Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (April 24, 1994)
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| - | Good morning. | 0:26 |
| We'd like to welcome you to Duke Chapel | 0:27 | |
| on this 4th Sunday of Easter. | 0:28 | |
| We're grateful to the Reverend Karen Westerfield-Tucker, | 0:31 | |
| assistant professor of liturgy | 0:33 | |
| at the Duke Divinity School | 0:36 | |
| for serving as presiding minister for our service today. | 0:38 | |
| We're also pleased to welcome | 0:42 | |
| the Charlotte Children's Choir and their conductor, | 0:43 | |
| Miss. Sandy Holland. | 0:46 | |
| They got a very early start this morning | 0:47 | |
| to be here with us, | 0:50 | |
| and we appreciate their music leadership. | 0:51 | |
| Today, immediately following the service, | 0:54 | |
| the congregation at Duke Chapel invites you to join them | 0:56 | |
| for an after church coffee on the arcade | 0:59 | |
| immediately to the right. | 1:03 | |
| We hope that you will be able to join them. | 1:04 | |
| Now, let us continue our worship with a greeting. | 1:07 | |
| Please stand. | 1:09 | |
| Christ is risen. | 1:18 | |
| Congregation | The Lord still lives in me. | 1:19 |
| - | Glory and honor, dominion and power, | 1:22 |
| be to God forever and ever. | 1:25 | |
| Congregation | Christ is risen, amen. | 1:28 |
| (organ music) | 1:32 | |
| (congregation and choir singing) | 2:06 | |
| - | Our prayer confession is found on page 890 in the hymnal. | 4:43 |
| Let us pray together. | 4:59 | |
| Everyone | Most merciful God, | 5:01 |
| we confess that we have sinned against you | 5:03 | |
| in thought, word indeed, by what we have done | 5:07 | |
| and by what we have left undone. | 5:11 | |
| We have not loved you with our whole heart. | 5:14 | |
| We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 5:18 | |
| We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. | 5:22 | |
| For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, | 5:26 | |
| have mercy on us and forgive us, | 5:29 | |
| that we may delight in your will | 5:32 | |
| and walk in your ways to the glory of your name. | 5:35 | |
| Amen. | 5:40 | |
| - | Almighty God have mercy on us, | 5:53 |
| forgive all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, | 5:56 | |
| strengthen us in all goodness, | 6:00 | |
| and by the power of the Holy Spirit, | 6:03 | |
| keep us in eternal life. | 6:06 | |
| Amen. | 6:09 | |
| Please be seated. | 6:11 | |
| - | Let us pray together. | 6:23 |
| Everyone | Open our hearts and minds O God | 6:26 |
| by the power of your Holy Spirit | 6:29 | |
| so that as the word is read and proclaimed | 6:32 | |
| we might hear your word with joy this day. | 6:36 | |
| Amen. | 6:40 | |
| - | Our first lesson is taken from John's first epistle, | 6:43 |
| Chapter three, beginning with the 16th verse. | 6:47 | |
| "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us | 6:53 | |
| "and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. | 6:59 | |
| "How does God's love abide in anyone | 7:04 | |
| "who has the world's goods | 7:07 | |
| "and sees a brother and sister in need | 7:08 | |
| "and yet refuses to help? | 7:11 | |
| "Little children, let us love not in word or speech | 7:15 | |
| "but in truth and action. | 7:20 | |
| "And by this we will know that we are from the truth | 7:22 | |
| "and we'll reassure our hearts before him | 7:26 | |
| "whenever our hearts condemn us. | 7:29 | |
| "For God is greater than our hearts | 7:32 | |
| "and he knows everything. | 7:35 | |
| "Beloved, if our heart do not condemn us, | 7:37 | |
| "we have confidence before God | 7:41 | |
| "and we receive from him whatever we ask | 7:43 | |
| "because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. | 7:46 | |
| "And this is his commandment, that we should believe | 7:52 | |
| "in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, | 7:55 | |
| "just as he has commanded us. | 8:00 | |
| "All who obey his commandments abide in him | 8:03 | |
| "and he abides in them. | 8:06 | |
| "And by this we know that he abides in us, | 8:09 | |
| "by the Spirit that he has given us." | 8:12 | |
| This is the word of the Lord. | 8:17 | |
