Southeast seventh-day adventist church Cleveland, OH
  
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Give and Take
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pastor carlyle iGive and Take On Sabbath, January 8, 2022, Morris Carlyle, new Associate Pastor, preached his inaugural message, “Give and Take. An outstanding introduction to Southeast was given by his lovely wife, Naomi Carlyle.

 

The couple has been married 16 years and have three beautiful children, Israel (13), Eden (6) and Elijah (3). Pastor Carlyle hails from the Bronx, New York, and attended Oakwood University, where he met Naomi. He also attended Andrews University.

 

Pastor Carlyle has served as both Pastor and Elder at churches in Virginia, Michigan and Ohio. He also worked as a hospital Chaplain in Illinois.

 

naomi carlyle iIn her introduction, Naomi Carlyle stated that she wants Southeast to know that her husband is “faithful and he loves the Lord.” She went on to describe Pastor Carlyle with a true “preacher cadence” in her vocal delivery: “He might have been a child of the 80s, but now he is a child of God. He might have been a child in the middle, but now he’s the head and not the tail. He might have been a student of academics, but now he is a student of the Word of God.”

 

Continuing with the second sermon in the “Strange Tears” series, Pastor Carlyle deftly weaved the story of Hannah (I Sam: 1-28 and I Sam: 2 --Hannah’s Prayer) with a contemporary story to illustrate the powerful meaning of “Give and Take.”

 

Pastor Carlyle began his message with the story of a man who faithfully returned tithe on his business profits, but became disillusioned when he saw others “prospering” more than himself. The man arrogantly asked the church for his money back. When he threatened to sue, a church member relinquished his retirement savings in order to save the church from being dragged to court. The man took the money and left, only to discover, three months later, that God blessed him in ways that he never realized. He returned to the church and gave the money back.

 

The story of Hannah is well known. She is broken and in utter despair because of her inability to bear children. Society is destroying her self-confidence by not valuing her worth. Penninah, the co-wife with children, is Hannah’s rival. She relentlessly tortures Hannah by trying to convince her that she is useless and that God does not love her.

 

Every year, Elkanah, Hanna’s husband, and the household travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice. Every year Hanna encounters the same demeaning experiences. Penninah continuously irritates her to the point where she won’t eat and she weeps. But one day, Hanna stood up. She has had enough of just praying to change her circumstances. “Hanna prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty if you will look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” (I Sam.1: 10-11, NIV.)

Pastor Carlyle stated that “one of the greatest dangers we are facing in the church today is the idea that God is an investment. That His blessing is something that we can earn if we just give enough… that if we’re putting money in his bank account, he’ll bless us in return.” It is like we are expecting a return on our investment.

 

Hanna and the business owner in the story both experienced a shift in their understanding of give and take. In Hannah’s case, “as soon as she took her mind off her circumstances, took her mind off her culture, the shift occurred. Something powerful happened, God is moving.”

 

These two stories are relatable to everyone…when we “give it all back, we can take the freedom and peace that releasing all to God brings.”

 

As Pastor Carlyle pointed out, an authentic give and take between the Lord and us is a “beautiful exchange.”

 

--Cecily Bryant, Communication Leader


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Adventist Church
16602 Tarkington Ave.
Cleveland OH 44128

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