Debra K. Brazzel - "Where Is Your Confidence" (October 3, 1993)

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	(slow organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning and welcome to Duke Chapel.	0:18
	We'd like to welcome Jamie Balboa this morning	0:21
	who is substituting as the lector for Kelly Sprinkle.	0:24
	Also the Reverend Nancy Ferree-Clark	0:28
	will be presiding in the service.	0:30
	She is the pastor to the congregation at Duke Chapel	0:32
	and the congregation is sponsoring a reception	0:35
	immediately after the service under the south arcade	0:38
	just to the right as you exit the building.	0:42
	I'd also like to call to your attention	0:45
	a couple of announcements this afternoon,	0:47
	the annual blessing of the animals service is held	0:50
	at 2 pm. today on the chapel steps and if you've never had	0:53
	the opportunity to experience that,	0:58
	it is truly one of the most unique but also special services	1:00
	that we hold at Duke Chapel.	1:04
	We are promised to have geese and goats and cows	1:06
	and horses and all kinds of God's creatures	1:09
	there this afternoon and we hope you'll be able	1:12
	to come back to join us for that.	1:15
	We've also received word that the Russian choir	1:17
	that were expected to be here this week had	1:20
	to cancel their trip because of the recent developments	1:23
	in Russia and our prayers are with them at this time.	1:27
	Would you please stand as we join together in the greeting?	1:31
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	1:40
Congregation	And also with you.	1:43
-	The risen Christ is with us.	1:45
Congregation	Amen.	1:48
	(organ music)	1:50
	♪ Lift every voice and sing ♪	2:57
	♪ Till earth and heaven ring ♪	3:01
	♪ Ring with the harmonies of Liberty ♪	3:05
	♪ Let our rejoicing rise ♪	3:13
	♪ High as the listening skies ♪	3:17
	♪ Let it resound loud as the roaring sea ♪	3:21
	♪ Sing a song full of the faith that ♪	3:31
	♪ the dark past has taught us ♪	3:35
	♪ Sing a song full of the hope ♪	3:39
	♪ that the present has brought us ♪	3:43
	♪ Facing the rising sun of our new day begun ♪	3:50
	♪ Let us march on till victory is won ♪	3:58
	♪ Stony the road we trod ♪	4:07
	♪ Bitter the chastening rod ♪	4:11
	♪ Felt in the days when hope ♪	4:15
	♪ unborn had died ♪	4:19
	♪ Yet with a steady beat ♪	4:24
	♪ Have not our weary feet ♪	4:27
	♪ Come to the place for which our fathers sighed ♪	4:32
	♪ We have come over a way that with tears has been watered ♪	4:41
	♪ We have come ♪	4:50
	♪ treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered ♪	4:53
	♪ Out from the gloomy past ♪	5:01
	♪ Till now we stand at last ♪	5:05
	♪ Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast ♪	5:09
	♪ God of our weary years ♪	5:18
	♪ God of our silent tears ♪	5:22
	♪ Thou who has brought us thus far on the way ♪	5:26
	♪ Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light ♪	5:34
	♪ Keep us forever in the path, we pray ♪	5:43
	♪ Lest our feet stray from the places ♪	5:52
	♪ our God where we met Thee ♪	5:56
	♪ Lest, our hearts drunk with ♪	6:00
	♪ the wine of the world ♪	6:03
	♪ we forget Thee ♪	6:05
	♪ Shadowed beneath Thy hand ♪	6:11
	♪ May we forever stand ♪	6:14
	♪ True to our God ♪	6:19
	♪ True to our native land ♪	6:21
-	The apostle Paul calls us in the letter to the Phillipians	6:52
	to press on in our pilgrimage of faith,	6:55
	until we reach we heavenly prize.	6:58
	Yet when we gather to praise God we recognize	7:01
	that we have failed to be the kind	7:04
	of people we are called to be.	7:06
	Therefore let us confess our sins	7:09
	before God and one another,	7:11
	confident that our God will not forsake us.	7:13
-	Most merciful God,	7:21
	we confess that we have sinned against you	7:23
	in thought, word and deed,	7:26
	by what we have done,	7:28
	and by what we have left undone,	7:30
	we have not loved you with our whole heart;	7:33
	we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.	7:36
	We are truly sorry and we humbly repent	7:39
	for the sake of your son Jesus Christ,	7:43
	have mercy on us and forgive us,	7:46
	that we may delight in your will	7:49
	and walk in your ways to the glory of your name, Amen.	7:51
	All mighty God have mercy on you.	8:07
	Forgive all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ.	8:10
	Strengthen you in all goodness,	8:15
	and by the power of the Holy Spirit,	8:17
	keep you in eternal life, Amen.	8:20
-	Will you please join with me in the prayer	8:35
