Elizabeth Achtemeier - "Christmas Party" (December 15, 1985)

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	(bell ringing music)	0:03
	("Go Tell it on the Mountain")	3:36
	(bell ringing music)	6:40
-	Welcome to Duke Chapel this third Sunday of advent.	16:59
	We have been enjoying the music	17:03
	of our guest musicians, the Bell Ringers	17:05
	of First Baptist Church in Henderson, North Carolina	17:08
	under the direction of Mr. Phillip Young.	17:11
	They are regulars at the chapel at this time of the year	17:14
	and we welcome them back with us again.	17:17
	Our guest preacher today is the	17:20
	Reverend Dr. Elizabeth Achtemeier.	17:22
	We welcome her to the chapel	17:25
	as a James Clelan visiting preacher.	17:27
	We've admired Dr. Achtemeier's work	17:30
	both in the pulpit and in the classroom.	17:33
	She is a distinguished writer of books	17:36
	about preaching and biblical interpretation	17:40
	and we are happy to have her with us.	17:42
	Let us continue our worship.	17:45
	(traditional catholic music)	17:53
	Oh wisdom, breath of the most high	21:58
	pervading and permeating all creation.	22:02
	Come and make us friends of God.	22:06
	Oh Lord of hosts, leader of the house of Israel,	22:10
	who appeared to Moses in the burning bush	22:14
	and gave him your law on Sanai, come and save us	22:17
	with outstretched arms.	22:22
	Old root of Jesse, standing as a signal to the nations	22:25
	before whom all kings are mute.	22:29
	To whom the nations will do homage.	22:33
	Come and save us, delay no longer.	22:36
	Oh key of David and ruler of the house of Israel,	22:40
	when you open no one can close and when you close,	22:44
	no one can open.	22:46
	Come and proclaim liberty to captives	22:50
	and set the down trodden free.	22:53
	Oh radiant dawn, splendor of eternal light	22:55
	and son of justice, come and give light	23:01
	to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death.	23:05
	Oh king of the nations, the ruler they long for,	23:10
	the cornerstone binding all together.	23:15
	Come and save the people you fashion	23:19
	from the dust of the earth.	23:21
	Oh Emmanuel, our king and our law giver,	23:24
	the anointed one of the nations and their savior,	23:28
	come save us oh Lord our God.	23:33
	The spirit and the brides say come.	23:37
	Amen, Lord Jesus, come soon.	23:41
	Be seated.	23:46
-	Let us pray.	23:59
	Open our hearts and minds, oh God,	24:02
	by the power of your holy spirit so that as the word	24:06
	is read and proclaimed we might hear with joy	24:10
	what you say to us this day.	24:14
-	Amen.	24:18
-	The first lesson is taken from the book of Zephaniah.	24:20
	Shout aloud oh daughter of Zion.	24:25
	Shout oh Jerusalem.	24:30
	Rejoice and exalt with all your heart,	24:32
	oh daughter of Jerusalem.	24:36
	The Lord has taken away the judgments against you.	24:39
	He has cast out your enemies.	24:43
	The king of Israel, the Lord is in your midst.	24:46
	You shall not fear evil again.	24:51
	On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem,	24:55
	fear not oh Zion, let not your hands be weak.	25:00
	The Lord your God is in the midst of you.	25:05
	A mighty warrior to save.	25:10
	He will rejoice over you with joy.	25:13
	He will hold his peace in his love.	25:17
	He will exalt over you with shouting.	25:21
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	25:26
	(traditional catholic music)	25:32
	The second lesson is taken from Paul's letter	28:39
	to the Philippians.	28:42
	Rejoice in the Lord always.	28:44
	Again, I will say, rejoice.	28:48
	Let all people know your forbearance.	28:51
	The Lord is at hand.	28:54
	Have no anxiety about anything,	28:57
	but in everything by prayer and supplication	29:00
	with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.	29:05
	And the peace of God which passes all understanding	29:10
	will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.	29:15
	Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,	29:21
	whatever is honorable, whatever is just,	29:26
	whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious.	29:30
	If there is any excellence, if there is anything	29:37
	worthy of praise, think about these things.	29:41
