﻿WEBVTT

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(peaceful organ music)

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<v ->Good morning and welcome to this service</v>

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of worship in Duke Chapel.

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We particularly welcome those of you who worship with us

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in Duke Hospital on the closed circuit television system.

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A couple of announcements:

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We remind you that Doctor and Mrs. Travis' course,

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Preparing For Marriage, continues each Sunday morning

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at 9:45, and many of you would find

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that course of great interest.

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Also, on Wednesday of this week,

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Becky Pippert, nationally known evangelist and writer,

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will be on the Duke campus at noon and at 7:30,

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speaking on evangelical women's issues.

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And we invite your attendance to hear Miss Pippert.

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We're glad you're here this morning.

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Let us continue our worship.

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(peaceful choral music)

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(peaceful organ music)

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(harmonious organ and choral music)

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<v ->When we gather to praise God,</v>

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we remember that we are a people who have preferred

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our own will's to the Lord's.

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Accepting God's power to become new persons in Christ,

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let us confess our sins before God and one another.

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<v Congregation>Have mercy upon us, oh God,</v>

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according to thy loving kindness;

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according to the multitude of thy tender mercies,

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blot out our transgressions;

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wash us thoroughly from our inequities,

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and cleanse us from our sins.

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For we acknowledge our transgressions

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and our sin is ever before us.

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Create in us clean hearts, oh God,

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and renew a right spirit within us,

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through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

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<v ->Hear the Good News!</v>

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Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.

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That is God's own proof of his love toward us.

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In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

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(congregation murmuring)

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<v ->Let us pray.</v>

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<v Congregation>Open our hearts and minds, oh God,</v>

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by the power of your Holy Spirit

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so that as the Word is read and proclaimed,

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we might hear, our faith might be strengthened,

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and our determination renewed to follow you, amen.

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The first lesson is taken from the Book of Jonah:

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Then the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time,

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saying, "Arise!

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"Go to Nineveh, that great city,

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"and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."

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So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh

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according to the Word of the Lord.

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Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,

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three-days journey in breadth.

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Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey.

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And he cried, "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

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And the people of Nineveh believed God.

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They proclaimed a fast, and put on sack cloth

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from the greatest of them to the least of them.

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When God saw what they did, how they turned

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from their evil way, God repented of the evil

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which He said He would do to them, and did not do it.

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This ends the reading of the first lesson.

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<v ->Please stand as we read together responsively:</v>

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For God alone my soul waits in silence.

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<v Congregation>From him comes my salvation.</v>

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<v ->He only is my rock, my salvation, my fortress.</v>

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<v Congregation>I shall not be greatly moved.</v>

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<v ->For God alone my soul waits in silence.</v>

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<v Congregation>My hope is from him.</v>

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<v ->He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.</v>

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<v Congregation>I shall not be shaken.</v>

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<v ->On God rests my deliverance and my honor.</v>

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<v Congregation>My mighty rock, my refuge is God.</v>

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<v ->Trust in Him at all times, oh people.</v>

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<v Congregation>Pour out your heart before him.</v>

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God is a refuge for us.

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<v ->Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this.</v>

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<v Congregation>That the power belongs to God.</v>

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<v ->And that to thee, oh Lord belongs steadfast love.</v>

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<v Congregation>For you will render a man</v>

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according to his work.

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(peaceful organ music)

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(peaceful organ and choral music)

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<v ->The Gospel lesson this morning</v>

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is taken from the Book of Mark:

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Now after John was arrested,

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Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of God

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and saying, "The time is fulfilled

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"and the Kingdom of God is at hand!

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"Repent, and believe in the Gospel."

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And passing along by the Sea of Galilee,

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he saw Simon, and Andrew, the brother of Simon,

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casting a net in the sea, for they were fishermen.

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And Jesus said to them, "Follow me,

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"and I will make you become fishers of people."

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And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

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And going on a little farther, he saw James,

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the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother,

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who were in their boat mending the nets.

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And immediately he called to them.

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And they left their father Zebedee

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in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

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Here ends the reading of the Gospel.

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<v ->This is the sort of text</v>

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which preachers love.

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This snippet of a story about the calling

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of Simon, Andrew, James, and John,

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which occurs in the First Chapter of Mark's Gospel.

