WEBVTT
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Sunday worship service,
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April 27th 1980, Duke chapel.
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(somber organ music)
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(rhythmic organ music)
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(somber organ music)
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(Choir singing)
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(rhythmic organ music)
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(choir singing)
(organ drowns out singing)
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I welcome you and I greet you today
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in all mighty God.
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Who has made us, who saves us
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and who continues to be with us.
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In order that we prepare ourselves
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to offer heart felt praise and thanksgiving.
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Let us confess our sins and accept God's forgiveness,
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let us pray.
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(clears throat)
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Oh Lord,
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holy and righteous God,
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we acknowledge before thy that we do not fear thy
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and that we do not love thy above all things.
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We do not delight in prayer, nor take pleasure in thy word.
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We do not really love our neighbor,
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we lack the consonance that should accompany
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our Christian profession.
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Our hearts are divided.
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Crossed by doubts and guilty desires,
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we accuse ourselves before thy oh God.
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We employ thy who's nature and who's name is love,
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to forgive us and in forgiving to heal us
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so that in our lives something will finally be changed.
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Amen.
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Let us confess in silence,
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our personal sins.
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(coughing)
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Friends,
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here and believe the good news of the gospel.
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In Jesus Christ we are forgiven,
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let us forgive one another.
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Let us give thanks, for God is good
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and Gods love is ever lasting.
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Thanks be to God,
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by whose love we have been made.
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Thanks be to God,
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by whose grace we have been made whole.
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Thanks be to God,
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by whose resurrection we are promised life ever lasting.
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Amen.
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I think it not inappropriate today
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in this time of accounting,
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accounting why students have learned
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and what professors have taught,
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that we wish all of you well.
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You are engaged in the enterprise of examinations
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and final papers.
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We welcome to the pulpit today
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the reverend B. Maurice Richie,
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assistant dean for field education and student services
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in the divinity school.
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We await with eagerness the message
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that he will bring to us.
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Let us pray.
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Prepare our hearts, oh Lord.
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To accept your word,
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silence in us any voice but your own.
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That hearing we may also obey your will,
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through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
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The new testament lesson is from acts chapter 13,
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verses 14 through 16 and 26 through 39.
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But they passed from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia
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and on the sabbath day they went in through the synagogue
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and sat down.
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After the reading of the law and the prophets
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the rulers of the synagogue sent to them,
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saying, brethren, if ye have any word
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of exhortation for the people, say it.
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So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said,
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brethren, sons of the family of Abraham
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and those among you that fear God,
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to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
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For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers
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because they did not recognize him,
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nor understand the utterances of the prophets
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which are read every sabbath
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fulfill these by condemning him.
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Though they could charge him with nothing deserving death.
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Yet they asked pilot to have him killed
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and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him,
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they took him down from the tree
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and laid him in a tomb.
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But God raised him from the dead
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and for many days he appeared
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to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem,
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who are now his witnesses to the people
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and we bring you the good news
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that what God promised to the fathers,
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this he has fulfilled to us their children
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by raising Jesus.
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As also it is written in the second Psalm.
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Thou art my son,
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today I have begotten thy
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and as for the fact that he raised him from the dead,
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no more to return to corruption.
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He spoke in this way, I will give you the holy
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and sure blessings of David.
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Therefore he says also, in another Psalm,
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Thou wilt not let thy holy ones see corruption.
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For David, after he had served the council of God
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in his own generation, fell asleep
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and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.
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But he whom God raised up,
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saw no corruption.
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Let it be known to you therefore brethren,
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that through this man,
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forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you
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and by him everyone that believes is freed from everything
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from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
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The apostle lesson is from Revelation, chapter 7,
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verses 9 through 17.
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After this I looked, and behold,
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a great multitude which no man could number,
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from every nations, from all tribes,
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and peoples, and tongues,
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standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
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clothed in white robes,
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with palm branches in their hands,
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and crying out with a loud voice,
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salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne,
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and to the Lamb and all the angels stood around the throne
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and the elders and the four living creatures,
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and they fell on their faces before the throne
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and worshiped God, saying,
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Amen, Blessing and glory and wisdom,
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and thanksgiving
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and honor and power and might,
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Be to our God forever and ever.
