Robert T. Young - "Power to Become" (May 25, 1980)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(organ music) | 0:04 | |
(organ music) | 1:09 | |
(organ music) | 4:11 | |
(hymnal singing) | 7:16 | |
(organ music) | 8:33 | |
- | God's love has been poured into our hearts through | 12:44 |
the holy spirit which has been given to us. | 12:47 | |
Let us prepare our hearts to receive again the holy | 12:51 | |
spirit by confessing our sins before God and one another. | 12:54 | |
You may be seated. | 13:00 | |
Almighty God, who sent the promised power of the | 13:10 | |
holy spirit to fill disciples with willing faith. | 13:14 | |
We confess that we have held back the force of your | 13:19 | |
spirit among us, that we have been slow to serve you | 13:22 | |
and reluctant to spread the good news of your love. | 13:27 | |
God have mercy on us. | 13:31 | |
Forgive our divisions | 13:34 | |
and by your spirit, draw us together. | 13:36 | |
Fill us with flaming desire to do your will | 13:40 | |
and be a faithful people for the sake of your son, | 13:45 | |
our lord, Jesus Christ, amen. | 13:49 | |
Let us make our personal confession in silence. | 13:53 | |
Friends, | 14:19 | |
hear and believe the good news of the gospel. | 14:20 | |
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, | 14:24 | |
who walk not according to the flesh | 14:28 | |
but according to the spirit. | 14:31 | |
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. | 14:33 | |
Let us forgive one another. | 14:37 | |
Let us give thanks, for God is good | 14:41 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 14:45 | |
Thanks be to God, | 14:48 | |
by whose love we have been made. | 14:50 | |
Thanks be to God, by whose grace we have been made whole. | 14:53 | |
Thanks be to God, by whose resurrection we are promised | 14:59 | |
life everlasting, amen. | 15:03 | |
On Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. there will be a service of | 15:09 | |
prayer in the Memorial Chapel. | 15:13 | |
The purpose of the service is to pray for the passage | 15:16 | |
of the equal rights amendment in Illinois | 15:19 | |
and North Carolina. | 15:22 | |
As you may know, only three more states are needed | 15:25 | |
to ratify this amendment to the Constitution. | 15:28 | |
We're at a critical point in that process | 15:31 | |
and the North Carolina Council of Churches | 15:35 | |
has decided to sponsor these services | 15:37 | |
at a number of points in North Carolina | 15:40 | |
in an attempt to bring an assurance of justice | 15:42 | |
to the women of this land. | 15:46 | |
We invite you to be present on Tuesday night. | 15:48 | |
Our preacher for today is the Reverend Robert T. Young, | 15:54 | |
minister to the University. | 15:58 | |
Let us open our minds and hearts to receive the message | 16:00 | |
God speaks to us through him. | 16:04 | |
- | Let us pray. | 16:18 |
Prepare our hearts, oh lord, | 16:20 | |
to accept your word. | 16:22 | |
Silence in us any voice but your own. | 16:24 | |
That hearing, we may also obey your will | 16:28 | |
through Jesus Christ, our lord, amen. | 16:31 | |
The Old Testament lesson is from Genesis, | 16:36 | |
chapter 11, verses one through nine. | 16:39 | |
Now the whole earth had one language and few words. | 16:43 | |
And as men migrated from the east, | 16:47 | |
they found a plain in the land of Shinar | 16:49 | |
and settled there. | 16:51 | |
And they said one to another, come let us make bricks | 16:53 | |
and burn them thoroughly. | 16:56 | |
And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. | 16:58 | |
Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city | 17:02 | |
and a tower with its top in the heavens | 17:05 | |
and let us make us a name for ourselves | 17:08 | |
lest we be scattered abroad upon the | 17:10 | |
face of the whole earth. | 17:12 | |
And the lord came down to see the city and the tower | 17:14 | |
