Judi J. Smith - "Definitely Different" (July 20, 1986)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:03 | |
(organ music) | 5:31 | |
(Pachelbel's Canon) | 9:35 | |
(harp music) | 15:38 | |
- | Welcome to Duke Chapel. | 19:18 |
We have been brought to worship through the music | 19:20 | |
of Karen Havinghurst who is our guest musician | 19:23 | |
joining the Duke Chapel Summer Choir for today's service. | 19:27 | |
Although it's hard to speak of Miss Havinghurst as a guest | 19:31 | |
since she is a frequent artist here in the Chapel | 19:34 | |
and we thank her for her contribution in today's service. | 19:38 | |
Last Sunday our preacher was the Reverend Jake Smith | 19:44 | |
from Asheville, North Carolina, a member of the | 19:47 | |
Western North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church, | 19:50 | |
and today our preacher is the Reverend Judy Smith, | 19:54 | |
pastor of Edgerton Memorial United Methodist Church | 19:57 | |
in Selma, North Carolina. | 20:00 | |
Although Duke Chapel is an interdenominational | 20:03 | |
place of worship, we enjoy a strong relationship | 20:06 | |
with both conferences of the United Methodist Church | 20:11 | |
here in North Carolina and we feel privileged to have | 20:14 | |
both of these distinguished preachers as guests | 20:18 | |
in our pulpit over the past two weeks. | 20:21 | |
We're glad that you're with us today here in the chapel. | 20:24 | |
Let us fill this great church with praise | 20:28 | |
as we continue our service. | 20:31 | |
♪ Praise ye the Lord of hosts ♪ | 20:46 | |
♪ Sing his salvation ♪ | 20:51 | |
♪ Bless his name ♪ | 20:55 | |
♪ Show forth his praise ♪ | 20:57 | |
♪ In this holy house ♪ | 21:00 | |
♪ Praise ye the Lord of hosts ♪ | 21:05 | |
♪ Sing his salvation ♪ | 21:09 | |
♪ Bless his name ♪ | 21:14 | |
♪ Show forth his praise ♪ | 21:16 | |
♪ In this holy house ♪ | 21:19 | |
♪ And shall he come ♪ | 21:24 | |
♪ Oh ye heavens now be joyful ♪ | 21:27 | |
♪ Christ with his to be heard ♪ | 21:33 | |
♪ All earth shall sing alleluia ♪ | 21:37 | |
(organ music) | 21:53 | |
(indistinct congregational singing) | 22:34 | |
- | Oh eternal God, Who has taught us | 26:34 |
to keep all Thy commandments by loving Thee | 26:38 | |
and our neighbor, grant us the grace of Thy Holy Spirit | 26:41 | |
that we may be devoted to Thee with our whole heart | 26:47 | |
and united to one another with pure affection. | 26:51 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord Who liveth and reigneth | 26:55 | |
with Thee in the same spirit, | 26:59 | |
one God forever and ever, amen. | 27:01 | |
- | Let us pray. | 27:14 |
Open our hearts and minds, oh God, | 27:17 | |
by the power of Your Holy Spirit so that as the Word | 27:21 | |
is read and proclaimed we might hear with joy | 27:25 | |
what You say to us this day, amen. | 27:29 | |
The first lesson is taken from the Second Book of Kings. | 27:35 | |
One day Elisha went on to Shunem | 27:39 | |
where a wealthy woman lived who urged him to eat some food. | 27:43 | |
So whenever he passed that way, | 27:48 | |
he would turn in there to eat food. | 27:51 | |
And she said to her husband, | 27:54 | |
"Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God | 27:57 | |
"who is continually passing our way. | 28:03 | |
"Let us make a small roof chamber with walls | 28:06 | |
"and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp | 28:10 | |
"so that whenever he comes to us he can go in there." | 28:16 | |
One day he came there and he turned into the chamber | 28:23 | |
and rested there. | 28:27 | |
And he said to Gehazi, his servant, | 28:29 | |
"Call this Shunemmite." | 28:32 | |
When he had called her, she stood before him | 28:35 | |
and he said to him, "Say now to her see, you have taken | 28:39 | |
"all this trouble for us. | 28:46 | |
"What is to be done for you? | 28:49 | |
"Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king | 28:53 | |
"or to the commander of the army?" | 28:56 | |
She answered, "I dwell with my own people." | 28:59 | |
And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" | 29:05 | |
Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son | 29:09 | |
"and her husband is old." | 29:13 | |
