should mark our approach to the reading of God’s Word, and responsiveness our living it in our daily lives, if it is ever to be allowed to accomplish its primary purpose.
Re-Setting is about charting a new course that is going to require a game plan that will be bold and courageous enough to forget the former things; to not dwell on the past, and to see that God is doing a new thing!
Jesus gave his entire body to his disciples because it was the deepest expression of his love and gratitude for them. Jesus was not merely thankful for them, he was grateful for them and so he wanted them to know just how much they meant to him.
If you believe in the same God who made the heavens and the earth, who inspired men to write the words of our holy scriptures, then you must know that that same GOD will make everything that you are suffering today, like new!
The cross, when properly understood, is not that Jesus died; but that he overcame death, and the loss of his earthly life could not stop him from accomplishing his glory!
While you can often control your actions now, you cannot always determine the outcome of those actions.
As you consider your motives today, do you serve out of a humble sense of gratitude for all that Christ has done for you? Or do you serve, and give to be recognized by others?
Keep your focus on the Lord, and in due time you will once again enter into God’s sanctuary where you will see that the nearness of God is good for you and that He is your refuge and your portion forever.
Pleasing God does not mean that you are perfect or that you have done everything right. The only way to please God is to believe in His son Jesus Christ and to have faith in him.
Jesus came that you may have life and have it more abundantly, and he really does love you—just as you are. Accept his grace and mercy and become a new creature in him. Don’t put it off. It’s too important.
Contrition is a key factor in true repentance, and without it, we are like that proud Pharisee, going through the motions of religion but harboring arrogance within our inner being.
It’s time to move from being spectators in church and start witnessing to the reason for your hope and faith.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit allows you to know Christ in such a way that people will see you and identify Jesus! The power is in your testimony and witness!
You need to be operating from a place of inspiration and conviction that is based on God’s Word, not your own before you can engage in speaking truth to power.
God has harnessed the power of information and the power of words by using the foolishness of preaching to upend the wisdom of this sin-infested world.
A vengeful, hate filled, and corrupt heart can never comprehend the love of God and is therefore unable to receive forgiveness when it is shown.
Even if you made all the right decisions in your life, you would still be searching for peace. Your peace does not come from the absence of trouble! Your peace comes from the presence of Jesus Christ through the power of The Holy Spirit!
If they persecuted Jesus, they will persecute you also. But when the Righteous Judge comes, He will make the final cut, and you need to be sure, which side you are on.
The true measure of your having received the gift of the Holy Spirit is not necessarily to preach, to save souls on the corner of the street, to build a big church, but to forgive.
If something is dead, it needs to be resurrected. But not because something has been resurrected means that it has "life".
It takes courage to go up against a system that is so entrenched in its ways, but Christ made the decision to enter into something that would be costly for him, but beneficial to you.
God chose you. Now after being convinced of your salvation, you are to faithfully work your labor of love persevering in a hope that God will do what He said He will do.
God sent Jesus to take our sins upon himself. And if we will simply take God At His Word —if we will just simply trust what Jesus has done for us, if we can have confidence in that finished work—then it will be reckoned to us as righteousness!
You and I have to present our empty and broken selves as cups needing to be filled by The Holy Spirit. Our human heart is like a cup that we hold out to Jesus that he might fill us with the Water of Life
From what you speak will come consequences – good or bad. Your words can hurt someone emotionally or it can build them up, emotionally. Your words do not control reality, but your words can influence it.
Until hardship comes into our lives, especially hardship for the sake of Christ and his righteousness, we can never experience the extent and depth of our devotion to Christ.
Despite all the attempts of the enemy of our souls to destroy us, we are still achieving, still accomplishing, still persevering, still advancing, still winning, and still standing.
As people of God, we must realize that it was only because of God that we made it this far, and we must remember our traditions while finding new and creative ways to teach our very rich history to our children.
When Jesus comes will he find that you are only focused on your own agenda, or on the agendas of others as well? We should all turn our faith into action in response to the cries of all of God’s people.
The courage to act means that you have to translate what you know in your head to what you believe in your heart, to your hands and feet where there can be a manifestation of your faith.
The same Jesus who was the only begotten of God the Father. The same Jesus who would have crowds of onlookers when he came to the end of himself. The same Jesus who would die and be led to a tomb, is the same Jesus who would rise again on the third day with Resurrection Power, and the same Jesus who would bring his compassionate hope to all of us who suffer today!
Your life is not empty because something is missing, your life is empty because something is with you. You need to give to God what belongs to Him.