00:00:00.000 - 00:00:30.860

[Silence] [Music] One, one other name that I did not mention when I was calling names, And that was the name of brother Lewis pointer when I got here this morning

00:00:30.860 - 00:00:45.380

There was a message waiting that he was ill and that is the reason he is not here So let us remember him also brother Lewis pointer our minister of music (soft music) [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:45.380 - 00:01:02.780

[MUSIC PLAYING] (soft music) [ Background Sounds ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:01:02.780 - 00:01:45.560

[MUSIC PLAYING] [Music] [Music] ♪ Oh, just watch ♪

00:01:45.560 - 00:02:01.200

♪ As Lord and Lord ♪ ♪ He and I ♪ ♪ Are the mighty, mighty of grace ♪ ♪ We are mighty ♪

00:02:01.200 - 00:02:15.940

♪ Of the grace ♪ ♪ And I know I'm not alone ♪ ♪ Oh, let's sing ♪ ♪ We are never in our home ♪

00:02:15.940 - 00:02:35.820

♪ When all that's gone ♪ ♪ Just let us go next door ♪ ♪ We can follow ♪ ♪ Follow my lead, my little friend ♪

00:02:38.160 - 00:02:58.260

♪ Say that I'm the only one I need ♪ ♪ And I'm the only one I need ♪ ♪ Oh, let there be no day ♪ ♪ Of the heartache ♪

00:02:58.260 - 00:03:23.120

♪ Let there be no day ♪ ♪ Let there be a land ♪ ♪ Let there be a land of love ♪ ♪ Let there be a land ♪

00:03:23.120 - 00:03:42.460

♪ Let there be a land ♪ ♪ Oh, let there be a land of love ♪ ♪ Of the Lord ♪ ♪ Let there be no name ♪

00:03:42.460 - 00:04:01.320

♪ Let there be no name ♪ ♪ Let there be no name ♪ ♪ Of the Lord ♪ ♪ Let there be no name ♪

00:04:01.320 - 00:04:32.960

[music] We come now to worship the Lord in the sharing of our gifts. We trust that every person will give liberally. We are beginning the last month in our church fiscal year.

00:04:32.960 - 00:04:55.520

You notice that we are behind in our budget obligations, some $3,500, $35,9643. And we are asking that every person will make the tithe his or her minimum gift to the church during this month that we might end with our budget being reached. So let us give according to how the Lord has prospered each one of us.

00:04:55.520 - 00:05:20.480

If you are a tither we ask that you would give another offering a special offering in addition to what you normally give During this month. Let us bow our heads as Reverend Paul leads us in our offertory prayer Father in heaven father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ We thank you for this day

00:05:20.480 - 00:05:42.200

Thank you for our health and our strength Thank you for our mental mind. Pray, oh God, that you continue to give us the kind of mind that we have this morning to come out to your house, the house of prayer.

00:05:42.200 - 00:06:04.680

We're thankful for those who came this morning. for our jobs, for our homes, and for everything that you've given us, unto us, that is the necessity of life. We pray, O God, that you would bless this offering, bless the gifts, and O God, have

00:06:04.680 - 00:06:17.960

mercy upon us. Be with us until the end of the world, as you have promised us. In the name of Jesus, amen. [music]

00:06:17.960 - 00:06:56.080

[Music] [Music] Good morning. This is your announcement period and I have only one announcement. coming from the office.

00:06:56.080 - 00:07:13.860

A lady's coat was left in the church on Wednesday night and if it belongs to anybody in here, please see the office. And I have one visitor's card. And when I call your name, would you kindly stand

00:07:13.860 - 00:07:40.100

until words of welcome have been extended to you? Crystal M. Pugh of Houston Tillotson College, from Trinity Baptist. Do we have other visitors who did not sign a card? Crystal, we are indeed happy to have you come and worship with us this morning, and we know

00:07:40.100 - 00:08:00.000

something will be said that will enlighten your day. And when you feel like it or you want to, please come back and visit with us again. Thank you. Having our pulpit, my good friend the Reverend Wilson of the Corinth Baptist Church, he said he got up early this morning so he thought he'd come to the early service.