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Amen.
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Then one of the elders addressed me saying
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Who are these clothed in white robes,
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and wenst did they come from?
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I said to him, Sir, you know.
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And he said to me,
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These are they who come out of the great tribulation,
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they have washed their robes
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and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
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Therefore are they before the throne of God,
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and serve Him day and night in His temple.
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And He who sits upon the throne will shelter them
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with his presents.
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They shall neither hunger no more,
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neither thirst anymore.
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The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat
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for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd
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and he will guide them to springs of living waters.
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And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
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Here ends the reading from the apostle, amen.
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(calming instrumental music)
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(choir vocalizing)
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(choir singing)
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Will the congregation please stand
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for the reading of the gospel lesson?
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The gospel lesson is form John, chapter 10,
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verses 22 through 30.
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It was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem.
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It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple,
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in the portico of Solomon's.
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So the Jews gathered round him and said to him,
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How long will you keep us in suspense?
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If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
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Jesus answered them, I told you,
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and you do not believe.
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The works I do in my Fathers name,
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they be a witness to me,
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but you do not believe because you do not belong my sheep.
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My sheep hear my voice and I know them,
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and they follow me and I give them eternal life,
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and they shall never perish
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and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.
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My Father, who has given them to me,
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is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them
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out of my Father's hand.
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I and the Father are one.
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(rhythmic organ music)
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(choir singing)
(organ drowns out singing)
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The public worship services of this chapel
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have always been meaningful to me
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and therefore it is a special pleasure for me
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to have a part in the leadership of today's service.
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The last book of the bible,
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the revelation to John of Patmos.
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Is a frequently midline and misunderstood book.
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For most persons it is perhaps the most difficult
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slice of scripture to grasps.
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Consequently it receives little attention
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from the more literate christian public.
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This fact makes all the more curious my personal history
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with this graphic piece of religious literature.
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From my childhood comes a stream
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of memories of things religious,
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one of these was the old testament stories
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my mother read to me from a thick,
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blue back collection of bible stories for children,
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as we sat together on the sofa of our living room.
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Another is perhaps more vivid
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because of the near terror it struck in my young heart.
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Often we children sat with various members
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of our extended family as they talked
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in aunt Mayfields living room.
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To help you appreciate the scene,
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I shall have to describe the setting.
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Aunt Mayfield and uncle Fred lived with their four children
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in a four room bungalow across the street from us.
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For several years uncle Fred was in the South Pacific
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with the United States Navy.
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The living room where we sat was dark
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because it was small, with only two tiny windows
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but it was also dark because the walls
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were not ordinary walls,
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they were from corner to corner and floor to ceiling,
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real life scenes, in oil,
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of a South Pacific island,
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including everything but the bare breasted natives.
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We were much too pius for bare breasted natives.
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This lovely work of art had been provided
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by another member of the larger family,
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uncle Hen Nouse.
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Who with his two young daughters,
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had died of tuberculoses only a very few years before.
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How often the adults sat there in that dark room,
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eating, dipping their snuff,
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entering into their extensive debates
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over the books of Daniel and revelation.
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With a son and a husband in the South Pacific
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in World War II, aunt Mayfield's concern was greater
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than speculative theology, eschatology
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or apocaliptcism.
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She had high personal stakes.
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Besides that she probably suffered
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a rather guilty conscience over who knows what
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but in those discussions emerged certain questions,
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who is the beast in revelation?
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Who the anti Christ?
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Who the great harlot?
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And I can approximately date my memories
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from some of their interpretations.
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In the earlier days Adolf Hitler was the anti Christ,
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then Joseph Stalin assumed that role.
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Sometimes in addition to or quite separately
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from Mao Tse-Tung.
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As time rolled on things became more obscure
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and more confused,
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perhaps the anti Christ was a nation and not a person?
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Or a movement? Communism, perhaps?