which the sons of men had built. | 17:17 | |
And the lord said, behold, they are one people | 17:19 | |
and they have all one language. | 17:22 | |
And this is only the beginning of what they will do | 17:24 | |
and nothing that they propose to do | 17:27 | |
will now be impossible for them. | 17:29 | |
Come, let us go down and there confuse their language. | 17:32 | |
That they may not understand one another's speech. | 17:36 | |
So the lord scattered them abroad from there over the | 17:39 | |
face of all the Earth and they left off building the city. | 17:42 | |
Therefore, its name was called Babel | 17:46 | |
because there the lord confuse the language | 17:49 | |
of all the earth and from there the lord scattered | 17:51 | |
them abroad over the face of all the earth. | 17:54 | |
The New Testament lesson is from Acts, | 17:58 | |
chapter two, verses one through 21. | 18:01 | |
When the day of Pentecost had come, | 18:05 | |
they were all together in one place. | 18:07 | |
And suddenly a sound came from heaven | 18:10 | |
like the rush of a mighty wind | 18:12 | |
and it filled all the house where they were sitting. | 18:14 | |
And there appeared to them tongues as a fire | 18:17 | |
distributed and resting on each one of them. | 18:20 | |
And they were filled with the holy spirit | 18:23 | |
and began to speak in other tongues | 18:25 | |
and the spirit gave them utterance. | 18:28 | |
Now they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, | 18:30 | |
devout men from every nation under heaven. | 18:33 | |
And at this sound the multitude came together | 18:36 | |
and they were bewildered because each one heard | 18:38 | |
them speaking in his own language. | 18:41 | |
And they were amazed and wondered, saying, | 18:43 | |
are not all these who are speaking Galileans? | 18:46 | |
And how is it that we hear each of us | 18:49 | |
in his own native language? | 18:51 | |
Parthians and Medes and Elamites | 18:54 | |
and residents of Mesopotamia, | 18:57 | |
Judea, Cappadocia, | 19:00 | |
Pontus and Asia, | 19:03 | |
Phrygia and Pamphylia, | 19:05 | |
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene | 19:07 | |
and visitors from Rome both Jews and proselytes, | 19:11 | |
Cretans and Arabians, | 19:15 | |
we hear them telling in our own tongues, | 19:17 | |
the mighty works of God | 19:19 | |
and all were amazed and perplexed, | 19:21 | |
saying to one another, what does this mean? | 19:23 | |
But others, mocking, said, they are filled with new wine. | 19:26 | |
But Peter, standing with the 11, lifted up his voice | 19:31 | |
and addressed them., | 19:35 | |
Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, | 19:37 | |
let this be known to you. | 19:40 | |
And give ear to my words. | 19:42 | |
For these men are not drunk as you suppose. | 19:44 | |
Since it is only the third hour of the day. | 19:47 | |
But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, | 19:50 | |
and the last days it shall be, God declares, | 19:53 | |
that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. | 19:56 | |
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, | 20:00 | |
and your young men shall see visions, | 20:03 | |
and your old men shall dream dreams. | 20:05 | |
Yay, on my man servants and my maid servants in those days, | 20:08 | |
I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy | 20:12 | |
and I will show wonders in the heaven above | 20:16 | |
and signs on the earth beneath. | 20:19 | |
Blood and fire, | 20:21 | |
vapor and smoke. | 20:23 | |
The sun shall be turned into darkness | 20:25 | |
and the moon into blood. | 20:28 | |
Before the day of the lord comes, | 20:30 | |
the great and manifest day | 20:32 | |
and it shall be that whoever calls upon the name | 20:34 | |
of the lord shall be saved. | 20:36 | |
Here ends the reading from the New Testament, amen. | 20:39 | |
(organ music) | 20:44 | |
(hymnal singing) | 21:30 | |