| Congregation | Thank be to God. | 8:19 |
| - | The Holy Gospel comes to us this day from John, | 8:27 |
| the 10th Chapter, beginning with the 11th verse. | 8:31 | |
| "I am the good shepherd. | 8:37 | |
| "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. | 8:40 | |
| "The hired hand who is not the shepherd | 8:44 | |
| "and does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming | 8:47 | |
| "and leaves the sheep and runs away. | 8:51 | |
| "And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. | 8:54 | |
| "The hired hand runs away | 8:58 | |
| "because the hired hand does not care for the sheep. | 9:00 | |
| "I am the good shepherd. | 9:05 | |
| "I know my own and my own know me, | 9:07 | |
| "just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. | 9:11 | |
| "And I lay down my life for the sheep. | 9:16 | |
| "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. | 9:20 | |
| "I must bring them also | 9:24 | |
| "and they will listen to my voice. | 9:26 | |
| "So there be one flock, one shepherd. | 9:29 | |
| "For this reason the Father loves me | 9:34 | |
| "because that I lay down my life | 9:36 | |
| "in order to take it up again. | 9:38 | |
| "No one takes it from me, | 9:42 | |
| "but I lay it down of my own accord. | 9:44 | |
| "I have power to lay it down | 9:47 | |
| "and I have power to take it up again. | 9:49 | |
| "I have received this command from my Father." | 9:53 | |
| This is the word of the Lord. | 9:59 | |
| Congregation | Thanks be to God. | 10:02 |
| - | Amen. | 10:03 |
| For this is the message you have heard from are beginning | 10:14 | |
| that you should love one another. | 10:18 | |
| We must not be like Kane who murdered his brother | 10:21 | |
| because his own deeds were evil | 10:25 | |
| and his brothers righteous. | 10:27 | |
| Whoever does not love abides in death. | 10:30 | |
| All who hate a brother or sister are murderers. | 10:34 | |
| These verses are the dramatic background, | 10:41 | |
| the context for the passage of scripture read today | 10:45 | |
| from 1st John about love. | 10:49 | |
| A brother kills a brother. | 10:53 | |
| Murder is declared the inevitable consequence | 10:55 | |
| from the lack of love. | 10:58 | |
| In this letter it was John's intention to shake up | 11:01 | |
| the Christian community with the realization | 11:05 | |
| that the absence of Love leads to emotional, | 11:09 | |
| spiritual, and physical death. | 11:12 | |
| The command to love one another is not just | 11:16 | |
| a nice sentiment, but the identifying mark of Christians | 11:19 | |
| and the foundation for genuine human community and life. | 11:25 | |
| The message never changes. | 11:31 | |
| Love one another. | 11:34 | |
| It is the irreducible requirement | 11:37 | |
| for being a new person in Christ. | 11:39 | |
| We've all heard it before. | 11:43 | |
| Perhaps, too many times before. | 11:46 | |
| So that we are at risk of becoming death | 11:49 | |
| to its demand and promise. | 11:52 | |
| John reminds us that the command to love | 11:56 | |
| is integral to life and its absence leads only to death. | 11:58 | |
| The signs of love's absence are all around us. | 12:05 | |
| War, violence on the streets and in our homes, | 12:10 | |
| child abuse, hunger in the midst of plenty, | 12:15 | |
| loneliness and fear, | 12:19 | |
| people everywhere are starved for love. | 12:22 | |
| The young and old, the rich and poor, | 12:26 | |
| the extrovert and the introvert, | 12:30 | |
| the healthy and sick, the Christian and non-Christian, | 12:32 | |
| people everywhere are starved for love. | 12:38 | |
| When the command to love is so simple and wrecked, | 12:42 | |
| why is there such scarcity of love? | 12:47 | |
| In this passage John offers instruction | 12:52 | |
| in how to overcome the scarcity | 12:55 | |
| and how to obey the command and become a loving people. | 12:58 | |
| The first thing he teaches us | 13:03 | |
| is that the starting place for any expression | 13:05 | |
| of human love is God's love for us. | 13:08 | |
| We know love by this, that Jesus Christ | 13:13 | |
| laid down his life for us. | 13:17 | |
| God's love isn't an abstract idea, | 13:20 | |
| but an embodied concrete act. | 13:23 | |