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It is testimony to the power of John's images
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that the superficially simple persons,
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cotton mill workers, a plumber, a seamstress,
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with their elementary educations sat around
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trying to locate themselves, if not in God's history,
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then certainly in Johns grand scheme of things.
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What is God up to in history?
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And what does this mean for us?
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Is the end near?
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Yesterday morning during a morning Harold
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carried an associated press article reporting
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that a new generation has taken up aunt Hazel
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and aunt Mayfield's debate.
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Pat Robertson and his 700 Club
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sent their 250,000 members
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a leaflet recently suggesting that the anti Christ
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will be a young world dictator rising our of a new Rome.
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The 10 nations of the European common market.
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The article says, given the current European disdain
273
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for both the Christian gospel and the nation of Israel,
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it is not hard to imagine parts of the book
275
00:40:29.120 --> 00:40:34.120
of revelation coming to pass in the 1980's.
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Hal Lindsey who's book entitled
277
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"The late great planet Earth"
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sold more than any book published in the 70's,
279
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agrees with Robertson and his crowd.
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Needless to say the Washington office
281
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of the European economic community
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chose not to comment on any of these speculations.
283
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Even these interpretations still point
284
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to the contemporary power of revelation.
285
00:41:05.658 --> 00:41:10.658
It is a book, difficult, uneven, complex,
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00:41:11.740 --> 00:41:13.710
which deserves to be taken seriously
287
00:41:13.710 --> 00:41:16.596
by the community of faith.
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In our own community both Dr. James Price
289
00:41:19.170 --> 00:41:20.600
of the department of religion
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00:41:20.600 --> 00:41:23.770
and Dr. James M Efird of the divinity school
291
00:41:23.770 --> 00:41:26.243
have written on it.
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The events of the last few days have brought many of us
293
00:41:29.370 --> 00:41:31.623
to envision a world of catastrophic,
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not unlike those depicted by John in his book.
295
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Among the earthquakes, winds and fires,
296
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the harlot, dragons and beast.
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The choir of angels and elders and heavenly anthems.
298
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Is there a word of the Lord
299
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for an Easter tid celebration in Duke chapel?
300
00:42:00.130 --> 00:42:03.860
Before we look at the specifics of the 7th chapter,
301
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let us first remember John's specific situation.
302
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He tells us he is involuntarily on the island of Patmos,
303
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a tiny island of the Easter Mediterranean
304
00:42:16.010 --> 00:42:20.998
because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
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00:42:21.900 --> 00:42:26.893
In other words John was an exile for religious reason.
306
00:42:28.430 --> 00:42:31.790
The churches of western Asia minor to whom he is writing
307
00:42:31.790 --> 00:42:34.640
are a mixture of strength and weakness,
308
00:42:34.640 --> 00:42:38.451
faithfulness and unfaithfulness.
309
00:42:38.451 --> 00:42:40.310
What will be their future at the hands
310
00:42:40.310 --> 00:42:43.580
of the Roman imperial pressure to bow down
311
00:42:43.580 --> 00:42:48.270
and give a obeisance to the Gods of Rome?
312
00:42:48.270 --> 00:42:51.880
Some have already capitulated says John,
313
00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:53.810
eating meat offered to idols
314
00:42:53.810 --> 00:42:55.450
and entering into ceremonies
315
00:42:55.450 --> 00:42:59.786
basically in conflict with Christian faith.
316
00:42:59.786 --> 00:43:02.010
Others as John of Patmos himself,
317
00:43:02.010 --> 00:43:04.780
had refused obeisance and had suffered torture,
318
00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:08.950
death or exile.
319
00:43:08.950 --> 00:43:13.950
The future John envisions for the struggle is on the level,
320
00:43:14.018 --> 00:43:17.126
on the one level bleak.
321
00:43:17.126 --> 00:43:19.580
The forces of evil will slowly build
322
00:43:19.580 --> 00:43:21.630
until by the end of history there will be
323
00:43:21.630 --> 00:43:25.400
a mighty conflict between the forces for righteousness
324
00:43:25.400 --> 00:43:29.250
and the forces of evil.
