Robert T. Young - "For the Living of These Days" (September 28, 1980)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(reverent organ music) | 0:03 | |
(peaceful organ music) | 4:32 | |
♪ Beautiful savior, ♪ | 9:55 | |
♪ Lord of our nations, ♪ | 10:04 | |
♪ Son of God and son of man ♪ | 10:12 | |
♪ Glory and honor, ♪ | 10:26 | |
♪ Praise, adoration, ♪ | 10:33 | |
♪ Now and forevermore be thine ♪ | 10:39 | |
♪ Now and forevermore be thine ♪ | 10:51 | |
(joyful organ music) | 11:15 | |
(joyful choral music) | 11:57 | |
(upbeat choral music) | 13:30 | |
- | Dearly beloved, the scriptures move us | 16:00 |
to acknowledge and confess our sins | 16:04 | |
before almighty God with a humble, | 16:08 | |
lowly, penitent, and obedient heart | 16:12 | |
to the end that we may obtain | 16:17 | |
forgiveness by his infinite goodness and mercy. | 16:19 | |
Let us therefore as we begin our worship this morning | 16:27 | |
turn unto God and confess our sin before | 16:31 | |
him and one another, let us be seated and let us pray. | 16:37 | |
Oh lord our God, this morning | 17:00 | |
we would do more than celebrate the coming | 17:04 | |
of your spirit, we pray that we will be | 17:06 | |
baptized again with your spirit. | 17:10 | |
We confess that we lack your spirit | 17:14 | |
because we do not bear very well the fruits of your spirit. | 17:17 | |
Love is occasional for us not constant, | 17:24 | |
joy is seasonal like a passing mood, | 17:29 | |
peace is not real within or around us, | 17:34 | |
patience is not what we practice, | 17:39 | |
kindness is only returned for kindness, | 17:43 | |
self control is lost in our self centeredness. | 17:48 | |
Because these fruits of your spirit are not | 17:53 | |
found in abundance in our lives, | 17:56 | |
we pray for your spirit to come and fill us. | 18:00 | |
Teach us to learn how to wait until | 18:04 | |
we receive your promise, spirit, | 18:08 | |
teach us to learn how to watch until | 18:11 | |
we perceive where your spirit is present | 18:15 | |
and at work, teach us to learn how to receive | 18:18 | |
until your spirit is alive and real | 18:23 | |
within us through Jesus Christ. | 18:26 | |
Oh lord as we turn unto you this morning, | 18:50 | |
we ask that you would mercifully hear our prayers | 18:55 | |
and spare all those who confess their sins | 19:00 | |
unto you that they whose conscience is by sin | 19:06 | |
are accused, by thy merciful pardon may be absolved | 19:11 | |
through Jesus Christ our lord. | 19:18 | |
Amen. | 19:24 | |
Let us give thanks for God is good | 19:31 | |
and God's love is ever lasting. | 19:35 | |
- | Thanks be to God, whose love is everlasting. | 19:40 |
- | Thanks be to God whose mercy forgives us. | 19:44 |
Thanks be to God whose promise secures us, amen. | 19:49 | |
We welcome you to this service of worship in Duke Chapel | 20:00 | |
and our hope is that as we join together | 20:07 | |
in this high and holy moment | 20:11 | |
in this very special place, | 20:14 | |
that we will truly be united in the spirit of Jesus Christ, | 20:18 | |
that though we are a large congregation | 20:26 | |
in an imposing place, we may feel | 20:29 | |
the spirit move amongst us | 20:34 | |
and be drawn together. | 20:37 | |
In our shared commitment and in our common faith. | 20:43 | |
We have two special groups this morning | 20:50 | |
that we want to recognize worshiping | 20:52 | |
in our midst at Duke Chapel. | 20:54 | |
One is a group of United Methodist Women | 20:57 | |
from the Charlotte district in North Carolina | 21:00 | |
who have come together today to worship with us. | 21:04 | |
We welcome you, we pray God's blessing upon you, | 21:09 | |
we hope you'll come back often. | 21:14 | |
And another special group that's come a good bit further | 21:16 | |
than Charlotte, we have worshiping with us | 21:20 | |
this morning the Japanese Women's National Gymnastics team | 21:24 | |
and I'm gonna ask them if they will please | 21:31 | |
to stand and let us welcome you, thank you. | 21:34 | |
We are so glad to have you with us | 21:42 | |
and they are going to be doing an exhibition | 21:46 | |
this afternoon and we're glad to have you | 21:49 | |
at Duke University and in Duke Chapel. | 21:54 | |
May God's rich blessings be unto all of us | 22:04 | |
as we worship this day. | 22:11 | |
- | Let us pray. | 22:21 |
Prepare our hearts, oh lord to accept your word. | 22:26 | |
