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[Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ With my children in the air you will show me ♪

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♪ And all of my Savior for your Savior too ♪ ♪ For you I am praying ♪ ♪ For you I am praying ♪ ♪ For you I am praying ♪

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I pray for you. I have a father to lead me and give a hope for eternity, true and true. And soon he'll recall me to meet him in heaven,

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For already he's had me, with you and me too. For you I am praying, for you I am praying, for you I am praying and praying for you. I have a rose, it's reaching to find me. Oh, it's waiting, waiting, I want to be true.

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Here I remain, the shining light. If man were here, if we were here, for you I am praying, for you I am praying, for you I am praying. I'm praying for you. Our scripture lesson is in the book of Genesis, the 18th chapter, verses 20 through 33. And Abraham drew near and said, "Will thou also destroy the

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righteous with the wicked. For adventure there be fifty righteous within the city. Will thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from

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thee, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then will I spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, amber dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous.

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Will thou destroy all the city for lack of five?" And he said, "If I find there forty and five I will not destroy it." And he spake unto him yet again and said, "Peradventure there shall be 40 found there and he said I will not do it for 40's sake and he said unto him oh let not the Lord be angry and I will speak her adventure

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there shall be 30 be found there and he said I will not do it if I find 30 there And he said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there shall be twenty found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for twenty's sake."

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And he said, "O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure ten shall be found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for Tim's sake." And the Lord went his way.

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As soon as he had left communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place. May the Lord bless to us the reading and hearing of his holy word. [Music]

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I can join my teachers, but I can't see. I can't know the love, but I can't feel. ♪ You'll never be here ♪ ♪ But who are you ♪ ♪ Are you me ♪

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♪ There is something in you ♪ ♪ Something within me ♪ ♪ I know it already ♪ Something within me

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I can't explain Something within me I can't explain Oh, and I know

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[Music] [Music] ♪ If you let us all be ♪ ♪ Then we'll burn in your fire ♪

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♪ If you let us all be ♪ ♪ Then we'll burn in your fire ♪ ♪ Oh, if you let us be ♪ ♪ Then we'll burn in your fire ♪

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♪ In a way I don't know ♪ ♪ There is nothing within ♪ ♪ Something within me ♪ ♪ I am only a brain ♪

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♪ Something within me ♪ ♪ I'm not sure if it's real ♪ ♪ Keep me here with you ♪ ♪ I will never be free ♪

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♪ Oh Lord I know ♪ ♪ That you're something with me ♪ ♪ Something's been giving me ♪ ♪ The love in my brain ♪

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♪ Something's been giving me ♪ ♪ The love in my brain ♪ ♪ Something's been giving me ♪ ♪ The love in my brain ♪

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[Choral singing] Amen. [Applause] This is the 18th chapter and the 32nd verse, which has to do with Abraham's intercession

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for Sodom and Gomorrah, as he pleads with God concerning saving them from destruction. And he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Suppose ten shall be found there." And the Lord said, "I will not destroy it for ten's sake."

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The subject of the message, a petition for the gay caucus, petition for the gay caucus. He said, "Let not the Lord be angry. I will speak yet but this once. Suppose ten shall be found there."

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The Lord said, "I will not destroy it for ten's sake." Petition for the gay caucus. We may well wonder why certain chapters are included in our Bible. the book of Genesis and come to the 18th and 19th chapters describing events related to

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the city of Sodom and the twin city Gomorrah, we may well ask this question, "Why are these These events are included in our Bible. Story of Sodom. The very word "sodomy" is included in our vocabulary based on the practices of those

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who dwelt in the city of Sodom in the long ago. There were people who engaged in sexual perversions. Sodom was the residence of persons who were homosexuals, persons who had a different lifestyle, which did not conform to the social norm. Those who dwelt in Sodom were lovers of themselves.

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In Sodom, men were lovers of men. And there are those who feel that somehow the subject of homosexuality and sex as such should not be dealt with by the church and certainly not by the pulpit some time ago. I preached a sermon entitled "Religion in the Bedroom," and several persons were rather

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shocked that a preacher should speak about religion in the bedroom. people think about God being in the living room, but not in the bedroom. But religion should be in all of the rooms of the house. It does not disturb me that even some people who hear this sermon may be somewhat shocked by it, because

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there are so many people who call themselves Christians in our world who try to compartmentalize religion. And they think that religion has to do with certain things like being in church on Sunday. But it has a great deal to do with everything that embraces our lives.

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And it is as much concerned with the bedroom and the kitchen as well as the living room. So that's why it's here in our scripture, because it's a part of our life, and it has been a part of the life of humankind since the earliest of times. And so the Bible here gives us a history not only of what man has been doing, but of what

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God has been doing in his relationship with humankind. Homosexuality is still with us. Lesbians, along with sodomites, constitute what we call today the gay community. They choose to call themselves gay

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because they are happy with their lifestyle. Some time ago, the black community joined with James Brown in saying, "Say it out loud, I'm black and I'm proud." And homosexuals who have long been hidden in the closet

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are now coming out in the open. And their song is "Say it out loud, I'm gay and I'm proud." If some of us had to do with the writing of the Bible, we would have omitted the events described in these chapters,

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18th and 19th chapters of Genesis, concerning the Sodomites. Sexuality was frowned upon by the ancient Hebrews. Men of Sodom drew a circle around themselves.

