Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (September 3, 1995) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

(classical organ music)

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Good morning, we'd like to welcome you all to Duke Chapel.

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I'd like to introduce some very special people

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to you, this morning, our Chapel music staff.

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If I could have them come out and join me.

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Dr Rodney Wynkoop is the Director of Chapel Music

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and the University Chorale Music Program.

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Donna Sparks is the Program Director

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and Assistant Conductor for Chapel Music.

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She is also the Choral Director

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for the Choral Vespers Choir.

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Dr. David Arcus, immediately to my right,

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is the Chapel Organist.

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On the back organ is Dr. Robert Parkins,

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the University Organist, and also

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up in the carillon is Samuel Hammond

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the University Carillonneur.

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We're very grateful to our music staff

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for the excellent music program that they provide for us

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throughout the year.

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Thank you all.

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I wanted to call to your attention that there is

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an opportunity for people who are interested

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in being a part of the Chapel Choir this year to audition

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in the coming week.

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Donna Sparks will be at the desk at the back of the chapel

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immediately following the service

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for those who want to ask questions

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or signup for an audition time.

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Also, immediately following the service, today,

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Dr Willimon's book of meditations for incoming students

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entitled Good-bye High School, Hello College,

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will be available for students free

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at the back of the chapel in the narthex.

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That is made available to us by a very generous gift

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from the Friends of Duke Chapel.

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This coming week we will be beginning our weekly Taizé

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and Choral Vesper services.

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Taizé meets on Tuesdays at 5:15 in Memorial Chapel

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which is just to the right.

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Choral Vespers is on Thursday evenings at 5:15

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also in Memorial Chapel.

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I also want to call to your attention

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that we have listed a guide for those interested

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in being involved in various services in the Chapel

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to have an opportunity to sign up on the back

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of your bulletin, and we hope you'll take advantage of that.

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Let us continue our worship with the greeting, please stand.

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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

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All

And also with you.

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The risen Christ is with us.

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All

Praise the Lord.

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("Praise to the Lord, the Almighty")

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♪ Praise to the Lord ♪

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♪ The Almighty ♪

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♪ The King of creation ♪

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♪ O my soul, praise him, ♪

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♪ For he is thy health and salvation ♪

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♪ All ye who hear ♪

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♪ Now to his temple draw near ♪

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♪ Join me in glad adoration ♪

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♪ Praise to the Lord ♪

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♪ Who o'er all things ♪

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♪ So wondrously reigning ♪

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♪ Bears thee on eagle's wings ♪

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♪ E'er in his keeping maintaining ♪

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♪ God's care enfolds ♪

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♪ All whose true good he upholds ♪

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♪ Hast thou not known his sustaining ♪

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♪ Praise to the Lord ♪

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♪ Who doth prosper thy work ♪

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♪ And defend thee ♪

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♪ Surely his goodness and mercy ♪

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♪ Here daily attend thee ♪

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♪ Ponder anew ♪

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♪ What the Almighty can do ♪

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♪ Who with his love doth befriend thee ♪

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♪ Praise to the Lord ♪

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♪ Who doth nourish thy life ♪

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♪ And restore thee ♪

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♪ Fitting thee well for the tasks ♪

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♪ That are every before thee ♪

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♪ Then to thy need ♪

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♪ God as a mother doth speed ♪

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♪ Spreading the wings ♪

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♪ Of grace o'er thee ♪

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♪ Praise to the Lord ♪

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♪ O let all that is in me adore him! ♪

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♪ All that hath life and breath ♪

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♪ Come now with praises before him ♪

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♪ Let the amen ♪

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♪ Sound from his people again ♪

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♪ Gladly forever adore him ♪

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Let us pray.

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Almighty God,

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to you all hearts are open,

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all desires known

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and from You no secrets are hidden.

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Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

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by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit

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that we may perfectly love you

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and worthily magnify your holy name

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through Christ our Lord.

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Amen.

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Be seated.

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Let us now join together in the Prayer for Illumination.

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All

Open our hearts and minds O God,

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by the power of your Holy Spirit,

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so that as the Word is read and proclaimed

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we may hear your message with joy this day.

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Amen.

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Our first lesson this morning is found

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in the book of Isaiah, second chapter.

