Helen G. Crotwell - "Live Boldly" (May 13, 1979)
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Transcript
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- | Duke University Chapel service of worship, May 13th, 1979. | 0:04 |
(church organ music) | 0:15 | |
(tender organ music) | 3:46 | |
♪ Lord Jesus Christ He brings a glow ♪ | 11:48 | |
♪ On once into leaf, bush and bough ♪ | 11:53 | |
♪ My spirits have, with Christ reborn ♪ | 11:58 | |
♪ At last my truth is in a shrine ♪ | 12:03 | |
♪ Until I wish to sing thy grace ♪ | 12:10 | |
♪ A source to me in merchant grace ♪ | 12:15 | |
♪ They shone my faith with prince on high ♪ | 12:19 | |
♪ That we will know thy name of Christ ♪ | 12:24 | |
("Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven" by Henry Francis Lyte) | 12:33 | |
♪ Praise my soul, the King of Heaven ♪ | 13:05 | |
♪ To His feet your tribute bring ♪ | 13:10 | |
♪ Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven ♪ | 13:15 | |
♪ Evermore His praises sing ♪ | 13:21 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 13:26 | |
♪ Praise the everlasting King ♪ | 13:32 | |
♪ Praise Him for His grace and favor ♪ | 13:40 | |
♪ To His people in distress ♪ | 13:46 | |
♪ Praise Him, still the same as ever ♪ | 13:51 | |
♪ Slow to chide and swift to bless ♪ | 13:56 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 14:02 | |
♪ Glorious in His faithfulness ♪ | 14:08 | |
♪ Fatherlike He tends and spares us ♪ | 14:17 | |
♪ Well our feeble frame He knows ♪ | 14:23 | |
♪ In His hands He gently bears us ♪ | 14:28 | |
♪ Rescues us from all our foes ♪ | 14:33 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 14:39 | |
♪ Widely yet His mercy flows ♪ | 14:44 | |
♪ Angels help us to adore Him ♪ | 14:53 | |
♪ We beheld Him face to face ♪ | 14:58 | |
♪ Sun and moon bow down before Him ♪ | 15:04 | |
♪ Dwellers all in time and space ♪ | 15:09 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 15:15 | |
♪ Praise with us the God of grace ♪ | 15:21 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 15:30 | |
- | Be seated. | 15:40 |
- | Herein is love, | 15:53 |
not that we loved God, | 15:55 | |
but that He loved us, | 15:59 | |
and gave His son to be the propitiation for our sins. | 16:01 | |
Remembering God's love, | 16:07 | |
let us offer our prayer of confession. | 16:10 | |
Oh Lord, our God, we confess to you | 16:16 | |
and ask that you will drown our transgressions | 16:21 | |
in the sea of your infinite love. | 16:24 | |
With sorrow and contrition we acknowledge | 16:27 | |
our faults and failures. | 16:30 | |
Our failure to be true, even to our own accepted standards, | 16:34 | |
our self-deception in face of temptation, | 16:39 | |
our choosing of the worst when we know the better, | 16:43 | |
oh Lord, forgive. | 16:47 | |
Our failure to apply to ourselves | 16:50 | |
the standards of conduct we demand of others. | 16:53 | |
Our blindness in the suffering of others, | 16:57 | |
and our slowness to be taught by our own. | 17:00 | |
Our complacence toward wrongs | 17:04 | |
that do not touch our own lives, | 17:06 | |
and our oversensitivity to those that do. | 17:09 | |
Our slowness to see the good in others, | 17:13 | |
and see the evil in ourselves. | 17:16 | |
Our hardness of heart towards our neighbors' faults | 17:20 | |
and our readiness to make allowance for our own. | 17:23 | |
Our unwillingness to believe that you have called us | 17:27 | |
to a small work and our neighbor to a great one. | 17:30 | |
Oh Lord, forgive. | 17:35 | |
- | Amen. | 17:40 |
- | If we confess our sins, | 17:53 |
God is faithful and just to forgive our sins | 17:57 | |
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. | 18:01 | |
Amen. | 18:08 | |
We are moving into the summer period of chapel services. | 18:17 | |
Singers are invited to join the Duke Chapel Summer Choir. | 18:23 | |
