James I. Warren, Jr. - "Promises, Promises!" (December 4, 1983)

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	(calm organ music)	0:03
	(mellow organ music)	1:54
	(calm organ music)	5:17
	(orchestral choir singing)	12:06
	(mellow organ music)	13:32
	(orchestral choir singing)	14:24
-	Prepare the way of there Lord.	17:47
	Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.	17:50
	The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh	17:55
	shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.	18:00
	Let us confess our sins before almighty God, let us pray.	18:06
	Forgive, oh God, the littleness of our return	18:24
	for your valley.	18:28
	Save and deliver us from the sins	18:30
	that so easily come upon us.	18:32
	Our selfishness, our pride, our anxiety, our envy,	18:36
	our eagerness to be praised, our resentments,	18:41
	our unkindness, our narrowness of vision,	18:45
	our complacency before the agony of the world.	18:49
	By your grace, heal our unholy division of nations,	18:53
	race and class and unite your church to serve men	18:58
	and woman in your name.	19:03
	Remembering the one who gave himself for us,	19:05
	Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray, amen.	19:09
	This is the message we have heard from him	19:40
	and proclaim to you that God is light and in God	19:43
	is no darkness at all.	19:48
	If we walk in the light as God is in the light,	19:51
	we have fellowship with one another and the blood	19:56
	of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin.	19:59
	Let us then give thanks for God is good	20:04
	and God's love is everlasting.	20:08
	Thanks be to God, his love creates us.	20:11
	Thanks be to God who's mercy redeems us.	20:16
	Thanks be to God who's grace leads us into the future.	20:20
	We welcome you to worship here with us	20:27
	at Duke University Chapel.	20:29
	It is the second Sunday in Advent and our hearts and souls	20:32
	have been thrilled by performances of Messiah	20:37
	here in the chapel this weekend.	20:41
	We look forward to the concluding performance	20:44
	this afternoon for those of you who have tickets	20:47
	and we are grateful for the music and gifts	20:51
	of this holy season that our choir provides for us.	20:53
	Our guest preacher this morning is the reverend doctor,	21:01
	James Ivy Warren Junior.	21:05
	Doctor Warren comes to us from Scarritt College	21:08
	in Nashville, Tennessee.	21:12
	He is currently the Cadwalader Professor	21:15
	of Global Evangelism in the mission of the church.	21:18
	In his ministry he has served the church	21:23
	in a number of ways, Christian education, pastor,	21:25
	teacher and writer.	21:30
	Doctor Warren, in a way, comes home to Duke.	21:33
	He is Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke,	21:37
	and then has his bachelor of Divinity and PHD degree	21:40
	from Glasgow University in Scotland.	21:45
	He is one of our own ordained elders	21:48
	in the United Methodist Church,	21:51
	a member of the North Carolina Annual Conference.	21:53
	Doctor Warren has family in the area,	21:58
	has visited with them this weekend	22:01
	and comes to us to share the word on this special day.	22:03
	His sermon title is Promises, Promises.	22:08
-	Let us pray.	22:25
	Oh Lord, our God who by the entrance of your word	22:28
	gives light onto the soul.	22:33
	Pour down upon us the spirit of wisdom and understanding	22:35
	that being taught by you in holy scripture	22:40
	we may receive with faith the words of eternal life	22:43
	and be made wise unto salvation,	22:48
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.	22:51
	The Old Testament lesson this morning is from Isiah	22:57
	chapter 40 versus one through eleven.	23:00
	Comfort my people, says your God.	23:07
	Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her	23:11
	that her warfare is ended,	23:15
	that he inequity is pardoned, that she has received	23:17
	from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.	23:21
	A voice cries, in the wilderness prepare	23:26
	the way of the Lord.	23:30
	Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.	23:31
	Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain	23:35
	and hill be made low.	23:38
