Amanda Lee Berry - "Encouragement in Christ for a Loving Community" (March 23, 1980)
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| - | Sunday Worship Service, March 23rd, 1980, Duke Chapel. | 0:03 |
| (serene organ music) | 0:09 | |
| (choir music) | 12:38 | |
| (classical organ music) | 13:41 | |
| - | This is the day in which the Lord has made. | 17:47 |
| Let us rejoice and be glad in it. | 17:51 | |
| And let us begin our worship this morning | 17:54 | |
| by confessing together how we have failed | 17:56 | |
| to love God and to love and serve our neighbors. | 17:59 | |
| Let us pray. | 18:05 | |
| God we come before you knowing we have tried | 18:17 | |
| to hide from you, from one another, and from ourselves. | 18:20 | |
| Somehow we have felt that by depending upon our own powers | 18:26 | |
| we can solve the problems of life. | 18:32 | |
| We have tried to escape by withdrawing from the difficult, | 18:35 | |
| the challenging, the crucifying experiences of life. | 18:39 | |
| We have become trapped in a meaningless realm | 18:45 | |
| of insignificant activities while we have | 18:48 | |
| avoided projects we should have done. | 18:51 | |
| We have strayed far from the fullness of life | 18:55 | |
| you have promised us. | 18:58 | |
| Forgive us for our self-centeredness, | 19:00 | |
| our proudness, our weakness, our blindness. | 19:03 | |
| Have mercy upon us that we may become your people anew. | 19:08 | |
| Amen. | 19:14 | |
| Let us confess in silence the ways in which | 19:17 | |
| we have personally fallen short of God's expectation. | 19:20 | |
| Amen. | 19:47 | |
| The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance | 19:49 | |
| that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners | 19:53 | |
| and there is therefore no condemnation for those | 19:58 | |
| who are in Christ Jesus. | 20:02 | |
| I declare to you, therefore, that in His name | 20:05 | |
| we are forgiven. | 20:09 | |
| And let us give thanks for God is good | 20:11 | |
| and God's love is everlasting. | 20:14 | |
| Congregation | Thank you, God, (faint speaking). | 20:17 |
| Thank you, God, for forgiveness. | 20:22 | |
| Thank you, God, (faint speaking). | 20:26 | |
| - | The Duke University Chapel Staff | 20:34 |
| and the Duke University Parish Ministry Staff, | 20:36 | |
| welcome you this morning to our service of worship | 20:40 | |
| and call your attention to the following announcements | 20:43 | |
| which are not noted in your bulletin. | 20:46 | |
| The Durham CROP Walk will be held next Sunday afternoon, | 20:50 | |
| starting at one o'clock p.m. | 20:54 | |
| outside Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium. | 20:57 | |
| The 10 mile walk-a-thon, a project | 21:01 | |
| of the Duke University Parish Ministry, | 21:04 | |
| raises money to support the hunger fighting work | 21:07 | |
| of Church World Service and Durham's Meals on Wheels. | 21:11 | |
| Sponsor sheets and additional information | 21:16 | |
| will be available at a table outside the chapel | 21:19 | |
| following this morning's service. | 21:23 | |
| Also, at table outside, postal cards are available | 21:27 | |
| for you to write a brief message to members | 21:32 | |
| of the US House Appropriations Committee. | 21:36 | |
| This committee will be voting Wednesday | 21:39 | |
| on the appropriation to fund Selective Service registration | 21:42 | |
| beginning this summer. | 21:47 | |
| Please let these members of Congress know how you feel | 21:49 | |
| about this proposed program. | 21:53 | |
| Thirdly, Page Box Office will be open this afternoon, | 21:58 | |
| immediately following this service | 22:02 | |
| for those of you who would like to purchase tickets | 22:05 | |
| to the performance of Box, The Passion of Our Lord, | 22:07 | |
| according to Matthew. | 22:11 | |
| It's being performed next Sunday, March 30th, | 22:13 | |
| beginning at four o'clock p.m. | 22:16 | |
| by the Duke Chapel Choir Orchestra Soloists | 22:18 | |
| and the Durham Boy's Choir. | 22:22 | |
| And finally, I am pleased to present to you | 22:26 | |
| the preacher for this morning, | 22:28 | |
| Ms. Amanda Lee Barry, a Duke University junior, | 22:31 | |
| majoring in religion and psychology. | 22:35 | |
| We look forward to her message for today. | 22:38 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 22:53 |