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Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob

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and all the families in the house of Israel.

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Thus says the Lord, "What wrong did your ancestors find

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"in Me that they went far from Me

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"and went after worthless things

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"and became worthless themselves."

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They did not say, "Where is the Lord

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"who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

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"who led us in the wilderness,

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"in the desert and in the pits,

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"in a land of drought and deep darkness,

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"in a land that no one passes through

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"where no one lives.

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"I brought you into plentiful land to eat its fruits

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"and its good things,

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"but when you entered you defiled My land

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"and made My heritage an abomination."

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The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?"

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Those who handled the law did not know me.

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The rulers transgressed against me.

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The prophets prophesied by Baal

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and went after things that do not profit.

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"Therefore, once more, I accuse you," says the Lord.

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"I accuse your children's children

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"cross to the coast of Cyprus and, look,

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"send to Kedar and examine with care.

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"See if there has ever been such a thing."

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Has a nation changed its gods

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even though they are no god,

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but my people have changed their glory

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for something that does not profit.

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Be appalled, O heavens.

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"At this, be shocked, be utterly desolate," says the Lord.

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"For my people have committed two evils.

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"They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water,

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"and dug cisterns for themselves,

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"cracked cisterns that hold no water."

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This is the Word of the Lord.

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All

Thanks be to God.

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The psalm appointed for this Sunday is number 81,

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verses one through 10.

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You can find this in your hymnal on page 803.

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Together let us praise God in singing the psalm

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and the Gloria, responsively.

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Please rise.

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♪ Sing aloud to God our strength ♪

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♪ Shout for joy to the God of Jacob ♪

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♪ Raise a song ♪

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♪ Sound the tambourine ♪

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♪ The sweet lyre with the harp ♪

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♪ Blow the trumpet at the new moon ♪

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♪ At the full moon on our feast day ♪

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♪ For it is a statute for Israel ♪

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♪ An ordinance of the God of Jacob ♪

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♪ Who made it a decree in Joseph ♪

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♪ When God went out ♪

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♪ Over the land of Egypt ♪

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♪ I hear a voice I do not know ♪

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♪ I relieve your shoulder of the burden ♪

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♪ Your hands were freed from the basket ♪

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♪ In distress you called and I delivered you ♪

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♪ I answered you in the secret place of thunder ♪

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♪ I tested you at the waters of Meribah ♪

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♪ Hear O my people ♪

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♪ While I admonish you ♪

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♪ O Israel if you would just listen to me ♪

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♪ There shall be no strange god among you ♪

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♪ You shall not bow down to a foreign god ♪

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♪ I am the Lord your God ♪

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♪ Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt ♪

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♪ Open wide your mouth and I will fill it ♪

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♪ All glory be to you Creator ♪

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♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪

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(mumble

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♪ As it was at time began ♪

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♪ Is now and will be ♪

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♪ Forever more ♪

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Please be seated.

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Our second lesson this morning is found

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in the book of Hebrews,

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selected readings from the 13th chapter.

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Let mutual love continue.

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Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers

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for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.

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Remember those who are in prison,

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as though in prison with them,

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and those who are ill-treated,

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since you are also in the body.

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Let marriage be held in honor among all,

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and let the marriage bed be undefiled,

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for God will judge the immoral and the adulterous.

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Keep your life free from the love of money

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and be content with what you have,

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for God has said, "I will never fail you nor forsake you."

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Hence, we can confidently say,

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"The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.

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"What harm can anyone do to me?"

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Remember your leaders,

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those who spoke to you the Word of God.

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Consider the outcome of their life

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and imitate their faith.

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Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,

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and forever.

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Through Him let us continually offer up a sacrifice

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of praise to God that is the fruit of the lips

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that acknowledge God's name.

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Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have

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for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

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This is the Word of the Lord.

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All

Thanks be to God.

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Our gospel lesson is found in the 14th chapter

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of the book of Luke.

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One sabbath, he went to dine at the house of a ruler

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who belonged to the Pharisee and they were watching him.

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Now, He told a parable to those who were invited

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when he marked how they chose the places of honor

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saying to them, "When you're invited by one

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"to a marriage feast, do not sit down at the place

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"of honor lest a more imminent person, than you,

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"be invited by the host.

