Tom Faggart - "Apprehended by an Ideal" (July 29, 1984)

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	(church organ music)	0:03
-	Friends, when we gather to praise God,	11:30
	we remember that we are God's people,	11:33
	but we are His people who have often followed	11:35
	our wills rather than God's will.	11:37
	Therefore, with one voice, let us confess our sin	11:41
	before God and one another.	11:46
	Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned	11:58
	against you in thought, word, and deed	12:03
	by what we have done and by what we have left undone.	12:07
	We have not loved You with our whole heart,	12:13
	we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	12:16
	We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.	12:20
	For the sake of Your son Jesus Christ,	12:25
	have mercy on us and forgive us	12:29
	that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways	12:32
	to the glory of Your name, amen.	12:38
	It is comfortable words from the Scriptures.	12:56
	The Lord is gracious and slow to anger,	12:59
	merciful and abounding in steadfast love.	13:05
	Jesus said, him who comes to me, I will not cast out.	13:09
	If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just	13:17
	and will forgive our sins and cleanse us	13:21
	from all unrighteousness.	13:25
	Your sins are forgiven, for his sake.	13:28
	Amen.	13:33
	Let us give thanks, for God is good	13:35
	and God's love is everlasting.	13:37
	Thanks be to God, whose love creates us.	13:40
	Thanks be to God, whose mercy redeems us.	13:45
	Thanks be to God, whose grace leads us into the future.	13:49
	(church hymn)	13:55
	We welcome you to this service of worship here	14:53
	in Duke Chapel and we are glad to have you,	14:55
	particularly our visitors.	14:57
	We welcome also our guest preacher for the day,	14:59
	the reverend Tom Faggert, who is pastor	15:03
	of Duke Memorial United Methodist Church	15:07
	here in Durham and alumnus of the Divinity School.	15:10
	We also welcome as our elector	15:14
	the distinguished professor emeritus of the Divinity School	15:16
	and friend, Arthur Kaiold.	15:20
	We're glad that you're here.	15:23
	We also welcome those who worship with us	15:25
	on WDNC radio and remind them and you	15:28
	that this service is provided through gifts	15:33
	to friends of the chapel.	15:36
	If you're interested in becoming a friend of the chapel	15:39
	and sharing and that radio ministry and the other ministries	15:41
	of this chapel, we invite you	15:47
	to become a friend of the chapel.	15:49
	Welcome.	15:52
-	And now let us say together the prayer for illumination.	16:02
	You will find it printed in the	16:09
	order of worship in your hands.	16:11
	Will you join with me now?	16:14
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God.	16:18
	By the power of Your holy spirit,	16:22
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	16:24
	we might hear with joy what	16:29
	You have to say to us this day, amen.	16:32
	The Old Testament lesson is from the First Book of Kings,	16:38
	Chapter 3, verses 5 through 12.	16:45
	At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream	16:53
	by night and God said, ask what I shall give you.	16:57
	And Solomon said, thou hast shown great and steadfast	17:04
	love to thy servant, David, my father.	17:10
	Because he walked before thee in faithfulness,	17:13
	in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart	17:17
	towards thee, and thou hast kept for him this great	17:22
	and steadfast love and hast given him a son	17:27
	to sit on his throne this day.	17:32
	And now, oh Lord, my God, thou hast made	17:39
	thy servant king in place of David, my father.	17:46
	Although I am but a little child,	17:50
	I do not know how to go out or come in.	17:54
	And thy servant is in the midst	18:01
	of thy people whom thou hast chosen,	18:03
	a great people that cannot be numbered	18:07
	or counted in multitude.	18:11
	Give thy servant therefore an understanding mind	18:15
	to govern this by people,	18:19
	that I may discern between good and evil	18:22
	or who is able to govern this thy great people.	18:28
	It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.	18:38
	And God said to Him, because You have asked this,	18:44
	and have not asked for yourself long life	18:49
	or riches or the lives of your enemies.	18:54
	But have asked for yourself understanding	18:58
	to discern what is right.	19:02
	Behold I now do according to your word,	19:08
	behold I give you a wise and understanding mind	19:13
	so that none like you has been before you,	19:19
	and none like you shall arise again.	19:25
	This ends the reading of the Old Testament lesson.	19:36
	The Epistle lesson is from Romans, Chapter 8,	19:42
	verses 28 through 30.	19:46
	We know that in everything,	19:52
	God works for good for those who love Him,	19:54
	who are called according to His purpose.	19:58
	For those whom He formed you,	20:01
	He also predestined to be conformed to the image	20:04
	of His son, in order that He might be	20:09
	the firstborn among brethren.	20:13
	And those whom He predestined, He also called.	20:17
	And those whom He called, He also justified.	20:20
	And those whom He justified, He also glorified.	20:25
	This ends the reading of the Epistle lesson.	20:32