| Prepare us Lord, give us a clear mind | 22:57 | |
| that we may hear your word. | 23:01 | |
| Give us a submissive will that we may | 23:04 | |
| respond to what we hear. | 23:07 | |
| Give us an open heart, oh Lord, | 23:09 | |
| that we may respond to your word with love. | 23:12 | |
| Amen. | 23:16 | |
| The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 43:16-21. | 23:18 | |
| Thus says the Lord, "Who makes a way in the sea, | 23:26 | |
| "a path in the mighty waters, | 23:29 | |
| "who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior, | 23:32 | |
| "they lie down, they cannot rise, | 23:37 | |
| "they are extinguished, quenched like a wick. | 23:40 | |
| "Remember not the former things, | 23:44 | |
| "nor consider the things of old, | 23:46 | |
| "behold I am doing a new thing. | 23:49 | |
| "Now it springs forth, do not you perceive it? | 23:52 | |
| "I will make a way in the wilderness, | 23:56 | |
| "and rivers in the desert, the wild beast will honor me, | 23:58 | |
| "the jackals and the ostrich. | 24:03 | |
| "For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. | 24:05 | |
| "I give rivers in the desert to drink for my chosen people. | 24:10 | |
| "The people who I form from myself, | 24:14 | |
| "that they might declare my praise. | 24:17 | |
| The Epistle reading is from Philippians 2:1-11. | 24:22 | |
| "So if there's any encouragement in Christ, | 24:30 | |
| "any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, | 24:33 | |
| "any affection and sympathy, complete my joy | 24:38 | |
| "by being of the same mind, having the same love, | 24:42 | |
| "and being in the full accord with one mind. | 24:47 | |
| "Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility. | 24:51 | |
| "Count others better than yourselves. | 24:55 | |
| "Let each of you look not only to his own interest | 24:59 | |
| "but also to the interest of others. | 25:03 | |
| "Have this mind among yourselves, | 25:07 | |
| "which is yours in Christ Jesus. | 25:09 | |
| "Who though he wasn't a form of God, | 25:12 | |
| "did not count equality with God. | 25:14 | |
| "A thing to be grasped but emptied himself, | 25:18 | |
| "taking the form of a human, the form of a servant. | 25:21 | |
| "Being born in the likeness of men, | 25:25 | |
| "and being found in human form, | 25:28 | |
| "He humbled himself and became obedient onto death, | 25:30 | |
| "even death on a cross. | 25:34 | |
| "And therefore, God has highly exalted Him | 25:37 | |
| "and bestowed on Him the name which is above | 25:40 | |
| "every other name. | 25:43 | |
| "That in the name of Jesus, every name, every knee | 25:45 | |
| "shall bow in heaven and on Earth, under the Earth. | 25:49 | |
| "Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, | 25:54 | |
| "to the glory of God the Father." | 25:57 | |
| Here reads the end of the reading of the Epistle. | 26:00 | |
| (solemn organ music) | 26:04 | |
| (choir music) | 26:21 | |
| Will the congregation please stand | 29:12 | |
| for the reading of the gospel lesson? | 29:14 | |
| The gospel lesson is from the Matthew 5:43-48. | 29:22 | |
| "You have heard it said you shall love your neighbor | 29:29 | |
| "and hate your enemy, but I say to you, | 29:32 | |
| "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, | 29:35 | |
| "so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. | 29:39 | |
| "For He makes His son rise on evil and on the good, | 29:43 | |
| "and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. | 29:47 | |
| "For if you love just those who love you, | 29:50 | |
| "what reward have you? | 29:53 | |
| "Do not even the tax collectors do the same? | 29:55 | |
| "And if you salute only your brethren, | 30:00 | |
| "what more are you doing than others? | 30:02 | |
| "Do not even the gentiles do the same? | 30:05 | |
| "You therefore must be perfect, | 30:08 | |
| "as your heavenly Father is perfect." | 30:11 | |
| (solemn organ music) | 30:16 | |
| (choir music) | 30:23 | |
| - | Glory be to our Creator. | 31:18 |
| That's what we're here for, to give glory to our Creator. | 31:21 | |
| To praise Him with joy. | 31:25 | |
| Joy in prayer, joy in song. | 31:28 | |
| The joy of Christians worshiping God together. | 31:32 | |
| In Paul's message to the Philippians, | 31:37 | |
| he asks that they complete his joy by being of one mind, | 31:39 | |
| if there is any encouragement in Christ. | 31:43 | |