Silence in us any voice but your own | 22:31 | |
that hearing we may also obey your will | 22:34 | |
through Jesus Christ our lord, amen. | 22:39 | |
The Old Testament lesson is from Amos chapter eight | 22:45 | |
verses four through eight. | 22:50 | |
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy | 22:54 | |
and bring the poor of the land to an end, | 22:58 | |
saying, when will the new moon be over | 23:01 | |
that we may sell grain? | 23:05 | |
And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, | 23:07 | |
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great | 23:11 | |
and deal deceitfully with false balances, | 23:16 | |
that we may buy the poor for silver | 23:19 | |
and the needy for a pair of sandals | 23:23 | |
and sell the refuse of the wheat? | 23:26 | |
The lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, | 23:30 | |
surely I will never forget any of their deeds. | 23:33 | |
Shall not the land tremble on this account, | 23:38 | |
and everyone mourn who dwells in it, | 23:42 | |
and all of it rise like the Nile, | 23:46 | |
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? | 23:49 | |
Here ends the reading from the Old Testament, amen. | 23:55 | |
(solemn organ music) | 24:06 | |
(solemn choral music) | 25:07 | |
The Epistle lesson is from the first letter | 27:11 | |
of Paul to Timothy, chapter two verses one through eight. | 27:13 | |
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, | 27:20 | |
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings | 27:24 | |
be made for all men, for kings and all | 27:29 | |
who are in high positions, | 27:33 | |
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, | 27:36 | |
godly and respectful in every way. | 27:40 | |
This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight | 27:44 | |
of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved | 27:47 | |
and to come to the knowledge of the truth. | 27:52 | |
For there is one God, and there is one mediator | 27:56 | |
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, | 28:00 | |
who gave himself as a ransom for all, | 28:04 | |
the testimony to which was born at the proper time. | 28:09 | |
For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle. | 28:13 | |
I am telling the truth, I am not lying. | 28:18 | |
A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. | 28:21 | |
I desire then, that in every place men should pray, | 28:27 | |
lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. | 28:32 | |
Here ends the reading of the Epistle lesson, amen. | 28:38 | |
(joyful organ choral music) | 28:45 | |
- | Let us pray. | 29:47 |
Now may the words of my lips | 29:50 | |
in the meditations of our hearts | 29:52 | |
be acceptable in thy sight, oh lord | 29:55 | |
our strength and our redeemer, amen. | 29:58 | |
One of the truly great hymns of the church | 30:05 | |
is the hymn that Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote | 30:12 | |
to be sung at the occasion | 30:17 | |
of the service of dedication | 30:19 | |
for the great River Side Church in New York City. | 30:23 | |
I offer it this morning somewhat as a prayer | 30:29 | |
of supplication and of intercession for us | 30:32 | |
and for all God's children. | 30:36 | |
God of grace and God of glory, | 30:40 | |
on thy people pour thy power. | 30:43 | |
Crown thine ancient church's story, | 30:47 | |
bring her bud to glorious flower. | 30:51 | |
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage | 30:54 | |
for the facing of this hour. | 30:57 | |
Lo the hosts of evil round us | 31:01 | |
scorn thy Christ assail his ways, | 31:04 | |
fears and doubts too long have bound us. | 31:08 | |
Free our hearts to work and praise. | 31:11 | |
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage | 31:15 | |
for the living of these days. | 31:18 | |
For the living of these days. | 31:21 | |
The writer first Timothy says to us | 31:25 | |
first of all then that is of primary | 31:27 | |
and utmost and of vital importance | 31:31 | |
I urge that is I exhort or I plead | 31:33 | |
or I implore, first of all I urge | 31:37 | |
that supplications, prayers, intercessions | 31:41 | |
and thanksgiving that is prayers prayers prayers | 31:44 | |
and more prayers be made for all men | 31:47 | |
that is for all persons, men, women, youth, children | 31:50 | |
everybody, everyone, everywhere for kings | 31:55 | |
