Nancy Ferree-Clark - "Desire" (January 17, 1988)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(lively organ music) | 0:00 | |
- | Grace and peace to you in the name | 1:08 |
of the Lord Jesus Christ. | 1:09 | |
We welcome you to this service of worship | 1:11 | |
here at Duke University Chapel | 1:13 | |
on this second Sunday after Epiphany. | 1:14 | |
If this is your first visit to the Duke campus, | 1:17 | |
we extend a warm welcome to you and offer our assistance | 1:19 | |
to you in any way that we may be helpful | 1:22 | |
here at the chapel. | 1:24 | |
We also extend greetings to those of you | 1:26 | |
in our radio and television audiences. | 1:28 | |
This afternoon at five o'clock p.m. an organ recital | 1:31 | |
will be presented by Doctor Monica Umstdaedt Rossman, | 1:34 | |
associate chapel organist. | 1:37 | |
Admission is free, and the public is invited. | 1:39 | |
This morning at 9:45, Doctor and Mrs. James Travis | 1:42 | |
began a five week course entitled Preparation for Marriage | 1:46 | |
in Room 211 in the Divinity School. | 1:50 | |
All those who are interested in the general topic | 1:53 | |
of marriage enrichment, married or not, | 1:55 | |
will find this discussion helpful and stimulating, | 1:58 | |
and so all are invited for the next four weeks. | 2:01 | |
Please note the other announcements | 2:05 | |
as they are printed in your bulletins. | 2:06 | |
And now let us continue our worship. | 2:09 | |
(choir singing) | 2:23 | |
(lively organ music) | 3:36 | |
(congregation singing) | 4:13 | |
(lively organ music) | 6:07 | |
(congregation singing) | 7:24 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:04 |
Almighty God, who calls us into discipleship, | 8:07 | |
demanding the complete surrender of our whole nature, | 8:11 | |
inspire us with your spirit, | 8:15 | |
that our response to your call | 8:18 | |
may be a faithful commitment of body, | 8:20 | |
mind and soul to the way of Christ our Lord | 8:22 | |
in whose name we pray, amen. | 8:27 | |
- | Let us pray. | 8:39 |
All | Open our hearts and minds, oh God | 8:42 |
by the power of your Holy Spirit | 8:45 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed | 8:48 | |
we might hear with joy what you say to us this day. | 8:52 | |
Amen. | 8:56 | |
- | The first lesson is taken from the first book of Samuel. | 8:59 |
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord | 9:03 | |
and to Eli and the word of the Lord was rare | 9:06 | |
in those days. | 9:09 | |
There was no frequent vision. | 9:11 | |
At that time, Eli whose eyesight | 9:14 | |
had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, | 9:16 | |
was lying down in his own place. | 9:19 | |
The lamp of God had not yet gone out | 9:22 | |
and Samuel was lying down within the Temple of the Lord | 9:24 | |
where the Ark of God was. | 9:28 | |
Then the Lord called. | 9:30 | |
Samuel, Samuel | 9:33 | |
and he said, here I am, | 9:36 | |
and ran to Eli and said, | 9:39 | |
here I am for you called and he said, | 9:41 | |
I did not call. | 9:44 | |
Lie down again. | 9:46 | |
So he went and lay down. | 9:48 | |
And the Lord called again, Samuel, | 9:51 | |
and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said here I am | 9:54 | |
for you called me. | 9:58 | |
But he said I did not call, my son. | 10:00 | |
Lie down again. | 10:03 | |
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord | 10:06 | |
and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him | 10:08 | |
and the Lord called Samuel again the third time | 10:12 | |
and he arose and went to Eli | 10:15 | |
and said here I am for you called me. | 10:16 | |
Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. | 10:20 | |
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, | 10:25 | |
go, lie down and if he calls you, | 10:27 | |
you shall say speak Lord, for thy servant hears. | 10:31 | |
So, Samuel went and lay down | 10:37 | |
in his place and the Lord came and stood forth | 10:39 | |
calling as at other times, | 10:43 | |
Samuel, Samuel, | 10:45 | |
and Samuel said speak, for thy servant hears. | 10:48 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 10:53 | |
- | Please stand for the reading of the Psalm. | 11:03 |
