Lawrence E. Johnson - "Set Free" (July 1, 1984)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:02 | |
(choir singing off mic) | 16:24 | |
- | Lord, open our lips | 18:36 |
- | And our mouths shall proclaim your praise. | 18:40 |
- | Your love, oh Lord, forever will I sing, | 18:43 |
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness, | 18:47 | |
for I am persuaded that your love | 18:53 | |
is established forever. | 18:56 | |
You have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens. | 18:59 | |
- | I have made a covenant with my chosen one, | 19:04 |
I have sworn an oath to David my servant. | 19:08 | |
I will establish your line forever, | 19:11 | |
and preserve your throne for all generations. | 19:15 | |
- | The heavens bear witness to your wonders, oh Lord, | 19:19 |
and to your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. | 19:22 | |
For who in the skies can be compared to the lord? | 19:27 | |
Who is like the Lord among the gods? | 19:31 | |
God is much to be feared in the counsel of the holy ones, | 19:34 | |
great and terrible to all those round about him. | 19:39 | |
- | Who is like you, oh Lord of hosts? | 19:45 |
Oh mighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you. | 19:48 | |
- | You rule the raging of the sea, | 19:54 |
and still the surging of it's waves. | 19:56 | |
You have crushed Rahab of the deep with a deadly wound. | 20:00 | |
You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. | 20:04 | |
Yours are the heavens, the Earth also is yours, | 20:08 | |
you laid the foundations of the world | 20:13 | |
and all that is in it. | 20:15 | |
You have made the north and the south. | 20:18 | |
Tabor and Herman rejoice in your name. | 20:21 | |
You have a mighty arm, strong is your hand, | 20:24 | |
and high is your right hand. | 20:28 | |
Righteousness and justice | 20:31 | |
are the foundations of your throne. | 20:33 | |
Love and truth go before your face. | 20:37 | |
- | Happy are the people who know the festal shout. | 20:41 |
They walk, oh Lord, in the light of your presence. | 20:46 | |
They rejoice daily in your name, | 20:50 | |
they are jubilant in your righteousness. | 20:53 | |
- | For you are the glory of their strength, | 20:56 |
and by your favor our might is exalted. | 20:59 | |
Truly the Lord is our ruler, | 21:04 | |
the holy one of Israel is our king. | 21:07 | |
(organ music) | 21:12 | |
(choir singing off mic) | 21:20 | |
- | It is a particular pleasure to be lector this morning, | 22:16 |
and to welcome back to the pulpit | 22:21 | |
our guest preacher today | 22:25 | |
who is no stranger to the Duke chapel, | 22:27 | |
the Reverend Dr. Lauren C. Johnson, | 22:31 | |
pastor of Asbury Temple United Methodist Church in Durham. | 22:34 | |
Many of you remember the times and the contributions | 22:39 | |
that he has made to this Duke University | 22:44 | |
through the period of 1979-1982 | 22:47 | |
when Dr. Johnson was the director black church affairs | 22:51 | |
at the Duke Divinity School. | 22:56 | |
We truly do welcome you back, Dr. Johnson, | 22:58 | |
to be with us today. | 23:01 | |
Now I'm going to take an additional prerogative | 23:05 | |
that the presiding minister this morning | 23:08 | |
has not included in her instructions to me, | 23:12 | |
and that's namely to express on behalf of the Duke community | 23:16 | |
also a warm welcome to the Reverend Nancy Faret | 23:21 | |
who has returned to Duke this month | 23:27 | |
as assistant minister to the university. | 23:30 | |
As you perhaps might surmise by this beautiful | 23:34 | |
and somewhat cool morning, on a comparative basis, | 23:37 | |
she comes to us from Asheville North Carolina, | 23:41 | |
where she has just been acting as the associate minister | 23:44 | |
of the Central Methodist church there. | 23:49 | |
And it's quite evident that she's brought | 23:51 | |
