Diane Kenney - "Running the Race with Assurance" (June 17, 1979)
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Transcript
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- | Duke University, chapel service of worship June 17, 1979. | 0:04 |
(organ prelude music) | 0:16 | |
♪ This is the day the Lord hath made ♪ | 13:34 | |
♪ He calls the hours His own ♪ | 13:39 | |
♪ Let Heav'n rejoice, let earth be glad ♪ | 13:42 | |
♪ And praise surround the throne ♪ | 13:47 | |
(organ plays "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past") | 13:56 | |
♪ O God, our help in ages past ♪ | 14:20 | |
♪ Our hope for years to come ♪ | 14:26 | |
♪ Our shelter from the stormy blast ♪ | 14:32 | |
♪ And our eternal home ♪ | 14:39 | |
♪ Under the shadow of Thy throne ♪ | 14:48 | |
♪ Thy saints have dwelt secure ♪ | 14:54 | |
♪ Sufficient is Thine arm alone ♪ | 15:01 | |
♪ And our defense is sure ♪ | 15:07 | |
♪ Before the hills in order stood ♪ | 15:15 | |
♪ Or earth received her frame ♪ | 15:23 | |
♪ From everlasting Thou art God ♪ | 15:30 | |
♪ To endless years the same ♪ | 15:37 | |
♪ A thousand ages in Thy sight ♪ | 15:45 | |
♪ Are like an evening gone ♪ | 15:52 | |
♪ Short as the watch that ends the night ♪ | 15:59 | |
♪ Before the rising sun ♪ | 16:06 | |
♪ Time, like an ever rolling stream ♪ | 16:14 | |
♪ Bears all its sons away ♪ | 16:21 | |
♪ They fly, forgotten, as a dream ♪ | 16:28 | |
♪ Dies at the opening day ♪ | 16:35 | |
♪ O God, our help in ages past ♪ | 16:44 | |
♪ Our hope for years to come ♪ | 16:50 | |
♪ Be Thou our guard while life shall last ♪ | 16:58 | |
♪ And our eternal home ♪ | 17:05 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 17:15 | |
- | If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves | 17:41 |
and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins | 17:44 | |
God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins | 17:50 | |
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. | 17:54 | |
Let us confess together. | 17:59 | |
Almighty God, You love us but we have not loved You. | 18:04 | |
You call, but we have not listened. | 18:10 | |
We walk away from neighbors in need, | 18:14 | |
wrapped up in our own concerns. | 18:18 | |
We have gone along with evil, prejudice, warfare and greed. | 18:21 | |
God our Father, help us to face up to ourselves so that | 18:28 | |
as You move toward us in mercy, we may repent, turn to You, | 18:35 | |
and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 18:42 | |
Amen. | 18:47 | |
Let your hearts be lifted by these words | 19:21 | |
from the 103 rd Psalm. | 19:23 | |
The Lord works vindication and justice | 19:26 | |
for all who are oppressed. | 19:28 | |
He made known His ways to Moses, | 19:31 | |
His acts to the people of Israel. | 19:33 | |
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, | 19:36 | |
and abounding in steadfast love. | 19:40 | |
He will not always chide nor will He keep His anger forever. | 19:43 | |
He does not deal with us according to our sins, | 19:47 | |
nor requite us according to our iniquities. | 19:51 | |
For as the heavens are high above the earth, | 19:54 | |
so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him. | 19:57 | |
As far as the east is from the west, so far does He | 20:02 | |
remove our transgressions from us. | 20:06 | |
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those | 20:10 | |
who fear Him for He knows our frame and He remembers | 20:15 | |
that we are dust. | 20:19 | |
(organ music) | 20:31 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God and a mighty ruler ♪ | 20:47 | |
♪ Ruler over all false idols ♪ | 20:58 | |
♪ Ruler over all false idols ♪ | 21:03 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God and a mighty ruler ♪ | 21:12 | |
♪ Ruler over all false idols ♪ | 21:22 | |
♪ Over all false idols ♪ | 21:26 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God and a mighty ruler ♪ | 21:32 | |
♪ Ruler over all false idols ♪ | 21:44 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God ♪ | 21:58 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God ♪ | 22:07 | |
