"Victory is mine," about 30 or so people sang with rising passion during Sunday morning services. "Victory is mine. Victory today is mine."

The Rev. Nathaniel Gadsden pictured the joyful tears of the Rev. Jesse Jackson after leading a chorus of "This is the Day." He imagined that people across the globe were joining the congregation as they sang "We Shall Overcome."

To the black churchgoers here, Barack Obama wasn't just elected by the people. They said he was anointed to the presidency by God. They consider Obama an inspiration spiritually, politically, professionally and personally.

They see it in the 85-year-old father voting for the first time, the daughter stepping out of the polling booth with a glowing smile, the nephew with newfound personal confidence.

"This has him believing and hoping he can do anything he wants to do," the Rev. Norma Kenley-Barber said of her 16-year-old nephew. "He wants to be a veterinarian. There's no reason he can't do it now."

Yes, God had a role in Obama's ascendancy, Gadsden said. God raised up George W. Bush to create "a time like this" and then raised up Obama to take the reins, Gadsden said.

This was an ordained moment in history, he said.

"[Obama] is the hopes and dreams God has sent us," he said. "This is what we've been waiting for."

But despite the effusive praise, Gadsden warned against idol worship. Obama is not Jesus. Obama is not a savior.

And it's not as simple as just appreciating the black man who made it to the top. The black community is moved by seeing a black man as president but is equally moved by Obama's message, Gadsden said.

That message: Obama needs everyone's help in the community.

"Now we have to go to work with him," Gadsden said.

In past presidential elections, Gadsden rarely injected politics into his sermons, he said. Now, even though he supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary, several Obama posters decorate the small church, including one on the main podium.

Church members said Sunday that they felt inspired.

One woman outside the church told her granddaughter she should try harder in school, since "Obama started out like you did."

Others have already bought in.

"I think we can go far, because he accomplished his goal of being president," said Treyanna Moore, 15, a student at Harrisburg High School.

Nashae Thompson, 11, was excited that "other black people will probably try to be president."

To the youths of the community, not to mention the elders who once never thought they'd see even a black Miss America, Obama can be a powerful role model, Gadsden said.

"For black people," he said, "there are no more excuses."