and all who are in high positions. | 31:58 | |
Why? These prayers are to be offered | 32:01 | |
for all persons for all men, for all persons | 32:04 | |
in high positions and for everyone | 32:07 | |
so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, | 32:09 | |
godly and respectful in every way, | 32:14 | |
this is good and it is acceptable in the sight of God. | 32:20 | |
There is one message, it seems to me, | 32:26 | |
that comes bursting forth from these | 32:28 | |
words of scripture, one word that longs | 32:30 | |
to be heard, one song that must be sung, | 32:33 | |
one sermon that must be preached | 32:35 | |
and that is this that God's love and concern | 32:38 | |
are for the good of all persons everywhere. | 32:41 | |
That is why I believe that our hard | 32:49 | |
and fast borders, our sectional and divided, | 32:51 | |
our closed in and closed out ways of looking | 32:54 | |
at ourselves geographically must go | 32:58 | |
and perhaps someday soon. | 33:02 | |
That is why our nationalistic self-serving, | 33:05 | |
my country, right or wrong ways of looking at ourselves | 33:09 | |
politically must go and perhaps someday soon. | 33:12 | |
That is why our sectarian, parochial, | 33:19 | |
self-seeking and self-righteous ways | 33:23 | |
of viewing ourselves religiously must go | 33:26 | |
and perhaps someday soon. | 33:30 | |
That is why the message, | 33:35 | |
the message we need for the living | 33:38 | |
of these days is one world, one people, | 33:40 | |
one lord, one God who made us all, | 33:43 | |
one God who claims us all and calls us all, | 33:46 | |
one God who loves us all. | 33:49 | |
Yes, God's love and concern are for the good | 33:53 | |
of all persons everywhere. | 33:57 | |
That is why the little song that many | 34:01 | |
of us sung in Sunday school | 34:03 | |
planted a message inside us | 34:05 | |
far deeper and far more profound | 34:07 | |
and far more lasting than those who taught us | 34:10 | |
and far more lasting and far more | 34:13 | |
profound than even those of us | 34:15 | |
who learned to sing it ever knew. | 34:17 | |
Red and yellow, black and white, | 34:19 | |
all are precious in God's sight. | 34:22 | |
Jesus loves the little children of the world. | 34:24 | |
Jesus loves, God loves, the Holy Spirit loves, | 34:32 | |
the one God loves all God's children all over the world, | 34:35 | |
yes God's love and concern are | 34:41 | |
for all the people of the world. | 34:43 | |
That is why the story that I read | 34:47 | |
and I'm sure that many of you read | 34:51 | |
about what the reverend Bailey Smith said | 34:52 | |
seems so absolutely unthinkable to me. | 34:56 | |
Unthinkable for anyone to make such | 35:01 | |
an audacious, presumptuous, arrogant, self righteous boast | 35:03 | |
as the Reverend, Mr. Smith made. | 35:07 | |
He currently serves as the pastor of | 35:11 | |
First Baptist Church in Del City, Oklahoma | 35:12 | |
and was recently elected president | 35:15 | |
of the Southern Baptist Convention, | 35:18 | |
the head of 13 and a half million southern Baptists. | 35:20 | |
Speaking to a gathering of fundamentalist | 35:27 | |
Christians recently he said, | 35:29 | |
with all due respect to these dear people, | 35:32 | |
my friends, God almighty does not hear | 35:35 | |
the prayers of a Jew. | 35:38 | |
How unthinkable. | 35:44 | |
How unbelievable that one could read | 35:48 | |
God's word and not know that God's love | 35:52 | |
and God's concern are for all people. | 35:55 | |
And that every prayer, unuttered or expressed | 35:59 | |
by any child of God is surely heard by the Lord God. | 36:04 | |
First Timothy reads, I urge that supplications, | 36:12 | |
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings | 36:16 | |
be made for all, for all that is why | 36:18 | |
we need wisdom and courage for the living | 36:21 | |
of these days, that is why war, | 36:23 | |
rumors of war, threats of war, build up for war | 36:27 | |
preparation for war are so disturbing today | 36:30 | |
it was the late great statesman Sir Winston Churchill | 36:33 | |
who once said if you prepare for war | 36:37 | |
and prepare for war sooner or later you will get war. | 36:39 | |
God's concern is for all these days. | 36:45 | |
That's why the threat of another nuclear holocaust | 36:50 | |
is so frightening and so disturbing to so many of us. | 36:53 | |