	for illumination found in the worship bulletin?	8:37
	Open our hearts and minds oh God,	8:43
	by the power of your Holy Spirit,	8:46
	so that as the word is read and proclaimed,	8:49
	we may hear your message with joy this day Amen.	8:52
-	A reading from the Holy Gospel of Matthew.	9:00
	Chapter 21.	9:04
	Starting with the 33rd verse.	9:05
	Listen to another parable.	9:09
	There was a land owner who planted a vineyard,	9:12
	put a fence around it,	9:15
	dug a wine press in it,	9:18
	and built a watchtower.	9:20
	Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.	9:23
	When the harvest time had come,	9:27
	he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce	9:29
	but the tenants seized the slaves	9:34
	and beat one,	9:36
	killed another and stoned another.	9:38
	Again he sent other slaves,	9:42
	more than the first,	9:44
	and they treated them in the same way.	9:46
	Finally he sent his son to them,	9:49
	saying they will respect my son.	9:52
	But when the tenants saw the son	9:57
	they said to themselves,	10:00
	this is the heir.	10:02
	Come let us kill him and get his inheritance.	10:03
	So they seized him,	10:08
	threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.	10:10
	Now when the owner of the vineyard comes,	10:14
	what will he do to those tenants?	10:17
	They said to him,	10:20
	he will put those retches to a miserable death	10:22
	and lease the vineyard to other tenants	10:25
	who will give him the produce at harvest time.	10:27
	Jesus said to them,	10:32
	have you never read in the scriptures	10:33
	the stone that the builders rejected	10:36
	has become the cornerstone.	10:38
	This was the Lord's doing	10:41
	and it is amazing in our eyes.	10:44
	Therefore I tell you,	10:47
	the kingdom of God will be taken away from you	10:49
	and given to a people that produces	10:52
	the fruits of the kingdom.	10:55
	The one who falls on the stone will be broken	10:57
	to pieces and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.	10:59
	When the chief priests and pharisees heard his parables,	11:05
	they realized that he was speaking about them.	11:09
	They wanted to arrest him,	11:13
	but they feared the crowds	11:15
	because they regarded him as a prophet.	11:17
	This is the word of the Lord.	11:21
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	11:23
-	This reading is taken from the book of Philippians.	11:36
	Chapter three beginning with the second verse.	11:39
	Beware of the dogs.	11:44
	Beware of the evil workers.	11:47
	Beware of those who mutilate the flesh.	11:49
	For it is we who are the circumcision	11:54
	who worship in the spirit of God	11:56
	and boast in Christ Jesus	11:59
	and have no confidence in the flesh.	12:02
	Even though I too have reason for confidence in the flesh.	12:05
	If anyone else has reason to be confident	12:10
	in the flesh I have more circumcised on the eighth day.	12:13
	A member of the people of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin,	12:19
	a Hebrew born of Hebrews as to the law,	12:23
	a pharisee,	12:27
	as to zeal a persecutor of the church,	12:28
	as to righteousness under the law, blameless.	12:32
	Yet whatever gains I had,	12:36
	these I have come to regard as loss,	12:39
	because of Christ.	12:42
	More than that,	12:45
	I regard everything as loss,	12:46
	because of the surpassing value	12:49
	of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.	12:51
	For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things	12:54
	and I regard them as rubbish	12:58
	in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him,	13:01
	not having a righteousness of my own	13:06
	that comes from the law,	13:08
	but one that comes through faith in Christ.	13:10
	The righteousness from God, based on faith.	13:14
	I want to know Christ	13:18
	and the power of his resurrection,	13:20
	and the sharing of his sufferings	13:22
	by becoming like him in his death.	13:24
	If somehow I may attain resurrection from the dead,	13:28
	not that I have already attained this,	13:33
	or have already reached the goal.	13:35
	But I press on to make it my own,	13:38
	because Christ Jesus has made me his own.	13:40
	Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own,	13:45
	but this one thing I do,	13:49
	forgetting what lies behind,	13:52
	and straining forward to what lies ahead.	13:54
	I press on toward the goal,	13:58
	for the prize of the heavenly call,	14:00
	in God, in Jesus.	14:03