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"The one who invited you both will come and say to you,

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"give this place to this person,

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"and then you will begin in shame to take the lowest place.

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"But, when you're invited, go and sit in the lowest place,

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"that when your host comes to you,

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"he may say to you, friend go up higher.

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"Then you'll be honored in the presence of all who sit

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at the table with you.

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For those who exalt themselves will humbled,

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and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

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He said also to the man who had invited him,

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"When you give a dinner or a banquet,

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"do not invite your friends or your family

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"or your kinsfolk or your rich neighbors

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"less they invite you in return and you will be repaid.

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"But when you give a feast, invite the poor,

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"the maimed, the lame, the blind,

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"and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.

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"You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

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This is the Word of the Lord.

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All

Thanks be to God.

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(O Be Joyful in the Lord)

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♪ O be joyful in the Lord ♪

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♪ O be joyful in the Lord ♪

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♪ O be joyful in the Lord ♪

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♪ O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands ♪

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♪ Serve the Lord with gladness ♪

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♪ Serve the Lord with gladness ♪

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♪ And come before his presence ♪

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♪ With song ♪

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♪ Be ye sure ♪

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♪ That the Lord He is God ♪

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♪ It is he that hath made us ♪

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♪ And not we ourselves ♪

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♪ We are his people ♪

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♪ And the sheep of his pasture ♪

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♪ We are his people ♪

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♪ The sheep of his pasture ♪

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♪ O go your way ♪

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♪ Go your way ♪

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♪ Through his gates ♪

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♪ Through his gates ♪

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♪ Through his gates ♪

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♪ Through his gates ♪

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♪ With thanksgiving ♪

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♪ And into his courts ♪

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♪ With praise ♪

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♪ Be thankful ♪

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♪ Unto Him ♪

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♪ And speak good ♪

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♪ Of His Name ♪

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♪ For the Lord ♪

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♪ Is gracious ♪

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♪ His mercy ♪

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♪ Is everlasting ♪

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♪ And his truth ♪

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♪ His truth endureth ♪

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♪ From generation ♪

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♪ To generation ♪

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♪ Glory be to the Father ♪

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♪ And to the Son ♪

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♪ And Holy Ghost ♪

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♪ As it was in the beginning ♪

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♪ As it was in the beginning ♪

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♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪

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♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪

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♪ World without end ♪

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♪ World without end ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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-

(mumbles) Is one of the great challenges

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of the 20th century.

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Just this past month, the cover story of Time Magazine

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was dedicated to 20th century blues.

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The article entitled The Evolution of Despair quotes

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the infamous Unabomber as saying, "The modern world,

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"for all its technological marvels,

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"can be an uncomfortable,

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"unfulfilling place to live."

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It is a twisted irony that his answer

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to the problem of modern society is to use

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the very technology that he condemns in killing people.

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His methods are demonic,

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but his message has a frightening ring

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of truth, a resonance.

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The modern world can be an uncomfortable,

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unfulfilling place to live.

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Just this past year, a young law student snapped

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and went on a shooting rampage in downtown Chapel Hill.

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Another man walked into a local hi-tech firm

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with guns blazing looking for his wife.

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A crowd watched in Detroit as woman,

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who accidentally hit a car,

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was dragged from her car, beaten, stripped, chased

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and, finally, fell or was pushed off a bridge

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to her death.

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A few people who didn't like the way our federal government

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was doing things decided to blow up a building

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in Oklahoma City.

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A religious sect in Japan released poison gas in a subway

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killing and wounding hundreds of people.

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Shocking reports of war crimes continue to grow

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in the former Yugoslavia,

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and the Rwanda refugee camps threaten to become death camps

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with renewed signs of ethnic cleansing.

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It's impossible to read the daily paper

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and not get the uncomfortable feeling

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that something is amiss,

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something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

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For many people, it seems that human life has become

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unfulfilling and worthless.

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They don't value their own lives very much,

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and much less the lives of others.

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It would be easier if we could attribute the problems

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of the modern society to foreigners

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or fanatics or the poor.

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It would be comforting if we could say that,

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"It isn't our concern that the violence

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"and the despair behind it don't touch our lives."

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But the signs of meaninglessness

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and a society unraveling at the edges are all around us,

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in our cities, in our neighborhoods, in our schools,

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even our own homes.

