Christian Women on the Move's

49^th Anniversary

Put it in His hands: What’s for you is for you!!

~Numbers 27: 1-11~

Guest Speaker: Najuma Smith-Pollard

In-person service at

Second Baptist Church,

Griffith Hall!

Sunday, September 17, 2023

¹Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. ²And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying. ³Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons. ⁴Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. ⁵And Moses brought their cause before the Lord. ⁶And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ⁷The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them. ⁸And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. ⁹And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. ¹⁰And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. ¹¹And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses. Number 27 1-11

Title: Put it in His hands: What’s for you is for you!!

Sermon purpose: To move the hearer to trust when we put our issues in God’s hands; His overriding power can change things on our behalf.

Consider what it means to trust the Lord when confronted

with a situation that is so unfair.  

Monday, September 18, 2023

Introduction

Law Abiding Citizen, a movie staring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, details the story of a husband and father whose family was killed. When told to trust the system, the system failed him miserably. Even though he was a ‘law abiding citizen’ he still suffered at the hands of a system failure. He did everything right and still did not receive justice for himself or his family.

Consider what it means when the systems on which you rely fail you repeatedly and you can’t get any satisfaction to resolve your sense of frustration.  

The movie takes the viewer on a journey through how the father attempted to right the wrong himself - by his own hands – but things turned for the worse by taking matters into his own hands.

You can be law abiding and still the system can fail you. Example: our justice departments are familiar with systems' failure, so much so that we have national entities like The Innocence Project that works to get men and women who are falsely accused, convicted, and imprisoned - out of prison. System failures.

Consider what it means when it seems like there is no way to be

treated fairly and justly when you do the right thing.

The story with Zelaphohad's daughters starts out as another example of a potential systems' failure - their father was falsely accused of being in on banding together with Korah’s ‘kids’ against the Lord. Their father’s land was being held in proverbial probate’ court. The system almost costs them their father’s inheritance.

Consider the story of Zelaphohad’s daughters’ response

to a system failure to have it altered to be equitable and fair.  

The daughters have to advocate for their father’s inheritance, otherwise they too would fall prey to a system that did not have adequate security, safety and support for women left uncovered.

Do the something that is unthinkable: they went to the tent of meetings and advocated for themselves. Every now and then YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THE UNTHINKABLE! THE EXTRAORDINARY! DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO RECEIVE SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Unlike the character in the movie, they didn’t take matters into their own hands; they went to the meeting tent where the matter would be placed in God’s hands...

Consider what it means to advocate diligently while putting the matter in the hands of the Lord following an ethical, moral and righteous approach to resolve injustices and unfair treatment. 

The Lord shifted the Law on their behalf. God will do some moving, shifting, changing on your behalf. Laws, norms, systems will change! God will cause all things to work on your behalf.

Instruction: Give them their father's inheritance.

YOU WILL GET WHAT BELONGS TO YOU!! 

Everything coming to you will be yours. Put it in God’s hands. God will put (what is for you) in your hands!

Consider what it means to follow a righteous path to address the inequities and injustices so apparent in our systems failures to promote equity and fairness for those who are being disadvantaged and mistreated.    

Loss of our son Daniel – The court systems' failure to release the murderer.

Story of a young man from our church, who I met for lunch, who was shook-up, unsure and scared. But we are told to Release all offenses. Put the case in God’s hands.

What was scheduled to be a 3-5 year costly court BATTLE ended with a 1.5 year wait with no (traumatic) trial and plea deal with a decent conviction and sentencing.

When we put it in God’s hands, what was for our family (justice) was for us.

Consider how the Lord has been operating in the affairs of the injustices

of our systems to bring about equity and fairness for all with

the civil rights movement which is continuing even now.  

Second Baptist Church Los Angeles

2412 Griffith Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90011 

Phone: (213) 748-0318