Biden to reflect on Martin Luther King's life during sermon at Ebenezer Church

Biden will speak at Ebenezer Church on Sunday, which would have been King's 94th birthday.

President Joe Biden will deliver a sermon at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church in Atlanta to celebrate the civil rights leader's life and legacy.

Biden will speak at Ebenezer Church on Sunday, which would have been King's 94th birthday. King was just 39 when he was assassinated in 1968 while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.

According to Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Atlanta mayor and a senior adviser to the president for public engagement, it will mark the first time a sitting president has spoken at a Sunday service at Ebenezer in its History.

"As we know this is an inflection point in History and the president will deliver remarks reflecting on Dr. King's life and legacy and the way that we can go forward together," Bottoms told reporters on Friday.

MORE: What you need to know about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Bottoms said Biden will speak on a number of issues, including voting rights and "how important it is that we have access to our democracy."

"And you can't come to Atlanta and not acknowledge the role that the civil rights movement and Dr. King played and where we are in the History of our country, but we still have to push forward," Bottoms said. "We still have more work to do."

PHOTO: In this Dec. 22, 2022, file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.
In this Dec. 22, 2022, file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Patrick Semansky/AP, FILE

Last year, King's eldest son Martin Luther King III told Biden and members of Congress they needed to use the "same energy" used to pass the infrastructure law and other bills to "ensure all Americans have an unencumbered right to vote."

Vice President Kamala Harris used her remarks delivered virtually to Ebenezer Church last year to call on the Senate to "do its job" and pass voting rights legislation.

But voting rights legislation ultimately stalled, despite Biden's push to change the Senate filibuster rules to get two pieces of national voting rights bills to the finish line. Now, with a divided Congress, it's unlikely a major bill on the issue could pass.

MORE: By the Numbers: The long struggle to make MLK Day a national holiday

Biden is speaking on Sunday at the invitation of Sen. Raphael Warnock, the state's junior senator who has been the pastor at the church since 2005.

Bottoms said that the president is expected to meet with Dr. King's family while he is in Georgia, but didn't provide any more details on which members he would be meeting.

Following his sermon at Ebenezer Church, Biden will join Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday at the National Action Network in Washington. There, he will deliver the keynote address to commemorate Martin Luther King Day.

"In the last two years, President Biden has shown a relentless commitment to not only upholding but expanding civil rights in the United States," Sharpton said in a statement. "As we prepare for a pivotal year ahead, with the future of democracy at stake, the National Action Network is thrilled to welcome President Biden to our annual MLK Day Breakfast. I look forward to hearing how we work together in 2023 to ensure we continue Dr. King's dream for a fairer America."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Martin Luther King III and more will also be in attendance for the National Action Network event.

In a proclamation on the holiday, Biden said King "imagined a different future for America" but that the "work continues because it remains unfinished."

"On this day of commemoration, service, and action, let us hold up a mirror to America and ask ourselves: What kind of country do we want to be?" Biden said. "Will we honor Dr. King's legacy by rising together -- buttressed by each other's successes, enriched by each other's differences, and made whole by each other's compassion? I believe we can."

-ABC News' Justin Gomez contributed to this report.

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