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In The Search for Meaning, Thomas and Magdalena Naylor

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and Will Willimon quote the statistic

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that on an average day,

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135,000 children and youth bring guns to school.

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A recent study shows that compared with youth

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and other affluent nations,

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children in America are more likely

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to die before their first birthday,

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to live in poverty, to be abandoned by their fathers,

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and to be killed before the age of 25.

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The rates of depression in industrialized nations

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have doubled every 10 years.

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And, it's interesting that depression is much more

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of a problem in affluent, modern societies

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than in poor, developing nations.

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Despair is no respecter of education, race,

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class, economics, sex, age.

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Suicide is the third most common cause of death

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among young adults after car wrecks and homicides.

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Modern society is plagued by meaninglessness and despair,

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and college campuses are not immune.

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In The Search for Meaning, Willimon and the Naylors

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assert that nowhere is meaninglessness more prevalent

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than in college campuses.

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Colleges and universities have lost their bearing,

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administrators, faculty, and students.

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As one student quoted, told a fundraising group,

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"Duke University is a class university, first-rate,

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ahead of Princeton.

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It is one of the few major universities

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where it's possible to get drunk four nights a week,

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four years in a row, and still maintain a B-average.

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It's common practice for women students basically

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to fast during the day so that they can drink at night

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without gaining weight.

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Just this week, two students standing behind me

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at the RAT where talking about how their roommate had

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had so much to drink the night before

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that they could smell it on her,

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even after she had had a shower.

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The new alcohol policy which went into affect this fall

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is designed to address the problem of alcohol abuse

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on campus, but the prevalent use of alcohol

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and drugs is part of a much larger problem,

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the crisis of meaninglessness

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which plagues modern society.

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It is the task of individuals and societies

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to ask the primary question,

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"What gives life meaning?"

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In each age, we must determine what is most important.

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What is profitable and good to seek?

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For what purposes will our life and energy

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and resources be devoted?

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For several years, students at the Fuqua School of Business

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were asked to write a personal strategic plan

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based upon the question, "What do you want to be

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"when you grow up?"

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Willimon and the Naylors said that,

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with very few exceptions,

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they wanted three things - money,

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power and things,

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very big things including vacation homes,

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expensive foreign automobiles, yachts, even airplanes.

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Primarily concerned with their careers

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and the growth of their financial portfolios,

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their personal plans contained little room

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for family, intellectual development, spiritual growth,

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or social responsibility.

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Now let me be clear, this is not an attack

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on the Law School or the legal profession.

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They have no monopoly upon the desire to pursue money,

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power and things.

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These are three gods that are highly promoted

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in our modern, capitalistic society.

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Every ad, every billboard, every commercial teaches us

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to want more things,

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and to become better consumers we must have access

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to more power, more money, more things.

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Many students come to Duke

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and universities across the country,

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for the express purpose of being trained to make money.

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A Bachelor's degree is seen as a commodity

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which will help them get into the best graduate

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and professional schools

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which will help them get the most prestigious positions

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which will help them create the most profitable life.

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And, many of these students learned their values

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from their parents who are investing more

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than $20,000 a year to send them to Duke

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and they expect a profitable return upon their money.

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But the irony is that money and power and things

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cannot in and of themselves give life meaning.

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As the Psychologist Erich Fromm said,

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"Having is an illusory source of meaning.

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"If I am what I have and if what I have is lost,

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"then who and what am I?"

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With the likes of Donald Trump, Michael Milken,

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and Ivan Boesky,

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we have seen how quickly fortunes can come and go.

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But, even those who manage to hold onto their positions,

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power, and wealth are often not happy.

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Sometimes they pay a huge personal cost for a life spent

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in the pursuit of having.

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The tabloids love to expose the dark underside

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of the lives of the rich and famous.

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So, what does give life meaning?

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What makes it all worthwhile?

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The scripture from Jeremiah is concerned

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with this very question.

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It is an age-old question which people in each generation

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in each time must ask for themselves,

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and how we answer the question of meaning

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and worth has much to do with the kind of life

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that we will seek to live.

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Thus says the Lord, " What wrong did your ancestors find

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"in Me that they went far away from Me

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"and went after worthless things

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"and became worthless themselves."