| Today, we will celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's super. | 13:27 | |
| The communion feast reminds us that the word became flesh. | 13:31 | |
| Christ didn't offer salvation by proclamation, | 13:36 | |
| but by active costly love. | 13:41 | |
| Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, | 13:46 | |
| and that proves God's love for us. | 13:50 | |
| The starting place for our love is the deep down knowledge | 13:53 | |
| that God loves us just as we are. | 13:58 | |
| Our difficulty in loving others is so often linked | 14:01 | |
| to our own feelings of unlovableness. | 14:05 | |
| Many of us, perhaps most of us, | 14:10 | |
| come to maturity with the scars of childhood on our psyche. | 14:13 | |
| Hurt and rejection makes us cautious | 14:18 | |
| and lacking in self-esteem. | 14:21 | |
| We internalize every rejection | 14:23 | |
| until it becomes self-rejection. | 14:26 | |
| And as a consequence we become emotionally malnourished | 14:29 | |
| and find it difficult to give or receive love. | 14:33 | |
| When our past failures haunt us, | 14:39 | |
| they rob us of the delight of the present | 14:43 | |
| and of the excitement for the future. | 14:46 | |
| It's difficult for us to be up for life | 14:49 | |
| when we're down on ourselves. | 14:52 | |
| Self-condemnation is the result of not measuring up | 14:55 | |
| to our own expectations and standards. | 14:58 | |
| And when we condemn ourselves, our lives become filled | 15:02 | |
| either with anxious attempts to prove ourself worth | 15:05 | |
| or to escape the things that make us feel unworthy. | 15:10 | |
| In the story of Kane and Abel, | 15:15 | |
| the scripture says that Kane killed his brother | 15:18 | |
| because his deeds were evil | 15:21 | |
| and his brothers were righteous. | 15:23 | |
| Because Kane judged himself unworthy and unlovable, | 15:26 | |
| he couldn't bare to be in the presence of God | 15:31 | |
| or his brother and he acted to remove the one | 15:34 | |
| who made him feel inferior. | 15:37 | |
| Self-condemnation so often stems from our tendency | 15:41 | |
| to compare ourselves with others | 15:45 | |
| and to judge ourselves short. | 15:48 | |
| Through Christ God acts to overcome our self-rejection | 15:52 | |
| and prove in an inescapable way God's love for us. | 15:57 | |
| It isn't enough to believe in salvation | 16:03 | |
| as an intellectual concept. | 16:06 | |
| The idea of forgiveness can't free us | 16:09 | |
| from the chains of self-doubt. | 16:12 | |
| It takes a concrete act on the part | 16:15 | |
| of an embodied living Lord to assure us | 16:17 | |
| deep down where it cannot be shaken | 16:21 | |
| that God really loves us just as we are. | 16:25 | |
| As amazing as that may be it really is true. | 16:30 | |
| And we can't begin to offer love to anyone else | 16:36 | |
| until we can accept for ourselves that God loves us. | 16:40 | |
| The experience of God's love | 16:47 | |
| also opens us to receive love from others. | 16:49 | |
| Even as the love of parents, friends, or spouses, | 16:53 | |
| can help us learn to trust God's love, | 16:58 | |
| but only the experience of being loved divinely | 17:01 | |
| and humanly can set us free to be lovers. | 17:04 | |
| There is simply no other way that we have any love to give. | 17:08 | |
| We must allow ourselves to be renewed | 17:12 | |
| and filled by the love of God | 17:15 | |
| and the love of those who care about us. | 17:17 | |
| Then and only then are we empowered | 17:21 | |
| to become loving people in the world | 17:24 | |
| who lay down our lives for one another. | 17:26 | |
| As John goes on to say, "Let us love not in word or speech, | 17:30 | |
| "but in truth and action." | 17:34 | |
| You see our theology and ethics are inextricably bound. | 17:38 | |
| What we believe to be true about God must motivate | 17:42 | |
| how we act as people of God in the world. | 17:46 | |
| Otherwise, we're at risk of developing | 17:49 | |
| a Christian ideology and theory that subverts | 17:51 | |
| the radical nature of the Christian faith. | 17:54 | |
| Ours is an embodied faith. | 17:58 | |
| To speak of the love of God made manifest | 18:01 | |