this weather to us from there. | 23:53 | |
So that's another way in which we are | 23:56 | |
a beneficiary of her being here. | 23:59 | |
I knew Nancy when she was a student at Duke, | 24:03 | |
coming to Duke as an AB Duke scholar in 1971, | 24:05 | |
and she meant so much to the university community. | 24:10 | |
She sang in this chapel choir, | 24:13 | |
she played the organ here, | 24:17 | |
and became an accomplished organist while she was here. | 24:19 | |
Originally planning on going into law, | 24:23 | |
she decided as she said it, | 24:27 | |
she felt the divine command to go to seminary, | 24:29 | |
to see what God wanted from here. | 24:33 | |
And following Yale Divinity School, | 24:35 | |
she returned to North Carolina. | 24:38 | |
We welcome her, we're delighted | 24:41 | |
that she's going to be with us | 24:44 | |
and share the many attributes that she has | 24:45 | |
with us here at Duke University. | 24:48 | |
As you've noticed from the announcement in the bulletin, | 24:52 | |
you're all invited to have lemonade | 24:55 | |
out in the south arcade to the chapel, | 24:59 | |
and we'd like for you to meet both Reverend Faret, | 25:04 | |
and of course also to meet Dr. Johnson. | 25:08 | |
Would you join in prayer? | 25:15 | |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 25:20 | |
by the power of your spirit, | 25:24 | |
so that as the word is read and proclaimed, | 25:26 | |
we might hear with you what you have | 25:31 | |
to say to us this day, amen. | 25:33 | |
The epistle lesson is from Romans 6:1-11. | 25:40 | |
What shall we say then? | 25:49 | |
Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? | 25:52 | |
By no means. | 25:58 | |
How can we who died to sin still live in it? | 26:00 | |
Do you not know that all of us | 26:06 | |
who have been baptized into Christ Jesus | 26:08 | |
were baptized into his death? | 26:11 | |
We were buried therefore with him | 26:15 | |
by baptism into death, | 26:17 | |
so that as Christ was raised from the dead | 26:20 | |
by the glory of the Father, | 26:23 | |
we too might walk in newness of life. | 26:26 | |
For if we have been united with him | 26:31 | |
in a death like his, | 26:34 | |
we shall certainly be united with him | 26:36 | |
in a resurrection like his. | 26:39 | |
We know that our old self was crucified with him | 26:43 | |
so that the sinful body might be destroyed, | 26:48 | |
and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. | 26:52 | |
For he who has died is freed from sin, | 26:57 | |
but if we have died with Christ, | 27:02 | |
we believe that we shall also live with him. | 27:05 | |
For we know that Christ being raised from the dead | 27:10 | |
will never die again. | 27:14 | |
Death no longer has dominion over him. | 27:16 | |
The death he died, he died to sin once for all, | 27:21 | |
but the life he lives, he lives to God. | 27:27 | |
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin | 27:32 | |
and alive to God in Christ Jesus. | 27:36 | |
Here ends the reading of the epistle lesson. | 27:41 | |
The gospel lesson is from Matthew 10:22-42. | 27:46 | |
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, | 27:56 | |
I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, | 28:00 | |
but whoever denies me before men, | 28:07 | |
I also will deny before my father who is in heaven. | 28:10 | |
Do not think that I have come to bring peace on Earth. | 28:17 | |
I have not come to bring peace, but a sword, | 28:21 | |
for I have come to set a man against his father, | 28:26 | |
and a daughter against her mother, | 28:29 | |
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, | 28:32 | |
and a man's foes will be those of his own household. | 28:34 | |
He who loves father or mother more than me | 28:40 | |
is not worthy of me, | 28:45 | |
and he who loves son or daughter more than me | 28:48 | |