325
00:43:29.250 --> 00:43:31.070
In the 7th chapter John brings us
326
00:43:31.070 --> 00:43:35.271
to stand before that final moment.
327
00:43:35.271 --> 00:43:37.070
As the forces for evil mount
328
00:43:37.070 --> 00:43:40.080
and the nature calamities multiply,
329
00:43:40.080 --> 00:43:44.290
who indeed can stand?
330
00:43:44.290 --> 00:43:47.440
John sees God sealing his faithful ones
331
00:43:47.440 --> 00:43:50.853
before the calamities fall.
332
00:43:50.853 --> 00:43:53.730
The church is assured that all through
333
00:43:53.730 --> 00:43:56.880
the increasing terrors of the last days,
334
00:43:56.880 --> 00:44:01.550
the merciful union of believes with their heavenly lord,
335
00:44:01.550 --> 00:44:06.550
will never cease, no, not for one moment.
336
00:44:07.030 --> 00:44:12.030
Even in this darkest moment of life in this world,
337
00:44:12.040 --> 00:44:16.930
God is faithful and active among his people
338
00:44:16.930 --> 00:44:20.495
to assure their union with him.
339
00:44:20.495 --> 00:44:25.380
He remains King and Lord of history.
340
00:44:28.090 --> 00:44:31.010
From the motley mixture of these seven churches
341
00:44:31.010 --> 00:44:33.140
through the calamities of the end times
342
00:44:33.140 --> 00:44:36.130
stream the thousands upon thousands of faithful
343
00:44:36.130 --> 00:44:39.940
to the throne of God and his land.
344
00:44:39.940 --> 00:44:44.915
The victors' song is not of their great feats of faith,
345
00:44:45.780 --> 00:44:49.470
it is rather salvation belongs to our God
346
00:44:49.470 --> 00:44:53.420
who sits upon the throne and to the lamb.
347
00:44:53.420 --> 00:44:56.760
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
348
00:44:56.760 --> 00:45:01.760
in honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.
349
00:45:04.690 --> 00:45:08.201
So it is those who kept the faith,
350
00:45:08.201 --> 00:45:10.500
who stand before the throne of God
351
00:45:10.500 --> 00:45:14.645
robed in the victors garb of white.
352
00:45:14.645 --> 00:45:18.300
It is they who are sheltered with God's presence,
353
00:45:18.300 --> 00:45:22.580
safe beyond the reach of a natural human calamities
354
00:45:22.580 --> 00:45:24.803
of this world.
355
00:45:24.803 --> 00:45:28.010
Safe because of their own heroics?
356
00:45:28.010 --> 00:45:30.160
No.
357
00:45:30.160 --> 00:45:33.330
Safe because of their own strength?
358
00:45:33.330 --> 00:45:35.646
No.
359
00:45:35.646 --> 00:45:39.160
Safe because of their own cunning?
360
00:45:39.160 --> 00:45:41.243
No.
361
00:45:41.243 --> 00:45:46.051
Safe because of their faith?
362
00:45:46.051 --> 00:45:51.030
Which has joined them to the one who sits upon the throne,
363
00:45:51.030 --> 00:45:53.320
the alpha and the omega,
364
00:45:53.320 --> 00:45:58.320
the almighty, the one who is and who was
365
00:45:58.810 --> 00:46:01.673
and who is to come.
366
00:46:01.673 --> 00:46:04.670
These have come out to the great tribulation
367
00:46:04.670 --> 00:46:09.503
because they died and rose with Christ the lamb.
368
00:46:09.503 --> 00:46:13.460
Even the terrible sufferings of the catastrophic last days
369
00:46:13.460 --> 00:46:15.100
of the end of time,
370
00:46:15.100 --> 00:46:20.100
can not stop the triumphal prepossession of the redeemed.
371
00:46:20.200 --> 00:46:25.200
God has called and gathered and enlightened the elect
372
00:46:25.670 --> 00:46:30.670
and God has the power to keep them in Christ to the end.