| There is encouragement in Christ. | 31:47 | |
| First of all, the encouragement comes from | 31:50 | |
| the example that He set for us. | 31:53 | |
| Jesus came as a servant, as the scripture says. | 31:56 | |
| Though he was in the form of God, | 32:00 | |
| he didn't count equality with God, | 32:02 | |
| a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, | 32:04 | |
| taking the form of a servant. | 32:08 | |
| We don't have an image of the man as a king, | 32:11 | |
| Jesus didn't come in princely fashion | 32:14 | |
| to rule over a great empire on Earth. | 32:17 | |
| Instead, we see Him on His knees | 32:20 | |
| washing the disciples' feet at the Last Supper. | 32:23 | |
| In Luke 22:27, He says, | 32:27 | |
| "But I am among you as one who serves." | 32:32 | |
| He gave all that he had in life and in death. | 32:36 | |
| His life is an example of humility and love. | 32:39 | |
| His words and teaching are also encouragement. | 32:44 | |
| In His teaching, He was stern yet encouraging. | 32:48 | |
| Turn the other cheek and if anyone asks you to go one mile, | 32:52 | |
| go with him two miles. | 32:58 | |
| Feed my sheep. | 33:01 | |
| Love thy neighbor as thy self. | 33:04 | |
| There is more to Christ than just | 33:07 | |
| a good example and teaching. | 33:09 | |
| The encouragement comes from the relationship | 33:12 | |
| that we have with Christ as a result | 33:15 | |
| of His death and resurrection. | 33:17 | |
| He died for our sins that we may be forgiven. | 33:20 | |
| God's love for us is so strong that we are empowered by it. | 33:25 | |
| His incentive of love is not like any other incentive. | 33:30 | |
| It is not a payoff for doing the right thing. | 33:34 | |
| Instead, it comes from inside, | 33:37 | |
| a real desire to do God's will. | 33:40 | |
| With the incentive of love, we make his will our own. | 33:43 | |
| And love, because there's no alternative, | 33:48 | |
| the incentive of love is the power that enables us | 33:51 | |
| to love one another. | 33:55 | |
| As we read in 1 John 4:12. | 33:57 | |
| "Beloved, if God so loved us, | 34:01 | |
| "we also ought to love one another." | 34:04 | |
| This is how we can respond to Christ's loving sacrifice, | 34:07 | |
| by loving one another. | 34:11 | |
| My youth minister once wrote an inscription to me | 34:14 | |
| in "The Good News for Modern Man," that read like this, | 34:17 | |
| "Know that all the love and power of the universe | 34:20 | |
| "is available within you." | 34:24 | |
| What is this power for? | 34:27 | |
| This encouragement in Christ. | 34:29 | |
| This incentive of love. | 34:31 | |
| It gives us the courage to love one another | 34:35 | |
| and to do what we are charged to do. | 34:38 | |
| Knowing that we have His love, | 34:42 | |
| we are able to take a risk. | 34:44 | |
| We can risk getting up in the Duke Chapel, | 34:47 | |
| opening up your thoughts in front of hundreds of people. | 34:50 | |
| We can risk sharing our love with a friend. | 34:54 | |
| We can risk giving everything we have for someone else. | 34:58 | |
| When I told my 14 year old brother that I was going | 35:02 | |
| to preach in the chapel, he wanted to know | 35:04 | |
| what I was going to preach about. | 35:07 | |
| I tried to explain to him in general terms, | 35:09 | |
| very simply, what it was that I was going to say. | 35:12 | |
| I told him it was about the encouragement in Christ | 35:15 | |
| for a loving community. | 35:18 | |
| After I struggled with the explanation, | 35:20 | |
| he responded with a grin saying, | 35:23 | |
| "Oh, you mean like in Psalm 133?" | 35:25 | |
| I had to admit, I wasn't familiar with the passage, | 35:30 | |
| but I looked it up. | 35:33 | |
| "Behold how good and pleasant it is | 35:35 | |
| "when brothers dwell in unity. | 35:38 | |
| "It is like the precious oil upon the head | 35:40 | |
| "running down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron. | 35:43 | |
| "Running down on the collar of his robes. | 35:47 | |
| "It is like the dew of Hermon, | 35:50 | |
| "which falls on the mountains of Zion. | 35:53 | |
| "For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, | 35:56 | |
| "life for evermore." | 35:58 | |
| The first verse is so simple but it says it all to me. | 36:02 | |
| "Behold how good and pleasant it is | 36:07 | |
| "when brothers dwell in unity." | 36:09 | |