is not worthy of me. | 28:52 | |
And he who does not take his cross and follow me | 28:55 | |
is not worthy of me. | 29:00 | |
He who finds his life will lose it, | 29:02 | |
and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. | 29:06 | |
And he who receives me, receives him who sent me. | 29:14 | |
He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet | 29:20 | |
shall receive a prophet's reward. | 29:25 | |
And he who receives a righteous man, | 29:28 | |
because he is a righteous man | 29:31 | |
shall receive a righteous man's reward. | 29:33 | |
And whoever gives to one of these little ones | 29:38 | |
even a cup of cold water, | 29:42 | |
because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, | 29:44 | |
he shall not lose his reward. | 29:49 | |
Here ends the reading of the gospel lesson, amen. | 29:53 | |
(organ music) | 29:59 | |
- | It is indeed a pleasure to come | 34:10 |
and share with you this morning. | 34:14 | |
As I thought about my subject this morning, | 34:20 | |
I thought about it and I felt that I was | 34:27 | |
truly the epitome of being set free. | 34:32 | |
For yesterday I decided to | 34:39 | |
try my hand at domestication, | 34:43 | |
and I spent most of the day and | 34:47 | |
into the early morning hours | 34:51 | |
baking rolls for our church breakfast this morning. | 34:55 | |
In the process of trying to complete my task | 35:00 | |
in order that I might fulfill my mission here this morning, | 35:03 | |
my family was preparing to go away, | 35:08 | |
and when the rolls were done, the first dozen was gone. | 35:13 | |
So I had to start my task all over again. | 35:18 | |
But I feel real free this morning, | 35:22 | |
because I sent them away to Las Vegas yesterday. | 35:25 | |
Let us join together in prayer. | 35:33 | |
Drop thy still dew of quietness upon us, | 35:39 | |
'til all our striving cease, | 35:46 | |
and let our ordered lives confess | 35:52 | |
the beauty of thy peace. | 35:57 | |
Let the words of our mouths | 36:01 | |
and the meditation of our hearts | 36:06 | |
be acceptable in thy sight. | 36:08 | |
In your name we pray, amen. | 36:12 | |
So you also must consider yourselves | 36:19 | |
dead to sin, | 36:25 | |
and alive to God in Christ Jesus, | 36:27 | |
Romans 6:11. | 36:31 | |
And he who does not take his cross and follow me | 36:35 | |
is not worthy of me. | 36:41 | |
He who finds his life will lose it. | 36:44 | |
And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. | 36:49 | |
Matthew 10:38, 39. | 36:56 | |
I hope you listened attentively | 37:04 | |
to the scripture reading this morning, | 37:06 | |
because that is where our message will come from. | 37:09 | |
As we listened this morning, | 37:17 | |
I'm quite sure you began to say in your mind, | 37:18 | |
that the message in our scripture text today | 37:25 | |
is very disturbing, as well as challenging. | 37:28 | |
It indicates that we who call ourselves Christians | 37:34 | |
must take our call and discipleship seriously. | 37:38 | |
In America we are not persecuted, stoned, | 37:45 | |
or gunned down because of our stand | 37:47 | |
and the conviction of our faith. | 37:50 | |
However, we must not take this as an indication | 37:54 | |
that the Christian life is easy going. | 38:01 | |
The type of life Jesus lived and proclaimed | 38:07 | |
is costly and demanding. | 38:10 | |
If any man would come after me | 38:14 | |
he must deny himself and take up his cross daily | 38:17 | |
and follow me. | 38:22 | |
The way of the cross promises no softness, | 38:24 | |
but suffering, no comfort, but challenge, | 38:29 | |
no safety, but sacrifice. | 38:34 | |
In this life there is peace, | 38:39 | |
and there is also persecution. | 38:43 | |
There is security, joy, and abundance, | 38:47 | |
but there is also pain and tears. | 38:51 | |
Jesus said, I came not to bring peace, | 38:55 | |