Oh God, thou art my God, I seek thee. | 11:16 | |
Congregation | My soul thirsts for thee | 11:21 |
Minister | My flesh faints for thee. | 11:23 |
Congregation | As in a dry and weary land | 11:26 |
where no water is. | 11:28 | |
Minister | So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary. | 11:29 |
Congregation | Beholding thy power and glory. | 11:34 |
Minister | Because thy steadfast love is better than life. | 11:36 |
Congregation | My lips will praise thee. | 11:39 |
Minister | So I will bless thee as long as I live. | 11:42 |
Congregation | I will lift up my hands | 11:46 |
and call on thy name. | 11:48 | |
- | My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat. | 11:49 |
Congregation | And my mouth praises thee with joyful lips. | 11:54 |
- | When I think of thee upon my bed. | 11:58 |
Congregation | And meditate on thee | 12:01 |
in the watches of the night. | 12:03 | |
- | For thou has been my help. | 12:05 |
Congregation | And in the shadow of thy wings | 12:06 |
I sing for joy. | 12:10 | |
- | My soul clings to thee. | 12:11 |
Congregation | Thy right hand upholds me. | 12:14 |
(lively organ music) | 12:17 | |
(congregation sings) | 12:24 | |
- | The second lesson is taken from Paul's first letter | 13:21 |
to the Corinthians. | 13:23 | |
All things are lawful for me | 13:26 | |
but not all things are helpful. | 13:28 | |
All things are lawful for me | 13:31 | |
but I will not be enslaved by anything. | 13:33 | |
Food is meant for the stomach | 13:36 | |
and the stomach for food | 13:38 | |
and God will destroy both one and the other. | 13:39 | |
The body is not meant for immorality, | 13:44 | |
but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. | 13:47 | |
And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up | 13:50 | |
by his power. | 13:54 | |
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? | 13:56 | |
Shall I therefore take the members of Christ | 14:00 | |
and make them members of a prostitute? | 14:03 | |
Never. | 14:06 | |
Do you not know that he who joins himself | 14:07 | |
to a prostitute becomes one body with her | 14:09 | |
for as it is written, the two shall become one flesh | 14:13 | |
but he who is united to the Lord | 14:18 | |
becomes one spirit with Christ. | 14:20 | |
Shun immorality, every other sin which a person commits | 14:23 | |
is outside the body | 14:28 | |
but the immoral person sins against | 14:30 | |
that one's own body. | 14:32 | |
Do you not know that your body is a temple | 14:36 | |
of the Holy Spirit within you | 14:38 | |
which you have from God? | 14:40 | |
You are not your own. | 14:43 | |
You were bought with a price, | 14:46 | |
so glorify God in your body. | 14:48 | |
This ends the reading of the second lesson. | 14:53 | |
The gospel lesson is taken from John. | 14:57 | |
The next day again John was standing | 15:00 | |
with two of his disciples | 15:02 | |
and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, | 15:03 | |
behold, the Lamb of God. | 15:06 | |
The two disciples heard him say this | 15:10 | |
and they followed Jesus. | 15:12 | |
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, | 15:14 | |
what do you seek? | 15:18 | |
And they said to him, Rabbi, | 15:20 | |
which means teacher, where are you staying? | 15:22 | |
He said to them come and see. | 15:26 | |
They came and saw where he was staying | 15:29 | |
and they stayed with him that day | 15:32 | |
for it was about the 10th hour. | 15:33 | |
One of the two who heard John speak | 15:36 | |
and followed him was Andrew, | 15:38 | |
Simon Peter's brother. | 15:40 | |
He first found his brother Simon | 15:42 | |
and said to him, we have found the Messiah | 15:44 | |
which means Christ. | 15:47 | |
He brought him to Jesus. | 15:49 | |
Jesus looked at him and said, | 15:51 | |
so you are Simon, the son of John. | 15:53 | |
You shall be called Cephas | 15:57 | |
which means Peter. | 16:00 | |
This ends the reading of the gospel. | 16:03 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 16:14 | |
(choir singing) | 17:24 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 18:49 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 19:00 | |
- | This may be a topic that's open for debate | 19:36 |