♪ Over all false idols ♪ | 22:14 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God ♪ | 22:19 | |
♪ The Lord is a mighty God ♪ | 22:24 | |
- | Let us pray. | 22:46 |
And now, oh Lord, let Your Word sink down into those hidden | 22:52 | |
and disguised places thereto break up and to discomfort, | 22:58 | |
but also to recreate and to give wholeness and peace | 23:05 | |
because of Jesus Christ our Lord. | 23:09 | |
Amen. | 23:12 | |
The Scripture lesson is taken from the 11th chapter of the | 23:18 | |
epistle of Hebrews. | 23:21 | |
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, | 23:25 | |
the conviction of things not seen for by it, | 23:29 | |
those of old received Divine approval. | 23:32 | |
By faith we understand that the world was created by the | 23:36 | |
Word of God so that what is seen was made out of things | 23:40 | |
which do not appear. | 23:44 | |
- | By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable | 23:46 |
sacrifice than Cain. | 23:50 | |
- | By faith, Enoch was taken up so that | 23:53 |
he should not see death. | 23:55 | |
- | By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events | 23:58 |
as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark for the | 24:03 | |
saving of his household. | 24:09 | |
- | By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out | 24:12 |
to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance, | 24:16 | |
and he went out not knowing where he was to go. | 24:19 | |
- | By faith, he sojourned in the land of Promise as in | 24:23 |
a foreign land, living in tents for he looked forward | 24:27 | |
to the city which has foundations | 24:33 | |
whose builder and maker is God. | 24:36 | |
- | By faith, Sarah received power to conceive even when | 24:39 |
she was past the age. | 24:44 | |
- | And these all died in faith not having received what | 24:46 |
was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, | 24:51 | |
having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles | 24:57 | |
on the earth. | 25:01 | |
- | By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. | 25:04 |
- | By faith, Isaac invoked future blessings | 25:09 |
on Jacob and Esau. | 25:12 | |
- | By faith, Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph. | 25:14 |
- | By faith, Moses, when he was born was hid for three months | 25:18 |
by his parents. | 25:23 | |
- | By faith, when he was grown up he refused to be called | 25:25 |
the son of Pharoah's daughter. | 25:28 | |
- | By faith, he left Egypt. | 25:30 |
- | By faith, he kept the Passover. | 25:32 |
- | By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea | 25:35 |
as if on dry land. | 25:37 | |
- | By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down. | 25:39 |
By faith, Rahab the harlot did not perish. | 25:42 | |
- | And what more shall we say? | 25:45 |
Time would fail us to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, | 25:47 | |
Jephthah, of David, and Samuel, and the prophets who through | 25:51 | |
faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, | 25:56 | |
received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, | 25:59 | |
quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, | 26:03 | |
won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, | 26:08 | |
put foreign armies to flight. | 26:14 | |
- | Women received their dead by resurrection, | 26:17 |
some were tortured, others suffered mocking and scourging, | 26:20 | |
even chains and imprisonment. | 26:25 | |
They were stoned. | 26:28 | |
They were sawn in two. | 26:29 | |
They were killed with the sword. | 26:31 | |
They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, | 26:33 | |
afflicted, ill-treated of whom the world was not worthy. | 26:37 | |
- | And all of these, though well-attested by their faith, | 26:43 |
did not receive what was promised since God had forseen | 26:47 | |
something better for us that apart from us they should | 26:53 | |
not be made perfect. | 26:57 | |
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud | 26:59 | |
of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin | 27:04 | |
which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance | 27:10 | |