	This is the word of the lord.	14:06
	Thanks be to God.	14:08
	My sermon text this morning is taken	14:12
	from this passage in Philippians,	14:15
	and you may have noticed that I extended the reading	14:18
	to include a couple of verses at the beginning	14:21
	that were not listed in your bulletin.	14:23
	The verses that I added warn the church at Philippi	14:26
	to beware of the dogs, the evil workers,	14:30
	and those who mutilate the flesh.	14:34
	Not a pleasant way to begin a sermon.	14:38
	Beware of the dogs, the evil workers, the mutilators.	14:42
	Perhaps the lectionary wanted to spare us	14:48
	from having to deal with such an unpleasant text.	14:51
	But in this instance if I had read that text as	14:55
	it was printed we would be at great risk	14:57
	of failing to understand the message	15:00
	that Paul intended to convey,	15:03
	in this letter.	15:05
	The church at Phillipi,	15:08
	was especially important to Paul.	15:10
	It was the first gentile congregation	15:12
	that was established in Europe,	15:15
	and they were one of the few churches	15:17
	that had provided regular financial support for Paul	15:19
	that enabled him to continue his missionary work	15:23
	throughout the world.	15:26
	The tone of the letter to the Philippians	15:28
	was one with great affection and love and optimism,	15:31
	even though Paul was writing to them from prison.	15:36
	But suddenly in this part of the letter,	15:41
	the mood changes.	15:44
	The tone is so different,	15:46
	that some scholars have suggested that	15:48
	this was actually part of another letter written	15:51
	to the Philippians at a different occasion.	15:54
	But whether originally one letter	15:58
	or a collection of letters,	16:00
	this passage from Philippians clearly marks	16:02
	a change a difference in the tone	16:05
	and pulls address to the Philippians.	16:08
	Beware of the dogs,	16:11
	the evil workers and mutilators.	16:14
	What could have prompted such a strong warning,	16:18
	such a cry of danger?	16:21
	After Paul left the church at Philippi,	16:25
	it seems that there were some outsiders	16:28
	who were proselytizing among them.	16:31
	These Judaizers as they were called,	16:34
	claimed that in order to be saved	16:37
	it was necessary to be circumcised	16:39
	and to obey certain requirements of Jewish law.	16:42
	Now this wasn't the first time that Paul	16:46
	had encountered the Judaizers.	16:48
	Why was his reaction to them so harsh?	16:51
	Paul believed that nothing less was at stake,	16:57
	than the truth of the gospel.	17:02
	Either we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ,	17:04
	or we are not.	17:09
	Nothing that we can do in life can earn	17:12
	the salvation which is offered as a gift of God's grace.	17:15
	Nothing that we can do can add one bit	17:20
	to the righteousness of God that is given to us	17:23
	as a gift through Christ.	17:27
	This was no minor matter to Paul.	17:31
	Those who claim that additional external criteria	17:34
	were essentials for salvation,	17:38
	were seen as mutilators who distorted	17:40
	the truth of the gospel	17:43
	and denied the power of God in Christ to save us.	17:44
	It essentially came down to a matter of control.	17:50
	Who is in control of salvation?	17:55
	Is it something that can be earned?	17:58
	Won through hard and diligent effort	18:00
	or meeting certain requirements?	18:03
	Is it possible to put God in one's debt	18:05
	so that salvation is owed as a payment	18:09
	for righteousness or right living?	18:12
	Or is it a gift?	18:17
	Not dependent upon external requirements	18:19
	or criteria or merit	18:21
	and totally outside of the realm of human control?	18:24
	Paul was clear that salvation was only possible	18:30
	as God's free act of self giving love through Jesus Christ.	18:33
	It is totally outside human control	18:39
	and can't be earned or won.	18:42
	It can only be accepted as a free unmerited gift.	18:45
	He reminded the Philippians that they are	18:51
	the circumcision who worship in the spirit of God	18:54
	and boast in Christ having no confidence in the flesh.	18:58
	They who have accepted and trusted	19:03
	in God's gift of grace in Jesus Christ	19:05
	are those that are in right relationship,	19:09
	are those that are counted as righteous before God,	19:12
	are those that are seen as acceptable	19:15
	and pleasing in God's eyes.	19:18
	Now this is where our lectionary passage begins.	19:22