	What you have learned and received and heard	29:45
	and seen in me, do.	29:50
	And the God of peace will be with you.	29:54
	This ends the reading of the second lesson.	29:57
	(bell ringing music)	30:10
	The gospel is taken from Luke.	33:01
	He said therefore to the multitudes	33:04
	that came out to be baptized by him,	33:07
	you brewed of vipers, who warned you to flee	33:10
	from the raff to come.	33:14
	Bear fruits that befit repentance and do not begin	33:16
	to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our father,	33:20
	for I tell you God is able from these stones	33:26
	to raise up children to Abraham.	33:30
	Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.	33:34
	Every tree therefore that does nor bear good fruit	33:38
	is cut down and thrown into the fire.	33:43
	And the multitudes asked him, what then shall we do?	33:47
	And he answered them, he who has two coats,	33:54
	let him share with one who has none.	33:58
	And he who has food, let him do likewise.	34:03
	Tax collectors also came to be baptized and he said to him,	34:09
	teacher what shall we do?	34:15
	And he said to them, collect no more than is appointed you.	34:18
	Soldiers also asked him, and we, what shall we do?	34:24
	And he said to them, rob no one with balance	34:31
	or by false accusation and be content with your wages.	34:37
	As the people were in expectation and all people	34:45
	questioned in their hearts concerning John,	34:49
	whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all.	34:53
	I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier	34:58
	than I is coming.	35:03
	The thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.	35:05
	He will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire.	35:11
	His winnowing fork is in his hand,	35:17
	to clear his threshing floor.	35:21
	And together the wheat into his granary.	35:25
	And the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.	35:28
	So with many other exhortations he preached	35:34
	good news to the people.	35:40
	This ends the reading of a gospel.	35:43
-	Just let me say what a pleasure it is for me	36:00
	to share in this advent service with you.	36:03
	I bring you greetings from that portion of the church	36:07
	at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia	36:11
	to this portion of the church on the Duke University Campus.	36:15
	From our old testament lessons, sing aloud	36:21
	oh daughter of Zion, shout oh Israel.	36:24
	Rejoice and exalt with all your heart,	36:28
	oh daughter of Jerusalem.	36:31
	The book of the prophet Zephaniah ends	36:34
	in almost unimaginable joy.	36:37
	For we are presented here in the seventh century	36:41
	BC prophesies with a picture of the people	36:44
	of God holding carnival.	36:47
	Singing and dancing in the streets of Jerusalem.	36:50
	Friends eating and drinking together.	36:53
	Crowds clapping to the rhythm of timbrels.	36:56
	Children running joyously about.	36:59
	It is one grand celebration of a people	37:03
	whose motto has always been leyham, to life.	37:06
	A joyous jubilation over the fact that abundant life	37:11
	has indeed been given to them.	37:16
	But that is only a picture of the future	37:20
	in the prophesies of Zephaniah.	37:23
	A promise to the people of God that there will come a day	37:25
	when they can rejoice with exceeding great joy	37:29
	because God has given them life in its fullness.	37:33
	On that day is the phrase in our old testament lesson.	37:37
	On that day in the future.	37:41
	And we have to ask as we ask of all of the old testament	37:45
	if that day ever came.	37:49
	Well it is no accident that this passage from Zephaniah	37:54
	is one of the stated lessons for the season of advent.	37:57
	For in a sense, every true Christian's Christmas party	38:02
	is a fulfillment of Zephaniah's prophesy.	38:06
	And the church's celebration of the birth at Bethlehem	38:11
	is the realization of the joy that our prophet promised.	38:14
	Do we not celebrate Christmas for the same reasons	38:21
	that the people of God are celebrating here in our text?	38:24
	For they are jubilant, first of all says the prophet,	38:29