He said, "Call her." | 29:16 | |
And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. | 29:19 | |
And he said, "At this season when the time comes round, | 29:23 | |
"you shall embrace a son." | 29:29 | |
And she said, "No, my lord, oh man of God. | 29:32 | |
"Do not lie to your maidservant." | 29:35 | |
But the woman conceived and she bore a son | 29:39 | |
about that time the following year | 29:42 | |
as Elisha had said to her. | 29:46 | |
This ends the reading of the first lesson. | 29:50 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 30:14 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 30:20 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 30:27 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 30:33 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 30:40 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 30:44 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 30:53 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 30:57 | |
♪ All creatures who live ♪ | 31:21 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 31:25 | |
♪ On the earth are the Lord's ♪ | 31:28 | |
♪ All creatures who live ♪ | 31:35 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 31:39 | |
♪ On the earth are the Lord's ♪ | 31:41 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 31:45 | |
♪ All creatures who live ♪ | 31:48 | |
♪ On the earth are the Lord's ♪ | 31:52 | |
♪ Are the Lord's ♪ | 31:57 | |
♪ All creatures who live ♪ | 32:02 | |
♪ On the earth are the Lord's ♪ | 32:05 | |
♪ For who can rightly ascend ♪ | 32:20 | |
♪ The hill of the Lord ♪ | 32:26 | |
♪ And who may stand in his house ♪ | 32:34 | |
♪ To stand in his house ♪ | 32:41 | |
♪ The pure in heart and hands ♪ | 32:48 | |
♪ The pure in heart and hands ♪ | 32:55 | |
♪ Such shall be called of God ♪ | 33:03 | |
♪ Who are his hands ♪ | 33:09 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 33:18 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 33:23 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 33:25 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 33:28 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 33:31 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 33:35 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 33:38 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 33:42 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 33:45 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 33:48 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 33:56 | |
♪ The earth is the Lord's ♪ | 33:59 | |
♪ And the fullness thereof ♪ | 34:02 | |
♪ Alleluia ♪ | 34:10 | |
♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪ | 34:12 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 34:17 | |
(organ music) | 34:33 | |
(indistinct congregational singing) | 34:42 | |
- | The Gospel lesson is taken from Luke. | 35:44 |
Now as they went on their way he entered a village. | 35:49 | |
And a woman named Martha received him into her house. | 35:53 | |
And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet | 35:59 | |
and listened to his teaching. | 36:04 | |
But Martha was distracted with much serving. | 36:08 | |
And she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care | 36:11 | |
"that my sister has left me to serve alone? | 36:15 | |
"Tell her then to help me." | 36:20 | |
But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, | 36:23 | |
"you are anxious and troubled about many things. | 36:26 | |
"One thing is needful. | 36:30 | |
"Mary has chosen the good portion which shall not | 36:33 | |
"be taken away from her." | 36:36 | |
This ends the reading of the Gospel. | 36:39 | |
♪ Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart ♪ | 37:02 | |
♪ Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art ♪ | 37:11 | |
♪ Thou my best Thought, by day or by night ♪ | 37:20 | |
♪ Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. ♪ | 37:29 | |
♪ Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word ♪ | 37:51 | |
♪ I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord ♪ | 38:00 | |
♪ Thou my great Father, I Thy true son ♪ | 38:09 | |
♪ Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. ♪ | 38:19 | |