	The uneven ground shall become level	23:41
	and the rough places a plain,	23:44
	and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed	23:47
	and all flesh shall see it together	23:50
	for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.	23:54
	A voice says, cry, and I said, what shall I cry?	23:57
	All flesh is grass and all it's beauty	24:03
	is like the flower of the field.	24:06
	The grass withers, the flower fades	24:10
	when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.	24:13
	Surely the people are grass, the grass withers,	24:16
	the flower fades, but the word of our God	24:20
	will stand forever.	24:23
	Get you up to a high mountain, oh Zion,	24:26
	herald of good tidings.	24:29
	Lift up your voice with strength, oh Jerusalem,	24:31
	herald of good tidings.	24:34
	Lift it up, fear not, say to the cities of Judah,	24:36
	behold your God.	24:40
	Behold, the Lord God comes with might	24:42
	and his arm rules for him.	24:46
	Behold, his reward is with him	24:48
	and his recompense before him.	24:51
	He will feed his flock like a shepherd,	24:54
	he will gather the lands in arms,	24:57
	he will carry them in his bosom	25:00
	and gently lead those that are with young.	25:03
	Here ends the reading from The Old Testament.	25:07
	The Epistle lesson is from The Second Book of Peter,	25:13
	chapter three, versus eight through 15.	25:17
	But do not ignore this one fact, beloved,	25:23
	that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,	25:26
	and a thousand years as one day.	25:30
	The Lord is not slow about his promise	25:34
	as some count, but is forbearing toward you.	25:36
	Not wishing that any should perish,	25:41
	but that all should reach repentance.	25:44
	But the day of the Lord will come like a thief	25:47
	and then the Heavens will pass away with a loud noise	25:50
	and the elements will be dissolved with fire	25:53
	and the earth and the works that are upon it	25:56
	will be burned up.	25:58
	Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,	26:00
	what sort of person sought you to be in lives	26:03
	of holiness and Godliness waiting for and hastening	26:06
	the coming of the day of God,	26:10
	because of which, the heavens will be kindled	26:13
	and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire.	26:15
	But according to this promise we wait for new heavens	26:20
	and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.	26:23
	Therefore beloved, since you wait for these	26:27
	be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish	26:31
	and at peace, and count the forbearance	26:35
	of our Lord as salvation,	26:38
	so also, our beloved brother Paul wrote to you	26:41
	according to the wisdom given him.	26:44
	Here ends the reading from the Epistle lesson.	26:49
	(calm organ music)	27:04
	(orchestral choir singing)	27:26
	Will the congregation please stand for the reading	29:31
	of the gospel lesson.	29:33
	The gospel lesson is from Mark, chapter one,	29:41
	versus one through eight.	29:45
	The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,	29:49
	the son of God.	29:52
	As it is written in Isiah the Prophet.	29:55
	Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,	29:58
	who shall prepare thy way.	30:02
	The voice of one crying in the wilderness,	30:05
	prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.	30:07
	John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness	30:12
	preaching a baptism of repentance	30:15
	for the forgiveness of sins, and they went out to him,	30:17
	all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem,	30:21
	and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan	30:26
	confessing their sins.	30:29
	Now John was clothes with camel's hair	30:32
	and had a leather girdle around his waist	30:36
	and ate locusts and wild honey,	30:39
	and he preached saying,	30:42
	after me, comes he who is mightier than I.	30:45
	The thong of who's sandals I am not worthy	30:49
	to stoop down and untie.	30:51
	I have baptized you with water,	30:55
	but he will baptize you with the holy spirit.	30:57
	Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson, amen.	31:02
	(calm orchestral music)	31:06
	(orchestral choir singing)	31:16
-	Grace and peace to you from our Lord	32:19
