William H. Willimon - "On the Interpretation of Dreams" (September 20, 1992) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

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Enjoying a restful Saturday.

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I wanted you to know that our choir

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was on an all day retreat

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preparing their music for the fall.

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Our choir is now complete

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with about 146 dedicated singers,

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and we are thankful for the many weekends

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and the work that our choir puts in.

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This week, the choir has finalized their plans

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for a post-Christmas tour

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to represent Duke and you

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and Poland and Czechoslovakia.

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We thank all of those who have contributed

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to the chapel choir tour

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and invite any of you

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that would like to contribute to do so.

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We are very proud of the choir here

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on Sunday morning.

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And now, Debra Brazzel,

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who is our Director of Religious Life

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and Assistant Dean of the Chapel

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is going to introduce some

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of our religious group leaders to you.

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Would the staff please come forward?

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While they're doing that,

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I just wanted to say a couple of words

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about the Religious Life program at Duke.

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Most people are not aware of the variety

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of activity that we have here.

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I invite you to come into the chapel basement

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sometime any day during the week,

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and you'll discover that it is a beehive of activity.

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There are 22 different religious groups on campus,

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and those include Catholic and Protestant groups,

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Jewish and Muslim groups.

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It's a very dynamic and active program

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and we are grateful to them

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for the incredible service that they offer

1:34

to the Duke community here.

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Let me introduce you,

1:39

beginning at the front,

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Sherry Moore, who is our Faith and Arts intern,

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Beau and Vicky Gordy-Stiff

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who are the graduate and professional student interns

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and work with a graduate

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and professional student fellowship,

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Steve Huerti who is representing

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the Catholic Campus Ministry,

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Anne Hodgess-Couple who is here representing

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and is the priest for the Episcopal Student Center,

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Patty George who is representing the Presbyterian

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West Minster Fellowship,

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Ollie Jenkins here at the back

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who is here with Wesley Campus Ministry,

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Nancy Fari-Clarke who is the pastor

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to the congregation at Duke Chapel,

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and Rhonda Davis down in the middle here

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who is the Baptist Student Union intern.

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Again, we are grateful to them

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for the service that they provide for us

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at Duke Chapel

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and wanted you to have a chance to meet them.

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They will also be in the Narthex

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at the end of the service

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for any of you who would like to have a chance

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to know them better.

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Thank you all for coming today.

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(sweet organ music)

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♪ Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior ♪

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♪ All the angel hosts in heaven sing ♪

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♪ Make us on earth also worthy ♪

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♪ With a pure heart ♪

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♪ To glorify Thee ♪

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Pastor

Please, stand.

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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

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Congregation

And also with you.

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Pastor

The risen Christ is with us.

3:51

Congregation

Praise the Lord.

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(God, Whose Love is Reigning O'er Us)

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♪ God, whose love is reigning o'er us ♪

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♪ Source of all, the ending true ♪

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♪ Hear the universal chorus ♪

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♪ Raised in joyful praise to you ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

4:59

♪ Worship ancient ♪

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♪ Worship new ♪

5:04

♪ Word of God from nature bringing ♪

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♪ Springtime green and autumn gold ♪

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♪ Mountain streams like children singing ♪

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♪ Ocean waves like thunder bold ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

5:34

♪ Alleluia ♪

5:37

♪ As creation's tale is told ♪

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♪ Holy God of ancient glory ♪

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♪ Choosing man and woman too ♪

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♪ Abram's faith and Sarah's story ♪

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♪ Formed a people bound to you ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

6:12

♪ Alleluia ♪

6:15

♪ To your covenant keep us true ♪

6:18

♪ Covenant, new again in Jesus ♪

6:27

♪ Starchild born to set us free ♪

6:34

♪ Sent to heal us, sent to teach us ♪

6:39

♪ How love's children we might be ♪

6:45

♪ Alleluia ♪

6:51

♪ Alleluia ♪

6:54

♪ Risen Christ, our Savior He ♪

6:56

(God, Whose Love is Reigning O'er Us)

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♪ Lift we then our human voices ♪

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♪ In the songs that faith would bring ♪

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♪ Live we then in human choices ♪

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♪ Lives that, like our music sing ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

9:15

♪ Alleluia ♪

9:18

♪ Joined in love our praises ring ♪

9:20

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Let us pray.

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God of all creation,

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we know that You are with us everyday,

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but we come together to know

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Your presence more fully

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in this special place

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set aside for worshiping You.

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We are here not only to be taught,

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but also to be chastened.

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We are here not only to remember,

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but also to be renewed.

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We are here not only to celebrate our freedom,

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but also to be strengthened in the living

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out of our responsibilities.

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May our worship be genuine

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and our discipleship complete.

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Amen.

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You may be seated.

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Let us pray together

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the prayer for illumination.

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All

Open our hearts and minds, oh God

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by the power of Your Holy Spirit,

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so that as the word is read and proclaimed,

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we might hear with joy

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what You say to us this day.

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-

Amen.

10:56

The first reading is taken from the gospel

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according to Saint Luke,

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chapter 16, starting with verse one.