Rehearsals are held at 9:30 Sunday morning in the chancel | 18:29 | |
and all who are interested in participating are welcomed. | 18:36 | |
Let us pray. | 18:48 | |
Oh Lord, open our hearts to the reading of thy word | 18:53 | |
that we may hear thee speak. | 18:58 | |
Amen. | 19:02 | |
From the Book of Acts, | 19:10 | |
"When Saul reached Jerusalem, | 19:16 | |
"he tried to join the body of disciples there. | 19:19 | |
"But they were afraid of him, | 19:24 | |
"because they did not believe that he had been converted. | 19:26 | |
"Barnabus, however, took him by the hand | 19:32 | |
"and introduced him to the apostles. | 19:34 | |
"Barnabus described to them how Saul had seen the Lord | 19:38 | |
"on his journey to Damascus and heard His voice. | 19:41 | |
"And how he had spoken out boldly | 19:46 | |
"in the name of Jesus in Damascus. | 19:48 | |
"Saul now stayed with them, | 19:53 | |
"moving about freely in Jerusalem. | 19:55 | |
"He spoke out boldly and openly in the name of the Lord, | 19:58 | |
"talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, | 20:03 | |
"but they planned to murder him. | 20:08 | |
"And when the brethren learned of this, | 20:12 | |
"they escorted him to Caesarea | 20:15 | |
"and saw him off to Tarsus." | 20:19 | |
And, from First John, | 20:26 | |
"My children, | 20:32 | |
"love must not be a matter of words or talk, | 20:34 | |
"it must be genuine and show itself in action. | 20:38 | |
"This is how we may know that belong to the realm of truth | 20:45 | |
"and convince ourselves in His sight, | 20:48 | |
"that even if our conscience condemns us, | 20:51 | |
"God is greater than our conscience and knows all. | 20:54 | |
"Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, | 21:01 | |
"then we can approach God with confidence | 21:07 | |
"and attain from Him whatever we ask | 21:10 | |
"because we are keeping His commandments | 21:14 | |
"and doing what He approves. | 21:16 | |
"This is His commandment: | 21:20 | |
"To give our allegiance to His son, Jesus Christ, | 21:23 | |
"and love one another, as He commanded. | 21:27 | |
"When we keep His commands, | 21:33 | |
"we dwell in Him and He dwells in us. | 21:35 | |
"And this is how we can make sure that He dwells in us, | 21:40 | |
"we know the spirit which He has given to us." | 21:44 | |
May God add His blessing to these readings from His word. | 21:49 | |
(church organ music) | 21:57 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ | 22:33 | |
♪ Holy is our Lord ♪ | 22:42 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ | 22:52 | |
♪ Holy is our Lord ♪ | 23:02 | |
♪ We will always lift you high ♪ | 23:12 | |
♪ And perform thy song ♪ | 23:22 | |
♪ Left on Earth we hold on ♪ | 23:31 | |
♪ All that grace is thine ♪ | 23:41 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ | 23:52 | |
♪ Holy is our Lord ♪ | 24:02 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ | 24:12 | |
♪ Holy is our Lord ♪ | 24:22 | |
♪ All the sound is over now ♪ | 24:32 | |
♪ This is what I love ♪ | 24:42 | |
♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ | 24:51 | |
♪ Holy is our Lord ♪ | 25:02 | |
- | Will you stand for the reading of the gospel. | 25:18 |
From the Gospel of John. | 25:27 | |
"I am the real vine and my Father is the gardener. | 25:30 | |
"Every barren branch of mine, He cuts away. | 25:37 | |
"And every fruiting branch, He cleans | 25:41 | |
"to make it more fruitful still. | 25:46 | |
"You have already been cleansed by the word | 25:51 | |
"which I spoke to you. | 25:53 | |
"Dwell in me as I in you. | 25:56 | |
"No branch can bear fruit by itself, | 26:00 | |
"but only if it remains united with the vine. | 26:04 | |
"No more can you bear fruit | 26:08 | |
"unless you remain united with me. | 26:12 | |
"I am the vine, you are the branches, | 26:17 | |
"he who dwells in me as I dwell in him bears much fruit. | 26:21 | |