Will the congregation please stand for the reading | 24:31 | |
of the gospel lesson? | 24:34 | |
The gospel lesson is from John, | 24:41 | |
chapter 15, verses 26 through 27 | 24:44 | |
and chapter 16, verses 4B through 11. | 24:48 | |
But when the counselor comes, | 24:52 | |
whom shall I send to you from the father? | 24:54 | |
Even the spirit of truth, | 24:57 | |
who proceeds from the father, | 24:59 | |
he will bear witness to me. | 25:01 | |
And you also are witnesses, | 25:03 | |
because you have been with me from the beginning. | 25:05 | |
I did not say these things to you from the beginning | 25:09 | |
because I was with you. | 25:11 | |
For now I am going to him who sent me | 25:14 | |
yet none of you asks me, where are you going? | 25:16 | |
But because I have said these things to you, | 25:19 | |
sorrow has filled your heart. | 25:22 | |
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. | 25:24 | |
It is to your advantage that I go away. | 25:27 | |
For if I go not away, the counselor will not come to you. | 25:30 | |
But if I go, I will send him to you. | 25:34 | |
And when he comes he will convince the world concerning | 25:38 | |
sin and righteousness and judgment | 25:41 | |
concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. | 25:45 | |
Concerning righteousness because I go to the father | 25:48 | |
and you will see me no more. | 25:52 | |
Concerning judgment, | 25:54 | |
because the ruler of this world is judged. | 25:55 | |
Here ends the gospel lesson. | 25:58 | |
(organ music) | 26:00 | |
(hymnal singing) | 26:08 | |
- | May I take just a moment of personal privilege | 27:04 |
to express a word of gratitude not only for myself | 27:07 | |
but also for all of the members of Religious Life staff | 27:11 | |
at Duke University and the members of the Chapel staff. | 27:14 | |
A word of gratitude to Juanita Wright | 27:18 | |
who as of June one of this year, | 27:22 | |
which is next Sunday, | 27:26 | |
will resume her work with the Board of Global Ministries | 27:29 | |
of the United Methodist Church in New York City. | 27:33 | |
She has been with us since November one. | 27:37 | |
Her ministry and her presence have blessed and | 27:41 | |
enriched, challenged and confronted us in many, many ways. | 27:44 | |
Her ministry we know will continue to be an effective | 27:50 | |
and life changing witness in the name and in the spirit | 27:54 | |
of Christ. | 27:58 | |
Juanita, we have blessed to have you with us | 28:00 | |
and as you go, we want to assure you, | 28:04 | |
all of us who have come to Know you and love you, | 28:07 | |
that our prayers and our presence will go with you | 28:11 | |
and we will look forward to having you back with us, | 28:15 | |
hopefully often in the future. | 28:18 | |
Thank you very much. | 28:21 | |
Let us pray. | 28:26 | |
And now may the words of my lips | 28:33 | |
and the meditations of our hearts | 28:36 | |
be acceptable in thy sight, oh lord. | 28:39 | |
Our strength and our redeemer, amen. | 28:43 | |
This is the day of Pentecost. | 28:51 | |
One of those high and holy days in the life of the church, | 28:54 | |
50 days after the resurrection of Christ, | 29:00 | |
10 days after the ascension of our lord, | 29:05 | |
Jesus the Christ is gone. | 29:09 | |
This is the day of the return of the living presence | 29:14 | |
of Christ. | 29:18 | |
The spirit, the counselor, the comforter, | 29:20 | |
the one about whom Christ said, | 29:25 | |
if I go I will send him to you. | 29:27 | |
Pentecost, the day when the word of Christ is realized | 29:31 | |
and confirmed as true and believable. | 29:36 | |
Pentecost, when a broken, despirited, separated, | 29:41 | |
fragmented, beaten, lost and confused people | 29:47 | |
are visited by the living spirit of God. | 29:52 | |
Pentecost, when the faith of others offers hope | 29:56 | |
and rekindles our own faith. | 30:02 | |