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And passing along by the Sea of Galilee

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he saw Simon and Andrew casting their net into the sea,

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for they were fisherman, and Jesus said to them,

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"Follow me,

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"and I will make you become fishers of people."

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And immediately they left their nets and they followed him.

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Now, you may well wonder why preachers

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should love such a story, and love such a text.

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It's lean, it's sparse,

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it's virtually no detail.

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Jesus says, "Follow me."

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And immediately they follow.

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How typical is this text of Mark's Gospel.

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There's almost no detail, no dramatic coloring,

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no narrative subtlety.

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And you might be surprised,

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that is exactly why preachers love it.

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Because without detail or coloring or plot,

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there is so much empty space left

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for the creative preacher to fill in.

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Because you know there has to be more here

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than the way Mark tells it.

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Two fisherman, Jesus, follow me, case closed.

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Biblical scholars call this technique,

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particularly as it occurs in Mark, telescoping.

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Probably, they say, Mark has telescoped events

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that took place over days, even weeks,

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into just a moment of narrative.

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The probable hours which Jesus spent

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discussing discipleship with these people,

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countering their reservations.

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The debate that took place among themselves

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as they gradually came to a decision to sign up

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with the Jesus Movement and to become disciples,

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all of that is omitted,

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telescoped into just a few verses. It's just an outline.

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It's a sketch at best,

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a piece of lousy narrative art at worst.

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Tell us what you did at school today, dear?

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Well, the bell rang, I went in,

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the bell rang, I came out.

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Tell us about your expedition in the Gaul, General Caesar.

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I came.

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I saw.

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I conquered.

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Flaubert's Madame Bovary, as told in a freshman,

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high school freshman book report:

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There was this woman, she lived in France.

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She wasn't happy; she met a man; she still wasn't happy.

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She met another man; she wasn't happy.

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She had a baby; she drank poison; she died.

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I think this was a very good book.

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(congregation laughing)

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Well, I was the sort of student who,

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when told to draw a picture of a dog,

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I drew a picture of a dog with a little boy

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on the end of the leash, and a tree,

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and a sun over the tree, and four balloons

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over the little boy, and a daisy.

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In my last church, a couple of parishioners

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were discussing my preaching, and one of the parishioners

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said, "I think sometimes our preacher tends

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"to embellish things just a bit."

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"Yeah, and he lies, too!"

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Said the other one.
(congregation laughing)

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Well, this is the mark of creative homiletics.

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A friend of mine, Stuart Henry, accuses me of this.

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He said, "I can hand you a couple of wilted larkspur,

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"and in your hands it becomes a riot of delphinium!"

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You think I'm going to leave this text alone?

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With just a couple of fishermen, Jesus,

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follow me, you know it couldn't have happened like that.

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It was a bright, cloudless day in Galilee.

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The waves were gently lapping upon the shore,

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surging in, surging out.

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The midday sun was arched in the heavens,

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beating down upon the tanned backs

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of two brown-skinned fishermen,

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casting down hot bright rays on the beach.

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The fishermen worked knee deep in the water,

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toiling over their nets.

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You see, we're on,

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we're off and running on a sermon

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about the romance of the fishing industry in ancient Israel.

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Think about what Mark could've done

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with a good course in creative writing,

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or even the freshman composition course at Duke.

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Suddenly one of them stands upright.

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He shades his eyes from the sun,

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and he looks toward the bank,

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and there on the bank stands a lone, enigmatic figure.

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The figure on the bank calls out, "Follow me!"

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Well, of course we're not so interested

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in filling in geographical or artistic detail.

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More than likely, what we would like to fill in,

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in this terse account by Mark of the Calling

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of Disciples, more than likely what we would like

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to fill in is psychological detail.

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Where you see, Mark tells us virtually nothing

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of Simon and Andrew, James and John.

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There is no character development.

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No interiority.

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And we wonder, what inner psychological dynamics

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might have motivated these people to such a decision.

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We wonder what hierarchy of psychic need

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accounts for their response to Jesus, we wonder.

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Perhaps there was sibling rivalry between the two brothers.

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Simon: Simon must have been older.

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Andrew always resented him.

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He was tired of being treated always as little brother.

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Always being second, see, Mark introduces him

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as Andrew, the brother of Simon.

