The First Sermon in a Series on Nehemiah Remains Unsummarized, but Here is a Minute of Chat About It

Sabbath Sermon: “Travailing Prayer”     

Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell, back in the pulpit again after a brief period of Holiday-related distractions.

Today’s Sabbath Worship Service at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta featured the first in a proposed series of sermons based on the Book of Nehemiah. The series is titled “Rebuilding the Ruins.” I learned today that Berean Community Services is planning on working all day tomorrow, so the world will be spared a text synopsis of this week’s Sabbath sermon ( for today anyway), as I had better rest up for the effort. Here, as usual, is a link to the ENTIRE SERVICE. The sermon begins at time marker 1:19:55. It weaves together several topical threads floating around the church these days, including an emphasis on prayer in the new year of 2016, and tangentially, the need for some facilities maintenance. Berean is situated in a beautiful old building benighted by an obsolete and deteriorating infrastructure, kind of like Buckingham Palace. It is usually packed to capacity, but there exists no reasonable way to expand the sanctuary, as all of the walls are bearing walls. The pastor voiced an option, about a year ago,  of just tearing the old building down and starting from scratch. The reaction of the congregation was unanimously against this sacrilege.

Our new pastor, Danielle Pilgrim, inaugurated her service at Berean by leading the Pastoral Prayer, which may be viewed at time marker 28:55.

Pastor Danielle Pilgrim in her first speaking role at Berean, leading the Pastoral Prayer. She is from the Caribbean, but has no trace of an accent.

When I looked at the program for today’s sermon, I saw that it was to be based on the Book of Nehemiah. As it is a short book, I reread it before Sabbath School, curious as to what kind of raw material it might provide for a sermon series. I jotted down a summary for my own use. I may tack it on to this post at sometime, just so I will know where to find it. It ties in a little with the Sabbath School theme of “Rebellion and Redemption.” Our last quarter’s lessons on the Book of Jeremiah ended with many Israelites in a rebellion of sorts against their new Babylonian overlords, despite Jeremiah’s warning to them that “resistance is futile!” The activities described in both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah illustrate a “redemption” (temporary, at least) of the Jewish state.

A few hundred people stayed after the New Year’s Eve communion service in order to watch the movie “The War Room.” Pastor Russell has been deeply touched by this film. He said that it was all about “travailing prayer,” and was thus linked to the first four verses of Nehemiah. In these verses Nehemiah, who is doing OK by himself as a highly placed civil servant in Babylon, hears about the sorry plight of his fellow Jews back in wasted Jerusalem. The key scripture for Pastor Russell’s sermon is Nehemiah 1:4: “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,” Nehemiah was all torn up about the situation, and the pastor informed us that his prayer to God was a “travailing prayer.” Pastor Russell defined “travailing” in terms of it’s scriptural meaning, “as in the pangs of childbirth.” My pathetic contribution is this: it is the French word for plain, old-fashioned work.

Keyboard virtuoso Natalie Ragins. The biography on her website lists many disparate musical styles she is familiar with.

During the offertory, my favorite keyboardist Natalie Ragins (her page, again) displayed her unique, jazz-inflected improvisational skills during that part of the service that often consists of little more than soothing “elevator music.” This interlude starts at time marker 1:03:55. She had a laptop computer sitting beside her during the service, but I am way to shy to go and ask her what it is for. As previously mentioned, one of her day jobs is working for Tyler Perry’s road shows. It is like having Herbie Hancock in the church praise band.

The other principal musicians visible in the video are Elder Bruce Seawood (directly behind Ms. Ragins) on the Hammond organ, and legendary Luther Washington II, seated at Ms. Ragin’s right, on the big organ. A traditional hymn with organ accompaniment is offered at every service. Luther Washington II follows an unvarying, but very satisfying, pattern for this music. For a three stanza hymn the pattern would be: moderate tempo, moderate tempo, interlude with a key change up, and a final, thunderous finale played at practically a snail’s pace. You may witness this typical performance at time marker 11:33 on the YouTube Video. Note: today Pastor Russell mentioned that the Berean Service is one of the most watched church services in the nation. The YouTube numbers are respectable, usually nearing 1,000 views, but the majority watch on streaming sites such as “churchpond,” an Adventist endeavor.