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They adopted a lifestyle which satisfied them, but it was a perverted and distorted expression of the divine design. Sodom and Gomorrah are remembered as twin cities of corruption. has been called a mark of Cain, the manifestation of a godless and soulless culture which is

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sick to the core. In the name of Christ and moral purity, Hitler had persons who were suspected of homosexuality either shot without trial or exterminated in concentration camp gas chambers. During the Middle Ages, again in the name of Christ and moral purity, homosexuals were

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burned alive. Well, you may say that was long ago. But recently, and as recent as 1977, just about four years ago,

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there was a campaign in Dade County, Florida to abolish homosexual civil rights. Campaign aroused fear, alienation, and rage. Cars in Dade County were seen supporting bumper stickers

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with the motto, "Kill a queer for Christ." "Kill a queer for Christ." after a Two to one vote to rescind the ordinance

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Guaranteeing civil rights to homosexuals. There was talk of carrying the campaign all over the country Now there are many people who would not go to the extremes that I have just described It occurred in Baid County

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some would choose to just leave the homosexuals in the closet, but that is no longer possible because they are out in the open now. In fact, it is said at least 10% of the people of this country are probably homosexuals.

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So some would choose to ignore them because they represent a different lifestyle. But while some would choose to ignore them, others would say, well, as long as there is a lifestyle

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that someone else has, while it may be different from my own, as long as it doesn't interfere with mine, as far as I'm concerned, that's all right. Now the Church, for the most part, has chosen to condemn or ignore the homosexual.

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And that's why I think the event concerning Sodom, which occurred in the long ago, has helpful lessons for modern-day pilgrims. There was an incident which occurred some time ago in one of our leading denominations

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where one of the ministers publicly announced that he was gay. Well, most of the people knew he was gay, thought he was anyway all the time.

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But nothing had been said publicly to deal with it, so they just pushed it aside. But when he got up and announced that he was gay, then they had to deal with it.

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And this was one of the most difficult problems that they had faced, because they would have preferred ignoring it. Now, our text today is concerned

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with Abraham's involvement with Sodom. Abraham was involved with Sodom. Abraham, a pilgrim of the way, is concerned with the issue of the destruction of Sodom. And as it is revealed to him by God that Sodom is up for destruction, Abraham, a man of faith,

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A pioneer of faith in the covenant community intervenes, he intercedes, he makes a petition to the Lord on behalf of the gay community. Abraham says to the Lord, "Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city, will you also destroy and not spare

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the place for the fifty righteous that are found in it?" And the Lord answered, "Abraham, I will spare the place if fifty righteous persons are found within the city. Then Abraham continues to make his petition on behalf of that gay community assembled in Sodom. He said, "Well, Lord, if there should not be fifty, if only forty-five

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persons are found, would you spare it for forty-five?" And the Lord answers, "Yes, Abraham, spare the city if 45 righteous are found." And Abraham goes on because not even 45 are there and he says now what about 30? Well not the great judge of all the earth do right. Lord if you can just find

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thirty righteous persons within that city, thirty who are straight, thirty who are traveling the path of the straight and narrow way. If you can find thirty in the city would you spare it? And the Lord answers, "Abraham if thirty are found the city will be spared. But it becomes necessary for Abraham to proceed even

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further he says well what about 20 but not even 30 could be found and he goes to 20 the Lord answers again yes Abraham if 20 are found righteous in the city the city will be spared. And finally Abraham goes on and says well now Lord this is my last if even ten righteous persons are found will you spare the city and the

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Lord said I will not destroy the city even if ten righteous persons are found there. Well you know the end of that story not even ten righteous persons were found in Sodom. But the thing that really strikes me is that Abraham, if Abraham would be like so many people I know today, Abraham would not have been disturbed about Sodom, he would have just pushed that aside.

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He said, "Now look, I've been called to be the pioneer of faith for my people and God has said to me that that through you Abraham I'm going to establish a great nation. And since Abraham was doing well and and gaining favor in God's sight, if he had been like so many I know today he wouldn't have been concerned about Sodom. But Abraham is concerned about Sodom and that really strikes home with me.

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that Abraham a righteous person is involved, he's concerned, he cares. Now the lifestyle of the Sodomites is not Abraham's lifestyle, let's get that clear. That wasn't Abraham's lifestyle. Some people feel that they've got to agree with something to be concerned about. I was talking to a young man some

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time ago and I was talking about the churches and he was with another young lady and I said is this your wife he said no Reverend so we just live together he said I know you would not agree with my lifestyle I said that's right but we are still concerned about you. And every Christian ought to be concerned about every

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person, not in some kind of condescending way that degrades their personhood. That isn't the concern of Abraham. Not in some kind of pharisaical attitude as the Pharisees who lauded themselves over the others and sort of looked down their noses at the publicans. No, not that kind of concern, but a kind of concern that shows that

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we are concerned about them because they are God's people. They're people that God has made, members of the human family, God's children. They're different, they follow a different lifestyle, different from that of Abraham, a lifestyle that Abraham does not condone but he makes a petition to God in their behalf. Well you

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see the sodomites, the homosexual is a person not garbage. They're different but somehow we ought to be concerned about every person even though they may have different lifestyles from our own. Persons in our society who've become stigmatized, stereotyped, we point them up as being queer. But let us remember that

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the inhabitants of Sodom are part of God's creation. And what Abraham recognizes here is that the Sodomites are his neighbor, they are neighbors. He possesses a concern for neighbor. The people of Sodom are treated as outcasts by the people of Abraham's time. Nevertheless, Abraham exhibits a genuine

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Concerned for the inhabitants of Sodom he pleased with the Lord he makes a petition for the gay caucus Abraham has compassion We do not learn to have compassion for people So, when we do--

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