For surely it is true as the late Archbishop, | 30:06 | |
William Temple once wrote, | 30:08 | |
"It is by the faith of others that our own faith | 30:10 | |
is kindled and kept alive." | 30:14 | |
Pentecost, the day of the holy spirit, | 30:18 | |
the day of power, the day of new life, | 30:22 | |
a day of change, of transformation, | 30:27 | |
a day when we may experience the power | 30:30 | |
to become which God in Christ through the spirit | 30:32 | |
offers us. | 30:37 | |
Today, the ascended Christ has gone. | 30:41 | |
The living spirit of Christ has come. | 30:47 | |
I believe that Jesus is more present among us today | 30:51 | |
than ever before. | 30:54 | |
I also believe that Jesus is more ignored by us today | 30:58 | |
than ever before. | 31:03 | |
I further believe that Jesus is more needed by us today | 31:06 | |
than ever before. | 31:12 | |
Why? | 31:15 | |
Because today is the only today that you and I have | 31:17 | |
ever known. | 31:21 | |
This is our time, this is our place, | 31:22 | |
this is our now. | 31:25 | |
So this is when and where the spirit is needed most. | 31:26 | |
Today. | 31:31 | |
Today. | 31:34 | |
Listen. | 31:35 | |
Now. | 31:37 | |
Listen. | 31:39 | |
Wait. | 31:42 | |
Now. | 31:44 | |
Wait. | 31:46 | |
Be still. | 31:50 | |
Now. | 31:53 | |
Be still. | 31:56 | |
Here. | 31:59 | |
Feel. | 32:01 | |
Know the presence of the spirit. | 32:03 | |
Listen to the wind, Nicodemus. | 32:06 | |
Listen to the wind, Nicodemus, Jesus said. | 32:10 | |
You know not whence it comes nor whither it goes. | 32:14 | |
So it is with the spirit of the living God. | 32:18 | |
We do not know, we cannot tell. | 32:23 | |
That first Pentecost, though, must have been some | 32:28 | |
strange and power filled experience. | 32:33 | |
When the day came, we are told by Luke in Acts, | 32:37 | |
when the day came, they were all gathered together | 32:41 | |
in one place and there appeared to them tongues as of fire. | 32:44 | |
We do associate and symbolize the meaning | 32:50 | |
of this day with fire. | 32:52 | |
That's why the altar is covered with a beautiful paramount. | 32:54 | |
Red with tongues of flame on it. | 32:57 | |
The fire of the holy spirit. | 33:01 | |
So it was on Pentecost and so it has been | 33:02 | |
throughout the ages. | 33:05 | |
When Blaise Pascal wanted to express the vivid character | 33:08 | |
of his own personal life changing experience in | 33:11 | |
November of 1654, he wrote in large, large letters | 33:15 | |
on his own private personal papers, | 33:20 | |
F-I-R-E. | 33:23 | |
A century or so later, | 33:28 | |
John Wesley picked up the same theme | 33:30 | |
when he talked of his own life renewing experience | 33:33 | |
at Aldersgate and said, my heart was strangely warmed. | 33:36 | |
Nels Furay, in this century often an used an anonymous | 33:42 | |
Christian prayer offered by those who were praying | 33:47 | |
for the spirit. | 33:51 | |
Come as the fire and burn. | 33:52 | |
Come as the wind and cleanse. | 33:56 | |
Come as the light and reveal. | 34:00 | |
Convict, convert, | 34:03 | |
consecrate until we are wholly thine. | 34:06 | |
I do not know or understand fully what happened at this | 34:15 | |
experience at Pentecost. | 34:18 | |
But it does seem that Jesus' words in John | 34:21 | |
truly were fulfilled and that his spirit did come again | 34:23 | |
to his people. | 34:26 | |
It does seem to me that in this experience, | 34:28 | |
those who were gathered at Pentecost, | 34:30 | |
were those who were bound together with God, | 34:34 | |
those who were bound together with one another | 34:37 | |
and those who were bound together with the world | 34:40 | |
in which they lived. | 34:43 | |
And so I believe then, that perhaps Pentecost today | 34:45 | |
is a time for us to acknowledge, announce and act on | 34:49 | |
our oneness with God, | 34:54 | |
our oneness with each other | 34:57 | |