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Then Jesus said to the disciples,

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there was a rich man who had a manager,

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and charges were brought to him

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that this man was squandering his property,

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so he summoned him and said to him,

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"what is this I hear about you?

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Give me an accounting of your management

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because you cannot be my manager any longer."

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Then, the manager said to himself,

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"what will I do now that my master

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is taking the position away from me?

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I am not strong enough to dig

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and I am ashamed to beg.

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I have decided what to do

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so that when I am dismissed as manager,

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people may welcome me into their homes."

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So, summoning his master's debtors one by one,

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he asked the first,

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"how much do you owe my master?"

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He answered, "100 jugs of olive oil."

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He said to him, "take your bill,

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sit down quickly,

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and make it 50."

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Then, he asked another,

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"and how much do you owe?"

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He replied, "100 containers of wheat."

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He said to him, "take your bill

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and make it 80."

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And his master commended the dishonest manager

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because he had acted shrewdly,

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for the children of this age are more shrewd

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in dealing with their own generation

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than are the children of light,

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and I tell you,

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make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth,

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so that when it is gone,

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they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

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Whoever is faithful in a very little,

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is faithful also in much,

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and whoever is dishonest in a very little,

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is dishonest also in much.

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If then you have not been faithful

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with the dishonest wealth,

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who will entrust to you

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the true riches?

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And if you have not been faithful

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with what belongs to another,

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who will give you what is your own?

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No slave can serve two masters,

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for a slave will either hate the one

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and love the other

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or be devoted to the one

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and despise the other.

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You cannot serve God and wealth.

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This is the word of the Lord.

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Congregation

Thanks be to God.

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Let us sing responsibly Psalm 107

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verses one to nine

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on page 830.

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Please, stand for the Psalm and Gloria.

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(cheerful organ music)

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♪ Oh, give thanks to the Lord ♪

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♪ Who is good ♪

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♪ Whose steadfast love endures forever ♪

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♪ Let the redeemed of the Lord say so ♪

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♪ Whom the Lord has redeemed from trouble ♪

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♪ And gather in from the lands ♪

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♪ From the east and from the west ♪

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♪ From the north and from the south ♪

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♪ Some wandered in the desert wastes ♪

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♪ Finding a way to a city ♪

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♪ In which to dwell ♪

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♪ Hungry and thirsty ♪

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♪ Their soul fainted within them ♪

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♪ Then in their trouble ♪

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♪ They cried to the Lord ♪

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♪ Who delivered them from their distress ♪

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♪ And led them by a straight way ♪

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♪ Til they reached the city ♪

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♪ In which to dwell ♪

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♪ Let them thank the Lord ♪

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♪ For His steadfast love ♪

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♪ For His wonderful works to human kind ♪

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♪ For the Lord satisfies those who are thirsty ♪

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♪ And fills the hungry with good things ♪

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♪ All the glory be to you, Creator ♪

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♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪

16:09

♪ And to the Holy Spirit ♪

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♪ Blessed Trinity ♪

16:17

♪ As it was their time began ♪

16:20

♪ It is now and will be forever more ♪

16:25

(The Last Words of David by Randall Thompson)

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♪ He that rule'th over men ♪

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♪ Must be just ♪

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♪ Must be just ♪

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♪ Must be just ♪

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♪ Ruling in the fear of God ♪

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♪ Ruling in the fear of God ♪

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♪ The fear of God ♪

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♪ And He shall be as the light of the morning ♪

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♪ When the sun ♪

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♪ Rises ♪

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♪ Even a morning without clouds ♪

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♪ As the tender grass ♪

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♪ Springing out of the earth ♪

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♪ By clear shining ♪

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♪ After rain ♪

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♪ After rain ♪

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♪ After rain ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

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♪ Alleluia ♪

19:36

♪ Alleluia ♪

19:48

♪ Alleluia ♪

19:58

♪ Amen ♪

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♪ Amen ♪

20:29

♪ Amen ♪

20:42

♪ Amen ♪

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-

This reading is taken from the book of Genesis,

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selected verses from chapters 40 and 41.

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Pharaoh was angry with his two officers.

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The chief cupbearer and the chief baker

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and he put them in custody in the house

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of the Captain of the guard,

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in the same prison where Joseph was confined,

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and the Captain of the guard charged Joseph with them

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and they remained there in custody for some time.

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But one night, both dreamed,

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the baker and the chief cup bearer,

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each his own dream

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and each with its own meaning.

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When Joseph came to them in the morning,

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he saw that they were troubled

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and said to them,

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"why are your faces downcast?"

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And they said to him,

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"we have had dreams

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and there is no one to interpret them."

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And Joseph said, "do not interpretations

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belong to God?

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Please, tell them to me."

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And so, the cupbearer told Joseph his dream

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and said to him,

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"in my dream there was a vine before me,

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and on the vine there were three branches,

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and as soon as it budded,

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its blossoms came out and ripened

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into clusters of grapes.

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Pharaoh's cup was in my hand,

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and I took the grapes

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and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup,

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and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand,"

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and Joseph said to him,

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"this is its interpretation.