	because God has cast out their enemies.	38:31
	And is that not what can finally happen for us also	38:37
	through that one child laying in a manger?	38:41
	He can cast out our enemies?	38:44
	Oh, not those petty foes we construct for ourself	38:48
	at home or on the job or in the world,	38:51
	but our real enemies who can undermine all	38:53
	of the goodness in life.	38:57
	Our sin, which can distort everything we were	38:59
	created to be and destroy every human relationship.	39:03
	And yes, the final enemy, death.	39:09
	Which can end all of our years of struggle and care	39:12
	and turn them into the meaninglessness	39:15
	of the void and of the grave.	39:17
	Sin and death.	39:20
	Those are the real enemies of abundant human life.	39:23
	And it is precisely those foes that Jesus Christ overcame.	39:28
	He took our evil, our wrong, our pride,	39:34
	our selfishness and nailed them to his cross.	39:37
	Defeating forever their power to rule our lives.	39:42
	He buried sin, buried it with his lifeless body.	39:45
	Leaving it behind in the tomb,	39:50
	it's sovereignty gone forever.	39:52
	But then Jesus Christ was raised on the third day,	39:55
	the victor over death.	39:58
	And so we now know that that final enemy	40:02
	cannot capture us either.	40:05
	And that if we trust Christ's power	40:08
	we too can live with him.	40:10
	The grave need not be the meaningless last chapter	40:13
	to every life and every lovely relationship	40:16
	and because of Christ we need never say goodbye.	40:20
	Yes, veiled in the flesh of that babe in the manger	40:28
	is our savior from our real foes.	40:30
	In the words of our scripture lesson,	40:33
	a mighty warrior to save.	40:35
	God can cast out our enemies	40:39
	as he promised through Zephaniah.	40:41
	And if we trust that, we will be able with Paul	40:45
	in our new testament lesson to rejoice	40:48
	and again to rejoice because the Lord is at hand	40:51
	in this advent season. Our God, mighty to save.	40:56
	Now there is another reason why the people of God	41:03
	will celebrate according to our old testament lesson	41:06
	and it too is the reason why we celebrate Christmas.	41:08
	The Lord will take away the judgments against you	41:13
	says the prophet.	41:17
	Now certainly that was good news for the faithful folk	41:20
	of the prophet's time.	41:23
	For the judgments of God are fearful to behold	41:27
	in the book of Zephaniah.	41:29
	I will utterly sweep away everything	41:33
	from the face of the earth says the Lord,	41:35
	thus begins this prophesy.	41:38
	I will sweep away man and beasts.	41:42
	I will sweep away the birds of the air.	41:44
	I will overthrow the wicked.	41:46
	I will cut off humankind from the face of the earth,	41:48
	says the Lord.	41:51
	Indeed, in the opening of this prophetic book,	41:54
	the mighty God declares war against his earth	41:57
	and all that are on it.	42:00
	The dies irae, it has long been called	42:03
	in the church tradition, the day of wrath.	42:06
	The final day with God comes to judge the earth.	42:11
	But the glad proclamation of Zephaniah	42:16
	is that the people of God will escape	42:18
	his punishment of them, for his warfare against	42:21
	them is ended and he will come to them not in wrath,	42:25
	but in peace and in love.	42:33
	Now I'm sure that our reaction to that	42:37
	may very well be, so what else is new?	42:39
	For to our minds of course, God will always	42:44
	come in peace and in love.	42:46
	After all, that's his business.	42:48
	And that has always been the proclamation of Christmas,	42:51
	has it not? Peace on earth?	42:54
	Good will toward men?	42:57
	You see, we are people who do not believe	43:01
	in the judgment of God.	43:04
	And so the cause for the rejoicing in our scripture lesson	43:07
	awakens no similar joy in our hearts.	43:10
	God does not judge us, we think he loves us.	43:14
	He helps us when we get into trouble.	43:18
	He bails us out when we are desperate.	43:20
	He forgives our sin and promises us life after death,	43:24
	but judges us?	43:28
	Well not really.	43:31
	Because you see, we really do not think that we have done	43:34
	anything evil enough to warrant the judgment of God.	43:38