and our oneness with the world in which we live. | 35:00 | |
Some time ago in Nation magazine, | 35:06 | |
C. Wright Mills wrote an article entitled, | 35:11 | |
"A Pagan Sermon to the Christian Clergy." | 35:16 | |
And he hit the clergy and the church with some pretty | 35:22 | |
hard blows, he wrote, | 35:25 | |
"Religion today does not originate, | 35:28 | |
it reacts. | 35:32 | |
It does not denounce, | 35:35 | |
it adapts. | 35:38 | |
It does not set forth new models of conduct and sensibility, | 35:40 | |
it imitates. | 35:45 | |
Its rhetoric is without deep appeal. | 35:48 | |
The worship | 35:51 | |
it organizes is without piety. | 35:52 | |
Christianity is part of the moral defeat of men today. | 35:56 | |
Perhaps, though, it is no longer important enough | 36:01 | |
to be considered a cause." | 36:04 | |
Did you by any chance read the article in yesterday's paper? | 36:09 | |
Quoting a poll of some 2,000 plus | 36:15 | |
clergy in the United States today, | 36:18 | |
the poll's results are not surprising but they are shocking. | 36:23 | |
They are not unexpected but they are both disturbing | 36:29 | |
and disappointing. | 36:32 | |
The article read, | 36:34 | |
"While ministers cited for heresy, homosexuality | 36:36 | |
or radical politics receive the most headlines, | 36:40 | |
they're apparently the exception." | 36:43 | |
A Gallup poll commissioned by the evangelical bimonthly | 36:47 | |
magazine, Christianity Today reveals that most | 36:51 | |
Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy | 36:55 | |
are conservative, orthodox in theology | 36:59 | |
and satisfied with their jobs. | 37:03 | |
Can you believe that? | 37:05 | |
Is that really true? | 37:09 | |
Are those words normative and descriptive of the clergy | 37:14 | |
today and of the church of our lord | 37:18 | |
and savior, Jesus Christ? | 37:20 | |
Conservative, orthodox in theology | 37:21 | |
and satisfied with their jobs. | 37:24 | |
Well, I'm afraid, my friends, that it is true. | 37:32 | |
I'm afraid that C. Wright Mills' sermon is correct | 37:38 | |
and that the Gallup poll is accurate | 37:41 | |
but would these words have been true of Jesus Christ, | 37:45 | |
our Lord? | 37:49 | |
And would they have been true of the early church, | 37:52 | |
the church that had been empowered by the spirit of God | 37:54 | |
at Pentecost? | 37:58 | |
Did Jesus, did the early church | 38:01 | |
just react and adapt | 38:05 | |
and imitate? | 38:08 | |
Was Jesus or was the early church | 38:11 | |
conservative, orthodox | 38:15 | |
or satisfied with their jobs? | 38:18 | |
Somehow I think Jesus and the early church, | 38:22 | |
on fire with the spirit of God | 38:26 | |
were life changers, society changers, | 38:29 | |
law breakers, disturbers of the peace, | 38:33 | |
radicals, rebels, even revolutionaries, | 38:35 | |
pioneers of a new way, a new day, a new set of values | 38:38 | |
and priorities and commitments, willing to risk life, | 38:42 | |
limb and all that this world holds dear for the sake of | 38:46 | |
being true to the word and the call and the claim of God. | 38:49 | |
I don't see much of the power of the spirit of God | 38:53 | |
in myself or in the church. | 38:59 | |
But I see great and crying and desperate need | 39:04 | |
for the strength and the courage and the grace | 39:09 | |
and the will and drive and willingness to risk | 39:12 | |
and dare and give and love. | 39:14 | |
I see much need in the world today for what the church | 39:16 | |
and for what our lord stood for and lived out. | 39:20 | |
We live, you know as do I, in a time of brokenness, | 39:25 | |
of fragmentation, | 39:29 | |
of rioting, of death and destruction, | 39:31 | |
a time of injustice and tyranny, | 39:33 | |
a time of fear and restlessness and rootlessness | 39:36 | |
and homelessness. | 39:39 | |
And in such a time as this which probably is not greatly | 39:41 | |
