Second Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, Inc.
OUR PASTOR
Reverend Ricardo R. Manuel is a native of Fayetteville, N.C. He joined the U.S Army after completion of High School and served 21 years in Personal Records/Supply/logistics culminating as an Assistant to the Inspector General. He was a logistician with the U.S. Precision Helicopter Team which won first place in Castlebury, England. In 1967 he joined the Fayetteville Deliverance Evangelist Center under the leadership of the late Bishop James Hilton. In 1992 he became a member of the First African Baptist Church of East Savannah under the leadership of Pastor Thomas E. Williams. In 1996, he became an ordained Deacon at First African Baptist Church of East Savannah. Shortly afterwards he answered his call to ministry and was licensed in 1998 by Pastor Thomas E Williams.
On April 9, 2000 he was ordained by Pastor Thomas E Williams and shortly afterwards was called to be the Assistant Pastor of Second Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Harold H Baker. In October 2003 he was called as the Pastor of Second Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church. Ministries such as the Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Youth After-School Feeding/Tutoring, Feeding of the Homeless and also the Christian Coalition Against Crime, have been started since he became Pastor. In 2010 the Ebenezer Youth Choir competed in the Disney Gospel Fest Competition.
His mother is the late Attie J. McLeary (Fayetteville, N.C.) and his father is the late Rudolph C. Campbell (Colon, Panama). He married the former Angela Roberson in 1981 and has two children Ricardo and Lorraine. They have two grand children, Malorie Grace Manuel and Hirajah Franklin.
He is a 2005 Graduate of St. Leo University with a Bachelors Degree in Religion. He is a 2011 graduate of Step Up Savannah’s Neighborhood Leadership Academy. He also serves as a Board Member of the Savannah C. A. S. A. (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for Children.
Above all he is a Born Again, Baptized, Holy Ghost Filled believer, who takes his assignment from the Lord seriously.
OUR CHURCH MOTTO
The church where sinners are loved, wounds are healed
and needs are met.
INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE
Praise God from whom all blessings flow! What a mighty God we serve! Our scripture for today is Genesis 37:1-11 (King James Version). And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
You will find in this reading Joseph dreaming and his brothers hated him for what he dreamed. When you dream and see visions many will hate you. The people that hated him the most were those that were closest to him, his brothers. Many times our worst haters are the ones that are closest to us. The key is that the bible lets us know that Joseph dreamed yet another dream! That's powerful to me because he didn't let his haters stop him from dreaming. I can only imagine people telling Famous Amos that his cookies wouldn't make it. They were wrong! I can only imagine people telling Tyler Perry that his movies wouldn't make it. They were wrong! The key is they kept dreaming. Many of you have fallen victim to dream killers. Yes, dream killers! The ones who tell you that you can't, and you listen. I'm writing today to tell you not to let anyone kill your dreams. If you do, it's your fault! I hope that you will do like Joseph, dream another dream, and tell your dream to the same haters. Have a blessed day!