but a sword. | 39:00 | |
How could the Prince of Peace | 39:03 | |
talk about violence of this nature, | 39:06 | |
especially one who came | 39:10 | |
to bring peace to Earth. | 39:14 | |
The sword that Jesus had referenced to | 39:18 | |
was a division between the old self | 39:21 | |
and the new self. | 39:25 | |
Jesus foresaw persecution and predicted it. | 39:27 | |
The sword was in the hands of the enemy, not Jesus. | 39:34 | |
It was a sword of cruelty, | 39:39 | |
tyranny, and persecution. | 39:43 | |
Jesus knew that his enemies would seek to destroy him, | 39:46 | |
but he was not threatened, nor did he compromise his gospel | 39:51 | |
because of these threats. | 39:56 | |
He felt truth must be spoken, | 39:59 | |
and that errors must be expressed, | 40:02 | |
and that sins must be denounced at any cost. | 40:06 | |
We notice one particular thing about Jesus, | 40:13 | |
and that is he was not out to appease people. | 40:17 | |
We know that the word of God is sharper | 40:21 | |
than a two edged sword. | 40:23 | |
Often the gospel of peace brings warfare. | 40:26 | |
It cuts through old habits, opposes sin, | 40:30 | |
and sets up new standards to live by. | 40:36 | |
To refuse, to resist temptation | 40:40 | |
for the sake of peace and quiet | 40:42 | |
is to be faithful to Christ | 40:46 | |
who only gives peace through our | 40:48 | |
faithful endurance of conflict. | 40:51 | |
The sword cuts across social lines | 40:56 | |
to cause discord and division among families, | 40:58 | |
separating children and parents. | 41:03 | |
Christ does not require us to renounce home ties | 41:08 | |
in order to follow him, | 41:11 | |
but the gospel demands are so stringent | 41:14 | |
that some feel the pressure so great | 41:18 | |
that they must leave home and family. | 41:22 | |
In many families, | 41:27 | |
for example the Jews who became Christians, | 41:28 | |
divided their families. | 41:31 | |
Hindu families converted by missionaries | 41:34 | |
and other foreign persons, | 41:36 | |
confessing Christ as savior of their lives | 41:37 | |
brought trouble in a worldly home, | 41:41 | |
especially where one was converted | 41:44 | |
and the other in the family remained unchristian. | 41:47 | |
The simple explanation for the sword | 41:52 | |
is that Christ must be first in our lives, | 41:54 | |
and that no domestic claim can excuse us | 41:59 | |
for disloyalty to him. | 42:03 | |
We notice that there is a continuous struggle | 42:07 | |
between the old man Adam, who will not die | 42:09 | |
without a fight over against the new man. | 42:15 | |
But Jesus Christ calls us to a new life, | 42:20 | |
renouncing sin, and coming alive to God in Christ Jesus. | 42:24 | |
Jesus came that we might have life, | 42:32 | |
and that we might have it more abundantly. | 42:35 | |
Henry Thoreau, an English philosopher in his essay, | 42:39 | |
Where I Lived and What I Lived For, | 42:43 | |
sensed a need in himself and every person | 42:47 | |
when he said, I went into the woods | 42:51 | |
because I wished to live deliberately, | 42:53 | |
to front only the essential facts of life, | 42:57 | |
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, | 43:00 | |
and not when I come to die, | 43:04 | |
discover that I had not lived. | 43:08 | |
What could be more tragic for any one of us | 43:13 | |
than to die before we really live? | 43:17 | |
We need to give priority to quality of life, | 43:20 | |
rather than to longevity, | 43:23 | |
for we live not in number of years, but in deeds. | 43:25 | |
It is not how long we live, | 43:30 | |
but the quality of life that we live. | 43:33 | |
Jesus is talking about quality of life and eternal life, | 43:37 | |
life after death. | 43:42 | |
Jesus did not come back from the resurrection or the grave | 43:44 | |
to inform us that life goes on, | 43:49 | |
