William W. Easley, Jr. - "Practicing and Professing" (July 16, 1978)
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| Man | Duke University Chapel service of worship, | 0:10 |
| July 16, 1978. | 0:13 | |
| (organ plays) | 0:19 | |
| - | [Reverend Johnson] Welcome in the name of Jesus Christ. | 11:00 |
| Hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth is a man attested | 11:03 | |
| to you by go with mighty works, wonders, and signs. | 11:07 | |
| He cared for the beggar. | 11:13 | |
| He gave insight to the lawyer. | 11:15 | |
| He cured the diseased of mind and gave them new life. | 11:19 | |
| He gives to us a dream that will not let a person sleep. | 11:24 | |
| He gives to us an adventure that will not let a person rest. | 11:29 | |
| It it because of him that we gather here this morning. | 11:34 | |
| Let us pray. | 11:39 | |
| Oh God, you make us glad every week in our remembrance | 11:41 | |
| of the glorious resurrection of Christ Jesus, your Son. | 11:45 | |
| Renew us, this day, through our worship, | 11:50 | |
| that the days to come may be spent in your service. | 11:53 | |
| Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. | 11:57 | |
| (organ plays) | 12:04 | |
| Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor. | 14:54 | |
| All mighty and most merciful God, we acknowledge and confess | 14:59 | |
| that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. | 15:04 | |
| That we have not loved You with all our heart and soul, | 15:09 | |
| with all our mind and strength, and that we have not loved | 15:13 | |
| our neighbor as ourselves. | 15:17 | |
| We beseech you, oh God, | 15:21 | |
| to be forgiving of what we have been, | 15:23 | |
| to help us to amend what we are and, of your mercy, | 15:25 | |
| to direct what we shall be, | 15:30 | |
| so that the love of goodness may ever be | 15:33 | |
| first in our hearts, Amen. | 15:36 | |
| The Lord God, through the prophet Nathan, | 15:49 | |
| forgave David when he had confessed his sins. | 15:51 | |
| He forgave the adulteress who was weeping at Jesus' feet | 15:55 | |
| and Peter who was weeping bitterly over his betrayal. | 15:59 | |
| May the same Lord and God forgive us all our sins | 16:05 | |
| in this life and in the world to come, | 16:08 | |
| and raise us to stand, uncondemned, | 16:11 | |
| before his mighty judgment seat, | 16:14 | |
| for God is blessed now and forever more, Amen. | 16:16 | |
| Let us give thanks, for God is good | 16:24 | |
| and God's love is everlasting. | 16:26 | |
| (congregation murmurs) | 16:29 | |
| (organ plays) | 16:45 | |
| Let us pray. | 20:48 | |
| Speak, Lord, for we, your servants, are listening. | 20:51 | |
| Grant us ears to hear, eyes to see, | 20:55 | |
| wills to obey, hearts to love. | 20:59 | |
| Then declare what you will, reveal what you will, | 21:04 | |
| command what you will, demand what you will, Amen. | 21:08 | |
| The Old Testament lesson is written in the prophet Isaiah, | 21:19 | |
| the fiftieth chapter, beginning at the fourth verse. | 21:23 | |
| "The Lord God has given me the tongue | 21:27 | |
| of those who are taught, that I may know | 21:30 | |
| how to sustain with the word, Him that is weary. | 21:33 | |
| Morning by morning, He wakens, | 21:38 | |
| He wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. | 21:40 | |
| The Lord God has opened my ear and I was not rebellious. | 21:45 | |
| I turned not backward. | 21:50 | |
| I gave my back to the smiters | 21:53 | |
| and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. | 21:55 | |
| I hid not my face from shame and spitting. | 22:00 | |
| For the Lord God helps me, | 22:04 | |
| therefore I have not been confounded, | 22:06 | |
| therefore I have set my face like a flint | 22:10 | |
| and I know that I shall not be put to shame. | 22:14 | |
| He who vindicates me is near. | 22:18 | |
| Who will contend with me, let us stand up together. | 22:22 | |
| Who is my adversary, let him come near to me. | 22:26 | |
| Behold, the Lord God helps me. | 22:32 | |
| Who will declare me guilty? | 22:35 | |
| Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment. | 22:37 | |
| The moth will eat them up." | 22:42 | |
| Here ends the Old Testament Lesson. | 22:45 | |
| The Epistle lesson is written in the book of James, | 22:53 | |
| the second chapter, beginning at the fourteenth verse. | 22:56 | |
| "What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he hath | 23:01 | |
| faith, but not works? Can his faith save him?" | 23:05 | |
| Here ends the Epistle. | 23:13 | |
| Please rise for the reading of the Gospel. | 23:17 | |
| The Holy Gospel is written in the book of Mark, | 23:27 | |
| the eighth chapter, beginning at the twenty-seventh verse. | 23:29 | |
| "And Jesus went on his way with his disciples | 23:34 | |
| to the village of Caesarea Philippi | 23:37 | |
| and on the way he asked them, 'Who do men say that I am?' | 23:40 | |
| And they told him, 'John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, | 23:44 | |
| and others, one of the prophets.' | 23:50 | |
| And he asked them, 'But who you do say that I am?' | 23:54 | |
| Peter answered him, 'You are the Christ.' | 23:59 | |
| And Jesus charged them to tell no one about Him. | 24:03 | |
| And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer | 24:08 | |
| many things and be rejected by the elders | 24:12 | |
| and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and, | 24:15 | |
| after three days, rise again. | 24:19 | |
| And he said this plainly. | 24:23 | |
| And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, | 24:26 | |
| but turning and seeing his disciples, | 24:28 | |
| Jesus rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan, | 24:31 | |
| for you are not on the side of God, but of men.' | 24:35 | |
| And he called to him the multitude with his disciples | 24:42 | |
| and said to them, 'If any man would come after me, let him | 24:45 | |
| deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, | 24:49 | |
| for whoever would save his life will lose it, | 24:54 | |
| and whoever loses his life for my sake | 24:59 | |
| and for the Gospel's will save it.'" | 25:03 | |
| The Gospel of the Lord. | 25:07 | |
| (organ plays) | 25:10 | |
| I would draw two announcements to your attention this | 26:25 | |
| morning, that being a memorial service | 26:28 | |
| for Sarah Catherine Barclay, emeritus professor | 26:30 | |
| of Psychiatric Social Work at this university, | 26:33 | |
| which will be conducted this afternoon at 3:00 P.M., | 26:36 | |
| here in the chapel. | 26:40 | |
| And also a memorial service for Doctor Frank Alan Hannah, | 26:43 | |
| professor emeritus of Economics, | 26:48 | |
| which will be held Thursday afternoon, | 26:50 | |
| July 20th at 3:30 in the chapel. | 26:53 | |
| Having grown up in the city of Bloomington, Indiana, | 27:02 | |
| where one of the main streets in town dead-ends | 27:04 | |
| spang at the gate of Indiana University, | 27:07 | |
| I've heard about the barriers of town and gown all my life. | 27:10 | |
| It is little different in Durham, North Carolina, | 27:16 | |
| I have found, except to say that one literally | 27:18 | |
| has to scale the ivory tower if one is to assure oneself | 27:22 | |
| of the reality of life beyond the Dope Shop and the Duke | 27:27 | |
| Gardens and the lush forests, which surround this campus. | 27:31 | |
| Our preacher for this morning, | 27:37 | |
| the Reverend Mr. William W. Easley, is likewise a man | 27:39 | |
| steeped in the ethos of town and gown. | 27:43 | |
| As you will note in your bulletins, | 27:47 | |
| he is a man who has worked long and hard | 27:50 | |
| on behalf of Durham citizens, | 27:52 | |
| and he is more than qualified to speak to us of town. | 27:55 | |
| As a man who has devoted his energies and talents | 28:00 | |
| to the development of public and university education | 28:03 | |
| in Durham and North Carolina, | 28:06 | |
| he is eminently qualified to speak to us of gown. | 28:09 | |
| But as a minister of Jesus Christ, he is more likely | 28:14 | |
| to speak to us of the intersection of the gospel with both. | 28:18 | |