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It seems that it matters what we go after,

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what we pursue determines our worth.

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If we go after worthless things, then we become like

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the very thing that we pursue, worthless.

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The prophet Hosea says, "They consecrated themselves

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"to a thing of shame and became detestable

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"like the thing they loved."

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In Jeremiah, God accuses of Israel

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of going after worthless things and becoming worthless

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because they went far away from God.

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What we are close to and what we go after,

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go hand-in-hand.

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Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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The irony is that the people of Israel were most close

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to the Lord when they were in the wilderness.

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In the wilderness,

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the essentials of life quickly become evident.

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They had to depend upon God and upon each other

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for water, food, shelter for their very survival.

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It's easy to discern what is most important

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when your survival is at stake.

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Those of us who've been privileged to go on one

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of the annual mission trips

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to Honduras have seen this dynamic at work.

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This is the second poorest country in our hemisphere,

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and because the people have so little,

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they're closer to the land, to their families,

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to their community, to their God.

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There is a sense of meaning and joy in their lives

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that comes through in spite of the difficulties

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of the lives that they lead.

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Now I don't mean to glamorize poverty

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for subsistence living is grueling and often cruel.

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But it is one of ironies of life

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that hardship and suffering can sometimes bring us closer

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to the things that really matter.

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In the wilderness, the people of Israel were close

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to the Lord who led them through deserts and pits,

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drought and darkness,

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a desolate land where no one could survive alone.

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But when the Lord led them into the land of plenty,

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they forgot what God had done for them

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and began to seek their own way.

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As Walter Brueggemann says, "This is a people

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"which had become prosperous, secure, tenured,

37:04

"beguiled in to self-sufficiency."

37:09

The predictable outcome is that this community has ceased

37:13

to do its memory work.

37:17

They no longer ask, "Where is the Lord?"

37:20

They no longer remember the one who brought them up

37:24

from the land of Egypt, and, when they forgot,

37:27

they forgot the past, they forgot God,

37:30

they forgot themselves, they forgot their history,

37:33

their identity, their faith, their vocation,

37:36

their (speaking foreign words).

37:40

In the community of faith,

37:44

we believe that there is a crucial link

37:47

between remembering the faith story

37:49

and being the people of faith.

37:53

If we do not remember what God has done in the past,

37:56

then we cannot recognize what God is doing now.

38:00

If we do not remember who we've been in relation

38:04

to God in the past, then we can't know who we're meant

38:06

to be in relation to God in the present.

38:10

This act of remembering,

38:14

of telling the faith stories,

38:17

of rehearsing who we are and to whom we belong,

38:19

it's constitutive.

38:24

It recreates us as the community of faith

38:26

in each generation.

38:29

As we are told the stories of faith,

38:32

and as we tell them to our children,

38:35

then we enable each generation to ask,

38:37

"Where is the Lord?

38:41

"What is of God,"

38:44

and, "What is not of God?"

38:46

What is profitable to seek and what is unprofitable?

38:48

What is meaningful and worthwhile,

38:54

and what is meaningless and worthless?

38:57

These are important questions for us

39:01

because we are people who live in a land of plenty.

39:04

There is so much around us that is unessential.

39:08

There's so many gods who compete for our loyalties.

39:11

There's so much that tempts us to forget our God

39:15

and to exchange our glory

39:18

for something that does not profit.

39:20

The litany of the malaise, violence, and meaninglessness

39:24

which characterize modern life,

39:28

is eloquent testimony to the worthlessness

39:31

of so many of our pursuits.

39:34

We think we're seeking something of value,

39:37

but it turns out to be worthless and unprofitable.

39:39

We give our lives to pursue goals

39:43

that give us nothing but worthlessness in return.

39:47

Though we seek gain, we wind up with loss.

39:51

The tragedy, for us, as for Israel,

39:57

is that we're offered so much more.

40:02

The plentiful land with all its fruits

40:05

and all its good things,

40:09

the fountain of living water,

40:11

these are gifts inestimable

40:15

and they're are offered to us freely.

40:18

It pains the very heart of God

40:23

when we defile the gifts that are given

40:26

by using them for purposes for which they were not intended.

