L. Scott Allen - Sermon Untitled (April 24, 1983)

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	(church organ)	0:12
	(church organ)	0:28
	(church choir singing)	1:44
	(church choir singing)	2:53
	(church organ)	3:08
	(choir singing over organ)	3:37
	(congregation singing with choir and organ)	4:06
	(congregation singing with choir and organ)	4:39
Priest	The Psalmist writes the Lord	7:00
	is my light and my salvation.	7:02
	Whom shall I fear?	7:04
	The Lord is the strength of my life,	7:06
	of whom shall I be afraid?	7:08
	Hear, oh Lord, when we call aloud,	7:11
	show us favor and answer us.	7:14
	While I know that I shall see	7:18
	the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,	7:20
	wait for the Lord, be strong, take courage,	7:24
	and wait for the Lord.	7:29
	Grace, mercy and peace be with you	7:32
	this holy day, my friends.	7:35
	God is faithful and just so that	7:38
	when we confess our sin, God always forgives.	7:40
	Let us now together and individually	7:44
	bow before God and confess our sin.	7:47
	Will you be seated?	7:50
	Let us pray.	7:57
	Great and glorious God, you call us	8:00
	to be a light to the Gentiles,	8:03
	and to bring salvation	8:06
	to the outermost parts of the Earth.	8:07
	You ask us to envision a great community	8:10
	of people from every nation, all tribes and tongues.	8:13
	You want us to be your sheep,	8:18
	to follow you, to do your work.	8:20
	You hope for us to join the chorus of angels	8:23
	who sing your praise, and here we are,	8:26
	hesitant to venture out of our own neighborhoods,	8:30
	fearful of those who are different from us,	8:34
	uncertain about how we can make a difference in the world,	8:37
	more ready to believe in you than to follow you,	8:41
	and more likely to ask you to solve our problems	8:45
	than to give you praise and glory	8:48
	for all that happens to us.	8:50
	Take us as we are, work miracles in and with our lives,	8:53
	and cause us to serve you and your children	8:59
	with joy and thanksgiving,	9:02
	in the name of Jesus the Christ, Amen.	9:04
	My dear friends, as we have been raised with Christ,	9:39
	let us put off the old, the dead,	9:44
	the worn, the sinful,	9:46
	and put on all those things which are made new	9:50
	through Christ Jesus our Lord.	9:53
	I declare to you this morning	9:57
	that the good news is that Jesus Christ through	9:58
	his life, death, and resurrection,	10:02
	has set us free.	10:05
	We are forgiven, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.	10:07
	Therefore, let us give thanks, for God is good,	10:15
	and God's love is everlasting.	10:19
	Thanks be to God, whose love creates us.	10:23
	Thanks be to God whose mercy redeems us.	10:27
	Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future.	10:31
	To all of you who swam out to the service this morning,	10:38
	let me say a wet, but warm and graceful welcome to you	10:43
	as we worship God on this day.	10:48
	You might keep an eye out for those people	10:51
	who will be coming in about 11:30 thinking	10:54
	that it's 10:30, and let me wish for you	10:57
	a nice restful hour this afternoon	11:01
	to make up for that hour of sleep	11:03
	which none of us got last night.	11:05
	It is good to worship God here,	11:09
	and to share in this time of fellowship	11:11
	and praise with you.	11:13
	Let me wish, for those of you who are	11:16
	students here, not only my blessings	11:18
	and the blessings of all of us	11:23
	who work in this place, but let me wish for you	11:25
	God's blessings this week, as you	11:29
	come to the end of this semester,	11:32
	and as you come to the end of this year.	11:33
	My prayer is, our prayers have been,	11:37
	that this will have been a good year for you	11:41
	in every way, and that surely in some very	11:43
	significant ways you have grown spiritually	11:46
	and intellectually, and have matured in ways	11:49
	that are important to you, as you seek	11:52
	to live, and to love in the name of God.	11:54
	And may your exams all turn out to be	11:59
	just like you would like to have them.	12:01
	This Friday night, at 6:30 or 7,	12:04
	I'm not sure exactly about the time,	12:08