| For those reasons and for many unspoken, Reverend Easley, | 28:24 | |
| we welcome you to the pulpit of Duke University Chapel | 28:28 | |
| and we await your message to us this morning. | 28:31 | |
| Reverend Easley | I wish to say thank you this morning, | 28:45 |
| to the Reverend Greg Robbins. | 28:47 | |
| Thank you to Pastor Bob Young. | 28:52 | |
| Thank you to Pastor Helen Crotwell. | 28:56 | |
| It's been a pleasure working with Bob Young | 29:00 | |
| and Helen Crotwell and the life and work | 29:03 | |
| of our city and our community. | 29:06 | |
| I consider this opportunity this morning | 29:10 | |
| to be a great opportunity. | 29:13 | |
| It is an humbling experience for me to stand here | 29:17 | |
| before you in this great, historic pulpit... | 29:21 | |
| And to attempt to preach the Word. | 29:26 | |
| And I greet you this morning | 29:33 | |
| and say unto you grace, mercy, and peace be unto you, | 29:34 | |
| in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 29:37 | |
| Let the congregation of the Lord say Amen. | 29:42 | |
| Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, | 29:47 | |
| bless His holy name. | 29:53 | |
| Bless the Lord, oh my soul. | 29:56 | |
| And forget not all of his benefits. | 30:02 | |
| For our scriptural text this morning, | 30:07 | |
| we ask that you would notice the Epistle of James, | 30:09 | |
| the second chapter, the fourteenth verse. | 30:13 | |
| The King James Version of the Bible, | 30:17 | |
| where the Apostle says, "What doth it profit, my brethren, | 30:23 | |
| though a man say he hath faith | 30:30 | |
| and have not works, | 30:35 | |
| can faith save him?" | 30:38 | |
| These words have been translated | 30:42 | |
| in The Living Bible as saying thusly: | 30:45 | |
| "Dear brothers, what's the use of saying that | 30:51 | |
| you have faith and are Christians | 30:56 | |
| if you aren't proving it by helping others? | 31:01 | |
| Will that kind of faith save anyone?" | 31:06 | |
| Practicing and professing. | 31:12 | |
| It was Hippocrates, the father of medicine, | 31:19 | |
| otherwise known as the greatest of Greek physicians, | 31:24 | |
| who once said, "I will lead my life and practice my art | 31:29 | |
| in uprightness and honor." | 31:35 | |
| 400 years before Christ, Hippocrates made an attempt | 31:41 | |
| to reconcile what we profess | 31:46 | |
| with what we practice. | 31:52 | |
| And although he was directing his attention to physicians, | 31:56 | |
| and the noble ideas which he set before them in practicing | 32:03 | |
| the art of medicine, I believe also, | 32:06 | |
| in this day and time, | 32:11 | |
| has a message for us who call ourselves Christians today. | 32:12 | |
| The linguistics of the oath, which all Christians | 32:19 | |
| and physicians are required to take, would indicate that | 32:23 | |
| Hippocrates believed that the highest personal standards | 32:28 | |
| must be maintained in the practice of medicine. | 32:34 | |
| And, for us, would indicate that the highest personal | 32:39 | |
| standards must be maintained in practicing | 32:43 | |
| what we profess as Christians. | 32:48 | |
| I am told that a man is literally what he thinks. | 32:53 | |
| His character being the sum total of his thoughts. | 33:01 | |
| It was Rene Descartes who once said, | 33:07 | |
| "I think, therefore I am." | 33:09 | |
| And so our action and our behavior, therefore, | 33:15 | |
| is the sum total of our thoughts. | 33:19 | |
| What we do is the blossom of our thoughts. | 33:24 | |
| Therefore, if we have ever done any wrong | 33:27 | |
| to any brother or any sister | 33:31 | |
| and if we have decided to apologize, | 33:35 | |
| if we do apologize, by saying, "I'm sorry, I wasn't | 33:38 | |
| thinking, I didn't know what I was doing. | 33:43 | |
| I don't know what was wrong with me." | 33:47 | |
| We should be very careful about what we say, | 33:50 | |
| because we know this morning that what we do | 33:52 | |
| is the blossom of our thoughts. | 33:57 | |
| And if we would act nobly and treat others | 34:01 | |
