Robert E. Cushman - "What and Where Is Advent?" (December 6, 1959)
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| - | Let us pray. | 0:20 |
| Almighty and eternal God, | 0:23 | |
| grant that the words | 0:26 | |
| which are spoken in this place, | 0:27 | |
| maybe received in so far as they are | 0:30 | |
| thy word into good and faithful hearts, | 0:33 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 0:37 | |
| Amen. | 0:39 | |
| And I see that mechanism | 0:44 | |
| has taken over all so, | 0:45 | |
| in Duke Chapel. | 0:49 | |
| It may as well | 0:54 | |
| be admitted from the start | 0:55 | |
| that since Tuesday, | 0:57 | |
| when I was obliged | 0:59 | |
| to give my sermon topic, | 1:00 | |
| but I have composed the sermon | 1:05 | |
| and its title must now need to be changed. | 1:08 | |
| To the title I must add a word, | 1:13 | |
| the word when. | 1:16 | |
| So now it reads, | 1:19 | |
| what, where and when is Advent? | 1:21 | |
| And I think I find that the added word | 1:27 | |
| is all important. | 1:30 | |
| I confess it is not always easy | 1:34 | |
| to preach in Duke Chapel. | 1:36 | |
| Sometimes I find it difficult. | 1:40 | |
| I think because the preacher | 1:44 | |
| does not know to whom he speaks, | 1:46 | |
| and you are very far off. | 1:51 | |
| I have found it a specially arduous | 1:55 | |
| task this week, | 1:58 | |
| partly because it has been my lot | 2:02 | |
| to preach many Advents sermons here. | 2:05 | |
| And so I ask, | 2:09 | |
| is there an added word to say today? | 2:10 | |
| In straits like this, | 2:14 | |
| I sometimes ask for help from my family. | 2:17 | |
| My small daughter, | 2:22 | |
| with delight for irresponsibility | 2:23 | |
| suggested I preach about horses. | 2:26 | |
| Though I suppose she meant reindeers. | 2:30 | |
| Another member, since the scouts | 2:34 | |
| are here today in the body, | 2:37 | |
| suggested a children's sermon. | 2:40 | |
| And so I shall try, | 2:43 | |
| with the understanding | 2:45 | |
| that the Christian faith, | 2:47 | |
| commends itself only to children in spirit. | 2:49 | |
| Since our Lord declared, | 2:54 | |
| "No one enters the Kingdom of God | 2:57 | |
| except as a little child." | 3:00 | |
| And that I suppose is what after all | 3:04 | |
| is signified to us, | 3:06 | |
| if we will look more closely | 3:09 | |
| than we ordinarily do. | 3:11 | |
| That is what is signified to us, | 3:14 | |
| by the child in the humble manger bed | 3:17 | |
| at Bethlehem. | 3:20 | |
| But now our theme. | 3:23 | |
| what, where and when is Advent? | 3:26 | |
| Surely the revolving seasons | 3:31 | |
| of the Christian year, | 3:33 | |
| serve to remind us | 3:35 | |
| of the great themes | 3:37 | |
| of the Christian faith. | 3:40 | |
| This is their purpose and justification. | 3:42 | |
| As for Advent it is doubtless, | 3:45 | |
| the most beloved, | 3:47 | |
| as it is the most joyous season | 3:48 | |
| of the Christian year. | 3:51 | |
| Notice I say Christian year, | 3:54 | |
| for Advent is not at all a season | 3:57 | |
| of the secular year. | 4:00 | |
| Although it is certainly | 4:02 | |
| been appropriated by the world, | 4:04 | |
| and now mingles its meaning confusingly | 4:07 | |
| with that patron saint | 4:10 | |
| of trade and commerce, | 4:12 | |
| known for his jocular rotundity | 4:14 | |
| and peaked red hat. | 4:17 | |
| Advent I say is a joyous season. | 4:21 | |
| It is so because it is the time, | 4:24 | |
| when Christian people everywhere | 4:28 | |
| prepare to celebrate | 4:31 | |
| the birth of Jesus Christ. | 4:33 | |
| Him whose matchless life, | 4:36 | |
| so divided all the past | 4:39 | |
| that was before Him, | 4:41 | |
| from the sublime fulfillment | 4:43 | |
| that was in Him, | 4:45 | |
| that all subsequent history | 4:47 | |
| came to be reckoned | 4:49 | |
| from the year of His birth. | 4:51 | |