	but the friends of Duke Chapel	12:10
	will be having their annual dinner meeting.	12:11
	Some of you may have gotten notice about that	12:15
	but if you didn't, it's open to anyone	12:17
	who would like to come.	12:19
	If you would simply call the chapel by noon	12:20
	on Wednesday, and indicate your interest	12:22
	in attending, we'd love to have you.	12:25
	You'd be interested in the program.	12:28
	Marge Jones, who has been a chapel hostess	12:30
	for about 15 years, and Barney Jones,	12:32
	who has been a professor here for many years	12:35
	and who is retiring at the end of this year,	12:37
	will be our program.	12:39
	They will talk about what Duke Chapel	12:41
	has meant to them, and I invite you to come	12:43
	and share in that evening of real enjoyment with us.	12:46
	It may be a little presumptuous of me	12:50
	but I'd like to invite all of you,	12:53
	next Sunday immediately following	12:56
	the worship service to a reception.	12:57
	The University is giving a farewell reception	13:00
	for me and my family, and I'd like	13:03
	for you to know that we'd like for all of you,	13:06
	and all who have blessed and touched our lives	13:08
	during the 10 years we have been here in this place,	13:11
	to come and share in that time with us,	13:14
	and with others who will be here for that occasion.	13:17
	It's our privilege today to have	13:21
	Bishop L. Scott Allen as our preacher.	13:22
	Bishop Allen is now the presiding bishop	13:26
	of the Charlotte area of the United Methodist Church.	13:29
	He was elected bishop in 1967,	13:33
	he served the Gulf Coast area of the church,	13:35
	and served eight years in the host,	13:38
	an area of the United Methodist Church,	13:40
	and is now in his seventh year	13:43
	as the presiding bishop of the Charlotte area.	13:45
	The first and the only bishop to serve	13:49
	in the southeast in annual conferences	13:51
	that are predominantly white.	13:53
	He has given outstanding leadership	13:56
	wherever he has been, and he is giving	13:58
	that kind of leadership to the Charlotte area now.	14:01
	I say that because it's true, and also	14:04
	because he is my bishop, friends,	14:06
	so I want you to be very very nice to him today.	14:08
	(congregation laughing)	14:13
	Two personal words about him, though.	14:17
	One very personal.	14:22
	While I was in the hospital recently,	14:24
	he showed me the kind of love that I needed to have.	14:26
	Three different times, he called and spoke	14:31
	with either me or with my wife	14:33
	about how I was doing, to assure me and us	14:35
	of his prayers and his love and good wishes.	14:39
	More importantly, perhaps, for the chapel	14:43
	and for Duke University, he stuck his neck out	14:46
	and was the leading person in getting	14:50
	the Southeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops	14:54
	to make a commitment of one and one tenths million dollars	14:58
	to the Duke Chapel Development Fund	15:01
	over the next four years.	15:03
	Had it not been for him, and his persuasive voice	15:07
	among his bishop colleagues, our request	15:10
	for over one million dollars from	15:14
	the United Methodist Church may well	15:16
	not have passed that group.	15:18
	So Bishop Allen, we are grateful to you	15:21
	for what you have done for Duke Chapel,	15:24
	and my family and I are deeply grateful	15:28
	for what you have done for us.	15:30
	He is a Duke alumnus, having been given	15:32
	the Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree	15:34
	in 1971 here at Duke, so we welcome you	15:36
	back home today sir.	15:40
Reader	Let us pray.	15:47
	Oh Lord our God, open our eyes	15:50
	that we may behold wondrous things	15:53
	out of your word, and let the words	15:55
	of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts	15:58
	be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord	16:00
	our strength and our redeemer, Amen.	16:04
	The Old Testament lesson is from Numbers,	16:08
	chapter 27, verses 12 to 23.	16:10
	The Lord said to Moses, go up into this mountain	16:15
	of Avarim, and see the Lord	16:19
	which I have given you, the people of Israel.	16:21
