﻿WEBVTT

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<v ->There's also a very natural resistance</v>

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among those close at hand to being able

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to see greatness in the familiar.

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A cynic once said,

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no man is great to his wife or is valet.

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Must have been a rich as well as a married cynic.

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There was another proverb that was going around

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in Jesus's time, and a lot of people knew it,

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and he quoted it when they didn't respond well to him.

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He said, a prophet is not without honor except

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in his own country.

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And part of that, that was left off there,

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is neither does a physician try to work healings

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among those who know him.

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Of course that is changed now.

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But prophets are still for the most part without honor

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in home countries, home towns.

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And we still have trouble seeing God at work.

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In ordinary events, we just don't usually have

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that kind of insight, that kind of vision.

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So that we probably would be like those people in Bethlehem

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who really didn't see anything spectacular going on,

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when a young couple, there to be enrolled,

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happened to also have their baby boy in the borrowed stable.

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Nor can we really find too much fault with the people

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back in Nazareth, when a hometown boy they all knew

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comes back and says astonishing things.

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Nor can we be too surprised that not too many thought much

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when that same boy, after a supper with his friends,

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his disciples, took some leftover bread and some

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leftover wine and did somethings there

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that he said signified a brand new

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relationship between God and his children.

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Nor can we find too much fault with those who could not see

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God at work, when just a short while later

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that same young man was unjustly killed on a hill,

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between two thieves.

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And in Marks Gospel they both railed at him as he died.

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The residents of Nazareth were probably

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pretty proud of Jesus at first.

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They'd heard about his baptism,

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and how the heavens had opened,

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and the spirit of God had descended in the form of a dove,

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and how God had even said,

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this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased.

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Some of them had heard that.

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They'd heard about his calling

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and gathering of the disciples.

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They'd heard about his astonishing teachings,

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and his exorcism of demons, and his healings of the sick.

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And they undoubtedly had heard even how he had commanded

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the wind and the waves to be still, and they had.

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And there can be no doubt that they had heard about his

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raising of Jairus's dead daughter.

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That kind of news always travels fast.

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But they had probably also heard about the controversies

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he'd had with the scribes and the pharoses,

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and how even his family thought that there was

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something badly wrong with him,

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that he was out of his head, beside himself.

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Those days if they thought you were losing your sanity,

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they thought it was because of being demon possessed.

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And a special team of scribes that had come down Jerusalem

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to checkout this new wandering teacher

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laid an even heavier criticism on him.

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They said he wasn't just demon possessed,

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they said, he did his works

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by the power not of God but of Satan.

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In all likelihood, the people of Nazareth had probably heard

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that Jesus had been out carousing with

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tax collectors and sinners.

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Even deigning to eat with them.

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And that unlike his strict cousin John, the Baptizer,

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he didn't make his disciples fast.

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Maybe the people in Jesus's hometown rejected him,

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because they really wanted the messiah to come,

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and they had read about the messiah,

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they had heard about the messiah,

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they knew that he was supposed to come from

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the house of David.

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And you can't blame them for thinking,

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that when messiah came he would throw the Romans out

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and restore the fortunes of Judah.

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But this carpenter,

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this son of Mary and brother

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of all those familiar people, the Messiah,

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he wasn't what they expected.

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Hans Küng writes, he did not belong to the establishment,

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nor to the revolutionary party,

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but neither did he want to opt out of ordinary life

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to be an ascetic monk.

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Obviously he did not adopt the role which a saint,

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or seeker after holiness, or even a prophet

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is frequently expected to play,

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for this he was too normal.

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In his clothing, in his eating habits, his general behavior.

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So he became a stumbling block.

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He was attacked on all sides.

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He had not played any of the expected roles.

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But those who supported law and order,

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he turned out to be a provocateur, dangerous to the system.

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He disappointed the activist revolutionaries by his

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non-violent love of peace.

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He offended the passive, world-forsaking ascetics

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by his uninhibited worldliness.

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And for the devout who'd adapted themselves to the world,

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he was too uncompromising.

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For the silent majority he was too noisy,

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and for the noisy minority he was too quiet.

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Too gentle for the strict, too strict for the gentle.

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Former Duke Professor, Hugh Anderson believes that Mark sees

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the people of Nazareth representing in the own way,

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the blindness of the whole world in their failure to see in

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Jesus, God's promised Messiah.