Dr. Harvey Cox is Professor of Theology | 36:56 | |
at Harvard Divinity School said not too long ago, | 36:59 | |
that he could hardly believe a recent | 37:02 | |
California poll which revealed that 84% | 37:04 | |
of those persons interviewed believed | 37:09 | |
that a nuclear war is likely and further | 37:11 | |
believe that they will not survive it, 84%. | 37:16 | |
Shocked at the results of this poll in California, | 37:22 | |
Dr. Cox took a survey of his own Divinity School | 37:25 | |
students and he found that the majority of them | 37:28 | |
feel exactly the same way. | 37:31 | |
The man was absolutely right. | 37:37 | |
The man I heard the other day who said | 37:40 | |
we want the morning paper but we're afraid | 37:42 | |
to go and pick it up. | 37:46 | |
God's love and concern are for all people | 37:51 | |
that's the word that must be heard this morning. | 37:54 | |
Surely today we live in a world | 37:57 | |
that is too small for anything but honesty, | 38:00 | |
too busy for anything but truth, | 38:03 | |
and too dangerous for anything but love. | 38:06 | |
Surely, Gunner Murdough, the sociologist | 38:11 | |
is right when he says about all of us, | 38:14 | |
behind all outward dissimilarities, | 38:18 | |
behind their contradictory evaluations, | 38:23 | |
rationalizations, vested interests, | 38:26 | |
group allegiances and animosities, | 38:30 | |
behind fears and defense constructions, | 38:34 | |
behind the role they play and the masks they wear, | 38:37 | |
people are all much alike on a fundamental level | 38:41 | |
and they are all good people. | 38:46 | |
They want to be rational and just. | 38:49 | |
Yes we all do want to be good people don't we, | 38:56 | |
we all do want to be rational and just | 39:00 | |
and perhaps that is why the word of God | 39:03 | |
simply reminds us over and over again | 39:05 | |
to be rational and just. | 39:09 | |
And the word does remind us to be rational and just | 39:13 | |
but perhaps this is why Reinhold Niebuhr in his book | 39:17 | |
Justice and Mercy tells us, it's very difficult | 39:21 | |
to preach the gospel honestly. | 39:25 | |
And Dr. Niebuhr said this near the end | 39:28 | |
of a long and brilliant career of teaching | 39:30 | |
and preaching, it is very difficult | 39:32 | |
to preach the gospel honestly for it means | 39:34 | |
to preach the severity of God to the proud | 39:38 | |
and the mercy of God to the broken hearted. | 39:41 | |
Sure it does. | 39:45 | |
There are times when we are too proud | 39:47 | |
and we need the severity of God preached to us | 39:50 | |
and there are times indeed when we are | 39:53 | |
broken hearted and we need the mercy of God preached to us. | 39:55 | |
Perhaps John Keats, the poet, was correct | 40:00 | |
when he wrote, the essential problem is | 40:02 | |
that we live close together without meeting one another. | 40:05 | |
God wants us not only to live close together | 40:13 | |
but God wants us also to meet one another, | 40:15 | |
God's love and concern, my friends this morning | 40:18 | |
surely are for all people. | 40:21 | |
We are to make supplications, prayers, | 40:25 | |
intercessions, and thanksgivings for all | 40:27 | |
so that we might have the wisdom, the courage | 40:29 | |
for the living of these days, | 40:32 | |
we pray for all kings and others including | 40:34 | |
all who are in high places that we might | 40:37 | |
lead a quiet and peaceable life, | 40:39 | |
godly and respectful in every way | 40:44 | |
for this is pleasing to God, four simple things | 40:47 | |
for the living of these days, | 40:52 | |
four simple things that's all most of us | 40:55 | |
in this world want anyhow isn't it? | 40:58 | |
Some of the simple things of life. | 41:01 | |
Not many of us want fame or fortune | 41:04 | |
nor brilliance, nor affluence, | 41:06 | |
we do not want riches or power, | 41:09 | |
we do not want to live in mighty palaces | 41:12 | |
nor have golden wardrobes, nor feasts of food, | 41:14 | |
nor appear on front page articles. | 41:17 | |
Most of us want just the simple things of life. | 41:21 | |
That's all, my friends this morning, that the people | 41:25 | |
of Afghanistan and Russia surely want. | 41:27 | |
Isn't that all the people of Iran and Iraq want today? | 41:32 | |
The people of El Salvador and Guatemala? | 41:38 | |
Of Chile, and Brazil, of Zimbabwe, and Ghana? | 41:41 | |
That's all the people who live down the hall | 41:48 | |