| And all dominate | 4:54 | |
| the year of the Lord, | 4:57 | |
| is for Christians the dividing line | 4:59 | |
| between the age of the prophets. | 5:02 | |
| Of longing and of hope deferred, | 5:06 | |
| and the age of promise, | 5:10 | |
| the age of hope fulfilled. | 5:11 | |
| The author of the epistle | 5:16 | |
| to the Hebrews says, | 5:18 | |
| "God having of old time | 5:21 | |
| spoken unto the fathers | 5:23 | |
| and the prophets, | 5:25 | |
| has at the end of these days, | 5:27 | |
| spoken unto us in His son." | 5:30 | |
| For these reasons, | 5:35 | |
| Advent is a joyous season, | 5:37 | |
| a season of heightened expectation. | 5:41 | |
| But if this is all we mean by Advent, | 5:44 | |
| then it is really not hard to understand. | 5:48 | |
| It is a stretch of time | 5:52 | |
| filled by the four Sundays before Christmas. | 5:53 | |
| As such it is a period | 5:57 | |
| in the ecclesiastical calendar. | 5:59 | |
| It is celebrated in the church | 6:02 | |
| with distinctive liturgy and music. | 6:04 | |
| These are singularly pure | 6:09 | |
| and beautiful in themselves. | 6:11 | |
| It is the time of Christmas carol, | 6:14 | |
| of folk song and of Handel's Messiah. | 6:18 | |
| It occupies the month of December, | 6:22 | |
| until the 12 days of Christmas, | 6:25 | |
| and is eventually succeeded | 6:28 | |
| by more normal routines | 6:30 | |
| that follow the pagan festival of new years. | 6:33 | |
| Then we are back again, admittedly, | 6:38 | |
| possibly somewhat worse for | 6:41 | |
| where in the workaday world | 6:43 | |
| of the common round | 6:46 | |
| of duties to be done. | 6:47 | |
| Man, we look forward to summer vacation. | 6:50 | |
| Is this Advent? | 6:55 | |
| If so, then here, | 6:58 | |
| what we have it's what? | 7:00 | |
| And it's where? | 7:03 | |
| And it's when? | 7:04 | |
| And that's the pity of it. | 7:05 | |
| If Advent is simply a season | 7:08 | |
| of the Christian year, | 7:10 | |
| then it is more nearly | 7:11 | |
| something we pass through, | 7:13 | |
| than something that passes through us. | 7:15 | |
| We may have experienced the season, | 7:18 | |
| caught something of it's honest, | 7:22 | |
| cheer and grace, | 7:24 | |
| but we easily fail | 7:26 | |
| to grasp and be grasped | 7:27 | |
| by what it signifies. | 7:30 | |
| For the season of Advent | 7:33 | |
| points beyond itself, | 7:34 | |
| to a reality in the life | 7:37 | |
| of Christian people in all ages. | 7:39 | |
| And that reality is, | 7:42 | |
| newness of life, | 7:44 | |
| the new life of humanity in Jesus Christ, | 7:46 | |
| and it's watch word is, | 7:50 | |
| "Behold I make all things new." | 7:51 | |
| It's distinctive message, | 7:55 | |
| is summarized for us in John's gospel. | 7:58 | |
| "He was in the world, | 8:02 | |
| and the world was made through Him, | 8:04 | |
| and the world knew Him not. | 8:08 | |
| He came onto His own, | 8:11 | |
| and they that were His own, | 8:13 | |
| received Him not, | 8:15 | |
| but as many as received Him, | 8:18 | |
| to them gave He the right | 8:21 | |
| to be called the children of God." | 8:24 | |
| And then John adds, | 8:27 | |
| "And the word was made flesh | 8:29 | |
| and dwelt among us." | 8:33 | |
| So we ask once more, | 8:36 | |
| "What, where, and when is Advent?" | 8:39 | |
| What is Advent? | 8:45 | |
| According to John's gospel, | 8:48 | |
| It is Jesus Christ Himself. | 8:50 | |
| It is the word made flesh | 8:54 | |
| that dwelt among us, | 8:56 | |
| whose glory was recognized by some, | 8:59 | |
| but not by all. | 9:01 | |
| But for those who had eyes to see, | 9:04 | |
| it was the fulfillment | 9:07 | |
| of Israel's ancient hope, | 9:08 | |
| so long before. | 9:11 | |
| Where is Advent?, | 9:14 | |
| According to St. John, | 9:16 | |
| it is wherever the word made flesh | 9:18 | |
