Several years ago, not long after my open heart surgery,
there was a preacher study and Aurora Missouri.
And I wasn't up to the drive and a dear brother came and picked
me up and provided Transportation.
As a went to the, to Aurora, to the study, went to the morning
session on Saturday and left for lunch.
Went to Hardee's for a burger and server, the preachers were
there. We had a good visit and it's
sitting visited till it's time to go back to the assembly and
walking across the parking lot. I looked down and saw two
pennies. And I said I shouldn't have said
it out loud but I did, I said if I didn't hurt so bad, I'd pick
that up and the brother said, what is it?
I said, it's two pennies. And so he walked over to the
spot, picked him up and slipped him in his pocket.
And I was sitting there, you know, Finders Keepers losers
weepers, but he put two pennies in his pocket.
But I got the storage for nothing.
I grew up poor. But never knew it.
And the exceptional parents who raised me, taught me the value
of little things. What's a pennyworth?
In the day of Jesus, you could buy Two Sparrows.
For one penny. And there were two of them
laying on the parking lot. Matthew gives us the price and
in Matthew 10:29 and when Luke tells the story, he tells us
that you could buy five sparrows for two pennies.
Luke 12 verse 6, What's the fifth spare worth?
The others are worth a half a cent apiece, but if you buy as
many as five, you get one pitched in for nothing. the
gospel writers, follow that story, both Matthew and Luke by
letting us know that God values, those sparrows.
In fact, it says that there never has been espera die.
That he didn't see it. When Luke tells it, he said
there never has been a dead sparrow.
That God forgot. And that incredible.
Some of us are preach more funerals that we can't even
remember who they were. And many of them were dear
friends. Jesus goes from that and tells
us that he's attentive to a lot of things.
In fact, he said, God knows how many hairs are in your head.
I looked at that a little bit, I found out that redheads.
Well, a normal head, whatever. The normal size of a head is has
approximately 100,000 hair, follicles.
Redhead has 90,000. A blond has 140, 440,000.
No wonder. They have more fun.
They have more hair. And brunettes.
Well, we fall in some place between the redheads and the
blondes. I figure that there's close to a
thousand people here. I figure Tuesday night that,
it'll be a packed house and if there's a thousand people in
this room, I would estimate that there will be 100 million hairs.
And this room. But God.
Will know the exact number. He knows what follicles work and
what follicles Dome, he knows you extremely well and after he
tells us about The Sparrows and the number of our hairs, he
tells us that he values. You more than many sparrows.
God is attentive to us. He doesn't ever miss anything.
They're not very many fifth sparrows In This Crowd.
You're an exceptional audience. You're an impressive crowd of
people. You're beautiful people both
inside and out. Your people have great talent.
Wonderful singers and Powerful preachers and outstanding church
leaders and exemplary families. You look at this crowd and and
you know, that they're part of the cream of the Brotherhood and
it's such a joy for us to be together.
But, there's not very many fifth sparrows in this room tonight.
There's usually a few. Through the years that I've
preached, I've had people that I've encouraged to come to the
meetings. Tell me that they've come to the
4th July meeting or the New Year's meeting and I said it in
a joy and they often say no, we didn't like it.
And when I asked him, why, it's because they didn't know
anybody. They didn't know anybody when
they came. and I didn't hardly know anybody, when they left
They were just fifth sparrows. Romans chapter 12.
And verse 10 says be kindly affectionate one to another with
brotherly love and honor. Giving preference to one
another. We look forward to coming to
this meeting because we know so many people from so many places.
All of us are that way we all have special friends and maybe
this is the only time we get to see and we always roll out the
red carpet to our peers to our favorite peers and we share that
time together telling stories about ourselves and asking about
the others and talking about our family, and our friends, and our
congregations, in the things that are important to us.
And all the The time that we're sharing the joy of the company
of our friends, there's a few fist sparrows that are sitting
over on the lower wings of the spiritual Tree of Life.
Watching us in our selfishness and they're not enjoying.
The presence of the kingdom of God.
Jesus was very compassionate. He loved all kinds of people,
the scribes and the Pharisees. They had nothing good to say
about him because he would eat with publicans and sinners.
He was a master teacher and I think Mark gave him one of his
greatest compliments about his skill.
When he tells us in Mark chapter 12 and verse 37 and the Common
People heard him gladly he mixed well with everyone.
He could and would talk to anyone.
Jesus was a communicator. I want to look with you at the
139th psalm. It's an amazing text of course,
and I know you're familiar with it but it's a song that tells us
great things about God. I like to read this song out
loud. I like to get off by myself.
Someplace private behind closed doors and read it out loud.
I like to read it to God because it glorifies him it honors him
and that's what glorifying really is.
And I want you as you listen to these words, not to think about,
we're just talking about the great King David here.
I want you to know that David sings this song but he sings it
by inspiration and it's recorded for us in the word of God.
Because God wants you to know how God feels about you.
Even if you are fists Perry, even though you think you have
no value though, you think you have no merit, though?
You may think you have no Talent, God loves you.
Incredibly O. Lord, thou Hast searched me and
known me now. Knowest my down settings in my
uprisings that understand us, my thought afar off.
Now compasses, my path and my lying down and art acquainted
with all of my ways. For there is not a word in my
tongue but Lo O, Lord thou knowest, it all together.
Now has to be said me behind and before Or and laid down hand
upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high.
I cannot attain it. Whether shall at go from thy
Spirit, our weather shall I flee from thy presence if I Ascend
into heaven? Thou Art there, if I make my bed
in hell, behold Thou Art there. If I take the wings of the
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even
there, shall I hand Lead Me. Me and thou shalt thy right hand
shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me. Even the night shall be light
about me either. Darkness hideth, not from the
for the night shineth as the day, the darkness and the light
are both alike to thee. For thou Hast possessed, my
reins now has covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee, I am fearfully and wonderfully.
And marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right,
well, my substance was not hid from thee When I Was Made In
Secret him curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Mine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy
book all my members. We're written, which in
continuance were fashioned when, as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts, unto me o God.
How great is the sum of them if I should count them there more
number than this. And when I awake, I am still
with you. May we open our eyes Brethren to
The Sparrows that flit about us. And we all go back home to our
local congregations and assure our sparrows that they are
created by the almighty God and that God holds Us in his right
hand. Let them know that God listens
to all and of our thoughts of fears and doubts.
Tell them that they were wonderfully, made by the power
of the almighty God. Tell them that God knew them and
their mother's womb even before For their mama knew she was
pregnant. God knew them can tell them
that. There's a real place in the
kingdom of God for the him. And then help them find it.
God, help us. Not to look over our past.
Anyone for God. Wondrously made them all.
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