[rap music playing] ♪ bounce baby, i be on my swayze ♪ ♪ see i started on the streets, so i'm a little crazy ♪

[ music continues ] threatening me like you somebody? if you so right about it, then show me what ya got. this is what i got. yeah, take a good look homie. thought so. oh, excuse me mommies! uh! i see that milk and cornbread did y'all well, huh? woah woah woah preacher's kid, where you think you headed? i'm here for my sister, i know she in there with your boy. oh! so she get's cozy with blue suit, and all of a sudden that's my boy. like y'all two ain't baptism budies paired up at the pulpit. not when it come to my baby sister! aight. i hear you. i'm gonna go talk to levi, see if i can gt christie out.

i'm comin' too. nah. i said i got this. don't i always look out for you? yeah, but- well but nothin'. come on , this the most happenin' party to ever hit cypress man. everybody's in there. so tell me what happens when pastor finds out that that everybody includes you? yeah. alright. i'll stay. just hurry up. don't push it, ej. we boys, but i'll still fire your skinny ass. yeah whatever. jabari, jabari! [gunshots] e? e? e? e! come on e, no, no! e, e! come on wake up brah, wake up brah! h-help! somebody get some help! [jabari] come on brah-somebody get some help! ej. ej.

oh my god, ej! wha-wha-what happened? what happened to him? what happened?! - come on, come on man. - what did you do to him? e-ej! ej baby! e-ej? my big brother! my brother! somebody help! ♪ down, lift your hands give god the praise ♪ ♪ i been so hard ♪ lost my faith in god ♪ i couldn't even pray ♪ so y i sa ♪ we're just sinners ♪ saved by grace

[church bells ringing] [crowd chatting] what's that look for? some things never change. i'm not exactly sure how to respond to that, so i'm going to go with "thank you". mm-hmm. always the know-it-all. i thought that's what you liked about me. right, right. just trying to reacquaint myslef with it. don't take too long. speaking of reacquainted, how are things going for you here at the church? i know it's not really your speed anymore. but everyone thinks you're doing a great job. that's nice to hear. and i know my dad will try to keep you here permanently.

well, i've already been here two months, and i've been upfront about my time here just being temporary until i take care of some things in new york. well, what's going on with that? you always sound so mysterious when you talk about it. let's just say things aren't as simple as they were when we were kids. remember we used to be runnin' around this church with no worries? you still think about him too. how can i not? i miss him. he was a great big brother. yeah. and he always looked out for you. you remember that time you climbed that fence after us and you got stuck at the top? oh no. no, no, no. i don't want to hear that story again! you were up there yellin' "help! ej help me!"

yes he did, without a second thought. no matter how much flack we gave him. yeah well a lesson was learned by all because i haven't climbed a fence since then. i should hope not. shut up! it's nice having you back. it's nice to be home. after you. [church choir music playing] [pastor johnson] whoo! whoo! lord! lord.

[congregation] yes, yes! say amen. [congregation] amen. say amen! [congregation] amen! please help me in giving thanks to my dear friend and brother in christ, and an award winning musical director miles callaway, praise god! i am also very blessed that my partner in life and in christ is my beautiful wife, lady ella. and my gorgeous daughter, doctor christie johnson! can y'all feel the spirit in this room? [congregation] yes! can you feel the spirit in this room! [congregation] yes! yes! there... is someone in here... who is going through something right now. [congregation murmurs] and if you accept jesus in your life,

[congregation murmurs in agreement] see, i am no different than anyone of you who are having trouble resisting the devil's temptation! [congregation] say it pastor! before i was saved, see, i would gamble all my money away. i would drink liquor for breakfast. and as much as i hate to admit it, i associated with... loose women. [congregation] testify! until i got the call from christ to change my life around and walk with jesus! [congregation cheers] it started with a simple step. now i'm asking you to take that step for yourself. and find christ and walk in his light. come, please come.

[congregation applauds] come and join the family fellowship at greater hope baist church! we welcome all saints and all sinners. god bless you sister. [congregation applauds] [church bells, people chatting] nice to see you. see you next week hopefully. thanks for coming sister. thank you. nice sermon today, pastor. keep the blessings flowing. you know what i'm saying? [dramatic music plays] [inaudible]

hello gentlemen. hey pastor, that was a great sermon today. thank you. you guys carry on. [inaudible] thank you.

praise the lord gentlemen. how's everybody? so sorry to interrupt, but would you gentlemen mind if i had a moment with the pastor? [deacon smith] of course. no problem. [ella] thank you. i should kill you! do you think i'm stupid? what? do you think i wouldn't notice the missing money from my campaign account, evan? it's not as bad as you think. then you need to explain quick, fast, and in a hurry, because you are leaning on my last nerve with this mess. look i had to make some moves for the church and that was the only available cash. oh, church business? do you expect me to believe that? ella, you don't always know what goes on around here. then why don't you enlighten me, evan? do you think it's easy keeping up with the demands of you and this church? demands?

a plate charity functions. how do you think that that gets paid for? you'd be happy to spend every penny that comes through here. no, don't you try to turn this around on me. you think i don't know about your dirty ways all these years? all your, your gamblin' and your gutter deals you do behind closed doors? i grew up in this church watching my father do the same exact thing, so i know all about it. and i'm not just gonna sit back and let you ruin this opportunity for me. you know after everything, i thought that we were still a team. but now i see that it's every man for himself. so game on. [dramatic music playing]

[rap music playing on radio] [rex] you can't beat me, i told you that boy. come on now.