"For apart from me, you can do nothing. | 26:26 | |
"He who does not dwell in me is thrown away | 26:31 | |
"like a withered branch. | 26:34 | |
"The withered branches are heaped together | 26:36 | |
"and thrown on a fire and burned. | 26:38 | |
"If you dwell in me, | 26:42 | |
"and my words dwell in you, | 26:45 | |
"ask what you will, and you shall have it. | 26:48 | |
"This is my Father's glory | 26:53 | |
"that you may bear fruit in plenty | 26:56 | |
"and be my disciples." | 27:01 | |
Amen. | 27:05 | |
(church organ music) | 27:08 | |
(choir singing) | 27:21 | |
- | I would like to use a scripture | 28:16 |
which Krister Stendahl used last Saturday at Baccalaureate. | 28:19 | |
In the name of God, | 28:25 | |
who loves us | 28:28 | |
as father | 28:30 | |
and mother | 28:31 | |
and friend, | 28:33 | |
amen. | 28:35 | |
When we were discussing the glorious Easter service | 28:37 | |
in this chapel, a student who was out of town bemoaned | 28:41 | |
the dreariness of the service of worship she attended. | 28:46 | |
There was no joy, | 28:51 | |
no hope, | 28:53 | |
no affirmation. | 28:54 | |
Rather a dull, | 28:57 | |
drab, | 28:58 | |
boring | 29:00 | |
service. | 29:01 | |
We are indeed fortunate to have this chapel as a place | 29:03 | |
where we can worship. | 29:07 | |
The incredibly beautiful music alone left no doubt | 29:09 | |
in our minds that Easter is indeed a day of celebration. | 29:14 | |
A time to rejoice | 29:19 | |
that Christ is risen. | 29:22 | |
We responded with joyful hearts | 29:25 | |
that Jesus, our Lord, | 29:28 | |
is alive. | 29:31 | |
Christ | 29:33 | |
is risen. | 29:34 | |
Christ is risen, | 29:37 | |
preach boldly | 29:40 | |
as Paul did. | 29:42 | |
And as First John says, | 29:44 | |
"Let us not love in word | 29:47 | |
and speech, | 29:50 | |
but in deed and truth." | 29:52 | |
And then from the gospel, | 29:56 | |
"Live boldly as disciples who continue | 29:58 | |
the work of the Christ in this world." | 30:02 | |
Soon after Easter, | 30:07 | |
someone was reflecting on conversation he had just had, | 30:08 | |
one which Christians have had in various forms | 30:13 | |
down through the ages. | 30:16 | |
What difference does it make that you celebrate Easter? | 30:19 | |
That you affirm that Christ is risen? | 30:23 | |
Folks have always looked at the church with some skepticism, | 30:27 | |
suspicion, and sometimes with good reason. | 30:31 | |
The protagonist in this particular conversation repeated | 30:35 | |
the hackneyed, "I'd rather buy a used car from an atheist | 30:39 | |
than from one of you Christians. | 30:44 | |
I don't know what happens in your services of worship, | 30:46 | |
but it certainly doesn't seem to make any difference | 30:50 | |
when you move out of that building." | 30:52 | |
Cynical. Certainly the person has had a bad experience | 30:55 | |
which he universalized. | 30:59 | |
If we hear such comments when we are uneasy about | 31:03 | |
the witness of the church, we squirm or feel guilty, | 31:06 | |
or become defensive, and so sometimes miss | 31:10 | |
the truth that may be found in such conversation. | 31:14 | |
The lectionary lessons for this day all reflect | 31:18 | |
the unity of our worship and our life in the world. | 31:23 | |
The unity of our devotion | 31:28 | |
and our action. | 31:31 | |
The story of the vine and the branches | 31:33 | |
is in the section of John's collection | 31:36 | |
of Jesus' farewell discourse to his disciples. | 31:38 | |
Using the parable allegory, Jesus is reminding his disciples | 31:44 | |
the critical importance of their remaining | 31:49 | |
in community with Him, | 31:52 | |
perhaps preparing them for living in this world | 31:55 | |
without His physical presence. | 32:00 | |
And it describes for us, | 32:03 | |
not only the impossibility of our living separated | 32:05 | |