	and Savior, Jesus Christ,	32:21
	in the name of the Father and of the sun	32:23
	and of the holy spirit.	32:25
	Promises, promises.	32:29
	The air is full of promises and particularly	32:32
	at this season of the year.	32:36
	From all sides we hear shouted promises	32:39
	and whispered promises.	32:42
	It's very much like being in the alley	32:45
	of a carnival surrounded by barkers on all sides.	32:48
	From one side comes the shout, step right this way	32:53
	and see the eighth wonder of the world.	32:57
	We promise that you will be amazed and instructed.	33:00
	From another side there comes another promise saying,	33:04
	step right this way and have your fortune told.	33:07
	We promise you that the minutest details of your future	33:11
	will be revealed.	33:16
	And then from another corner there comes whispered	33:18
	this promise, step right this way	33:20
	and see the most gorgeous chorus line in the world.	33:25
	We promise you 12 dazzling beauties	33:29
	in 11 dazzling costumes.	33:34
	Promises, promises.	33:37
	But the promises that we hear for real	33:40
	are even more extensive and even more expensive.	33:44
	A serious looking and sounding,	33:49
	got-it-together young man	33:51
	asked us to give him four years of our lives	33:54
	and he promises that we will be all that we can be.	33:58
	A beautiful young girl suggests in her words	34:04
	but promises in her body language	34:08
	that if young men will use a certain kind if aftershave	34:11
	or cologne, that they may wind up with her	34:14
	or someone like her wearing nothing at all.	34:18
	And I think the tackiest promise I've yet heard	34:23
	on television is that one about a computer.	34:25
	It shows a young man who looks amazing like Flounder,	34:30
	from animal house going away to college.	34:34
	His parents wave goodbye, wish him well	34:38
	but unfortunately they send him off without the benefit	34:40
	of a home computer background.	34:43
	So the next scene shows him returning	34:46
	in a rainstorm and in great shame and disgrace.	34:49
	He's flunked out of school,	34:54
	and this choice bit of theater	34:57
	promises you that we will fail	34:59
	unless we use their particular computer.	35:02
	Now you can tell from this somewhat cynical introduction	35:06
	that I'm somewhat suspicious of promises.	35:10
	I think most of us are.	35:13
	When we hear promises like these we look askance,	35:15
	we raise an eyebrow and we say	35:19
	with sarcasm, promises, promises.	35:21
	In no time is this more true that the season	35:26
	through which we're passing?	35:29
	The season of advent, the days leading toward Christmas.	35:32
	We're promised joy and all the stores	35:36
	play the song, joy to the world,	35:41
	and yet, for many, many people	35:45
	this is the loneliest time of the year.	35:48
	It's the peak season for suicide and despair.	35:51
	We're promised peace and good will,	35:56
	and we wish a heavenly rest to a babe in a manger,	35:59
	and yet we see so little manifestation of good will.	36:05
	And the newspaper's daily have as front page headlines,	36:08
	war in Granada,	36:12
	in Zimbabwe, in Lebanon.	36:15
	We sent to out friends and to our loved ones	36:21
	pictures of us gathering around the Thanks Giving table,	36:25
	or perhaps last years Christmas table.	36:28
	We promise this, we hope for this	36:33
	and yet thousands of Americans	36:36
	will eat their Christmas dinner in the halls	36:38
	of rescue missions and salvation armies,	36:41
	and millions of people throughout the world	36:46
	will eat no Christmas dinner at all.	36:49
	And so we reluctantly but realistically	36:53
	echo the poets protest,	36:56
	I heard the bells on Christmas day,	36:59
	they're all familiar, carols play.	37:01
	Soft and sweet, the words repeat, peace on earth,	37:04
	good will to men,	37:07
	but in despair I bowed my head.	37:10
	There is no peace on earth, I said,	37:14
	for hate is strong and mocks the song	37:18
	of peace on earth, good will to men.	37:22
	Promises, promises.	37:26
	But there is another way to say these words.	37:31
	We can say them with an exclamation point.	37:35
	Promises, promises!	37:38
	There are promises that come true.	37:42