	(church music)	20:55
-	We continue the reading of the Scripture.	23:26
	The Gospel lesson is from Saint Matthew,	23:30
	Chapter 13, verses 44 through 52.	23:34
	The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field,	23:40
	which a man found and covered up.	23:47
	Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has	23:52
	and buys that field.	23:59
	Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant	24:05
	in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl	24:10
	of great value went and sold all he had and bought it	24:16
	again.	24:25
	The kingdom of heaven is like a net,	24:27
	which is thrown into the sea	24:30
	and has gathered fish of every kind.	24:32
	When it was full, man drew it ashore and sat down	24:37
	and sorted the good into vessels, but threw away the bad.	24:43
	So it will be at the close of the age.	24:53
	The angels will come out and separate the evil from the	25:02
	righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire.	25:05
	There, men will weep and gnash their teeth.	25:11
	Have you understood all this?	25:20
	They said to him yes, and he said to them,	25:26
	therefore every scribe who has been trained	25:29
	for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder	25:33
	who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.	25:37
	This ends the reading	25:46
	of the Gospel lesson, amen.	25:50
-	Greetings, the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.	26:09
	It is indeed a pleasure for me	26:14
	to be with you here at Duke Chapel on this day.	26:19
	In fact, this is the realization	26:23
	of a dream of some 24 years.	26:26
	1960, in the fall of that year,	26:30
	three young men who were entering the Divinity School	26:34
	here at Duke made a pilgrimage around this great cathedral.	26:37
	We looked at its length and its breadth	26:42
	and climbed all the way to its height,	26:44
	and the tower out front and looked over Durham.	26:47
	And in one of the minds	26:51
	of those three men,	26:54
	existed or was born at that particular time,	26:57
	an ideal, and that ideal was to some day	27:01
	stand in this great pulpit and be able	27:05
	to preach the word of God.	27:08
	And so today I come here with a great deal of excitement	27:11
	because I realize this day,	27:16
	one of the dreams of my life.	27:19
	And pray with me if you will,	27:23
	that as I stand here, this would not be just an ego trip.	27:25
	But that it would be really hearing and preaching	27:30
	the word of almighty God.	27:34
	Let us pray.	27:38
	By the meditations of our hearts,	27:42
	and the words of my mouth,	27:45
	be acceptable in your sight, oh God,	27:48
	our strength and our redeemer.	27:52
	Amen.	27:59
	The subject for this morning is apprehended	28:02
	by an ideal.	28:07
	Think with me if you will for just a few moments	28:14
	about a time in your life	28:20
	when you were acquiring your education.	28:24
	I want you to remember some of your teachers.	28:29
	I want you to remember a teacher	28:35
	out of your past or maybe even now in your present,	28:38
	who teaches or taught you	28:42
	and in that experience, you grew.	28:47
	You realized your being, your person was enhanced.	28:52
	Now	29:00
	remember with me if you will,	29:03
	a teacher who taught you,	29:08
	who knew the subject matter well,	29:13
	who was probably	29:16
	more proficient	29:18
	in the mechanics of teaching than the other.	29:21
	But when this person	29:27
	began to teach you,	29:30
	it was like an insult.	29:33
	They robbed you	29:38
	of your humanity and to learn from that person	29:41
	was a very difficult task at the best	29:46
	and you struggled and could not understand why	29:49
	it's so difficult to learn under this person.	29:54
	This past week, the Faggert family	30:04
	spent its time at the beach.	30:08
	And on Wednesday evening, we decided to go out for dinner.	30:12
	We went to a new restaurant.	30:17
	When in sat down, a young lady came, she was very vivacious.	30:20
	She was attractive, she handed us the menu,	30:27
	told us she'd be back in a moment,	30:31
	asked what we would like for a beverage.	30:33
	In a few moments, she came back the same smile,	30:37
	she anticipated our every whim.	30:40
	The service was delightful, we enjoyed the meal.	30:45
	On Tuesday, the in-laws moved in with us.	30:50
	Now the wife didn't wanna cook dinner,	30:55
	so we remembered that good experience at the new restaurant	30:57
	so we decided that we would take the in-laws out for dinner.	31:00
	Same place, same menu, same meal.	31:05
	Waitress came, did the perfunctory sort of thing,	31:12
	handed us the menu, what would you like to drink?	31:15
	Turned around, walked off,	31:20
	we waited, we waited, we waited,	31:23
	finally she came back again and she said,	31:26
	would you like to order?	31:28
	She did not bring with us the beverage we'd ordered.	31:30
	We began to talk about the environment,	31:36
	how nice it seemed two nights ago	31:41
	but now we discovered that	31:43
	there were a little flaws here and there.	31:45
	When the food came, it was not	31:49
	as hot as it should have been.	31:51
	It didn't taste like it did on the other night.	31:53
	The reason,	31:58
	we had been served in the same place,	31:59