| as we would wish to be treated, | 34:05 | |
| then we must think noble thoughts, | 34:09 | |
| for what we think about others, about issues of our times, | 34:15 | |
| what we think about causes of our times, what we think | 34:20 | |
| about our beliefs and what we think about our ideas, | 34:25 | |
| will determine what we do about them. | 34:29 | |
| As a man thinketh, so is he. | 34:33 | |
| All that a man does outwardly is with the expression | 34:38 | |
| and completion of his inward thought. | 34:43 | |
| And so, to work effectively, one must think clearly, | 34:49 | |
| to act nobly, one must think nobly, to be victorious, | 34:51 | |
| one must think victorious, to experience love and beauty, | 34:56 | |
| one must think love and beauty. | 35:02 | |
| To be as, many of us describe, somebody, | 35:08 | |
| one must think in terms of being somebody, | 35:13 | |
| to be righteous, one must think righteously. | 35:17 | |
| And so, if this nation of our is really committed | 35:24 | |
| to human rights in the world, | 35:28 | |
| and our nation should be committed to human rights, | 35:31 | |
| then we must first commit ourselves to human rights at home. | 35:35 | |
| For I ask you this morning, | 35:43 | |
| why try to put out a fire | 35:45 | |
| in someone else's house | 35:49 | |
| when your own house is burning to the ground? | 35:52 | |
| Why try to feed and clothe the neighborhood | 35:56 | |
| when your own children are naked and starving to death? | 36:03 | |
| Why try to bring peace out of confusion | 36:09 | |
| in someone else's home when your own | 36:13 | |
| children are torn apart by hatred, malice, | 36:17 | |
| greed, envy, and jealousy? | 36:23 | |
| When I was growing up in my home, I used to hear my mother | 36:27 | |
| say that charity begins at home and then spreads abroad. | 36:30 | |
| And, if this nation is really committed to human rights | 36:36 | |
| in the world, then why not take a serious look at those | 36:40 | |
| American corporations who promote the economics | 36:45 | |
| of the brutal and racist governments | 36:50 | |
| of South Africa and Rhodesia, | 36:53 | |
| who rape the land of its resources and systematically | 36:56 | |
| brutalize the people who they robbed in the first place. | 37:02 | |
| We ought to have a message. | 37:08 | |
| If we practice what we profess, | 37:10 | |
| for those corporations | 37:15 | |
| who support the economics of a regime like that, | 37:16 | |
| who seemingly have no respect for God or man, | 37:21 | |
| who seemingly have no consideration for what is honest, | 37:27 | |
| no consideration for what is decent, | 37:32 | |
| no consideration for what is lovely and true. | 37:36 | |
| You cannot love, nor respect a man | 37:42 | |
| you're beating to death at the same time. | 37:48 | |
| One cannot love with hate in his heart. | 37:52 | |
| One cannot act bravely | 37:58 | |
| when he thinks cowardly. | 38:02 | |
| One cannot work effectively for the freedom and brotherhood | 38:06 | |
| of all men when there is hatred, | 38:10 | |
| prejudice, jealously, and stereotyped misconceptions | 38:14 | |
| in his mind and in his heart. | 38:18 | |
| One cannot see the worth and dignity of every man, | 38:22 | |
| of every human being as being precious children of God, | 38:27 | |
| if in our hearts and in our minds, | 38:31 | |
| we think that we are better than anyone else. | 38:33 | |
| One cannot love God and, at the same time, | 38:38 | |
| hate his fellow man. | 38:41 | |
| One cannot act nobly until | 38:45 | |
| he begins to think nobly. | 38:50 | |
| One cannot act right | 38:54 | |
| until his mind and his heart are right. | 38:58 | |
| I was so glad to hear and read the other day where the | 39:03 | |
| Divinity School of this great, historic institution | 39:06 | |
| accepted the Reverend Benjamin Chavis as a student. | 39:10 | |
| For that action was indicative that the Divinity School here | 39:14 | |
| believes in practicing what it preaches. | 39:19 | |
| Comedian Sharon Lovejoy that she was reared in a home | 39:24 | |
