ATLANTA — President Joe Biden made history Sunday by becoming the first sitting president to deliver a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
From the pulpit, Biden marked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and his noble work that helped shaped the country.
Read his remarks below:
"I've spoken before Parliament, kings and queens, leaders all over the world. I been doing this for a long time. This is intimidating," Biden said. "I stand here humbled."
"You've been around 136 years. I know I look it, but I haven't," he said adding, "I'm not a preacher."
"I have two heroes: Bobby Kennedy -- and no malarkey, Dr. King."
"He followed the path of Moses, a path of inspiration, and always, always telling the people not to be afraid. And like John the Baptist, he prepared us for the greater hope ahead. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a nonviolent warrior for justice."
“We come to contemplate his moral vision and commit ourselves to his path,” Biden said.
The sermon took a political turn.
"This is a time of choosing," he said. "We have to choose community over chaos," he said.
Until very recently, he said, Americans could take democracy for granted. But "nothing is guaranteed in our democracy."
King's mission, he said, was "to redeem the soul of America. As the Bible teaches us, we must be doers of the word."
"The power to redeem the soul of America lies where it always lay, in the hands of 'We the people.'"
"One generation from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States," he said, referring to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's South Lawn ceremony.
Biden emphasized that democratic institutions can collapse, "like we're seeing in Brazil and other parts of the world."
MLK's bust is on prominent display in the Oval Office, he said, because "he was my inspiration as a kid. He does know where we should go." And another bust, of Rosa Parks. "Because she just said, I've had enough. I've had enough."
The president circled back to the message that made MLK the legendary leader that is celebrated today.
King, he recalled, said "Where do we go from here? Well, my message to the nation on this day is we go forward, we go together -- we choose believers in dreams, to be doers."
Biden and Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock stood side by side listening to the choir after his sermon.
Biden's visit to historic Ebenezer Baptist Church
As Warnock welcomed new members to the church, Biden stepped off the dais and made a beeline for a girl who'd caught his eye as he spoke. He posed for a photo with her and a man who might have been her dad.
Warnock urged congregants not to be intimidated about stepping forward.
"Never mind the Secret Service. They're just here to protect the president," he said.
Biden returned to the line of church leaders at the front and bowed his head with the congregation as Warnock offered a prayer.
Warnock exhorted anyone who shuns organized religion to give it a try anyway.
"We're not that organized," Warnock said.
And to those who say they're spiritual but don't want to be part of a spiritual community, they're misguided, because spirituality takes place within the community, the reverend and U.S. Senator said.
"If you join the church on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the day the president of the United States came to preach, you'll never forget it," Warnock said.
Biden remained on the line in the front. Warnock invited him front and center and ticked off some of his achievements: The inflation reduction act, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, cap for the costs of insulin.
"That, my friends, is God's work, and Georgia had a little something to do with it," Warnock said.
Biden returned to his seat for final prayer and messages.
As the choir sparked up "We Shall Overcome," Biden was shaking hands along the front pews. He got beckoned to the front for the final fellowship and sang along.