	There are rainbows that bespeak the coming of sun	37:47
	after the showers.	37:51
	There are loyalties that endure,	37:54
	covenants that are maintained,	37:56
	contracts that are honored,	37:59
	and it's these kinds of promises	38:02
	of which our scripture lessons for today speak.	38:04
	The first lesson is that beautiful promise	38:09
	from Second Isiah.	38:11
	Where Isiah promises the coming of the Messiah	38:15
	and he exhorts the people to prepare a way	38:18
	for the Messiah and he uses the figure of a road.	38:21
	We know it best, I'm sure, from their singing of the handle.	38:25
	Here we see the road being leveled,	38:30
	the valleys being filled in,	38:32
	the mountains being brought low,	38:34
	the, crooked places, the curbs being straightened out,	38:37
	and when the Messiah comes he will end	38:41
	the time of servitude.	38:45
	He will lead his people home,	38:47
	there will be peace and homecoming.	38:50
	That word that we translate, warfare,	38:53
	that her warfare is accomplished.	38:56
	Probably oughta better be translated,	38:59
	her time of servitude, or her time in the army service.	39:01
	And so Isiah expresses so beautifully	39:05
	this promise of peace and homecoming.	39:08
	But can't you just hear some of his listeners saying,	39:13
	hm, promises, promises, promises.	39:15
	We've heard all that before, why should we believe it?	39:18
	To this, Isiah makes a point relevant 25 000 years ago	39:23
	and relevant to us today.	39:28
	He says in essence, you can believe this promise	39:31
	because of the one who promises it.	39:38
	You can believe this promise	39:42
	for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.	39:45
	And isn't this true?	39:50
	Is not any promise dependent upon the power	39:53
	and the faithfulness of the one who promises?	39:57
	Let me give you an example.	40:02
	As a preschooler, a very small boy, my favorite game	40:05
	was to stand on the front porch of our house,	40:08
	about four feet off the ground	40:11
	and jump into my father's waiting arms.	40:13
	To a little boy that was fun, it was like flying,	40:17
	but it wasn't dangerous	40:20
	because I could trust the promise of those arms.	40:23
	I knew that my father was strong enough to catch me	40:27
	and that he cared enough for me to catch me.	40:32
	His power and his faithfulness undergirded the promise.	40:36
	And Isiah is saying, you can trust this promise	40:41
	because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.	40:46
	Or as the Scottish psalter says so beautifully,	40:51
	for his mercies I endure, ever faithful,	40:55
	ever sure.	41:01
	All around us there may be promises, promises	41:03
	which are met with suspicion,	41:07
	doubt and are characterized by a question mark.	41:09
	But thanks be to God, there are the promises of the Lord	41:14
	that we can accept with certainty	41:21
	and that can be characterized by an exclamation point.	41:24
	But what is this promise of God?	41:31
	Again, all around us there are extravagant promises	41:36
	being made in the name of God,	41:38
	and probably none more extravagant than those promises	41:42
	being made by TV preachers.	41:45
	As I listen to them I hear promises of success,	41:49
	wealth, good health, peace of mind,	41:55
	but many thoughtful Christians are suspicious	42:00
	of these promises.	42:03
	They somehow ring hollow.	42:04
	In fact, they rang hollow to so many people	42:07
	that one of this past years best selling books	42:10
	was titled, when bad things happen to good people.	42:13
	Has God promised us wealth and happiness,	42:19
	peace of mind, strong families?	42:25
	A few years ago Doctor Thor Hall who used to teach	42:31
	in the divinity school here at the university	42:34
	wrote a small but significant book	42:37
	called the Theology of Devotion,	42:39
	and as part of his research he went through the libraries	42:42
	of his friends and maybe not his friends,	42:45
	but from many people and saw what they were reading	42:48
	for devotional literature.	42:51
	And he said the titles and the content promise these things.	42:53
	Listen to them,	42:57
	power, peace, poise,	42:59
	successful living if people would	43:04
	just spend five minutes a day reading	43:07