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They want an altogether glorious supernatural Jesus,

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whose credentials will be obvious to all,

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and refuse to believe that God discloses himself

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in the humanity of this one

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who is the member of a humble family,

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and whose way

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is the way of the cross.

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No doubt about it, John's Gospel is right in saying,

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he come to his own home,

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and his own people received him, not.

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And the Alto sings, Every time Messiah,

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by Handel is performed here.

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He was despised and rejected of men.

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A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

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And as the spiritual confesses for us

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about sweet little Jesus boy,

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we didn't know you'd come to save us Lord,

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to take our sins away.

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Our eyes was blind, we could not see.

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We didn't know who you was.

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All these years later we in the church

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do know who this Jesus is,

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after the resurrection, and the Ascension,

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and Pentecost, and nearly 2000 year of Christian experience.

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For we are among those who say that we believe that

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he is the son of God, just as Mark said he was,

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the Messiah the Christ.

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But even those closest to him,

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sometimes act as if we know

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way too little about him.

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When I was going to school over here

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in the shadow of this tower.

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One of my class mates made a remark about that

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as we were leaving the library,

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where we'd been working on a project together.

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He suggested that we should ask the dean

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of the Divinity School

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to hire someone to walk through the halls of the school

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each night, close to closing time,

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carrying a heavy roth wooden cross,

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so we'd never forget the kind of Lord we said

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we were going to follow.

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And we were going to invite other people to do likewise.

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The story of Jesus's rejection by his hometown people

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is a favorite text for ordination sermons.

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That's probably because all ministers are going to encounter

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some failure that comes with the territory.

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And it helps to be reminded early

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that even our Lord Jesus Christ

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did not succeed every time he preached.

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In the the current role given me

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by the church as district superintendent,

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I work with a Bishop and eleven other people of similar job.

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And one of the main things we do is decide which ministers

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are going to which churches.

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And sometimes, as I was reading this, I thought,

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really what that is, is a word to bishops and cabinets

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saying that there are churches that really wouldn't be happy

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even if you sent Jesus to be their preacher.

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For the infant church that Mark was addressing,

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it was a reminder that Jesus was rejected by

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those who knew him best.

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Just as those early missionaries were so often rejected by

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their family and their friends, and those with whom perhaps

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they thought they stood the best chance of being convincing.

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Maybe all four of the Gospel writers tell this story,

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they do, because misery loves company.

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Most likely, the story has been kept and told often,

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because it is intended to strengthen all those

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who follow Jesus and who like him,

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inevitably encounter rejection even by those close to them.

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And I think that it's told with the hope

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that those who hear it will do like their Lord,

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who went on with his teaching,

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even in spite of rejection.

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Who found other places where he tried to get them to listen

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and who did not stop even when it led to suffering

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along with rejection, and finally to death.

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We really don't like reminders of how central this matter

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of following Jesus or this imitation of Christ,

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truly is to Christianity.

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We prefer to concentrate on the Christ of Glory.

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We'd much rather come to church on Palm Sunday and Easter,

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or come here on Christmas Eve.

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And we really don't pay much attention to Ash Wednesday

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and Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

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At least I've never served a church where they do.

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One of my favorite teachers here was the former dean of this

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place this chapel, Jim Cleland,

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I remember how he pounded it into us,

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that the only way you can really

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enjoy Easter

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is if you have also been with Jesus on Good Friday.

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No cross, no crown.

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We don't want a God who says no to us

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from time to time,

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as well as yes.

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We get angry with those representatives of such a God

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who call our behavior into question.

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Whether it's Jeremiahs 600 years

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before Christ in Jerusalem,

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or whether it's Jesus the carpenter in Nazareth,

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or whether it's Martin Luther King Junior

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in 20th century Montgomery, Albany and Chicago,

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or American Christians who now challenge our

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government's policies in Nicaragua.

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My Bishops C. P. Minnick Jr of the the Raleigh area,

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of the United Methodist Church,

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was asked by the Council of Bishops last fall,

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to head up a team of people to go and try to come back

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with as honest a report as humanly possible,

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of what in the world is going on in that little tiny

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country down there, that's got us all so worried.

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They went, they spent a long time, they come back,

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made their report.

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And because they had the temerity to say that they really

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honestly felt, honest to God,

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that the policies of our government were wrong headed,

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and that they were in fact prolonging and widening

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the suffering and causing innocent peasants and farmers

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to live in great fear and sometimes even to be killed.

