Z. D. Harris - "Who Would Have Thought It?" (July 25, 1976) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

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♪ Amen ♪

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In the knowledge of our amount of full sins and failures,

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our defiance or indifference to God,

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let us join in the unison prayer of confession.

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Ever blessed God, who came in great humility,

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we are slow to live for Christ.

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We know him to be true,

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but we turn to worship personal gods and public idols.

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We have little care for the poor

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or those of different skin,

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or for folk in ravaged villages across the sea,

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or even for our neighbor across the street or down the hall.

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The valleys are deep, gouged out by many a pretense.

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The hills are high, built by our human pride.

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So we confess our sins.

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Only by you are they understood.

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Only when offered to you can they be forgiven,

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and the sting of them drawn.

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Forgive us, and help us to forgive others and ourselves,

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then set us to build the King's highway,

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that the valleys may be filled and the hills made low.

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Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

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And now let us add our silent, private,

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personal words of repentance.

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It is written that the eternal God, immortal, invisible,

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came into the world in human form,

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not only to redeem us from our sins,

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but to show us a more excellent way of life.

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In that confidence and in that faith,

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let us receive that divine forgiveness

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and walk more worthily in that love.

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Amen.

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Let us stand for the reading of the morning lessons.

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First from the gospel, according to St. Matthew,

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the 13th chapter, the 31st and the 32nd verses,

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another parable he put before them, saying,

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"The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed,

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"which a man took and sowed in his field.

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"It is the smallest of all seeds,

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"but when it has grown, it is the greatest of shrubs

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"and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come

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"and make nests in its branches."

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And from the gospel, according to St. Luke,

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the second chapter, beginning with the 39th verse.

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"And when they had performed everything,

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"according to the law of the Lord,

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"they returned into Galilee to their own city, Nazareth.

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"And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.

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"And the favor of God was upon him.

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"Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year

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"at the feast of the Passover,

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"and when he was 12 years old,

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"they went up according to custom.

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"And when the feast was ended, as they were returning,

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"the boy, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

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"His parents did not know it,

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"but supposing him be in the company,

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"they went a day's journey and they sought him among

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"their kinsfolk and acquaintances.

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"And when they did not find him,

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"they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.

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"After three days, they found him in the temple,

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"sitting among the teachers,

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"listening to them and asking them questions.

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"And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding

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"and his answers.

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"And when they saw him,

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"they were astonished and his mother said to him,

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"'Son, why have you treated us so?

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"'Behold, your father and I have been looking

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"'for you anxiously.'

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"And he said to them,

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"'How is it that you sought me?

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"'Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?'

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"And they did not understand the saying

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"which he spoke to them.

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"And he went down with them and came to Nazareth

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"and was obedient to them.

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"And his mother kept all these things in her heart.

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"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature,

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"and in favor with God and man."

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May God add his blessing to our insight into his holy word.

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We are not alone. We live in God's world.

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We believe in God, who has created and is creating,

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who has come in the truly human Jesus

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to reconcile and make new,

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who works in us and others by the spirit.

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We trust God, who calls us to be the church,

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to celebrate life and its fullness,

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to love and serve others,

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to seek justice and resist evil,

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to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,

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our judge and our hope.

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In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.

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We are not alone. Thanks be to God.

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The Lord be with you.

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All

Let us pray.

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Let us pray.

Almighty God, from whom we receive

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so many gifts unthinkingly and unthankingly,

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teach us the lessons of gratitude and patience

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as we accept your bounty each new day.

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When we are surrounded by the beauty of your sunshine,

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we beg for rain.

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When we live in the warmth of your love,

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we seek to escape into private havens of cloud and solitude.

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Yet when the storms do come,

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when darkness seems to overwhelm us,

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we forget that your light is still shining and that life

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and growth depend on the cycles of the seasons.

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Remind us that your goodness is not to be measured

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by our comfort and convenience,

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but that our goodness is to be measured by your will.

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In this past week, O God,

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we have been made aware of the magnitude of your universe

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and the multitude of skills which you have

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given to your children.

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Through little boxes of intricate mechanism,

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we have looked upon the surface of

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a planet millions of miles away,

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gathering new knowledge about the vastness of time

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and distance in your creative plan.

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But as we marvel at the miracles of scientific discoveries,

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we tend to overlook the miracles of cosmic space,

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of scientific laws,

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of human intelligence for which we can claim no credit.