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The three branches are three days.

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Within three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head

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and restore you to your cupbearing,

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and you will place the cup in Pharaoh's hand

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just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

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But remember me when it is well with you.

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Please, do me the kindness to make mention of my to Pharaoh

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so that I can get out of this place,

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for I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews

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and I have done nothing that they should put me

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into this dungeon.

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When the chief baker heard

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that the interpretations was favorable,

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he said to Joseph,

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"I too have dreamed.

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There were three pig baskets on my head

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and in the uppermost basket,

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there were all sorts of baked food for the Pharaoh,

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but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head."

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And Joseph said to him,

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"this is its interpretation.

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The three baskets are three days,

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and within three days,

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Pharaoh will lift up your head from you

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and he will hang you on a pole

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and the birds will eat your flesh from you."

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On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday,

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Pharaoh held a feast for all his servants,

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and he lifted up the heads of his chief cupbearer

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and his chief baker among all his servants.

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He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing,

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and the cupbearer placed the cup

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in Pharaoh's hand as he used to do,

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but the chief baker, he hanged

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just as Joseph had interpreted.

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Yet, the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph,

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but forgot him.

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After two years,

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after two whole years,

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Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile

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and there came up out of the Nile

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seven sleek and fat cows

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and they grazed in the reed grass,

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and then after them came up seven thin

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and ugly cows,

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and they went over and stood next

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to the seven sleek and fat cows

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on the bank of the Nile,

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and then the seven thin and ugly cows

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ate up the seven sleek and fat cows,

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and Pharaoh woke.

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Pharaoh fell asleep and dreams a second time.

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Seven years of grain,

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plump and good,

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were growing on one stalk,

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and then seven years thin and blighted

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by the east wind sprouted after them,

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and the seven thin years swallowed up

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the seven full and plump years,

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and Pharaoh woke and it was a dream.

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In the morning, his spirits were troubled

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and he called for all the magicians

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and all the wise men of Egypt

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and he told them his dreams,

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yet there was not one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

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But the chief cupbearer said,

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"I remember my faults today.

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Once, Pharaoh was angry with his servants

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and he sent me and the chief baker

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to be put in custody

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in the house of the Captain of the guard.

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We both dreamed on night, he and I,

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and for each dream there was its own meaning,

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and I remember there was a Hebrew among us,

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a young servant of the Captain of the guard,

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and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams,

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giving to each an interpretation

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according to his own dream,

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and as he interpreted, so it turned out.

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I was restored to my office

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and the baker was hanged.

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So, the Pharaoh immediately called for Pharaoh

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and he hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon.

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When Pharaoh had shaved his face

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and changed his clothes,

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he came in before Pharaoh

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and Pharaoh said to him,

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"I have had a dream

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and there is no one who can interpret it,

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but I have heard it said of you

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that when you hear a dream,

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you can interpret it."

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And Joseph said to him,

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"it is not I.

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God will provide Pharaoh a favorable answer."

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And so, Pharaoh told him his dreams,

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and Joseph said to him,

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Pharaoh's dreams are one in the same.

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God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

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The seven sleek and fat cows are seven years

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and the seven years, plump and good,

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they're seven years, as well.

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The dreams are one.

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The seven thin and ugly cows,

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those are seven years,

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as are the seven thin years

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blighted by the east wind.

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Those are seven years of famine.

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It is as I told Pharaoh,

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God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

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Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a man

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who is discerning and wise

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and set him over all the land of Egypt,

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and then let Pharaoh proceed to a point

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overseers over all the land

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and then take in one fifth of the produce

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produced during the seven plenteous years,

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then let him gather up all the food

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from all the land

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during the good years that are coming

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and lay them up under the authority of Pharaoh in the cities

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and let them keep it,

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for that food shall be a reserve

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for the seven years of famine

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that Egypt is about to endure,

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so that the land will not perish

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through the famine."

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The proposal pleased Pharaoh,

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and all his servants,

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and Pharaoh said to his servants,

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"can there be anyone else like this

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in whom is the spirit of God?"

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And Pharaoh said to Joseph,

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"since God has shown this to you,

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there is no one so discerning and wise as you.

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You will be over all the house

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and all my people shall order themselves

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to your command.

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Only in the thrown will I be greater than you."

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And he said to Joseph,

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"see, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

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Removing his signate ring from his hand,

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he placed it on Joseph's hand

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and he arrays him in garments of fine linen,

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and he placed a gold chain around his neck,

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and he had him sit

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in the chariot of his second in command

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and they yelled out before them,

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"bow the knee!"

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Thus was Joseph place over all of Egypt.

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This was the word of the Lord.

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Congregation

Thanks be to God.

29:33

-

You and I have trouble hearing this story

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and we assume that we have trouble

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hearing the meaning of this story

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because we are modern,

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analytical, rational people,

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whereas Pharaoh and the butcher

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and the baker are not.

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But the truth is that we cannot hear this story

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because our ways of being analytical

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and our ways of being rational

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have deafened us

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to the power

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of the dream.