| is received rather than rebuffed and rejected. | 9:22 | |
| It is wherever man reversed themselves | 9:27 | |
| and commit their highest loyalty, | 9:30 | |
| their whole devotion | 9:32 | |
| to God and his kingdom. | 9:34 | |
| When is Advent? | 9:37 | |
| Again according to St. John, | 9:40 | |
| it is when the old life | 9:43 | |
| of men is born a new, | 9:45 | |
| not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, | 9:48 | |
| but of God. | 9:51 | |
| It is when to use St Paul's words, | 9:53 | |
| "There is through faith, | 9:56 | |
| a transition from the life of sin | 9:58 | |
| to the life of righteousness. | 10:01 | |
| Which for him is a passage | 10:03 | |
| from death to life." | 10:05 | |
| There's mystery here. | 10:10 | |
| So let us look more closely at the what? | 10:15 | |
| And the where? | 10:19 | |
| And the when of Advent. | 10:21 | |
| Only this morning we shall reverse | 10:24 | |
| the more natural order, | 10:26 | |
| and begin with the when? | 10:28 | |
| Proceed to the where? | 10:31 | |
| And finally consider the what? | 10:32 | |
| Now if we ask the question, | 10:38 | |
| when is Advent? | 10:40 | |
| The New Testament abounds with answers, | 10:42 | |
| yet we tend to ignore them | 10:47 | |
| because our attention | 10:49 | |
| focuses too readily upon the what? | 10:50 | |
| And even upon the how? | 10:53 | |
| In general the New Testament answer | 10:57 | |
| about the when of Advent, | 10:59 | |
| is that it occurs | 11:02 | |
| whenever men and women, | 11:03 | |
| so encounter the power | 11:06 | |
| of Christ's spirit, | 11:07 | |
| is that the prevailing inner conflicts | 11:09 | |
| of loyalty in their lives | 11:13 | |
| that divide men against themselves | 11:15 | |
| is resolved in favor of God, | 11:17 | |
| of His kingdom and of His righteousness. | 11:20 | |
| Consider Jesus. | 11:25 | |
| He began His ministry in Galilee | 11:28 | |
| with an announcement, | 11:31 | |
| with a summon to His people. | 11:32 | |
| "The time is fulfilled." | 11:35 | |
| He said. | 11:37 | |
| "The Kingdom of God is at hand. | 11:38 | |
| Repent ye and believe the good news. | 11:41 | |
| Advent occurs when men actually face | 11:46 | |
| and accept for themselves, | 11:49 | |
| the time as a time of repentance, | 11:52 | |
| heed the summons to decision, | 11:55 | |
| revise the order of their values, | 11:58 | |
| and commit themselves to a course | 12:02 | |
| that by contrast with the old one, | 12:05 | |
| makes all things new. | 12:08 | |
| So far Zacchaeus, | 12:12 | |
| republican of Jericho, | 12:14 | |
| the tax farmer of scheming, | 12:17 | |
| and miserly traits | 12:19 | |
| of ruthless and unscrupulous dealing. | 12:21 | |
| For Zacchaeus the encounter with Jesus, | 12:24 | |
| was an unforeseen, | 12:27 | |
| and unforeseeable time for decision, | 12:29 | |
| and for entrance upon a new life. | 12:32 | |
| It was not a time Zacchaeus had sought. | 12:36 | |
| This unlikely candidate for salvation | 12:40 | |
| climbed a Sycamore tree | 12:44 | |
| to have a better look | 12:45 | |
| at the celebrity passing through, | 12:47 | |
| the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. | 12:50 | |
| Perhaps a half disguised | 12:55 | |
| and roughly repressed his quiet, | 12:57 | |
| prompted Zacchaeus | 13:01 | |
| to venture forth that day, | 13:03 | |
| for a glimpse of Jesus, | 13:05 | |
| we shall never know. | 13:07 | |
| Suddenly to his astonishment, | 13:10 | |
| the man perched in the Sycamore tree, | 13:14 | |
| who came only to look on, | 13:17 | |
| discovers himself a chief character in the act. | 13:19 | |
| Jesus intrudes Himself upon the life | 13:24 | |
| and anonymity of one | 13:28 | |
| who had no desire even to be noticed, | 13:30 | |
| least of all to be disturbed. | 13:34 | |
| Zacchaeus' time had come. | 13:37 | |
| It was fulfilled. | 13:39 | |
| He clambered from his perch, | 13:44 | |