but I for one think that most ministers live | 19:40 | |
pretty interesting lives. | 19:42 | |
Where else could you find a job | 19:45 | |
more comprehensive in scope than that of the clergy? | 19:48 | |
We marry people, we baptize their babies, | 19:52 | |
we visit them when they're sick, | 19:57 | |
we preside over their funerals, | 19:59 | |
and in between we hear about many of the things | 20:02 | |
which are most precious to them in this life. | 20:06 | |
I count it a great privilege to be welcomed | 20:11 | |
on occasion into that very private space | 20:13 | |
where cherished dreams are shared | 20:17 | |
and heartfelt desires are revealed. | 20:19 | |
It is an experience not unlike praying | 20:24 | |
when a person can be that open, | 20:26 | |
that vulnerable so that one can glimpse | 20:30 | |
for a moment into the place | 20:33 | |
which harbors the deepest | 20:36 | |
and most essential human needs and desires. | 20:37 | |
Such a privilege may not come your way many times | 20:42 | |
in your life. | 20:45 | |
I'm not sure that it has in mine. | 20:47 | |
But when it does, | 20:49 | |
you'll be receiving a rare gift. | 20:51 | |
Fortunately for all of us and countless generations | 20:56 | |
before us, we have in poetic form David's version | 20:59 | |
of just such a revelation of his innermost desire | 21:05 | |
in today's reading of Psalm 63. | 21:09 | |
Oh God, thou art my God, | 21:13 | |
I seek thee, my soul thirst for thee | 21:17 | |
in a dry and weary land | 21:21 | |
where no water is. | 21:23 | |
With words akin to those of a lover addressing the beloved, | 21:27 | |
David proclaims Yahweh as his reason for living, | 21:31 | |
a presence he cannot live without. | 21:35 | |
Oh God, thou art my God, he insists | 21:38 | |
during what was probably a time of exile | 21:44 | |
in the wilderness for David. | 21:46 | |
He continues in his search for God | 21:48 | |
even as he remembers happier days gone by | 21:52 | |
when God revealed himself at Zion. | 21:54 | |
But even in hard times, it would be no different now | 21:58 | |
for him, desert or no desert | 22:01 | |
for God would not be the prisoner | 22:03 | |
of his own sanctuary, | 22:05 | |
all the while the help and the overshadowing of God | 22:08 | |
in times of trouble | 22:11 | |
continued to feed David's joy | 22:13 | |
so that he could still proclaim God's love | 22:16 | |
as better than life itself | 22:18 | |
even in the midst of the desert. | 22:21 | |
What could have been for him a time | 22:24 | |
of deep despair and alienation from God | 22:25 | |
was in fact a time for praising God. | 22:29 | |
Go back and reread this Psalm 63 | 22:33 | |
when you have a moment. | 22:37 | |
Note the completeness and the depth of David's desire | 22:39 | |
for God, his entire being experiences it, | 22:42 | |
soul, flesh, lips, | 22:47 | |
hands, mouth, voice and life | 22:50 | |
for as long as he lives he proclaims, | 22:55 | |
and thus the intensity of his spiritual experience | 22:58 | |
is equally remarkable. | 23:01 | |
It is a case study in and of itself, | 23:02 | |
involving spiritual thirst, | 23:05 | |
the vision of God's power and glory. | 23:07 | |
Memories of shared worship, | 23:11 | |
a sense of divine love, praise, joy help | 23:13 | |
and deep spiritual satisfaction. | 23:16 | |
In the shadow of thy wings, | 23:20 | |
I sing for joy for his words depicting an image | 23:21 | |
of living parental protection | 23:26 | |
that would not fail him. | 23:28 | |
My soul clings to thee | 23:30 | |
suggests strenuous hot pursuit | 23:33 | |
much as Genesis two depicts a husband and wife cleaving | 23:36 | |
to each other, | 23:39 | |
my soul clings to thee | 23:41 | |
even as God's right hand upholds me. | 23:43 | |
David's religious experience was enough | 23:48 | |
to make any of us envious, | 23:49 | |
at least from the perspective of this Psalm. | 23:51 | |
Even as his soul pursues rest, | 23:54 | |
it rests in that pursuit, | 23:58 | |
always pressing forward to attain and attaining | 24:01 | |
only to be drawn higher and higher again. | 24:05 | |
Of the many varied concerns | 24:10 | |
that a minister hears about in a given week, | 24:12 | |
one of the deepest is this desire, | 24:14 | |
