Carl C. James - "The Motivators" (September 10, 1967) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

(upbeat piano intro)

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♪ Come, let us tune our loftiest song ♪

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♪ And raise to Christ our joyful strain ♪

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♪ Worship and thanks to Him belong ♪

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♪ Who reigns and shall forever reign ♪

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♪ His sovereign power our bodies made ♪

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♪ Our souls are His immortal breath ♪

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♪ And when His creatures sinned He bled ♪

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♪ To save us from eternal death ♪

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♪ Burn, every breast with Jesus' love ♪

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♪ Bound every heart with rapturous joy ♪

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♪ And saints on earth, with saints above ♪

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♪ Your voices in His praise employ ♪

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♪ Extol the Lamb with loftiest song ♪

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♪ And sing for Him our cheerful strain ♪

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♪ Worship and thanks to Him belong ♪

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♪ Who reigns and shall forever reign ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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-

May we now join together our hearts and our voices

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in our unison prayer of adoration.

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Let us pray.

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Eternal God, most blessed and most holy

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we worship and adore Thee.

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We acknowledge Thine infinite glory.

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We celebrate Thy divine majesty.

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We praise Thee, for the wonder of Thy love

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in Jesus Christ our Lord,

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Accept, we beseech Thee, the adoration of our hearts.

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And by Thy holy spirit

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enable us to worship Thee in the beauty of holiness,

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for to Thee Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

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we ascribe all honor and glory now and forever, Amen.

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May we join together in the prayer

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which Christ has taught us to pray

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saying, "Our father who art in heaven,

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hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come,

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Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread

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and forgive us our trespasses,

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as we forgive those who trespass against us

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and lead us not into temptation,

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but deliver us from evil

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for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever."

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Amen.

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Our scripture lesson today

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will be read by a member of our freshman football squad.

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Tom Landry, Jr. of Dallas, Texas.

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Scripture is from Acts 9:1-20.

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"Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats

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against the Lord's disciples,

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went to the high priest

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and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus

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so that if he found any man or woman there

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who belonged to the Way,

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that he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem,

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but on his journey, as he was approaching Damascus,

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a sudden light flashed around him from heaven

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and he fell to the ground.

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Then he heard a voice saying to him,

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'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'

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'Who are you, sir?' he asked.

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'I am Jesus, who you are persecuting,' said the voice,

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'But get up and go into the city

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and there you will be told what you ought to do.'

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Saul's fellow travelers stood speechless

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for they heard the voice, but could not see anyone.

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When he got up from the ground and opened his eyes,

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he could see nothing.

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They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus.

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And for three days he could not see

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and neither ate or drank.

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There was of Damascus, a disciple named Ananias.

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And the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.'

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And he answered, 'Yes, Lord,'

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the Lord said to him, 'Get up and go to the street,

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called the straight street

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and ask at the house of Judas

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for a man named Saul from Tarsus, for he is there praying.

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He has had a vision

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and seen a man named Ananias come to him

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and lay his hands on him to restore his sight.

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But Ananias answered,

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'Lord I have heard many people tell of this man

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and the harm is done to Your people in Jerusalem.

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He is here with authority to arrest anyone

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who calls upon Your name.'

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The Lord said to him,

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'Go, this man is the means I have chosen

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for carrying my name among the heathen and their kings

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and among the descendants of Israel

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for I'm going to show him

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what he will have to endure for my sake.

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Ananias set out and went to the house

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and there he laid his hands upon Saul and said to him,

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'Saul, my brother, I have sent by the Lord Jesus Christ,

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who appeared to you on your journey

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so that you may regain your sight

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and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'

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Something like scales immediately dropped from his eyes

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and his sight was restored and he got up and was baptized.

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And after taking some food, regained his strength,

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Saul stayed for some time with the disciples of Damascus

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and began it once to declare in the synagogues

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that Jesus was the son of God."

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Here endeth the lesson.

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-

I wish to say just a few words

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about a group that is national in scope,

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and which is local in its work,

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The Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

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Most of you who are here

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are familiar with this fellowship or organization

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and so I will say very little about it

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in the event there should be someone here

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who is not familiar with it,

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let me say that it is a national organization

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with headquarters in Kansas City,

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which is in its membership, entirely athletic,

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that is to say there are high school

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and professional athletes and coaches in the organization.

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And these athletes rather than churchmen, as such,

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determine the policies in the program of the FCA.

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In my opinion,

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it is one of the finest organizations in America today,

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one which has meant a great deal to our own Duke campus.

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And I feel will continue to mean a great deal to it

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in the years to come.

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We will be reorganizing it again this fall,

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as we do each year.

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There are some members of the football squad,

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some members of the basketball squad and track squad

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who have attended the summer conferences of the FCA.

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It is not a membership organization

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in the sense that one joins once for a lifetime,

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but membership constitutes primarily participation in it.