| and confirmed joyfully the invitation | 13:47 | |
| which all unsolicited, | 13:50 | |
| Jesus had asked for Himself, | 13:52 | |
| for Jesus was always, | 13:55 | |
| and still is though, unwanted, | 13:57 | |
| asking Himself into our lives. | 13:59 | |
| "Behold," | 14:03 | |
| He says, | 14:05 | |
| "I stand at the door and knock. | 14:06 | |
| If any man hear my voice | 14:09 | |
| and open the door, | 14:12 | |
| I will come into him, | 14:14 | |
| and sup with him and he with me." | 14:16 | |
| Zaccheaus opened the door, | 14:20 | |
| the door of his life. | 14:23 | |
| And as Jesus walked in, | 14:26 | |
| all that was mean and blow. | 14:28 | |
| All that was sorted and depraved, | 14:31 | |
| was painfully revealed | 14:34 | |
| in the light of the now illuminated interior. | 14:36 | |
| The time was fulfilled. | 14:40 | |
| The time for repentance had come, | 14:43 | |
| the Kingdom of God had drawn nigh. | 14:46 | |
| A wave of revulsion | 14:50 | |
| overwhelmed Zaccheaus | 14:51 | |
| as the mean and shabby trappings | 14:53 | |
| of his inner life stood disclosed | 14:56 | |
| in all their dreary, | 14:58 | |
| and pretentious impoverishment. | 15:01 | |
| The majestic calm, | 15:05 | |
| and crystalline goodwill | 15:06 | |
| of Jesus was shriveling, | 15:08 | |
| and annihilating | 15:11 | |
| the demons of self-interest, | 15:12 | |
| which had long held tenancy there. | 15:14 | |
| And the dwarf in the stunted soul | 15:19 | |
| which had imprisoned itself | 15:21 | |
| within defensive wall | 15:23 | |
| of its own self making burst its bars. | 15:26 | |
| It heard the summons to repentance | 15:32 | |
| and it heed it. | 15:35 | |
| It capitulated to the transparent goodness, | 15:38 | |
| confronting it in the person of Jesus. | 15:42 | |
| Zaccheaus had made entrance into the kingdom, | 15:45 | |
| in company with all true sons of Abraham. | 15:51 | |
| For Zacchaeus stood and said, | 15:57 | |
| "Behold, Lord. | 16:00 | |
| The half of my goods, | 16:02 | |
| I give unto the poor. | 16:04 | |
| And if I have wronged | 16:07 | |
| for the exacted auth of any man, | 16:08 | |
| I restore fourfold." | 16:11 | |
| This is capitulation. | 16:13 | |
| This is repent. | 16:17 | |
| This is decision. | 16:19 | |
| This is restitution, | 16:21 | |
| and this is Advent. | 16:23 | |
| When is Advent? | 16:30 | |
| Jesus said, | 16:32 | |
| "Today is salvation come to this house? | 16:34 | |
| When is Advent? | 16:41 | |
| It is whenever man resolve the division | 16:43 | |
| and conflict between love of self, | 16:46 | |
| and love of God, | 16:50 | |
| and becometh one with their Maker. | 16:51 | |
| It is whenever there is passage | 16:55 | |
| from an old to a new order | 16:59 | |
| of being and living. | 17:01 | |
| And the New Testament | 17:06 | |
| is full of instances of such passage. | 17:07 | |
| The pages are loaded with them. | 17:12 | |
| It happened to the apostle Paul | 17:16 | |
| on the road to Damascus. | 17:18 | |
| When Saul ceased | 17:21 | |
| to be a persecutor of Christ, | 17:22 | |
| and surrendered to Him, | 17:26 | |
| and was renamed Paul. | 17:27 | |
| Advent happened in the life | 17:30 | |
| of the apostle Peter belatedly | 17:32 | |
| went in his total self defeat. | 17:35 | |
| Peter cried out | 17:38 | |
| to the one upon the shore | 17:40 | |
| of the lake of Galilee, | 17:41 | |
| "Depart from me Lord, | 17:43 | |
| for I am a sinful man." | 17:45 | |
| Here is proper self-understanding, | 17:48 | |
| and where Christ is recognized, | 17:51 | |
| many they must repent | 17:54 | |
| and confess Him as Lord like Zaccheaus, | 17:56 | |
| or they cannot abide Him, | 18:00 | |
| and must reject Him. | 18:01 | |
| Jesus impels them to come away | 18:05 | |
| from what they are. | 18:08 | |
| And if they cannot abide Him, | 18:11 | |
| they become alienated | 18:12 | |