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Bishops Minnick has remarked several times that he cannot

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believe the volume of hate mail that he's received.

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He did not expect unanimity, he expected opposition,

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he didn't expect vitriol, but he got it.

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We applauded the governor of this state,

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and the legislature, and the church groups

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who supported the tougher laws against drunk driving

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when they were first enacted.

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But then I have heard friends get angry

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when people in our crowd have been stopped

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for sobriety checks

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on the way from our clubs and our parties.

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We plead for tax reform, but we yell

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when our loopholes get closed.

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We don't like to be challenged,

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we don't like to be called on to change,

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to sacrifice, perhaps to suffer.

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It's so nice when we do have prophets that we can admire

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and they come from far away places

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like Bishop Tutu of South Africa.

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We want him to be like experts, far from home.

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We have a difficult time honoring prophets

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while they are alive, especially if they happen

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to be close at hand and bugging us.

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But God knows we need them

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to remind us of values that are higher

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00:15:40.150 --> 00:15:43.051
than what will play in Peoria,

263
00:15:43.051 --> 00:15:45.980
or what will sell the most products,

264
00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:50.730
or what will garner the most votes.

265
00:15:50.730 --> 00:15:53.670
When I was in school here in the days

266
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of the civil rights movement,

267
00:15:56.420 --> 00:15:59.760
Jim Cleland worried that too many of us were going

268
00:15:59.760 --> 00:16:04.756
forth from the Divinity School with, "Junior Varsity Amos"

269
00:16:04.756 --> 00:16:07.520
stenciled across our forehead.

270
00:16:07.520 --> 00:16:09.830
We were all anxious to get out there and confront

271
00:16:09.830 --> 00:16:11.630
the evils of society,

272
00:16:11.630 --> 00:16:15.650
to to attack those cows of Bashan and to call on those

273
00:16:15.650 --> 00:16:20.650
rivers of justice, and flowing like a never ending stream.

274
00:16:20.760 --> 00:16:25.760
He shouldn't of worried so much, most of us didn't do that.

275
00:16:27.670 --> 00:16:31.170
We went and learned to love the people we had in our

276
00:16:31.170 --> 00:16:35.791
churches and the places we were called to serve,

277
00:16:35.791 --> 00:16:37.541
and like always,

278
00:16:37.541 --> 00:16:42.460
always we found it so hard to say anything

279
00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:45.750
that those people maybe needed to hear,

280
00:16:45.750 --> 00:16:48.738
but surely didn't want to hear.

281
00:16:48.738 --> 00:16:51.380
But many pastors did

282
00:16:51.380 --> 00:16:53.920
cry out against the evils

283
00:16:53.920 --> 00:16:56.470
of that particular time,

284
00:16:56.470 --> 00:16:59.351
in our particular region,

285
00:16:59.351 --> 00:17:04.351
and many either had to leave the region or the vocation.

286
00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:06.970
They learned anew that prophets are without

287
00:17:06.970 --> 00:17:10.146
honor in their home countries.

288
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My fear now

289
00:17:12.463 --> 00:17:15.454
for our newer ministers is not that they will be

290
00:17:15.454 --> 00:17:19.610
too prophetic but that they will be too tame,

291
00:17:19.610 --> 00:17:23.970
because their eyes are fixed more on being successful

292
00:17:23.970 --> 00:17:27.100
than on being faithful.

293
00:17:27.100 --> 00:17:31.383
Clarence Jordan, and that's how they say it in Georgia,

294
00:17:31.383 --> 00:17:35.920
was an unusual Southern Baptist preacher who was,

295
00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:40.920
as they used to say, way ahead of his time on civil rights.

296
00:17:41.130 --> 00:17:44.070
He organized Koinonia Farm,

297
00:17:44.070 --> 00:17:46.130
an interracial Christian project,

298
00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:48.900
way back in the '50s, in South Georgia,

299
00:17:48.900 --> 00:17:53.363
not far from the little town of Plains.

300
00:17:53.363 --> 00:17:57.460
Maybe you've bought a bag of shelled pecans from there.

301
00:17:57.460 --> 00:17:59.790
Or perhaps you've read some of the, Cotton Patch

302
00:17:59.790 --> 00:18:02.580
version of parts of the new testament,

303
00:18:02.580 --> 00:18:06.260
that Clarence Jordan wrote there at Koinonia Farm.