373
00:46:34.220 --> 00:46:37.150
Out of the eating and the talking
374
00:46:37.150 --> 00:46:39.370
and the dipping and the praying
375
00:46:39.370 --> 00:46:42.480
that went on in Mayfield's living room,
376
00:46:42.480 --> 00:46:47.480
came a strong sense of the judgment of God.
377
00:46:47.660 --> 00:46:52.222
I felt the terror of impending mysterious events
378
00:46:52.222 --> 00:46:56.410
and the awesome and frightful judgment of God implicit
379
00:46:56.410 --> 00:47:00.385
in the havoc that might come.
380
00:47:00.385 --> 00:47:02.100
The thrust of a great deal
381
00:47:02.100 --> 00:47:04.360
of the conversation was repentance,
382
00:47:04.360 --> 00:47:09.360
get ready, the forces of evil are mounting, disaster looms
383
00:47:11.210 --> 00:47:16.210
and that is indeed true to one part of John's vision.
384
00:47:16.659 --> 00:47:20.250
But equally if not much more significant theme
385
00:47:20.250 --> 00:47:23.870
is the one handle immortalized in Messiah,
386
00:47:23.870 --> 00:47:28.170
the kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord
387
00:47:28.170 --> 00:47:33.156
and of his Christ and he shall rain forever and ever,
388
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:37.995
the victory for John is sure.
389
00:47:37.995 --> 00:47:42.100
God rains and will rain and in his rule,
390
00:47:42.100 --> 00:47:44.630
he throws over is own people,
391
00:47:44.630 --> 00:47:49.320
the tabernacle of redemptive presence.
392
00:47:49.320 --> 00:47:53.300
In the 7th chapter, God has seen the faithful ones
393
00:47:53.300 --> 00:47:57.870
through the disasters and the calamities of the world
394
00:47:57.870 --> 00:48:00.600
and brought them into his own presence,
395
00:48:00.600 --> 00:48:05.290
where hunger, thirst and the hot sun of the Middle East
396
00:48:05.290 --> 00:48:08.671
can touch them no more.
397
00:48:08.671 --> 00:48:11.600
As Han Leegues said a generation ago,
398
00:48:11.600 --> 00:48:16.600
in the 7th chapter, the door of heaven is open
399
00:48:17.210 --> 00:48:20.530
and a ray of future glory falls upon the world
400
00:48:20.530 --> 00:48:25.446
in it's sorrow and in it's pain.
401
00:48:29.462 --> 00:48:34.462
If the rescue effort is attempted again in Iran,
402
00:48:34.490 --> 00:48:37.050
if the world teeters in these days
403
00:48:37.050 --> 00:48:42.050
on the brink of nuclear catastrophe,
404
00:48:42.190 --> 00:48:46.070
if empires rise and fall,
405
00:48:46.070 --> 00:48:50.895
old orders fade and news remain elusive,
406
00:48:52.290 --> 00:48:55.550
let us sing with John of Patmos,
407
00:48:55.550 --> 00:49:00.408
salvation belongs to our God.
408
00:49:00.408 --> 00:49:05.310
He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps,
409
00:49:05.310 --> 00:49:10.310
Jesus is raised up, not to leave us
410
00:49:10.340 --> 00:49:13.550
but to impel us with his Resurrection
411
00:49:13.550 --> 00:49:16.270
and to proceed and beckon us to himself
412
00:49:16.270 --> 00:49:20.380
by the throne of the almighty one.
413
00:49:20.380 --> 00:49:25.048
Our God has invited us into his very own life
414
00:49:25.048 --> 00:49:27.716
and by faith,
415
00:49:27.716 --> 00:49:30.540
neither life nor death,
416
00:49:30.540 --> 00:49:33.990
nor powers, nor principalities,
417
00:49:33.990 --> 00:49:38.268
nor things present, nor things to come
418
00:49:38.268 --> 00:49:43.200
will separate us form Gods love,
419
00:49:43.200 --> 00:49:48.160
in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
420
00:49:48.160 --> 00:49:53.160
To him be glory, dominion, honor, power and might,
421
00:49:53.510 --> 00:49:58.293
today and forevermore,
422
00:49:58.293 --> 00:50:00.501
amen.
