The
Sunday
chool
Lesson
John Brayboy, Salem
Missionary Baptist Church
Daniel 9:3-6, IS-23
I. Painful Confession (Daniel 9:36)
II. Profound Supplication (Dan.
9:18-19)
III. Prompt Answer (Dan. 9:3-6)
I. Painful Confession (Daniel 9:36)
Daniel set his face toward the Lord
to pray. He made preparation to seek
God in prayer and supplications. He
had also been fasting to get in the
right spiritual condition to communicate
with God. The sackcloth and
ashes reflected Daniel's humbleness
and godly sorrow that was in his
heart. Prayer is dialogue between God
and a person. It is not a one way street
where a person makes requests to
God. but prayer is also communication
to hear what God has to say.
First thing that Daniel did in his
prayer was to confess his sin to Holy
God. He put emphasis on the fact that
God was his own personal God. All of
God's children have personal access
to God because he is their personal
God.
Also, Daniel recognized God as
dreadful God in the sense of His
greatness, causing awe or wonder.
When we think of God, we think of
His holiness, righteousness, power
and morals-- all perfect. Daniel recognized
that God was also a keeper of
His word and all things that He had committed
He would keep to those
that love Him.
In confessing his sin, Daniel also
confessed the sins of his people. He
realized that Judah was in the trouble
they were in because of their sin.
They had failed to obey the commandments
of God. They had done
wicked in he eyes of God and had
refused to repent.
When Go sent the prophets to warn
them of coming destruction, they refused
to listen and rebelled against
them. When God's people fail to re- i
spond to God's word properly they
will suffer the consequences of their
disobedience. The church today is
missing many of the blessings of God
because it has failed to stand firm on
the principles ofGod's word. The sins
of God's people like J udah's are many
and Jhe sins of the nation are great
becausti we have failed to hear and
obey'CtKfs word. Our prayer needs to
be as Daniel's's -confess our own
sins and the sins of our people and of
this nation.
II. Profound Supplication
(Daniel 9:18-19)
Daniel made an appeal from the
depths of his heart for his people who
were in exile. He said Lord look at us.
Look at the mess we are in because of
our disobedience. Look at the city
and at our predicament. Daniel knew
they had no righteousness to present
to God therefore he pleaded for mercy
for him and his people. His plea was
for the Lord to hear, then forgive for
they were his people. God's people
needs forgiveness today so that they
too can be in aright relationship with
God and enjoy His blessings.
III. Prompt Answer(Danlel9:2023)
While Daniel was praying God
heard his supplication and sent the
angel Gabriel to him with the answer
to his prayer. It was during the time of
his evening prayer that Gabriel appeared
before him.
Gabriel informed Daniel that he
had been sent with the message. He
would explain to him the plan that
God had for His people. As soon as
Daniel had started praying,. God had
commanded Gabriel to go forth with
the answer to his prayer.
Sometimes God answers prayer
immediately. Sometimes later and
sometimes the answer is not altogether
certain. There is one thing for
sure: God hears and answers prayer
when they cone from a sincere heart.
They are not always answered the
way we want, but God knows what is
best for us. We need to learn to accept
the wil I of God for our lives and in our
prayer life. Remember God loves us
and wants what is best for us.
God bless you all until next week.
Pray for us at Salem.
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Along the Robeson Trail
by Dr. Stanley Knick
Director. UNCP Native American Resource Center
In ihc pasi several segments we
have been looking ai ihc prchisioric
context of the Lumbcc. We have
moved through the first three
divisions of prehistory (Palco-Indian,
Archaic and Woodland), and have
discussed the technology, diet,
language and other elements of the
culture of the Woodland ancestors of
the Lumbce. Now we turn to the
fourth and final division of prehistory.
The Mississippian Division of
Prehistory: Around A. D. 800"a new
type of Native American culture
radiated into what is now the United
States. Forthc most part thisculturc's
spread was along major rivers,
especially the Mississippi and its
principal drainages, and thus it is now
called Mississippian culture. It is
believed that this new type of culture
onginatcd-itLMcxico, because of the
.jfiany similarities between it and the
famous cultures to the south (Maya.
Aztec, etc.).