from the source of our life, | 32:09 | |
but that also those of us who are disciples will bear fruit | 32:12 | |
with the very stern warning that those who do not | 32:18 | |
will be cast out, cut off. | 32:23 | |
Our source of life is to be found in relation to Jesus | 32:27 | |
in the community of faith. | 32:31 | |
There is no ambiguity, no choice. | 32:34 | |
We cannot live in isolation and separation, | 32:37 | |
nor do we choose | 32:42 | |
between a life of piety | 32:44 | |
or a life of action. | 32:47 | |
Just as the branch bears fruit, | 32:50 | |
we live out our lives in the world | 32:53 | |
in deed | 32:56 | |
and in truth. | 32:58 | |
We will not be alive | 33:00 | |
if we are not related to the source of our life. | 33:02 | |
And if we do not live responsibly, | 33:07 | |
we will be cut off, cast out. | 33:10 | |
These are stern words, hard words. | 33:14 | |
And notice that it is God who does the cutting off | 33:18 | |
and casting out. | 33:22 | |
And even those branches which bear fruit | 33:25 | |
will be pruned | 33:29 | |
so that they will bear more fruit. | 33:31 | |
Now this means that we are invited into | 33:33 | |
the Christian community without the promise | 33:36 | |
or the expectation that it will be an easy life. | 33:40 | |
That there will be no correction, | 33:44 | |
no expectations placed on us, | 33:46 | |
or there will be no standing over against us. | 33:50 | |
For we are still human beings struggling together, | 33:53 | |
trying to understand what it means | 33:58 | |
to be disciples of Jesus, the Christ. | 34:00 | |
The image of the vine and the branches is so familiar to us | 34:04 | |
that we may read it too quickly | 34:08 | |
and not hear what it is saying. | 34:10 | |
When we try to go it on our own, alone, | 34:13 | |
we are not nourished. | 34:17 | |
We are without the life-giving resource | 34:20 | |
by which we are sustained. | 34:23 | |
We cannot be Christian and live in isolation. | 34:27 | |
Reflect what it means to live separated from the vine. | 34:32 | |
When we are separated, we may be physically alive, | 34:35 | |
even respected by the community, | 34:40 | |
but dead in the most horrible sense. | 34:43 | |
Such death is described by Dorothy Surly | 34:47 | |
as death by bread alone. | 34:51 | |
It means being terrified of our aloneness, | 34:55 | |
and yet wanting to be left alone. | 35:00 | |
Being without friends, yet distrusting and despising others. | 35:04 | |
Exploiting others and then being exploited. | 35:11 | |
Forgetting others, and then being forgotten. | 35:16 | |
Living only for ourselves and then feeling unneeded. | 35:22 | |
Neither crying for another or being cried for by another. | 35:29 | |
How horrible is this death by bread alone, | 35:38 | |
and such is what happens within us | 35:42 | |
when we look upon others not as a gift or a blessing | 35:45 | |
or a stimulus, but as threat, danger, competition. | 35:51 | |
It is the death which comes to all who try to live | 35:57 | |
by bread alone, separated from the vine. | 36:01 | |
It is a purposeless, empty existence | 36:06 | |
devoid of genuine human relationships | 36:09 | |
and filled with anxiety | 36:13 | |
and silence | 36:15 | |
and loneliness. | 36:17 | |
During a recent meeting in Raleigh, | 36:21 | |
two of our United Methodist bishops referred | 36:23 | |
to a critical problem facing the Church; | 36:26 | |
that of folks trying to live responsibly as Christians, | 36:29 | |
yet separated from the Christian community. | 36:34 | |
A condition which is being nourished by media evangelist | 36:38 | |
who seduce people into believing | 36:43 | |
that they are living responsibly as Christians, | 36:45 | |
yet are connected with the vine only through the media. | 36:48 | |
Now certainly the Church affirms the immense value | 36:52 | |
that the media provides for those who are, | 36:56 | |