00:08:00.000 - 00:08:17.600

So we are delighted indeed to have him to share with us in this service, our fellow minister and a very, very dear friend. Now this week on Tuesday is the time to vote. I trust that every one of you will go to the polls and vote your convictions.

00:08:17.600 - 00:08:36.320

Vote is your voice. really matters how you vote so be sure and go to the polls and vote I think I saw here behind us which is the campaign headquarters for the for the challenge of the governor mark white a camp a parade on yesterday trying to get out

00:08:36.320 - 00:08:58.500

the vote you've had phone calls and you'll probably have others but not only vote yourself but encourage others to vote that we might have a very very good turnout we need some changes made and the only way to make that known is to go to the polls and vote this evening at our six o'clock hour is the time when

00:08:58.500 - 00:09:20.820

we'll have our fifth Sunday missionary program the Baptist young women will present the program today and we trust that you will be here for that particular service also there will be a service over to st. James a musical that will be presented and it has to do with funds that will be sent to Bishop

00:09:20.820 - 00:10:16.200

College and I want you to be aware of that. [ Pause ] [ Music ] (choir singing)

00:10:16.200 - 00:10:39.240

♪ To the free nation stand ♪ ♪ And mighty love show ♪ ♪ For Crest the Rock, made good and strong ♪ ♪ And mighty love show ♪

00:10:39.240 - 00:11:04.500

♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ Where shall we depart ♪ ♪ Alone, alone ♪ ♪ Let life be gone, gone ♪

00:11:04.500 - 00:11:29.100

♪ The sand of old Nola's sand ♪ Let my people go He was my job first commanded Let my people go

00:11:29.100 - 00:11:54.100

Go now, go then ♪ Hear the angels' song ♪ ♪ Tell all, tell all ♪ ♪ Let thy people know ♪

00:11:54.100 - 00:12:16.100

♪ No more shall great love destroy ♪ ♪ And I think of home ♪ ♪ That still from our weary days ♪ ♪ Boy, that I think of home ♪

00:12:16.100 - 00:12:42.460

♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Dear Dineen Johnson ♪ ♪ And old, and old ♪ ♪ Let my people go ♪

00:12:42.460 - 00:13:05.920

(audience applauding) - Give this word. recorded in 2 Samuel the 12th chapter The first six verses

00:13:05.920 - 00:13:26.960

And the Lord sent Nathan unto David And he said unto him There were two men in one city the one rich the other poor The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds

00:13:27.920 - 00:13:49.920

But the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb Which he had bought and nourished up And it grew up together with him and with his children it did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup and

00:13:49.920 - 00:14:11.940

lay in his bosom and Was unto him as a daughter And there came a traveler unto the rich man and he spared to take his own flock and his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was coming to him,

00:14:11.940 - 00:14:47.060

but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity."

00:14:47.060 - 00:15:19.760

The subject of the message, "The Poor Man's Lamb." The poor man's lamb. Poverty in the midst of affluence. This has been the human situation since the beginning of human history.

00:15:19.760 - 00:16:00.020

During his Poor People's March, Martin Luther King Jr. stated that he was shocked and deeply removed by the dire conditions of human need that were discovered in Mississippi. The poor are still with us. The poor need not only our help, our prayers, they need our constant support in tangible

00:16:00.020 - 00:16:24.860

ways. The numerous references to the poor in the Bible are indicative of God's concern for the poor. Lyndon Baines Johnson's dream of the great society included a war on poverty.

00:16:24.860 - 00:17:04.900

It was a program designed to eliminate the poor by providing adequate food, standard housing, education, and jobs. particular program was initiated in 1964. This is 1982, 18 years later. And after some 18 years, after hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent, we still have

00:17:04.900 - 00:17:39.080

the poor with us. And it seems that we have the poor with us in increasing numbers poverty is growing in intensity. Now Nathan the prophet of God designs a parable concerning a rich man and a poor man in order to convey the divine word to the ruler of the nation. David the

00:17:39.080 - 00:18:13.680

king has become callous and insensitive to the plight of the poor. He's now king of all Israel. He's far removed from the humble village of Bethlehem where as a lad he watched over his father's flock. He's far removed from the day when he was running for his life and begging for food. He's far removed from the time when

