WAKE UP! | Dr. Kevin R. Johnson

Wake Up! | Dr. Kevin R. Johnson

"How can you sleep?"

On January 3rd, 2026, while we were sleeping, America bombed Venezuela, captured President Maduro, and declared it would "run the country." Most of us scrolled past the headlines and went about our day. But the prophet Jonah was asked the same question thousands of years ago: "How can you sleep while the storm is raging?"

In this prophetic First Sunday sermon, Pastor Kevin R. Johnson issues a clarion call to the church: WAKE UP.
Drawing from Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," the story of Jonah, and the pattern of American empire from Wounded Knee to Venezuela, Dr. Johnson challenges us to wake up on three levels:

1) WAKE UP PERSONALLY - Stop sleepwalking through your relationships, your purpose, and your faith. God is doing a new thing—don't sleep through your breakthrough.

2) WAKE UP NATIONALLY - America has been involved in nearly 400 military interventions since 1776. From the genocide of Native Americans to Hiroshima to Iraq to Venezuela—the pattern is undeniable. It's not about democracy. It's about land, resources, oil, and power.

3) WAKE UP GLOBALLY - Jesus preached good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, and blessed the peacemakers—not the bombers. A global awakening means resources shared, nations cooperating, and peace valued over profit.

Romans 13:11-12 declares: "The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here."

The hour has come. Not tomorrow. Not next week. NOW.
This is not a comfortable sermon. This is a wake-up call.

SCRIPTURE: Jonah 1:5-6 | Romans 13:11-12
PREACHED: January 4, 2026 | Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, The Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem, NY

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