the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, | 27:15 | |
the pioneer and perfecter of our faith who for the joy | 27:20 | |
that was set before him, endured the cross, | 27:25 | |
despising the shame and is seated at the right hand | 27:29 | |
of the throne of God. | 27:33 | |
- | Here ends the lesson for this morning. | 27:37 |
May the Lord bless to us this reading of His Word | 27:39 | |
and to His name be glory and praise. | 27:42 | |
Amen. | 27:45 | |
(organ music drowns out liturgical singing) | 27:49 | |
- | Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for. | 28:53 |
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud | 28:58 | |
of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin | 29:03 | |
which clings so closely and let us run with perseverance | 29:09 | |
the race that is set before us." | 29:15 | |
In the introduction to "Running for Health and Beauty," | 29:22 | |
and in case you have not see it, that's a very popular | 29:29 | |
paperback which attempts to tell each of us how to integrate | 29:32 | |
running into our individual lives no matter what your age, | 29:37 | |
your physical condition, or your lifestyle, Kathryn Lance | 29:43 | |
the author writes, "When I first began running I could only | 29:49 | |
run four laps and that was on an indoor track where 24 laps | 29:55 | |
equal a mile. Quite discouraging. | 30:02 | |
So I decided that if I didn't show any improvement after | 30:09 | |
three weeks, I would stop. | 30:13 | |
What did I have to lose? | 30:17 | |
So for the next three weeks I forced myself to go to the Y | 30:21 | |
three times a week and miraculously at the end of that time | 30:25 | |
I could actually run six laps without tiring, | 30:33 | |
a quarter of a mile. | 30:38 | |
I changed my running program and I aimed for a full mile. | 30:41 | |
I would run until tired, then walk, then run again until | 30:46 | |
I completed the 24 laps. | 30:54 | |
Gradually, I was able to run more and more laps. | 30:59 | |
Finally, two miles. | 31:04 | |
Then, the women's mini-marathon in Central Park, | 31:07 | |
a full six mile race. | 31:11 | |
From total slob," says Ms. Lance, "to track star | 31:15 | |
in approximately nine months." | 31:21 | |
Running--that great American pastime around city parks, | 31:26 | |
through the countryside, along suburban streets, across | 31:34 | |
college campuses, around the track at the local Y, | 31:40 | |
or on the high school field--people of all ages | 31:46 | |
and both sexes, you see them jogging along. | 31:51 | |
They are breathing hard, maintaining the pace, | 31:57 | |
wearing the inevitable and expensive high-quality, | 32:02 | |
multi-striped, brightly-colored jogging shoes. | 32:07 | |
They run independently or with friends, or as members | 32:13 | |
of running clubs. | 32:18 | |
They are people in every possible condition, | 32:20 | |
of every conceivable shape. | 32:24 | |
They dress in a variety of sweatpants, torn cut-offs, | 32:28 | |
brightly-labeled T-shirts, old tennis shorts, or leotards. | 32:33 | |
They run with or without headbands, with their hair of | 32:40 | |
whatever length and color flying in the breeze or hanging | 32:45 | |
damply on their necks. | 32:50 | |
They are people concentrating on enduring, | 32:53 | |
learning to move at whatever pace is proper for them, | 32:59 | |
hanging in for longer and longer distances. | 33:05 | |
They are running the race for health, running for beauty, | 33:10 | |
running with assurance. | 33:15 | |
And if you happen to be one of those | 33:20 | |
who is thoroughly addicted, even when the weather is too | 33:22 | |
miserable, too hot, too cold, too humid, too wet, | 33:27 | |
you can keep up the pace in your own living room | 33:32 | |
in front of the | 33:35 | |
quiz show or the evening news on a specially padded square | 33:37 | |
of foam that absorbs the shock, supposedly keeps your | 33:42 | |
downstairs neighbors, should you have them, | 33:46 | |
from approaching insanity and sells for $12.95 or so | 33:50 | |
at your local department store. | 33:55 | |
Running, a great American pastime, | 34:01 | |