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He was fed up with it.

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Here comes little what's his name.

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You know, the brother of Simon.

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But when Jesus spoke, the tragic differences

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between these two brothers were healed.

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Or, James was searching for something in his life,

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a sense of meaning, of purpose.

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Fishing was fine, but was it an appropriate vocation

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for someone of his intelligence and abilities?

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Mending the nets, always mending the nets.

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He was sick of it!

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He reached out in life for something more.

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For fulfillment, and here came Jesus, and he spoke,

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"Follow me," and he was born again,

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and he went on to an outstanding evangelistic ministry.

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And yet you know that there are limits

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to what even a creative preacher can do with this story.

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For all of that bit about tensions in the family

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and searching for something more,

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well, it all coulda been true.

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But don't you find it interesting that Mark appears

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to care less?

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In about just five verses,

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Mark disposes of an account of how these four fishermen

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drop everything,

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and follow after Jesus on the basis

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of less than a dozen word invitation.

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00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:36.300
Years ago, I remember seeing a film

254
00:24:36.300 --> 00:24:41.300
by the Italian Marxist director, Paulo Pasolini,

255
00:24:41.540 --> 00:24:43.970
entitled: The Gospel of Saint Matthew.

256
00:24:43.970 --> 00:24:48.520
It was kind of a landmark in cinema verite.

257
00:24:48.520 --> 00:24:51.720
Now, most biblical films are of the Charlton Heston,

258
00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:54.650
Troy Donahue, Cecil B. DeMille variety,

259
00:24:54.650 --> 00:24:59.110
with everything done in pastels and this blond-headed Jesus,

260
00:24:59.110 --> 00:25:02.131
and dozens of extras.

261
00:25:02.131 --> 00:25:06.200
But Pasolini, instead chose to do a film exclusively

262
00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:10.120
in black and white with ordinary, everyday people

263
00:25:10.120 --> 00:25:13.090
off the streets.

264
00:25:13.090 --> 00:25:17.018
This Marxist movie-maker took the Bible literally.

265
00:25:17.018 --> 00:25:19.642
He said, "I will make a movie and tell

266
00:25:19.642 --> 00:25:23.208
"it just like the way it is written.

267
00:25:23.208 --> 00:25:26.450
"The folk around Jesus were simple, straight-forward folk,

268
00:25:26.450 --> 00:25:31.244
"and I will show them with Jesus."

269
00:25:31.244 --> 00:25:35.215
I think, for me, the most stunning part of the film

270
00:25:35.215 --> 00:25:39.516
was the scene of the Calling of the Disciples.

271
00:25:39.516 --> 00:25:43.500
A dark figure of Jesus moves down a dusty Galilean road,

272
00:25:43.500 --> 00:25:46.820
he sees some fisher folk toiling over their nets.

273
00:25:46.820 --> 00:25:49.289
And he calls out, just the way it's written here,

274
00:25:49.289 --> 00:25:53.042
"Follow me!"

275
00:25:53.042 --> 00:25:54.767
There is silence.

276
00:25:54.767 --> 00:25:56.700
They stare rather dumbly at Jesus,

277
00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:59.510
and then befuddledly at one another.

278
00:25:59.510 --> 00:26:02.480
What was that he said, they seemed to say to one another.

279
00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.410
And then they just drop what they're doing

280
00:26:04.410 --> 00:26:07.490
and they follow after Jesus, who has already moved down

281
00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:11.908
beyond them, down the road to another village.

282
00:26:11.908 --> 00:26:14.210
And I remember wondering then, I wondered,

283
00:26:14.210 --> 00:26:18.695
could it have happened just like that?

284
00:26:18.695 --> 00:26:21.110
Just a word from someone they had

285
00:26:21.110 --> 00:26:24.763
hardly gotten a glimpse of?

286
00:26:24.763 --> 00:26:28.090
Could they have left all and followed Jesus

287
00:26:28.090 --> 00:26:31.390
on the basis of a simple:

288
00:26:31.390 --> 00:26:33.984
Follow me.

289
00:26:33.984 --> 00:26:36.210
And a promise:

290
00:26:36.210 --> 00:26:41.190
And I will teach you how to catch people.