	basically the same menu but by two different people.	32:01
	One person served with joy,	32:07
	and with love and appreciation for what they were doing.	32:12
	The other did it for only	32:16
	reasons that she and God know.	32:19
	Jesus talked about the kingdom of God.	32:25
	And for you and myself who are gathered	32:32
	here in this great church	32:34
	and for many of you who are listening on the radio,	32:36
	I would suggest to you that the kingdom of God	32:40
	is not so much related to what we do,	32:42
	but how we do it.	32:47
	Not who we serve, but how we serve.	32:51
	Do we, when we serve, give life?	32:57
	Do we enhance the quality of those	33:00
	to whom we give ourselves?	33:04
	Or when we give, do we dehumanize	33:06
	and do we insult?	33:12
	Think about it.	33:16
	Jesus said that in this world,	33:18
	there is a great cosmic drama unfolding.	33:21
	It is a battle between the forces of good	33:25
	and the forces of evil.	33:28
	And he enlisted our help to join in the kingdom of God,	33:32
	which is the force of good.	33:36
	And the weapons of the kingdom of God	33:43
	or the army of kingdom of God	33:48
	are love and faith	33:50
	and hope and	33:55
	truth and beauty in those good things	33:55
	that ought to emanate from those who belong to that kingdom.	33:59
	The quality of our servanthood	34:08
	is most important.	34:13
	It's difficult for us to deal	34:19
	sometimes with this part of our life.	34:22
	Because we are caught up	34:28
	in our own ego trip,	34:33
	serving our own needs,	34:39
	getting to the top of our own profession.	34:42
	And we know how to do that and we know how to do it well.	34:50
	In fact, we give our attention	34:55
	to perfecting such a trip.	34:58
	Words like initiative mean a great deal to us.	35:03
	Words like getting a proper education,	35:08
	a foundation for advancement mean a great deal to us.	35:12
	Concepts of	35:19
	a mentor who will help us make our pilgrimage	35:27
	up through the ranks of whatever profession we choose	35:33
	has great meaning to us.	35:40
	We know about vocational mobility	35:45
	and we're all wrapped up in self	35:49
	and being somebody.	35:53
	We're all high achievers and I include myself	35:56
	as I say these words	36:00
	because as I stand before you and preach the gospel,	36:03
	I can do no other than bare my own soul,	36:06
	bare my own conscience.	36:10
	And the tendency for us who have gone so far	36:16
	and have acquired so much is that we are	36:20
	caught up in other people doing things for us.	36:24
	And we are able and willing to serve	36:28
	but we do it because it's expected and not because	36:30
	we want to.	36:38
	Not because we're interested	36:41
	in building up other human beings,	36:42
	not because it's part of being a Christian.	36:45
	It's expected thing to do.	36:49
	I would suggest to you this morning that	36:54
	probably one of the best examples of a modern American	36:56
	who is a high achiever is Solomon in the Old Testament.	37:01
	Solomon's ambition at the beginning of his life	37:05
	probably was to be king.	37:08
	Fortunately he was born of the right mother	37:12
	to be in the running, but it seemed like	37:16
	his older brothers were going to get ahead of him,	37:19
	but he worked with his mother,	37:21
	he worked with Zadock the priest	37:24
	and Bendeniya the general, and finally after	37:27
	Absolen was done away with, he formed a coup	37:31
	and was able to get his father David to appoint him king.	37:36
	Immediately after he became king,	37:40
	he had to deal with the opposition.	37:42
	Joab was put to death, he was	37:46
	the commander in chief of Judah and Israel.	37:50
	Abafar, the reigning high priest, was dismissed	37:55
	and Zadock was made the high priest.	37:59
	Shimiya who was the political	38:02
	planner of David's day had to be done away with	38:08
	because he had successfully planned coups against David.	38:11
	Solomon was able to do away with all of his opposition.	38:16
	Immediately after he felt that he was enthroned	38:23
	as he ought to be, suddenly something happened to it.	38:27
	He realized that being king of Israel and Judah	38:34
	was more than wearing a crown, sitting on a throne	38:37
	with all the pomp and circumstance and majesty	38:42
	that went with it.	38:44
	Suddenly he was overwhelmed with responsibility.	38:46
	He was responsible for the economic wellbeing of his people.	38:50
	He was responsible for protecting his people	38:54
	from foreigners and also protecting them in their homes.	38:58
	He was responsible for seeing that justice	39:03
	was meted out to all of his people.	39:06
	And suddenly this person of great ambition	39:10
	who had worked so hard, who had done the right things	39:13
	to get to the top, suddenly it occurred to him	39:16
	that he had arrived and now at his arrival,	39:19
	there was a time of responsibility.	39:21
	He went to bed that night,	39:26
	he didn't sleep well.	39:31
	He rolled and tossed in his sleep	39:35
	and he dreamed at the level	39:39
	where one remembers dreaming.	39:42
	He dreamed that he was before God,	39:47
	and God says now Solomon, what do you want?	39:51
	You want more power?	39:56
	You wanna be smart enough to pull off a coup over	39:58
	in Egypt and maybe one over in Syria?	40:00
	What do you want, Solomon?	40:04