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And lack of participation

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means generally lack of membership.

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You will be seeing notices from time to time

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of our meetings this fall and through the winter,

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There is some expense connected with the operation

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of the program of the FCA and that expense

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is mainly sending athletes to summer conferences.

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This is a rather expensive undertaking

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and a very worthwhile one.

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Another thing which costs money

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is the sending of these athletes out occasionally

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to churches and high schools and youth groups in the area

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to make talks.

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Generally, the groups who invite them

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do not have the money to pay their expenses to go out there.

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There are other items which cost money,

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but each year in these two football services,

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the first two Sundays in September,

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we always have the offering

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go to the local chapter of the FCA.

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And so at the time that we have the offering,

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that is where all of the money

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in which you contribute will go.

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When the offering is received,

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it will be received by four of our five ushers this morning.

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They are Fred Zirkle, Jay Wilson, Roger Hayes,

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Herb Coins and Rodger Parker.

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We're grateful to these

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and to those who last Sunday helped us in our service.

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May we now stand as we sing the hymn,

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"O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing."

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(upbeat piano intro)

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♪ O, for a thousand tongues to sing ♪

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♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪

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♪ The glories of my God and King ♪

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♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪

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♪ My gracious Master and my God ♪

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♪ Assist me to proclaim ♪

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♪ To spread through all the earth abroad ♪

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♪ The honors of Thy name ♪

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♪ He breaks the pow'r of canceled sin ♪

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♪ He sets the pris'ner free ♪

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♪ His blood can make the foulest clean ♪

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♪ His blood availed in me ♪

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♪ He speaks and list'ning to His voice ♪

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♪ New life the dead receive ♪

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♪ The mournful, broken hearts rejoice ♪

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♪ The humble poor believe ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

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The minister who will lead our prayer now

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is the Reverend Elmer Hall

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who is Assistant Chaplain to the university.

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-

Let us pray.

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Almighty and everlasting God

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Thou who hast so wonderfully created us

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and who doest daily sustain us.

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We give Thee thanks for this opportunity to come together

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as Thy people to worship Thee.

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Thy majesty Lord is shrouded to our eyes in mystery

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and Thy ways are far beyond our knowing,

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yet thou has come close to us in Jesus Christ

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and hast called us to come before Thee in adoration,

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in praise and in love and so we come our Father.

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O God thou art the source of all good strength.

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We give these thanks for all the gifts of life

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that thou hast showered upon each of us,

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Especially for the gifts of help and bodily vigor.

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Thou has made a world where struggle brings strength

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and indolence leads to weakness.

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And we thank Thee, for those contests in our lives,

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which challenge the best in our minds and in our muscles

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Grant, O Lord, that the athletes of this university

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may grow in strength of body and keenness of mind

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through the games in which they participate.

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And grant that as they go onto the wider fields of life,

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That they may remember that what is hardest

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may be most rewarding

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and that the goal which is most distant

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may be the most glorious.

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Even as we thank Thee, O Lord, for Thy gifts,

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we are aware of our imperfect stewardship of ourselves

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and of thy world.

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And we confess that we have not lived responsibly

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before Thee and our fellow men.

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In our personal life and in our national life,

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as well as in our life as sportsmen,

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we have sometimes allowed our rivalries to become obsessions

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and our competitions to become wars.

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Forgive us, our Father,

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for all those sins which has made us incapable

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of welcoming Thy love in our hearts and in our lives.

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And encourage and empower us, we ask,

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to desire in our own lives, the life which is in Christ

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that is life, indeed.

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We lift our prayers, O Lord,

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for all who need Thy help this day,

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For those who are in any suffer of mind or body,

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or who are threatened by danger from within or without,

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we lift our prayers.

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Especially, O Lord, do we pray

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for the wider Fellowship of Christian Athletes,

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for those who share a concern to witness for Thee

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in all facets of their life.

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We would pray for coaches and players

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that on the playing fields of the schools

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all across our land,

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and especially here at our own university,

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that the lessons not only of sport,

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but also of life may be learned.

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We ask Thy special blessing at this time,

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for all those who would like to know

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the joy of competitive sports, but who cannot,

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the frail, the sick, the lame, the crippled

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and all those whose lives are cast in such a way

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that games are luxuries which they cannot afford.

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As Thou alone canst do, O God,

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bring to all such men and women fullness of life

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and the development of their own particular talents.

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And finally, O Lord, we pray that by the aid,

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each of us may keep through all the changes of our life,

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the joy of a clear and a Christian conscience,

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knowing that by Thy grace,

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the gifts which are within each of us

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may not be lost through disuse nor destroyed through misuse

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but developed in these days

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for greater service to the world and to Thy Kingdom,

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these things, O Lord,

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and whatsoever else, Thou seest needful and right for us,

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we ask in the name of Christ,

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who not having seen, yet we love, Amen.

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(relaxing piano music)

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