291
00:26:41.190 --> 00:26:46.190
Could this sort of thing happen just the way Mark tells it?

292
00:26:46.430 --> 00:26:49.540
You see, we're apt to fill in the blanks,

293
00:26:49.540 --> 00:26:54.531
speculate on motives, possible psychological dynamics.

294
00:26:55.450 --> 00:27:00.051
Not necessarily because we are so creative,

295
00:27:00.051 --> 00:27:05.016
but because we are so inherently evasive.

296
00:27:06.650 --> 00:27:11.638
In our wildest imaginations, most of us cannot imagine

297
00:27:12.560 --> 00:27:14.480
that it is possible to leave everything

298
00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.960
and follow on the basis of a simple invitation

299
00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:20.598
and a promise.

300
00:27:20.598 --> 00:27:23.720
We are not simple, taciturn,

301
00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:26.653
uncomplicated fisher folk like Simon, Andrew,

302
00:27:26.653 --> 00:27:29.075
and James and John.

303
00:27:29.075 --> 00:27:33.010
We are complex, educated modern people.

304
00:27:33.010 --> 00:27:34.930
People with responsibilities,

305
00:27:34.930 --> 00:27:38.528
people with complications in life.

306
00:27:38.528 --> 00:27:41.020
We are not apt to throw away everything

307
00:27:41.020 --> 00:27:43.350
and run off after some itinerate preacher

308
00:27:43.350 --> 00:27:46.497
who announces, "That the time is fulfilled!

309
00:27:46.497 --> 00:27:50.565
"And the Kingdom of God is now!"

310
00:27:50.565 --> 00:27:53.730
No, we're apt to have discussions.

311
00:27:53.730 --> 00:27:55.510
We will weigh all the possible options.

312
00:27:55.510 --> 00:28:00.190
We will do research, clarify our values,

313
00:28:00.190 --> 00:28:04.983
call for an objective professional opinion.

314
00:28:04.983 --> 00:28:07.810
We will have therapy to be sure.

315
00:28:07.810 --> 00:28:10.830
If we are responding out of a careful weighing of the facts

316
00:28:10.830 --> 00:28:15.240
or only out of our own inner psychological turmoil.

317
00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:17.430
Out of our poor relationship with our parents,

318
00:28:17.430 --> 00:28:20.908
or sibling rivalry.

319
00:28:20.908 --> 00:28:24.899
We have spent too many years educating you

320
00:28:24.899 --> 00:28:29.605
to be rational, balanced, well-adjusted people

321
00:28:29.605 --> 00:28:31.730
to have you change direction of your life

322
00:28:31.730 --> 00:28:36.086
on the basis of a mere impulse!

323
00:28:36.086 --> 00:28:40.450
And of course, the trouble is that once you do that,

324
00:28:40.450 --> 00:28:45.385
Jesus has already moved on to another town; you missed it.

325
00:28:47.187 --> 00:28:50.670
He may not come this way again.

326
00:28:50.670 --> 00:28:54.370
But at least we have not behaved impulsively,

327
00:28:54.370 --> 00:28:57.110
made decisions out of our passion

328
00:28:57.110 --> 00:29:00.143
rather than out of our reason.

329
00:29:00.143 --> 00:29:03.500
Back to the nets.

330
00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:06.300
Education, sophistication, tends to do that

331
00:29:06.300 --> 00:29:09.750
to people, I suppose.

332
00:29:09.750 --> 00:29:11.670
But what if, as we said before,

333
00:29:11.670 --> 00:29:15.290
what if the Calling of the Disciples

334
00:29:15.290 --> 00:29:18.300
took place exactly the way Mark tells it?

335
00:29:18.300 --> 00:29:23.300
What if it takes place exactly that way today?

336
00:29:23.380 --> 00:29:28.150
What if following Jesus was an act of impulse?

337
00:29:28.150 --> 00:29:30.690
A decision of the moment,

338
00:29:30.690 --> 00:29:33.940
based upon some mysterious act of passion,

339
00:29:33.940 --> 00:29:38.045
rather than a careful weighing of the facts.

340
00:29:38.045 --> 00:29:42.191
And immediately they left their nets; they followed.

341
00:29:42.191 --> 00:29:43.940
And immediately he called them,

342
00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:48.916
and they left their father and they followed, immediately.