304
00:18:06.260 --> 00:18:09.720
As you can imagine, operating this integrated farm

305
00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:13.090
at that particular time, brought him persecution,

306
00:18:13.090 --> 00:18:15.921
ostracism and danger.

307
00:18:15.921 --> 00:18:20.766
Fortunately he had a brother Robert who was a lawyer,

308
00:18:20.766 --> 00:18:23.510
who later become a state senator

309
00:18:23.510 --> 00:18:26.760
and a justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

310
00:18:26.760 --> 00:18:28.930
And Clarence asked brother Bob to represent

311
00:18:28.930 --> 00:18:31.231
Koinonia Farm legally.

312
00:18:31.231 --> 00:18:32.987
To which he replied,

313
00:18:32.987 --> 00:18:37.127
"Clarence, I can't do that,

314
00:18:37.127 --> 00:18:39.177
"you know my political aspirations,

315
00:18:39.177 --> 00:18:43.937
"why, if I represented you I might lose my job,

316
00:18:43.937 --> 00:18:48.937
"my house, everything I've got."

317
00:18:49.600 --> 00:18:52.627
We might lose everything too Bob.

318
00:18:52.627 --> 00:18:56.595
"It's different for you."

319
00:18:56.595 --> 00:18:59.246
Why is it different?

320
00:18:59.246 --> 00:19:02.760
I remember it seems to me that you and I joined the church

321
00:19:02.760 --> 00:19:05.413
the same Sunday as boys.

322
00:19:05.413 --> 00:19:08.630
I expect when we came forward that preacher asked me

323
00:19:08.630 --> 00:19:10.910
the same question he did you.

324
00:19:10.910 --> 00:19:14.930
Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and savior?

325
00:19:14.930 --> 00:19:17.315
And I said, yes.

326
00:19:17.315 --> 00:19:20.817
What did you say?

327
00:19:20.817 --> 00:19:25.817
"I follow Jesus, Clarence, up to a point."

328
00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:31.130
Could that point, by any chance, be the cross?

329
00:19:31.257 --> 00:19:34.977
"That's right, I follow him to the cross,

330
00:19:34.977 --> 00:19:36.647
"but not on the cross.

331
00:19:36.647 --> 00:19:41.262
"I'm not getting myself crucified."

332
00:19:42.553 --> 00:19:47.224
Then I don't believe you're a disciple,

333
00:19:47.224 --> 00:19:52.224
you're an admirer of Jesus but not a disciple of his.

334
00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.330
I think you ought to go back to your church,

335
00:19:54.330 --> 00:19:59.330
you belong to and tell them you're an admirer

336
00:20:00.050 --> 00:20:03.490
not a disciple.

337
00:20:03.490 --> 00:20:06.420
What am I Lord,

338
00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:09.503
what am I?

339
00:20:14.304 --> 00:20:17.054
(Diademata tune)

340
00:20:44.108 --> 00:20:47.858
(words drowned out by organ)

341
00:23:18.830 --> 00:23:23.070
<v ->Let us unite in this historic confession of the faith,</v>

342
00:23:23.070 --> 00:23:26.370
I believe in God the Father Almighty,

343
00:23:26.370 --> 00:23:28.800
maker of heaven and earth,

344
00:23:28.800 --> 00:23:32.540
and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord,

345
00:23:32.540 --> 00:23:35.380
who is conceived by the Holly Spirit,

346
00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:37.340
born of the Virgin Mary,

347
00:23:37.340 --> 00:23:41.120
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,

348
00:23:41.120 --> 00:23:42.800
dead and buried.

349
00:23:42.800 --> 00:23:45.580
The third day he rose from the dead.

350
00:23:45.580 --> 00:23:47.867
He ascended into heaven and sitteth

351
00:23:47.867 --> 00:23:51.720
at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

352
00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:55.680
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

353
00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.010
I believe in the Holy Spirit,

354
00:23:58.010 --> 00:24:00.170
the holy Catholic Church,

355
00:24:00.170 --> 00:24:01.503
the communion of saints,

356
00:24:02.350 --> 00:24:04.200
the forgiveness of sins,

357
00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:06.380
the resurrection of the body,

358
00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:09.603
and the life everlasting, Amen.

359
00:24:10.630 --> 00:24:11.923
The Lord be with you.