Mississippian culture was quite
different from the Woodland culture
which it replaced in some areas. (It
should be remembered that Woodland
culture continued to exist in most
areas of the Eastern Woodlands,
including here in eastern North
Carolina, while Mississippian culture
moved in to certain other areas. It
should also be noted that some
scholars prefer to think of
Mississippian as a time period, which
would embrace all Native American
activity in the Eastern Woodlands from
about A. D. 800 until Euiopcan
contact Other scholars prefer to think
of Mississippian instead as a different
type of culture, which co-existed with
Woodland culture but in different
locations. I was taught in the latter
school of thought, and thus present
Mississippian here as a typcof culture,
tot as a time period.)
The major difference beiwccn
Mississippian and Woodland cultures
was that Mississippian culture aus a
society in which there were clearly
visible economic classes (a small
ruling class; a somewhat larger
middle class made up of iradt. .-s and
other specialists; and an even larger
lower class of workers, including in
some cases slaves taken from other
tribes and nations). Woodland society
had, in contrast, a somewhat more
equal (or egalitarian) structure.
While we know that a complex
system of clans developed in some
areas of Woodland culture, and that
in some cases there was even ranking
of clans, apparently most resources
were relatively equally shared by
all members of the Woodland
community. In contrast,
Mississippian cultures such as the
Natchez apparently had hereditary
"kings" and a well-established
priesthood who had preferential
access to many resources, which
Woodland cultures never had.
Comparison on several bases (type
and amount of grave goods, skeletal
health and growth, burial locations)
between Mississippian and
Woodland people indicates that
status distinctions withii&he group
were much sharper in Mississippian
culture than they were in Woodland
culture. This supports the notion that
economic classes were present in
Mississippian culture, and shows an
important way in which
Mississippian and Woodland culture
differed.
Another major di f fercncc between
Mississippian and Woodland Native
American, culture was the emphasis
placed on1 ceremonial centers by
Mississippian people. These sites
would have been centers not only
of ceremonial activities, but_
simultaneously of political and
economic life. One such center is
located in central North Carolina at
" own Creek, near Ml. Gilcad. In these
ceremonial centers, the Mississippian
people built large earthen mounds.
On top of the mounds they built
"temples" (for lack of a better term)
for ceremonial practices. But these
were not simple, haphazardly-built
piles of dirt. Neither were they the
round-topped earthen burial mounds
built by the Woodland ancestors. These
Mississippian mounds were carefully
planned earthen pyramids, with four
equal sides and a flat top. The
structure of these earthen pyramids
symbolically reflects the social
struciureofMississippiancullure.with
few people at the top, more in the
middle, but most at the bottom of the
economic and social scale.
The floor plan of a Mississippian
mound was also laid out such that it
served as a giant calendar, with
different features of the mound
pointing to the place on the horizon at
which the sun and moon rise and set
during the spring and fall equinoxes
and the summer and winter solstices.
Thus the priests and their people were
able to maintain exact timing for
rituals, as well as the all-important
planting and harvesting. Simply put,
Mississippian people had their whole
year's activities ? the economic,
political and ceremonial calendar ?
laid out for them in the form of the
mound.
Mississippian culture also
depended much more heavily on com
agriculture than did Woodland
culture, where farm crops were more
diverse (including squash, beans and
many other plants). Also,
Mississippian culture supported larger
settlements than did Woodland
culture. One Mississippian city, at
Cahokia, Illinois, is believed to have
supported as many as40.000 people at
one lime.
The influence of Mississippian
culture on the Native Americans of
Woodland cultures such as the
Lumbcc is difpcull to measure. We
have found, for example, a few
fragments of complicated-stamped
pottery here in Robeson County which
seem to be Mississippian-influcnccd,
and which possibly result from
contact with the pcopleofTown Creek.
But there is no evidence that fullblown
Mississippian culture ever
reached as far east as the Land of the
Lumbec. Nevertheless, Mississippian
culture must be considered as at least
indirectly part of the prehistoric
context of the Lumbcc, because the
members of the two cultures surely j
knew about, and to some as-yetunknown
extent, influenced each
other. Further archaeological
research in this area may provide more
clues to the nature and timing of
Mississippian influence on the
ancestors of the Lumbce.
In the next segment we will
continue to look at the prehistoric
contox. of the Lumbee. For more
information, visit the Native
American Resource Center in historic
Old Mair, Building, on the campus of
The University of-North Carolina at
Pembroke.
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A:
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Phone: 738-7101
Post Office Box 1420
Lumberton, North Carolina 28359
Let's Keep
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Woking For You on the
Pembroke Town Council
LARRY T. BROOKS IfotO fOt EXpO/IOnCO
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* ... 'A *
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