♪ Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise ♪ | 38:32 | |
♪ Thou mine Inheritance, now and always ♪ | 38:40 | |
♪ Thou and Thou only, first in my heart ♪ | 38:50 | |
♪ High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art ♪ | 38:59 | |
♪ High King of heaven, my victory won ♪ | 39:17 | |
♪ May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun ♪ | 39:26 | |
♪ Heart of my own heart, whatever befall ♪ | 39:35 | |
♪ Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all ♪ | 39:45 | |
- | The Epistle lesson is taken from Paul's letter | 40:14 |
to the Colossians. | 40:17 | |
And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, | 40:20 | |
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh | 40:25 | |
by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless | 40:31 | |
and irreproachable before him, | 40:37 | |
provided that you continue in the faith, | 40:40 | |
stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope | 40:43 | |
of the gospel which you heard, | 40:47 | |
which has been preached to every creature under heaven, | 40:50 | |
and of which I, Paul, became a minister. | 40:53 | |
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, | 40:58 | |
and in my flesh I complete what is lacking | 41:02 | |
in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, | 41:04 | |
that is, the church, of which I became a minister | 41:08 | |
according to the divine office which was given | 41:12 | |
to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, | 41:16 | |
the mystery hidden for ages and generations | 41:23 | |
but now made manifest to his saints. | 41:27 | |
To them God chose to make known how great | 41:31 | |
among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory | 41:34 | |
of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. | 41:38 | |
Him we proclaim, warning every one | 41:45 | |
and teaching every one in all wisdom, | 41:49 | |
that we may present every one mature in Christ. | 41:53 | |
For this I toil, striving with all the energy | 41:58 | |
which he mightily inspires within me. | 42:03 | |
This ends the reading of the Epistle lesson. | 42:07 | |
- | Let us pray. | 42:20 |
By your presence, Lord, bless and inspire | 42:24 | |
all that is said and heard. | 42:27 | |
Take my words and make them thine. | 42:31 | |
Grant to us the ability to understand | 42:35 | |
and the strength to act upon that which we know is true. | 42:38 | |
This I pray in Christ's name, amen. | 42:44 | |
My paternal grandmother raised a large family | 42:51 | |
and lived and died with many firm convictions. | 42:55 | |
One of her convictions was that things | 43:01 | |
were either right or they were wrong. | 43:04 | |
They were either good or they were bad. | 43:07 | |
There was no middle ground. | 43:11 | |
There was no in between, no gray area. | 43:13 | |
And I like to think that the world she lived in | 43:18 | |
was less complex than the one that we know today | 43:21 | |
and that there were not as many voices clamoring | 43:26 | |
for attention as we know today. | 43:28 | |
And yet in my better moments I doubt that that is true. | 43:33 | |
The apostle Paul writing to the church at Colossae | 43:39 | |
was aware that the Christians there | 43:43 | |
were struggling to survive. | 43:45 | |
Not physically perhaps, but spiritually. | 43:48 | |
There abounded in that city teachers and preachers | 43:53 | |
of many different faiths, those who obviously believed | 43:57 | |
that a simple faith and trust | 44:02 | |
in Jesus Christ was not enough. | 44:05 | |
There were those who sought to inmesh Judaic | 44:09 | |
and pagan practices and doctrines with the fundamental truth | 44:12 | |
of the good news, the gospel of Christ, | 44:18 | |
and the result was a severe ascetic morality | 44:23 | |
and a diminishing of the glory of Christ | 44:27 | |
and the freedom of the Christian life. | 44:31 | |
Redemption was offered but it was not compatible | 44:34 | |
with the Christian gospel, for it consisted not | 44:39 | |
in the forgiveness of sins mediated through Christ | 44:43 | |
and his passion and resurrection, | 44:46 | |
but of a higher knowledge coupled with legalism. | 44:50 | |
It was an attractive heresy that small church | 44:54 | |
