Bible Stories

Sunday, November 16^th, 2025

Covington Missionary Baptist Church

Scripture thought for the day: 2 Corinthians 5:7 (for we walk by faith, not by sight:) AKJV

Additional scripture: Psalm 37:4Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. AKJV

First, a little story. When we lived in Summit, we had a maid (That’s what they called a woman who worked as a housekeeper back then.) named Sadie Carter. After she died, I learned that she was from Troy, North Carolina, and at least in later years she attended Troy Missionary Baptist Church. She’s buried here in Troy, and if time permits, I hope to visit her grave. She was a lovely woman, filled with love for Jesus, and she had a deep love for all of us four children in the Bristol family. She never complained, and to my knowledge, she never missed a day due to illness. As a small boy, I distinctly remember her singing softly, “Je-sus, Je-sus, Je—sus” often while she worked. I needed a lot of care and attention when I was growing up, including multiple weekly visits to physical therapists and doctors some as far away as New York. Sadie took care of me as if I was her own—often accompanying me to the physical therapist. She was a true gem of a person. I cannot wait to meet her in Heaven.  Sadie’s memory and my love and respect for her has led me here to Covington Missionary Baptist Church.

Pastor Hewett and I have been talking on the phone for a number of years. I liked him from the first conversation. Yours is a small church, but a faithful one, and that’s what counts.  As is my custom, I’ll ask any in the congregation if you want to come forward and give your lives to Christ. In my experience, far too few churches give altar calls anymore, which make no sense to me. After all, everything begins and ends with Christ. Wouldn’t you agree? Recall this scripture:

Matthew 10:32 AKJV

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

On a profound, yet simple level, isn’t this what Sadie was doing every day when she would softly sing “Je-sus, Je-sus, Je—sus” while she was working? On any given day, she could be ironing, dusting or making lunch for me to take to school.  (Remember I was 5 years old.) I can show you the cut on the side of my right index finger I received when I tried to peel an apple. All the while, she was confessing His name before me and ensuring that Jesus would confess hers before His Father in heaven. I also like to think she was sowing a seed within me, one which would later sprout to the benefit of so very many whose names I don’t even know yet. Hallelujah!

“Before I get too far along, let me invite the Holy Spirit to be here with us. Holy Spirit rise up in me. Come out on me. Let me be a witness to Your glory. Holy Spirit you are welcome here today, Sir. Praise the Lord!”

Are you a Prodigal Son?

I don’t know about you, but my answer to that question would be a resounding yes.  I would have to admit my guilt. Caught red-handed. Guilty as charged. No use hiding my catalogue before God. I’d rather not go through the Ten Commandments.  I’ve broken every one, except maybe murder, unless you count horseshoe crabs and earthworms. My God knows me. He watched in horror as I committed every sin. Every single one.  My guardian angels probably had to turn their faces and cover their eyes innumerable times. To be sure, I am not proud of my blemished record. Only by Jesus’ grace given to me at the cross am I even able to stand before you and preach. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 the Word says, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (AKJV) Can I get an Amen and a thank you Jesus on that?

Shall we explore The Parable of the Prodigal Son? Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32 wherein you might see yourself as one of the two sons. I most definitely find myself in the person of the younger son, the one who wasted his inheritance on riotous living. (Ask me what I was doing in Colombia, South America.) It’s only by the grace of God that I have anything now upon which to live. Thank you Jesus!

¹¹ And he said, A certain man had two sons: ¹² and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. ¹³ And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. ¹⁷ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹ and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. ²⁰ And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. ²² But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: ²³ and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: ²⁴ for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

²⁵ Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. ²⁸ And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. ²⁹ And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: ³⁰ but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. ³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. ³² It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Here Jesus tells us about “a certain man.”  Those words always connote a specific historical reference. Most people assume that this reference refers to God the Father. I am no different. From there, I see the younger son as the current church, the Body of Christ in this day and age. Look at how we have squandered the gifts we were given! There have been at least six revivals  in the 20^th Century; one of the last in the 1970s happened when I was younger. It touched me when I was 13 or 14. I remember a former sailing instructor named Trip who was caught up in that revival. The young girls followed him around, which made me quite jealous at the time. Looking back on him, you might say that he was a Jesus Freak. Now, I am one! I also remember a young man who approached me in a country clothing store Saniterian’s in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to tell me about Jesus. An imposing white concrete structure, it was the only local place to buy blue jeans and corduroys. Confused for a minute, I thought he was a friend of my next-door neighbor, Roger. I so remember his eyes. It’s like he knew me, and I knew him. I now realize that the Holy Spirit was in him and he had the anointing from Jesus.  I know, because I have that same anointing. I suspect that many of you have it also; although, you may not have known it until today. See 1 John 2:27: But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (AKJV)  You can transfer this anointing permanently to any surface you touch. It’s in your speech, in your emails, in your phone conversations. Can I get an Amen on that?  Your touch can work in an unbeliever’s heart. Wow! That’s power directly from the Lord himself. Prophet Kat Kerr taught me about the anointing.  Back to the Prodigal Son.