423
00:50:07.870 --> 00:50:11.203
(uplifting organ music)
424
00:50:41.498 --> 00:50:46.498
(choir singing)
(organ drowns out singing)
425
00:53:08.040 --> 00:53:10.113
Let us affirm what we believe,
426
00:53:11.800 --> 00:53:13.560
we believe in God,
427
00:53:13.560 --> 00:53:16.600
who has created and is created.
428
00:53:16.600 --> 00:53:19.730
Who has come in the truly human Jesus
429
00:53:19.730 --> 00:53:21.943
to reconcile and make new.
430
00:53:22.780 --> 00:53:25.753
Who works in us and others by the spirit.
431
00:53:26.860 --> 00:53:31.170
We trust God, who calls us to be the church
432
00:53:31.170 --> 00:53:34.310
to celebrate life and it's fullness.
433
00:53:34.310 --> 00:53:37.010
To love and serve others,
434
00:53:37.010 --> 00:53:39.493
to seek justice and resist evil.
435
00:53:40.360 --> 00:53:44.090
To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
436
00:53:44.090 --> 00:53:46.093
our judge and our hope.
437
00:53:46.940 --> 00:53:51.750
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
438
00:53:51.750 --> 00:53:56.000
God is with us, we are not alone,
439
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:57.363
thanks be to God,
440
00:53:58.890 --> 00:54:00.337
the Lord be with you.
441
00:54:02.690 --> 00:54:03.523
Let us pray.
442
00:54:13.530 --> 00:54:15.223
Holy and mighty God,
443
00:54:16.080 --> 00:54:20.000
we thank you that by the spirit and power of love,
444
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:22.930
you are always reforming the church
445
00:54:22.930 --> 00:54:27.450
and reforming us so that church and people
446
00:54:27.450 --> 00:54:31.563
are resorted to their rightful image, your image.
447
00:54:33.290 --> 00:54:34.980
We thank you that we do not need
448
00:54:34.980 --> 00:54:38.220
to wonder what you God are like,
449
00:54:38.220 --> 00:54:40.460
for we know of your majesty
450
00:54:40.460 --> 00:54:43.253
and of your servant hood in Jesus Christ.
451
00:54:44.160 --> 00:54:48.640
We thank you that in Jesus you have wrapped us up in love
452
00:54:48.640 --> 00:54:52.253
and that you have been willing to get wrapped up in us.
453
00:54:54.110 --> 00:54:56.790
We are thankful for Jesus Christ,
454
00:54:56.790 --> 00:54:59.840
who joins us in poverty and spirit
455
00:54:59.840 --> 00:55:01.470
to be able to lead us
456
00:55:01.470 --> 00:55:04.113
into the kingdom of spiritual richness.
457
00:55:05.350 --> 00:55:07.773
Who mourns for us when we are lost,
458
00:55:08.790 --> 00:55:12.253
who is mighty and meekness to temper our pride.
459
00:55:13.410 --> 00:55:16.143
Who is righteous as our example.
460
00:55:17.400 --> 00:55:19.563
Merciful to forgive our sin,
461
00:55:20.480 --> 00:55:23.583
pure of motivation to direct our lives.
462
00:55:24.700 --> 00:55:26.880
A peace maker to keep us together
463
00:55:28.120 --> 00:55:30.720
and who is the persecuted Lord,
464
00:55:30.720 --> 00:55:33.863
suffering to save us from ourselves.
465
00:55:35.610 --> 00:55:38.650
We rejoice and are glad oh God,
466
00:55:38.650 --> 00:55:41.383
that through Christ we belong to you.
467
00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:44.980
Here we stand,
468
00:55:44.980 --> 00:55:47.570
we can be no other but yours
469
00:55:49.490 --> 00:55:54.490
and as yours, we offer prayers for ourselves,
470
00:55:54.720 --> 00:55:57.043
the church and our world.
471
00:55:59.290 --> 00:56:02.300
We know that people in the world are hungry
472
00:56:02.300 --> 00:56:03.820
and have no shelter
473
00:56:03.820 --> 00:56:05.913
and have great need of much that we have.