this expression of a desire to know God | 24:17 | |
though it may not always be stated as such. | 24:20 | |
You see, underneath that suave, self-reliant image | 24:23 | |
that most contemporary men and women seek to project, | 24:26 | |
and with which we are familiar on this campus, | 24:29 | |
there is a longing for inner meaning, | 24:32 | |
one that can present a real dilemma for many people | 24:35 | |
and in some cases even a crisis. | 24:38 | |
In an age where belief in God | 24:41 | |
is not so acceptable as when this great chapel | 24:44 | |
was first built, | 24:46 | |
people are confused about where to turn | 24:48 | |
in their search for meaning. | 24:50 | |
Should it be in my vocation where I can both forge | 24:53 | |
an identity for myself | 24:56 | |
and perhaps make a contribution to society? | 24:58 | |
Should it be in my vacations | 25:02 | |
where I can escape from the pressures of everyday life | 25:04 | |
and have a good time? | 25:07 | |
Perhaps it should be in my wealth and possessions | 25:10 | |
where I can make a statement | 25:13 | |
to the world about my financial success | 25:14 | |
and excellent taste. | 25:16 | |
Or perhaps it should be in encounter groups | 25:19 | |
or religious cults or the use of drugs, | 25:22 | |
where I can seek to rise above the mundane aspects | 25:25 | |
of this life. | 25:29 | |
These are truly treacherous times | 25:31 | |
when we are faced with many alternatives | 25:33 | |
for embarking on a search for meaning. | 25:35 | |
And it seems that for more and more people, | 25:39 | |
they're ambivalent as to whether or not the church | 25:42 | |
has anything to do with this quest for them. | 25:45 | |
At least that's what they say. | 25:50 | |
I do find it interesting though | 25:54 | |
that when truly significant events come along | 25:56 | |
in people's lives, the church continues | 25:58 | |
to be the place to which they turn for guidance and support. | 26:00 | |
Even among the most ambivalent. | 26:04 | |
Take weddings as an example, | 26:07 | |
this chapel is the site chosen by over 100 couples each year | 26:10 | |
as the place to pronounce their wedding vows, | 26:14 | |
and I've been fortunate to know a good number of them. | 26:17 | |
As ministers and prospective brides and grooms | 26:20 | |
are supposed to do, | 26:23 | |
we sit down to talk about who they are | 26:24 | |
and how they've come together | 26:26 | |
and why they want to be married in a Christian context. | 26:28 | |
It's that last part that throws many people. | 26:33 | |
Why a Christian service? | 26:36 | |
We then move along to discuss their religious backgrounds | 26:39 | |
and the fact that they may have fallen away | 26:42 | |
from the church over the years | 26:43 | |
and the present realization | 26:45 | |
that they do indeed want a church wedding. | 26:46 | |
Why? | 26:50 | |
Because God's blessing is somehow needed. | 26:52 | |
This is a sacred moment | 26:56 | |
that calls for the acknowledgment of God's presence | 26:57 | |
even if they're not sure exactly who God is. | 27:02 | |
They can't live with the church | 27:06 | |
but they can't necessarily live without it. | 27:07 | |
And the same for baptism, | 27:11 | |
when new parents have fallen away from the church | 27:12 | |
and then suddenly feel the overwhelming responsibility | 27:14 | |
for this precious new life | 27:17 | |
which has been entrusted to them. | 27:19 | |
They understand in a new way | 27:22 | |
this awesome gift of life and so, they turn to the church. | 27:23 | |
Or, for persons in crisis. | 27:28 | |
Ask any hospital chaplain how strong the desire | 27:31 | |
for prayer suddenly becomes | 27:34 | |
when one's life or that of a loved one is endangered. | 27:36 | |
Even at a funeral or a memorial service, | 27:41 | |
too late to comfort the dead you say | 27:44 | |
but just the time to reassure and strengthen the living, | 27:46 | |
not with mere mortal platitudes | 27:50 | |
but with words of scripture and prayers to God. | 27:52 | |
And what about each of us? | 27:57 | |
Though we might not care to admit | 27:59 | |
to being 'that' religious, | 28:00 | |
there is the fact that we've all chosen | 28:03 | |
to be here for some reason this morning, | 28:05 | |