	When I was speaking up at Harvard a couple of years ago	43:45
	I learned that there was objection	43:48
	in that church's congregation to a phrase	43:50
	in the general confession.	43:53
	Now we are all familiar with that prayer.	43:55
	It says we have erred and strayed from they ways	43:57
	like lost sheep.	44:00
	We have offended against thy holy laws.	44:01
	We have left undone those things which we	44:04
	ought to have done and we have done those things	44:06
	which we ought not to have done.	44:09
	And there is no health in us.	44:10
	And a number of people on the Harvard campus	44:16
	wanted to eliminate that last phrase,	44:19
	there is no health in us.	44:22
	Because you see, they believe the same things	44:26
	that we believe.	44:28
	That we are rather decent people,	44:31
	who do a lot of good things and who therefore	44:35
	have a lot of healthy goodness in us.	44:38
	And so to hear as the people of God heard	44:43
	in Zephaniah's time that God has removed	44:45
	his judgments from us does not square	44:48
	either with our notions of God or with our assessments	44:51
	of our own character.	44:54
	Why should we rejoice over the fact that God	44:58
	has stilled his warfare against us?	45:02
	As far as we are concerned he need not	45:06
	and he has not declared war against us in the first place.	45:09
	Now perhaps we may have second thoughts however	45:16
	if we ask just what the sins were	45:19
	of the people of God in Zephaniah's time.	45:21
	What were the wrongs that God was coming	45:24
	to sweep from the face of the earth?	45:27
	Well the prophet is very specific about the answer.	45:31
	Woe to her that is rebellious and defiled	45:35
	the oppressing city, Jerusalem.	45:38
	And I wonder, do we oppress anyone in our cities these days?	45:42
	Her officials within her are roaring lions.	45:48
	Her judges are evening wolves that leave	45:51
	nothing till the morning.	45:54
	Perhaps we can begin to recognize some similarities	45:57
	with our own society.	46:00
	But that is not the worst. No, says Zephaniah.	46:04
	The worst thing about the people of Jerusalem	46:08
	is that they have a distorted view of their Lord.	46:10
	They say in their hearts the Lord will not do good	46:13
	nor will he do ill.	46:17
	In short, these people believe that God does nothing at all.	46:20
	They believe that he no longer governs the world.	46:27
	They no longer even attribute good actions to God	46:29
	because they do not think that he acts	46:32
	in any way whatsoever.	46:35
	His influence and his effective working out	46:37
	of his purpose are absent from the earth in their view.	46:40
	And is that not also what we believe,	46:46
	good Christian friends, that God does nothing at all?	46:49
	Tell me.	46:54
	Who is in charge of international relations these days?	46:56
	And who has the last say about the rise	47:00
	and fall of nations?	47:03
	Well we certainly do not think that God is in charge.	47:06
	No, our lives and fortunes we believe	47:09
	are in the hands of the politicians,	47:12
	the economists, the military.	47:14
	And so we hold our breath for fear that one of them	47:17
	will bring the push of the nuclear button.	47:20
	Or who sustains the world of nature	47:24
	and keeps the stars in their courses?	47:26
	Whose faithfulness causes the seasons to change	47:30
	and the rain to fall upon the earth?	47:34
	Well certainly to our mind it is not God.	47:36
	No, nature is a closed system that works	47:40
	by natural law and there is no room in it	47:43
	for the working of God.	47:47
	For that matter, who guides your children's lives	47:51
	and has set for them a purpose and a destiny?	47:54
	Who breathed into them the breath of life	47:58
	and who numbers the hairs of their heads?	48:01
	Or indeed, who fashioned you with your unique	48:05
	and unrepeatable personality	48:09
	and what influences make you what you are?	48:11
	What determines your view of yourself	48:14
	and what purpose do you have in living?	48:16
	We answer very few of those questions with the name of God.	48:20
	No, we talk about genes and environment	48:25
	and psychologically influences.	48:28
	We talk about the images that other have.	48:31