[knocking] pastor, you wanted to see me? yes. uh, how are things with the ribbon cutting ceremony over at the clinic? great! everything's in place. you had a chance to look over your speech? yes. great job, great job, i can... i can always depend on you levi. thanks. yeah, i need you for something else now. name it. you know that uh, that thing that you did for me before? i need you to do that again. i thought you said that the last time was the last time.

i took a risk and it went, it went bad. and uh.. and now i'm-i'm-i'm in a real bind. how big of a bind? 50,000. how? we just got straight! when is it due? i'm already past due. look pastor you know how important you are to me and i would do anything to help you, but i can't do this right now, not with all the trouble i got back on wall street i just can't. every crime against man is not a crime against god. now you're the only one who can help me out of this mess. levi.

all you gotta do is throw the ball. my gosh... you know why you here? not exactly. what's up? the pastor's payment is light again. you got anything to say about that? look i've been leanin' on him hard. don't look like that from where i'm sittin' maybe we have a different definition of 'lean hard'. nah, i don't think so. you don't think so? nah i dont. [laughing] alright. you don't think so. zeke. come holla at me for a second.

i'm a mechanic. so people depend on your skills to make sure they travel safely. they get to where they need to go. am i right? yes. you don't do your job... they can't do they job. am i right? yes. good. lemme ask you a question zeke. have you ever given a person back they car that couldn't pay? nah. but you play in here when you owe me money. huh? you got my money zeke? i asked you a question zeke. no. it's all good baby, relax. have a seat zeke. relax man.

hey zeke listen man, relax, relax. let me ask you again zeke. do you. have my money? no. [screaming] that's how you lean on someone. go get my money. [zeke weeping]

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y ho! somethin' sound good. we gotta put you in the choir. help me. help the homeless now. help the homeless. alright. help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me. dang, she get me every time. come on. help the homeless now. help the homeless. [cornelius] oh levi! yeah, yeah cornelius, i know, i still need to get you that check for the pipes. and good morning to you too, sir. [phone buzzing]

good morning pastor. good morning lady ella. good morning. good morning, angela. everyone's excited about the ribbon cutting today. -well that's good news. -they're already lining up to watch. also, there's some news reporters here that want to interview you. good! anything else going on? yes, the mayor arrives at 10, and news crews are scheduled to arrive at 10:30. thanks, that sounds prefect. will you be announcing your runnig for office lady ella? no, today's pastor's day. my day is coming soon. good morning. miss jill. here you go. ♪ embrace [miles] alright, let's try it. ♪ embrace excellent miles. thank you pastor johnson. is that everything angela? yes pastor. thank you.

♪ embrace hi. - hi daddy! - hi baby. hey, did you get my messages? no, i'm sorry. i wanted to talk to you about some clinic paperwork that came in. hey you two, we need to stay on schedule this morning. okay, al-alright. i'll let y'all handle that. i still can't believe i let you talk me into this. i hate being in front of the camera, that's your thing! now you know we have to represent as a family on your father's big day. well it's your big day too, sweetie. doctor johnson. people are gonna take notice of you in this town after this. maybe even find you a husband. girl you been in those books for so long, and now you always workin'. you forgot to get yourself a life! well, mama's always lookin' out for her baby. we gonna get you a life today. come on, i got some dresses for you to try on. [dramatic music plays]

[knocking] they're ready for you, pastor johnson. oh, uh, thank you. thank you angela. mm-hmm. [crowd chatting excitedly] good morning. [crowd] good mornig. good morning it is. what a pleasure it is to see everybody today on this very special day.

as i can remember, greater hope baptist church has grabbed the hand of this community and lifted it up. so today, we are officially saying thank you, by christening this building the evan johnson jr. clinic of hope. as mayor, it is my honor and a great pleasure to present a key to the city to pastor evan johnson who's hard work and diligence made this clinic happen. pastor? [crowd applauds] congratulations. thank you. let us all give praise to god. it was three years ago that we started this clinic. in one room... surprised they're not giving you the ket to the city today. pastor given you everything else.

s worried about everybody else's business. this is my business. i've been with this church a long time. unlike you, i never left. don't think you're just going to come in here and take over. i'm not trying to take over. i'm just trying to do the job i got hired to do. you've been at this church long enough, you ought to know the difference. [crowd applauds] yeah! [mother harris] good afternoon everyone. i have brought some freshly baked muffins for you today. oh my goodness! mother harris, you be doing to much. good afternoon everyone. please, please no. sorry im late. angela, can you give me a recap of the last meeting?

planning their annual block party. deacon smith is organizing our prayer breakfast. the food committee is coming together to make a menu. and brother miles submitted his budget needs for gospelfest. as we all know, the mass choir's up for their fifth consecutive win, so. amen. beautiful miles. thank you, pastor johnson. and congratulations on the grand re-opening of the clinic. that's pretty amazing. thanks to levi's diligence securing of low cost equipment and supplies, christie is set up for just about anything. we've been discussing replacing our executive pastor. ernie stills is retiring this year. now you know how important this position is to the church. - yes sir. - yes, yes indeed. the leader chosen is going to be our archangel of organization. this person is gonna have to transform and renew the church family. yes lord, amen. and bring about abundance of spiritual health.

alth without fiscal wealth. no sir! the church needs someone who is going to inspire hope and faith in their lives. without leadership, nations fall. churches fail. don't mess around and have church in here. now there is someone in here who embodies all of those qualities. i think god has led us to the right soul, in levi. wait, me? yes levi. i think this is a great platform for you. i think this is right in your wheelhouse. how you figure he has skills? he can't even keep his own life together. excuse me? ain't you runnin' from the law or something? that's enough miles. let he who is without sin cast the first stone. amen. now i have chosen levi to be our executive pastor. that is the final word.