360
00:24:12.878 --> 00:24:13.960
<v ->And also with you.</v>

361
00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:14.793
<v ->Let us pray.</v>

362
00:24:26.100 --> 00:24:27.173
Almighty God,

363
00:24:29.100 --> 00:24:32.330
who has accepted us with the love

364
00:24:32.330 --> 00:24:34.870
which transcends our limitations,

365
00:24:34.870 --> 00:24:37.893
our weaknesses, even our sin.

366
00:24:40.270 --> 00:24:41.880
We lay before you the needs

367
00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:44.373
of brothers and sisters, near and far,

368
00:24:46.570 --> 00:24:48.200
under the sure embrace of your

369
00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:51.383
love experienced in this service,

370
00:24:52.730 --> 00:24:57.363
we now reach out in prayer, to embrace others.

371
00:24:59.540 --> 00:25:02.080
For all those who have suffered rejection

372
00:25:02.080 --> 00:25:06.670
because they have fallen ill in a society which values

373
00:25:06.670 --> 00:25:09.193
health and despises weakness,

374
00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:13.603
we pray for them in their sickness.

375
00:25:16.042 --> 00:25:19.725
For those who have been rejected because they are unemployed

376
00:25:19.725 --> 00:25:22.250
in an economy which teaches that those who

377
00:25:22.250 --> 00:25:24.250
try always are rewarded,

378
00:25:27.553 --> 00:25:31.470
we pray for them and their feelings of failure.

379
00:25:33.782 --> 00:25:36.150
For those who've been rejected because of the color

380
00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:40.943
of their skin, or because of their sexual orientation.

381
00:25:42.010 --> 00:25:43.260
For those who do not fit

382
00:25:43.260 --> 00:25:46.453
into our standards of acceptability,

383
00:25:48.840 --> 00:25:50.670
we pray that they may discover

384
00:25:50.670 --> 00:25:54.463
the value bestowed upon them by your love.

385
00:25:57.140 --> 00:25:59.180
For those who've been rejected because

386
00:25:59.180 --> 00:26:03.663
they espouse unpopular or unorthodox opinions.

387
00:26:05.430 --> 00:26:09.763
Those who refuse to be silent in the midst of injustice,

388
00:26:11.510 --> 00:26:14.913
we pray for these dishonored prophets.

389
00:26:18.040 --> 00:26:21.950
For those who, because of their doubts or their feelings

390
00:26:21.950 --> 00:26:25.790
of unworthiness or status in life

391
00:26:25.790 --> 00:26:28.283
feel rejected by your church.

392
00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:31.890
We pray

393
00:26:34.990 --> 00:26:37.640
for those who should be insiders,

394
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:40.113
but who feel like outsiders.

395
00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:44.763
In the name of Jesus,

396
00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:49.263
the one who knew what it was to be rejected,

397
00:26:50.810 --> 00:26:55.413
who come among his own and was received, not, we pray.

398
00:26:56.590 --> 00:26:59.950
Confident in the width

399
00:26:59.950 --> 00:27:02.540
and breadth and depth

400
00:27:03.410 --> 00:27:07.993
of his loving embrace, Amen.

401
00:27:10.070 --> 00:27:13.900
Let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God

402
00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:16.613
as a forgiven and reconciled people.

403
00:27:20.814 --> 00:27:23.814
(light organ music)

404
00:28:14.467 --> 00:28:16.792
(intense organ music)

405
00:28:16.792 --> 00:28:20.249
♪ With a voice of singing ♪

406
00:28:20.249 --> 00:28:21.742
♪ Declare ye this ♪

407
00:28:21.742 --> 00:28:26.742
♪ And let it be heard, Alleluia ♪

408
00:28:29.434 --> 00:28:33.434
♪ And let it be heard, Alleluia ♪

409
00:28:45.554 --> 00:28:50.471
♪ Utter it even unto the ends of the earth ♪

410
00:28:56.885 --> 00:29:01.885
♪ The Lord hath delivered His people, Alleluia ♪

411
00:29:09.382 --> 00:29:14.382
♪ The Lord hath delivered His people, Alleluia ♪

412
00:29:27.042 --> 00:29:32.042
♪ O be joyful in God, all ye lands ♪

413
00:29:35.842 --> 00:29:40.842
♪ O sing praises to the honor of His name ♪

414
00:29:41.762 --> 00:29:45.845
♪ Make His praise to be glorious ♪

415
00:29:57.961 --> 00:30:02.961
♪ With a voice of singing, declare ye this ♪

416
00:30:04.326 --> 00:30:09.326
♪ And let it be heard, Alleluia ♪

417
00:30:10.267 --> 00:30:14.900
♪ Declare ye this, ♪

418
00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:18.900
♪ And let it be heard, Alleluia ♪