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For a brief fortnight, disputes and wars

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and senseless cruelties have been pushed aside

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as we admire the beauty and grace and speed of human bodies,

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trained and tested through years of sacrifice.

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Forgive us, Lord, that we have spent so little time

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and effort and intelligence to refine

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and discipline our moral senses,

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or to master the infinite secrets of human relationships

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and spiritual values.

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As our hearts are lifted by the majesty of this place,

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by the blessing of music,

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by the reading and preaching of your word,

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we would lift before you all the members of this community,

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those gathered here, and those scattered afar.

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Be with those for whom personal pain or sorrow,

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temptation or fear, are ever present realities,

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often locking doors against your comforting presence.

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Be with those who labor through these summer months

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that others may enjoy some form of rest and relaxation.

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Be with those who look forward eagerly or anxiously

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to becoming new members of this university family.

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And with those of us whose joy and opportunity it is

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to try to enrich their experiences.

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Be with the Minister of the morning,

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that he may share with us something of the faith

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and commitment of his life.

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Show us all, whatever our tasks and needs may be,

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that all the miracles we mortals claim,

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in science or athletics, or personal relationships

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or spiritual growth, rest ultimately on you

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and on the power and love of Jesus Christ,

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in whose name we pray together.

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Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

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Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

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on Earth as it is in Heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread,

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and forgive us our trespasses,

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as we forgive those who trespass against us.

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Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,

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for thine is the kingdom and the power

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and the glory forever. Amen.

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On behalf of this chapel congregation

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and the Duke University community,

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I would welcome all of you who are visitors today.

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And on behalf of each one of you, I welcome to the pulpit

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the Reverend Dr. ZD Harris, Pastor of

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Oak Grove United American Free Will Baptist church,

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a distinguished and influential member

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of the Durham community. Dr. Harris.

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May we bow our head just a moment for our meditation.

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Eternal God, our father in Heaven,

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as we come to thee this morning, acknowledging our weakness,

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knowing who you are, a forgiving God,

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we ask for thy blessings,

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that thy will come and give yourself a mighty name.

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We pray blessing upon those who've come today

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to share thy word from on high.

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We pray that they will let them be disturbed

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to the point that they cannot rest nor sleep.

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And to that part in which you have given to them

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or assigned to their hands to do,

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that they will want to go and do it.

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We pray the blessing upon the absent minister,

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Dr. Robert Young.

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We thank you for carrying him all the way

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to where he's gone.

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We haven't heard about any accident,

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and therefore you'll land him safe.

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We ask for the guidance and protection on his way back

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and those who went with him.

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Lord, will you come today?

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Stir our hearts, our mind, our soul, and our strength.

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Speak through your servant,

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just an instrument in your hand that wants

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to be used by your power.

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Lord, we are not here for fawn nor fashion.

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Neither are we here for an outside show.

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But we here because it was your plan,

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and as we are here, will you speak today?

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Thy servant hearest.

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You are the pot and I am the clay.

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Glory. Hallelujah. Make me en mold me after thine own will.

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In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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To Dr. Lacey, to the Associate Minister,

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Reverend Caldwell, and to all of you who are here today,

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we greet you in the name of our Lord

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and savior Jesus Christ.

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I am to have 22 minutes.

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I don't see no clock before me,

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and that sort of gimme an excuse to go further.

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Now, listen.

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Ain't no need in sitting here acting like we're dead,

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because we're not.

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And I want everybody to say amen.

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Well, you see, we do better than that at a ball game.

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And there is nothing out there that have eternal life in it.

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We can holler the top of our voices

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and can praise he who got the ball.

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But this morning, we can't say amen

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for the one who died for us on calvary.

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So I'd like for you to say amen.

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All

Amen.

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That's little bit better, but it still ain't good enough.

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Amen. Let the church say amen!

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All

Amen.

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Say it again!

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All

Amen.

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Say it louder!

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All

Amen.

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That's something better,

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but I think some of us are afraid because we are here,

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but the same God here is anywhere else.

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So let us don't come and freeze up,

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but let's have a good time.

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I am grateful and thankful to the Lord

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that he has honored Duke Chapel with his servant

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to be here this morning.

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Now I know you thought I was gonna say I thank the Lord

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for having honored to come,

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but I also thank the Lord that he had graced this place

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with his humble servant today.

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and who would've thought it?

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That I'd have this opportunity to come to share

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with what the Lord has given me to you.