40:29

The very heavens are appalled

40:34

when we forsake God to seek our own way

40:36

and chase after worthless things

40:39

which make our very lives worthless in the process.

40:41

"For my people have committed two evils,

40:46

"they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water,

40:49

"and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns

40:54

"that can hold no water."

40:58

What fools we are to turn away from that which could satisfy

41:03

and quench our deepest thirst,

41:08

while frantically digging in the ground trying

41:11

to make containers to secure our own life,

41:14

and dependence, self-sufficiency, money,

41:18

power, things, freedom to do with our lives

41:21

whatever we choose, these are the goals

41:24

that were taught by our culture to pursue,

41:27

to seek with everything that we have.

41:30

But when we do, we end up with cracked cisterns

41:33

that can hold no water, even the rain water

41:37

that falls from the sky.

41:41

In the end, no matter how frantically we work

41:43

to create our own lives,

41:46

no matter how much we stockpile money, or possessions,

41:49

no matter how much power we wield,

41:52

we can neither secure our lives

41:55

nor sustain their meaning

41:58

and deep abiding worth on our own.

42:00

In our search to create our own lives,

42:05

we reject the very source of life

42:07

and wind up with only the empty, worthless shell,

42:10

a mere imitation of life.

42:14

But, so much more is possible,

42:18

if we will only remember first and foremost,

42:21

that as a people of faith we must ask the question,

42:26

"Where is the Lord?"

42:30

This must be what we seek.

42:33

This must be what we desire above all else.

42:35

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

42:40

and with all your soul and with all your strength

42:42

and with all your might.

42:46

We must seek the fountain of living water

42:49

which quenches our deepest need

42:52

and gives us the ground of meaning.

42:54

This is what makes life worthwhile.

42:58

Only when we seek God, and the things of God,

43:02

will we be able to rightly discern what is real and unreal,

43:06

true and false, profitable and unprofitable,

43:11

meaningful and meaningless,

43:17

life giving and death dealing.

43:20

The fountain of living water is offered to us

43:26

as a free gift.

43:29

Come, and drink deeply

43:31

that you may truly live.

43:36

("Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing")

43:42

♪ Come thou fount of every blessing ♪

44:28

♪ Tune my heart to sing thy grace ♪

44:34

♪ Streams of mercy never ceasing ♪

44:39

♪ Call for songs of loudest praise ♪

44:44

♪ Teach me some melodious sonnet ♪

44:50

♪ Sung by flaming tongues above ♪

44:55

♪ Praise the mount ♪

45:01

♪ I'm fixed upon it ♪

45:03

♪ Mount of thy redeeming love ♪

45:06

♪ Here I raise mine Ebenezer ♪

45:14

♪ Hither by thy help I'm come ♪

45:20

♪ And I hope by thy good pleasure ♪

45:25

♪ Safely to arrive at home ♪

45:31

♪ Jesus sought me when a stranger ♪

45:37

♪ Wandering from the fold of God ♪

45:42

♪ He to rescue me from danger ♪

45:48

♪ Interposed his precious blood ♪

45:53

♪ O to grace how great a debtor ♪

46:07

♪ Daily I'm constrained to be ♪

46:13

♪ Let thy goodness like a fetter ♪

46:19

♪ Bind my wandering heart to thee ♪

46:24

♪ Prone to wander ♪

46:29

♪ Lord I feel it ♪

46:33

♪ Prone to leave the God I love ♪

46:35

♪ Here's my heart O take and seal it ♪

46:41

♪ Seal it for thy courts above ♪

46:47

-

The Lord be with you

46:59

All

And also with you.

47:01

-

Let us pray.

47:03

You may be seated.

47:05

O God, who has brought us to this bountiful place

47:20

where we can feast on the fruits of scholarship

47:26

and savor the spirit of service,

47:29

we give you thanks for the opportunity to begin again

47:32

on this opening day,

47:36

a journey that so many have taken before us.

47:38

We give you thanks for the new classes

47:43

and fresh texts

47:46

that transmit others enduring and lasting ideas

47:48

and that nurture new ones in us.

47:54

Grant that we will find great joy in the harvest we gather

47:58

from what others have planted,

48:03

in the beauty of art, in clarity of thought,

48:05

in vitality of spirit.

48:10

Lord, in your mercy.