different from the time of our lord and the time of the | 39:44 | |
early church, there are those among us in the church | 39:47 | |
and in society who would have us pull back our arms | 39:50 | |
of compassion. | 39:54 | |
There are those who would have us close ourselves | 39:56 | |
off from the world around us, seal our borders off | 39:58 | |
and make higher our walls. | 40:02 | |
There are those who would have us ignore the needs | 40:04 | |
of the weary and the hungry | 40:07 | |
and take care of ourselves and our own needs first | 40:08 | |
and foremost of all. | 40:12 | |
After all, these platitude pronouncing prophets remind us | 40:13 | |
charity begins at home. | 40:17 | |
There are those who would have us | 40:22 | |
cut back our welfare roles, | 40:26 | |
cut out food stamps for our own hungry and needy, | 40:29 | |
make tougher our laws, enlarge our police forces, | 40:32 | |
increase their weapons, show our force to the world | 40:36 | |
and to our own people, flaunt our might and our | 40:39 | |
power, become more strident, more tough and more selfish. | 40:42 | |
There are those who preach these things today | 40:46 | |
but on this holy day of Pentecost, | 40:49 | |
I ask you, my friends, is there not, the majority of | 40:52 | |
today's clergy notwithstanding, is there not a holy | 40:56 | |
activistic way of living? | 41:00 | |
Is there not a godly unorthodox way of believing? | 41:03 | |
And is there not a sacred dissatisfaction which we are to | 41:07 | |
have with our vocations, that the world and the church | 41:11 | |
and you and I long for and need and perhaps even pray for? | 41:15 | |
This is the day of Pentecost. | 41:19 | |
Let us celebrate. | 41:26 | |
That we are indeed bound together with the lord our God. | 41:30 | |
Acts reminds us, and they were all filled with the holy | 41:34 | |
spirit and that means being tied in in a oneness with God, | 41:38 | |
which knows no separation. | 41:42 | |
Let us pray that we may be receptive to the | 41:44 | |
coming and the moving and the changing power of | 41:48 | |
God's spirit. | 41:51 | |
This is the day of Pentecost. | 41:53 | |
Let us celebrate that we are bound together | 41:56 | |
with one another. | 41:59 | |
You notice Pentecost didn't happen to just one | 42:01 | |
by himself or herself. | 42:04 | |
It happened to all of them, all together. | 42:06 | |
There is no such thing as having church all by yourself. | 42:09 | |
And there is a binding together | 42:17 | |
that takes place not only with those of us who belong | 42:20 | |
to Christ and who belong to the church but also a | 42:23 | |
binding together that takes place between us and all | 42:26 | |
others of God's children. | 42:30 | |
The word of Acts reminds us, | 42:33 | |
and at this sound, the multitude came together. | 42:34 | |
Let us pray that we may be open and accepting | 42:41 | |
and receptive to one another. | 42:44 | |
As Christ would have us to be. | 42:48 | |
This is the day of Pentecost, let us celebrate | 42:52 | |
that we are bound together with the world in which we live. | 42:55 | |
The book of Acts reminds us, we hear them telling | 43:01 | |
in our own tongues, the mighty works of God. | 43:06 | |
The mighty works of God that are going on in us | 43:11 | |
and in the world. | 43:14 | |
Let us pray that God will remind us | 43:17 | |
that we are all one. | 43:21 | |
We are all children of one God | 43:24 | |
and we are all brothers and sisters to one another. | 43:27 | |
I think | 43:37 | |
these words were written in either the sixth or the | 43:38 | |
seventh century. | 43:41 | |
They used some sexist language | 43:43 | |
acknowledging that | 43:47 | |
they are filled with power. | 43:49 | |
(speaks foreign language) | 43:54 | |
Come holy ghost, | 43:57 | |
our souls, inspire, enlighten with celestial fire. | 44:00 | |
Thou, the anointing spirit art who dost they sevenfold | 44:06 | |
gifts impart. | 44:12 | |