30:20

We have been, you and I,

30:23

in the words of Jurgen Habermas,

30:25

we have been demystified.

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That is, our world has been analyzed,

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but only in such a way

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as to empty it of religious significance.

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Thus, Freud took that phenomenon, dreams,

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which the bible says is like a door

30:47

that God uses to get through to people

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and Freud demystified dreams

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into another tool for us

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to get merely deeper into ourselves.

30:58

Dreams, after Freud made possible

31:03

was Paul Ricoeur called

31:06

the Archeology of the Subject,

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just another means of decoding the world,

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of rooting about in our drives

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and our urges and our relationship to our mothers,

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and most of us have been so well converted

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into this modern demystification

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that we don't even know it's happened,

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that we think of dreams as only mirrors

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of our Id,

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or the aftermath of a Mexican meal,

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and we think we're actually describing

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what dreams are,

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but in this way, dreams are kept safe

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from true analysis,

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and the ability, the historic primordial ability

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to disrupt the present social order,

31:56

and to dislodge present arrangements of power is suppressed.

31:59

It is amazing how much we moderns suppress,

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all the while thinking we are busy analyzing and thinking.

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Thank you, Dr. Freud.

32:11

But this story,

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this story comes from a time

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when people still expected to get messages from God,

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messages so outrageous and disruptive

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and unexpected that there was no way

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for God to get through to you

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except through dream.

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Joseph is a slave in jail,

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and Joseph is a slave, I will remind you,

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because back home,

32:44

he had the audacity to dream a great big dream,

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and he had the stupidity

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to tell his older brothers about it,

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the dream that one day little Joseph would rule.

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First point, if you've got a big dream,

32:59

don't tell big brother about it.

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And Joseph is in jail, I will remind you,

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if you have been here in previous Sundays,

33:09

because he had the audacity

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to resist seduction by Potiphar's wife

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because Joseph had a dream

33:18

that he was not owned by the bored

33:20

upper class women of the empire,

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but rather he was owned by God.

33:25

Second point, if you've got a big dream,

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be careful who you sleep with.

33:31

And now, we find in the story,

33:35

it is the Egyptians turn

33:36

to have some sleepless nights

33:39

and some dreams.

33:41

The Pharaoh's baker and cupbearer are in jail,

33:44

and they come to Joseph, saying,

33:49

"we've had some dreams

33:50

and we do not know how to interpret them."

33:51

Because you see, in royal Egypt,

33:55

only a few select individuals

33:57

that had been off to college

33:59

and got officially credentialed

34:01

had the official sanction to interpret dreams.

34:04

But Joseph asked,

34:09

"does not dream interpretation belong to God

34:11

and not those who have been

34:16

officially credentialed by Pharaoh?"

34:17

To the cupbearer's dream of grapes and branches,

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Joseph interprets the man will be out of jail

34:24

in three days.

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"Remember me when you get out," Joseph says.

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"Mention me to the Pharaoh."

34:33

For the cupbearer, he's got bad news.

34:36

In three days, he'll be dead.

34:40

The dreams come to pass.

34:45

One is hung, the other is free.

34:49

But as I've so often done,

34:53

the man who was free forgot

34:55

all about the little Hebrew slave in jail,

34:58

but now it is the Pharaoh's turn to dream.

35:02

He has a dream about these seven fat cows

35:05

and these seven lean cows,

35:08

these seven plump years,

35:09

and these seven lean years,

35:11

and next morning, Pharaoh calls in

35:14

his accredited dream analyst,

35:16

the psychiatrist, the people from caps,

35:19

people who got degrees in counseling,

35:22

those who had gone to college

35:25

and gotten degrees and credentials,

35:28

and they are stupefied by the dream.

35:30

They can't figure it out.

35:34

"What sort of relationship did you have

35:39

with your mother?" One asks.

35:40

"How are things between you

35:46

and Mrs. Pharaoh?" another asks.

35:48

But no, dummies.

35:52

The dream doesn't have anything to do with psychology,

35:53

sociology, or the Pharaoh's inferiority complex,

35:56

the stuff of our dreams,

36:01

our little dreams.

36:03

Then, this cup,

36:07

he remembers that slave.

36:08

Yes, that little Hebrew,

36:12

little what's his name?

36:15

Oh, Joseph.

36:16

That's it, Joseph.

36:17

He had a gift for dreams.

36:19

So, Pharaoh brings out Joseph.

36:22

"I hear you're good at dream interpretation," says Pharaoh.

36:25

And Joseph sets him straight.

36:29

"Oh, no, no.

36:30

Not me.

36:31

It is God who is the giver of dreams,

36:32

and it is God who is the interpreter,

36:35

and God is trying to get though

36:38

that thick, royal skull of yours," says Joseph.

36:41

And Pharaoh tells the dream about these cows

36:45

and this corn.

36:47

"Simple," says Joseph.

36:49

"God's telling you what he's gonna do.

36:52

Seven fat years,

36:54

followed by seven lean.

36:56

You better get ready.