| and hostile like the Pharisees, | 18:14 | |
| or they go away sorrowful, | 18:17 | |
| like the rich ruler. | 18:19 | |
| But those who receive Him, | 18:24 | |
| to them He still gives, | 18:27 | |
| the right to become sons of God. | 18:31 | |
| But now where is Advent? | 18:38 | |
| From what has been said about the when, | 18:44 | |
| plainly Advent is anywhere men | 18:48 | |
| have really tangled with Jesus Christ. | 18:51 | |
| And in that engagement, | 18:55 | |
| have recognized the time of fulfillment, | 18:56 | |
| their hour when they could no longer postpone | 18:58 | |
| decision for God. | 19:03 | |
| When they can no longer settle | 19:08 | |
| for what they are, | 19:10 | |
| and are forced to find a resolution | 19:11 | |
| for the anxiety | 19:14 | |
| of perpetual postponement and compromise, | 19:16 | |
| through a decisive commitment. | 19:20 | |
| Where is Advent? | 19:24 | |
| And it is fulfillment of the angels song | 19:26 | |
| for it is the Advent of inner peace. | 19:30 | |
| It is the fulfillment of prophecy | 19:34 | |
| and an altered key, | 19:36 | |
| for where is peace to be found. | 19:39 | |
| This is the question of our day. | 19:43 | |
| Certainly only where there is integrity of mind, | 19:46 | |
| where there is unanimity | 19:51 | |
| of the soul with itself | 19:53 | |
| through community with its Maker. | 19:55 | |
| And since men were finding this | 19:58 | |
| through the transformation of life | 20:01 | |
| that Jesus evoked, | 20:03 | |
| they not only knew Him as Lord, | 20:05 | |
| but they saw in Him the fulfillment | 20:07 | |
| of the word of Micah the prophet, | 20:10 | |
| "This man shall be our peace | 20:12 | |
| for thou Bethlehem, | 20:17 | |
| which are but little | 20:19 | |
| among the thousands of Judah, | 20:21 | |
| out of thee shall come forth onto me, | 20:23 | |
| one that is to be ruler in Israel | 20:25 | |
| whose goings forth are from of old, | 20:29 | |
| from everlasting. | 20:32 | |
| And this man shall be our peace." | 20:34 | |
| Where is Advent? | 20:40 | |
| It is wherever men encounter Christ | 20:43 | |
| for repentance and transformation of life. | 20:45 | |
| It is wherever they are born of God, | 20:50 | |
| as John says, | 20:53 | |
| not of blood, | 20:54 | |
| nor of the will of the flesh, | 20:56 | |
| nor of the will of man, but of God. | 20:59 | |
| It is where the kingdom of this world | 21:02 | |
| is become the kingdom of our Lord | 21:05 | |
| and of His Christ. | 21:07 | |
| And when this happens He shall reign | 21:08 | |
| in human hearts forever and ever. | 21:11 | |
| But finally what is Advent? | 21:16 | |
| Plainly it is the meeting of man with God | 21:20 | |
| in such a way as that man is raised | 21:25 | |
| to a new level of being, | 21:28 | |
| that is above existence. | 21:32 | |
| It is a decisive meeting | 21:35 | |
| in which reconciliation | 21:37 | |
| replaces both alienation, | 21:40 | |
| and mere physical dependency. | 21:43 | |
| All human existence is always | 21:47 | |
| in the power of God, | 21:49 | |
| and in the presence of God, | 21:51 | |
| but it is not always | 21:53 | |
| in the conscious acknowledgement of God. | 21:55 | |
| So at Advent man passes | 21:59 | |
| from simple factual dependence upon God, | 22:02 | |
| to eager and glad community with Him. | 22:07 | |
| He accepts God's invitation | 22:11 | |
| to come home in his life. | 22:14 | |
| But Christians are persuaded | 22:20 | |
| that there is one | 22:23 | |
| who is the mediator of this community, | 22:24 | |
| and this newness of life. | 22:27 | |
| Christian faith exalts | 22:30 | |
| the one whose word and deed, | 22:31 | |
| whose ministry and death | 22:33 | |
| were the instrument | 22:36 | |
| and mediation of this community. | 22:38 | |
| He was one who was born | 22:42 | |
| in the age of Caesar Augustus, | 22:44 | |