	these devotional tracks, meditating and praying.	43:10
	Promises, promises.	43:15
	Somehow to many people who seek the Lord	43:18
	and seek to obey his will, these promises ring hollow.	43:20
	What does God promise?	43:26
	The gospel reading from the Gospel according to Saint Mark	43:30
	gives us a clue here.	43:33
	John the Baptizer prophesizes the coming of one after him	43:36
	who will be baptized in the spirit and bring the spirit.	43:40
	One so much greater than John that John is not worthy	43:44
	to loosen the thongs of his sandals.	43:48
	What does God promise?	43:52
	He promises us his presence, himself.	43:55
	This is a promise.	44:01
	We don't use the presence for lesser gifts.	44:03
	This is the gift.	44:08
	This is the promise of Advent	44:10
	and this is the fulfillment of Christmas.	44:12
	Emanuel, God with us.	44:15
	Martin Buber I think makes this point so strikingly clear	44:21
	and his treatment of Moses at the burning bush.	44:25
	Most of you will remember that story,	44:29
	Moses has encountered God at the burning bush	44:30
	and God has commanded Moses to go to Egypt	44:33
	and lead the Israelites free from captivity.	44:37
	Not a small commandment.	44:40
	All he was asked to do was to go to the strongest,	44:43
	most powerful nation in the world	44:45
	and lead a group of slaves,	44:48
	disjoined, unprepared, free.	44:51
	So Moses asked God a very pertinent question.	44:55
	He says to him, what's your name?	45:00
	And behind this question lie two purposes.	45:03
	First of all he says, God, tell me your name	45:08
	so I can know all about you, so I can know your nature.	45:11
	If God had replied, well I'm a God of power, victory,	45:17
	might and deliverance, most likely Moses would have said,	45:21
	then I'll go.	45:26
	What if God had said, I'm a God of humility,	45:29
	meekness, helplessness, turning the other cheek.	45:33
	I have a feeling Moses would've said,	45:38
	God, I would like more time to consider your proposal.	45:40
	Now consider the answer that Moses really gets from God.	45:44
	God says to Moses,	45:51
	Ehyeh asher ehyeh.	45:55
	That's Hebrew, and we all know	45:57
	that God really speaks Hebrew.	45:59
	He probably speaks English but he thinks in Hebrew.	46:01
	In the King James version of the Bible we translate this,	46:06
	I am who I am.	46:09
	Martin Buber says, rightly, that in Hebrew	46:12
	the present tense and the future tense	46:16
	are exact of the same, so perhaps	46:18
	it oughta better be translated,	46:19
	I will be who I will be, or as I will be,	46:22
	or like I will be.	46:26
	Now what kind of an answer is this?	46:28
	Moses has asked God, tell me who you are,	46:31
	tell me about your nature so I can count upon you.	46:34
	Or he said, tell me your name so when I get down to Egypt	46:39
	I can summon you to my assistance and you will zap	46:43
	the Egyptians with frogs and locust and things like that.	46:46
	And God says to him, I'll be who I'll be.	46:50
	Sounds very negative, doesn't it?	46:55
	But look a bit deeper and see the real promise.	46:58
	God is saying, Moses, you don't need to inquire	47:02
	about my nature, for I will be there	47:06
	as I am needed to be there.	47:10
	Maybe not as you wish, maybe not as you expect	47:11
	but as I choose to be there.	47:14
	More than that, Moses, you don't need a name	47:18
	to invoke my presence and my power,	47:20
	I choose to be with you.	47:24
	This is a promise, the presence, the power of God.	47:28
	I will be your God, you will be my people.	47:35
	I will be with you.	47:39
	His name shall be called Emanuel, God with us.	47:41
	There are many promises, this is the promise.	47:47
	And then the writer of Second Peter deals with	47:54
	another aspect to promise that I think	47:56
	is very relevant to all of us.	47:58
	Writing some 50 to 75 years after Jesus' death	48:01
	and resurrection, the writer of Second Peter	48:05
	deals with a problem of, but Jesus' promise	48:08
	of second return has not come true yet.	48:11
	And the critics of the church at this time,	48:15
	even within the church are saying,	48:17
	he promised he was coming back.	48:20
	It's been 50, 60, 70 years he hasn't come.	48:22
	Some of our friends have died believing this.	48:26