36:57

You better look around

36:59

and find you some good, young person,

37:00

intelligent, good in business,

37:02

preferably not an Egyptian,

37:05

somebody who's good at organizing things.

37:07

Now, if we were up in Judah,

37:09

I could get you such a person,

37:11

but down here in Egypt,

37:13

I just don't know.

37:14

Pharaoh says, "well gosh,

37:17

since God has given you the interpretation of dreams,

37:18

why not you?"

37:21

And he appoints Joseph over all of Egypt,

37:22

and Joseph, this foreign slave,

37:25

Joseph, this prisoner

37:27

becomes the one through who Egypt

37:30

shall be saved.

37:34

Gerhard von Rad says that when Joseph says,

37:40

"not I, but God will announce prosperity for Pharaoh,"

37:45

it is a passage of programmatic theological significance.

37:50

These dreams, they come from God.

37:56

Earlier, Joseph's dream had gotten him into big trouble

38:02

with his brothers,

38:04

his dream that he was meant to rule,

38:06

but now as things have turned out,

38:08

Joseph does rule,

38:12

not just over his brothers,

38:14

but over the whole empire of Egypt.

38:16

These dreams, these great big pushy dreams.

38:19

Freud thought that our dreams

38:24

were revelation of our past,

38:26

and archeology of the subject

38:28

buried deep in the psyche,

38:32

but you will note that these dreams

38:33

are always about the future,

38:35

a future which God makes.

38:37

The dream is a gift

38:39

and the interpretation is a gift of God.

38:41

Pharaoh, poor Pharaoh,

38:47

like any other politician who's ever lived

38:50

presumes to have a monopoly on information,

38:52

as if he's got power to license

38:55

and credential interpretation

38:58

of what's really going on in the world.

39:00

Politicians like Pharaoh always want to manage

39:05

and they want to administer,

39:07

and they want to control,

39:08

and they wanna write rule books

39:09

and administer rules.

39:11

In the old East Germany,

39:16

it used to take five years of background checks

39:17

just to get a telephone.

39:20

Photocopiers were verboten.

39:23

But note how the story just enjoys

39:29

telling how much Pharaoh

39:31

doesn't know about what's going on in the world.

39:35

Joseph knows a lot more than Pharaoh,

39:39

namely that God is free

39:42

and not limited by official dream ideology

39:44

of the empire.

39:47

Joseph's interpretation is deeply subversive

39:49

to the empire

39:53

because it attests to another future,

39:54

which Pharaoh does not control.

39:57

Tomorrow is in God's hands, not Pharaoh's.

40:00

We are neither fated nor are we totally free.

40:05

Joseph had a dream that he would rule,

40:12

but he ended up in jail,

40:14

but then just as surprisingly,

40:17

he's out of jail,

40:19

in charge of the whole empire,

40:21

and I think with all these weird surprises,

40:24

the story wants to tell us that the future

40:26

is not in our hands,

40:28

and the future is not of the empire's own devising,

40:31

and yet, if Pharaoh can get a grip on this dream,

40:36

he can plan,

40:40

it is a future to which he can respond,

40:41

it is also strange,

40:44

it is also wonderfully inscrutable

40:45

because it is in God's hands.

40:48

It is also available

40:51

because this God loves us enough

40:55

to tell us about the dreams

40:56

and to give us interpretation,

40:58

and please note in the story

41:02

that whatever God wants to tell us,

41:04

it will probably be told to us

41:06

not by politicians like Pharaoh,

41:08

but it'll be told to us by slaves

41:10

down in the ghetto, like Joseph.

41:12

It is very difficult, it seems to me,

41:18

for God to get through a message to us these days,

41:19

for maybe the same reason it was difficult

41:24

for God to get through to Pharaoh

41:26

and his underlings.

41:28

The difficulty is not that we are modern.

41:33

I think it has to do with the irrepressible ignorance

41:38

of imperial ways of knowledge,

41:41

researching, goal setting, planning.

41:45

The law school has just issued a 350 page report

41:50

on what they think the future looks like for them.

41:54

Don't count on it.

41:56

'Cause you see, we and Pharaoh

42:01

just love to believe that we are the sole actors in history.

42:03

We know what's going on tomorrow

42:08

and we can make plans because it's all in our hands.

42:10

Control is the goal of modern education, not wisdom.

42:14

But you will note that Joseph asserts

42:21

another actor in history.

42:23

How many times does he say,

42:26

God will give Pharaoh

42:29

and God has revealed

42:30

what He is about to do to Pharaoh,

42:33

and God has shown Pharaoh,

42:34

and this thing has been fixed by God,

42:35

God will bring this to pass?

42:37

As Walter Brueggemann says,

42:40

in this enormous claim we are not dealing

42:41

with a marginal incident in the bible.

42:44

No, we are confronted here

42:46

with the whole premise of biblical faith.

42:48

God has the capacity to work newness

42:51

against every administered convention.

42:55

We call it Exodus.

43:01

We call it Easter.

43:05

Sometimes, for those of us up at the palace,

43:10

or the imperially funded university,

43:14

the dream is best interpreted us by an outsider,

43:16

maybe somebody in the ghetto,

43:19

one of the slaves.