| where she was taught that your word must be your bond | 39:30 | |
| and the words "thank you," common courtesy. | 39:37 | |
| She says that now that she is living | 39:43 | |
| in the entertainment world, she's now living in a world | 39:45 | |
| where words seemingly mean nothing, | 39:48 | |
| smiles seemingly mean nothing, | 39:53 | |
| and the words "thank you" is a sign of weakness. | 39:57 | |
| Perhaps Shakespeare was right when he said the whole world | 40:02 | |
| is a stage and we are merely players upon it. | 40:05 | |
| Because we also seemingly live in a world | 40:08 | |
| where words mean nothing. | 40:12 | |
| One does not know who to believe anymore. | 40:17 | |
| We live in a world where even Christian people say one thing | 40:21 | |
| and do another, a world where Christian people recite | 40:26 | |
| affirmations of faith and then practice something else, | 40:34 | |
| a world where there is contradiction | 40:40 | |
| between practicing and professing, | 40:45 | |
| for we do not usually practice | 40:49 | |
| what we profess and what we profess, | 40:51 | |
| we end up usually not practicing. | 40:56 | |
| James, the brother of Jesus, | 41:00 | |
| was also caught up... | 41:06 | |
| In the same problem at the time of the writing | 41:07 | |
| of the Epistle, which is attributed to him. | 41:10 | |
| Hippocrates was caught up in this problem 400 years earlier. | 41:15 | |
| Can we think one thing and do another? | 41:21 | |
| Can we profess one thing and practice another? | 41:25 | |
| Can we have faith without works? | 41:31 | |
| Can we say that we are Christians | 41:38 | |
| if we are not helping anyone? | 41:41 | |
| Will that kind of faith save anyone? | 41:44 | |
| If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing | 41:50 | |
| and you say to that friend, | 41:54 | |
| "Well, goodbye, God bless you, stay warm and eat hearty" | 41:57 | |
| and then don't give him what he needs, | 42:01 | |
| clothes and food, what good does it do? | 42:04 | |
| Can we have faith and nobody else know about it? | 42:09 | |
| Can we have faith and do whatever we want to do? | 42:15 | |
| Faith won't do it by itself. | 42:22 | |
| Faith without works is certainly death. | 42:25 | |
| And some of us in Christendom have never ever separated | 42:30 | |
| faith from works, | 42:34 | |
| some of us have never separated works | 42:38 | |
| from faith, some of us still believe that a tree | 42:41 | |
| is known by the fruit it bears. | 42:46 | |
| Apple trees don't bear peaches | 42:49 | |
| and peach trees don't bear apples. | 42:52 | |
| If we plant an apple tree, at some time in the future, | 42:56 | |
| we hope to see some apples. | 42:58 | |
| If we plant a peach tree, at some time in the future, | 43:01 | |
| we hope to see some peaches. | 43:04 | |
| A tree is known by the fruit it bears. | 43:08 | |
| And so, if a man has been redeemed | 43:12 | |
| by the saving and precious blood of Jesus the Christ, | 43:17 | |
| then that man ought to show the world some sign | 43:23 | |
| that he has been redeemed, | 43:27 | |
| for if any man is in Christ, | 43:29 | |
| he is a new creature. | 43:33 | |
| If any man be in Christ, then someone, | 43:36 | |
| somewhere should know something about it. | 43:40 | |
| What we do speaks so much louder than what we say. | 43:44 | |
| Christian ethics demands action. | 43:50 | |
| A good man is not called a good man simply because he has | 43:54 | |
| been good to himself and no one else, | 43:57 | |
| but if he is called a good man, | 44:03 | |
| it's because he's been good to somebody else. | 44:04 | |
| If I can help someone as I pass along, | 44:11 | |
| says the poet, then my living will not be in vain. | 44:16 | |
| If I can cheer some one individual with a word | 44:21 | |
| or just a song, if I can spread | 44:25 | |
| love's message in a world | 44:30 | |
| filled with wrought, if I can do my duty | 44:32 | |
| as a Christian ought, then my living will not be in vain. | 44:37 | |
| If we are Christians, as many of us say we are, | 44:44 | |