	And when you have seen it, you shall also	16:24
	be gathered to your people,	16:26
	as your brother Aaron was gathered,	16:28
	because you rebelled against my word	16:30
	in the wilderness of Zin	16:32
	during the strife of the congregation,	16:34
	to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes.	16:37
	These are the waters of Mariba, of Kaddish,	16:40
	in the wilderness of Zin.	16:43
	Moses said to the Lord, let the Lord,	16:45
	the God of the spirits, of all flesh,	16:48
	appoint a man over the congregation	16:50
	who shall go out before them, and come in before them,	16:53
	who shall lead them out, and bring them in,	16:56
	that the congregation of the Lord	16:59
	may not be sheep which have no shepherd.	17:01
	And the Lord said to Moses, take Joshua,	17:05
	the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit,	17:08
	and lay your hand upon him.	17:11
	Cause him to stand before Eliezer the priest,	17:13
	and all the congregation.	17:16
	And you shall commission him in their sight.	17:18
	You shall invest him with some of your authority,	17:21
	that all the congregation	17:24
	of the people of Israel may obey.	17:26
	And he shall stand before Eliezer the priest,	17:29
	who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim,	17:32
	before the Lord, at his word they shall go out.	17:35
	And at his word, they shall come in.	17:39
	Both he and all the people of Israel with him,	17:41
	the whole congregation.	17:44
	And Moses did as the Lord commanded him.	17:47
	He took Joshua and caused him to stand	17:49
	before Eliezer the priest, and	17:52
	the whole congregation, and he laid	17:54
	his hands upon him, and commissioned him	17:56
	as the Lord directed him through Moses.	17:59
	Here ends the reading of the Old Testament lesson.	18:02
	The Epistle lesson is from Acts,	18:06
	chapter 13, verses 14 through 16.	18:08
	But they passed on from Purga,	18:13
	and came to Antioch of Pasadea,	18:15
	and on the Sabbath day,	18:17
	they went into the synagogue, and sat down.	18:19
	After the reading of the law and the prophets,	18:22
	the ruler of the synagogue sent to them, saying,	18:24
	brethren, if you have any word of exhortation	18:27
	for the people, say it.	18:30
	So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand,	18:32
	said, men of Israel, and you that fear God, listen.	18:35
	Here ends the reading from the second lesson.	18:41
	(church organ)	18:59
	(chorus singing over organ)	19:10
	(chorus singing over organ)	19:34
	(chorus singing over organ)	19:57
	(chorus singing a cappella)	22:36
	(chorus singing over organ)	23:04
	Will the congregation please stand	24:11
	for the reading of the Gospel lesson?	24:13
	The Gospel lesson is from John,	24:19
	chapter 10, verses 22 through 30.	24:21
	It was the feast of the dedication	24:25
	at Jerusalem, it was winter, and Jesus	24:27
	was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.	24:30
	So the Jews gathered round him,	24:33
	and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense?	24:36
	If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.	24:40
	Jesus answered them, I told you, and you did not believe.	24:43
	The works that I do in my father's name,	24:48
	they bear witness to me, but you do not believe.	24:51
	Because you do not belong to my sheep.	24:54
	My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,	24:57
	and they follow me, and I give them eternal life,	25:01
	and they shall never perish, and no one	25:05
	shall snatch them out of my hand.	25:07
	My father, who has given them to me,	25:10
	is greater than all, and no one is able	25:12
	to snatch them out of the father's hand.	25:15
	I and the father are one.	25:18
	Here ends the reading from the Gospel lesson, Amen.	25:21
	(choir singing over church organ)	25:35
Bishop	Let us unite our hearts together	26:33
	in a moment of prayerful meditation.	26:36
	Let the words of our mouths and	26:40
	the meditations of our hearts	26:42
	be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord,	26:45
	our strength and our redeemer, Amen.	26:47
	Dr. Young, Ms. Norman, members of	26:53
	this significant academic community,	26:58