Man	Still he hasn't come, he's not coming.	0:03
	This raises the question.	0:07
	What does one do	0:09
	when the promise in which one believes,	0:12
	trusts, hopes, and lives	0:15
	has not yet been fulfilled?	0:18
	In a sense, we all live a perpetual advent.	0:22
	That in between time when the promise is made	0:27
	and is not fully felt.	0:30
	How do we live as children of hope and promise?	0:34
	The writer of second Peter	0:40
	gives us three good pieces of advice.	0:41
	First, he says to us "Don't be too worried about the time."	0:44
	Perhaps God's time is not our time.	0:48
	Maybe 1,000 years are only as a day in the sight of God.	0:52
	Don't be too concerned about the time table.	0:57
	Then he gives us two other pieces of advice	1:01
	that go together.	1:03
	He says, "But the Christian should live"	1:05
	"a certain kind of lifestyle in this in between time."	1:07
	It should be characterized by waiting	1:11
	for the promise to be fulfilled	1:14
	and hastening on the fulfillment of it.	1:17
	Waiting, that's something very hard for most of us to do.	1:22
	Children can't wait to be teenagers.	1:27
	Teenagers can't wait to be college students.	1:30
	College students can't wait to graduate.	1:33
	Adults can't wait for that new job or that new house.	1:36
	Yet, I would suggest to you	1:41
	that true faith is most manifest	1:42
	when all we can do is hope and trust and wait.	1:47
	There are some things that we can do	1:53
	to hasten the coming of God's kingdom.	1:54
	Judaism of the inter-Testamental period	1:58
	believed that if just one day,	2:00
	all the Jews repented and prayed	2:04
	for the return of the Messiah, then He would come.	2:05
	So following this, Peter says to his readers.	2:09
	"Hasten the day of the coming of the Lord"	2:15
	"by living godly lives."	2:17
	There is a sense in which you and I can hasten this day.	2:20
	If we believe the kingdom of God	2:23
	is characterized by mercy and truth and goodness	2:26
	and love and forgiveness,	2:30
	then we can go forth to meet that kingdom	2:32
	by living lives and participating in causes	2:36
	characterized by mercy, goodness, truth, and life.	2:39
	We can wait and we can hasten.	2:45
	There's a stanza of a hymn that I suppose	2:49
	most of us have sung one time or another.	2:51
	Rise up, oh men of God.	2:55
	The church for you doth wait.	2:57
	Her strength unequal to her task.	2:59
	Rise up and make her great.	3:01
	That certainly emphasizes the hastening aspect of our lives.	3:04
	But some unknown wit wrote an answer to that.	3:09
	It goes like this.	3:12
	Sit down, oh men of God.	3:14
	God's kingdom, He will bring when and how it pleases Him.	3:17
	You cannot do a thing.	3:21
	That certainly emphasizes the waiting aspect.	3:24
	But second Peter tells us a great truth.	3:28
	We need to hold these in tension in our lives.	3:31
	The tension of waiting when that's all we can do	3:36
	is to wait in faith.	3:38
	The tension of hastening the kingdom of God	3:40
	to do all we can to bring the kingdom of God	3:44
	to reality upon this earth.	3:47
	Beloved, we are people of promise.	3:52
	It is my prayer for all of us at this season,	3:57
	we will hear the true promises of God	4:01
	and that we will live lives befitting	4:07
	children of promise.	4:12
	Claim the promise.	4:15
	Live the promise.	4:18
	Let us pray.	4:23
	Oh God, who throughout our lives,	4:28
	and the world's existence,	4:31
	has promised and fulfilled Your promises,	4:34
	save us from false promises,	4:38
	false hopes, and false promisers.	4:41
	Help us to claim daily the promise of your presence	4:46
	and grant us grace to live as children of your promise.	4:50
	Hoping for, waiting for, and hastening on	4:55
	the coming of Your kingdom	5:01
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	5:03
	Amen.	5:07
	(organ music)	5:15
	(choir vocalizing)	5:39
Woman	Let us affirm what we believe.	7:17
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	7:20
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	7:26
	to reconcile and make new,	7:29
	who works in us and others by the Spirit.	7:32
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	7:36
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	7:40
	to love and serve others,	7:43
	to seek justice and resist evil,	7:46
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	7:49
	our judge and our hope.	7:53
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	7:55
	God is with us.	8:00
	We are not alone.	8:02
	Thanks be to God.	8:04
	The Lord be with you.	8:06
Congregation	And also with you.	8:08
Woman	Let us pray.	8:10
	Oh Lord, our God,	8:24