| It is good. | 36:12 | |
| And so we can try to dwell in unity, | 36:14 | |
| in a community of Christ, with His encouragement | 36:17 | |
| and the incentive of love, God's love. | 36:21 | |
| Paul told the Philippians to be a full accord | 36:25 | |
| and of one mind. | 36:29 | |
| To be of one mind is to be of one spirit. | 36:31 | |
| We become one by sharing with others in a community. | 36:35 | |
| Again, Paul said, "Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, | 36:39 | |
| "but in humility count others better than yourselves." | 36:44 | |
| And the part of the sermon on the mount | 36:49 | |
| that was read this morning, Jesus said to love your enemies. | 36:50 | |
| That's a pretty strong command. | 36:55 | |
| It's not easy to love your enemies. | 36:58 | |
| It's not easy to love someone who's political | 37:01 | |
| or philosophical views are not like your own. | 37:03 | |
| And how about the guy who cheers for Carolina? | 37:07 | |
| Do I have to count him better than myself? | 37:11 | |
| We have to if we're going to be humble. | 37:15 | |
| Christ was humble, He lived a life of humility. | 37:18 | |
| He came to serve. | 37:22 | |
| He humbled Himself and became obedient onto death, | 37:25 | |
| even death on a cross. | 37:28 | |
| Another example is Saint Francis of Assisi. | 37:32 | |
| He gave up all his material possessions | 37:35 | |
| and devoted his life to serving others. | 37:38 | |
| He cleansed the wounds of a leper | 37:42 | |
| and gave his coat to the poor. | 37:45 | |
| He went hungry. | 37:47 | |
| He risked cold, disease, and fatigue for others. | 37:48 | |
| In humility he prayed this prayer. | 37:54 | |
| "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. | 37:58 | |
| "Where there is hatred, let me sow love. | 38:02 | |
| "Where there is doubt, faith. | 38:06 | |
| "Where there is despair, hope. | 38:10 | |
| "Where there is darkness, light. | 38:13 | |
| "And where there is sadness, joy. | 38:17 | |
| "Oh divine master, grant that I may not so much seek | 38:20 | |
| "to be consoled, as to console. | 38:24 | |
| "To be understood, as to understand. | 38:27 | |
| "To be loved, as to love. | 38:31 | |
| "For it is in giving that we receive. | 38:35 | |
| "It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. | 38:37 | |
| "And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." | 38:40 | |
| We try to apply these examples of humility to our own lives. | 38:46 | |
| Do we humble ourselves to be of one mind, | 38:51 | |
| one mind in Christ, in the most obvious example | 38:53 | |
| in our role as Christians? | 38:57 | |
| Too often we use the role of Christians | 39:00 | |
| as a label, a trademark. | 39:03 | |
| You're like the man in the advertisement | 39:06 | |
| with the Dime Savings Bank of New York. | 39:09 | |
| We see this man standing with this big fancy car | 39:11 | |
| in front of his new house saying, | 39:14 | |
| "I found the better way." | 39:17 | |
| How many times do we as Christians look down on others | 39:20 | |
| because we feel we have found the better way? | 39:24 | |
| Even between Christians, it is dismaying to see it | 39:28 | |
| right here on campus. | 39:31 | |
| There are factions and competition between them. | 39:33 | |
| Can you open-minded Methodists count the strict | 39:38 | |
| fundamentalists as better than yourselves? | 39:41 | |
| Can you Baptists count the Catholics | 39:45 | |
| as better than yourselves? | 39:47 | |
| Or do we look at one another with scorn | 39:50 | |
| because we all don't see things the same way? | 39:53 | |
| We are all sure that our way's best. | 39:57 | |
| But aren't we all on the same side? | 40:00 | |
| Aren't we all followers of Christ? | 40:03 | |
| Being in full accord and of one mind. | 40:06 | |
| Can we also do nothing from selfishness or conceit | 40:10 | |
| when speaking to those who do not know | 40:14 | |
| the loving community of Christ? | 40:16 | |
| Jesus said, "For if you love those who love you, | 40:18 | |
| "what reward have you? | 40:22 | |
| "Do not even the tax collectors do the same? | 40:24 | |
| "And if you salute only your brethren, | 40:26 | |
| "what more are you doing than others? | 40:29 | |
| "Do not even the gentiles do the same? | 40:31 | |
| "You therefore must be perfect | 40:34 | |
| "as your heavenly Father is perfect." | 40:36 | |
| If we as Christians salute only those who follow Christ, | 40:39 | |