from you or across the hall from you, | 41:50 | |
or who live in the same room with you | 41:54 | |
or down the street from you, that's all they want isn't it? | 41:57 | |
Just the simple but the lasting things of life. | 42:01 | |
Food and clothes and shelter, and good health | 42:09 | |
the simple things of life. | 42:14 | |
Pray to God then that we might lead | 42:17 | |
a quiet life, not hurried or frantic, | 42:19 | |
not frenzied or frenetic, not lives | 42:22 | |
constantly disturbed or intruded upon. | 42:25 | |
Psychologists and psychiatrists today | 42:29 | |
are telling us how very very important | 42:31 | |
it is for each one of us to have | 42:33 | |
some time and some space that is all our own, | 42:35 | |
some quiet time when we can | 42:38 | |
do as the psalmists said when we can be still | 42:41 | |
and know that God is really God. | 42:44 | |
Howard Thurman who preached here | 42:50 | |
a year or so ago, beautifully tells us | 42:52 | |
the profoundest disclosure | 42:56 | |
in the religious experience is the awareness | 42:59 | |
that one is not alone. | 43:03 | |
Live a quiet life. | 43:10 | |
A quiet and simple life. | 43:14 | |
Knowing that one is not alone. | 43:17 | |
Pray to God for all that we might live peaceable lives. | 43:22 | |
In a book of Thomas Langford's that's soon | 43:29 | |
to be published where he talks about the | 43:32 | |
fruits of the spirit, he talks about | 43:34 | |
how peace is love at its depth. | 43:37 | |
Peace is love at its depth, I believe, | 43:42 | |
it is love at its depth and its breadth. | 43:46 | |
A peaceable way of living is that peaceful | 43:53 | |
feeling that comes at its depth | 43:55 | |
that comes to me or to you deep down | 43:57 | |
inside when I know and believe that I am | 44:00 | |
of some worth, that it is God who | 44:03 | |
has created me and it is God who | 44:06 | |
has placed inherent and eternal value in me | 44:08 | |
and that it is God's spirit speaking | 44:12 | |
to my spirit to say peace be still, | 44:14 | |
peace within your soul. | 44:17 | |
To live peaceable though also means | 44:21 | |
not only knowing peace at its depth | 44:23 | |
it also means knowing peace at its breadth. | 44:27 | |
And peace at its breadth is that peace | 44:32 | |
that can look at any child of God | 44:34 | |
or can be aware of any child of God | 44:37 | |
anywhere upon the face of this Earth | 44:39 | |
and know that that child is just | 44:42 | |
as precious in God's sight as any one of the rest of us. | 44:44 | |
Surely God has created each one of us | 44:48 | |
Imago Dei in the image of God, | 44:51 | |
and if there is value and beauty and goodness | 44:53 | |
and meaning in any one of us | 44:56 | |
that same value and beauty and meaning and goodness | 44:57 | |
are in every child of God. And so love | 45:00 | |
at its depth means that I believe that for myself | 45:04 | |
and I understand it deep within my soul, | 45:06 | |
love at its breadth that kind of peace | 45:08 | |
comes when I can acknowledge that and claim that | 45:11 | |
and believe that about my brother and my sister | 45:13 | |
whoever they may be. | 45:16 | |
To live peaceable lives. | 45:19 | |
Pray to God that we may all live respectful lives. | 45:25 | |
This summer I was in a group where we were | 45:32 | |
talking about the brokenness that we all | 45:34 | |
experience in this day in which you and I live. | 45:37 | |
We talked about separation and estrangement, | 45:42 | |
we talked about loneliness and hunger | 45:45 | |
and disease and poverty and illness | 45:47 | |
and sickness of all kind, we talked | 45:49 | |
about all sorts of personal and societal | 45:51 | |
and institutional brokenness that is all around us | 45:55 | |
and that we experience all of us | 45:59 | |
in some way or other most all the time. | 46:02 | |
The leader of the group said think for just | 46:05 | |
a few minutes and try to see if you can | 46:08 | |
verbalize what you believe are some of the root | 46:12 | |
causes of the brokenness that we live with | 46:15 | |
and that surround us and that are a part of us | 46:17 | |
and so we did, we sat and reflected for a few moments. | 46:19 | |
And I said then and I say to you this morning | 46:28 | |
that I believe that one of the most serious root causes | 46:30 | |
of brokenness as you and I know it | 46:38 | |
and as others around us know it is | 46:41 | |