343
00:29:50.410 --> 00:29:54.320
Perhaps Mark is saying in this terse,

344
00:29:54.320 --> 00:29:57.991
staccato account

345
00:29:57.991 --> 00:29:59.370
that this is the only way Jesus

346
00:29:59.370 --> 00:30:02.933
ever gets followed by anybody:

347
00:30:02.933 --> 00:30:07.090
As an act of impulse, without all the facts.

348
00:30:07.090 --> 00:30:09.895
Stumbling after an enigmatic figure

349
00:30:09.895 --> 00:30:14.744
whom you hardly even know, much less where he's going.

350
00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:21.643
For I call to your attention that our text begins today

351
00:30:21.643 --> 00:30:23.990
with the statement:

352
00:30:23.990 --> 00:30:28.983
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee

353
00:30:28.983 --> 00:30:32.485
preaching the Gospel of God.

354
00:30:32.485 --> 00:30:35.256
You see what Mark has done?

355
00:30:35.256 --> 00:30:40.113
The story begins with just a subtle little side comment.

356
00:30:40.113 --> 00:30:45.113
A mere mention of the arrest of John the Baptist.

357
00:30:45.420 --> 00:30:50.420
The mission that Jesus calls people to is full of peril.

358
00:30:50.840 --> 00:30:55.010
John, the forerunner of Jesus, has been arrested.

359
00:30:55.010 --> 00:30:57.770
In a short time his head will be on the platter

360
00:30:57.770 --> 00:31:00.820
at one of the King's parties.

361
00:31:00.820 --> 00:31:02.680
And if they can do that to John,

362
00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:04.700
and if they can do that to Jesus,

363
00:31:04.700 --> 00:31:09.658
who knows what they may do to his disciples.

364
00:31:12.230 --> 00:31:17.230
You'd better think this thing over again.

365
00:31:17.230 --> 00:31:19.962
"If you want to follow Jesus,"

366
00:31:19.962 --> 00:31:23.632
remarked the Catholic activist priest Berrigan,

367
00:31:23.632 --> 00:31:26.505
who preached, by the way, from this pulpit,

368
00:31:26.505 --> 00:31:31.460
"If you want to follow Jesus, you better look good on wood."

369
00:31:32.630 --> 00:31:35.763
That's what he was calling them to.

370
00:31:35.763 --> 00:31:38.513
It was the cost of discipleship.

371
00:31:38.513 --> 00:31:41.760
They're getting ready to murder John,

372
00:31:41.760 --> 00:31:43.610
and they will do the same to this one

373
00:31:43.610 --> 00:31:46.826
who bids us to follow.

374
00:31:46.826 --> 00:31:51.320
And reason always provides plenty of reasons

375
00:31:51.320 --> 00:31:54.448
to avoid this cost.

376
00:31:54.448 --> 00:31:57.253
What reasonable, careful,

377
00:31:57.253 --> 00:32:00.821
intelligent person would follow?

378
00:32:00.821 --> 00:32:02.870
Except,

379
00:32:02.870 --> 00:32:07.011
as impulse.

380
00:32:07.011 --> 00:32:08.970
I remember John Vannorsdall, who will preach

381
00:32:08.970 --> 00:32:10.270
at the Baccalaureate this year,

382
00:32:10.270 --> 00:32:14.236
preaching from this pulpit on this text.

383
00:32:14.236 --> 00:32:17.500
And meditating upon these fishermen leaving their nets,

384
00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:21.351
and their father, Zebedee, and following.

385
00:32:21.351 --> 00:32:24.083
He made a comment:

386
00:32:24.083 --> 00:32:26.910
Jesus must've broken the hearts

387
00:32:26.910 --> 00:32:31.776
of many a Jewish and Roman family.

388
00:32:35.490 --> 00:32:38.960
As a pastor, it almost never fails,

389
00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:40.863
when someone, say some student,

390
00:32:40.863 --> 00:32:44.150
comes by to tell me that he or she

391
00:32:44.150 --> 00:32:47.370
has decided to do something for God;

392
00:32:47.370 --> 00:32:52.178
to follow, to give his life to something or someone,

393
00:32:52.178 --> 00:32:53.920
some great undertaking which is felt

394
00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:56.290
to be divinely ordained,

395
00:32:56.290 --> 00:32:59.290
it just never fails, among the first words

396
00:32:59.290 --> 00:33:02.720
the person says are:

397
00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:07.720
I know you're gonna think I'm crazy, but...