| in the gift of God's son has no meaning whatsoever | 18:04 | |
| apart from our love made manifest | 18:08 | |
| in our own acts of self-giving. | 18:11 | |
| We don't live abstract lives. | 18:15 | |
| We live in a particular place and time | 18:17 | |
| with particular families and communities | 18:20 | |
| and relationships and jobs and skills. | 18:23 | |
| Our love must be acted out | 18:28 | |
| in the particular circumstances of our lives. | 18:30 | |
| For to refuse to perform the acts of love | 18:35 | |
| that are uniquely available to us | 18:38 | |
| is to close our hearts to love | 18:41 | |
| and diminish life and abide in death. | 18:43 | |
| Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the needs around us | 18:49 | |
| and hesitate to act for fear | 18:53 | |
| that we won't be able to make a difference. | 18:55 | |
| But what is at stake is not the outcome of our actions, | 18:59 | |
| but our willingness to act. | 19:02 | |
| In C.S. Lewis' wonderful book, "The Screwtape Letters", | 19:06 | |
| he explores the role that embodied love | 19:10 | |
| plays in maintaining a life of faith. | 19:13 | |
| Screwtape, the senior devil is advising his nephew, | 19:16 | |
| Wormwood, a junior tempter, about how to undermine | 19:19 | |
| the faith and repentance of a young Christian. | 19:24 | |
| He says, "It remains to consider | 19:27 | |
| "how we can retrieve this disaster. | 19:30 | |
| "The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. | 19:33 | |
| "As long as he does not convert it into action, | 19:37 | |
| "it does not matter how much he thinks | 19:39 | |
| "about this new repentance. | 19:41 | |
| "Let the little brute wallow in it. | 19:44 | |
| "Let him if he has a knee bent that way | 19:47 | |
| "write a book about it. | 19:49 | |
| "That is often an excellent way of sterilizing | 19:51 | |
| "the seeds which the enemy plants in the human soul. | 19:54 | |
| "Let him do anything, but act. | 19:58 | |
| "No amount of piety in his imagination | 20:01 | |
| "and affections will harm us | 20:04 | |
| "if we can keep it out of his will. | 20:06 | |
| "As one of the humans has said | 20:09 | |
| "active habits are strengthened by repetition, | 20:11 | |
| "but passive ones are weakened. | 20:15 | |
| "The more often he feels without acting, | 20:17 | |
| "the less he will be able ever to act, | 20:21 | |
| "and in the long run the less he will be able to feel. | 20:24 | |
| "It is not enough that we feel compassion | 20:31 | |
| "for those who suffer. | 20:35 | |
| "Love is not just a special way of feeling. | 20:37 | |
| "It is an orientation of life and action. | 20:41 | |
| "It must be demonstrated in our everyday | 20:45 | |
| "common place actions. | 20:48 | |
| "The evidence that we belong to Christ | 20:51 | |
| "is that we express healing love to one another." | 20:53 | |
| This text invites you and I to evaluate our capacity | 20:58 | |
| to transmit God's love for us to the people in our lives. | 21:03 | |
| This particular passage isn't talking about | 21:10 | |
| the unnamed needy in a foreign land, | 21:12 | |
| although they too are within the circle of God's love, | 21:15 | |
| but John was concerned with a particular Christian community | 21:19 | |
| and their lack of love for one another. | 21:23 | |
| The starting place for us to become more loving people | 21:26 | |
| is with our own community with the people we see everyday. | 21:30 | |
| Who has a need that we could easily satisfy? | 21:36 | |
| What of the world's good has been given to us to share? | 21:41 | |
| Picture the people in your world, your family, you friends, | 21:46 | |
| those you work with, the clerk you see at the grocery. | 21:51 | |
| Who needs a sign of the human incarnation of God's love? | 21:56 | |
| A helping hand, an act of thoughtfulness, | 22:02 | |
| a share in your abundance, | 22:06 | |
| an act of your presence, | 22:10 | |
| people in our lives need specific expressions | 22:14 | |
| of the fact that we love and cherish them. | 22:17 | |
| Friends and acquaintances often signal the need | 22:20 | |
| they have for us to listen and care profoundly. | 22:23 | |
| There are so many opportunities to express love | 22:28 | |