| then we ought to let our light so shine before men that | 44:47 | |
| they may see our good works | 44:52 | |
| and glorify Father in heaven. | 44:57 | |
| Good thoughts, bear good fruit. | 45:01 | |
| Bad thoughts, bear bad fruit. | 45:08 | |
| All that a man achieves or fails to achieve... | 45:14 | |
| Is the direct result of his own thoughts. | 45:21 | |
| A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve... | 45:26 | |
| By lifting up his thoughts. | 45:32 | |
| Faith in God who made us and brought us from a state | 45:37 | |
| of nothingness to a state of somethingness | 45:43 | |
| and faith in His Son Jesus, the Christ, | 45:47 | |
| has the ability to lift, | 45:52 | |
| to lift, to lift us up on noble | 45:55 | |
| and lofty planes of thought, to lift us up | 45:59 | |
| on lofty planes of service to our fellow man. | 46:04 | |
| Faith in God | 46:09 | |
| and in His Son Jesus, the Christ, has a way | 46:14 | |
| of lifting us up | 46:18 | |
| and planting our feet on solid ground. | 46:21 | |
| A man's work is the end result of his faith. | 46:26 | |
| If you have been redeemed, | 46:31 | |
| then you will show the world | 46:35 | |
| some sign of that redemption. | 46:37 | |
| If you've been redeemed, my fathers used to say, | 46:42 | |
| follow me, then, down to Jordan's stream. | 46:47 | |
| If you've been redeemed, you won't have to tell anybody, | 46:51 | |
| you won't have to wear a sign. | 46:57 | |
| Others will know it by the way you respond to them, | 46:59 | |
| they'll know it by what you do for others, | 47:03 | |
| they'll know it by the way you practice | 47:07 | |
| what you have already professed, | 47:10 | |
| they'll know it by your works. | 47:12 | |
| You don't have to worry; they'll know it. | 47:18 | |
| They'll know it. | 47:21 | |
| They will know it. | 47:24 | |
| It is in man that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ | 47:27 | |
| and the world come into direct confrontation. | 47:32 | |
| Since man is the center of the disturbance in society, | 47:39 | |
| man can also be the center of renewal | 47:45 | |
| and the instrument of healing. | 47:49 | |
| Man starts out in the world as | 47:54 | |
| the center of the disturbance. | 47:56 | |
| It was man who invented the knife. | 48:00 | |
| He graduated to the bow and arrow. | 48:07 | |
| He graduated to the gun. | 48:13 | |
| He graduated to the atomic bomb. | 48:20 | |
| We are not so much afraid of the animals anymore. | 48:26 | |
| It isn't the animals we fear or run from. | 48:29 | |
| We are trying to protect our animals today from other men. | 48:33 | |
| So, it is not the animals we fear. | 48:38 | |
| We fear other men and the power they wield over us | 48:40 | |
| and the harm which they might do to us. | 48:46 | |
| Man is the center of the disturbance in our society | 48:50 | |
| but just as he is the center of disturbance, | 48:53 | |
| man can also be the center of healing | 48:58 | |
| and the center of renewal. | 49:02 | |
| It is up to us as men to decide if we are going | 49:04 | |
| to be a part of the affliction of society | 49:09 | |
| or if we are going to be a part | 49:13 | |
| of the renewal and the healing of our society. | 49:15 | |
| Our society needs healing this morning. | 49:18 | |
| Our society has wounds and we need men and women who are | 49:21 | |
| willing to go out and bind up the wounds of society | 49:25 | |
| and bring about renewal and redemption. | 49:30 | |
| When a man himself is healed, he is changed. | 49:35 | |
| He is transformed, he is renewed. | 49:41 | |
| When a man himself is healed, | 49:45 | |
| he then can become a part of that which renews | 49:49 | |
| and heals the wounds of life and society. | 49:54 | |
| A man cannot heal himself. | 49:58 | |
| In order for man to be healed, | 50:02 | |
| he must look beyond, beyond himself. | 50:06 | |
| He must look beyond himself to | 50:12 | |
| a source outside of himself. | 50:18 | |
| Therefore, we must look to Jesus this morning, | 50:24 | |
| the risen Lord, | 50:28 | |