00:18:13.680 - 00:18:57.680

he made his residence in a remote and obscure cave, for now he inhabits the royal palace. He has an abundance of the things of this life. He's rich. David had served in a significant way as a leader in the liberation struggle of God's people. But he who served as the liberator becomes a prisoner of his own

00:18:57.680 - 00:19:40.880

self-interest. He's a captive of selfishness. He becomes a slave of his own lustful passions. David the king looks out one day and sees Bathsheba, a dashing, dazzling, vivacious, shapely and seductive young woman. Bathsheba was bathing herself. The Bible says that she was very beautiful to look upon. In other

00:19:40.880 - 00:20:13.880

words she was easy on the eyes. The Sheba is the first bathing beauty of recorded biblical history. Her lovely body and graceful movements triggered a responsive card in David. It all happened while David was walking on the roof garden and as he looks and he sees Bathsheba he calls his servants and he asks who is

00:20:13.880 - 00:20:52.480

she? He's told that this is Bathsheba the wife of Uriah. Now David is rich I said And wealth is a symbol of power. As king of the whole nation, the people respond to his commands. And its power may be used for a good purpose, but a problem comes in the misuse of power. When power is used to oppress, to place burdens upon

00:20:52.480 - 00:21:21.880

the helpless rather than to liberate people from oppressive conditions, then power becomes a bane instead of a blessing. And what happens in human existence over and over again is that the powerful oppress the weak. That's the story of the liberation struggle which is recorded in the book of Exodus. Pharaoh

00:21:21.880 - 00:21:49.440

and the Egyptians oppress the Israelites, the powerful oppress the weak, the powerful oppress those who are poor, and in this case the Israelites are slaves, they are poor and suffering under the yoke of human bondage. Those who have the power often think they have the right to take what they want by any means

00:21:49.440 - 00:22:17.760

necessary. So it is the ruthless manifestation of naked blatant power that we see in the imperialism of nations. It is the ruthlessness of naked blatant power that we see in the sins of colonialism. It is the ruthlessness of naked blatant power that we see in the exploitation of the poor, the oppression

00:22:17.760 - 00:22:50.380

of the weak, the power that we see manifested by governments. It is the same kind of power we see often manifested by ecclesiastical forces. It is David's power that blinds him to his own selfish interests. It is his power that motivates him to say to his servants, "Get this woman for me.

00:22:50.380 - 00:23:18.140

Get that woman for me." So it was done. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and Nathan compares this act to that of a rich man with many flocks and herds taking the only lamb of a poor man." Oh David had

00:23:18.140 - 00:23:44.340

so much in his possession the public was at his command he commanded the forces of the nation people of all walks of life looked to him for justice he had not only his public life but he had his private life and not only that he had several wives and concubines and he had all of that Uriah just has Bathsheba.

00:23:44.340 - 00:24:17.220

David is rich Uriah is poor but David commits a sin he really paints himself in a corner. You see sin has a way of spreading when a person paints himself in a corner he leaves tracks wherever he goes. Shortly after their rendezvous began Bathsheba reports to David that she is pregnant with his child. Now Uriah

00:24:17.220 - 00:24:45.700

is a poor man I said he's a humble subject of the king he represents powerlessness. He is the merciless victim of the ruthless power of the king. So often we we focus our camera on David. David the powerful but but let's look at Uriah. We don't hear him saying very much in the story as we read that

00:24:45.700 - 00:25:10.100

account in 2nd Samuel. It may be that Uriah had some suspicion as to what was happening but he couldn't do anything about it. It may have been that that somehow he observed some strange happenings within his household and he recognized that there were some extraordinary things happening in many

00:25:10.100 - 00:25:37.580

ways, some strange things, but after all that was the hand of the king. Uriah is unable to do anything about it and so often people who are oppressed by the powerful find themselves helpless in the midst of the situations that they face. So David finds himself in a strange situation. He's been with Uriah's wife and

00:25:37.580 - 00:26:03.500

she's pregnant and Uriah's in the army and he wants to try to cover up his sin. A lady some time ago had a husband who was away in the army and he had been overseas some two years and she had a child a year after he had been overseas and so he came back home after he came back and he went home and he found this

00:26:03.500 - 00:26:24.220

little baby a year old and he said what what's this she said oh this is our child honey this is our child she said what what do you mean so you know that you know how the Holy Spirit fell upon me and I conceived you know the story what happened to Mary? He said oh yes but that happened only once, only once.