	I am profoundly appreciative this morning,	27:03
	for the privilege to be in this service	27:05
	of cooperative worship.	27:08
	And share with you in the unsearchable riches	27:11
	of the gospel of Christ, as a foundation	27:15
	for the fulfillment of his will in the Earth,	27:20
	and the full realization of his creative purposes in us.	27:26
	It is a bit unusual that I did not to	27:33
	predict the events, the course of events earlier	27:37
	when I accepted this invitation.	27:40
	I don't usually go to visit a church	27:43
	when I have the preacher on the moving list.	27:45
	But I did come this morning.	27:49
	I was impressed with	27:52
	the very liberal introduction that Dr. Young gave me,	27:54
	but I just wanna say to him that	27:58
	it has no real value now.	28:02
	I've decided that little church that he's going to,	28:05
	and he didn't need to make an impression on me this morning.	28:08
	I had five churches that were requesting him,	28:13
	they were all on the same circuit,	28:16
	in the same county.	28:18
	These are days in which we find ourselves	28:26
	attempt to try to the faith of human beings.	28:31
	For the rapidity of change,	28:37
	the occurrences that seem to be tending	28:40
	to shake the very foundations of the universe,	28:45
	challenge us in a vivid manner this morning	28:51
	to seek to find those sources of stability	28:57
	that will give strength and survival	29:04
	for God's people in the future	29:07
	as he continues to be involved	29:10
	in molding and making human history.	29:12
	Is our love the vein of that kind of searching?	29:18
	I want us to think for a few moments	29:23
	concerning the eleventh chapter of the book of Genesis	29:25
	and the fourth verse.	29:30
	And they said, go too.	29:33
	Let us build us a city, and a tower	29:36
	whose top may reach unto heaven.	29:40
	And let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad	29:44
	upon the face of the whole Earth.	29:49
	You can immediately envision that the centrality	29:55
	of this passage	30:00
	is a certainty of the futility of those	30:03
	who seek to build their own world	30:08
	apart from the guidance of God and his spirit.	30:11
	Now the most interesting and meaningful	30:16
	characteristics of human history	30:19
	is a strong and clear affirmation of the fact that	30:23
	human nature is constituted	30:28
	in a manner that in some form,	30:33
	its fundamental traits remain unchanged	30:36
	by time and changing situations.	30:39
	Of these inherent traits, none have been	30:45
	more pronounced and discernable	30:47
	than the human ambition on the part of each generation	30:50
	to create its own world.	30:53
	Doing one's thing is not new,	30:56
	nor is it an innovative creation	31:00
	of today's youth and this age.	31:02
	The desire to build one's own city,	31:06
	a tower, to make a name, though often expressed	31:08
	in various and sundry forms, did not end	31:13
	with the sudden collapse of the tower of Babel.	31:17
	It has come to vivid appearances	31:23
	during various periods of history,	31:25
	in the thought patterns of renowned persons	31:29
	who sought to realize their dreams and goals,	31:31
	through various and sundry means.	31:36
	Handing out in a conspicuous manner	31:40
	in this galaxy of those who had these	31:42
	deeply seated ambitions of people	31:45
	like Sir Thomas Moore, who developed	31:48
	the idea of a utopia, a perfect state,	31:52
	a common wealth in which citizens would be governed	31:56
	by their own standards of what is right,	31:59
	and would do right simply because it is right.	32:03
	And Plato who dreamed of a republic,	32:09
	a perfect state based on reason.	32:13
	He envisioned a social structure in which	32:16
	individuals and the state alike	32:18
	would act justly according with reason.	32:21
	And such a system however Plato realized that	32:26
	its success would require	32:29
	that all rulers become philosophers,	32:31
	which is quite unlikely.	32:34
	Standing in a prominent manner among these concepts,	32:38
	persons who had dreams for the future,	32:43
	Augustine who envisioned a city of God,	32:48