running for personal satisfaction, | 34:07 | |
to the cheers of those committed others, | 34:11 | |
for endurance. | 34:14 | |
Needless to say, I am not a runner. | 34:19 | |
I do not jog, warm up with aerobic exercises, | 34:23 | |
or even seek to achieve that sought-for second wind. | 34:29 | |
Instead, along with walking, bike riding, roller skating, | 34:36 | |
and procrastinating about all of the above, | 34:42 | |
I read books on running. | 34:46 | |
The biblical passage from Hebrews used this morning, | 34:51 | |
ends with the phrase found in many "how-to-run" books. | 34:55 | |
The phrase is "running with endurance." | 35:00 | |
But the setting give us | 35:01 | |
in the Hebrew passage is certainly different | 35:06 | |
from the setting described in the running books. | 35:10 | |
According to Hebrews, each of us whether athletic | 35:15 | |
or sedentary, of whatever age, sex, temperament or physical | 35:21 | |
condition, is commanded to run the race | 35:26 | |
that is set before us. And we run it surrounded | 35:30 | |
and cheered on by that great cloud of historical | 35:36 | |
and legendary witnesses. | 35:40 | |
As long as our choices are not destructive to others, | 35:45 | |
we are as free to choose our running style | 35:49 | |
as are the runners we see jogging throughout our cities. | 35:53 | |
We are free to choose the course, we are free to run only | 35:59 | |
the distance we can cover, we are free to choose | 36:05 | |
a particular terrain. | 36:09 | |
And if we read the stories referred | 36:13 | |
to in the Hebrews passage, we know we will not | 36:17 | |
be disqualified if we become temporarily discouraged, | 36:19 | |
give up momentarily, walk a bit, or feel the kind of pain, | 36:26 | |
emotional blisters, or cold muscles can cause in any race. | 36:31 | |
But our race is of a different kind. | 36:39 | |
If our knowledge of those who've gone before us gives us | 36:44 | |
a perspective, we, along with Abraham, are running toward | 36:48 | |
the city which has foundations, the city whose builder | 36:53 | |
and maker is God. | 36:58 | |
We must have a vision, the lesson tells us, | 37:05 | |
although imperfectly seen of that city, | 37:08 | |
if we are to run our race. | 37:13 | |
As the task of Abraham and Moses was to move the people | 37:18 | |
into the land of Promise, | 37:22 | |
our task may be to move our people | 37:24 | |
beyond the possibility of nuclear war, beyond the arms race, | 37:29 | |
to move beyond the threat of world-wide destruction, | 37:36 | |
to move beyond the use of weapons sales as a means of | 37:40 | |
maintaining national and world economy, | 37:45 | |
to move into an era | 37:48 | |
of economic conversion, to move into the promised time | 37:51 | |
of shalom, the time of peace. | 37:56 | |
The media gives us the details daily. | 38:02 | |
You know certainly as well as I that currently stored in | 38:07 | |
the nuclear arsenals of the world there is explosive power | 38:11 | |
equal to 1,500,000 Hiroshima bombs. | 38:16 | |
We've all been told the USSR has the potential to | 38:22 | |
destroy every major city in the U.S. about 20 times over | 38:27 | |
and that the United States can do the same | 38:32 | |
to the Soviet Union 50 times over. | 38:36 | |
Yet despite all this destructive potential, weapons systems | 38:41 | |
proliferate and become more complex. | 38:48 | |
Although five countries in the world admit | 38:54 | |
to having nuclear weapons, | 38:58 | |
the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute | 39:00 | |
estimates that as many as 35 countries will soon have | 39:05 | |
the capability to build nuclear weapons and the size of | 39:11 | |
the nuclear arsenal is only one item in a swirling | 39:16 | |
confluence of factors which, when taken together, | 39:21 | |
depict the constantly growing possibility of nuclear war. | 39:24 | |
Those concerned tell us that never has the fate of the | 39:33 | |
world hung in such perilous balance with nuclear holocaust | 39:38 | |
being a real possibility. | 39:43 | |
If these somber trends continue, the chances of nuclear | 39:48 | |