but he came back to tell us that real life | 43:53 | |
is possible right here and now. | 43:56 | |
When we as human beings accept Christ as our savior, | 44:00 | |
it is seen as the passing from death unto life. | 44:04 | |
New life is found wherever Christ is known, | 44:09 | |
where he's trusted, where he's loved. | 44:13 | |
As we greet each new day with hope, | 44:18 | |
it is our opportunity to begin new life, | 44:23 | |
leaving behind the past | 44:27 | |
and pressing on towards the future. | 44:30 | |
But the question comes to mind, | 44:35 | |
what prevents us from having this new life in Christ? | 44:38 | |
Sin. | 44:43 | |
Sin separates us from God and our fellow human being. | 44:45 | |
Whosoever committed sin is the slave of sin. | 44:51 | |
Our concept of slavery is a person | 44:58 | |
who is placed under servitude, | 45:00 | |
or a prisoner locked behind bars. | 45:03 | |
Not so. | 45:06 | |
A person may be physically free without being free indeed. | 45:08 | |
Prejudice, hatred, inner fears. | 45:13 | |
Secondly, a person may be socially free | 45:17 | |
without being free indeed, | 45:20 | |
a person who enjoys the social and political privileges, | 45:23 | |
and yet become a captive of some great tradition. | 45:29 | |
And thirdly, a person may be mentally free | 45:35 | |
without being free indeed. | 45:37 | |
One's intellect may be sound, | 45:41 | |
and grasping his mental vision clear, | 45:44 | |
and far reaching, and still be a prisoner of their own mind. | 45:47 | |
Every sinner has a master | 45:54 | |
who has dominion over them, | 45:58 | |
and gives wages to the servant. | 45:59 | |
The wages of sin is death, | 46:02 | |
because one obeys them. | 46:07 | |
Slavery to sin implies a false relationship to God, | 46:10 | |
and there is a distinct difference | 46:16 | |
between the servant and the son. | 46:18 | |
And the servant abided not in the house forever, | 46:22 | |
but the son abided forever. | 46:26 | |
Take for an example, as descendants from Abraham's seeds, | 46:30 | |
the Jews remembered Isaac, | 46:35 | |
the son of the free woman remained in the house | 46:37 | |
as the heir of the promise, | 46:40 | |
but Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, was cast out. | 46:43 | |
Our Lord adheres to the lives of ancient history, | 46:49 | |
so as to mark who were as sons introduced | 46:53 | |
into true spiritual freedom of Abraham's seed. | 46:58 | |
Christ thus places us on a new footing in the household. | 47:03 | |
It is Christ who gives us freedom. | 47:08 | |
It is true freedom because it is freedom | 47:11 | |
from sin, guilt, condemnation, | 47:14 | |
from the darkness of ignorance and error, | 47:18 | |
from self, self-seeking pleasure and satisfaction, | 47:22 | |
from the law of curse, penalties, | 47:27 | |
and heavy burden. | 47:32 | |
True freedom is assessed to God at all times, | 47:34 | |
and it holds our expectation of liberty | 47:39 | |
of sons of God hereafter. | 47:43 | |
True freedom is deliverance | 47:47 | |
from spiritual chains and bondage. | 47:50 | |
For those who recognize and accept | 47:54 | |
the supreme claim of the divine law | 47:56 | |
are the ones who prefer the will of God | 48:00 | |
above their own pleasure, or that of their peers. | 48:04 | |
Political or social freedom | 48:09 | |
may be gained by a human deliverer, | 48:11 | |
such as the hostages that were released, | 48:14 | |
but only God can enfranchise the soul. | 48:18 | |
Charles Wesley pens it this way, | 48:22 | |
he breaks the power of canceled sin, | 48:25 | |
he sets the prisoners free, | 48:29 | |
his blood can make the foulest clean, his blood. | 48:32 |
Pastor | Is a choice we make on our own. | 0:02 |
Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, | 0:05 | |
"Then while I sprinkle clean water | 0:10 | |
"upon you, and you shall be clean | 0:12 | |