48:13

All

Hear our prayer.

48:16

-

Let us pray for the leaders of this institution.

48:19

O God, we ask your blessing on the President

48:24

of Duke University and all in her administration.

48:28

Grant that she and they will remain dedicated servants

48:33

of the aims of the school and the heritage entrusted

48:37

to their hands and ours.

48:41

Make them swift in pursuing social justice,

48:45

zealous in nurturing intellectual freedom,

48:49

and faithful in uniting knowledge and vital piety.

48:53

Lord, in your mercy.

48:58

All

Hear our prayer.

49:01

-

Let us pray for those who labor to maintain the beauty

49:03

and comforts of this bountiful place.

49:06

O God, bless those whose daily tasks begin

49:11

before the rising of the sun.

49:15

Bless those who care for our classrooms and corridors,

49:19

those who love flowers enough to labor among them,

49:24

those who keep the hospital clean enough for surgery,

49:28

those who keep laboratories safe enough for science,

49:33

those who work with their hands so that others

49:38

among us can work with our minds.

49:41

Grant that they will find joy in their service

49:45

and gratitude from those whom they serve.

49:50

Lord, in your mercy.

49:54

All

Hear our prayer.

49:56

-

Let us pray for those beyond this campus.

49:58

O God, care for your people in this city of Durham

50:03

and in the world.

50:07

Grant that our schools in this city will become models

50:10

of justice and community, models of learning and hope.

50:13

Protect the children from demons like drugs,

50:19

abuse, and violence.

50:25

And not only in this city, but well beyond it.

50:29

On this weekend when many pause to recall the end of a war,

50:32

50 years ago,

50:37

care for those who still suffer

50:39

from the signs of that past war

50:42

and care, especially, for those who in this day

50:46

seek peace where wars still rage.

50:49

We pray for the people of Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia.

50:53

We pray that the force of reconciliation will find a place

50:59

in their broken lives.

51:03

Lord, in your mercy.

51:06

All

Hear our prayer.

51:09

-

Let us pray for those who are ill.

51:11

O God,

51:15

whose power to heal and power to create

51:18

are the gifts that offer reconciliation

51:23

not only in this life but in the life to come.

51:25

Grant that all who are ill this day will find comfort

51:29

and peace, and that the measure of healing,

51:33

which is yours to grant, will be claimed by them

51:38

in their hospital rooms and homes, in hospices,

51:42

in distant places, in lonely rooms,

51:46

and grant that they will find the nurture

51:50

and encouragement of the community of faith

51:53

lifting up prayers, like these, to you,

51:56

so that they will be refreshed with hope

52:00

and find the reconciliation of healing

52:04

as they are touched by the taste of living waters.

52:07

Lord, in your mercy.

52:12

All

Hear our prayer.

52:15

-

And we pray, O Lord, for all who study here,

52:17

and all who teach here, that your Word

52:20

and your Light and your Truth will be known among all.

52:25

Lord, in your mercy.

52:30

All

Hear our prayer.

52:32

-

These things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ,

52:34

your Son, our Savior.

52:37

Amen.

52:40

Of all of the gifts of God's bounty

52:46

that are ours to receive,

52:48

we offer songs of praise

52:51

and signs of thanksgiving,

52:53

and we offer, as well, gifts of the things of the earth

52:56

in portions as we have been privileged to harvest them.

53:02

Let us turn unto the Lord and offer our gifts

53:07

of thanks and praise.

53:10

(dramatic orchestral music)

53:25

(moves to sacred organ music)

59:05

♪ Praise God from who all blessings flow ♪

59:45

♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪

59:51

♪ Alleluia ♪

59:57

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:00:00

♪ Praise God above ye heavenly host ♪

1:00:04

♪ Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost ♪

1:00:10

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:00:17

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:00:19

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:00:23

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:00:26

♪ Alleluia ♪

1:00:29

-

O Lord, without whom there would be no light,

1:00:43

no breath of life, no harvest from the earth,

1:00:48

no hope or joy,

1:00:53

it is from you that all these gifts have come

1:00:56

and it is to us that a portion

1:00:59

of those gifts have been offered.