| to people starved for love, | 22:32 | |
| but it means involvement, caring and openness. | 22:35 | |
| Loving people takes time. | 22:39 | |
| Sometimes it means surrender of our schedules | 22:42 | |
| and relinquishment of our aloofness. | 22:45 | |
| Our judgementalism, our faces, our body language, | 22:49 | |
| our attitudes, all communicate whether or not | 22:53 | |
| we are available to others. | 22:56 | |
| Sometimes taking the time to sit down | 22:59 | |
| and listen is enough. | 23:02 | |
| Part of the preaching responsibility | 23:06 | |
| is to make the scripture lively and relevant, | 23:08 | |
| to illustrate in ways that help the congregation | 23:12 | |
| make sense of it and apply it to their own lives. | 23:15 | |
| When I was thinking about how to do that | 23:18 | |
| for this particular text, about how to help you see the ways | 23:21 | |
| that you can become more loving, | 23:24 | |
| what I kept thinking of are the ways | 23:27 | |
| that I can become more loving. | 23:29 | |
| That often happens to me in preaching. | 23:33 | |
| Before there is anything to say in the sermon, | 23:35 | |
| the text goes to work on me. | 23:38 | |
| So when I was thinking about | 23:42 | |
| what you could do to be more loving, | 23:43 | |
| I realized what I could do. | 23:45 | |
| Like the time last week when I was on my way out of town | 23:47 | |
| and I felt irritated when an employee asked | 23:50 | |
| for help with their rent, | 23:54 | |
| or the time recently when I passed by a friend | 23:56 | |
| who I can tell was distressed, | 23:58 | |
| but I was late and on my way to a meeting, | 24:01 | |
| or the letter of encouragement I've been meaning to send | 24:04 | |
| to a student who is doing mission work in Bolivia, | 24:06 | |
| or the phone call I owe my mom. | 24:10 | |
| There are so many opportunities for me to be more loving. | 24:12 | |
| All that is needed is my willingness to act. | 24:17 | |
| I know that I can't make this command come alive for you. | 24:21 | |
| Only you can decern the people and the places in your life | 24:27 | |
| that call for your loving response. | 24:32 | |
| You must open your ears to hear the appeals for help. | 24:35 | |
| You must open your eyes to see | 24:40 | |
| those in need of a loving touch. | 24:43 | |
| When you see and hear what is already there, | 24:47 | |
| then the ways you need to respond will become evident. | 24:51 | |
| The key is your willingness to act. | 24:56 | |
| Don't worry about what difference | 25:00 | |
| it might make to their life. | 25:02 | |
| It will make all the difference in the world to your life | 25:04 | |
| as you will become one of the lovers | 25:09 | |
| with Christ who bring life to the world. | 25:11 | |
| Brother and sisters in Christ, | 25:16 | |
| the message is always the same. | 25:19 | |
| Let us love one another. | 25:23 | |
| - | [Rev.Westerfield-Tucker] The Lord be with you. | 25:44 |
| Congregation | And also with you. | 25:46 |
| - | Let us pray. | 25:48 |
| Glory be to you O God, | 25:56 | |
| for all your goodness to us and all your creation. | 25:58 | |
| We give you thanks for the world in which you have placed us | 26:04 | |
| with all its wonder and beauty, | 26:07 | |
| for life and health, for food, shelter, and clothing, | 26:11 | |
| for friends, for families, for colleagues, | 26:19 | |
| for your care that guards us always | 26:25 | |
| and your faithfulness that never fails. | 26:28 | |
| Most of all we thank you for Jesus Christ | 26:33 | |
| who came into this world, | 26:36 | |
| died for us upon the cross | 26:38 | |
| and revealed for us a love that surpasses all human knowing. | 26:40 | |
| Almighty and ever living God, | 26:48 | |
| by your apostle you taught us to pray, | 26:51 | |
| not only for ourselves, but for others. | 26:53 | |
| Hear now our prayers that you may shed light | 26:59 | |
| where there is darkness, clarity where there is confusion. | 27:03 | |
| Silently, let us pray for the church. | 27:12 | |
| Gracious God, you have called us | 27:30 | |
| to be the church of Jesus Christ. | 27:33 | |
| Keep us one in faith and service, | 27:36 | |
| breaking bread together | 27:39 | |