	Even though I too have reason for confidence in the flesh,	19:27
	if anyone has reason to be confident	19:32
	in the flesh I have more.	19:34
	Without the preceding versus it would appear	19:37
	that Paul is boasting about his accomplishments	19:41
	instead of warning the Philippians to boast only in Christ	19:46
	rather than in their own spiritual	19:50
	achievements and efforts.	19:53
	It is always dangerous to take scripture out of context.	19:57
	His point is that if anyone of the Judaizers	20:03
	who were boasting about their religious qualifications	20:06
	and setting up the criteria for salvation,	20:10
	if any one of them could boast,	20:13
	then he could boast more,	20:15
	for as to his religious background,	20:17
	Paul was a Jew's Jew.	20:19
	Not a convert,	20:22
	but someone who was born into the faith,	20:23
	circumcised on the eighth day as it was required in the law.	20:26
	As to lineage he was a member of the Isreali aristocracy,	20:30
	born of the tribe of Benjamin,	20:34
	the same tribe of Saul and David.	20:36
	Paul had impeccable advantages of birth	20:40
	and as to religious attainment,	20:45
	he was a Hebrew born of Hebrews,	20:46
	one of the few Jews who as they were spread throughout	20:49
	the world at that time were able	20:54
	to maintain through diligent effort and study	20:56
	the original language of their people.	20:59
	As to the law,	21:03
	Paul was a pharisee,	21:04
	a separated one,	21:06
	who observed the most stringent requirements of Judaic law.	21:08
	As to zeal,	21:13
	Paul was so committed to the church	21:14
	that he dedicated himself to searching out	21:17
	all those that were considered enemies of the faith,	21:20
	and as to righteousness,	21:24
	he met every requirement under the law,	21:26
	down to the tiniest detail.	21:29
	He was blameless under the law.	21:31
	Paul had realized the highest attainments of education,	21:35
	religion and personal piety.	21:39
	Those who set up the external criteria	21:42
	as requirements for the faithful at Philippi	21:45
	could not begin to match Paul's advantages of birth	21:48
	or his religious and personal accomplishments.	21:52
	But he goes on in the letter to say	21:56
	that he has come to regard whatever gains he had	21:59
	in the privileges of birth	22:03
	and in the accomplishments and attainments of his life	22:05
	as loss because of Christ.	22:09
	Whatever gains I had,	22:13
	these I have come to regard as loss, because of Christ.	22:15
	This is a difficult scripture for us to hear I believe.	22:23
	Especially in a setting like Duke University.	22:27
	I mean the whole point of higher education,	22:31
	is to help you attain something	22:34
	that you didn't have when you came here.	22:36
	Higher intellect,	22:39
	higher knowledge,	22:40
	higher morals.	22:42
	We hope you leave here a better person than when you came.	22:43
	So what does this text say to us?	22:50
	Whatever gains I had,	22:53
	these I have come to regard as loss, because of Christ.	22:55
	Gains and losses.	23:02
	This is language we're used	23:04
	to seeing in the financial pages.	23:05
	It calls to mind a spreadsheet used	23:08
	to tally our income and expenses, profits and losses.	23:11
	We're taught at the earliest possible age	23:16
	that profits are good, losses are bad.	23:18
	Profits are to be sought,	23:21
	losses are to be avoided.	23:22
	And beyond the spreadsheet,	23:25
	think about the things in your life that you count as gains.	23:27
	Some of you like Paul have an excellent pedigree.	23:32
	You have wonderful advantages of birth.	23:37
	Others of you have worked hard	23:41
	for the advantages that you've been able to attain.	23:43
	What are the things that you most value?	23:47
	Your degree?	23:51
	Your so-called ticket to the future?	23:52
	Your tenure?	23:55
	Your skills as a surgeon or a mother?	23:56
	Your career, your friends, your family?	24:01
	What would you put on the advantage column in your life?	24:05
	Could you count it all as loss because of Christ?	24:11
	I must admit that I have been struggling	24:17
	with this text for some time.	24:19
	I have to tell you that it's been	24:22
	a difficult passage for me to work through.	24:23
	I've worked hard to gain an education	24:27
	and advantages that my parents never had.	24:30
	I value my role here as Assistant Dean of the Chapel	24:33
	and I work hard to be an effective minister.	24:36
	Could I count these things as loss?	24:40
	Because of Christ.	24:44