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And it is true, I am thankful because of the invitation,

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and I'd like to say on the behalf of all of

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the Free Will Baptist churches, black and white,

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that we certainly appreciate having this privilege,

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as to represent all of the churches

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that goes to make up the Free Will Baptist

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here with you today.

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I want you to study with us from the scripture

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that was read in our hearing.

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From St. Matthew, the 13th chapter.

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31 and 32 from the living letter.

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And thus it read,

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"Here is another of his illustration.

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"The kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny mustard seed,

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"planted in a field.

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"It is the smallest of all seeds,

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"but becomes the largest of the plants,

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"and grow into a tree where the birds

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"can come and find shelter."

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And our subject, who would've thought it?

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Who would've thought it?

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That is a word that we often use

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when we hear of something unusual.

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And we would've said, "Who would've thought it?"

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When many things are happening in our world today

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that we suddenly find ourselves saying those words.

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Even as Jim Carter from the peanut patch become

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the president nominee for the whole world,

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kind of focused that attention on him,

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who would've thought it?

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Who would've fought it that a little plow boy

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from the backfield of the Tar Heel State

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is to have the privilege to be here on a Sunday,

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as to stand and bring the word of God.

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Who would've thought it?

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Who would've thought it that man would ever

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have the privilege To leave this Earth

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and go to the moon and has walked on it?

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Who would've thought it?

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Many things that we come in contact with today,

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and you know, when man got ready to go to the moon,

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the whole world was fastened upon this particular scene,

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but now it's nothing new.

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When you get ready to talk about going to the moon

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or to Jupiter or wherever we are going,

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it's nothing unusual now

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because it has become familiar.

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But many things have got started in a small,

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small beginning, and has moved on until it become

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this large known situation because of what it is.

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So that brings our mind and our heart

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to focus our attention upon this text.

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This scenery comes,

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this text comes out of the scenery

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in which Jesus and his disciples had been moving

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from one place to another

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and now had sent them out on a mission,

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and they had gone and done what the Lord had requested them

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and now they have returned.

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Since they have returned,

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now they're sent to listen

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to Jesus because they're trying to recuperate

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from the trip in which they took,

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because they knew that that was just a little training

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because they still need teaching,

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as to go out into world and to do what the Lord wants done.

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And what Jesus is saying here,

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that I want you to know that the kingdom

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of Heaven must grow,

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the kingdom of Heaven must come upon this Earth

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to make it a better place to live.

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Therefore Jesus then uses this parable

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by pulling it out among the other parables

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and placing it on the hearts and the mind of his listeners,

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and saying that the kingdom of Heaven

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is like unto a grain of mustard seed.

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Now the mustard seed is very small,

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it's a little tiny thing.

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Fact about it, if you drop one on this floor,

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you just won't hardly find it. It is so small.

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But who would've thought it

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that something as a little small mustard seed

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would fall into the Earth on Germany

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and then move out of its shell and begin

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to send out its roots down deeper

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and begin to shape itself and become alive

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and start growing.

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Mustard seed. Small, but it grew,

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finally to it come to its blade and to its trunk,

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and then from the truck of it, branches, leaves,

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and even its fruit in which it's supposed to give,

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large enough so that the birds

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of the air collage in its branches.

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Even the birds could find food from it.

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Who would've thought it?

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Have thought it even that even so small,

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but it become so large.

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Jesus saying that the kingdom of Heaven is like that.

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Well then let us move into the next phrase

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in which include our lesson,

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that if you are going to talk about the kingdom of God,

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we going need somebody who are going to induce the kingdom,

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because we don't know that much about it.

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Man, with all of his wisdom and all of his understanding,

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with all of his skill,

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doesn't know anything about the kingdom of God,

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until someone from the kingdom of Heaven brings

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the kingdom of God on Earth.

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And from there, we can see now the angel come and find

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a virgin by the name of Mary

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and said unto her that you have found favor with God

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and you shall bring forth a son.

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Thou shall call his name Jesus,

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and he shall save his people from their sin.

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And when the time had come,

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Jesus was born in a little stable.

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Here is a little child.

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Even at the birth of the child, the Heaven become involved.

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Dangers came, stood on invisible platform

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and stood there and sung the song glory to God

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in the highest.

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On Earth, peace and good will towards all men,

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because of that child.

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From that child, even Harod become disturbed

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because he heard that that was a king coming.