"from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, | 0:17 | |
"will I cleanse you. | 0:22 | |
"A new heart also will I give you, | 0:24 | |
"and a new spirit I will put within you. | 0:26 | |
"and I will take away the stony heart, out of your flesh, | 0:30 | |
"and I will give your heart of flesh." | 0:34 | |
In such a way, baptism comes to be the symbol | 0:38 | |
of the forgiveness of sins. | 0:43 | |
And the new life in Christ Jesus. | 0:45 | |
This outward symbol signifies | 0:48 | |
an inward change of repentance. | 0:50 | |
Our scripture reminded us today, | 0:56 | |
that he that findith his life, shall lose it. | 0:59 | |
Love is life. | 1:03 | |
The love of self and the world, | 1:05 | |
is the life of the unregenerate. | 1:07 | |
But the love of Christ, is the life of the new birth. | 1:11 | |
He that allows self love to rule in their hearts, | 1:15 | |
must lose the love of God. | 1:20 | |
But it also goes on to say, that "He that loses his life | 1:23 | |
for my sake, shall find it." | 1:27 | |
The life of a grain is terminated, | 1:32 | |
when it is used for immediate gratification. | 1:36 | |
But it receives fullest development, | 1:41 | |
accomplishes it's richest end | 1:43 | |
when it is cast into the ground, | 1:46 | |
and bear it out of sight and loss. | 1:48 | |
You can end your life, in selfish gratification. | 1:53 | |
But you can also fulfill your life by living for others. | 1:58 | |
Your life can be increased. | 2:04 | |
It can be widened, it can be enriched. | 2:06 | |
Christ gives quality to life. | 2:11 | |
He fills it with meaning, with purpose, | 2:15 | |
with hope. | 2:20 | |
And life in Christ has a purpose to serve | 2:21 | |
others around us. | 2:25 | |
We are nevertheless in the daily process | 2:30 | |
of dying to see him. | 2:33 | |
Their dying will not be completed, | 2:35 | |
until we have set free to relate to one another. | 2:37 | |
To share with one another. | 2:42 | |
To serve, to support, and to build up one another. | 2:43 | |
But it continues as we cease yielding | 2:49 | |
to self-interests, self-concerns. | 2:53 | |
As we cease seeking out our own gratification, | 2:58 | |
at the expense of others. | 3:02 | |
As we become increasingly successful at overcoming | 3:05 | |
our lust, our covetousness, our bigotry, | 3:09 | |
our impatience, | 3:14 | |
our apathy, and whatever else clouds our relationship | 3:16 | |
between God and our fellow creatures. | 3:21 | |
As a resurrected people, we are crucified with Christ, | 3:25 | |
and raised with him from the dead, | 3:29 | |
we become new people in Christ. | 3:32 | |
Focus upon new goals. | 3:35 | |
Compelled by new motives. | 3:38 | |
Committed to new objectives, | 3:41 | |
we have thus been reborn. | 3:44 | |
All things have become new, and old things have passed away. | 3:47 | |
Through the grace of God, we are now free | 3:53 | |
to love and accept ourselves, | 3:56 | |
and to dedicate our lives | 3:58 | |
to loving our fellow persons, as ourselves. | 4:00 | |
When we are free, we are not offended at those | 4:05 | |
who leave us out of their circle. | 4:12 | |
But we become much bigger persons | 4:17 | |
by drawing a circle that is much bigger, to include them in. | 4:21 | |
In Zorro the Greek, the impulsive Zorro points out | 4:29 | |
the vast chasm that separates him from his uptight boss. | 4:33 | |
This is what he said: | 4:39 | |
"No you're not free," he said. | 4:43 | |
"The string you're tied to, | 4:46 | |
"is perhaps no longer than any other person. | 4:47 | |
"That's all. | 4:53 | |
"You're on a long piece of string, boss. | 4:54 | |
"You come and go and think you're free, | 4:57 | |
"but you never cut the string in two. | 4:59 | |
"It's difficult boss, very difficult. | 5:04 | |
"You needn't touch a folly to do that. | 5:07 | |
"Folly you see, you have to risk everything. | 5:10 | |