the basic lack of respect for one's own personhood, | 46:44 | |
and a concomitant basic lack of respect | 46:52 | |
for the personhood of others. | 46:56 | |
We do some very damaging and destructive | 47:01 | |
and degrading things to ourselves | 47:03 | |
that I believe we would not do | 47:05 | |
if we really believed and if we really respected | 47:06 | |
our own selves, the personhood of ourselves. | 47:10 | |
Surely we do many damaging, degrading, | 47:15 | |
and destructive things to one another | 47:18 | |
that we could not do, that we would | 47:21 | |
not dare to do if we did respect the personhood | 47:22 | |
and the value and the worth of each other. | 47:27 | |
Someone said recently that | 47:37 | |
most people think that it is love | 47:39 | |
that holds a good marriage, a healthy marriage together, | 47:41 | |
and this person said it's not love at all. | 47:47 | |
Of all the healthy, good, lasting marriages | 47:50 | |
that I have known this person said | 47:52 | |
the thing that has been most prominent | 47:54 | |
in them is a basic respect that each | 47:57 | |
person had for the other. | 48:00 | |
And I think that's true of any lasting | 48:03 | |
personal relationship, any good healthy | 48:05 | |
relationship it is that there is | 48:08 | |
within it a basic respect for one another. | 48:10 | |
Pray to God that we might all live godly lives. | 48:16 | |
My friends this morning let us claim again | 48:23 | |
for ourselves and for others | 48:26 | |
and for the world a godly | 48:31 | |
dimension to life, a right dimension, a holy dimension. | 48:34 | |
Let us claim a character of holiness, | 48:41 | |
of goodness, of rightness, of righteousness, | 48:43 | |
of beauty, of loveliness, of kindness, | 48:46 | |
justice and mercy, let us claim again | 48:50 | |
something of the godly for life. | 48:54 | |
Ours and others. | 48:59 | |
Part of the travesty and the tragedy | 49:02 | |
that I see in so much that I observe | 49:04 | |
going on in this world | 49:06 | |
disturbs me and breaks my heart | 49:09 | |
not because much of what I see | 49:11 | |
is necessarily immoral or evil or sinful. | 49:14 | |
But perhaps the thing that is really | 49:23 | |
blasphemy to God and to God's presence in our midst | 49:25 | |
is that in many ways in our living | 49:32 | |
every day we have trivialized what is holy | 49:34 | |
and godly and good and right and beautiful. | 49:40 | |
Sex for example, | 49:46 | |
it's not that pornographic movies | 49:50 | |
and books and magazines and television shows, | 49:52 | |
even those that are on at prime time | 49:58 | |
it's not that these are necessarily | 50:00 | |
immoral, or evil or sinful. | 50:02 | |
But what has happened and is happening | 50:08 | |
is that something godly and beautiful | 50:11 | |
and holy and lovely and full of goodness | 50:13 | |
is being treated trivially | 50:20 | |
and in a common, trashy way. | 50:26 | |
That we might live godly lives. | 50:32 | |
Where our lives can reflect something | 50:37 | |
of the goodness, and the holiness, | 50:39 | |
and the rightness, and the beauty of God. | 50:41 | |
Pray for all, for all kings | 50:48 | |
and all who are in high positions | 50:51 | |
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life | 50:53 | |
godly and respectful in every way | 50:58 | |
for this is good and it is acceptable | 51:01 | |
in the sight of God our savior | 51:04 | |
who desires that we all should be saved. | 51:07 | |
God of grace, god of glory, | 51:14 | |
on us thy people pour thy power. | 51:20 | |
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, | 51:26 | |
for the living of these days. | 51:31 | |
Amen. | 51:37 | |
(reverent organ music) | 51:50 | |
(reverent choral music) | 52:18 | |
- | Let us affirm what we believe. | 54:20 |
We believe in God who has created | 54:25 | |
and is creating who has come | 54:28 | |
in the truly human Jesus, | 54:32 | |
to reconcile and to make new, | 54:34 | |
who works in us and others by the spirit. | 54:38 | |
We trust God who calls us to be the Church, | 54:42 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 54:47 | |
to love and serve others, | 54:51 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 54:54 | |
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 54:57 | |
our judge and our hope. | 55:02 | |
In life, in death, in life beyond death, | 55:05 | |