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And even he sat and called other childs

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from two years old down in order to lose their life

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because he was trying to get that little child

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that he heard that was coming.

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But from there moved on old man who stayed in the temple,

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who was waiting for the coming of the great Messiah,

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that he would be able to have the privilege to see him,

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and God told him to wait.

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But when this child come into the temple,

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no man, sinner man said,

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"Well now thank God that I have found.

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"What I've been waiting for is here.

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"And I can go in peace."

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And he began to say concerning,

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that as soon as the spirit, the heart of Mary,

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because of what going to happen to a little child.

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And from this little child,

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then things begin to move in the direction,

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drawn from where he was until the time had come

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that he reached the age of 12.

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But one thing about it, as he grew in body, mind,

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and spirit from a childhood,

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through the boyhood, unto a young manhood.

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Human nature was perfect and complete

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at each stage of his development.

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You find anywhere where Jesus had to go to

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the doctor anywhere because of some ailment about his body?

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When he was 12 years old,

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the age at which a young Jew became a member

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of the Congregation of Israel,

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Jesus was taken up to the Passover in Jerusalem

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for the first time.

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Well now who would've thought it,

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that even when he was birthed,

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the angels came from Heaven,

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the stars spun out and gave the light to lead those

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to where they find him.

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Now who would've thought it?

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He even at 12 years of age moves into the temple.

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Now, when everything is over with,

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then, you know, in the feast of Passover,

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they would have it around about eight days.

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Now, Mary and Joseph getting ready to leave,

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and all their kin, they move out of the temple,

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out of the city of Jerusalem,

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heading back to their own destiny.

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When the evening was far spent,

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the doctors begin to cover the Earth.

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They come to in hope,

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the caravan, as they've been marching,

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there they settled down, but when they settled down,

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they didn't find Jesus.

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That was one day's journey.

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When Mary Joseph discovered that they didn't

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have Jesus with them, on the next day,

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it took another day to go back to Jerusalem,

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as it took a day to come from Jerusalem.

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And on the way back,

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then on the third day, they found him.

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They found him because he was there,

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listening to the doctors and lawyers

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because they had spoken there in that Passover.

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But not only that, but who would've thought it,

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that a little child would spellbound the lawyers,

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spellbound the Pharisees,

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spellbound those who had had many years

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of seminary training,

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but he walks in the midst of them and said,

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"Well, let me use my own imagination.

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"I know that you can set things to try to console of a man.

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"You can be able to give him consolation at certain times.

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"But there's one thing that I wanna know.

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"If a man sins and is doomed to hell,

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"what kind of medicine would you give him

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"in order to help him to get away?"

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Well, if a man send to the lawyer,

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if a man had committed a crime and was doomed to hell,

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what case, what book,

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on what page could you find the words they said to him?

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This is the way to escape.

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Therefore, who would've thought it,

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that a little child had spellbound the doctors

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and lawyers at the age of 12.

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Mary and Joseph found him and said unto him,

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"Why have you done this to your father and I?

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"You have brought a shame upon us.

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"We could have been almost home,

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"but you causing us to lose three days.

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"Here we are."

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Jesus had to let her know, concerning,

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"Isn't it time for me to be about my father's business?"

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Now, who would've thought that a child

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that were born there in our communion,

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who would've thought that even the angels from Heaven

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would send angels and a Heavenly host

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to recognize his birth?

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Who would've thought it, that now at age 12,

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he could spellbind?

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By the time come, he went on back to Nazareth.

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There he grew in statue,

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in health, he grew spiritually,

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he grew mentally.

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He come to know, yet he obeyed Mary and Joseph.

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But the thing about it,

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he was getting ready to establish the kingdom of his father.

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He came forth from his father in order

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to bring about the kingdom.

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Now, I wanna say who would've thought the grain

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of a mustard seed could do what it did?

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Who would've thought that the child,

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not only did he get to 12 years old to spellbind,

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who would've thought of the same child that born

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of a poor family would be able to walk down

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to John the Baptist's baptism and call the attention of all

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until Heaven recognized it and set

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the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove,

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lit it upon his shoulder.

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He had to do this because the time had come

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that I must bring about the kingdom.

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Jesus had to do all of this in order

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to get his kingdom established.

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But he did more than that.

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Yes. Who would've thought

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that then the time had come that he had the power

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to play with Heaven,

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to play with the natures of his Earth?