Can’t you just see the younger son squandering the wealth he was given? He fell right into Satan’s trap, as I myself did. As the Bible reminds us in 1 Timothy 6:10 AKJV:
…the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  Armed with his inheritance, the younger son abandoned his father, his brother, his family, thought only of himself and his pursuit of pleasure as he delved into reckless and loose living. His older brother didn’t mince words when he said, “he devoured your estate with immoral women.”  In polite conversation, my late father used to call them, “ladies of the evening.”  Not that either one of us ever visited with one; although I did have lunch with one without knowing what her profession was when I was in Colombia, South America. She kept saying, I have all afternoon. “Great, I thought, but I only invited you for lunch.”

Look at what the modern churches have done! They have abandoned the Holy Spirit, forced Him out and in a sense journeyed into a distant country, distant from the Father, almost like Hell, but not quite, as we still can repent and receive forgiveness. Meanwhile, the elder son who I think represents the Jews has continued to abide by the father’s teachings. Just like the Jews whom The LORD refers to in Exodus 32:9 as “a stiffnecked people.” (AKJV), the elder brother “was angry [with deep-seated wrath and resolved not to go in. Can you say stubborn? His father had to come out and to “plead with him.” Here we are in the last days and the Jews in Isreal have yet to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

The essential lesson of the Prodigal Son is one of God’s mercy, of God’s forgiveness. We see the father as overjoyed that the son whom he thought was dead has returned. The son is repentant, and his father forgives him. When we gave our lives to Christ did not we repent of our sins and ask forgiveness of our Lord and Savior? Are we not told that the angels rejoice in heaven over the saving of one soul? Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (AKJV)

As I am an evangelical minister of the gospel, I would like to ask those of you who are not yet saved to come forward and give your lives to Christ. Before I do, let’s do something. Turn to you neighbor on the left and tell him or her that you love him or her. Do the same thing on the right. Now speak to the person behind you and tell that person that you love him or her. Last, but not least, lean forward and tell that person that you love him or her.  Since we have all just told each other that we love one another, none of you should have any fear about coming forward. If you do, you fear your neighbors’ judgement more than you fear Hell. Imagine that. Does that make any sense? Remember, “If the living knew what the dead know, every person on earth would be a follower of Jesus Christ.” I wish I could tell you who taught me that, but I don’t remember. The pastor who led me to Christ has a more memorable way of saying it, “When you die, you either fly or you fry.”

If you have not given your life to Christ, today is the day and now is the time.  How much time have you got? In the words of Johnathan Cahn a messianic jew, “One heartbeat.” If your heart should fail in the next minute or even later today, you’re lost, not just lost, but eternally lost. So come forward. If you don’t want to come forward, then stay in your seat and repeat this scripture with me:  Romans 10:9-10: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (NKJV) If you’re not sure if you’re saved, then you haven’t given your life to Christ. If you want to be sure, then you come forward and give your life to Christ. If you’re worried about what other people will think if you come forward, then either you or the people who are watching you are concerned about the wrong things. Perhaps both! Once you’ve said that scripture, then say this simple prayer with me: “Lord Jesus! Come into my heart. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I repent of my sins. I make you the Lord of my life. Take my life and do something wonderful with it.” If you said that prayer and you meant it, then congratulations, you are a born-again-spirit filled believer in Christ. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The Holy Spirit has led you to Christ and now the Holy Spirit lives within you. The Holy Spirit, the Man of Fire, lives within you.

Before we close, let’s do one more thing. Why don’t you recognize the Holy Spirit who came to live inside you when you gave your life to Christ?  The Holy Spirit is literally the Spirit of God. The fact that He doesn’t have a voice, is because you haven’t yielded to him to give Him one. His language is that of tongues. Maybe you have relatives who can speak and pray in tongues. Maybe not. I’ll give you an example: (Pray in tongues.)

Repeat this prayer: “Lord Jesus I love you and I want to pray in the Spirit with the evidence of praying in tongues as the Spirit so moves me.” Now just open your mouth and move your tongue as you feel the Spirit rising up within you. Each of you will sound different. There is no right or wrong.  Hallelujah! That’s it!

Let me leave you with this scripture:

1 Peter 3:18 AKJV

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit[.]

If you don’t yet know Him, if you haven’t given your life to Christ, I invite you to come forward. If your still nervous, see me after the service.

Thank you profoundly for this opportunity to share the gospel with you.  I feel like Sadie would be pleased that her little boy has finally come home.

May God richly bless you all!