struggled against. | 44:58 | |
A heresy that attacked the adequacy | 45:01 | |
and unique supremacy of Christ. | 45:03 | |
A heresy that belittled his redeeming work | 45:08 | |
done in the flesh. | 45:11 | |
Hence the apostle's great concern that they continue | 45:14 | |
in the faith, the hope of the gospel | 45:18 | |
which they had heard, stable and steadfast, | 45:21 | |
not shifting from it, this gospel of which Paul | 45:24 | |
had become a minister. | 45:29 | |
I think one major fear has dogged my steps ever since | 45:32 | |
I reached the age of accountability and some awareness | 45:37 | |
of the world around me. | 45:41 | |
And perhaps it is your fear too. | 45:43 | |
I have always been afraid that the advance of years | 45:47 | |
would bring in their wake an inability | 45:51 | |
and an unwillingness to grow mentally, | 45:55 | |
would bring a fixity of opinion so that old concepts | 45:59 | |
and beliefs never had any new light cast upon them. | 46:05 | |
A fear that mental exploration | 46:10 | |
and spiritual seeking would stop. | 46:12 | |
Perhaps it is this fear that has helped to create in people | 46:17 | |
in every age a kind of restless seeking | 46:21 | |
for that which gives meaning to life. | 46:25 | |
Adopting and then casting off new | 46:28 | |
and strange philosophies, | 46:32 | |
a striving to find a fixed foundation upon which | 46:34 | |
to rest the weight of our life. | 46:38 | |
And if we are not careful, we waste | 46:42 | |
the greater part of our years because we are deaf to | 46:44 | |
that old, unchanging message of the church, | 46:47 | |
that in Jesus Christ and Him alone | 46:51 | |
there is fullness of life, | 46:55 | |
freedom, and hope. | 46:58 | |
That in Jesus Christ the fullness of God | 47:02 | |
was pleased to dwell and to reconcile | 47:05 | |
to Himself all things. | 47:08 | |
Our death. | 47:13 |
- | Unwillingness to grasp that simple message | 0:04 |
often leads us down strange paths | 0:08 | |
and produces in us terrible consequences. | 0:10 | |
Pity the one who has never reached the place | 0:16 | |
where he can say with the apostle, | 0:19 | |
I know in whom I have believed | 0:21 | |
and I am convinced | 0:26 | |
that he is able to keep, to sustain, | 0:28 | |
to bring to completion all that I have committed to him. | 0:34 | |
In whom I have believed. | 0:41 | |
Not what, but whom. | 0:45 | |
I know, I am convinced | 0:49 | |
he is able. | 0:54 | |
Now there is stability for you. | 0:56 | |
Sureness, unquestioning acceptance. | 0:59 | |
We should rejoice when we come to the place | 1:04 | |
or the time where our faith in Christ | 1:07 | |
is no longer uncertain or unsure. | 1:10 | |
When we are no longer tossed to and froe | 1:15 | |
by every doctrinal wind that blows. | 1:18 | |
When we are deaf to the whisperings | 1:23 | |
of every new philosophy of life that comes upon the scene, | 1:26 | |
we should rejoice. | 1:30 | |
When the sureness, the stability of faith in Jesus Christ | 1:32 | |
marks your life. | 1:37 | |
And you need not fret that you are being closed minded | 1:40 | |
and unthinking, for it is only now that you can | 1:44 | |
begin to comprehend the meaning of continuing in the faith. | 1:49 | |
For now there is something that can be continued. | 1:54 | |
Something that can grow and develop | 1:58 | |
and mature and flower and bare fruit in your life. | 2:00 | |
When the root is secure, only then can something grow. | 2:06 | |
I know nothing about horticulture, | 2:12 | |
but I know some people who do. | 2:16 | |
And this is what they tell me. | 2:19 | |
That even the strongest of shrubs, | 2:22 | |
if moved every week will soon die. | 2:26 | |
Even if it is skillfully moved once a year, | 2:31 | |
it will bear no fruit. | 2:36 | |
Oh the misery that comes to life. | 2:39 | |
The spiritual distress | 2:43 | |
when our faith and beliefs | 2:46 | |
are determined by the last speaker that we heard. | 2:49 | |
Or the last book that we read. | 2:54 | |
Or even by our own present circumstances. | 2:58 | |
Faith may be informed by such, | 3:03 | |
maybe clarified or refined. | 3:07 | |
But the foundation, the root is secure. | 3:09 | |