Thy blessed unction from above is comfort, life and fire | 44:14 | |
of love. | 44:20 | |
Enable with perpetual light | 44:22 | |
the dullness of our blinded sight. | 44:25 | |
Anoint and cheer our soiled face | 44:29 | |
with the abundance of thy grace. | 44:33 | |
Keep far our foes, give peace at home | 44:37 | |
where thou art guide, no ill can come. | 44:40 | |
Teach us to know the father, son and thee of both to be | 44:45 | |
but one and through the ages all along, this may be our | 44:51 | |
endless song, praise to thy eternal merit, | 44:56 | |
father, son, and holy spirit. | 45:00 | |
This is the day of Pentecost. | 45:04 | |
The day when the power and the presence and the living | 45:08 | |
reality of our risen lord came back to Earth to live | 45:11 | |
among us, to renew us and to empower us. | 45:16 | |
All thanks and praise be to God. | 45:21 | |
Amen | 45:26 | |
and amen. | 45:28 | |
(organ music) | 45:42 | |
(hymnal singing) | 46:12 | |
- | Let us affirm what we believe. | 48:20 |
We believe in God who has created and is creating. | 48:24 | |
Who has come in the truly human Jesus | 48:29 | |
to reconcile and make new. | 48:32 | |
Who works in us and others by the spirit. | 48:35 | |
We trust God, who calls us to be the church. | 48:40 | |
To celebrate life and its fullness. | 48:45 | |
To love and serve others. | 48:48 | |
To seek justice and resist evil. | 48:51 | |
To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our judge and our | 48:54 | |
hope in life, in death, in life beyond death God is with us. | 49:00 | |
We are not alone, thanks be to god. | 49:08 | |
The lord be with you. | 49:13 | |
Let us pray. | 49:17 | |
Almighty and merciful God, | 49:27 | |
we give thanks this day that you sent your holy spirit | 49:31 | |
to kindle the zeal of Christ followers waiting in Jerusalem | 49:34 | |
for his promised gift. | 49:38 | |
We thank you that you continue to teach the hearts | 49:40 | |
of your faithful people. | 49:43 | |
That you have promised to remain with us | 49:45 | |
and with your church forever | 49:48 | |
and we give thanks that that same spirit leads us | 49:51 | |
as a body and as individuals into truth, | 49:54 | |
defends us from sin, | 49:59 | |
enriches us with gifts, | 50:02 | |
refreshes us with comfort, | 50:04 | |
rules our hearts in all things | 50:07 | |
and leads us into the life to come. | 50:10 | |
We remember those who have gone before us into that life | 50:15 | |
and continue to be with us in your universal church. | 50:19 | |
For their steadfastness, faithfulness | 50:23 | |
and example set before us, we are grateful | 50:26 | |
and we rejoice in their presence and your unending joy | 50:30 | |
and in our thankfulness may we too aspire in all our | 50:35 | |
words and deeds to advance your glory and your kingdom. | 50:40 | |
Unto you, the beginning and the end, | 50:45 | |
lord of the living, refuge of the dying, | 50:48 | |
be thanks and praise forever. | 50:51 | |
On this Pentecost Sunday, oh God, | 50:55 | |
our thoughts are with your church, | 50:58 | |
our home through Jesus Christ. | 51:00 | |
Remember the church at all times | 51:04 | |
and in all places with forgiveness. | 51:06 | |
We who people the church require your forgiving touch. | 51:10 | |
Our faith is often as weak as wet paper. | 51:15 | |
Our stubborn pride as strong as | 51:19 | |
the cables of suspension bridges. | 51:22 | |
We hesitate to speak your name in public. | 51:25 | |
We claim the joy of your service when we're not | 51:28 | |
otherwise engaged. | 51:31 | |
Make us more like the men and women of your household | 51:33 | |
on that first Pentecost so long ago. | 51:37 | |
Like a mighty wind rushed through the church, | 51:42 | |
gathered on all continents. | 51:45 | |
Whatever the language in which people praise you | 51:47 | |
and pray to you, | 51:50 | |
make us one in Christ. | 51:52 | |