| and telling the good news to the world | 27:42 | |
| that all may believe your love | 27:45 | |
| and live to give you glory. | 27:47 | |
| Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 27:51 | |
| Let us pray for the world. | 27:57 | |
| Creating God, you made all things in your wisdom. | 28:16 | |
| By your spirit breathe new life | 28:22 | |
| into the human family. | 28:25 | |
| That hatred may be turned into love, | 28:27 | |
| sorrow into joy | 28:30 | |
| and war into peace. | 28:33 | |
| Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 28:38 | |
| Let us pray for the sick and the disabled. | 28:45 | |
| God of healing and hope, in Jesus Christ | 29:07 | |
| you cared for those who are blind or death, | 29:11 | |
| crippled or infirm. | 29:15 | |
| Enable us by your mercy to comfort the distressed, | 29:19 | |
| to help the helpless, to mend the broken of body and will. | 29:24 | |
| Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 29:33 | |
| Let us pray for the anxious of heart and mind. | 29:40 | |
| Source of peace, your spirit restores our anxious spirits. | 29:58 | |
| In our labor give us rest. | 30:06 | |
| In our temptation, strength. | 30:11 | |
| In our sadness, consolation. | 30:16 | |
| Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. | 30:23 | |
| Eternal God, accept the prayers of your people | 30:29 | |
| and strengthen us to do your will | 30:34 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 30:37 | |
| Amen. | 30:41 | |
| And now let us share signs | 30:47 | |
| and words of reconciliation and love. | 30:49 | |
| Would you stand? | 30:53 | |
| (congregation murmuring) | 30:57 | |
| As forgiven and reconciled people | 31:27 | |
| let us offer our gifts of life and labor to the Lord. | 31:31 | |
| Please be seated. | 31:36 | |
| (organ music) | 31:37 | |
| (choir singing) | 32:54 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 40:32 |
| Congregation | And also with you. | 40:33 |
| - | Lift up your hearts. | 40:35 |
| Congregation | We lift them to the Lord. | 40:37 |
| - | Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. | 40:39 |
| Congregation | It is right to give our thanks and praise. | 40:42 |
| - | It is right, and a good and joyful thing, | 40:45 |
| always and everywhere to give thanks to you almighty God, | 40:48 | |
| creator of heaven and earth. | 40:53 | |
| You formed us in your image | 40:55 | |
| and breathed into us the breath of life. | 40:57 | |
| When we turned away and our love failed, | 41:00 | |
| your love remained steadfast. | 41:03 | |
| You delivered us from captivity, | 41:07 | |
| made covenant to be our sovereign God, | 41:09 | |
| brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, | 41:12 | |
| and set before us the way of life. | 41:16 | |
| And so with your people on earth | 41:19 | |
| and all the company in heaven | 41:21 | |
| we praise your name and join their unending hymn. | 41:23 | |
| Everyone | Holy, holy, holy Lord. | 41:27 |
| God of power and might, | 41:29 | |
| heaven and earth are full of your glory. | 41:32 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 41:35 | |
| Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. | 41:37 | |
| Hosanna in the highest. | 41:40 | |
| - | Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ. | 41:43 |
| By the baptism of his suffering death and resurrection, | 41:47 | |
| you gave birth to your church, | 41:50 | |
| delivered us from slavery to sin and death, | 41:53 | |
| and made with us a new covenant by water and the spirit. | 41:56 | |
| By your great mercy we have been born anew | 42:01 | |
| to a living hope through the resurrection | 42:04 | |
| of your son from the dead, | 42:07 | |
| to an inheritance that is imperishable, | 42:09 | |
| undefiled and unfading. | 42:12 | |
| Once we were no people, but now we are your people | 42:15 | |
| declaring your wonderful deeds in Christ | 42:19 | |
| who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. | 42:22 | |
| When the Lord Jesus ascended, | 42:26 | |
| he promised to be with us always | 42:28 | |
| in the power of your word and Holy Spirit. | 42:30 | |
| On the night in which he gave himself up for us, | 42:35 | |