00:26:24.220 - 00:26:55.200

Well here David finds himself painted in a corner and he's making tracks and he he's trying to cover up his sin. He has the power so he orders the army general to give powerless Uriah a furlough so that he can return home and be with his wife. This he does in an attempt to cover it up. Uriah comes back but he doesn't go

00:26:55.200 - 00:27:21.920

home because he doesn't think that he should be at home enjoying life with his wife while his fellow soldiers are sacrificing their lives on the battlefield. So you see David sinks deeper and deeper into the quicksands of sin. First he engages in licentious love and that leads to adultery accompanied

00:27:21.920 - 00:27:51.300

by the kind of secrecy that he uses to cover it up which leads eventually to David having Uriah sent to the front lines where he instructs the soldiers in the heat of the battle to withdraw from him so that he is killed and so the sin ultimately ends with murder violence for Uriah is killed he's funeralized he's

00:27:51.300 - 00:28:17.300

buried and David marries Bathsheba well it seems that he's covered it up it It seems that King David has committed the perfect crime. But the prophet Nathan interrupts the scene. He interrupts the calmness of the palace with a story about the rich man and the poor man.

00:28:17.300 - 00:28:49.120

The rich man who has many flocks and the poor man who has only a female lamb, a young female lamb, just one. this rich man has guests to come and instead of taking from his many a lamb to place before this wayfaring person he takes the only lamb of the poor man. The

00:28:49.120 - 00:29:18.840

poor. The helpless, the poor, the powerless, the poor, the victims of greed, the poor who are victimized by hostility and injustice, the poor. The poor who are initiated with violence, the poor, the poor who are exploited time and time again, the poor who are slaves of Pharaoh, the poor, the teeming multitude, the poor

00:29:18.840 - 00:29:44.560

those whom we claim as a nation to help, we have the welcome letter on our doorstep saying give me your time you're poor the poor God loves the poor Abraham Lincoln said God must have loved the common man he must have loved the poor because he made so many of them

00:29:45.160 - 00:30:20.920

God sent his son into the world he had him born poor not rich in the things of this world but poor. He had him born not in a palace in Jerusalem not in Herod's palace but he had him born in a lowly cattle shed poor and and when he began his ministry Jesus came saying and as he stood in that pulpit in Nazareth he

00:30:20.920 - 00:30:56.440

said I have come to preach the gospel to the poor. See Jesus is concerned about the poor. Well when when David heard this story this parable of Nathan it pricked his conscience you see because it was an appeal to his conscience Nathan is just a prophet David has the sheriff he has the FBI he has the army he has all of

00:30:56.440 - 00:31:31.860

these things at his disposal but all Nathan has is just the word the word of God. So he comes and he comes not with guns but he comes there with an appeal to his conscience, an appeal to his conscience. And so when David heard it he became angry. The story hit the mark and David said he ought to be put to death because he showed no pity, no pity,

00:31:31.860 - 00:32:06.220

no sympathy, no feeling, no compassion, no compassion for the destitute, no concern for the underprivileged, no, no, no, no real caring for one in critical need, no feeling, no concern, no pity, no caring spirit. Well that was the indictment against Dives in the story Jesus tells of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus.

00:32:06.220 - 00:32:36.440

Dives had no compassion. Lazarus with a body covered with sores, hungry, begging for bread is brought daily and laid at his gate. But he never sees Lazarus because he has no concern, no caring spirit. The Good Samaritan had compassion for a poor traveler and a stranger even though he belonged to another race, even though no doubt he was

00:32:36.440 - 00:33:09.100

of another class, he still had compassion, he had pity upon him, he was concerned about about the poor, a poor man's lamb, all that he has, a poor man's lamb, poor man's lamb, to one who recognizes his helplessness and his powerlessness, a poor man with only a lamb, and a rich man takes advantage of him, the king, but when