hostilities will continue. Recently a group of scientists | 39:52 | |
from Harvard and MIT concluded that under existing | 39:58 | |
circumstances, nuclear war is likely by the 1990s. | 40:01 | |
But faith is the assurance of things hoped for | 40:10 | |
And the Biblical story tells us that peace God wills | 40:17 | |
for each of us requires not only the cessation of war, | 40:21 | |
but the opportunity for fulfillment and completeness. | 40:27 | |
This kind of peace is not possible in a world held hostage | 40:33 | |
by a costly arms race. | 40:38 | |
Therefore, the pursuit of peace and the elimination of | 40:43 | |
nuclear weapons should be a constant and continuous effort | 40:46 | |
by all God's children. So, let us run the race | 40:51 | |
for which we are entered. | 40:56 | |
We may differ in our particular views on war and peace, | 41:00 | |
but among us there should be unanimity on many values, | 41:05 | |
which bear directly on the issues of nuclear arms | 41:09 | |
reduction and disarmament. | 41:12 | |
"What is it?" the Hebrews account, asks | 41:17 | |
that will make possible | 41:21 | |
our running with endurance this race that is set before us? | 41:22 | |
Faith, comes the rhetorical response, | 41:29 | |
and what is this faith? | 41:32 | |
The assurance of things hoped for, | 41:35 | |
the conviction of things not seen. | 41:38 | |
Faith is substance. | 41:43 | |
It is assurance. | 41:46 | |
It is conviction. | 41:48 | |
It is loyalty to unseen and unrealized values. | 41:50 | |
It is venturesome action, obedience, trust. | 41:56 | |
It is a confidence in God's power to do | 42:03 | |
what is beyond reason, for faith enables us to be confident | 42:06 | |
to God's commands, to be obedient at moments of crisis. | 42:11 | |
To be faithful is to move valiantly forward toward those | 42:18 | |
goals imperfectly seen and never fully attained. | 42:23 | |
Along with Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, | 42:31 | |
the prophets, and all women and men who move forward | 42:36 | |
throughout the centuries to conquer kingdoms, | 42:40 | |
to enforce justice, to receive promises, | 42:44 | |
to stop the mouths of lions | 42:49 | |
and quench raging fire, to win strength | 42:51 | |
out of weakness, our race, however we choose to run it | 42:57 | |
is a race of action. | 43:02 | |
For it is, as the Hebrew passage relates, action that | 43:07 | |
characterized all witnesses in the past. | 43:12 | |
They raced individually but with a sense | 43:16 | |
of corporate responsibility. | 43:19 | |
They worked individually knowing they were not | 43:23 | |
working alone. | 43:26 | |
They ran independently, aware of those who had gone before, | 43:30 | |
dependent on those who would come after. | 43:35 | |
For our race is a race of perseverance. It is not a short | 43:41 | |
dash for any particular day, but a distance race, | 43:47 | |
calling for endurance. | 43:53 | |
It is a race we, although on many different paths, must run | 43:55 | |
together with assurance. | 44:00 | |
Now back to those popular running books, as we look for a | 44:06 | |
few clues on preparing for and enduring our race. | 44:10 | |
What else do we need to know about warming up, | 44:17 | |
about learning to live with the kinks, the sore muscles, | 44:21 | |
with too much sun? | 44:25 | |
What do we need to know about running in the rain or over | 44:28 | |
an uneven course? | 44:33 | |
What about conditioning programs? | 44:36 | |
How do we learn to stick with it? | 44:39 | |
How do we build endurance? | 44:42 | |
Kathryn Lance and all her colleagues are more than willing | 44:48 | |
to provide the information we need. | 44:51 | |
"The first thing to remember," she says, "is that all forms | 44:55 | |
of exercise should fulfill two functions. | 44:59 | |
The first, it should be vigorous enough to make you | 45:03 | |
breathe hard and break out in a sweat. | 45:08 | |
The second, it should make you feel good. | 45:12 | |
You should enjoy it." | 45:16 | |
But, enjoying such things are difficult for those of us | 45:20 | |
without the inclination or the self-discipline. | 45:24 | |
Again, the books offer advice. | 45:29 | |