because of illness, or age, or some other reason, | 36:59 | |
are confined to their home. | 37:03 | |
And these people, together with the community of faith, | 37:06 | |
can work creatively so that it becomes possible | 37:09 | |
for them to be present with the community, | 37:13 | |
connected to the vine, | 37:17 | |
even in their absence. | 37:20 | |
Now we are amazed at the gullibility of many people | 37:23 | |
who blindly respond to the emotional pitch | 37:27 | |
of some of these evangelists | 37:31 | |
who plead for them to send money immediately | 37:33 | |
in order that God's word may continue to be communicated. | 37:36 | |
Some of these tax-free corporations | 37:40 | |
exploit the rich and the poor, | 37:43 | |
receiving an unbelievable amount of money | 37:46 | |
which is used without any accountability | 37:49 | |
or responsibility to the body of Christ. | 37:52 | |
These people are usually blatant egotists, | 37:55 | |
glorifying themselves and not God. | 37:58 | |
One of our recent Duke graduates | 38:02 | |
works on a small-town newspaper | 38:04 | |
and was pleased without responsible reporting, | 38:07 | |
which is helping expose one such evangelist. | 38:10 | |
This particular evangelist receives 98% | 38:14 | |
of his three million dollar a year income | 38:19 | |
as a result | 38:23 | |
of his appeal to folks | 38:25 | |
to send money to keep his program on the air. | 38:28 | |
At one time, when he made a most desperate and frantic plea | 38:32 | |
for people to send money immediately, | 38:36 | |
otherwise they would not be on the air next week, | 38:38 | |
he was in the process of buying a $230,000 house. | 38:42 | |
The news story said, somewhat redundantly, | 38:48 | |
in an exclusive neighborhood. | 38:52 | |
Where else do you find a home of that price? | 38:55 | |
An analysis of the use of the contributions showed | 38:59 | |
that of each $10 sent in, | 39:02 | |
$3.55 was in fact used | 39:06 | |
to buy TV time. | 39:10 | |
And one-half of a penny | 39:13 | |
was donated to some unspecified charity. | 39:15 | |
But the rest of the money was used for his well-being, | 39:19 | |
to fill his ego needs, | 39:24 | |
to buy bumper stickers | 39:26 | |
which glorified him. | 39:29 | |
And also with the money he had bought eight homes | 39:32 | |
surrounding his boyhood home, | 39:35 | |
plus many other, grander dwellings. | 39:38 | |
snd he owned over $100,000 worth of various kinds | 39:42 | |
of vehicles including two Cadillacs and a Rolls-Royce. | 39:45 | |
In defending his obvious personal wealth, | 39:53 | |
this man said that he wears fine clothes | 39:56 | |
and drives expensive cars and lives in general luxury | 40:00 | |
because wealth is a sign of God's approval of his ministry. | 40:05 | |
He said that when people were walking to Jerusalem, | 40:11 | |
when people were walking to Jerusalem, | 40:15 | |
Jesus was riding on the back of a jackass. | 40:18 | |
And said, if there had been Cadillacs back then, | 40:23 | |
he was certain Jesus would have been riding in one | 40:26 | |
because Jesus was always first-class. | 40:29 | |
How easy it is for us to be amused | 40:36 | |
and to ridicule such charlatans, | 40:39 | |
to laugh at the absurdity of such claims, | 40:42 | |
to be prophetic in our judgment against | 40:45 | |
what appears to be most irresponsible and unloving actions. | 40:48 | |
Yet when we are honest, we know that, | 40:55 | |
while we work with more sophistication and finesse, | 40:57 | |
we can deceive ourselves and make decisions which are just | 41:00 | |
as absurd and distant from God's intention | 41:04 | |
for us and our community. | 41:07 | |
God may not cast us out, but we will be pruned. | 41:10 | |
Just recently a divinity school professor | 41:15 | |
made an ecumenical congregation most uncomfortable, | 41:18 | |