and we'll probably continue to come back | 28:08 | |
at least occasionally. | 28:10 | |
Why? | 28:13 | |
We have a desire, at some level | 28:15 | |
that we may not even be able to identify, | 28:17 | |
a desire to know God. | 28:20 | |
The 14th century English mystic Dame Julian of Norwich | 28:23 | |
writes of this desire for God as yearning, | 28:27 | |
which she calls the first step in prayer. | 28:31 | |
It comes as a gift from God, | 28:34 | |
a sign of God's yearning for us | 28:38 | |
that we may come to know God | 28:40 | |
and to love God. | 28:41 | |
The soul which is awakened by such yearning | 28:43 | |
must by nature long for its consummation and joy. | 28:46 | |
Its intensity will increase rather than decrease | 28:51 | |
with advancing years, | 28:53 | |
growing with love and never ceasing | 28:55 | |
until we see God face to face. | 28:57 | |
Yet as Julian testified, | 29:01 | |
our desire for God, though planted by God within us, | 29:02 | |
depends upon our continued cooperation | 29:07 | |
for its development and growth. | 29:09 | |
It is not the gift of very many to thirst for God | 29:12 | |
such as David | 29:16 | |
upon waking in the morning or returning home | 29:17 | |
after a long day. | 29:20 | |
If the spark within us is to have the chance | 29:22 | |
of burning, even as an intermittent flame, | 29:25 | |
there must be a time set apart | 29:28 | |
when it blown upon by the breath of the spirit. | 29:30 | |
Only an occasional encounter with the Almighty | 29:34 | |
in the context of significant life events | 29:37 | |
becomes almost selfish and at the very least, short sighted. | 29:40 | |
Such a life of prayer must be cultivated. | 29:45 | |
It is the wisdom of the church to provide then | 29:49 | |
for regular worship | 29:51 | |
but the church cannot dictate the commitment | 29:53 | |
of the worshipers. | 29:55 | |
Prayer, Julian has told us, is the deliberate | 29:57 | |
and persevering action of the soul. | 30:01 | |
Though the desire for communion with God does, | 30:06 | |
I believe, arise naturally deep within a person, | 30:09 | |
it must be unmasked | 30:12 | |
and that must be done daily. | 30:15 | |
All that would seek to distract us | 30:17 | |
in the way of idols must be put aside, | 30:19 | |
thus prayer itself | 30:22 | |
is not something that we fall into naturally | 30:24 | |
like the eating of our meals | 30:26 | |
but it is an activity | 30:28 | |
which is begun and sustained by the firm operation | 30:30 | |
of our wills. | 30:33 | |
It is only as we embrace a discipline of prayer | 30:35 | |
in the desert as well as the sanctuary, as David did, | 30:37 | |
giving it priority, even over activities | 30:41 | |
to which we feel more naturally inclined, | 30:43 | |
that we should know something of the freshness | 30:46 | |
and spontaneity which Julian herself knew | 30:48 | |
as a sign of communion with God. | 30:51 | |
But how easily we become discouraged | 30:55 | |
when we do not attain the spiritual high | 30:57 | |
of a Psalmist or a mystic | 30:59 | |
who by the way were not always feeling so great themselves. | 31:01 | |
We've heard for too long | 31:07 | |
from certain branches of the church | 31:08 | |
that a truly spiritual person | 31:10 | |
who seeks to know God | 31:12 | |
will always be on top of the world | 31:14 | |
with a smile for every situation. | 31:16 | |
What an unfortunate misunderstanding | 31:20 | |
of the spiritual journey. | 31:22 | |
People who truly dedicate their lives | 31:25 | |
to being evermore prayerful | 31:27 | |
almost always confront a strange paradox. | 31:30 | |
They find God in the certainty of faith | 31:35 | |
and at the same time, | 31:38 | |
must seek God in the darkness of belief. | 31:39 | |
They thank God for having revealed himself | 31:42 | |
and at the same time beg God not to hide his face. | 31:46 | |
God is at once very real for them | 31:51 | |
but is also like a blank wall at times. | 31:53 | |
These paradoxes can be truly painful. | 31:58 | |
They ensure that for most of us | 32:03 | |
experiences of God are neither ecstatic nor exuberant | 32:04 | |
but rather, in a healthy way, disenchanting, | 32:08 | |
denuding, humbling, we are confronted | 32:11 | |