| look to Jesus for healing, | 50:32 | |
| for he is still yet in the business of healing. | 50:36 | |
| Look to Jesus this morning for transformation, | 50:42 | |
| for Jesus the risen Christ is still yet in the business | 50:49 | |
| of transforming the lives of men and women, | 50:52 | |
| causing them to go out into a sin, sick, and dying world, | 50:56 | |
| crying out, let justice roll down as waters | 51:02 | |
| and righteousness as a mighty stream. | 51:07 | |
| Look to Jesus this morning, who is still in business | 51:11 | |
| of lifting up the thoughts and | 51:16 | |
| the minds of men and women | 51:20 | |
| to higher and loftier planes, causing them still, | 51:23 | |
| like Paul and Peter and John, | 51:27 | |
| to go out in to the world and turn the world upside down | 51:31 | |
| and turn the world right-side-up. | 51:35 | |
| Look to Jesus this morning who is still yet in the business | 51:39 | |
| of enabling us to go out into the world | 51:44 | |
| and practice what we have professed. | 51:47 | |
| Look to Jesus this morning, who my father said | 51:51 | |
| was a waymaker, able to make a way for us | 51:55 | |
| when there appeared to be now way at all. | 51:58 | |
| Look to Jesus this morning, who my fathers referred to | 52:02 | |
| many times as our rock in a weary land, | 52:06 | |
| our shelter in a time of storm, | 52:10 | |
| the sweet rolls of sharing, | 52:14 | |
| the prince of peace, the lily of the valley, | 52:17 | |
| the bright and morning star. | 52:20 | |
| Look to Jesus to transform us | 52:24 | |
| Look to Jesus to heal. | 52:29 | |
| Look to Jesus to purify our minds and sanctify our souls. | 52:33 | |
| Renew the right spirit within us, | 52:39 | |
| so that we might let our light so shine before men | 52:44 | |
| that they may see our good works, | 52:48 | |
| glorify our Father in heaven. | 52:52 | |
| Our light won't shine so brightly | 52:55 | |
| if we're the only ones who can see it. | 52:59 | |
| Our light shines brightest | 53:03 | |
| when others can see it. | 53:08 | |
| It is then that we become practitioners | 53:11 | |
| of what we have professed. | 53:17 | |
| It is then that we become like a city | 53:19 | |
| set on a hill that cannot be hid. | 53:23 | |
| Lighting the way for others, who are in darkness, to see. | 53:27 | |
| The Reverend Johnson's opening was, asked, | 53:31 | |
| how do we as Christians reach the masses? | 53:36 | |
| He says our answer, Jesus our Christ has given us the key | 53:40 | |
| and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, | 53:46 | |
| will draw all men unto me, | 53:51 | |
| lift him up, lift him up, | 53:55 | |
| still he speaks from eternity and I, | 54:00 | |
| if I be lifted up from the earth, | 54:05 | |
| will draw all men unto me. | 54:09 | |
| The world is hungry this morning for the living word. | 54:12 | |
| Lift the Savior up for them to see. | 54:17 | |
| Trust Him, trust Him, | 54:21 | |
| and do not doubt the words that he | 54:26 | |
| said: I'll draw all men, | 54:28 | |
| I'll draw all men unto me, | 54:32 | |
| lift him up, lift him up, | 54:35 | |
| by practicing what we profess | 54:41 | |
| and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, | 54:44 | |
| says Jesus the Christ, | 54:47 | |
| I will draw all men unto me. | 54:50 | |
| Let us pray. | 54:54 | |
| Oh, precious Father, let the words of my mouth, | 54:56 | |
| the meditation of my heart | 55:02 | |
| be acceptable in thy sight, | 55:05 | |
| oh Lord my strength and my redeemer, Amen. | 55:08 | |
| (organ plays) | 55:18 | |
| - | [Reverend Johnson] Let us affirm what we believe. | 58:48 |
| We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 58:51 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus to reconcile | 58:57 | |
| and make new, who works in us and others by the spirit. | 59:01 | |
| We trust God, who calls us to be the church, to celebrate | 59:07 | |
| life in it fullness, to love and serve others, | 59:12 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified | 59:17 | |
| and risen, our judge and our hope, in life, in death, | 59:23 | |