398
00:33:08.344 --> 00:33:11.244
They know.

399
00:33:11.244 --> 00:33:16.244
This past week I received a letter from a Duke graduate.

400
00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:19.470
I know him only because he spent an hour or so with me

401
00:33:19.470 --> 00:33:21.240
trying to decide whether or not he ought

402
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:26.045
to go into seminary or law school or into business.

403
00:33:28.090 --> 00:33:31.250
Now he spent a year since graduation thinking it all over,

404
00:33:31.250 --> 00:33:33.002
and he sent me this letter.

405
00:33:33.002 --> 00:33:37.200
And the letter consisted of about 21 questions

406
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:40.580
that he wants me to think about and then answer,

407
00:33:40.580 --> 00:33:42.700
before he makes a decision.

408
00:33:42.700 --> 00:33:47.700
Questions, like: How much free time do pastors have?

409
00:33:48.360 --> 00:33:52.451
What is the average salary of the American pastor?

410
00:33:52.451 --> 00:33:54.610
Do you think you can still stay a human being

411
00:33:54.610 --> 00:33:55.860
and be a pastor?

412
00:33:55.860 --> 00:33:58.000
Questions, more questions than on the GRE.

413
00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:02.500
It'll take me longer to complete this letter!

414
00:34:02.500 --> 00:34:06.940
But only half-crazed people go out and stake their lives

415
00:34:06.940 --> 00:34:11.886
on impulse, we've spent years teaching you that.

416
00:34:13.110 --> 00:34:14.580
She was a graduate of two

417
00:34:14.580 --> 00:34:19.580
of this country's finest medical schools.

418
00:34:20.170 --> 00:34:22.510
She could've had a lucrative practice,

419
00:34:22.510 --> 00:34:27.468
but she went as medical missionary to Africa.

420
00:34:28.390 --> 00:34:30.070
And I was dying to know

421
00:34:30.070 --> 00:34:35.070
what act of reason had led her to this decision,

422
00:34:35.090 --> 00:34:39.338
and I asked her, and she responded:

423
00:34:39.338 --> 00:34:40.570
I just had this feeling that

424
00:34:40.570 --> 00:34:45.530
it was what God wanted me to do with my life.

425
00:34:45.530 --> 00:34:47.813
That's it?

426
00:34:47.813 --> 00:34:52.320
Just a feeling, an impulse?

427
00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:55.630
Jesus preached, the time is fulfilled.

428
00:34:55.630 --> 00:34:59.650
The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand.

429
00:34:59.650 --> 00:35:02.510
Repent, believe, follow!

430
00:35:02.510 --> 00:35:04.170
The time is fulfilled.

431
00:35:04.170 --> 00:35:08.640
In the New Testament there are at least two Greek words

432
00:35:08.640 --> 00:35:11.880
used for what we call, time.

433
00:35:11.880 --> 00:35:16.670
First of all there is: chronos,

434
00:35:16.670 --> 00:35:20.610
from which we get chronology, time,

435
00:35:20.610 --> 00:35:23.070
as years, months, calendars, clocks,

436
00:35:23.070 --> 00:35:27.202
the steady tick-tock of predictable time.

437
00:35:27.202 --> 00:35:30.360
And that's where most of us spend our lives,

438
00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:33.204
mired down in chronos.

439
00:35:33.204 --> 00:35:35.940
Hitting the books, mending the nets,

440
00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:40.940
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

441
00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:45.841
And yet there is another word used for time:

442
00:35:45.841 --> 00:35:47.991
It is kairos,

443
00:35:47.991 --> 00:35:52.330
which means special time.

444
00:35:52.330 --> 00:35:54.520
The right time.

445
00:35:54.520 --> 00:35:56.950
When time is fulfilled,

446
00:35:56.950 --> 00:36:00.160
and you see your whole life before you,

447
00:36:00.160 --> 00:36:02.517
caught up in one single moment,

448
00:36:02.517 --> 00:36:05.978
and everything hinges on whether you say yes

449
00:36:05.978 --> 00:36:10.978
or whether you say, no!