Again, I quote, this time from a woman with absolutely | 45:31 | |
no self-discipline who maintains she would never be able | 45:36 | |
to stick to her program if it wasn't for her friends. | 45:40 | |
"I meet them on a fixed schedule," she says, | 45:46 | |
"three times a week. | 45:49 | |
In addition, I try to run one more time on my own, | 45:52 | |
though sometimes I don't make it, but I always manage | 45:57 | |
to meet my running friends. | 46:02 | |
I guess it's because I know they're counting on me, | 46:06 | |
plus I can't face what they would say if I missed one | 46:10 | |
or two workouts." | 46:14 | |
And then there's the good news for some of us. | 46:18 | |
The good news is that, "You can wear," our running experts | 46:22 | |
tell us, "just about anything you want | 46:27 | |
for this endurance race." | 46:30 | |
There are certain common sense rules of course. | 46:33 | |
You want to be comfortable, but you can easily put together | 46:37 | |
a running outfit from clothes you have right now in your | 46:42 | |
drawers or closet. | 46:45 | |
An outfit that will look good will be practical | 46:48 | |
and won't cost you a cent. | 46:52 | |
Are you ready? | 46:56 | |
I'm not quite, but I'll meet you on the track anyway. | 46:59 | |
There, surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, | 47:05 | |
let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings | 47:09 | |
so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race | 47:15 | |
that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer | 47:20 | |
and perfecter of our faith. | 47:27 | |
Let us pray together. | 47:33 | |
God of the exodus, we give thanks for our individual | 47:38 | |
journeys with their pathways and wanderings. | 47:45 | |
May we have the strength to run forward, the willingness | 47:52 | |
to move on remembering those we leave behind. | 47:58 | |
God of the sanctuary, we give thanks for our individual | 48:06 | |
mountaintops, our resting places, for all thinking | 48:11 | |
and feeling times before the journey begins again. | 48:19 | |
May we have the courage to leave them when the time comes, | 48:25 | |
remembering those who never find a safe place. | 48:31 | |
God of plenty, we give thanks for sustenance, for sun | 48:37 | |
and rain, food and drink, friends and family, | 48:44 | |
dreams and visions. | 48:48 | |
May we learn to live carefully, remembering those to whom | 48:52 | |
much has not been given. | 48:57 | |
God of faith, we give thanks for the ability to trust. | 49:02 | |
May we learn to set out, leaving the destination to You, | 49:09 | |
learn to arrive with expectation, learn to move forward | 49:15 | |
with assurance, remembering all who have gone before us. | 49:21 | |
God of life, we remember before You those known to each | 49:28 | |
of us who have died in faith, not having received what | 49:35 | |
was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar. | 49:42 | |
God of love, teach us to risk. | 49:51 | |
Keep us going. | 49:56 | |
These things we pray in the name of the One who goes | 50:00 | |
before us, Jesus our brother and Lord. | 50:04 | |
Amen. | 50:10 | |
(organ music drowns out singing) | 50:20 | |
- | Let us remain standing as we join our voices with | 52:44 |
the church of all times and places as we profess together | 52:47 | |
our faith. | 52:50 | |
Let us affirm what we believe. | 52:51 | |
We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 52:54 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus to reconcile | 52:59 | |
and to make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 53:04 | |
We trust God who calls us to be the church, to celebrate | 53:10 | |
life and its fullness, to love and serve others, to seek | 53:15 | |
justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus | 53:21 | |
crucified and risen. | 53:25 | |
Our judge and our hope in life, in death, | 53:28 | |
in life beyond death, God is with us. | 53:33 | |
We are not alone. | 53:37 | |
Thanks be to God. | 53:39 | |
Amen. | 53:41 | |
Those who minister in this place do so under a Christian | 53:55 | |