419
00:30:25.139 --> 00:30:28.139
(light organ music)

420
00:30:31.090 --> 00:30:35.424
♪ Alleluia ♪

421
00:30:35.424 --> 00:30:39.424
♪ And let it be heard, Alleluia ♪

422
00:30:53.475 --> 00:30:56.808
(uplifting organ music)

423
00:33:08.316 --> 00:33:12.483
(hymn words drowned out by organ)

424
00:33:16.182 --> 00:33:18.231
♪ Alleluia ♪

425
00:33:18.231 --> 00:33:20.481
♪ Alleluia ♪

426
00:33:23.819 --> 00:33:27.736
(singing drowned out by organ)

427
00:33:40.765 --> 00:33:44.073
♪ Alleluia ♪

428
00:33:44.073 --> 00:33:47.804
♪ Alleluia ♪

429
00:33:47.804 --> 00:33:50.054
♪ Alleluia ♪

430
00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:10.480
<v ->Oh Lord our God the author and a giver of all good things.</v>

431
00:34:10.990 --> 00:34:15.020
we thank the for all thy mercies and for thy loving care

432
00:34:15.020 --> 00:34:17.580
over all thy creatures.

433
00:34:17.580 --> 00:34:21.620
We bless thee for the gift of life and for the goodness

434
00:34:21.620 --> 00:34:23.733
of they entire creation.

435
00:34:24.580 --> 00:34:28.010
Most of all, we thank thee for the saving knowledge of thy

436
00:34:28.010 --> 00:34:33.010
son our savior, for the living presence of thy spirit,

437
00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:36.080
for thy church the body of Christ,

438
00:34:36.080 --> 00:34:39.080
and for all the means of grace.

439
00:34:39.080 --> 00:34:43.520
In all these things make us wise gracious God,

440
00:34:43.520 --> 00:34:46.520
unto a right use of they benefits,

441
00:34:46.520 --> 00:34:49.670
that we may offer acceptable and joyous

442
00:34:49.670 --> 00:34:51.693
thanks giving unto thee,

443
00:34:52.550 --> 00:34:55.680
through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray,

444
00:34:55.680 --> 00:34:58.650
who taught us to say with confidence.

445
00:34:58.650 --> 00:35:01.620
Our Father, who art in heaven,

446
00:35:01.620 --> 00:35:03.860
hallowed be thy Name,

447
00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:05.430
thy kingdom come,

448
00:35:05.430 --> 00:35:07.320
thy will be done,

449
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.080
on earth as it is in heaven.

450
00:35:10.080 --> 00:35:12.990
Give us this day our daily bread.

451
00:35:12.990 --> 00:35:15.520
And forgive us our trespasses,

452
00:35:15.520 --> 00:35:16.710
as we forgive those

453
00:35:16.710 --> 00:35:19.240
who trespass against us.

454
00:35:19.240 --> 00:35:21.970
And lead us not into temptation,

455
00:35:21.970 --> 00:35:23.373
but deliver us from evil.

456
00:35:24.310 --> 00:35:26.300
For thine is the kingdom,

457
00:35:26.300 --> 00:35:28.620
and the power, and the glory,

458
00:35:28.620 --> 00:35:30.633
for ever, Amen.

459
00:35:36.271 --> 00:35:39.271
(light organ music)

460
00:36:13.448 --> 00:36:18.448
♪ I the lord of sea and sky ♪

461
00:36:18.710 --> 00:36:23.710
♪ A Bulwark never failing ♪

462
00:36:25.503 --> 00:36:30.503
♪ Our Helper He amid the flood ♪

463
00:36:34.209 --> 00:36:39.209
♪ Of mortal ills prevailing ♪

464
00:36:40.522 --> 00:36:44.038
♪ For still our ancient foe ♪

465
00:36:44.038 --> 00:36:49.038
♪ Doth seek to work us woe ♪

466
00:36:49.421 --> 00:36:54.420
♪ His craft and power are great ♪

467
00:36:54.420 --> 00:36:59.420
♪ And, armed with cruel hate ♪

468
00:37:02.733 --> 00:37:07.733
♪ On earth is not his equal ♪

469
00:37:11.227 --> 00:37:16.227
♪ Did we in our own strength confide ♪

470
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:22.440
♪ Our striving would be losing ♪

