Understanding Your Season

Psalm 1:3

He is like a tree planted besides flowing streams that bears fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Ecclesiastes 3:1: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (KJV). There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: (CSB)

John 15:16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.”

So about last night! What a wonderful joyful celebration it was. To experience the power of gospel music in the city of Englewood on the stage of the Bergen PAC, formerly known as the John Harms Theater, was epic indeed, history making in deed, and it goes down on record as being apart of my legacy of appreciating and perpetuating good gospel music. I love gospel music, gospel choir music to be exact. While I appreciate solo gospel artist and inspirational singers, nothing moves the masses like the sound of gospel being sung by a myriad of trained and anointed voices, accompanied by gifted, talented, anointed musicians.

It’s the choir sound that has given the church its vibe, the choir sound that caused multitudes to chase after God, the Maverick City Mass Choir, the Mississippi Mass Choir, the LA Mass Choir, the Chicago Mass, Rick Dilliard and the New Generation Choir, Richard Smallwood and Vision-still that choir sound, the Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music, Clay Evans and the Fellowship Mass Choir, James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir, Bishop Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Choir, Bishop Walter Hawkins and the Love Alive Choir…on and on and on…the Choir makes gospel music come a live like no other musical ensemble. And I’ve noticed that a lot of solo artists do well in their careers, but when they tag team with a choir, they seem to blow up in a different kind of way.

That’s why last night was such a blessing, because each gospel artist was supported by the best church choir this side of heaven, the CBC One Voice One Sound Mass Choir!

Now the celebration marked the culmination of observing 30 years of pastoral ministry in this city. It was a high honor indeed. Not only does it highlight my tenure here in this city at this church, but it also highlights the achievements of the collective body as a whole. In other words, there’d be no celebration of a Pastor Taylor if there was no congregation called Community Baptist of Englewood. The fact that the celebration is for both pastor and congregation spotlights some of celebrated principles of that African American celebration called Kwanza which lifts up principles that defines the African community.

Principles like Umoja which stands for unity and oneness, it speaks of a harmonious togetherness that describes the overall attitude of this ministry. We are one in the spirit, one in cause, we walk in agreement because we believe we can disagree without being disagreeable. We are of the same mind.

Self-determination (Kujichagulia) which makes clear the fact that we are not defined by the opinions of others, instead, we define ourselves, name ourselves, believe in ourselves based on a faith that calls us the head and not the tail, the first and not the last, the lenders and not the borrowers, a determination that caused us to erect a facility in the midsts of a recession, because the people had a mind to work.

Which magnifies the principle of Ujima, or collective work and responsibility. We understand that ministry is not a one-man, one-woman show, but each member has its his or her part to play. Each ministry makes a contribution that enables the ministry to function. This is a FUBU ministry, for us by us, which means, we did not ask for handouts, favors, cut any deals with politicians or businessmen, we did not sell our soul to the devil just get a few concessions, but we honored the Lord, trusted God for guidance, and took on the responsibility to work while it is day, knowing the night season is coming.

We believed in the principle of Ujamaa which focuses on cooperative economics. We practiced the Acts 2 principle where we contributed to the cause and purpose of ministry. Our tithes, offerings and pledges has sustained us over the years. No rich or wealthy donors to bail us out when things got tight. No it was the people who heard about a need and responded to that need in a way that allows us to still operate in the black, thats because we have pooled our resourced together to make a difference, to keep folk fed, and to assist with hardships, and to support charitable organization that uplift our community, and to do in a way that does not draw attention to us, but in a way that preserves the dignity of those struggling and in need.

We’ve embodied that principle call Nia which means purpose. We endeavored to be a purpose driven church, a purpose driven ministry, and to live purpose driven lives. And many times we’ve had to redefine our purpose, reestablish our purpose and realign ourselves with our God given purpose just so that we are not chasing after that which does not fit into or support our purpose as church, as ministries in the church, members of the church, and people in society.

We’ve embrace that African principle called Kuumba, which means creativity. The church experience is not the same as it use to be. Life, shifts in the culture, the changing times has forced us to engage ministry in creative way. Covid taught us how to pivot, how to turn while dribbling the ball, how to shift gears while turning a curve, how to do things differently on the fly, no manual, no instruction manual, we had to go on a hunch, follow our intuition, and trust that what we didn’t know, God would teach us, what we didn’t have, God would provide for us, where we needed to do, God would show us, and where we needed to improve, God would grow us.

Which leads to that final principle called Imani, which means faith! We as a congregation, we as a people who know pain, we as a profiled people, a redlined people, a denied people, a miseducated and misunderstood people, and often a dismissed people have not just come this far by protesting, by organizing, by galvanizing our base, by pooling our resourced, by unifying our efforts, and we did all of that, but we’ve come this far by faith: faith was our fuel, faith was our fire, faith was our fortitude, faith was our fierce ally, faith was our anchor, faith was our sustainer, we prayed in faith, walked by faith, fought the fight of faith, and got so many victories by faith. We know from experience that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things we cannot see!