and we don't like to be made uncomfortable. | 41:22 | |
When talking about Jesus' temptation, | 41:25 | |
he reminded us of some of | 41:28 | |
the temptations which we succumb to. | 41:29 | |
One of his illustrations described how | 41:32 | |
the black preachers began preaching in the storefronts, | 41:34 | |
working in secular jobs to pay for the rent | 41:39 | |
and for the light, and the heat. | 41:42 | |
But soon, they became successful | 41:45 | |
and the storefront was full, and they decided | 41:47 | |
that this was not an appropriate place to worship God. | 41:50 | |
But instead of directly addressing the congregation, | 41:54 | |
saying they need a better building, | 41:58 | |
he asked one of the leaders of the church | 42:01 | |
if he or she had heard people talking about | 42:04 | |
how crowded it was in the store, | 42:07 | |
how difficult it was to worship in this place, | 42:10 | |
and that's all that's necessary. | 42:13 | |
The next thing you know, | 42:15 | |
this congregation is in a million dollar structure | 42:16 | |
and have saddled future generations with the debt, | 42:20 | |
while the starving black children | 42:23 | |
stand outside looking in the windows. | 42:25 | |
The congregation was uncomfortable. | 42:30 | |
This is the same man who once, | 42:32 | |
when he was asked to take one | 42:34 | |
of our guest preachers out to dinner, | 42:36 | |
selected a cafeteria saying he could not in good conscience | 42:39 | |
spend chapel money to eat at one | 42:43 | |
of those expensive restaurants. | 42:46 | |
We in the chapel struggle to understand what it means | 42:49 | |
to live responsibly as a Christian community. | 42:52 | |
To keep attention of the life-giving nourishment | 42:57 | |
which is necessary for the branches to relay, | 43:01 | |
be related to the vine, the source of their life | 43:05 | |
and also to be obedient as we live out our lives | 43:10 | |
in this world as disciples of Jesus, the Christ. | 43:15 | |
Notice that our responsible living in the world | 43:20 | |
grows out of our life of faith. | 43:24 | |
Unless we live in relation to the vine, we die. | 43:28 | |
Unless we, as branches, bear fruit, we are cut off. | 43:33 | |
Since we, as a chapel, are not a church, | 43:39 | |
most of you who worship here are in a covenant relationship | 43:42 | |
with a specific Christian community. | 43:46 | |
The community which is the primary place | 43:49 | |
for your worship and nurture | 43:51 | |
and the locus for your moving from it | 43:53 | |
to love in deed and truth. | 43:56 | |
And for us to be responsible certainly means providing | 44:00 | |
opportunities for people who worship here regularly | 44:03 | |
to be involved in a community of faith, | 44:07 | |
a community where they are known by name, | 44:10 | |
loved and pruned, and are sent into the world. | 44:13 | |
The people who claim this chapel as their church | 44:19 | |
are usually the people who are in the choir, who usher, | 44:22 | |
or who belong to one of the ongoing Christian communities. | 44:25 | |
Certainly too, our ministry involves preaching | 44:32 | |
the word of God boldly, | 44:35 | |
as Paul did. | 44:38 | |
What more important pulpit in this area | 44:40 | |
to proclaim the good news of the gospel. | 44:42 | |
The good news which comes to us as nurture, as forgiveness, | 44:45 | |
as hope, | 44:50 | |
but also | 44:51 | |
as the pruning word of justice. | 44:53 | |
One of our colleagues said it seemed easier for us | 44:57 | |
to make our prophetic statements | 45:02 | |
about situations far-removed from the campus, | 45:03 | |
like in South Africa, than to be relevant | 45:07 | |
to the dehumanizing situations | 45:10 | |
which confront us daily within our community, | 45:12 | |
such as the blatant exploitation | 45:16 | |
of another person as a sexual person, | 45:18 | |