471
00:37:23.191 --> 00:37:28.191
♪ Were not the right Man on our side ♪

472
00:37:29.784 --> 00:37:34.784
♪ The Man of God's own choosing ♪

473
00:37:37.059 --> 00:37:42.059
♪ Dost ask who that may be ♪

474
00:37:42.497 --> 00:37:47.497
♪ Christ Jesus, it is He ♪

475
00:37:47.973 --> 00:37:52.973
♪ Lord Sabaoth His Name ♪

476
00:37:53.916 --> 00:37:58.916
♪ From age to age the same ♪

477
00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:04.000
♪ And He must win the battle ♪

478
00:38:08.134 --> 00:38:13.134
♪ And though this world, with devils filled ♪

479
00:38:14.724 --> 00:38:19.724
♪ Should threaten to undo us ♪

480
00:38:20.814 --> 00:38:25.814
♪ We will not fear, for God hath willed ♪

481
00:38:26.045 --> 00:38:31.045
♪ His truth to triumph through us ♪

482
00:38:33.856 --> 00:38:38.856
♪ The Prince of Darkness grim ♪

483
00:38:39.024 --> 00:38:44.024
♪ We tremble not for him ♪

484
00:38:44.493 --> 00:38:49.493
♪ His rage we can endure ♪

485
00:38:50.507 --> 00:38:55.507
♪ For lo his doom is sure ♪

486
00:38:56.172 --> 00:39:01.172
♪ One little word shall fell him ♪

487
00:39:04.970 --> 00:39:09.970
♪ That word above all earthly powers ♪

488
00:39:10.579 --> 00:39:15.579
♪ No thanks to them, abideth ♪

489
00:39:17.823 --> 00:39:22.823
♪ The Spirit and the gifts are ours ♪

490
00:39:23.898 --> 00:39:28.898
♪ Through Him who with us sideth ♪

491
00:39:31.323 --> 00:39:36.323
♪ Let goods and kindred go ♪

492
00:39:37.017 --> 00:39:42.017
♪ This mortal life also ♪

493
00:39:42.198 --> 00:39:47.198
♪ The body they may kill ♪

494
00:39:48.186 --> 00:39:53.186
♪ God's truth abideth still ♪

495
00:39:53.943 --> 00:39:57.360
♪ His Kingdom is forever ♪

496
00:40:06.505 --> 00:40:09.370
<v ->The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ</v>

497
00:40:09.370 --> 00:40:12.990
The love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

498
00:40:12.990 --> 00:40:15.793
be with you now and always.

499
00:40:21.108 --> 00:40:24.486
♪ Amen ♪

500
00:40:24.486 --> 00:40:27.684
♪ Amen ♪

501
00:40:27.684 --> 00:40:31.277
♪ Amen ♪

502
00:40:31.277 --> 00:40:36.277
♪ Amen ♪

503
00:40:39.036 --> 00:40:42.394
♪ Amen ♪

504
00:40:42.394 --> 00:40:44.311
♪ Amen ♪

505
00:41:01.433 --> 00:41:04.433
(light organ music)

506
00:41:40.043 --> 00:41:44.073
(congregation murmuring)

507
00:41:44.073 --> 00:41:47.073
(light organ music)

508
00:42:03.146 --> 00:42:06.563
(congregation murmuring)

509
00:42:15.413 --> 00:42:18.413
(light organ music)

510
00:42:25.687 --> 00:42:29.104
(congregation murmuring)

511
00:42:30.058 --> 00:42:33.225
(intense organ music)

512
00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:14.456
(congregation murmuring)

513
00:43:17.668 --> 00:43:20.835
(mellow organ music)

514
00:44:04.810 --> 00:44:08.703
(congregation murmuring)

515
00:44:08.703 --> 00:44:11.870
(mellow organ music)

516
00:45:00.140 --> 00:45:03.640
(congregation murmuring)

517
00:45:05.846 --> 00:45:09.013
(mellow organ music)

518
00:45:55.537 --> 00:45:58.954
(congregation murmuring)

519
00:46:03.959 --> 00:46:07.042
(lively organ music)

520
00:46:44.816 --> 00:46:48.233
(congregation murmuring)

521
00:46:53.277 --> 00:46:56.360
(mellow organ music)

522
00:47:26.983 --> 00:47:30.400
(congregation murmuring)

523
00:47:34.106 --> 00:47:37.189
(lively organ music)