So this celebration of joy that occurred last night was not just about Pastor Taylor, but it was about a people of faith that dared to trust God to do something exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

But the reality is this, now that the celebration is over, what next? Where do we go from here? How do we avoid the pitfall of complacency? How do we escape the temptation to simply bask in the afterglow of our accomplishments? What do we do?

First we realize that no matter how good it seems, seasons change and cycles repeat themselves. There are seasons of seedtime and there are seasons of harvest. There are seasons for sowing, and there are seasons for reaping what you have sown. And for as much as this has been an extraordinary season of harvest and reaping, a new season of planting, seeding, or sowing is on the horizon.

In other words, it is now time to stop looking back at what has been, and start look ahead to what potentially can be. We must revisit our theme scripture that reminds us that we did not choose Jesus, but He chose us and set us apart so that we could be used to engage ministry and be fruitful in our efforts. We are called to produce fruit. Psalm 1 makes it clear that a tree produces fruit on in its season. And if you have any horticultural skills, you will not that most tree are fruitful every year, but only during a certain season. In other words, when a tree has had a great season for reproduction, there is a season of rest, respite, replenishing, refreshing, sometimes repositioning, all for the purpose of enabling that tree to bring forth more fruit.

Likewise, God has ushered us into a new year, a new season, one that is dripping with opportunities for new growth and new development. This is a year that will be filled with tension, political turmoil and unrest, filled with all kinds of challenges that could mirror the time of the pandemic, except we will not just have to worry about a health crisis, but a human crisis. That’s because year by year, things are changing. That’s also true of our church. When I look at the complexion and the composition of this congregation, I can attest that this is no longer the church I came to 30 years ago. And I can also attest that the demographic called the Baby boomers are no longer the dominant group attending, joining, or engaging church these days. An interesting shift has occurred and I noticed it at the Watch Night Service, and statistics support this observation and that is this. Millennials make up the largest demographic in this nation at this time. Research Groups such as the Barna Group or Pew Review reveal that there are over 75 million millennials in America at this time, many of which are desiring some kind of real authentic expression of faith and practice. The largest demographic is seeking an encounter with God. However, while they are looking for God, they are not always looking in the traditional places. Yet, there are an unusual number of millennials either returning to church as young adults between the ages of 30 to 45, or they are coming to church for the first time with the hopes of experiencing real encounters with God and real connections with people.

They are also wanting to participate in ministry in ways that unleash their insights, creativity, and faith expressions. To put it in a biblical framework, God is raising up a new generation of soldiers who are ready to do battle, ready to create change, ready to go forth for the cause of the Kingdom. And it is now time to plant some new seeds into this new emerging generation. It’s time to prepare them for a great harvest, time to see them not as threats, but as threads that also hold the tapestry of ministry together. We’ve got to see them as God’s way providing for us vessels into which we can pour our knowledge, insights, wisdom and experiences. We cannot see them as trying to take our places, we have to know that one day, they are going to take our places God willing! And how we prepare them, how we engage them, how empower them now will determine whether or not we have stewarded well the gifts and talents God has given us.

So how to we process this? How do we contend with the fact that change is happening all around us and there’s nothing we can do about it? How do we process the fact that we ourselves are experiences new seasons in our own lives?

I suggest we seek to be like the Sons of Issachar in the bible, a group of leaders who participated in inaugurating David as the next king of Israel. They along with the 11 other tribes of Israel all gathered in one place for the purpose of sanctioning and establishing their next king. While each tribe had people that were skilled in war, weaponry, archery, who could keep rank and formation, the distinguishing factor that separated the tribe of Issachar from the rest is that they had understanding of the times, and they knew what Israel needed to do. In other words, they were discerning enough regarding the season Israel was in, and they knew what decisions needed to be made.

When we look at the first Psalm that informs us that like trees, we bring for fruit in our season, we need to ask God about what season are we in? As a church, this is a season of reproduction, where we get to make new disciples, make new laborers, make new leaders, make a new harvest. replenishing where God is providing who and what we need to fill in the gaps and to sure up the weaknesses that threaten our stability and sustainability. And then this is a season of rearranging, understanding that your season may be up in this position, but that doesn’t mean you have not value in the ministry. Perhaps you once had a passion for singing, but now you have a greater passion for serving in missions, or Christian Education. With that in mind, you understand that it is time to switch, to change your involvement and do that which speaks to where your heart is now. And finally, this is a season of retiring that which is no longer working, effective, needful or necessary.

Bear fruit in your own season

Celebrate others as they bear fruit in their own season.

Help plant and cultivate healthy replacement for when your season is up!

Trust God for the growth aspect, one may plant, another may water, but it is God who gives the increase.

God has plans

In season of production