God is with us. | 55:10 | |
We are not alone, thanks be to God. | 55:12 | |
The lord be with you. | 55:18 | |
- | And with your spirit. | 55:20 |
- | Let us be seated and let us pray. | 55:22 |
Great art thou, oh Lord, and greatly to be praised, | 55:37 | |
thou hast made us for thyself, | 55:48 | |
and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee. | 55:53 | |
Give us grace in this hour | 56:00 | |
to open our hearts and receive thy holy spirit | 56:05 | |
and hear thou our prayers. | 56:13 | |
Let us pray for this university | 56:18 | |
in which our lives take place. | 56:23 | |
Oh God look upon Duke | 56:31 | |
with thy continuing favor and sustaining grace. | 56:36 | |
Help us as an institution of higher learning | 56:45 | |
to claim the heritage that is ours | 56:50 | |
which ever unites proper trust and faith | 56:54 | |
in thee with advanced research and scholarship. | 57:00 | |
That our learning may be purposeful | 57:08 | |
and directed unto the good of thy people. | 57:13 | |
And let us pray for the church of Jesus Christ. | 57:21 | |
Oh God deepen the influence of your church | 57:28 | |
extend her power for good, | 57:35 | |
in a world that needs that power so very much | 57:40 | |
and let us pray for our beloved land. | 57:48 | |
Oh god for our leaders and governors, | 57:53 | |
for all those who have part in public service, | 57:57 | |
make them pure in motive, wise in council | 58:06 | |
and strong in action | 58:09 | |
that this land in which we live | 58:16 | |
may be a good and blessed place. | 58:22 | |
And let us pray this morning for our distraught | 58:29 | |
and fevered world, | 58:32 | |
our attentions are directed, oh god | 58:38 | |
especially to the Middle East, | 58:40 | |
but we know that it's not only in the Middle East | 58:47 | |
but in every place where mistake and ambition | 58:50 | |
and selfish passion threatens the peace of the world. | 58:54 | |
Oh God remove suspicion and bitterness from | 59:03 | |
among the nations and bring them to peace and concord | 59:06 | |
by the redeeming love of Jesus Christ | 59:12 | |
and let us pray this morning for all those | 59:17 | |
who are passing through sore trial | 59:20 | |
especially for the poor, the sick, | 59:23 | |
the anxious, the oppressed, | 59:27 | |
those who are in danger, | 59:32 | |
those who are troubled for whatever reason, | 59:35 | |
inspire in us and in our fellow men and women | 59:40 | |
the will to help our suffering brethren. | 59:44 | |
Heal, protect and strengthen them | 59:49 | |
according to their need, especially | 59:52 | |
do thou comfort those in sorrow | 59:55 | |
with the comfort which is in Jesus Christ our lord. | 59:59 | |
Many of us are separated from those | 1:00:06 | |
most dear unto us, | 1:00:08 | |
wherever they are surround them by love. | 1:00:12 | |
We remember our families, | 1:00:17 | |
and pray that they may abide in safety and peace. | 1:00:21 | |
All these things we ask in the name | 1:00:30 | |
of Jesus Christ our lord who taught | 1:00:32 | |
his church to pray together. | 1:00:34 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, | 1:00:37 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 1:00:40 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 1:00:43 | |
on Earth as it is in Heaven. | 1:00:47 | |
Give us this day our daily bread. | 1:00:50 | |
And forgive us our trespasses, | 1:00:53 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:00:56 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 1:01:00 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 1:01:02 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 1:01:05 | |
and the glory, for ever and ever, amen. | 1:01:08 | |
Let us respond to God's grace as we share that | 1:01:13 | |
which we have received from him. | 1:01:18 | |
(joyful choral music) | 1:01:43 | |
(joyful choral music) | 1:07:29 | |
Accept this money, oh God | 1:08:29 | |
as true symbols of our desire and intention | 1:08:35 | |
to rededicate ourselves unto you, amen. | 1:08:41 | |
(solemn organ music) | 1:08:51 | |
(solemn choral music) | 1:09:31 | |
And now unto God's gracious mercy and protection | 1:13:23 | |
we commit you and the blessing of God almighty | 1:13:27 | |
the father, the son, and the holy spirit | 1:13:30 | |
be with you both now and forevermore, amen. | 1:13:33 | |
(joyful choral music) | 1:13:39 | |
(solemn organ music) | 1:14:00 |