Next Sunday in Selma I'm going to baptize a man | 3:15 | |
who has lived the majority of his years | 3:19 | |
without any fixity of belief in Jesus Christ. | 3:22 | |
But the time has come for him when he is willing | 3:26 | |
to stand before God and the congregation | 3:29 | |
and affirm this, I believe. | 3:33 | |
And publicly profess his belief in Jesus Christ. | 3:36 | |
And that is a wonderful thing. | 3:42 | |
But what is even more wonderful is his belief | 3:44 | |
and his excitement that he is simply | 3:47 | |
on the threshold of the greatest adventure of life. | 3:50 | |
All that comes after that. | 3:53 | |
The continuing. | 3:55 | |
The growth and the development. | 3:57 | |
The taking of Christ's yoke and the learning of him. | 3:59 | |
Finding that Christ is adequate, more than adequate. | 4:04 | |
For his life, it stresses and it strains. | 4:10 | |
Finding that life that is definitely different. | 4:15 | |
The acid test of Christianity, its beliefs, | 4:21 | |
and its practices is not here | 4:25 | |
in this place of worship. | 4:29 | |
But is in your home, your office, your shop. | 4:32 | |
The cornfield, the golf course, wherever you play, | 4:39 | |
wherever you live. | 4:45 | |
And if it doesn't work there then it's doubtful | 4:47 | |
that it works any place at all. | 4:49 | |
God's work of reconciliation gets verified in those places. | 4:53 | |
And we are compelled to give more than lip service | 4:59 | |
to our loyalties in those places. | 5:03 | |
And to live up to and live upon our convictions. | 5:07 | |
I really believe there is no separation | 5:14 | |
between the secular and the sacred. | 5:17 | |
For once you know and affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord, | 5:20 | |
then that lordship extends to and flows over into | 5:25 | |
your work, your play, your relationships. | 5:31 | |
For Christ is there. | 5:37 | |
Perhaps Robert Browning put it best. | 5:41 | |
I tread no path in life to him unknown. | 5:45 | |
I lift no burden, bear no pain alone. | 5:51 | |
Don't fear your convictions. | 5:56 | |
Don't fear you certitude of faith. | 6:00 | |
Shape it, illuminate, prune and refine it. | 6:04 | |
Test and try it, but don't fear it. | 6:10 | |
For it is the foundation upon which | 6:15 | |
the holy spirit can begin to build and to produce | 6:17 | |
fruit in your life. | 6:21 | |
To produce the beauty of Christ's life within you. | 6:24 | |
Life that is issues in holiness, | 6:29 | |
that which is different, set apart. | 6:33 | |
Now the way that you recognize when something is different | 6:38 | |
is not when you move it from all else, | 6:41 | |
but when you put it in context. | 6:44 | |
When you see it alongside everything else. | 6:46 | |
Have you seen that commercial on television | 6:49 | |
when they're proclaiming the superiority | 6:51 | |
of one particular brand of mattress over another? | 6:54 | |
Well, they don't put this mattress that they're | 6:58 | |
advertising out by itself somewhere. | 7:00 | |
The camera shows you a whole span of mattresses. | 7:03 | |
And gradually you begin to be aware that there | 7:07 | |
is one among those mattresses that is different, | 7:10 | |
for it is seen in context. | 7:13 | |
There are no glass houses put around Christians. | 7:17 | |
There is no point at which we become so spiritual | 7:20 | |
and holy that we are relieved from the basic | 7:23 | |
physical necessities that make up the lives of all people. | 7:26 | |
It is always questionable when one becomes | 7:30 | |
so heavenly minded, he is of no practical earthly use. | 7:33 | |
And yet the difference comes in that as we work | 7:38 | |
or as we play, we know in whom we trust. | 7:41 | |
And it gives our words a different tone. | 7:47 | |
It gives our tone a different meaning. | 7:50 | |
It gives our life new hope. | 7:52 | |
Holiness. | 7:57 | |
And then Paul said there is developed | 8:00 | |
within you blamelessness. | 8:03 | |
That word is strange, but not the condition. | 8:07 | |
For it is not only how God in Christ sees us, | 8:11 | |
but how we can see ourselves. | 8:16 | |
Paul says that God in Christ has reconciled us to himself. | 8:20 | |
That Jesus Christ by his cross has made possible | 8:27 | |