43:21

So, Martin Luther King was in the Birmingham jail

43:24

when he got a letter out

43:27

to the Birmingham clergy

43:29

and reminded them of who owned them.

43:30

Not the citizens of Birmingham,

43:34

but this is God's dream,

43:35

and so Martin Luther King gathered us all

43:39

before our Lincoln Memorial

43:41

and spoke of the dream,

43:43

that it wasn't just his dream.

43:45

No, it was our dream from our Constitution,

43:46

our Declaration of Independence,

43:49

our all are created equal dream,

43:51

and he rubbed our noses into that dream

43:54

that we asserted, but we had never dared to live.

43:58

Oh, we are frighteningly dependent,

44:01

I think this story says, you and I

44:03

in the empire,

44:05

on God's gift of dream asserters

44:06

and dream interpreters

44:08

and the empire can just die

44:10

for a lack of dreams.

44:15

Now, some of you are fairly good dreamers.

44:20

Against all odds, you've dreamed a big dream

44:23

coming here to the university,

44:26

of contributing something good

44:29

to the betterment of the world,

44:30

and some of you had a dream,

44:35

but you didn't have anybody around

44:38

to help you interpret it.

44:40

There was no one there to empower you

44:44

to go ahead and live it,

44:45

and thus, you almost forgot it,

44:49

and some of you, when you close your eyes at night

44:53

no longer dream,

44:56

because you think we've taught you to think

44:59

in abstractions with the help of the social sciences,

45:01

rather than the intrusions of God.

45:06

So, I pray that you'll get a dream,

45:13

a big dream,

45:14

and I pray that there will be someone around

45:17

wise enough to help you interpret it well.

45:18

And the story ends with Pharaoh,

45:25

who was supposed to have so much power, having none.

45:27

Pharaoh's given his ring and his robe

45:32

and his chain to Joseph.

45:34

You remember, clothes are important in this story.

45:36

Now, Joseph's walking around

45:38

wearing Pharaoh's wardrobe.

45:40

The one who is presumed to have nothing,

45:43

Joseph, has got everything

45:47

'cause he has the dream,

45:52

and through his dream,

45:56

he shall not only save his family,

45:57

but Egypt as well.

45:58

We in the empire,

46:02

we are just so frighteningly dependent

46:04

on pushing up start little dreamers

46:07

and interpreters of dreams,

46:10

and I remind you that we're going over

46:15

all this in church today

46:17

because of a dreamer,

46:18

a dreamer who called forth a whole race

46:25

of pushy dreamers.

46:29

It was he who prayed.

46:35

I thank thee Father

46:39

that Thou hast hidden these things

46:41

from the wise and the understanding

46:43

and has revealed them to babes.

46:47

Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

46:51

Oh, I tell you, kings,

46:56

prophets begged to see what you see

46:58

and they did not see,

47:02

and they desired to hear,

47:06

but they did not hear.

47:10

(Let My People Seek Their Freedom)

47:18

♪ Let my people seek their freedom ♪

48:15

♪ In the wilderness awhile ♪

48:20

♪ From the slave pens of the Delta ♪

48:27

♪ From the ghettos on the Nile ♪

48:34

♪ So God spoke from out of Sinai ♪

48:41

♪ So God spoke and it was done ♪

48:48

♪ And a people crossed the waters ♪

48:55

♪ Toward the rising of the sun ♪

49:02

♪ Let my people seek their freedom ♪

49:10

♪ In the wilderness awhile ♪

49:17

♪ From the aging shrines and structures ♪

49:24

♪ From the cloister and the aisle ♪

49:31

♪ So the Son of God has spoken ♪

49:39

♪ And the storm clouds are unfurled ♪

49:46

♪ For God's people must be scattered ♪

49:54

♪ To be servants in the world ♪

50:00

♪ When we murmur on the mountains ♪

50:10

♪ For the old Egyptian plains ♪

50:16

♪ When we miss our ancient bondage ♪

50:23

♪ And the hope, the promise, wanes ♪

50:31

♪ When the rock shall yield its water ♪

50:38

♪ And the manna fall by night ♪

50:45

♪ And with visions of a future ♪

50:52

♪ Shall we march toward the light ♪

50:59

♪ In the maelstrom of the nations ♪

51:09

♪ In the journeying into space ♪

51:16

♪ In the clash of generations ♪

51:23

♪ In the hungering for grace ♪

51:29

♪ In our agony and glory ♪

51:37

♪ We are called to newer ways ♪

51:44

♪ By the Lord of our tomorrows ♪

51:51

♪ And the God of earth's today's ♪

51:58

-

The Lord be with you.

52:11

Congregation

And also with you.

52:12

-

Let us pray.

52:14

Please, be seated.

52:15

Oh God, source of all

52:27

whose love reigns over us,

52:30

we come before You with thanksgiving

52:33

that You are ever attending to our needs.