Mock us when we mock you by pretending that one nation | 51:55 | |
or one race or one denomination has a corner on Christ. | 51:58 | |
Revive the power of your word in the churches of our land. | 52:04 | |
Tempt us, oh God, to love you | 52:10 | |
and to love one another more than we love social position, | 52:13 | |
financial security, rock concerts, | 52:16 | |
ball games, fine cars, | 52:20 | |
and freshly waxed floors. | 52:23 | |
Tempt us to love and guide your church in loving ways. | 52:26 | |
Teach us in this congregation to be more vigilant | 52:33 | |
in witness to you through word and deed. | 52:36 | |
Open our eyes more widely to need within our own community | 52:40 | |
and city and to the needs | 52:43 | |
we can meet in the nation and the world. | 52:46 | |
Keep us from self satisfaction and the warmth | 52:50 | |
of our fellowship. | 52:52 | |
And, oh God, we do pray for your church under persecution | 52:56 | |
in the Soviet Union, in parts of Latin America | 53:00 | |
and in some of the nations of Africa. | 53:04 | |
We pray today especially for the church in Liberia. | 53:07 | |
For the Liberian Christians and for the missionaries | 53:11 | |
who have remained with the Christian community | 53:14 | |
in these days of uncertainty. | 53:17 | |
We are aware and do rejoice in the growth of the church | 53:20 | |
in Africa and pray for peace in the nations | 53:24 | |
of that continent. | 53:28 | |
For those we love who hurt, oh God, | 53:31 | |
we make humble supplication. | 53:34 | |
We are grateful for all men and women who protect | 53:37 | |
freedom and justice and we pray for all those who are | 53:41 | |
victims of oppression and greed. | 53:45 | |
And on this Memorial Day weekend | 53:49 | |
we ask that you watch over those who gather in large | 53:52 | |
crowds for entertainment | 53:55 | |
and grant your traveling mercies to those who journey | 53:57 | |
away from home in order that they may return safely. | 54:00 | |
We pray in the name of your son, our savior, Jesus Christ | 54:05 | |
who taught us to pray together, | 54:10 | |
Our father who art in heaven, | 54:13 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 54:16 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 54:19 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 54:22 | |
Give us this day our daily bread, | 54:25 | |
and forgive us our trespasses | 54:28 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 54:31 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 54:35 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 54:37 | |
For thine is the kingdom and the power | 54:40 | |
and the glory forever, amen. | 54:43 | |
(organ music) | 55:02 | |
(hymnal singing) | 55:39 | |
(organ music) | 59:41 | |
Mighty God you do love us | 1:01:32 | |
and in this act we present ourselves to you. | 1:01:35 | |
Our work, our leisure, our joy, | 1:01:40 | |
our sorrow, our thoughts, our deeds | 1:01:44 | |
just as we are to be used by you in the world. | 1:01:48 | |
We humbly ask you to accept our offering as the personal | 1:01:53 | |
giving of our selves for the increase of good and in the | 1:01:57 | |
service of truth here and all over the Earth, amen. | 1:02:01 | |
(organ music) | 1:02:07 | |
(hymnal singing) | 1:02:48 | |
I would like to suggest to you that as you leave this | 1:05:46 | |
sanctuary today that you greet one another with the | 1:05:48 | |
words, the peace and spirit of God be with you | 1:05:52 | |
and now with God's love deep in our hearts, | 1:05:59 | |
with God's wisdom to know and understand, | 1:06:04 | |
with the holy spirit stirring in our souls, | 1:06:08 | |
let us go forth with power to care and share in our world | 1:06:13 | |
and may the peace of almighty God go with you | 1:06:21 | |
and remain with you and with those you love | 1:06:25 | |
this day and forever more. | 1:06:30 | |
(hymnal singing) | 1:06:36 | |
(organ music) | 1:07:33 |