the cleansing and the renewing of life. | 8:31 | |
That we may stand before God unspotted, | 8:36 | |
without blemish, forgiven and recreated. | 8:40 | |
That's good news. | 8:46 | |
That's the hope of the gospel. | 8:49 | |
And here we have a responsibility too | 8:52 | |
because God forgives us, cleanses and renews us, | 8:56 | |
we can forgive ourselves. | 9:01 | |
How many people live life reproaching themselves | 9:05 | |
for their past? | 9:09 | |
Never able to forgive themselves | 9:12 | |
for something that was said or done | 9:14 | |
or lived through so many years ago. | 9:17 | |
And they're hindered from living a full life, a free life. | 9:23 | |
They know nothing of the freedom of the Christian life. | 9:27 | |
Continually calling to mind their past | 9:31 | |
and blaming and reproaching themselves. | 9:34 | |
And perhaps here also is where our forgiveness | 9:36 | |
of each other is tested. | 9:39 | |
To be able to allow another to have the freedom | 9:43 | |
from our digging up their past. | 9:47 | |
Pulling out the old. | 9:51 | |
Never moving on. | 9:54 | |
If in God's sight of us through Christ | 9:56 | |
we are forgiven and cleansed and stand before him | 10:01 | |
without reproach then we can turn to face the future, | 10:05 | |
and perhaps irreproachablenesd aptly describes | 10:10 | |
the quality of that future. | 10:14 | |
A life of such quality that no charge | 10:18 | |
can be leveled against it. | 10:21 | |
The quality of life that becomes a walking advertisement | 10:24 | |
for the Christian faith. | 10:28 | |
Because our commitment to Christ is not only | 10:30 | |
a matter of the heart, but also of the will, | 10:33 | |
then it becomes a willful decision to continue | 10:37 | |
stable and steadfast, not shifting. | 10:40 | |
There is a song in our Methodist hymnal | 10:46 | |
that I think I cherish above all the others. | 10:51 | |
It poetically expresses Paul's prose. | 10:55 | |
My hope is built on nothing less | 11:02 | |
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. | 11:06 | |
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, | 11:10 | |
but holy lean on Jesus' name. | 11:15 | |
On Christ, the solid rock I stand. | 11:19 | |
All other ground is sinking sand. | 11:23 | |
All other ground is sinking sand. | 11:27 | |
And you who once were estranged and hostile in mind | 11:34 | |
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled | 11:39 | |
in his body of flesh by his death. | 11:43 | |
In order to present you holy and blameless | 11:46 | |
and irreproachable before him, provided that you | 11:51 | |
continue in the faith, stable and steadfast. | 11:55 | |
Not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard. | 12:01 | |
Do you know Christ? | 12:08 | |
Have you faith in him? | 12:11 | |
Is your faith in him the central | 12:15 | |
certitude of your life? | 12:18 | |
I pray God, it is so. | 12:23 | |
Amen. | 12:27 | |
(traditional Catholic music) | 12:34 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 16:20 |
- | And also with you. | 16:22 |
- | Let us pray. | 16:25 |
Lord God, help us to pray as Jesus Christ has taught us. | 16:40 | |
So that our prayers for others be of the kind | 16:48 | |
which you want and not just ways of getting what we want. | 16:52 | |
We who already have so much. | 16:59 | |
In Jesus Christ, our savior. | 17:02 | |
Let us pray for the world. | 17:07 | |
Lord of all the worlds that are, | 17:10 | |
we pray for the whole of creation. | 17:13 | |
Order the unruly powers. | 17:16 | |
Deal with injustice. | 17:20 | |
Feed and satisfy the longing peoples | 17:23 | |
so that in freedom your children may enjoy the world | 17:27 | |
you have made and cheerfully sing your praises. | 17:32 | |
Let us pray for the church. | 17:38 | |
Gracious God you called us to be the church of Jesus Christ. | 17:42 | |
A distinctive and holy people called for faith, | 17:48 | |
but leave service telling good news to the world. | 17:51 | |
That all may believe you are love | 17:56 | |
and live to give you glory. | 18:00 | |
Let us pray for peace. | 18:05 | |
Eternal God send peace on this troubled earth | 18:08 | |
and put down greed, pride, and anger. | 18:12 | |