52:36

We would attempt to live without You,

52:40

but for Your persistent reminders

52:43

that life does not belong to us,

52:46

we thank You for intruding in our lives

52:49

and pray that You will teach us

52:53

to be attentive to Your word

52:55

in whatever form it comes to us.

52:58

Lord, in Your mercy.

53:02

All

Hear our prayer.

53:04

-

Oh God of mystery,

53:07

forgive us for our prideful attempts

53:08

to demystify all of creation

53:11

so that me might live under the illusion

53:14

that we are in control.

53:17

Renew our dreams

53:20

that we might become livers of Your dreams

53:22

and send us dreamers

53:26

to reveal Your Dreams,

53:29

and interpreters to speak Your vision for humanity,

53:31

for without Your vision,

53:36

surely we will perish.

53:38

Lord, in Your mercy

53:41

All

Hear our prayer.

53:43

-

Oh God of mercy,

53:46

we ask your forgiveness

53:48

for failing to live the dream of equality

53:50

for all people.

53:52

Teach us to value every human being

53:54

without regard to race,

53:58

gender, sexuality, nationality,

54:00

religion, or class.

54:04

Lord, in Your mercy.

54:07

All

Hear our prayer.

54:08

-

Forgive us for slandering the dream

54:11

of a just society

54:14

through our toleration of inhumane injustices.

54:17

Teach our leaders to rule

54:20

in the fear of God,

54:23

and teach us to demand

54:25

just systems of government.

54:27

Lord, in Your mercy.

54:29

All

Hear our prayer.

54:32

-

Forgive us for killing the dream

54:34

of peace on earth

54:36

through our habit of building economies

54:38

dependent on weapons of destruction.

54:41

Teach us to settle disputes without violence,

54:44

and redirect our energies and resources

54:48

into building creative solutions

54:52

to urgent human need.

54:54

Lord, in Your mercy.

54:56

All

Hear our prayer.

54:59

-

Forgive us for starving

55:01

the dream of food for all people

55:03

through our selfish excesses.

55:06

Teach us to share what we have

55:09

with those who have not.

55:12

Lord, in Your mercy.

55:15

All

Hear our prayer.

55:17

-

Forgive us for exploiting the dream of stewardship

55:19

of the earth through our abuse of its resources.

55:23

Teach us to nurture creation,

55:27

even as we are nurtured by it.

55:30

Lord, in Your mercy.

55:32

All

Hear our prayer.

55:35

-

Forgive us for our indifference

55:37

to the dream of compassion for all people,

55:39

through our callousness towards those

55:43

who cry out for help.

55:45

Teach us to see the needs

55:47

of our brothers and sisters,

55:49

and open our hearts

55:51

that we might respond with love

55:52

to those who are suffering.

55:55

Lord, in Your mercy.

55:57

All

Hear our prayer.

56:00

-

God of grace,

56:02

we offer You these prayers

56:04

and those we name before You in our hearts.

56:07

We know that You see our failings,

56:16

but we know just as surely

56:18

that you sent Jesus Christ,

56:20

the greatest dreamer of them all,

56:22

that we might be freed from the power of sin,

56:25

free to live Your dream for us,

56:29

have Your way with us, oh Lord,

56:32

that we might become Your children,

56:35

Your dreamers in the world.

56:38

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

56:40

Let us offer our very best,

56:47

that God's dreams for this community

56:49

might be fulfilled in us.

56:51

(Psalm 136)

56:55

♪ Give thanks unto the Lord ♪

57:39

♪ For his mercy endure'eth forever ♪

57:42

♪ Give thanks unto the Lord of Lords ♪

57:45

♪ Who alone do'eth great wonders ♪

57:49

♪ For His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

57:53

♪ Give thanks to Him that by wisdom made the heavens ♪

57:57

♪ Give thanks unto the Lord ♪

58:04

♪ For his mercy endure'eth forever ♪

58:09

♪ Give thanks to Him ♪

58:12

♪ That stretched out the earth ♪

58:14

♪ His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

58:17

♪ Give thanks to Him ♪

58:20

♪ That stretched out the earth ♪

58:22

♪ His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

58:25

♪ Give thanks ♪

58:28

♪ Give thanks ♪

58:29

♪ Give thanks unto the Lord ♪

58:30

♪ Who alone do'eth great wonders ♪

58:34

♪ Who alone do'eth great wonders ♪

58:38

♪ For His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

58:44

♪ Give thanks to Him ♪

58:47

♪ That make great light ♪

58:49

♪ Great light ♪

58:53

♪ Give thanks unto the Lord ♪

58:54

♪ For His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

58:57

♪ Give thanks to Him ♪

59:01

♪ That made great light ♪

59:03

♪ That made great light ♪

59:06

♪ The sun to rule by day ♪

59:08

♪ And the moon and stars to rule by night ♪

59:12

♪ For his mercy endure'eth forever ♪

59:19

♪ Endure'eth forever ♪

59:21

♪ Endure'eth forever ♪

59:23

♪ Give thanks to Him ♪

59:28

♪ That stretched out the earth ♪

59:31

♪ His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

59:34

♪ That stretched out the earth ♪

59:39

♪ His mercy endure'eth forever ♪

59:43

♪ Give thank to Him ♪

59:47

♪ That stretched out the earth ♪

59:49

♪ Give thanks to Him ♪

59:52

♪ That stretched out the earth ♪

59:54

♪ Who alone do'eth great wonders ♪

59:56

♪ Do'eth great wonders ♪

1:00:00

♪ For His mercy ♪

1:00:03

♪ His mercy ♪

1:00:05

♪ His mercy ♪

1:00:07

♪ Endure'eth ♪

1:00:09

♪ Endure'eth forever ♪

1:00:11

♪ Endure'eth forever ♪

1:00:14

♪ Endure'eth forever ♪

1:00:16

(Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow)