| are we doing any more than any body else? | 40:44 | |
| We lose the point if we boastfully tell others | 40:48 | |
| that we are better. | 40:50 | |
| The better way is to do as Christ taught, | 40:52 | |
| to love one another, | 40:56 | |
| to count others as better than ourselves, | 40:58 | |
| and to have one mind among us. | 41:00 | |
| In John 13:35, Jesus said, "By this, all men | 41:04 | |
| "will know that you are my disciples, | 41:08 | |
| "if you have love for one another." | 41:11 | |
| An evangelism of love is the most powerful. | 41:14 | |
| Trying to share in community with God's love | 41:17 | |
| is our incentive, our constant encouragement. | 41:19 | |
| None of us can boast that He is better, | 41:23 | |
| in this respect, for no one is perfect, except Christ. | 41:26 | |
| It doesn't take much to shatter our fragile human egos. | 41:32 | |
| I had an experience that taught me this. | 41:36 | |
| I was hardly expecting to be preached to over pizza, | 41:39 | |
| when I went out to dinner with a friend. | 41:43 | |
| But it's one sermon that I'll never forget. | 41:45 | |
| My friend told me in very plain terms | 41:49 | |
| that I didn't make a very good impression | 41:51 | |
| with people that I didn't know. | 41:53 | |
| He said that you can't just be friendly with the people | 41:56 | |
| that you know well, but you should treat | 41:58 | |
| everyone the way that you treat your friends. | 42:02 | |
| He told me, "You know, if you were concerned | 42:05 | |
| "with what's bothering other people, | 42:08 | |
| "you'll forget about yourself." | 42:11 | |
| He knew me pretty well. | 42:14 | |
| As a freshman, finding my way in the university, | 42:16 | |
| I was so worried about myself and the impression | 42:19 | |
| that I was making, that I was forgetting about others. | 42:22 | |
| It's so easy to do. | 42:26 | |
| Paul's challenge to the Philippians | 42:29 | |
| is a challenge to us today. | 42:30 | |
| With God's love we must count others better than ourselves | 42:33 | |
| and look to the interest of others | 42:37 | |
| to form a true loving community with one mind in Christ. | 42:39 | |
| Anyone who has found acceptance in a community | 42:46 | |
| knows the benefits of sharing relationship. | 42:49 | |
| If you have a family with whom you can really be at home, | 42:53 | |
| or if you have a special friend or a roommate | 42:57 | |
| that you could share your thoughts with, | 42:59 | |
| can really let it all out. | 43:01 | |
| Chances are they probably know you better than you realize. | 43:04 | |
| Or if you're a part of a group | 43:08 | |
| where your beliefs are respected, even shared. | 43:09 | |
| We know the benefits of being in a community | 43:13 | |
| where each side benefits from each other, | 43:16 | |
| giving and taking, a symbiotic relationship of sorts. | 43:19 | |
| Still, such a relationship is subject | 43:23 | |
| to human desires and whims. | 43:25 | |
| But imagine a community where the incentive | 43:28 | |
| is God's unconditional love for us. | 43:31 | |
| We love because He first loved us. | 43:34 | |
| We give what we can because He gave all that He had. | 43:37 | |
| His gift of love encourages us | 43:43 | |
| to share that love of Christ with others. | 43:46 | |
| Just as Edwin Markham said in this short poem. | 43:49 | |
| "He drew a circle that shut me out. | 43:53 | |
| "Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. | 43:56 | |
| "But love and I had the wit to win. | 44:00 | |
| "We drew a circle that took him in." | 44:03 | |
| Being of one mind refers not only | 44:07 | |
| to sharing common ideas and beliefs but also to actions. | 44:10 | |
| If your mind is in Christ, | 44:15 | |
| it implies that both thought and action will follow. | 44:18 | |
| It is one thing to accept Christ's word | 44:21 | |
| and to profess belief in his doctrine, | 44:24 | |
| but quite another to put it to work. | 44:27 | |
| When Paul said, "Have this mind among yourselves, | 44:30 | |
| which is yours in Christ Jesus," | 44:34 | |
| he was not referring just a thought. | 44:37 | |
| By having a mind in Christ, | 44:40 | |
| it becomes an inherent part of the person. | 44:41 | |
| It is more than cognitive functioning, actions are implied. | 44:45 | |
| If our minds are in Christ, it will show in our lives. | 44:50 | |