our destructive competitive spirit, | 45:23 | |
our University, which at times seems more like | 45:26 | |
a country club than a learning community, | 45:29 | |
and the very specific expressions | 45:34 | |
of our sexism and racism within this community. | 45:36 | |
Now, any time we address a dehumanizing situation | 45:40 | |
here in our community or in the larger community, | 45:44 | |
and again we have no choice, it's both. | 45:48 | |
When we preach boldly and live boldly, | 45:51 | |
we will find, as Paul did with his preaching, | 45:55 | |
we will soon be in confrontation with power. | 46:00 | |
Misused, destructive power. | 46:04 | |
Whether economic or political or in the form | 46:08 | |
of power of personal charisma, of peer pressure or ambition. | 46:12 | |
To preach boldly, to live boldly, | 46:18 | |
takes courage and humility | 46:22 | |
with the sure knowledge that in such boldness | 46:25 | |
there will be the pruning, and then maybe the persecution. | 46:28 | |
Such courage and commitment is nourished only | 46:33 | |
as we are in the community of faith, | 46:37 | |
only as we are branches living | 46:40 | |
in relationship with the vine. | 46:43 | |
For the covenant service which John Wesley developed | 46:48 | |
and is used by many, many churches today, | 46:51 | |
the scripture lesson he chose was from | 46:53 | |
the 15th chapter of John, that of the vine and the branches. | 46:56 | |
Hear now, just a selection of the covenant | 47:01 | |
he asked people to make. | 47:04 | |
"Christ has many services to be done. | 47:08 | |
Some are easy, others are difficult. | 47:11 | |
Some bring honor, others bring reproach. | 47:15 | |
Some are suitable to our natural inclinations | 47:20 | |
and our temporal interest. Others are contrary to both. | 47:24 | |
In some, we may please Christ and please ourselves. | 47:29 | |
In others, we cannot please Christ | 47:35 | |
except by denying ourselves. | 47:37 | |
Yet the power to do all these things | 47:41 | |
is assuredly given to us in Christ, who strengthens us." | 47:45 | |
Christ is risen, | 47:51 | |
preach boldly. | 47:53 | |
Christ is risen. | 47:55 | |
Let us not love in word and speech, | 47:58 | |
but in deed and truth. | 48:03 | |
Christ is risen, | 48:05 | |
live boldly as disciples | 48:08 | |
who continue his work in this world. | 48:11 | |
Amen and amen. | 48:14 | |
(church organ music) | 48:19 | |
(choir singing) | 49:00 | |
- | Let us affirm what we believe. | 51:23 |
We believe in God, who has created and is creating, | 51:26 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus | 51:32 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 51:35 | |
who works in us and others by the spirit. | 51:38 | |
We trust God, who calls us to be the church, | 51:42 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 51:47 | |
to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, | 51:50 | |
to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, | 51:57 | |
our judge and our hope. | 52:01 | |
In life, in death, | 52:04 | |
in life beyond death, | 52:06 | |
God is with us, | 52:09 | |
we are not alone, | 52:11 | |
thanks be to God. | 52:13 | |
Be seated. | 52:16 | |
The Lord be with you. | 52:26 | |
- | And with you. | |
- | Let us pray. | 52:30 |
Most gracious God, | 52:40 | |
our heavenly parent. | 52:44 | |
We thank thee for the turn of time, | 52:47 | |
for endings and beginnings, | 52:52 | |
for new seasons, | 52:56 | |
new eras of life, | 52:58 | |
new possibilities. | 53:02 | |
Thou, oh Lord, | 53:06 | |
hast made goodness. | 53:09 | |
Help us to pursue it. | 53:12 | |
Thou hast made truth. | 53:16 | |
Help us to seek it. | 53:20 | |
Thou hast made beauty. | 53:24 | |
Help us to receive it. | 53:28 | |
Thou hast made love. | 53:32 | |
Spread thy love through our hearts | 53:37 | |
and lives. | 53:41 | |
Be present with us as thy holy spirit, | 53:44 | |