474
00:56:08.120 --> 00:56:10.270
We know people are in prison,
475
00:56:10.270 --> 00:56:12.040
many times unjustly so
476
00:56:12.910 --> 00:56:16.323
and we know that people suffer from loneliness and neglect.
477
00:56:17.640 --> 00:56:20.590
We know that we stand by and allow things to happen
478
00:56:20.590 --> 00:56:23.280
to people in places all over the world,
479
00:56:23.280 --> 00:56:27.640
when we are apathetic and don't get involved in anyway
480
00:56:27.640 --> 00:56:30.520
in procedures of government and big business
481
00:56:31.950 --> 00:56:36.010
and in the admits of our attempting to do nothing, oh God,
482
00:56:36.010 --> 00:56:38.323
we pray for ourselves.
483
00:56:40.520 --> 00:56:43.240
We are part of a world wide church,
484
00:56:43.240 --> 00:56:45.453
apart of the body of Christ.
485
00:56:46.440 --> 00:56:50.083
Whose efforts at being the body are lacking sadly at best,
486
00:56:51.010 --> 00:56:53.580
whose attempts at doing your will many times
487
00:56:53.580 --> 00:56:56.800
become ensnared in power plays and fights for money
488
00:56:57.900 --> 00:57:00.080
and we don't know how to set examples
489
00:57:00.080 --> 00:57:02.593
and we don't want to give up what we have.
490
00:57:04.300 --> 00:57:06.530
In this tiny corner,
491
00:57:06.530 --> 00:57:09.683
where we in this congregation live and work,
492
00:57:10.630 --> 00:57:13.660
we look around us and see the needs
493
00:57:13.660 --> 00:57:14.970
and we talk about them
494
00:57:15.950 --> 00:57:18.950
but not many of us are motivated to do very much
495
00:57:20.500 --> 00:57:24.880
and so in amidst of holding on to who we are
496
00:57:24.880 --> 00:57:27.670
and what we have, oh God,
497
00:57:27.670 --> 00:57:29.943
we pray for ourselves.
498
00:57:32.450 --> 00:57:34.660
And we look at ourselves in this congregation
499
00:57:34.660 --> 00:57:36.210
and community with one another,
500
00:57:37.210 --> 00:57:39.510
we smile at our friends
501
00:57:39.510 --> 00:57:42.680
and we don't meet the eyes of those who have displeased us
502
00:57:43.660 --> 00:57:46.670
and we are resentful towards some persons
503
00:57:46.670 --> 00:57:48.793
and we talk about being Christians,
504
00:57:49.730 --> 00:57:51.110
and hate to admit, God,
505
00:57:51.110 --> 00:57:54.110
that we don't always like what your word says to us
506
00:57:54.110 --> 00:57:56.823
about who we should be and what we should do.
507
00:57:58.110 --> 00:58:01.010
And so we pray for ourselves,
508
00:58:01.010 --> 00:58:04.550
even when we probably don't intend to change very much
509
00:58:05.660 --> 00:58:10.073
but we dare to pray, knowing that you love even us.
510
00:58:12.150 --> 00:58:14.090
In the mist of praying for ourselves
511
00:58:14.090 --> 00:58:16.403
we pause to remember those who are sick,
512
00:58:17.710 --> 00:58:20.513
may our ministry to them be your ministry of healing.
513
00:58:22.170 --> 00:58:23.963
We remember those who grieve,
514
00:58:24.950 --> 00:58:27.963
may we through you bring comfort and love to them.
515
00:58:29.350 --> 00:58:33.240
To those who are lonely and afraid or in special need,
516
00:58:33.240 --> 00:58:36.440
may our awareness be increased and our presence in caring
517
00:58:36.440 --> 00:58:39.163
for them in your name be made known.
518
00:58:40.300 --> 00:58:43.200
May we rejoice with those who know special joice
519
00:58:44.870 --> 00:58:47.240
and to the leaders of this nation,
520
00:58:47.240 --> 00:58:49.723
may our message be one of peace.