	in this Advent season,	8:26
	we have been directed to search	8:28
	to find the child in the stable	8:31
	who becomes the savior of the world.	8:34
	Thus, give us eyes to see the bright light of that star,	8:38
	ears to hear the music of the angels,	8:43
	and hearts to enfold that birth at the inn.	8:47
	Give us this kind of wonder and awe at Christmas time	8:52
	that we might be able to reach out to a world	8:57
	which is crying out for a savior	9:01
	and does not recognize the spirit of Christ among us.	9:04
	Bless all those today who come in this place	9:10
	who are not joyful,	9:14
	who are unable to celebrate	9:16
	because of heavy burdens.	9:19
	Bless those who are ill,	9:22
	all those who are lonely and troubled,	9:25
	those who seek freedom and release	9:28
	in the very wideness of your love and mercy.	9:31
	Make us one family of love and concern	9:36
	as we reach out to comfort and strengthen each other.	9:41
	May the very hopes of Advent be filled in us with deep joy	9:46
	in a rich and meaningful life,	9:52
	abilities and gifts to prepare us for living	9:55
	in this time that is 2,000 years after the search began.	9:59
	Oh Lord, come and fill us with your light of hope	10:07
	and your eternal spirit of peace.	10:11
	It is in the name of Jesus the Christ we pray,	10:15
	who taught us to pray saying,	10:19
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	10:22
	hallowed by Thy name.	10:25
	Thy kingdom come.	10:28
	Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	10:30
	Give us this day our daily bread.	10:33
	Forgive us our trespasses	10:37
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	10:39
	Lead us not into temptation	10:43
	but deliver us from evil.	10:45
	For Thine is the kingdom	10:47
	and the power and the glory forever.	10:49
	Amen.	10:53
	(gentle organ music)	11:01
	(upbeat choir vocalizing)	13:39
	(upbeat organ music)	15:29
	(indistinct choir lyrics)	16:17
Choir	Hallelujah!	16:23
	Hallelujah.	16:26
	Hallelujah.	16:29
	Hallelujah.	16:32
	Hallelujah.	16:37
	Hallelujah.	16:51
Woman	Oh God, of whose bounty we have all received,	16:58
	accept this offering of your people	17:01
	and so follow it with your blessing	17:04
	that it may promote peace and goodwill	17:07
	among all people and advance the kingdom	17:09
	of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.	17:13
	(organ music)	17:20
	(choir vocalizing)	18:18
-	And now the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ,	22:09
	the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,	22:13
	be among you and remain with you always.	22:19
Choir	(vocalizing) Amen.	22:30
	Amen.	22:35
	(choir vocalizing)	22:47
	(upbeat organ music)	23:55
	(indistinct conversations)	26:45

Item Info

Title:

James I. Warren, Jr. - "Promises, Promises!" (December 4, 1983)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4k64b706

Date:

December 4, 1983

Speaker:

Warren, James I., Jr.

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Description:

Life is full of promises, some which are empty and some which are fulfilled. A promise is dependent upon the power and faithfulness of the one who makes the promise, and so we can trust the promises of God. Just as God fulfilled the promise to send the Messiah, God will fulfill the promise that Jesus will return one day. In the meantime, we must wait and hasten that coming by living lives of righteousness. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 32:19. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 05:09.
Key quotation: “All around us there may be promises, promises which are met with suspicion, doubt and are characterized by a question mark. But thanks be to God, there are the promises of the Lord that we can accept with certainty and that can be characterized by an exclamation point.”

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0181
ref7885_0q9
uachapelsermaud
duke:320335
dcrau001172
ark:/87924/r4k64b706
e16e0a3e-d289-444f-9d55-4352a8d7f440

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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English

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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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James I. Warren, Jr. - "Promises, Promises!" (December 4, 1983)

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1. James I. Warren, Jr. - "Promises, Promises!" (December 4, 1983)

Duke University Archives

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Duke University Archives

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