	And Solomon saw those hungry faces in the street.	40:09
	Solomon saw frightened people, little children.	40:16
	He saw injustice,	40:23
	and he knew that because he was in the place of	40:28
	responsibility and he was in the place of power,	40:33
	that somehow or another,	40:38
	he had to respond.	40:42
	And he felt so inadequate,	40:51
	he had majored in getting ahead.	40:57
	And now the need was to serve.	41:02
	And how he responded	41:09
	would affect the lives of many thousands,	41:16
	even millions,	41:20
	of people.	41:23
	Think about it.	41:32
	From where you sit,	41:35
	how does it look?	41:39
	Do you see the next rung?	41:43
	Or do you see those people	41:47
	who need your help?	41:51
	And if you see people who need your help,	41:54
	how will you respond?	41:57
	Will you take care of them to keep the labor union	42:00
	from being organized in your business?	42:03
	Will you take care of them to be sure	42:07
	that they are rested so they can do more work	42:09
	or study harder or write better papers?	42:12
	Or do you have a sensitivity	42:19
	to the pain on a person's face,	42:24
	the real needs they have in their life?	42:27
	And you would like to respond at that level.	42:31
	You see, that is the level of the kingdom of God.	42:37
	And that is the kingdom that Jesus	42:42
	calls us to	42:45
	and invites us into that kingdom to serve.	42:50
	Just think of it.	42:56
	Just think of it.	42:59
	And with the servanthood comes promises	43:01
	that were read in the Epistle.	43:06
	That the real goodness of life will be yours.	43:09
	The real goodness of life will be yours.	43:15
	You said no,	43:22
	I really haven't thought about it too much.	43:24
	Too much of this world,	43:28
	I believe there is another rung	43:30
	in the ladder that I need to climb.	43:32
	That's the trouble with you preachers anyhow.	43:35
	You live in another world,	43:38
	you only work one hour a week on Sunday morning,	43:40
	the rest of the time, you spend at the beach	43:42
	or in your study thinking great thoughts	43:44
	and you don't ever really deal with people	43:47
	and you really don't understand where we live	43:49
	and with what we have to deal with.	43:53
	You just don't understand us and we live in one world	43:55
	and you live in another world	43:59
	and the two of us just can't quite get together.	44:01
	This religion thing that you talk about,	44:03
	I really don't think it'll work anyhow.	44:05
	I would suggest to you that those of us	44:10
	who preach the gospel sitting in our office,	44:13
	we have the same doubts	44:15
	and the same struggles.	44:19
	We hear people's problems and we wonder when in the world	44:22
	ever get it together when it seems so simple?	44:25
	We try to show churches the way to the kingdom	44:30
	and they look at us and think we live in that other world	44:36
	and it won't work.	44:38
	And we doubt sometimes too about this kingdom of God	44:39
	and whether or not there is real value	44:44
	in investing the self.	44:48
	And you see if we just live in the conscious mind,	44:53
	and we never go to our hearts	44:59
	and free that part of us,	45:02
	we will never find the kingdom,	45:05
	and Jesus calls us to our hearts	45:08
	where the sensitivity is.	45:13
	And it's out of your heart and out of my heart	45:16
	that we're able to serve with love and compassion	45:19
	and with joy.	45:23
	And you say well, how does it happen?	45:27
	How does one get to one's heart?	45:29
	Jesus told some stories,	45:33
	one was about a fellow who took his vocation seriously.	45:35
	He did it with more integrity than anyone else,	45:40
	he plowed deeper than other farmers	45:46
	who had farmed that field.	45:49
	And it came to him in the midst of his labor,	45:54
	this treasure, this insight	45:57
	into what the kingdom of God was.	46:01
	And then he gave his whole being,	46:05
	he gave his whole being to seeking for it.	46:09
	I can stand here before you today and tell you the story	46:18
	of a young minister, who set out in life	46:22
	with his goal of being in the large	46:27
	first churches of his denomination.	46:30
	He worked and he worked and he worked	46:34
	and he did his job better than most other preachers	46:36
	and he went from one appointment to the other	46:39
	and each time, it was a rung higher,	46:43
	maybe even two rungs higher than the ones previous.	46:45
	And finally one day, he got to the top,	46:50
	and when he got to the top, he was disgusted.	46:54
	He had made it here to the top	46:58
	and it had no meaning whatsoever.	47:00
	It had just been an ego trip,	47:03
	and he wrestled with quitting	47:05
	and getting out of the ministry,	47:07
	picked the church's bones clean	47:09
	finding all fault with everything the church did.	47:12
	Until	47:21
	one time while he was preaching,	47:24
	he heard his own voice and was surprised	47:28
	that his own preaching, preached to himself	47:32
	and he discovered that it was not where he was	47:37
	that was important, it was not how hard he worked	47:40
	that was important, but how much of himself he gave.	47:43
	Not only to his people, but to his wife and his children,	47:49
	his family, and those he loved.	47:56
	And he discovered that in his heart was life	48:02
	and was meaning of life.	48:08