so that in finding truth | 53:49 | |
and beauty | 53:53 | |
and goodness | 53:55 | |
and love, | 53:58 | |
we may find the life | 54:01 | |
which thou hast given | 54:04 | |
in abundance. | 54:06 | |
We pray this day, oh Lord, | 54:12 | |
for those persons in special need. | 54:14 | |
For those with inadequate money | 54:19 | |
to provide housing and utilities and food. | 54:21 | |
For those who are in pain. | 54:29 | |
For those who are lonely. | 54:34 | |
Those who face tragedy. | 54:38 | |
We pray for the hungry. | 54:43 | |
We pray for the distressed. | 54:47 | |
We pray for those who have lost | 54:53 | |
friends, family, or loved ones. | 54:57 | |
Not only do we pray that we may have sympathy with them | 55:04 | |
and be able to serve them, | 55:08 | |
we pray also for the special presence | 55:11 | |
of thy peace | 55:15 | |
and hope. | 55:18 | |
We remember also, | 55:23 | |
those whose work | 55:27 | |
we assume will be given. | 55:30 | |
Those whose service | 55:34 | |
we presume upon. | 55:38 | |
We pray for those on this campus, the police, | 55:41 | |
the maintenance people. | 55:47 | |
For the workers of the dining halls, | 55:51 | |
for the nurses | 55:55 | |
and orderlies | 55:57 | |
and receptionist. | 56:00 | |
We pray for those whose daily work sustains our living. | 56:04 | |
Make us more sensitive | 56:12 | |
to the interactions of life among all of us. | 56:15 | |
We may truly appreciate | 56:20 | |
these usual, | 56:23 | |
ordinary modes | 56:26 | |
by which we help one another. | 56:29 | |
We are richly blessed, oh Lord, with resources, | 56:36 | |
with goods, with opportunities. | 56:42 | |
Make us conscious of our responsibility | 56:49 | |
for the careful use of the resources thou hast given to us. | 56:54 | |
Make us thoughtful | 57:00 | |
and wise | 57:02 | |
and generous. | 57:06 | |
Now, oh Lord, | 57:12 | |
impress the message of this morning upon our hearts. | 57:16 | |
Help us in the light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ | 57:22 | |
to live boldly, | 57:29 | |
to bear fruit | 57:32 | |
so that we may show our love for thee | 57:36 | |
and our love for one another. | 57:42 | |
And all of these prayers we make | 57:48 | |
in the name and the spirit of Jesus Christ, | 57:49 | |
who taught us when praying to say, | 57:54 | |
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 57:57 | |
"Thy kingdom come. | 58:03 | |
"Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 58:05 | |
"Give us this day our daily bread | 58:10 | |
"and forgive us our trespasses | 58:13 | |
"as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 58:16 | |
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 58:20 | |
"For thine is the kingdom, the power, | 58:25 | |
"and the glory forever. | 58:28 | |
"Amen." | 58:32 | |
(inspiring organ music) | 58:40 | |
(uptempo organ music) | 59:41 | |
(choir singing) | 59:45 | |
(church organ music) | 1:02:08 | |
(choir singing) | 1:03:35 | |
- | Oh Lord, out of the richness of thy grace | 1:04:38 |
thou hast given to us, | 1:04:41 | |
and we give these, our offerings, to thee | 1:04:44 | |
in the spirit of love and of dedication, | 1:04:48 | |
amen. | 1:04:52 | |
(church organ music) | 1:04:56 | |
(choir singing) | 1:05:37 | |
- | And now, unto God who is able to do immeasurably more | 1:09:36 |
than all that we can ask or conceive, | 1:09:41 | |
by the power that is at work within us. | 1:09:45 | |
To Him be glory | 1:09:49 | |
in the church and in Christ Jesus | 1:09:51 | |
from generation to generation, | 1:09:55 | |
world without end, | 1:09:59 | |
amen. | 1:10:02 | |
♪ God be with you till we meet again ♪ | 1:10:09 | |
♪ By His counsels guide uphold you ♪ | 1:10:18 | |
♪ With His sheep securely fold you ♪ | 1:10:29 | |
♪ God be with you till we meet again ♪ | 1:10:39 | |
(church organ music) | 1:10:55 |