"But you got such a strong head, | 5:16 | |
"it'll always get the better of you. | 5:19 | |
"A person's head is like a grocer, it keeps a count. | 5:22 | |
"I paid so much, and earn so much, | 5:28 | |
"and that means a profit of this much, | 5:31 | |
"or a loss of this much." | 5:34 | |
We are much like the boss. | 5:40 | |
Our strings in life are too tight for us | 5:42 | |
to prayerfully, joyfully accept the gift of life. | 5:45 | |
We are too caught up in our own worlds, | 5:50 | |
to celebrate the joy and the beauty of God. | 5:53 | |
But notice what happens when Zorro is free. | 5:57 | |
He can sing with enthusiasm, | 6:01 | |
"I am the Lord of the dead," says he. | 6:04 | |
Thus if we are cut loose, | 6:07 | |
we can become like Zorro the Greek. | 6:09 | |
Leaping high of sin I am the life | 6:12 | |
that will never, never, never die. | 6:15 | |
I'll live in you if you live in me. | 6:19 | |
I'm the lord of the dead, says he. | 6:23 | |
Life is to be lived, whatever risk may be. | 6:26 | |
Choose life today. | 6:32 | |
Only that and always, and at whatever risk, | 6:35 | |
to let life leak out, | 6:39 | |
to let it well wade by the mere passage of time. | 6:43 | |
To withhold giving it and spreading it, to choose nothing. | 6:48 | |
To choose life, whatever the risk, | 6:52 | |
is to believe in the resurrection. | 6:55 | |
Least you die before you live, let Christ fill your life | 6:59 | |
with meaning, with hope, with adventure. | 7:04 | |
It is when we are set free to live, | 7:10 | |
when we are set free to love, | 7:14 | |
when we are set free to serve, | 7:16 | |
that we can enjoy real freedom. | 7:20 | |
It is the knowledge of the truth that will set us free. | 7:23 | |
You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. | 7:27 | |
Good feelings, will not free us. | 7:32 | |
Ecstatic experiences will not free us. | 7:36 | |
Getting high on Jesus, will not free us. | 7:41 | |
Without a knowledge of the truth, | 7:46 | |
we will not be free. | 7:50 | |
But when you are free, you can love those | 7:53 | |
who despitefully use you. | 7:57 | |
You can share with those, that those who have asked | 8:01 | |
for your coat you can give them your cloak also. | 8:04 | |
When you are set free you can speak the truth, | 8:09 | |
and not be afraid of the consequences. | 8:12 | |
When you are set free, | 8:15 | |
you can preach liberty to the Catholics, | 8:17 | |
sight for the blind, proclaim justice | 8:20 | |
and freedom to the poor. | 8:24 | |
I say to you, you are set free today. | 8:27 | |
Walk on. | 8:33 | |
Walk on through the wind and through the wake. | 8:36 | |
Walk on, and don't get weary. | 8:41 | |
Walk on for justice, for freedom, | 8:45 | |
for peace, and righteousness. | 8:49 | |
And we can soon say, free at last, | 8:53 | |
free at last, thank God almighty. | 8:58 | |
Free at last. | 9:03 | |
(organ music) | 9:17 | |
(church singing hymns) | 10:05 | |
(church continues to sing hymns) | 10:59 | |
Woman | The lord be with you. | 13:46 |
Audience | And also be with you. | 13:49 |
Woman | Let us pray. | 13:51 |
Most merciful God, | 14:04 | |
having called each of us into perfect freedom | 14:10 | |
through Jesus Christ, | 14:14 | |
you have thereby called us into relationship | 14:17 | |
with our sisters and brothers throughout the world. | 14:21 | |
We offer unto you these prayers for others, | 14:27 | |
beseeching you to grant them fullness of life. | 14:31 | |
We pray for people everywhere, who seek to know the truth, | 14:38 | |
and who dare to weave it into | 14:44 | |
the fabric of their daily lives. | 14:46 | |
For all who earnestly seek peace, | 14:52 | |
and who live lives that make it a reality. | 14:55 | |
For all who suffer with those who are stricken, | 15:01 | |
whatever their station in life, | 15:05 | |
and help to bring the world into new awareness's, | 15:08 | |