1:00:26

♪ Praise God whom all blessings flow ♪

1:01:04

♪ Praise God, all creatures here below ♪

1:01:10

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:17

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:20

♪ Praise God above ye heavenly hosts ♪

1:01:24

♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪

1:01:31

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:38

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:41

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:44

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:47

♪ Hallelujah ♪

1:01:50

-

Let us pray.

1:02:03

Lord of Lords,

1:02:06

whose mercy endures forever,

1:02:08

we give thanks for the wonder of creation

1:02:11

and the great abundance

1:02:14

with which You have blessed our lives.

1:02:15

Grant us discernment to use well

1:02:19

all that we've received from Your hands.

1:02:22

May we as individuals and as a church

1:02:25

be faithful in our investment of the resources

1:02:29

entrusted to us.

1:02:32

Help us live Your dream of equality,

1:02:34

peace, food for all,

1:02:37

compassion, respect, and care

1:02:40

for all of creation.

1:02:44

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

1:02:47

Let us pray now together

1:02:52

with confidence as children of God.

1:02:53

Our Father who art in heaven

1:02:56

All

Hallowed be your name.

1:02:59

Thy kingdom come,

1:03:01

Thy will be done,

1:03:03

on earth as it is in heaven.

1:03:04

Give us this day our daily bread,

1:03:07

and forgive us our trespasses,

1:03:10

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

1:03:12

and lead us not into temptation,

1:03:16

but deliver us from evil,

1:03:18

for Thine is the kingdom,

1:03:20

and the power, and the glory forever.

1:03:22

-

Amen.

1:03:26

(The God of Abraham Praise)

1:03:28

♪ The God of Abraham praise ♪

1:04:10

♪ Who reigns enthroned above ♪

1:04:14

♪ The ancient of eternal days ♪

1:04:19

♪ And God of love ♪

1:04:25

♪ The Lord, the great I Am, ♪

1:04:30

♪ By earth and heaven confessed ♪

1:04:35

♪ We bow before His holy name ♪

1:04:40

♪ Forever blessed ♪

1:04:45

♪ He by His name has sworn ♪

1:04:51

♪ On this we shall depend ♪

1:04:57

♪ And as on eagles' wings upborne ♪

1:05:02

♪ To heaven ascend ♪

1:05:07

♪ There we shall see His face ♪

1:05:13

♪ His power we shall adore ♪

1:05:17

♪ And sing the wonders of God's grace ♪

1:05:22

♪ Forever more ♪

1:05:27

♪ The heavenly land I see, ♪

1:05:34

♪ With peace and plenty blessed ♪

1:05:39

♪ A land of sacred liberty ♪

1:05:45

♪ And endless rest ♪

1:05:50

♪ There milk and honey flow ♪

1:05:55

♪ And oil and wine abound ♪

1:06:00

♪ And trees of life forever grow ♪

1:06:05

♪ With mercy crowned ♪

1:06:11

♪ The God who reigns on high ♪

1:06:17

♪ The great archangels sing ♪

1:06:23

♪ And Holy, holy, holy cry ♪

1:06:28

♪ Almighty King ♪

1:06:32

♪ Who was, and is, the same ♪

1:06:37

♪ And evermore shall be ♪

1:06:42

♪ Jehovah, Lord, the great I Am, ♪

1:06:47

♪ We worship Thee ♪

1:06:52

(The God of Abraham Praise)

1:07:01

Priest

And now, may the grace of Jesus Christ

1:07:43

be with you and remain with you

1:07:46

now and always.

1:07:48

Amen.

1:07:51

♪ God be in my head ♪

1:07:54

♪ And in my understanding ♪

1:08:01

♪ God be in my mine eyes ♪

1:08:12

♪ And in my looking ♪

1:08:19

♪ God be in my mouth ♪

1:08:30

♪ And in my speaking ♪

1:08:39

♪ God be in my heart ♪

1:08:55

♪ And in my thinking ♪

1:09:00

♪ God be at mine end ♪

1:09:12

♪ And in my departing ♪

1:09:23

(hymnal organ music)

1:09:50

William H. Willimon - "On the Interpretation of Dreams" (September 20, 1992)

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1. William H. Willimon - "On the Interpretation of Dreams" (September 20, 1992)

Duke University Archives

William H. Willimon - "On the Interpretation of Dreams" (September 20, 1992)

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Duke University Archives