| was crucified under Pontius Pilate. | 22:48 | |
| During the days of His ministry, | 22:52 | |
| He came and preached peace | 22:54 | |
| to those that were far off, | 22:56 | |
| and to those who were near. | 22:58 | |
| He called disciples. | 23:01 | |
| He healed the sick. | 23:02 | |
| Sinners enter the kingdom under the power | 23:05 | |
| of His word in person. | 23:07 | |
| Those who might have been expected to welcome | 23:10 | |
| and receive His message, | 23:14 | |
| rejected both it and Him. | 23:16 | |
| While those who had no special expectation | 23:20 | |
| of salvation received Him gladly, | 23:23 | |
| and found Him to be | 23:27 | |
| the way, the truth, and the light. | 23:28 | |
| So as Simon had foretold in the temple, | 23:32 | |
| Jesus was set for the falling | 23:36 | |
| and rising of many in Israel, | 23:39 | |
| and for a sign which is spoken against. | 23:42 | |
| Thus He came unto His own, | 23:46 | |
| but His own received Him not. | 23:49 | |
| They still reject Him, | 23:52 | |
| and some even vilify His name, | 23:54 | |
| partly because they have suffered | 23:57 | |
| on numbered wrongs from men who bear | 24:00 | |
| the name of Christian. | 24:03 | |
| But there were many not offended in Him, | 24:09 | |
| who received Him gladly, | 24:13 | |
| out of experience of new life | 24:15 | |
| and community with God. | 24:17 | |
| These testified and still testify today | 24:20 | |
| that as many as receive Him, | 24:24 | |
| to them gives He the right | 24:26 | |
| to become children of God. | 24:28 | |
| And these who testify | 24:31 | |
| are convinced that Jesus Christ | 24:33 | |
| gives this right and power | 24:36 | |
| because He is Himself Son of God, | 24:38 | |
| whose goings forth are from of old, | 24:42 | |
| from everlasting. | 24:45 | |
| They testify even today | 24:47 | |
| that this man is our peace, | 24:49 | |
| because they know it in experience. | 24:52 | |
| They declared with St. John, | 24:54 | |
| that the eternal word | 24:56 | |
| of God's purpose to community | 24:57 | |
| with man was made flesh in Christ | 25:00 | |
| and has dwelled among us. | 25:04 | |
| They so testify, because they must speak | 25:08 | |
| out of the new life which He imparts. | 25:12 | |
| And so they say, | 25:16 | |
| "We beheld His glory. | 25:17 | |
| Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, | 25:20 | |
| full of grace and truth." | 25:24 | |
| What is Advent? | 25:28 | |
| It is the reign of God in the human life | 25:31 | |
| so that He shall reign forever and ever. | 25:36 | |
| It is such a reign as is visible | 25:40 | |
| in Christ and in lesser magnitude, | 25:43 | |
| in those who receive Him. | 25:46 | |
| For again, Advent is what Saint Paul called, | 25:49 | |
| the glory of God, | 25:55 | |
| in the face of Jesus Christ. | 25:57 | |
| But I would warn you, | 26:00 | |
| that this glory is visible | 26:02 | |
| only to those who receive Him. | 26:05 | |
| This has been a children's sermon, | 26:08 | |
| despite what you think. | 26:11 | |
| For none receive Him | 26:14 | |
| except as a little child, | 26:15 | |
| such that is who are not so sufficient | 26:18 | |
| in their own pettiness | 26:22 | |
| as to receive His everlasting greatness. | 26:24 | |
| Amen. | 26:28 | |
| Let us pray. | 26:29 | |
| Oh, holy child of Bethlehem. | 26:38 | |
| Listen to us, we pray, | 26:41 | |
| cast out our sin and enter in, | 26:44 | |
| be born in us today | 26:47 | |
| We hear the Christmas angels, | 26:49 | |
| the great, glad tidings tale. | 26:52 | |
| Oh come to us, | 26:56 | |
| abide with us, | 26:58 | |
| our Lord Emmanuel. | 27:00 | |
| And now onto God's gracious care | 27:03 | |
| and keeping I commit you. | 27:06 | |
| The Lord bless you and keep you, | 27:08 | |
| the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, | 27:10 | |
| and give you peace. | 27:14 |