| Acting in unity as one in Christ, | 44:55 | |
| let each of us look not only to our own interest, | 44:57 | |
| but also to the interest of others. | 45:01 | |
| This is a difficult challenge to accept. | 45:04 | |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Most people are willing | 45:07 | |
| "to take the Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under, | 45:10 | |
| "but few people are willing to use it | 45:15 | |
| "as a rudder by which to steer." | 45:17 | |
| Too often we use the label Christians | 45:23 | |
| without regard to the responsibility | 45:26 | |
| and obligations which are attached. | 45:28 | |
| We can't go out and flaunt the better way, | 45:31 | |
| we're supposed to be humble and consider others | 45:33 | |
| better than ourselves. | 45:35 | |
| We can if we know that we have the incentive of love. | 45:37 | |
| The incentive of love cannot be ignored. | 45:42 | |
| God's love fills us with an enthusiasm | 45:45 | |
| that can't sit still. | 45:47 | |
| It's like yeast added to bread. | 45:50 | |
| It takes a small amount of dough and with enough warmth, | 45:52 | |
| it swells to many times its size. | 45:56 | |
| The incentive of love, God's love fills us | 45:59 | |
| so that we swell until we would burst into action. | 46:03 | |
| It lights a candle under us so that we might | 46:08 | |
| act upon this incentive. | 46:11 | |
| Viktor Frankl in his book "Man's Search for Meaning" | 46:14 | |
| talks about the meaning of love. | 46:18 | |
| He said, "Love is the only way to grasp another human being | 46:21 | |
| "in the inner most core of his personality. | 46:25 | |
| "No one can become fully aware of the very essence | 46:29 | |
| "of another human being unless he loves him. | 46:31 | |
| "By the spiritual act of love he is enabled | 46:36 | |
| "to see the essential traits and features | 46:38 | |
| "in a beloved person. | 46:41 | |
| "And even more, he sees that which is potential in him. | 46:43 | |
| "That which is not yet actualized, | 46:48 | |
| "but yet ought to be actualized. | 46:51 | |
| "Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables | 46:53 | |
| "the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. | 46:56 | |
| "By making him aware of what he can be | 47:00 | |
| "and of what he should become, | 47:03 | |
| "he makes these potentialities come true." | 47:05 | |
| So we see here two ways in which love | 47:09 | |
| can be active in a community. | 47:11 | |
| First, it enables one to become aware | 47:14 | |
| of the very essence of another. | 47:17 | |
| By loving someone, we are able to know them better. | 47:20 | |
| By the act of love, we can know | 47:23 | |
| what can't be expressed in words. | 47:26 | |
| Love comes from the spirit and so it enables us | 47:30 | |
| to know each other on a spiritual level. | 47:33 | |
| This spiritual communication is important | 47:36 | |
| to a community which is one in the spirit. | 47:39 | |
| Second, love becomes active in a community | 47:43 | |
| by enabling us to actualize our potentialities, | 47:46 | |
| by making us aware of what we can and should become. | 47:50 | |
| This follows from communication. | 47:53 | |
| By knowing others, we can help them | 47:56 | |
| to better understand themselves. | 47:58 | |
| And then love gives us the support of strength, | 48:00 | |
| to realize our potentials. | 48:03 | |
| The love which enables us to know another person | 48:05 | |
| and to grow from this relationship, comes from God. | 48:08 | |
| With strength and encouragement from Christ, | 48:13 | |
| we can be humble in community by counting others | 48:17 | |
| better than ourselves. | 48:19 | |
| The incentive of love in Christ is the basis | 48:21 | |
| of loving Christian community. | 48:25 | |
| We acknowledge this love today in worship, in joy. | 48:28 | |
| So if there is any encouragement in Christ, | 48:32 | |
| any incentive of love, any participation in the spirit, | 48:36 | |
| any affection and sympathy, | 48:42 | |
| complete my joy by being of the same mind. | 48:45 | |
| Having one love. | 48:49 | |
| Being in full accord and of one mind. | 48:52 | |
| Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, | 48:55 | |
| but in humility, count others better than yourselves. | 48:58 | |
| Let each of you look not only to his own interest, | 49:02 | |
| but to the interest of others. | 49:05 | |