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He had power to take two fish and five loads of bread,

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fed 5,000 men beside the women and children.

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Who would've thought,

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even when he was on angry sea of Galilee

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with the disciple's thread, because of the storm,

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the water was moving and moving into the boat.

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Jesus come walking and I said,

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sometime he made submarines out of his own feet,

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stood there on the top of that water and said,

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"Peace. Be still."

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Said to the water, "Straighten out."

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Said to the lightning, "Stop flashing."

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Said to the wind, "Settle yourself."

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What a mighty God.

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Who would've thought that a little child like that

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by the time come on, finally,

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they got jealous of him because of what he was

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trying to get over.

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Jesus was trying to get over the kingdom of his father

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in the hearts of men and women.

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They didn't like what he said,

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they didn't like what he was doing.

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Thanks be unto God, he had somebody backing him up.

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Yes, they put him to death.

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Let's think for a moment.

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Well, you know, the seed, the mustard seed,

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in order to get its best virtue, it had to die.

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The seed can't give its best until it dies.

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But when it falls into the Earth and germinates,

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it then begins its best.

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It gave its shape, it gave the branches,

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it gave the leaves, it gave the shade.

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It also gave food to those that were passing by,

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but it had to die to give its best.

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Sure did, but this little child,

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in order for the kingdom of God to come

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to be established into the hearts of men and women,

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God knows he had to die,

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for this call came out into this world,

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and for the sin with thy bone,

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that Jesus might set the world free

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and let the heart of the kingdom come into

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the hearts of men and women.

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So what is the message?

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The message is then that even Jesus grew

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and help to rely for his kingdom to come. He had to die.

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But on the third day, he got up from that old grave

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and said, "Now a fowl is in my hand."

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And in that he took those 12 disciples,

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moved around and build the spark of fire in their hearts,

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and said to them, "Now I want you to go.

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"Wherever you go, tell the world that

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"the kingdom of God must come in the hearts

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"of men and women."

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All from that even 12 and lost one,

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with 12, 11 left,

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Jesus said, "Go to Jerusalem.

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"Stay there and carry,

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"until you can die with the power from on high,

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"after the Holy Ghost come upon you."

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I come to tell you today,

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if the kingdom of God must grow in this world,

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then we must have the Holy Ghost.

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Oh yes, go and get all the training you can get.

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Get every diploma you can and place it on your wall,

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but I come to you today,

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if you wanna do the kingdom of God's work,

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you must be born again!

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You must have it on the inside,

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that heart must be new.

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That heart must be caught on fire with God.

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Yes. Now here they are.

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Here are the little handful,

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even started from a mustard seed from a little child,

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but now there is 11 persons.

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What we going to do here?

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Go downstairs until you be and die.

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After that, go out and tell somebody.

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When I saw in your program, it talks about 70 Sunday,

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the 70 Sunday from Pentecost.

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Yes, on that Pentecost,

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in order for the kingdom of God to come,

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those men had to stay there until something happened.

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And the Holy Ghost came as a mighty rushing wind,

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and they all was filled and they start burning for God.

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They spoke in other tongues, not unknown tongue,

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as somebody said, unknown mean you don't know

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what they're talking about.

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But somebody understood.

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But from that point,

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the seed of the gospel start growing.

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The kingdom of God.

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Well, there is no church until you get the kingdom.

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And when the kingdom of God comes in the hearts of men,

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then we're gonna build churches.

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Well, look for where we are today,

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on that summit Peter preached 300,

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3,000 souls added to the kingdom of God.

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But from that day on till now,

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how many churches do we have?

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How many denominations do we have?

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How many Christians do we have?

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My friend, I come to tell you it's not enough.

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I don't care how many we've got. It's still not enough.

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If this world is to be a better world,

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if this society is to be a better society,

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you and I must go out and help Jesus

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to get the kingdom of God in the hearts of men and women.

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My friend, because we can't live one with another.

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We can't sing sometimes beside each other.

46:03

But I come to tell you,

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if you got the love of God in your heart,

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if you have been born again and that

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the kingdom of God starts spreading,

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you can't help but go and grow.

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So the kingdom need the church and

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the church need the kingdom.

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For the kingdom and the church to grow,

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you and I must do something about it.

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It's to make sure that we see that it grows.

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Well, the kingdom and the church then makes us grow,

46:37

and then we makes the church grow.

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Not that the kinda stuff that Flip Wilson said yesterday,

46:43

as he was interviewed on his program.