| he took bread, gave thanks to you, | 42:38 | |
| offered to his disciples and said, "Take, eat. | 42:41 | |
| "This is my body. | 42:44 | |
| "Do this in remembrance of me." | 42:46 | |
| And when the supper was over, he took the cup, | 42:50 | |
| gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples | 42:52 | |
| and said, "Drink from this all of you | 42:55 | |
| "for this is the blood of the new covenant | 42:58 | |
| "poured out for you | 43:00 | |
| "and for many for their forgiveness of sins. | 43:01 | |
| "Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." | 43:04 | |
| On the day you raised him from the dead, | 43:12 | |
| he was recognized by his disciples | 43:14 | |
| in the breaking of the bread | 43:16 | |
| and in the power of your Holy Spirit, | 43:18 | |
| your church has continued in the breaking of the bread | 43:21 | |
| and the sharing of the cup. | 43:24 | |
| And so in remembrance of these, | 43:25 | |
| your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, | 43:27 | |
| we offer ourselves in praise and thanks giving | 43:30 | |
| as a holy and living sacrifice, | 43:33 | |
| in union with Christ offering for us as we proclaim | 43:36 | |
| the mystery of faith. | 43:40 | |
| Everyone | Christ has died. | 43:42 |
| Christ has risen. | 43:44 | |
| Christ will come again. | 43:46 | |
| - | Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here | 43:48 |
| and on these gifts of bread and wine. | 43:51 | |
| Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ. | 43:53 | |
| That we may be for the world the body of Christ | 43:57 | |
| redeemed by his blood. | 44:00 | |
| By your spirit make us one with Christ, | 44:02 | |
| one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, | 44:05 | |
| until Christ comes in final victory | 44:09 | |
| and we feast at his heavenly banquet. | 44:12 | |
| Through your son Jesus Christ, | 44:15 | |
| with the Holy Spirit in your Holy church, | 44:17 | |
| all honor and glory is yours almighty God, | 44:20 | |
| now and forever. | 44:24 | |
| Amen. | 44:26 | |
| And now let us pray with confidence | 44:28 | |
| as the children of God. | 44:30 | |
| Everyone | Our Father, who art in heaven, | 44:32 |
| hallowed be thy Name, | 44:34 | |
| thy kingdom come, | 44:36 | |
| thy will be done, | 44:38 | |
| on earth as it is in heaven. | 44:40 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread. | 44:42 | |
| And forgive us our trespasses, | 44:45 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 44:47 | |
| Lead us not into temptation, | 44:51 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 44:53 | |
| For thine is the kingdom | 44:55 | |
| and the power and the glory forever. | 44:57 | |
| Amen. | 45:00 | |
| - | Because there is one loaf we who are many | 45:03 |
| are one body for we all partake of the one loaf. | 45:07 | |
| When we break the bread, | 45:11 | |
| is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? | 45:13 | |
| When we give thanks over the cup, | 45:20 | |
| is it not a means of sharing in the blood of Christ, | 45:22 | |
| the cup of salvation? | 45:25 | |
| Would you come forward? | 45:29 | |
| The body of Christ given for you. | 45:35 | |
| The blood of Christ given for you. | 45:41 | |
| - | The body of Christ given you. | 45:54 |
| - | Amen. | 45:56 |
| (whispers) | 46:02 | |
| Amen. | 46:03 | |
| These are the gifts of God for the people of God. | 46:21 | |
| Come and feast at the Lord's table. | 46:24 | |
| (organ music) | 46:30 | |
| Are you bread or wine? | 46:33 | |
| (organ music) | 46:34 | |
| (choir singing) | 47:57 | |
| Please stand. | 56:20 | |
| Let us pray. | 56:28 | |
| Gracious God, you have made us one | 56:32 | |
| with all your people in heaven and on earth. | 56:35 | |
| You have fed us with the bread of life | 56:39 | |
| and renewed us for your service. | 56:41 | |
| We give ourselves to you | 56:44 | |
| and ask that our daily living | 56:46 | |
| may be part of the life of your kingdom. | 56:48 | |
| May our love be your love | 56:52 | |
| reaching out into the life of all the world | 56:54 | |
| through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 56:58 | |
| Amen. | 57:00 | |
| (organ music) | 57:04 |