| Have this mind among yourselves, | 49:08 | |
| which is yours in Christ Jesus. | 49:10 | |
| (solemn organ music) | 49:24 | |
| (choir music) | 49:51 | |
| - | Let us affirm what we believe. | 52:00 |
| We believe in God, who has created and is created. | 52:03 | |
| Who has come in the truly human Jesus, | 52:09 | |
| to reconcile and make new. | 52:12 | |
| Who works in us and others, by the Spirit. | 52:15 | |
| We trust God, who calls us to be the church. | 52:19 | |
| To celebrate life and its fullness. | 52:24 | |
| To love and serve others. | 52:27 | |
| To seek justice and resist evil. | 52:30 | |
| To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen. | 52:34 | |
| Our judge and our hope. | 52:37 | |
| In life, in death, in life beyond death, | 52:40 | |
| God is with us, we are not alone. | 52:45 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 52:49 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 52:53 |
| Congregation | And with your spirit. | 52:55 |
| - | Let us pray. | 52:57 |
| Holy God, we rejoice that you are our Creator, | 53:08 | |
| our sustainer, and the Lord of our life. | 53:13 | |
| We thank you for the beauty of our world, | 53:18 | |
| for the gift of friendship, | 53:22 | |
| for food, shelter, and clothing, | 53:25 | |
| for the opportunity to learn, for the freedom to think, | 53:29 | |
| and speak, and write, as we believe we should. | 53:33 | |
| Most of all, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ, | 53:38 | |
| through whom we are forgiven and to find hope | 53:43 | |
| and renewed strength for the challenges before us. | 53:47 | |
| And we pray for the healing power | 53:53 | |
| of the Holy Spirit among us. | 53:54 | |
| We pray that we might be the vehicle | 53:58 | |
| through which the Spirit comforts and supports others. | 54:00 | |
| Enable us to mend what has broken between us | 54:05 | |
| in order that we might enjoy more completely | 54:09 | |
| the communion of saints. | 54:12 | |
| But as seek to know and enjoy community, | 54:16 | |
| do not let us forget the needs of the stranger | 54:20 | |
| who stands outside our circle of faith. | 54:23 | |
| Help us to reach out, not only to the helpless, | 54:28 | |
| but to the hostile as well. | 54:33 | |
| We pray these things because we confess | 54:37 | |
| that Jesus Christ means more to us than | 54:39 | |
| anything else in the world. | 54:42 | |
| Together, let us offer the prayer which He taught to us. | 54:46 | |
| Our Father, Who art in heaven, | 54:51 | |
| Hallowed be Thy Name. | 54:54 | |
| Thy Kingdom come. | 54:56 | |
| Thy Will be done, | 54:58 | |
| on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 54:59 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 55:02 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 55:05 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 55:08 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 55:12 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 55:15 | |
| For thine is the kingdom and the power | 55:17 | |
| and the glory forever. | 55:21 | |
| Amen. | 55:23 | |
| (solemn organ music) | 55:43 | |
| (choir music) | 57:12 | |
| (serene organ music) | 1:04:16 | |
| (choir music) | 1:04:47 | |
| Holy God receive these gift we humbly pray to thy service. | 1:05:29 | |
| May they improve the life of the Christian community | 1:05:35 | |
| and this place and reach out with the good news. | 1:05:39 | |
| That healing and comfort may happen in our time. | 1:05:44 | |
| In Jesus' name we pray. | 1:05:51 | |
| Amen. | 1:05:53 | |
| (solemn organ music) | 1:05:58 | |
| (choir music) | 1:06:41 | |
| Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ | 1:09:21 | |
| and the love of God the Father, | 1:09:24 | |
| and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, | 1:09:27 | |
| be and divide with you now and forever. | 1:09:29 | |
| Amen. | 1:09:33 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:35 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:39 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:45 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:09:53 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:10:00 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:10:11 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:10:24 | |
| (serene organ music) | 1:10:44 |
Item Info
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