46:47

And he said he was up there preaching,

46:49

when the preacher was preaching, said,

46:52

"Babies, members of the church must crawl."

46:53

They said, "Let it crawl, Reverend. Let it crawl."

46:56

Said not only that, but the church must walk.

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Let it walk, Reverend, let it walk.

47:02

Not only that, but the time must come

47:04

when the church must run. Let it run. Let it run.

47:06

Baby, for us to get this church to run,

47:11

it's going to take money to do it.

47:13

Let it crawl, Reverend, let it crawl.

47:16

That is saying if you're going to,

47:20

if you're gonna take some of my earning

47:22

to give it, to make it go,

47:24

then let it crawl.

47:26

But I say unto you, I say unto me,

47:29

there's a great challenge,

47:32

and that challenge is for you and for me,

47:34

that we must do all within our power

47:36

to make this kingdom come in the hearts of men and women.

47:40

Why do you think this denomination?

47:45

To what they're doing, trying to train ministers,

47:49

training them to move out and to be witnesses for God

47:53

as they help the kingdom to come.

47:56

Glory. Hallelujah.

47:58

What will you do about it?

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You can grow,

48:05

but you must have the faith of a living God.

48:07

If that faith of a living God becomes so small,

48:11

Jesus didn't tell us to get much of it,

48:15

because if you had too much, you wouldn't know what to do.

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If it was a size of a grain of mustard seed,

48:21

you wouldn't know what to do with it,

48:23

because he said, "You could speak to mountains,

48:24

"they will move.", but he said,

48:26

"Have some faith, but just a little small part of it.

48:28

"Just enough faith in me as to know I died

48:31

"and am coming again at the church."

48:35

Glory. Hallelujah.

48:38

Hallelujah to the lamb of God.

48:39

Let us pray.

48:43

We thank you.

48:51

We thank you

48:54

for sharing your present with us at this hour.

48:55

We thank you for the thoughts you let us develop.

49:00

We thank you for even feeling your present.

49:05

We thank you for those who come.

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Now, let us move out.

49:13

Help us to be witnesses.

49:15

Help us to realize if you have done this to a mustard seed,

49:19

if you come in a child form to do what you did,

49:23

and if the kingdom is to be what it is,

49:28

then help us to realize that your word must settle

49:31

in our hearts.

49:34

We can start from the beginning

49:34

and move on towards that kingdom come.

49:37

In the name of the Father, and of the Son,

49:40

and of the Holy Spirit,

49:43

in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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(light organ music)

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(choir vocalizing)

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(light organ music continues)

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(choir continues vocalizing)

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(light organ music continues)

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(choir continues vocalizing)

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(choir continues vocalizing)

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(light organ music continues)

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(light organ music)

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(choir vocalizing)

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(light organ music continues)

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(choir vocalizing)

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(light organ music continues)

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(choir vocalizing)

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(choir continues vocalizing)

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(light organ music continues)

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(bright organ music)

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♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

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♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

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♪ Hallelujah ♪

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(holding note)

-

All things come from you, O Lord.

58:38

And in this offering,

58:41

we reaffirm the loyalty of our hearts

58:43

and the dedication of our hands.

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Not only in material gifts,

58:48

but through lives of service to others.

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In the name and spirit of Jesus Christ, amen.

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(light organ music)

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(choir vocalizing)

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(choir continues vocalizing)

1:00:09

(light organ music continues)

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(choir continues vocalizing)

1:01:10

Now may God, the creator of life,

1:01:45

and Jesus Christ, the redeemer of life,

1:01:48

and the Holy Spirit, the sustainer of life,

1:01:51

run through each one of us, growth in wisdom and grace,

1:01:54

as we go forth into the weekday, workday world.

1:01:59

♪ Amen ♪

1:02:13

♪ Amen ♪

1:02:16

♪ Amen ♪

1:02:21

♪ Amen ♪

1:02:26

(holding note)

(choir vocalizing)

1:02:35

♪ Amen ♪

1:02:56

(holding note)

(church bell tolling)

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(bright organ music)

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(bright organ music continues)

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1:07:16

(distant chatter)

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(bright organ music continues)

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(bright organ music continues)

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(bright organ music continues)

1:13:01

(bright organ music continues)

1:14:07

(distant chatter)

1:14:58

Z. D. Harris - "Who Would Have Thought It?" (July 25, 1976)

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