with our own powerlessness rather than success | 32:14 | |
in such an encounter, | 32:17 | |
a continuous falling short of the ideal | 32:19 | |
toward which we are reaching. | 32:21 | |
We feel compelled to do more for God | 32:23 | |
and we genuinely want to but cannot. | 32:25 | |
Thankfully this falling short, however painful, | 32:29 | |
does not have to be ultimately discouraging, however, | 32:33 | |
since the basis of all pray life | 32:37 | |
is the conviction that God is infinitely reliable | 32:39 | |
and that God will never let us down. | 32:43 | |
No matter what we may do, | 32:45 | |
God loves us for what we are. | 32:48 | |
The miracle then is that in all this emptiness, | 32:51 | |
life continues its growth. | 32:55 | |
There is a dryness, a dissatisfaction, | 32:57 | |
yet even these cannot squelch our desire. | 33:01 | |
In fact, the difficulties encountered | 33:06 | |
in a life of prayer enable us to share | 33:08 | |
in the very fidelity of God. | 33:10 | |
God is ever faithful to us | 33:14 | |
and we therefore in the darkness of our struggle | 33:16 | |
remain faithful to him. | 33:20 | |
Because of this faith we can persevere in our desire | 33:22 | |
for communion with God | 33:25 | |
whom we cannot always locate. | 33:27 | |
Prayer becomes not only an outpouring of the heart | 33:30 | |
but a tenacious search for God, | 33:34 | |
an attentive waiting for God | 33:37 | |
in the midst of an interior emptiness. | 33:39 | |
It is an intimacy with the invisible, | 33:42 | |
a surrender, an abandonment, | 33:45 | |
a willingness to do whatever God may ask, | 33:49 | |
a marveling at God's goodness, | 33:52 | |
a love for his word, a deep growing silence | 33:55 | |
whose depth we long to explore, | 33:59 | |
and it is a search that receives its reward | 34:03 | |
in ultimate terms. | 34:06 | |
As I was preparing this sermon, | 34:10 | |
it occurred to me that I have been using language | 34:11 | |
which might seem completely alien | 34:14 | |
to those outside the church | 34:16 | |
and perhaps even to some of you who are in the church. | 34:19 | |
Prayer, desire for God, | 34:23 | |
faith, total abandonment to God, | 34:27 | |
ultimate reward. | 34:30 | |
I am struck by how little attention | 34:32 | |
we actually give to these concerns | 34:34 | |
when it may well be that the future of the church | 34:36 | |
depends on just how prayerful we intend to be. | 34:40 | |
In a time of increasing secularization, | 34:45 | |
the only totally inescapable mission | 34:48 | |
of the church may be prayer and worship. | 34:50 | |
Every other task can be taken on by others essentially | 34:54 | |
and in some cases can be done better than others. | 34:58 | |
All around us this transfer of responsibilities | 35:01 | |
is in process, | 35:04 | |
but notice how the people still come to us, the church, | 35:07 | |
to bless their marriages, to bury their dead, | 35:11 | |
to honor the birth of Christ, | 35:15 | |
to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, | 35:18 | |
and to pray for them in times of distress | 35:21 | |
in many cases without even knowing why they've come. | 35:24 | |
I believe it is incontestable | 35:29 | |
that faithful perseverance in prayer | 35:30 | |
is a form of solidarity with the world | 35:33 | |
for whom God is often so distant and so vague, | 35:35 | |
and it is our responsibility to do so | 35:39 | |
on the good days and on the bad ones. | 35:43 | |
If we, the church, do not stand up for God, who will? | 35:46 | |
It is only when we choose to remain faithful to God | 35:52 | |
whom we seek but may not always locate | 35:55 | |
that we convey to the world the message | 35:58 | |
that God, even though invisible, is real | 36:00 | |
and reliable and more relevant to our lives | 36:04 | |
than we can ever comprehend. | 36:08 | |
With David as our witness, | 36:11 | |
only in God can our deepest desires ever be met. | 36:15 | |
Thanks be to God. | 36:21 | |
(lively organ music) | 36:30 | |
(congregation singing) | 37:04 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 38:58 |
(congregation mumbles) | 39:00 | |
Let us pray. | 39:01 | |
Almighty and everlasting God, | 39:13 | |
hope of all nations, | 39:17 | |