1:01:01

With gratitude, we have received those gifts,

1:01:04

and, now, O Lord, as a sign of our thanksgiving

1:01:07

we offer a portion of what has been given to us,

1:01:11

entrusted to us, now given as a sacrifice in your name,

1:01:15

with thanksgiving we present to you, O Lord,

1:01:21

ourselves, our souls, our bodies,

1:01:25

and our portion of our earthly means.

1:01:30

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord

1:01:34

through whom and in whom we pray the way he taught us.

1:01:38

All

Our father who art in heaven,

1:01:44

hallowed be thy name.

1:01:48

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

1:01:50

on earth as is in heaven.

1:01:54

Give us this day our daily bread

1:01:56

and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those

1:01:59

who trespass against us,

1:02:03

and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,

1:02:06

for thine is the kingdom, and the power,

1:02:11

and the glory forever.

1:02:14

Amen.

1:02:16

("Praise the Source of Faith and Learning")

1:02:22

♪ Praise the source of faith and learning ♪

1:03:28

♪ Who has sparked and stoked the mind ♪

1:03:34

♪ With a passion for discerning ♪

1:03:40

♪ How the world has been designed ♪

1:03:47

♪ Let the sense of wonder flowing ♪

1:03:53

♪ From the wonders we survey ♪

1:03:59

♪ Keep our faith forever growing ♪

1:04:06

♪ And renew our need to pray ♪

1:04:12

♪ God of wisdom we acknowledge ♪

1:04:21

♪ That our science and our art ♪

1:04:26

♪ And the breadth of human knowledge ♪

1:04:33

♪ Only partial truth impart ♪

1:04:39

♪ Far beyond our calculation ♪

1:04:46

♪ Lies a depth we cannot sound ♪

1:04:52

♪ Where your purpose for creation ♪

1:04:59

♪ And the pulse of life was found ♪

1:05:05

♪ May our faith redeem the blunder ♪

1:05:14

♪ Of believing that our thought ♪

1:05:20

♪ Has displaced the grounds for wonder ♪

1:05:27

♪ Which the ancient prophets thought ♪

1:05:33

♪ May our learning curb the error ♪

1:05:40

♪ Which unthinking faith can breed ♪

1:05:46

♪ Lest we justify some terror ♪

1:05:53

♪ With an antiquated creed ♪

1:05:59

♪ As two currents in a river ♪

1:06:07

♪ Fight each other's undertow ♪

1:06:13

♪ Till converging they deliver ♪

1:06:20

♪ One coherent steady flow ♪

1:06:26

♪ May we blend our faith and learning ♪

1:06:33

♪ Till they carve a single course ♪

1:06:39

♪ And our seeking and our yearning ♪

1:06:46

♪ Join in praising you their source ♪

1:06:52

♪ Praise for minds to probe the heavens ♪

1:07:00

♪ Praise for strength to breathe the air ♪

1:07:07

♪ Praise for all that beauty leavens ♪

1:07:14

♪ Praise for silence, music, prayer ♪

1:07:20

♪ Praise for justice and compassion ♪

1:07:27

♪ And for strangers, neighbors, friends ♪

1:07:34

♪ Praise for hearts and lips to fashion ♪

1:07:40

♪ Praise for love that never ends ♪

1:07:46

-

Go forth in peace.

1:07:58

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

1:07:59

the love of God, and communion of the Holy Spirit,

1:08:01

be with you and keep you.

1:08:05

♪ God be ♪

1:08:10

♪ In my head ♪

1:08:12

♪ And in my ♪

1:08:16

♪ Understanding ♪

1:08:19

♪ God be ♪

1:08:28

♪ In mine eyes ♪

1:08:31

♪ And in my ♪

1:08:35

♪ Looking ♪

1:08:38

♪ God be in ♪

1:08:47

♪ My mouth ♪

1:08:51

♪ And in my ♪

1:08:54

♪ Speaking ♪

1:08:57

♪ God be ♪

1:09:08

♪ In my heart ♪

1:09:12

♪ And in my ♪

1:09:16

♪ Thinking ♪

1:09:20

♪ God be ♪

1:09:29

♪ At my end ♪

1:09:34

♪ And in ♪

1:09:42

♪ My ♪

1:09:47

♪ Departing ♪

1:09:50

(classical organ music)

1:10:08

Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (September 3, 1995)

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