-	At least momentarily, he had discovered	0:03
	the kingdom of God.	0:06
	Jesus says for another person,	0:10
	it may be an individual who sometime in the back,	0:15
	in the beginning of their life,	0:19
	maybe as a child, maybe as a youth,	0:20
	maybe as a young adult,	0:26
	something was done wrong, a mistake was made.	0:29
	But that person was more than that mistake.	0:36
	That person really was destined to be somebody,	0:40
	and to make a contribution to life,	0:44
	and to humanity and to society.	0:46
	And the person did not want to let that mistake	0:49
	hold them down and keep them at this low level of living.	0:52
	So the person set out seeking the better life.	0:58
	Looked everywhere for it, improve their life,	1:03
	live to the best of their ability,	1:07
	check everywhere, and then finally one day discovered	1:09
	that the kingdom of God was within them,	1:13
	and they were an acceptable person,	1:16
	and that the act committed long ago	1:18
	really had no bearing on what they had to offer today.	1:22
	All they had to do was let it go,	1:29
	and people could respond to them in love, and caring.	1:32
	You see, this is the kingdom of God.	1:42
	It comes from the inner resources of our being.	1:45
	It's an ideal.	1:52
	It sort of comes as inside, it grabs hold of us,	1:55
	and won't let us go.	1:59
	But out of that ideal, comes the way	2:03
	we relate to one another, and how we serve each other.	2:08
	And whether or not we make a mark in the world,	2:15
	which is a scar, or which is a mark	2:20
	guiding others to proper living.	2:24
	And to real life.	2:29
	Jesus said, I come that you may know the truth,	2:33
	and that the truth may set you free.	2:39
	In the name of the father,	2:45
	and of the son, and of the holy spirit,	2:49
	amen.	2:55
	(organ music)	3:03
	(choir and organ together)	3:25
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	5:00
	We believe in God, who has created,	5:04
	and is creating, who is come in the truly human Jesus	5:07
	to reconcile and to make new.	5:13
	Who works in us and others by the spirit.	5:16
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	5:20
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	5:25
	to love and serve others.	5:28
	To seek justice, and resist evil.	5:31
	To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	5:34
	our judge and our hope in life, in death,	5:39
	in life beyond death, God is with us,	5:44
	we are not alone, thanks be to God.	5:49
	The lord be with you.	5:54
-	(all together) Amen.	5:56
-	Let us pray.	5:58
	Gracious God,	6:12
	in whom we live and move and have our being,	6:15
	we have come seeking your presence	6:21
	and have found you.	6:23
	Found you to be a God of beauty in this sacred place,	6:27
	in this soaring space, in this music.	6:34
	Found you to be a God who speaks,	6:41
	who breaks our silence, through your word in scripture,	6:45
	in song, in preaching,	6:51
	found you to be a God who cares.	6:57
	Because you care, we now come to you	7:03
	in prayer for ourselves.	7:06
	We know that you want the best for us,	7:10
	even when we do not always seek the best for ourselves.	7:13
	We know that you want peace for us,	7:21
	even when we do not always seek peace,	7:25
	even when we use aggression and hostility among ourselves.	7:31
	We know that you want freedom for us,	7:38
	even when we yolk ourselves to false gods,	7:43
	and unworthy idols.	7:46
	Because you care, we come to you in prayer for others.	7:51
	There are some among us this morning	7:58
	who have come here amidst suffering, sickness, pain.	8:00
	We pray for them.	8:08
	There are some among us who have come here today	8:13
	in the midst of family problems,	8:15
	or domestic strife, and we pray for them.	8:17
	There are some of us who are in the midst	8:25
	of difficult transitions in life,	8:27