450
00:36:11.960 --> 00:36:14.921
The preacher says,

451
00:36:14.921 --> 00:36:16.500
the time

452
00:36:16.500 --> 00:36:18.000
is fulfilled.

453
00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:21.470
The Kingdom of God is now.

454
00:36:21.470 --> 00:36:23.160
Repent!

455
00:36:23.160 --> 00:36:25.526
Believe!

456
00:36:25.526 --> 00:36:28.058
Follow me!

457
00:36:36.657 --> 00:36:39.907
(peaceful organ music)

458
00:37:15.950 --> 00:37:20.283
(harmonious organ and choral music)

459
00:40:10.650 --> 00:40:12.353
<v ->The Lord be with you.</v>

460
00:40:12.353 --> 00:40:14.063
<v Congregation>And also with you.</v>

461
00:40:14.063 --> 00:40:14.896
<v ->Let us pray.</v>

462
00:40:25.660 --> 00:40:30.237
Jesus said, "Whoever among you wants to be great

463
00:40:30.237 --> 00:40:32.907
"must become a servant of all."

464
00:40:34.120 --> 00:40:38.380
For the son of man himself has not come to be served,

465
00:40:38.380 --> 00:40:42.100
but to served, and to give his life

466
00:40:42.100 --> 00:40:45.023
to set many others free.

467
00:40:45.023 --> 00:40:47.993
Master, we hear your call.

468
00:40:47.993 --> 00:40:51.410
(congregation murmuring)

469
00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:58.000
Jesus said, "Unless you turn and become like little children

470
00:40:58.777 --> 00:41:01.197
"you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

471
00:41:02.530 --> 00:41:05.105
Master, we hear your call.

472
00:41:05.105 --> 00:41:09.310
(congregation murmuring)

473
00:41:09.310 --> 00:41:11.327
Jesus said,

474
00:41:11.327 --> 00:41:14.187
"You must love your enemies and do good

475
00:41:14.187 --> 00:41:17.377
"without expecting any return.

476
00:41:17.377 --> 00:41:20.877
"So will you be children of the most high.

477
00:41:20.877 --> 00:41:25.063
"Because God indeed is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

478
00:41:26.057 --> 00:41:29.327
"Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate."

479
00:41:30.590 --> 00:41:33.263
Master, we hear your call.

480
00:41:33.263 --> 00:41:37.150
(congregation murmuring)

481
00:41:37.150 --> 00:41:40.037
Jesus said, "This is my Father's glory,

482
00:41:40.037 --> 00:41:42.757
"that you may bear fruit in plenty,

483
00:41:42.757 --> 00:41:45.637
"and so be my Disciples.

484
00:41:45.637 --> 00:41:49.667
"If you dwell in me as I dwell in you,

485
00:41:49.667 --> 00:41:52.257
"you will bear much fruit.

486
00:41:52.257 --> 00:41:55.177
"For apart from me you can do nothing."

487
00:41:56.130 --> 00:41:58.748
Master, we hear your call.

488
00:41:58.748 --> 00:42:02.730
(congregation murmuring)

489
00:42:02.730 --> 00:42:04.617
Jesus said,

490
00:42:04.617 --> 00:42:07.477
"There is no greater love than this,

491
00:42:07.477 --> 00:42:10.313
"that you should lay down your life for your friends.

492
00:42:11.187 --> 00:42:13.257
"This is my Commandment:

493
00:42:13.257 --> 00:42:16.907
"Love one another as I have loved you."

494
00:42:18.020 --> 00:42:20.588
Master, we hear your call.

495
00:42:20.588 --> 00:42:24.690
(congregation murmuring)

496
00:42:24.690 --> 00:42:26.747
Jesus said,

497
00:42:26.747 --> 00:42:31.267
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

498
00:42:31.267 --> 00:42:35.837
"You then are to go and make Disciples of all the nations,

499
00:42:35.837 --> 00:42:37.527
"and baptize them in the name

500
00:42:37.527 --> 00:42:40.863
"of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

501
00:42:41.857 --> 00:42:45.877
"Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.

502
00:42:45.877 --> 00:42:49.567
"And remember, I am with you always,

503
00:42:49.567 --> 00:42:51.447
"even to the end of the world."