	a perfect community built on spiritual principles.	32:54
	He describes a spiritual city which	32:58
	had been slowly emerging, but ultimately	33:01
	include and embrace all of the kingdoms of the world.	33:05
	The atmosphere of this decade and this century	33:10
	in which we find ourselves	33:14
	is highly charged with this kind of adventure.	33:17
	Especially this is true of the youth of this age.	33:21
	Ross Snyder in his book entitled Youth and Their Culture,	33:27
	referred a decade ago to this inner drive	33:31
	as the force that is motivating young people	33:34
	to build a culture their own, and he went on	33:38
	to explore this conclusion to a definition of culture	33:42
	as that lived moment in culture	33:47
	which is lived by each person as a self in culture.	33:53
	This of course means real participation	33:58
	in every process of life within the human situation.	34:02
	I think my friends that one of the most	34:08
	concrete evidences of such state of mind today is	34:09
	the constant search for the magic words	34:13
	which might give answers or directions	34:18
	to achieving the goals of creating new lifestyles	34:22
	which tend to permit autonomy.	34:27
	This probably follows the method	34:31
	of certain television shows, where you see them	34:33
	prodding individuals, continuing to prod them	34:37
	to come up with the right word, describe such	34:41
	commodities as toothpaste.	34:45
	We want the blueprint for constructing us a tower,	34:49
	and thereby making us a name.	34:54
	But like the plan to build a tower of Babel	34:57
	in New Testament times, there are certain	35:00
	definite fallacies in any philosophy of life	35:04
	that seeks to begin from scratch	35:09
	with no connection with the past.	35:10
	Such a view of history is just as unreal	35:15
	and fallacious as the pattern of the Chinese people	35:18
	who look upon history as a once for all example	35:22
	for every succeeding generation, whose contributions	35:27
	can have no value for the present	35:31
	nor for the future.	35:34
	For history to be real and alive,	35:37
	it must be conceived in a total perspective	35:40
	of the past, the present and the future.	35:44
	This is simply to say that our heritage	35:48
	may have meaning and value for contemporary life	35:51
	within a culture if it does not become the means	35:54
	of complacency based on noble achievements of the past.	35:57
	On the other hand, there is a corresponding principle,	36:04
	which supports the theory that he who goes out	36:08
	to develop his life, in total isolation of the foundations	36:11
	that have been laid before him,	36:16
	is likely to reach a state of utter confusion,	36:19
	with language confounded and dreams distorted.	36:22
	There are some magic words, but they are not new.	36:28
	They are deeply ingrained within the very fiber	36:33
	and soul and texture of the universe.	36:36
	And they are not subject to change.	36:40
	They have been tested by changing times	36:43
	and changing conditions, and they remain valid.	36:48
	They remain sources of strength	36:53
	for those who are seeking to build a life,	36:57
	and build a world.	37:01
	One of those magic words, as a part of the Christian faith,	37:03
	is a constant faith. a constant faith in God.	37:10
	My friends this morning let us not deceive ourselves,	37:15
	but let us be assured that God is still at work in the world	37:20
	seeking to complete his creation,	37:24
	seeking to bring to realization	37:28
	the actuality of the design that he set in motion	37:31
	in creation when he said, let there be light.	37:35
	And as a pinnacle of that creative idea,	37:40
	he created man and woman in his image.	37:43
	He is still trying to help us, to mold our lives	37:48
	and fashion our future, so as to be in accordance	37:53
	with his divine plan for each individual.	37:58
	The magic word still lives.	38:03
	Faith in God is essential for good living.	38:08
	Faith in oneself, the potential for growth	38:13
	and maturity into the full stature	38:16
	of the will and purpose of God.	38:20
	And part of that magic word also is	38:24
	the ability to maintain faith in other people.	38:27