Female Speaker	Discussion, we never mention	0:03
	our relation to God.	0:05
	You see we are very much like the citizens	0:08
	of Jerusalem in Zephiniah's time	0:11
	because we have invented for ourself	0:13
	a secular world, a world from which God	0:15
	is almost totally absent.	0:18
	And so we think we are the masters of our own destiny,	0:22
	left to muddle through as best we can,	0:26
	or we join the climb to get to the top	0:30
	of the ladder of prosperity by stepping	0:32
	on someone else's fingers.	0:34
	We are like the man I knew in a church in Pennsylvania	0:37
	who said one time in a discussion group,	0:40
	sure I believe in God, but I don't think he does anything.	0:42
	And so we have constructed a society	0:50
	that believes that God is absent from the world.	0:53
	But as Dostoevsky wrote, if there is no God,	0:59
	everything is permissible.	1:03
	There is no one to see what we do, we imagine,	1:08
	and there are no consequences to be paid.	1:11
	And so we have become the ultimate idolaters	1:15
	who have usurped the place of our creator.	1:18
	It was because the people of God in Zephiniah's time	1:24
	held very much the same views that God said	1:27
	through his prophet that he would judge them	1:30
	and destroy them and all like them	1:33
	from the face of the Earth,	1:35
	and that is very much the judgment of God that we too	1:37
	deserve in this advent season.	1:40
	The general confession still holds, dear friends,	1:44
	there is no health in us.	1:48
	And advent comes to us first of all	1:52
	as the season when we need repentance.	1:56
	And yet, the promise is still there.	2:02
	God will keep his word through his prophet.	2:08
	He will take away his judgments against us,	2:11
	but only if we celebrate this Christmas	2:16
	for still a third reason given us by our prophet,	2:19
	because we are jubilant over the fact	2:24
	that God has come into our midst as our king.	2:27
	Rejoice and exalt with all your heart	2:33
	proclaims our prophet to us, the King of Israel	2:36
	the Lord is in your midst, you shall not fear evil again.	2:39
	And is that not finally the reason	2:46
	why any people or any one of us	2:49
	has true cause for jubilation?	2:51
	Because the Lord, this mighty one to save	2:56
	now rules in our midst as sovereign?	2:59
	We are not abandoned in the world to the follies	3:04
	of fortune and the whims of government bureaucracies.	3:08
	We are not left to our own flawed and selfish devices.	3:13
	We do not have to rely on our own cleverness,	3:18
	our own wisdom, our own strength to live whole	3:21
	and good and righteous lives in the world.	3:24
	No, God offers to forgive us,	3:27
	to take away his judgments against us and to come to us	3:31
	to order and to sanctify	3:35
	and to daily guide our lives.	3:39
	But it is only the people who accept that	3:43
	you see who are celebrating in Zephiniah's picture.	3:46
	The others have fallen victim to their own evil	3:51
	and to God's very real judgments upon it.	3:54
	Just as any one of us will fall equal victim	3:59
	if we try to usurp God's throne.	4:02
	He is king over our lives,	4:05
	the lord of the universe,	4:09
	and until we accept his rule in our midst	4:13
	we can never have his abundant life.	4:15
	He alone has the power to triumph over sin and death,	4:20
	he alone is mighty enough to give us life in its fullness,	4:24
	and because he loves us so much he will settle	4:28
	for nothing less than that.	4:31
	He will settle for nothing less for us	4:35
	than a merry merry Christmas party.	4:38
	Well we can participate in that party,	4:45
	if in faith we will welcome the one born	4:49
	at Bethlehem as our lord and king.	4:51
	For you see Jesus Christ is the incarnation	4:56
	of that mighty warrior to save that Zephiniah talks about.	4:59
	He is the one who brings forth every generation,	5:03
	who created you for his purpose,	5:07
	who rules every empire and who commands the stars.	5:10
	And if we will accept him for who he is,	5:16
	and give up our petty claims to his throne,	5:18
	if we will trust his guidance through his word	5:22
	and obey his will given us in the scriptures,	5:25
	if we will seek his purpose for our living	5:30
	by daily prayer and Christian discipline,	5:32
	then we can indeed have a joyful Christmas party.	5:35
	And we can in truth rejoice and rejoice again,	5:41
	because our lord is at hand in this advent season,	5:47
	and has promised us that he will never leave us,	5:52
	even to the end of the age.	5:55
	But there is one more thing	5:59
	in Zepheniah's picture	6:03
	of that exuberant party of the saved,	6:05
	it is not only the faithful who rejoice.	6:09
	For the prophet says that God himself	6:14
	is in the midst of that laughing and dancing throng,	6:16
	celebrating with them.	6:20
	He literally shouts over his repentant and forgiven people	6:23
	in joy and in exultation.	6:27
	The father, holding a homecoming party	6:30
	for the son who was lost and is found,	6:34
	the shepherd exuberantly calling out	6:40
	to friends and neighbors that the sheep	6:42
	lost from the flock has been recovered,	6:44
	it's God the father, you see, rejoicing,	6:47
	because we have all come home for Christmas.	6:52
	And wouldn't that be a Christmas party	6:59
	to top all Christmas parties?	7:01
	Joy in heaven, over all of us repentant sinners,	7:05
	the morning stars singing together again	7:12
	at God's redeemed creation, the saints of all the years	7:14
	joining in the Hallelujah chorus,	7:18
	the laughter and good fellowship at the father's table,	7:22
	and joy friends, joy in our hearts,	7:27
	because we have been forgiven and welcomed home	7:34
	and given the imperishable gift	7:38
	of God's good abundant life.	7:40
	Yes that would be quite a festival,	7:45