of our own frailties. | 15:12 | |
For all who perceive beauty and order | 15:16 | |
in the midst of chaos and despair. | 15:21 | |
And who give their own lives in order to create it. | 15:25 | |
For all who stand up in any company | 15:32 | |
to expose injustice, prejudice, and inhumanity, | 15:35 | |
even at the price of their own security. | 15:41 | |
We commend to you gracious God, | 15:46 | |
those who stand in special need of prayer this day. | 15:49 | |
All who bear the burdens of homelessness or unemployment, | 15:55 | |
and who suffer the pangs of hunger. | 15:59 | |
All who are paralyzed in the face of decisions | 16:03 | |
or responsibilities, that seem to consume them. | 16:07 | |
All who are burdened, not by too little, but by too much. | 16:14 | |
Wielding power that renders them indifferent, | 16:19 | |
to the needs and the rights of others. | 16:23 | |
All who are overwhelmed by loneliness, despair, | 16:27 | |
or grief, and who question their reason for living. | 16:31 | |
And we dare to pray, eternal God, even for ourselves, | 16:37 | |
aware that we have done so little with so much, | 16:43 | |
yet committed to offering you more obedient service. | 16:47 | |
Give us keener self-understanding, | 16:52 | |
lest we think of ourselves more highly, | 16:55 | |
or more lowly, than we ought. | 17:00 | |
Give us a sense of what is most vital, | 17:05 | |
and most valuable in our lives. | 17:08 | |
Lest we squander our years and waste precious energies. | 17:12 | |
Give us a clear and compelling vision | 17:18 | |
of the call to be disciples of Christ. | 17:22 | |
Lest we presume our own limited understanding of faith, | 17:26 | |
to be all that you would ask of us, | 17:31 | |
when you have created us, to be so much more. | 17:34 | |
We lift these prayers unto you, oh God, | 17:41 | |
beseeching you to strive with us, yet a little longer. | 17:45 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen. | 17:52 | |
(organ music) | 18:11 | |
(organ music continued) | 21:00 | |
(church singing hymns) | 25:14 | |
Woman | Our kind and gracious God, | 26:13 |
creator, redeemer, and sustainer of us all, | 26:15 | |
Diverse though we are in age, and outlook, | 26:20 | |
we are one in our desire to voice our gratitude to thee. | 26:24 | |
We thank thee for our time and place in history, | 26:30 | |
for this opportunity of worship, | 26:35 | |
and the privilege of serving thee, | 26:37 | |
as we dedicate these gifts, we do so in the knowledge | 26:41 | |
that thou has given us life, and called it good. | 26:46 | |
So we echo thy joyful affirmation of creation, | 26:51 | |
this day, thanking thee, and praising thy name | 26:55 | |
for such wondrous love, as we pray together with confidence. | 26:59 | |
Audience | [Woman] Our Father, who art in heaven, | 27:06 |
hallowed be thy name. | 27:10 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 27:12 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 27:16 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread, | 27:18 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those | 27:22 | |
who trespass against us, | 27:25 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 27:28 | |
For thine is the King, the power and the glory, forever. | 27:34 | |
Amen. | 27:40 | |
(organ music) | 27:42 | |
(church sings Glory Glory Hallelujah) | 28:06 | |
Woman | The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, | 32:39 |
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, | 32:43 | |
and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 32:48 | |
And the blessing of God almighty, | 32:52 | |
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, | 32:54 | |
be among you, and remain with you, always. | 32:57 | |
Amen. | 33:01 | |
(organ music) | 33:05 |
Item Info
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