	This is to view each person	38:31
	as having the possibility for doing good.	38:33
	All along the course of his days in the flesh,	38:37
	Jesus exemplified a faith in the redeemability	38:41
	of all creatures,	38:44
	but because of that unswerving confidence,	38:47
	that is a spark of grace that has the potential	38:51
	to responding to his call and his will,	38:55
	that he was willing to go to a cross,	38:59
	and die to reveal the depth of the father's love.	39:02
	To actualize that redeemable possibility	39:07
	in all human beings.	39:12
	And then there's another magic word	39:15
	that we should not forget, and that is	39:17
	a will to work and serve.	39:19
	This calls for an ethic based on	39:21
	the call of God to all persons	39:24
	to be committed to Christian vocation.	39:27
	It is also an affirmation of one of	39:30
	the fundamentals of the Gospel, by which	39:33
	true greatness is determined by dedication	39:36
	to a role of servitude.	39:40
	He that would be great among you, let him be your servant.	39:43
	There still the highest norm of Christian discipleship,	39:48
	and should continue to be the shibboleth of God's people,	39:53
	who are committed to the way of the towel and basin	39:58
	by which he exemplified his humility,	40:02
	and his will to serve his fellow man.	40:05
	And then there is another magic word	40:10
	that stands at a pinnacle above	40:11
	every other principle of the Christian faith,	40:14
	and that is a spirit to love.	40:18
	Now abideth faith, hope, love.	40:21
	These three, but the greatest of these is love.	40:27
	That is, this is a better way.	40:34
	This is a better way that transcends all other ways.	40:38
	Let love abide.	40:42
	Love ye one another, for love is of God.	40:44
	These are virtues that have their initiation	40:49
	and their influence in the Christian home,	40:53
	and the impact is continued	40:56
	in related institutions as the Church	40:58
	and other orders of society.	41:00
	They are some of the cardinal elements	41:03
	of a scale of value, and a philosophy of life	41:06
	by which human beings, through the power	41:10
	of the grace of God, may overcome	41:13
	their sinner pride, the sin that has motivated	41:16
	individuals, groups, and nations to seek	41:20
	to make themselves self sustaining	41:24
	and bigger than they are.	41:29
	Except for the spirit of Christ,	41:32
	we've all been touched	41:36
	by this inner will to determine our own destiny,	41:38
	to direct our own pathways, but my friends this morning,	41:43
	like those in the story of the texts,	41:49
	who sought to build their tower,	41:52
	the builders of great civilizations in history,	41:55
	have usually come to learn the hard way,	42:00
	to learn the unpleasant way that men who seek	42:04
	to achieve their goals in life through their own	42:09
	creative devices, their ultimate state becomes	42:12
	one of failure, one of defeat, and one	42:18
	of utter disillusionment, just as	42:22
	the Egyptian Pharaohs, the leaders of Rome and Greece,	42:25
	came to their end by their selfish pride,	42:32
	so will modern nations who seek to build their world	42:36
	and project their future on military power and might,	42:40
	economic superiority and abundance,	42:47
	are doomed by the will of him who revealed to the prophet	42:50
	the truth that blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,	42:54
	just as they are doomed to destruction	42:59
	in their end	43:04
	as our predecessors who were blundering builders,	43:06
	whose ruins stand as a testimony of the futility	43:10
	of every effort to build a world without God,	43:15
	to live a life without	43:21
	the influence of the Christian principles,	43:22
	such is a certainty.	43:26
	But the spiritual and moral antithesis	43:29
	of this prophecy of judgment and doom	43:31
	is a positive affirmation of the psalmists,	43:35
	and the prophets, the leaders of the Gospel,	43:39
	the principle of Jesus, based upon the concept	43:44
	of the Psalmist, who came to the conclusion,	43:49
	after realizing that the way of the ungodly	43:53
	would perish, and not only would the way perish,	43:57