	Paul goes on in the text,	24:47
	more than that,	24:50
	I regard everything as loss,	24:51
	because of the surpassing value	24:54
	of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.	24:56
	As I reflected on this scripture,	25:00
	I think this verse holds the key.	25:03
	I regard everything as loss	25:07
	because of the surpassing value	25:10
	of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.	25:12
	Paul doesn't speak as one who has learned about Christ	25:18
	but as one who knows Christ	25:22
	and in this personal intimate relationship,	25:24
	nothing else matters.	25:28
	Everything in his life gets redefined.	25:30
	What he values gets reordered.	25:34
	His priorities get rearranged.	25:37
	And as dedication to Christ,	25:42
	Paul suffered the loss of everything	25:44
	he had previously valued.	25:46
	It wasn't the waste from his life	25:48
	that he gave up,	25:51
	it was the most important things in life.	25:52
	But his past life, his accomplishments,	25:55
	everything he used to work for or worry about	25:57
	were as rubbish to him,	26:01
	compared to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ,	26:03
	and of being known by Christ in a personal and intimate way.	26:09
	It is so like God to take human concepts	26:15
	and human reality and to turn them upside down.	26:20
	Loss and gain.	26:24
	Death and life.	26:26
	For Paul what was once gain became loss,	26:28
	and what was loss became gain.	26:32
	For those who want to save their life will lose it	26:37
	and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.	26:43
	This is a mysterious God	26:50
	who refuses to be bound by human categories	26:52
	of privilege and disadvantage,	26:56
	credit and debt, gain and loss.	26:59
	It comes down again to the issue of control.	27:04
	Who is in control of salvation?	27:08
	You or God?	27:11
	Do you put your confidence in the things	27:14
	you can do or gain or accomplish	27:16
	to become righteous in the eyes of God?	27:19
	Or do you accept the righteousness given	27:23
	by God's grace through faith in Christ?	27:25
	Where is your confidence?	27:29
	There was a great shift for Paul between these two	27:32
	essentially different conceptions of righteousness.	27:36
	Because of his encounter with Christ,	27:40
	he became aware that everything he had ever done	27:42
	to try to earn the approval of God,	27:45
	or put God in his debt, was rubbish.	27:48
	It was a shift between righteousness construed	27:52
	as human achievement and righteousness experienced	27:55
	as divine gift.	28:00
	Between righteousness that finds	28:02
	confidence in past performance	28:04
	and righteousness that finds confidence	28:07
	in future possibility opened through Christ.	28:10
	It isn't a matter of not being good enough,	28:16
	of never making more than a 99,	28:20
	for a God who demands nothing less than 100%.	28:23
	No.	28:28
	What is at stake,	28:30
	is whether we can trust God	28:33
	or our own efforts.	28:36
	Whether we can trust in our own efforts	28:38
	or whether we trust in the gift of righteousness,	28:41
	a right relatedness given to us in Christ.	28:45
	It is a fundamental shift in the paradigm.	28:50
	The model for right living.	28:54
	From human achievement,	28:57
	to the gift of right relatedness through Christ.	28:59
	And in the light of that relationship,	29:03
	everything else in life gets redefined,	29:05
	reshaped, born anew.	29:09
	This is what can move us to count our previous gains as loss	29:14
	and to cherish loss as gain.	29:20
	We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.	29:25
	This is the essence of the gospel.	29:30
	It was a radical idea in Paul's day.	29:33
	It is just as radical today.	29:37
	We also live in a world where the Judaizers	29:41
	try to define the criteria for right living.	29:44
	In the secular world we are judged by our economic success,	29:49
	prestige and personal accomplishments.	29:54
	In the church sometimes we're even judged by	29:58
	the quantity of our personal acts of piety.	30:00
	But in Jesus Christ,	30:05
	God has forever shifted the ground of judgment	30:07
	and rewritten the criteria for right living.	30:11
	In Christ God takes our whole	30:15
	distorted mutilated reality	30:18
	and reshapes it in the image of Christ.	30:22
	Through Christ, whenever God looks at you or me,	30:26
	God sees Christ in us,	30:30
	and we are named beloved, righteous children.	30:35