Which turn nation against nation. | 18:16 | |
Speed that day when wars will end | 18:19 | |
and all shall call upon you as savior and Lord. | 18:23 | |
Let us pray for enemies. | 18:28 | |
Oh God whom we cannot love unless we love our neighbors, | 18:32 | |
remove hate and prejudice from us | 18:37 | |
so that your children may be reconciled | 18:41 | |
with those whom they fear, resent, or threaten | 18:43 | |
and live together in your peace. | 18:48 | |
Let us pray for those who govern us. | 18:52 | |
Almighty God, ruler of all direct those | 18:57 | |
who make, administer, and judge our laws. | 19:00 | |
The president of these United States. | 19:05 | |
Our senators and representatives. | 19:08 | |
The mayor and counsel of this city. | 19:11 | |
That led by your wisdom they may lead us | 19:15 | |
in the way of righteousness. | 19:19 | |
Let us pray for the sick. | 19:23 | |
Merciful God, you bear the hurt of the world. | 19:27 | |
Look with compassion upon those who are sick this day, | 19:33 | |
especially those in Duke Hospitals. | 19:37 | |
Cheer them by your word and bring health | 19:41 | |
as a sure sign to them that in your kingdom | 19:44 | |
there will be no more pain or crying anymore. | 19:48 | |
Let us pray for rain. | 19:55 | |
Creator of the world, we are dependent upon you | 19:59 | |
to give us what we need to live. | 20:01 | |
For crops and bread. | 20:04 | |
For cattle and all living things, | 20:07 | |
we pray for life giving water. | 20:09 | |
In remembrance of your daily kindnesses to us, | 20:13 | |
we pray for those in our region who suffer | 20:17 | |
because of heat or drought. | 20:20 | |
And let us pray for friends and families. | 20:25 | |
Oh God, whom we call upon his father, | 20:30 | |
bless us and those whom we love. | 20:33 | |
Our friends and our families. | 20:38 | |
That drawing close to you, we may be drawn | 20:41 | |
closer to one another. | 20:45 | |
These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. | 20:49 | |
Amen. | 20:54 | |
And now as the people who have been blessed much | 21:00 | |
by a loving and gracious God, let us offer ourselves | 21:03 | |
and our gifts for the work of God. | 21:07 | |
(traditional Catholic music) | 21:16 | |
- | Oh eternal God, the author and giver of all good things. | 27:58 |
We thank thee for all thy mercies | 28:03 | |
and for thy loving care over all thy creatures. | 28:07 | |
We bless thee for the gift of life, | 28:11 | |
for thy protection round about us. | 28:14 | |
For thy guiding hand upon us. | 28:16 | |
And for the tokens of thy love within us. | 28:19 | |
We thank thee for friendship and duty. | 28:23 | |
For good hopes and precious memories. | 28:26 | |
For the joys that cheer us and the trials | 28:29 | |
that teach us to trust in thee. | 28:33 | |
Most of all, we thank thee for the saving knowledge | 28:36 | |
of thy son, our savior. | 28:40 | |
For the living presence of thy spirit of the comforter. | 28:42 | |
For thy church, the body of Christ. | 28:46 | |
For the ministry of word and sacrament | 28:49 | |
and all the means of grace. | 28:51 | |
In all these things, oh God, make us wise | 28:54 | |
and to a right use of thy benefits | 28:58 | |
that we may render an acceptable thanksgiving unto thee | 29:01 | |
all the days of our life. | 29:05 | |
Through Jesus Christ our Lord who taught us | 29:07 | |
to pray with confidence. | 29:10 | |
Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 29:13 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 29:17 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 29:21 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 29:23 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 29:26 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 29:29 | |
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 29:32 | |
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. | 29:37 | |
Amen. | 29:43 | |
(traditional Catholic music) | 29:46 | |
- | And now may the grace of our Lord and savior, | 33:21 |
Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship | 33:24 | |
of the holy spirit be with you now and always. | 33:28 | |
(traditional Catholic music) | 33:37 | |
(people chattering) | 42:02 |