521
00:58:50.860 --> 00:58:52.540
We do most earnestly pray
522
00:58:52.540 --> 00:58:55.213
for your guidance of those how lead us,
523
00:58:56.530 --> 00:59:00.160
to the hostages in Iran may our ministry be one of concern
524
00:59:00.160 --> 00:59:03.083
and caring and prayer for their safe release.
525
00:59:03.960 --> 00:59:06.070
May your word of peace come also
526
00:59:06.070 --> 00:59:08.253
to those who hold them captive.
527
00:59:10.760 --> 00:59:12.750
All these concerns we voice
528
00:59:12.750 --> 00:59:15.500
and those hidden deep within our hearts,
529
00:59:15.500 --> 00:59:18.200
we pray in the name of our savor,
530
00:59:18.200 --> 00:59:22.020
Jesus Christ to teaches us to say together,
531
00:59:22.020 --> 00:59:25.170
our father, who art in Heaven,
532
00:59:25.170 --> 00:59:27.410
hallowed be thy name,
533
00:59:27.410 --> 00:59:29.290
thy kingdom come,
534
00:59:29.290 --> 00:59:33.560
thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
535
00:59:33.560 --> 00:59:36.600
Give us this day our daily bread
536
00:59:36.600 --> 00:59:39.250
and forgive us our trespasses,
537
00:59:39.250 --> 00:59:43.070
as we forgive those who trespass against us
538
00:59:43.070 --> 00:59:45.860
and lead us not into temptation
539
00:59:45.860 --> 00:59:48.250
but deliver us from evil,
540
00:59:48.250 --> 00:59:50.360
for thym is the kingdom
541
00:59:50.360 --> 00:59:53.323
and the power and the glory, amen.
542
01:00:01.103 --> 01:00:04.436
(uplifting organ music)
543
01:01:34.917 --> 01:01:38.084
(intense organ music)
544
01:02:21.457 --> 01:02:26.457
(choir singing)
(organ drowns out singing)
545
01:07:24.393 --> 01:07:27.643
(rhythmic organ music)
546
01:07:41.126 --> 01:07:46.126
(choir singing)
(organ drowns out singing)
547
01:08:42.240 --> 01:08:44.770
We give thanks to you mighty God
548
01:08:44.770 --> 01:08:48.120
for your gift of life and love
549
01:08:48.120 --> 01:08:50.230
and we offer back to you a portion
550
01:08:50.230 --> 01:08:51.873
of what you have given us.
551
01:08:52.870 --> 01:08:55.903
Guide it's use for your work in this place,
552
01:08:56.920 --> 01:09:01.410
we offer again with these gifts ourselves.
553
01:09:01.410 --> 01:09:05.550
Accept us and point us in the way of your service,
554
01:09:05.550 --> 01:09:08.290
we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,
555
01:09:08.290 --> 01:09:10.343
our Lord and savior, amen.
556
01:09:15.107 --> 01:09:18.440
(uplifting organ music)
557
01:09:50.028 --> 01:09:55.028
(choir singing)
(organ drowns out singing)
558
01:12:28.400 --> 01:12:29.980
Let us go from this place
559
01:12:29.980 --> 01:12:33.170
remembering that Jesus is our Lord,
560
01:12:33.170 --> 01:12:35.620
that we are Gods people.
561
01:12:35.620 --> 01:12:38.743
We are loved, we are forgiven,
562
01:12:39.630 --> 01:12:43.880
we have been taught, we have declared our intentions
563
01:12:43.880 --> 01:12:46.203
and we know our responsibilities.
564
01:12:47.070 --> 01:12:49.870
Let us now scatter into the world to live as free
565
01:12:49.870 --> 01:12:53.070
and responsible people in Christ
566
01:12:53.070 --> 01:12:56.440
and may the peace and joy of God almighty,
567
01:12:56.440 --> 01:12:59.770
creator, son and holy spirit
568
01:12:59.770 --> 01:13:00.807
go with us all.
569
01:13:03.855 --> 01:13:06.772
(choir vocalizing)
570
01:14:20.995 --> 01:14:24.328
(uplifting organ music)