discipline and on their behalf, I welcome you to this | 53:58 | |
service of worship, and I also say to you regardless of | 54:01 | |
who you are, or where you're from, or what may be the | 54:06 | |
nature of your need or concern, those who minister here | 54:09 | |
stand ready to help you in any way they can. | 54:12 | |
The Lord be with you. | 54:20 | |
(audience answers) | 54:23 | |
Let us pray. | 54:25 | |
We are thankful, our Father, this morning on a special day | 54:33 | |
of remembrance for fathers that we have learned from those | 54:40 | |
who have gone before us, what it means to use the word, | 54:45 | |
"father", and we are grateful that as we pray, we can turn | 54:50 | |
away from those things that frighten us, | 54:57 | |
that are unsatisfying to us. | 55:00 | |
We can turn away from the things that we have made for | 55:05 | |
ourselves and turning to You, use this familiar word, | 55:07 | |
"Father", and we're grateful for those who have taught us | 55:15 | |
that when we so turn, we'll be heard, and received, | 55:21 | |
and given comfort, and our needs will be filled, | 55:26 | |
and we will be restored to joy and life, | 55:30 | |
and we're thankful for that. | 55:33 | |
We're thankful also, our Father, that we can pull out of You | 55:39 | |
the Father that you need to be to us. | 55:46 | |
We're thankful that we can play the role of children | 55:52 | |
and make a father of You, crying to You, pleading with You, | 55:55 | |
pulling on You, asking again and again, demanding, needing, | 56:02 | |
placing ourselves before You, and that You will be | 56:08 | |
our Father when we do that, and we're thankful because | 56:14 | |
of these things. | 56:18 | |
We're thankful also for all that we have received from those | 56:22 | |
who have gone before us, which we can remember and learn of | 56:25 | |
again this day, that cloud of witnesses. | 56:29 | |
We're glad for the fidelity, for the patience, | 56:36 | |
for the suffering, for the wisdom of those who have preceded | 56:40 | |
us and make us as well, worthy in this parental role of | 56:44 | |
passing on to those who follow us those gifts which we have | 56:49 | |
received and which have increased because of | 56:54 | |
our use of them. | 56:57 | |
So, allow us as well to be challenged on this day | 57:01 | |
to be more than we thought would be possible for those | 57:05 | |
who follow us. | 57:08 | |
We're thankful too, our Father, that we can be in this | 57:15 | |
place, that we can be here together and feel the presence | 57:19 | |
of others, that we can be in the presence as well of the | 57:21 | |
church wherever it is worshiping on this day. | 57:24 | |
We're thankful for what that means. | 57:27 | |
We're thankful that we can return to a place where we can | 57:29 | |
hear Your Word, where we can be restored. | 57:32 | |
We're thankful for those who minister in this place. | 57:39 | |
We're thankful for this university of which it is a part. | 57:43 | |
We're thankful for other like institutions represented | 57:47 | |
by people who are here. | 57:49 | |
We're thankful for those who have labored, | 57:53 | |
who have sacrificed, who have given of their talents, | 57:56 | |
their time and energy so that we can have institutions | 58:00 | |
of this kind, and others throughout this country by which | 58:04 | |
so much we have benefited. | 58:09 | |
Fill our lives with thankfulness and allow us in turn | 58:11 | |
to give to those who follow. | 58:14 | |
Hear us also, our Father, as we intercede for those who | 58:22 | |
are suffering and who are lonely, who are beaten down | 58:25 | |
on this day, who are discouraged, | 58:31 | |
for those who are fatherless and lonely, | 58:37 | |
who feel forsaken and empty. | 58:43 | |
Allow us now in this time of prayer to gather them up | 58:47 | |
into our lives, these whom we know, even those who are | 58:52 | |
suffering and are sick, who suffer separation | 58:58 | |
and disappointment that we do not know, | 59:04 | |
and especially those whom we have forgotten and neglected, | 59:10 | |
those who are out of sight, those we have put away. | 59:15 | |
Allow us now to gather them up and allow them to be again | 59:20 | |