	but the ungodly would perish with their perishing ways.	44:00
	But then he comes forth, with a faith	44:05
	that will stand oppressed by every fool	44:08
	that does not tremble on the brink of any earthly world.	44:13
	And he reaffirms the fundamental foundation	44:18
	of the law of God, which says	44:24
	the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.	44:26
	He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.	44:30
	That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.	44:34
	His leaves also shall not wither,	44:38
	whatsoever he doth shall prosper.	44:41
	Let us build us a tower, let us make us a name?	44:45
	No, let us build a tower, let us build a life,	44:51
	let us build a church and build a nation,	44:56
	and a world on him	44:59
	who is the source of all good,	45:03
	and all right.	45:06
	He who builds the city.	45:10

-	Without God, labors in vain.	0:03
	He who keeps a city without God	0:07
	watches in vain.	0:12
	My friends, today is,	0:15
	we find ourselves shaking in our boots,	0:19
	we realize what is happening throughout the world when	0:24
	murderous movements, murderous spirits	0:29
	are exerting themselves in the destruction	0:32
	on human life and property.	0:36
	Nations are really sitting on powder kegs	0:39
	with the possibility of destroying each other.	0:42
	And the ambition to	0:46
	take the whole world and put it under subjection	0:50
	on the part of exponents of	0:55
	selfish ideologies and ways of life,	0:57
	eating at the very heart of the universe.	1:01
	I've come this morning to reaffirm to you and to me	1:05
	that that is a way that seemeth right unto man,	1:10
	but the end there of is death.	1:14
	On the other hand, there is a way	1:17
	that was exemplified by him on a cross on calvary,	1:21
	a way of love, a way of forgiveness,	1:26
	rose to the highest point of loving,	1:29
	reconciling, forgiveness in his dying moments	1:32
	and cried out as he looked up on them	1:35
	who nailed him to a cross	1:38
	and said, father forgive them,	1:41
	for they know not what they do.	1:44
	The way of love is still the only	1:48
	parousia of the ills of our times.	1:53
	The only butressings and substantiating power	1:57
	that will give strength and survival	2:01
	for the future.	2:05
	Let us build him a tower	2:07
	that will supersede our human wills	2:13
	and our human ambitions.	2:18
	In the name of the father,	2:20
	and of the son,	2:22
	and of the holy spirit.	2:24
	Amen.	2:27
	(choir singing)	2:35
-	With one voice let us affirm what we believe.	4:51
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	4:56
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	5:01
	to reconcile and make new.	5:04
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	5:06
	We trust God who calls us to be the church	5:10
	to celebrate life in it's fullness,	5:15
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	5:18
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	5:24
	our judge and our hope.	5:27
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	5:30
	God is with us, we are not alone.	5:34
	Thanks be to God.	5:38
	The Lord be with you.	5:41
Congregation	And also with you.	5:42
-	Let us pray.	5:44
	O God, ever blessing and ever blessed	5:53
	we pause this day to give you thanks	5:58
	for all good and sustaining graces which come to us,	6:01
	those which hold us up and keep us going,	6:06
	those that change us and make us better persons,	6:08
	for foods and familiar tastes,	6:13
	and for new aromas and new experiences open to us,	6:15
	for homes, for a place of steady support,	6:20
	and a place where honest healing love can live,	6:23
	for friendships, for old friends who are helpful,	6:28
	helpful in their affection and in their correction,	6:31
	and for new friends who give themselves to us.	6:36
	For work to do for routine tasks which we do well	6:39
	and which give order to our lives	6:43
	and for other tasks for which we fail	6:45
	which bring a needed humility back to us.	6:48
	For Jesus Christ who is God with us,	6:52
	God before us, God behind us, God within us,	6:55
	God beneath us, God around us, God between us,	6:59
	calling us and drawing us to love God	7:05