	requiring us to move into some new,	8:30
	unknown territory, and we pray for them.	8:33
	There are some of us who are suffering	8:41
	from just plain loneliness.	8:43
	We pray for them.	8:47
	And yes, oh God, we know that there are many	8:52
	who are not here today.	8:54
	Because they've lost their ability to believe.	8:58
	We pray for them.	9:03
	There are some who are not here today	9:08
	who feel excluded from our kind of prayer,	9:10
	and our kind of church, we pray for them.	9:14
	We pray also for brothers and sisters	9:24
	near and far this day.	9:26
	For the athletes of the Olympiad, and Los Angeles.	9:29
	For the athletes of this campus.	9:34
	For the victims and the perpetrator	9:39
	of the tragedy in Los Angeles last week.	9:41
	For the people of Iraq, Iran, Nicaragua,	9:47
	El Salvador, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland,	9:51
	that peace may come to their troubled lands.	10:00
	For the victims of political injustice,	10:05
	violence, wherever they live,	10:08
	may our love be as deep, as broad,	10:15
	as all encompassing as yours.	10:19
	Because you care,	10:24
	we have come to you in prayer, amen.	10:29
	As a forgiven and reconciled people,	10:41
	let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.	10:44
	(gentle orchestral music)	11:05
	(choir and organ)	18:53
-	For all of your gifts in life,	19:53
	Oh God, we give thanks.	19:54
	For the gift of your word, which challenges us,	19:57
	for the gift of rain, enriching a parched Earth.	20:00
	For our families and friends,	20:05
	and for your presence in this time of worship,	20:07
	we give thanks, take these gifts	20:10
	as symbolic of our gratitude,	20:12
	and may they be used to your glory.	20:15
	Praying our father, who art in heaven,	20:18
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	20:22
	thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,	20:27
	give us this day our daily bread,	20:31
	and forgive us our trespasses,	20:34
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	20:36
	And lead us not into temptation,	20:40
	but deliver us from evil.	20:43
	Thine is the kingdom, and the power,	20:45
	and the glory forever, amen.	20:48
	(organ and choir music)	20:54
-	Now may the grace of our lord and savior,	23:26
	Jesus Christ, the love of God,	23:28
	the fellowship of the holy spirit	23:31
	go with you as you go forth, amen.	23:33
	(gentle orchestra music)	23:46

Item Info

Title:

Tom Faggart - "Apprehended by an Ideal" (July 29, 1984)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1): 26:09. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 02:57.
To live into the Kingdom of God, we must learn to serve others out of love rather than being self-seeking and concerned with making a name for ourselves. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “You see, this is the Kingdom of God. It comes from the inner resources of our being. It’s an ideal…It grabs hold of us and won’t let us go. But out of that ideal comes the way we relate to one another and how we serve one another. And whether or not we make a mark in the world which is a scar, or which is a mark guiding others to proper living and to real life.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r49c6sf65

Date:

July 29, 1984

Speaker:

Faggart, Tom

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0221
ref7963_x4w
uachapelsermaud
duke:320913
dcrau001209
ark:/87924/r49c6sf65
787c2930-9b4a-4f21-bd5c-621735aeed53

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

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

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Tom Faggart - "Apprehended by an Ideal" (July 29, 1984)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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