00:33:09.100 - 00:33:41.620

David hears this story as we turn later we see in his life that David somehow repents and we hear him as he cries out in that 51st Psalm "Lord have mercy upon me." We hear him as he says "wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Lord have mercy upon me, create in me a clean heart and renew the

00:33:41.620 - 00:34:12.820

right spirit within me." We hear him crying out. Well when I when I read this story, David hears it, Nathan points the finger of judgment to him and says "Thou art the man." Oh I know King you, you are rich in the things of this world but you have become poor in that which pleases God and all of us are poor oh we come so

00:34:12.820 - 00:34:41.260

short of what God requires we're poor. All Uriah has is just a lamb. That's all he has. Listen the story here the poor man has only a lamb well in this case the King killed the lamb and there was another lamb there's another lamb David somehow in this story concerning the lamb he sees his blame he sees that he's the

00:34:41.260 - 00:35:10.700

victim but there is another lamb that when we look at our blame when we look at our shamefulness there is another lamb that God has sent he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world behold the Lamb of God there is another Lamb. Another Lamb. That Lamb somehow takes away the sins of the world.

00:35:12.780 - 00:35:43.780

Ivory soap is a soap that has two distinctions. It's a soap that floats and it is the top seller, one of the top sellers among other soaps today. But it It hadn't always been that way. Hadn't always floated.

00:35:43.780 - 00:36:08.100

It hadn't always been a top seller. In fact, the way it happened, the soap was being prepared, it was cooking, and the foreman forgot. neglected to have the soap taken off the fire so to speak and he discovered that

00:36:08.100 - 00:36:34.980

it floated. He was afraid to report it to his supervisor because he felt that he would be fired. So he went on and had that soap sent on to the marketplace so to speak and the customers who received it were astounded and greatly satisfied and they wrote the company saying that they wanted some more of that soap that

00:36:34.980 - 00:37:03.660

floats and so the company executive called in this foreman and instead of reprimanded him he had him assigned to the scientists of the company and they worked out the solution that enabled them to put this on the market in a regular way and this man was promoted so in reality his blunder became a blessing

00:37:03.660 - 00:37:30.700

and that's what God does through the cross through the cross of Jesus Christ the blunders that we make, he's able to turn them into blessings. And when we look at the blunder of David, it's a terrible blunder, it's a rather critical point in his life, but the cross, the cross, God uses the cross to take our blunders

00:37:30.700 - 00:38:04.900

and turn them into blessings. So thanks be to God. Thanks be to God for the cross, thanks be to God for that naturalist lamb of God who dies on a skull-shaped hill called Calvary thanks be to God because he takes that cross and turns our blunders into blessings so Jesus Christ our Lord is the poor man's lamb

00:38:04.900 - 00:38:28.820

everyone who is poor everyone who somehow falls short and that includes every one of us he's our lamb he's our righteousness he's our everything and let us come now as we say just as I am [ Music ]

00:38:28.820 - 00:38:41.240

♪ Oh, God, I know ♪ ♪ Oh, God, I pray that I'm not a martyr ♪ ♪ When you hear somebody say ♪ ♪ I'm not a martyr ♪

00:38:41.240 - 00:39:09.620

♪ Yes, I am ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm not a martyr ♪ ♪ I've been a martyr ♪ [ Music ]

00:39:09.620 - 00:39:39.400

♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ Come to me, O Lamb of God ♪

00:39:39.400 - 00:40:10.080

♪ My God, my God ♪ ♪ Your tender hand ♪ ♪ Has made me strong ♪ To be the joy of God's love

00:40:10.080 - 00:40:36.480

To be the joy when we see Him O Lamb of God, I love Thee ♪ I'm going to be ♪ ♪ To a special land ♪

00:40:36.480 - 00:40:54.380

♪ The Lord shall come ♪ ♪ To save me and my love ♪ ♪ To be my love ♪ ♪ My peace, my life ♪

00:40:54.380 - 00:41:19.200

♪ 'Tis the hour of our life ♪ ♪ Now and always ♪ ♪ Just as the heavens ♪ ♪ Are the earth and the sky ♪

00:41:19.200 - 00:42:22.800

♪ So may it be ♪ [ Music ] [ Inaudible ] [BLANK_AUDIO]