504
00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:54.938
Master, we hear your call.

505
00:42:54.938 --> 00:42:58.820
(congregation murmuring)

506
00:42:58.820 --> 00:42:59.653
Amen.

507
00:43:02.230 --> 00:43:04.450
And now, in response to Jesus' call

508
00:43:04.450 --> 00:43:06.900
to be disciples of Christ,

509
00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:08.810
let us offer with grateful hearts

510
00:43:08.810 --> 00:43:11.007
our gifts and ourselves unto God.

511
00:43:13.103 --> 00:43:16.353
(peaceful organ music)

512
00:45:19.982 --> 00:45:23.315
(uplifting organ music)

513
00:45:31.425 --> 00:45:35.779
♪ Praising the Lord ♪

514
00:45:35.779 --> 00:45:38.148
♪ Praising the Lord ♪

515
00:45:38.148 --> 00:45:41.755
♪ Praising the Lord ♪

516
00:45:41.755 --> 00:45:46.755
♪ Praise God in His sanctuary ♪

517
00:45:48.528 --> 00:45:52.786
♪ Praise Him in the places ♪

518
00:45:52.786 --> 00:45:57.786
♪ Praise Him praise him ♪

519
00:45:58.084 --> 00:46:03.084
♪ Praise Him according to His level of greatness ♪

520
00:46:05.793 --> 00:46:09.468
♪ Praise Him the sound of the trumpets ♪

521
00:46:09.468 --> 00:46:13.551
♪ With the sound of the trumpets ♪

522
00:46:14.748 --> 00:46:17.915
(vibrant organ music)

523
00:46:27.468 --> 00:46:32.218
(harmonious orchestral and choral music)

524
00:49:45.063 --> 00:49:48.313
(peaceful organ music)

525
00:50:08.063 --> 00:50:12.396
(harmonious organ and choral music)

526
00:51:13.150 --> 00:51:15.825
<v ->Almighty God, giver of all life,</v>

527
00:51:15.825 --> 00:51:19.010
in hearing your call to be followers of Christ,

528
00:51:19.010 --> 00:51:22.390
we your unworthy servants do give thee most humble

529
00:51:22.390 --> 00:51:24.850
and hearty thanks for all thy goodness

530
00:51:24.850 --> 00:51:26.920
and loving kindness to us,

531
00:51:26.920 --> 00:51:29.100
and to all men and women.

532
00:51:29.100 --> 00:51:31.960
We bless thee for our creation, preservation,

533
00:51:31.960 --> 00:51:34.640
and for all the blessings of this life,

534
00:51:34.640 --> 00:51:37.290
but above all for thy most gracious love

535
00:51:37.290 --> 00:51:41.200
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ,

536
00:51:41.200 --> 00:51:43.000
who taught us to pray:

537
00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:45.610
<v Congregation>Our Father, who art in heaven,</v>

538
00:51:45.610 --> 00:51:47.490
hallowed be thy name.

539
00:51:47.490 --> 00:51:50.600
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

540
00:51:50.600 --> 00:51:52.710
on earth as it is in heaven.

541
00:51:52.710 --> 00:51:54.990
Give us this day our daily bread

542
00:51:54.990 --> 00:51:57.370
and forgive us our trespasses

543
00:51:57.370 --> 00:52:00.540
as we forgive those who trespass against us.

544
00:52:00.540 --> 00:52:04.730
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

545
00:52:04.730 --> 00:52:07.110
For thine is the kingdom, the power,

546
00:52:07.110 --> 00:52:09.160
and the glory forever, amen.

547
00:52:12.059 --> 00:52:15.309
(peaceful organ music)

548
00:52:54.668 --> 00:52:59.001
(harmonious organ and choral music)

549
00:55:57.707 --> 00:55:59.680
<v ->And now may the grace of our Lord</v>

550
00:55:59.680 --> 00:56:02.187
and savior, Jesus Christ, the love of God,

551
00:56:02.187 --> 00:56:04.630
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

552
00:56:04.630 --> 00:56:07.717
be with you all now, and always.

553
00:56:14.556 --> 00:56:17.889
(peaceful choral music)

554
00:57:32.173 --> 00:57:35.340
(vibrant organ music)