	and to love one another.	7:08
	Oh blessed Lord our God as this semester	7:13
	and this year come to a close for many of us,	7:15
	we give you thanks for all the holy moments	7:17
	and sacred place we have known.	7:20
	For all loving and caring and sustaining friendships	7:23
	that have touched us along the way,	7:26
	for new insights and knowledge,	7:29
	for new faith and renewed hope,	7:31
	for new depths of love and intimacy	7:33
	that we have been privileged to experience.	7:35
	Oh God now bless in special ways	7:40
	those who come to times of testing and examination	7:44
	and the writing of papers,	7:47
	give each student a clear mind and heart,	7:49
	steady and perceptive thinking and expressing	7:53
	and the calm ability to respond as needed and expected.	7:56
	Bless those who evaluate and grade.	8:01
	Give them fair and supportive judgment,	8:04
	honest and understanding decisions	8:06
	and help them to care, to really care,	8:09
	more about students than sentences	8:13
	and more about them as people	8:16
	than about them as grades or papers or numbers.	8:17
	Bless and support each one this week and in the days to come	8:22
	who feels tension or pressure or strain.	8:26
	And God we would remember those who's lives	8:31
	have been tormented and disrupted	8:34
	and have experienced pain because of the tragedy in Lebanon.	8:36
	Those who come home, those who remind us that this world	8:41
	does need love and not hate,	8:45
	that this world indeed does need peace and not war,	8:49
	that this world needs friendships and not enmity.	8:54
	God bless all who's lives are torn and warped	8:59
	this day we pray.	9:04
	And now oh Lord continue to bless us,	9:07
	give to us that resurrection song that says Christ lives,	9:10
	Christ surely lives and because he lives,	9:15
	we also may live.	9:19
	We pray in the name of Christ who taught us	9:23
	to pray together saying:	9:25
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	9:28
	hallowed be thy name,	9:31
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	9:33
	on earth as it is in heaven.	9:36
	Give us this day our daily bread.	9:39
	And forgive us our trespasses,	9:42
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	9:44
	And lead us not into temptation,	9:48
	but deliver us from evil.	9:51
	For thine is the kingdom and the glory forever.	9:53
	Amen.	9:57
	(choir singing)	10:15
-	O blessed Lord our God,	16:37
	accept we pray you these our gifts of money	16:40
	and these gift of ourselves which we make just now	16:44
	and help us to give to you this week a faithful stewardship	16:48
	of our time, our talents,	16:52
	our minds, our bodies, and our spirits	16:55
	through Jesus Christ the Lord of all of life.	16:59
	We pray amen.	17:04
	(choir singing)	17:09
-	And now without bowing heads or closing eyes	20:40
	may I in the name of Christ offer you this blessing?	20:42
	The grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ,	20:47
	the love of God,	20:51
	the communion and fellowship of the holy spirit	20:53
	be with you and those whom you love	20:57
	this day and forever more.	21:01
	♪ Amen ♪	21:05
	♪ Amen ♪	21:09
	♪ Amen ♪	21:13
	♪ Amen ♪	21:18
	♪ Amen ♪	21:23
	♪ Amen ♪	21:28
	♪ Amen ♪	21:37
	(organ playing)	21:49
	(audience applauding)	25:54

Item Info

Title:

L. Scott Allen - Sermon Untitled (April 24, 1983)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 26:33. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 02:29.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4610w616

Date:

April 24, 1983

Speaker:

Allen, L. Scott

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0145
ref7813_zea
uachapelsermaud
duke:320344
dcrau001136
ark:/87924/r4610w616
18f345fe-891e-4673-8dbc-91b3702a6ee5

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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English

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United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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L. Scott Allen - Sermon Untitled (April 24, 1983)

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