	for God our mighty one to save,	7:48
	really knows how to celebrate Christmas.	7:51
	And so what shall we say then, to his invitation?	7:57
	Shall we join the party?	8:02
	Amen.	8:07
	(church organ)	8:21
	(congregation singing over organ)	8:58
	(congregation singing over organ)	9:30
	(congregation singing over organ)	10:18
Male Speaker	The lord be with you.	11:02
Congregation	And also with you.	11:04
Male Speaker	Let us pray.	11:06
	Oh God who didst prepare of old	11:21
	the minds and hearts of men and women	11:25
	for the coming of thy son, and whose spirit	11:29
	ever worketh to illumen our darkened lives	11:33
	with the light of the gospel, prepare now	11:37
	our minds and hearts, we beseech thee,	11:42
	that Christ may dwell in us, and ever reign	11:47
	in all our thoughts and affections	11:50
	as the king of love, and the very prince of peace.	11:52
	It is in his name that we pray.	11:59
	For the members of Christ's church throughout the world.	12:03
	For all ministers of the gospel, for all	12:08
	teachers and leaders of thy church,	12:12
	that they may be good stewards	12:16
	of thy manifold grace we pray.	12:18
	For Christian missions everywhere,	12:23
	especially in lands where governments or cultures	12:26
	are hostile to thy gospel, for those	12:30
	who have never heard its word of truth there,	12:35
	and for those who are too jaded and self consumed	12:39
	to see its truth here, we pray.	12:43
	For all families who have no home,	12:49
	remembering the plight of our lord's family,	12:54
	homeless in Bethlehem, and refugees in Egypt,	12:56
	we pray for all those who by poverty and oppression	13:02
	have no home to call their own.	13:05
	For all who worship in the services of this chapel,	13:10
	those who have come here this morning	13:15
	with heavy burden or doubting heart,	13:16
	those who join us on the radio, or In their rooms	13:20
	at the Duke hospitals, may they find here	13:24
	the help they need for this,	13:28
	and every other time of trial, we pray.	13:31
	Remember oh God, the peoples of the world,	13:36
	divided into many nations and tongues.	13:41
	Deliver us from every evil which obstructs	13:45
	thy saving purpose, and fulfill thy promises of old	13:48
	to establish thy kingdom of peace	13:53
	in the name of Jesus the Christ.	13:56
	Oh God, who has set before us the great hope	14:01
	that thy kingdom shall come on Earth,	14:05
	and has taught us to pray for its coming,	14:08
	make us this advent ever ready to thank thee	14:12
	for signs of its dawning, and to pray and work	14:17
	for that day, when thy will shall be done on Earth	14:22
	as it is in heaven, through Jesus Christ our lord, Amen.	14:26
	The lord reigns, let the Earth be glad,	14:35
	and let us show forth our gladness	14:39
	and our gifts and offerings which we now give to God.	14:41
	(soft melody)	14:59
	(soft slow melody)	17:54
	(church organ)	21:52
	(congregation singing over organ)	22:07
Male Speaker	Oh kind and gracious God,	23:09
	who did not deem it an unworthy thing	23:12
	to come among us to be born as we are	23:14
	and to live this life with us,	23:18
	who did not reject us even in our sin,	23:21
	we offer you these gifts as sign of our thanksgiving	23:25
	for your beneficent love showered upon us	23:29
	in Jesus the Christ, praying as we have been taught.	23:33
Congregation	Our father, who art in heaven,	23:37
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	23:40
	thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.	23:44
	Give us this day our daily bread,	23:48
	and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those	23:50
	who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation,	23:54
	but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom,	23:59
	and the power and the glory forever, Amen.	24:03
	(church organ)	24:18
	(congregation singing over organ)	24:48
	(congregation singing over organ)	25:38
Male Speaker	I remind you that the Lord's supper	27:01
	shall be celebrated immediately after the service	27:03
	in memorial chapel.	27:05
	And now by the grace of our lord and savior,	27:08
	Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship	27:10
	of the holy spirit be with you now and always, Amen.	27:13
	(church organ)	27:37
	(church organ)	29:43
	(church organ)	31:56
	(church organ)	34:39

Item Info

Title:

Elizabeth Achtemeier - "Christmas Party" (December 15, 1985)

Description:

In Zephaniah the prophet promises a coming time of jubilation because God will have rescued God's people from sin and death, withstaid the hand of judgment from them, and come to rejoice in their midst as their King. This same promise is the promise we await in the season of Advent. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 36:00. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 08:10.
Key quotation: “And wouldn’t that be a Christmas party to top all Christmas parties? Joy in heaven over all us repentant sinners, the morning stars singing together again at God’s redeemed creation, the saints of all the years joining in the Hallelujah chorus, the laughter and good fellowship at the father’s table, and joy friends, joy in our hearts, because we have been forgiven and welcomed home and given the imperishable gift of God’s good, abundant life.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4g44j492

Date:

December 15, 1985

Speaker:

Achtemeier, Elizabeth, 1926-2002

Liturgical Calendar:

Christmas

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0299
ref8119_3ve
uachapelsermaud
duke:320868
dcrau001286
ark:/87924/r4g44j492
55db201a-5c43-45b8-b5c2-eb7fb2cec126

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

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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