	All that is required is that we accept the gift in faith.	30:41
	God's love for us made so evident through Jesus Christ,	30:47
	doesn't need to be coaxed and could never be earned	30:52
	as if God owed us anything,	30:55
	but it is freely offered.	30:58
	The value Paul discovered in that unsurpassed,	31:01
	experience of Christ in his life changed the way	31:05
	he viewed the rest of his life,	31:08
	and left him with a hunger to know Christ ever more fully,	31:11
	until finally there could be a total identification	31:15
	between him and Christ in life and in death.	31:19
	You and I will have the opportunity in a few minutes,	31:25
	to receive anew,	31:30
	God's gift of love and salvation through Jesus Christ,	31:32
	and as we come forward to receive the body	31:36
	and the blood of Christ,	31:39
	we must decide if we will trust the power	31:41
	of God's gracious gift,	31:45
	to make us righteous,	31:47
	to restore us,	31:49
	to right relationship with God.	31:50
	Or, whether we'll hold out for something more.	31:54
	Something that we must contribute,	31:58
	or earn, or control.	32:01
	A leap of faith,	32:06
	to accept God's gift of grace through Jesus Christ	32:07
	is essentially an act of trust.	32:11
	It means letting go of all that you have clung to	32:15
	for the hope of the surpassing value	32:20
	of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.	32:23
	The choice is yours.	32:28
	Where is your confidence?	32:30
-	The Lord be with you.	32:43
Congregation	And also with you.	32:44
-	Let us pray.	32:46
	Our kind and gracious God,	32:52
	the hope of all who seek you	32:55
	and the joy of all who find.	32:56
	You have called us to believe in your word,	33:00
	that we may serve you with one accord.	33:03
	Having heard the call to be confident	33:07
	in the power of your saving grace,	33:09
	we forsake all that would divert us,	33:12
	from living a faithful life.	33:15
	In it's place we offer now these prayers,	33:17
	for our sisters and brothers around the world.	33:21
	Let us pray for all those in times of trouble or distress,	33:25
	for the sick and the dying,	33:29
	the hungry, the unemployed,	33:32
	for victims of violence.	33:34
	Especially we pray for the people of India,	33:37
	as they seek to recover from the tragedy	33:40
	of this week's devastating earthquake.	33:43
	Grant them strength and consolation to carry on	33:46
	in the face of unspeakable human suffering.	33:48
	Lord in your mercy,	33:52
	hear our prayer.	33:54
-	Hear our prayer.
	Let us pray for all who live in the midst	33:57
	of political and economic change.	33:59
	For leaders of government,	34:02
	for all who speak out for the truth,	34:04
	and for those who suffer persecution,	34:07
	especially we pray for the people of Russia	34:10
	as they seek to create a stable and just government	34:13
	in times of instability.	34:16
	May we all be inspired with a renewed vision	34:19
	of what it means truly to live in peace	34:22
	and harmony with one another.	34:24
	Lord in your mercy,	34:27
	hear our prayer.	34:28
-	Hear our prayer.
	Let us pray for those who seek to let go	34:31
	but are imprisoned by fear and anxiety,	34:34
	for those who have suffered the loss of a loved one,	34:37
	or a lifelong dream,	34:41
	for those seeking to overcome unhealthy addictions,	34:43
	for those confronting physical changes,	34:47
	which require new ways of daily functioning.	34:49
	Empower them with your confidence	34:53
	to look with hope toward the future.	34:55
	Lord in your mercy,	34:59
	hear our prayer.	35:00
-	Hear our prayer.
	Let us pray for all who feel unloved or unwanted,	35:03
	for those who seek to harm themselves or others,	35:08
	for those who have no one to turn to in time of need,	35:12
	for those who live within institutions,	35:16
	surrounded by people yet lonely beyond words.	35:19
	May your love for the entire creation	35:23
	convince them of their inestimable worth in your holy eyes.	35:26
	Lord in your mercy,	35:30
	hear our prayer.	35:32
-	Hear our prayer.
	Let us pray for all who hunger and thirst for your grace	35:35
	as they wander through a spiritual desert,	35:38
	for all who are searching	35:41
	for a place of rest and restoration,	35:43
	for all who are unwilling to seek forgiveness,	35:46
	believing that they cannot be forgiven.	35:49
	Enable them and each of us,	35:52
	to trust in the transforming power of your healing word.	35:54
	Lord in your mercy	35:59
	hear our prayer.	36:00
-	Hear our prayer.
