[Propertalk] Fwd: [Part 2 continued - propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 17A: “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me” or “It’s Not About You- Part 2”

[Joe Parrish]

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
-------- Original message --------From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> Date: 9/2/17  4:15 PM  (GMT-06:00) To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 17A: “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me” or “It’s Not About You- Part 2” 


Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Take Up Your Cross
and Follow Me” or “It’s Not About You- Part 2” and deals with the Old Testament
lesson (Exodus 15).  Here it is:  

 

(Continuef from Part 1:)

 

Do you remember the story of the little girl and the pearls?  The little girl was about six years old- just
started first grade that year and she had just lost her first tooth.  She and her mother were in the dollar store
when the little girl spotted what looked to her like a beautiful pearl
necklace.  “Oh mother, can I please have
it?”  “I’m broke, said her mother, so
you’ll have to raid your piggy bank.  All
that week she thought about that pearl necklace.  Her piggy bank was short, so her aunt gave
her the quarter she needed to make it up, but only after the little girl had
cleaned the whole kitchen including the dishes. 
Next Saturday, she and her mother went back to the Dollar Store and
bought the necklace.  I’ll have you know
that child wore that necklace everywhere, even to bed.  Pretty soon, her neck started to get a green
ring around it- that’s what cheap jewelry will do- but the little girl didn’t
care.  She still wore her necklace.  One evening when her daddy was listening to
her bedtime prayers, he asked “Jenny, do you love me?”   “Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you,”
she answered.  “Well then, if you really
love me,” said her father, “give me your pearls.”  “Oh daddy,” she said, not my pearls- but you
can have my Barbie- you know, the one that came with a horse.  She’s my favorite.”  “That's okay, Honey,” her Daddy responded.
“Daddy loves you.  Good night.”  And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.  About a week later, after the bedtime
prayers, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"  “Daddy,” she said, “you know I love
you."  "Then give me your
pearls," he said.  “Oh Daddy,” she
answered, “not my pearls.  But you can
have my babydoll.  The brand new one I
got for my birthday.  She is so beautiful
and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."  "That's okay,” said her father. “Sleep
well.  God bless you, little one.  Daddy loves you.”  And as always, he brushed her cheek with a
gentle kiss.  A few nights later when her
daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed
Indian-style.  As he came close, he
noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.  "What is it, Jenny?” he asked.  “What's the matter?”  Jenny didn't say anything, but lifted her
little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl
necklace.  With a little quiver, she
finally said, "Here, Daddy.  It's
for you."   With tears gathering in
his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the
dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and
pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to
Jenny.  He had them all the time.  He was just waiting for her to give up the
dollar store stuff so he could give her a genuine treasure.

 

So... how much do you love Him?  You call Him your savior.  Is He really your Lord?  If he is, those crosses- keep at it...take up
your cross, your own special cross, not your affliction- your cross, and follow
Him. 

 

For anyone who is
interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are
posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

 

Blessed preaching,

Judy Boli

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan





-- 

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Propertalk" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to propertalk.topic+unsubscribe at ecunet.org.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20170902/8a6d86dd/attachment.htm>