hear our prayers for peace in our world. | 39:21 | |
Give wisdom and discernment to government leaders, | 39:26 | |
endurance and a sense of your sustaining presence | 39:30 | |
to all who live in places torn by strife. | 39:34 | |
Pour out your Holy Spirit | 39:39 | |
and your strength upon all who work for justice | 39:42 | |
in Central America and in other places. | 39:45 | |
Gracious God, source of our deliverance and help, | 39:51 | |
hear our prayers for the homeless and destitute | 39:56 | |
in our midst. | 39:59 | |
Lead them to know they are not forgotten | 40:01 | |
or unloved in your sight. | 40:04 | |
Comfort them with a sense of your goodness, | 40:07 | |
awaken our consciences as we consider our plenty | 40:11 | |
and their want, | 40:15 | |
and confirm in us the commitment to minister | 40:17 | |
to their needs, in the name of Jesus Christ. | 40:19 | |
God our redeemer and example, | 40:25 | |
we pray with thankful hearts for brave | 40:30 | |
and compassionate Christians | 40:32 | |
who have shown us by their obedience | 40:35 | |
and cheerfulness and devotion what it means | 40:37 | |
to answer the call to discipleship. | 40:40 | |
Guide and inspire those who break down barriers | 40:45 | |
of prejudice and suspicion, | 40:48 | |
direct the thoughts and words | 40:51 | |
of those who proclaim your mercy | 40:53 | |
and grant courage to those who honor the name of Jesus | 40:56 | |
at great cost to themselves. | 41:01 | |
For these and all other persons whom we name in our hearts | 41:05 | |
before you, heavenly Father, hear our prayers, | 41:09 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, | 41:14 | |
who lives and reigns with you in the unity | 41:16 | |
of the Holy Spirit, | 41:19 | |
one God now and forever, amen. | 41:21 | |
And now in gratitude for God's great mercy toward us, | 41:28 | |
let us present our gifts and offering. | 41:32 | |
(tranquil organ music) | 41:38 | |
(choir singing) | 44:24 | |
(lively organ music) | 46:36 | |
(congregation singing) | 46:54 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:07 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:10 | |
(congregation singing) | 47:15 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:27 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:30 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:33 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:36 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 47:40 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 47:48 | |
- | Oh Lord our God, | 47:57 |
send down upon us thy Holy Spirit we pray | 48:00 | |
to cleanse our hearts | 48:03 | |
to hallow our gifts and to perfect the offering | 48:05 | |
of ourselves to you | 48:09 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen | 48:11 | |
and now as our Savior Christ has taught us to pray, | 48:14 | |
let us say with one voice. | 48:18 | |
All | Our father who art in heaven, | 48:20 |
hallowed be thy name, | 48:23 | |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 48:25 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 48:28 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 48:31 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 48:33 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 48:35 | |
and lead us not into temptation | 48:39 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 48:41 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power | 48:44 | |
and the glory forever. | 48:46 | |
Amen. | 48:48 | |
(lively organ music) | 48:51 | |
(choir singing) | 49:27 | |
- | And now go forth in peace | 52:24 |
and be of good courage. | 52:26 | |
Hold fast to that which is good, rejoicing in the power | 52:27 | |
of the Holy Spirit | 52:31 | |
and may the blessings of God, | 52:33 | |
creator, Christ and Holy Spirit | 52:35 | |
be with you all now and forever more. | 52:37 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 52:45 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 52:53 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 53:03 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 53:29 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 53:43 | |
(lively organ music) | 54:05 | |
(triumphant music) | 56:59 |