	Oh redeeming God,	36:04
	as we and millions of other Christians gather	36:06
	in joyful fellowship around your communion table,	36:09
	this world communion Sunday,	36:12
	we celebrate the bounty of your goodness.	36:15
	Strengthen us your church as we feast	36:17
	at your Holy table,	36:20
	never to despair but to keep your commandments to the end,	36:21
	that we may find eternal rest	36:25
	and peace in your heavenly kingdom.	36:27
	This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.	36:30
	Christ invites to his table all who love him	36:38
	and who desire to live in peace with him and one another.	36:41
	Therefore let us exchange signs of peace	36:45
	and reconciliation one with another.	36:48
	Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us,	37:10
	in offering and sacrifice to God.	37:15
	At this time let us present the offerings of our life	37:18
	and our labor to the Lord with thanksgiving.	37:21
	You may be seated.	37:24
	(organ music)	37:26
	(singing in foreign language)	38:25
	(organ music)	42:29
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	43:19
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	43:24
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	43:30
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	43:34
	♪ Praise God above ye heav'nly host ♪	43:38
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	43:44
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	43:51
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	43:54
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	43:57
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	44:00
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	44:03
-	The lord be with you.	44:15
Congregation	And also with you.	44:17
-	Lift up your hearts.	44:19
Congregation	We lift them up unto the Lord.	44:21
-	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.	44:23
Congregation	It is right to give Him thanks and praise.	44:25
-	It is right and a good and joyful thing,	44:28
	always and everywhere to give thanks to you almighty God,	44:31
	creator of heaven and Earth.	44:36
	In the beginning your spirit moved over	44:38
	the face of the waters.	44:40
	You formed us in your image	44:42
	and breathed into us the breath of life.	44:44
	When we turned away and our love failed,	44:47
	your love remained steadfast,	44:50
	your spirit came upon prophets and teachers,	44:53
	anointing them to speak your word,	44:56
	and so with your people on Earth	44:58
	and all the company of heaven,	45:00
	we praise your name and join their unending hymn.	45:02
	(organ music)	45:06
	♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord ♪	45:15
	♪ God of power and might ♪	45:20
	♪ Heaven and earth are filled with your glory ♪	45:25
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	45:29
	♪ Blessed is he who come to the name of the Lord ♪	45:34
	♪ Hosanna in the highest ♪	45:41
-	Holy are you and blessed is your son Jesus Christ.	45:54
	At his baptism in the Jordan your spirit descended upon him	45:58
	and declared him your beloved son.	46:01
	With your spirit upon him he turned away	46:04
	the temptation of sin.	46:07
	Your spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor,	46:09
	to proclaim release to the captives	46:12
	and recovering of sight to the blind.	46:14
	To set at liberty those who are oppressed,	46:17
	and to announce that the time had come	46:20
	when you would save your people.	46:23
	He healed the sick,	46:25
	fed the hungry,	46:27
	and ate with sinners.	46:28
	By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection	46:30
	you gave birth to your Church,	46:33
	delivered us from slavery to sin and death,	46:35
	and made with us a new covenant	46:38
	by water and the Spirit.	46:40
	When the Lord Jesus ascended,	46:43
	he promised to be with us always,	46:45
	baptizing us with the Holy Spirit and with fire.	46:47
	On the night in which he gave himself up for us,	46:52
	he took bread, gave thanks to you,	46:55
	broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:	46:58
	Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.	47:02
	Do this in remembrance of me.	47:07
	And when the supper was over,	47:09
	he took the cup, offered it to you,	47:11
	and gave thanks, gave it to his disciples, and said:	47:15
	Drink from this, all of you;	47:18
	for this is the blood of the new covenant,	47:21
	poured out for you and for many	47:23
	for the forgiveness of sins.	47:25
	Do this as often as you drink it,	47:28
	in remembrance of me.	47:30
	And so, in remembrance of these your	47:32
	mighty acts in Jesus Christ,	47:34
	we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving	47:37
	as a holy and living sacrifice,	47:39
	in union with Christ's offering for us,	47:42
	as we proclaim the mystery of faith.	47:45
	(organ music)	47:48