| in life beyond death, God is with us. | 59:29 | |
| We are not alone. | 59:34 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 59:36 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 59:39 | |
| (congregation murmurs) | 59:41 | |
| Let us pray. | 59:43 | |
| I ask your prayers for God's people throughout the world, | 59:55 | |
| for this gathering, for all ministers and congregations. | 59:58 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, for the church. | 1:00:03 | |
| I ask your prayers for peace, for good will among nations, | 1:00:12 | |
| and for the well-being of all peoples. | 1:00:17 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, for justice and peace. | 1:00:20 | |
| I ask your prayers for the poor, for the sick, the hungry, | 1:00:32 | |
| the oppressed and those in prison, | 1:00:37 | |
| especially for Anatoly Sharansky and Alexander Ginzburg, | 1:00:40 | |
| imprisoned in the Soviet Union. | 1:00:45 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, | 1:00:48 | |
| for those in any need or trouble. | 1:00:50 | |
| I ask your prayers for all who seek | 1:01:01 | |
| God or a deeper knowledge of him. | 1:01:03 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, | 1:01:07 | |
| that they may be found and may find him. | 1:01:09 | |
| I ask your prayers for the departed, | 1:01:25 | |
| especially for Arthur Guter, | 1:01:28 | |
| father-in-law of a new student in our midst. | 1:01:30 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, | 1:01:34 | |
| for those who have died and for those who mourn. | 1:01:35 | |
| And let us praise God for those in every generation in whom | 1:01:48 | |
| Christ has been honored, especially Sarah Catherine Barclay | 1:01:52 | |
| and Frank Alan Hannah, emeritus professors of this | 1:01:56 | |
| university, whom we remember in services this week. | 1:02:00 | |
| Pray, brothers and sisters, | 1:02:06 | |
| that we may have grace to glorify Christ in our own day. | 1:02:07 | |
| And let us give thanks to God | 1:02:19 | |
| for all of the blessings of this life. | 1:02:21 | |
| Almighty and eternal God, you have promised to hear what we | 1:02:36 | |
| ask in the name of your Son, we pray you accept and fulfill | 1:02:40 | |
| these, our petitions, not as we ask in our ignorance, | 1:02:44 | |
| nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know | 1:02:48 | |
| and love each of us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, | 1:02:53 | |
| who taught us that, when we pray, we ought always to say, | 1:02:57 | |
| our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy | 1:03:02 | |
| kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, | 1:03:06 | |
| give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our | 1:03:13 | |
| trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us | 1:03:17 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, | 1:03:21 | |
| for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, | 1:03:26 | |
| forever and ever, Amen. | 1:03:31 | |
| (organ plays) | 1:03:42 | |
| Let us pray. | 1:09:27 | |
| Oh God of whose bounty we have all received, | 1:09:29 | |
| accept this bounty of your people, remember in your love | 1:09:32 | |
| those who have brought it and those for whom it is given, | 1:09:36 | |
| and so follow it with your blessing, | 1:09:40 | |
| that it may promote peace and goodwill among all people | 1:09:43 | |
| and advance the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, | 1:09:47 | |
| Jesus Christ, Amen. | 1:09:49 | |
| (organ plays) | 1:09:56 | |
| Go out in to the world in peace, love the unloved, | 1:14:26 | |
| strengthen the faint-hearted, support he weak, | 1:14:30 | |
| return no one evil for evil, rejoicing always in the Lord, | 1:14:33 | |
| and may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son | 1:14:38 | |
| and Holy Spirit go with you and remain with you now | 1:14:41 | |
| and forevermore, Amen. | 1:14:45 | |
| (organ plays) | 1:14:51 |
Item Info
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