a part of our lives. | 59:26 | |
Grant to us the uncomfortable joy of being vessels | 59:33 | |
and channels of Your grace, and encouragement, and comfort | 59:39 | |
to those who are distressed and to bring a word, | 59:44 | |
however disruptive it may be, of comfort and hope to those | 59:48 | |
who are alienated and discouraged and left alone. | 59:54 | |
And for us also we pray, our Father, hear these petitions | 1:00:01 | |
that we may be given new life on this day, that we can | 1:00:10 | |
stop being those things which have destroyed or | 1:00:16 | |
beginning to destroy us and that we can begin to become | 1:00:20 | |
those things which have been promised to us more than we | 1:00:25 | |
could have hoped for ourselves, more than we could have | 1:00:29 | |
made of ourselves so that as individuals and as groups, | 1:00:32 | |
and as a community we may grow in new ways toward | 1:00:38 | |
that which is not seen, but only hoped for yet which is | 1:00:44 | |
a matter for us of assurance and conviction. | 1:00:48 | |
Allow us so to be shaken that we may recognize a strange | 1:00:51 | |
thing happening to us and to those communities and groups | 1:00:58 | |
of which we are a part that we have come now concerned | 1:01:02 | |
about, things which last, concerned about things which | 1:01:07 | |
make for life and growth not because we are the sources | 1:01:12 | |
of these things, but because we have become, by Your grace, | 1:01:17 | |
ministers of Your Word through Jesus Christ our Lord | 1:01:22 | |
who taught us when we pray to say, | 1:01:26 | |
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, | 1:01:29 | |
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth | 1:01:35 | |
as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, | 1:01:39 | |
and forgive us our debts as we forgive those who trespass | 1:01:44 | |
against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us | 1:01:49 | |
from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 1:01:54 | |
and the glory forever. | 1:01:58 | |
Amen. | 1:02:01 | |
(organ music playing "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men") | 1:02:11 | |
♪ Let us now praise famous men ♪ | 1:03:33 | |
♪ And our fathers that begat us ♪ | 1:03:37 | |
♪ Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms ♪ | 1:03:46 | |
♪ Men renowned for their power ♪ | 1:03:53 | |
♪ Leaders of the people by their counsel ♪ | 1:04:03 | |
♪ And by their knowledge ♪ | 1:04:09 | |
♪ Such as found out musical tunes ♪ | 1:04:15 | |
♪ And recited verses in writing ♪ | 1:04:22 | |
♪ All these were honored in their generations ♪ | 1:04:29 | |
♪ And were the glory of their times ♪ | 1:04:38 | |
♪ And some there be, which have no memorial ♪ | 1:04:49 | |
♪ Who are perished, as though they had never been ♪ | 1:04:58 | |
♪ Their bodies are buried in peace ♪ | 1:05:09 | |
♪ But their name liveth for evermore ♪ | 1:05:21 | |
(organ music playing "Doxology") | 1:05:51 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 1:06:29 | |
♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 1:06:34 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:06:40 | |
♪ Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host ♪ | 1:06:47 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ | 1:06:53 | |
♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ | 1:06:58 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 1:07:19 | |
Thanks be to Thee, oh God, from whom these things have come. | 1:07:32 | |
Receive now these small gifts because they are important | 1:07:37 | |
to us as signs of our dedication to Your work and kingdom | 1:07:41 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 1:07:46 | |
Amen. | 1:07:49 | |
(organ music drowns out singing) | 1:07:54 | |
- | The Lord bless you and keep you. | 1:10:19 |
The Lord be gracious to you. | 1:10:22 | |
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace | 1:10:25 | |
now and forever. | 1:10:28 | |
Amen. | 1:10:30 | |
(acapella liturgical singing) | 1:10:40 | |
(organ music postlude) | 1:11:25 |
Item Info
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