	♪ Christ had died ♪	47:52
	♪ Christ has risen ♪	47:54
	♪ Christ will come again ♪	47:57
-	Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,	48:05
	and on these gifts of bread and wine.	48:08
	Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,	48:11
	that we may be for the world the body of Christ,	48:15
	redeemed by his blood.	48:17
	By your Spirit make us one with Christ,	48:20
	one with each other,	48:22
	and one in ministry to all the world,	48:23
	until Christ comes in final victory	48:26
	and we feast at his heavenly banquet.	48:29
	Through your Son Jesus Christ,	48:31
	with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,	48:34
	all honor and glory is yours,	48:36
	almighty God, now and forever.	48:39
	(organ music)	48:42
	♪ Amen ♪	48:48
	♪ Amen ♪	48:49
	♪ Amen ♪	48:52
-	Our Father who art in heaven,	49:01
	hallowed be thy name,	49:04
	thy kingdom come,	49:06
	thy will be done,	49:07
	on earth as it is in heaven.	49:09
	Give us this day our daily bread.	49:12
	And forgive us our trespasses	49:14
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	49:16
	And lead us not into temptation,	49:20
	but deliver us from sin.	49:22
	For thine is the kingdom,	49:25
	and the power,	49:26
	and the glory forever, Amen.	49:27
	When we break the bread,	49:32
	is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?	49:35
	When we give thanks over the cup,	49:40
	is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?	49:43
	The cup of salvation.	49:46
	The body of Christ, given for you.	49:55
	The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.	50:01
-	Amen.	50:03
-	The body of Christ.	50:10
-	Amen.	50:11
-	The blood of Christ.	50:14
-	Amen.	50:16
	As the ushers go into position	50:30
	and the communion servers move out among you,	50:31
	you're invited to come and feast at Christ's holy banquet.	50:34
	(organ music)	50:46
	♪ In Christ there is no east or west ♪	51:09
	♪ In him no south or north ♪	51:16
	♪ But one great fellowship of love ♪	51:22
	♪ Throughout the whole wide earth ♪	51:28
	♪ In Christ shall true hearts everywhere ♪	51:34
	♪ Their high communion find ♪	51:41
	♪ His service is the golden cord ♪	51:47
	♪ Close-binding humankind ♪	51:53
	(muffled choir singing)	51:59
	♪ In Christ now meet both east and west ♪	52:26
	♪ In him meet south and north ♪	52:31
	♪ All Christly souls are one in him ♪	52:37
	♪ Throughout the whole wide earth ♪	52:44
	(organ music)	52:49
	(choir singing in foreign language)	58:12
	♪ Jesus, Lord, we look to thee ♪	1:00:30
	♪ Let us in thy name agree ♪	1:00:36
	♪ Show thyself the Prince of peace ♪	1:00:42
	♪ Bid all strife forever cease ♪	1:00:49
	♪ By thy reconciling love ♪	1:00:57
	♪ Every stumbling block remove ♪	1:01:04
	♪ Each to each unite, endear ♪	1:01:10
	♪ Come and spread thy banner here ♪	1:01:17
	♪ Make us of one heart and mind ♪	1:01:26
	♪ Gentle, courteous, and kind ♪	1:01:32
	♪ Lowly, meek, in thought and word, ♪	1:01:39
	♪ Altogether like our Lord ♪	1:01:46
	♪ Let us for each other care ♪	1:01:55
	♪ Each the other's burdens bear ♪	1:02:01
	♪ To thy church the pattern give ♪	1:02:08
	♪ Show how true believers live ♪	1:02:15
	♪ Free from anger and from pride ♪	1:02:23
	♪ Let us thus in God abide ♪	1:02:30
	♪ All the depths of love express ♪	1:02:37
	♪ All the heights of holiness ♪	1:02:44
-	Please stand for the closing prayer.	1:02:57
	Eternal God,	1:03:04
	we give you thanks for this holy mystery	1:03:06
	in which you have given yourself to us.	1:03:09
	Grant that we may go into the world	1:03:12
	in the strength of your Spirit,	1:03:14
	to give ourselves for others,	1:03:16
	in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.	1:03:19
	Amen.	1:03:21
	(organ music)	1:03:23
	(muffled singing)	1:04:08

Item Info

Title:

Debra K. Brazzel - "Where Is Your Confidence" (October 3, 1993)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 14:12. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 32:35.
Seen from the context of our relationship with Christ, everything gets redefined. We come to see the things we valued as unimportant in comparison to our relationship with Christ. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “It is a fundamental shift in the paradigm, the model for right living. From human achievement to the gift of right relatedness through Christ.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r43n20v6d

Date:

October 3, 1993

Speaker:

Brazzel, Debra K.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Philippians

Chapter and Verse:

Philippians 3:4-14

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0336
ref9313_s7v
uachapelsermaud
duke:321557
dcrmv001322
ark:/87924/r43n20v6d
c47760c8-267a-468a-ac40-53af025b6367

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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