Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (September 17, 1995)

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	(organ music)	0:00
Church Member	There's a stand, be careful.	2:15
	Yeah.	2:17
-	Yes.
	(speaks without microphone)	2:20
	(congregation responds)	3:03
-	They sweep through our midst in judgment	3:15
	(congregation responds)	3:17
-	Whenever you are calling to us in love	3:26
	create in us a clean heart and a renewed spirit	3:29
	(congregation responds)	3:33
	(organ music)	3:43
	(congregation sings)	4:19
	(organ music)	6:19
	(congregation sings)	8:08
-	Almighty God, to you all hearts are open,	8:53
	all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden.	8:58
	Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts	9:04
	by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,	9:07
	that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify	9:11
	your holy name, through Christ our Lord, Amen.	9:15
-	Let us pray the prayer for illumination.	9:35
All	Open our hearts and minds oh God,	9:39
	by the power of your Holy Spirit.	9:42
	So that as the word is read and proclaimed,	9:45
	we may hear your message with joy this day, Amen.	9:49
	The Old Testament reading is from the book	9:55
	of Jeremiah chapter four verses 11 and 12,	9:58
	and verses 22 through 28.	10:02
	"At that time it will be said to this people	10:09
	and to Jerusalem, a hot wind comes from me	10:11
	out of the barren heights, in the desert	10:15
	towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse.	10:17
	A wind too strong for that.	10:22
	Now it is I who speak in judgment against them,	10:24
	for my people are foolish, they do not know me,	10:28
	they are stupid children, they have no understanding.	10:31
	They are skilled in doing evil,	10:36
	but do not know how to do good.	10:38
	I looked on the earth and lo, it was waste and void,	10:42
	and to the heavens, and they had no light.	10:46
	I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,	10:50
	and all the hills moved to and fro.	10:53
	I looked and lo, there was no one at all,	10:57
	and all the birds of the air had fled.	11:01
	I looked and lo, there was the fruit of the land	11:05
	was a desert, and all it's cities were laid in ruin	11:09
	before the Lord, before His fierce anger.	11:13
	For thus says the Lord,	11:17
	the whole land shall be a desolation.	11:19
	Yet I will not make a full end.	11:23
	Because of this the earth shall mourn	11:26
	and the heavens above grow black, for I have spoken.	11:29
	I have purposed, I have not relented, nor will I turn back.	11:34
	This is the word of the Lord.	11:40
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	11:43
-	Today's Psalm is number 14,	11:53
	found on page 746 in the hymnal.	11:55
	Please stand and sing the Psalm and Gloria responsively.	11:59
	♪ Fools say in their hearts there is no God. ♪	12:09
	(congregation sings response)	12:15
	♪ The Lord looks down from heaven on our people. ♪	12:26
	♪ To see if there are any that are wise who seek after God ♪	12:32
	(congregation sings response)	12:39
	♪ Have they no knowledge ♪	12:56
	♪ Evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread ♪	12:58
	♪ And do not call upon the Lord ♪	13:04
	(congregation sings response)	13:10
	♪ You would confound the plans of the poor ♪	13:22
	♪ But the Lord is their refuge ♪	13:28
	(congregation sings response)	13:33
	♪ Jacob shall rejoice, ♪	13:47
	♪ And Israel shall be glad ♪	13:51
	♪ Oh glory be to you creator ♪	13:57
	♪ And to Jesus Christ our Savior ♪	14:02
	♪ And to your Holy Spirit the trinity. ♪	14:06
	♪ As it was ere time began ♪	14:14
	♪ Is how it will be forever more. ♪	14:19
	Please be seated.	14:30
-	The New Testament lesson is from 1 Timothy chapter one	14:41
	verses 12 through 17.	14:45
	"I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord,	14:51
	who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithfully,	14:54
	and appointed me to his service.	14:58
	Even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor,	15:01
	and a man of violence.	15:07
	But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly	15:09
	in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord	15:13
	overflowed from me, with the faith and love	15:16
	that are in Christ Jesus.	15:19
	The saying is sure, and worthy of full acceptance.	15:22
	That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners	15:25
	of whom I am the foremost.	15:30
	But for that very reason I received mercy,	15:33
	so that in me, as the foremost,	15:38
	Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience	15:41
	making me an example to those	15:45
	who would come to believe in him for eternal life.	15:46
	To the King of the Ages, immortal, invisible,	15:51
	the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen."	15:56
	This is the word of the Lord	16:04
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	16:07
	(organ music)	16:14
	(choir sings)	17:10
	(organ music)	20:38
-	The Gospel lesson is from the book of Luke,	21:10
	chapter 15, verses one through ten.	21:13
	"Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near	21:19
	to listen to him, and the pharisees and the scribes	21:22
	were grumbling and saying,	21:26
	this fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.	21:27
	So he told them this parable.	21:31
	Which one of you having a hundred sheep	21:33
	and losing one of them, does not leave the 99	21:36
	in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost	21:39
	until he finds it.	21:42
	And when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders	21:45
	and rejoices, and when he comes home he calls together	21:48
	his friends and neighbors, saying to them,	21:52
	rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost,	21:54
	just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven	21:58
	over one sinner who repents, than over 99 righteous persons	22:03
	who need no repentance.	22:07
	Or what woman, having ten silver coins,	22:10
	if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp,	22:13
	sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it.	22:17
	When she has found it, she calls together her friends	22:22
	and neighbors saying, rejoice with me,	22:24
	for I have found the coin that I had lost.	22:27
	Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence	22:30
	of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."	22:34
	This is the word of the Lord	22:40
Congregation	Thanks be to God.	22:42
-	In the 15th chapter of Luke,	22:55
	Jesus tells three parables	22:58
	that portray the seeking,	23:01
	finding, rejoicing God.	23:04
	In the first parable, Jesus compared God to a shepherd	23:08
	who leaves the flock of 99 sheep in the wilderness	23:12
	to search relentlessly for the one who is lost.	23:15
	He persists in retracing the steps of the flock,	23:19
	looking under bushes, peering into ravines,	23:22
	searching every nook and cranny until the lost one is found.	23:26
	And when he finds the sheep he lifts it into his arms,	23:30
	drapes it over his shoulders and returns home,	23:34
	calling his friends and family to rejoice with him,	23:38
	"I found the lost sheep, come and celebrate with me!"	23:41
	In the second parable God is compared to a woman	23:47
	who turns her house upside down looking for a lost coin.	23:51
	She lights a lamp, sweeps every corner	23:56
	and meticulously goes through everything in the house.	23:58
	Until the coin is finally found, and then she calls out	24:02
	to invite her friends and neighbors to rejoice	24:06
	and help her celebrate, the lost coin has been found.	24:09
	And in the third parable which follows	24:15
	our scripture reading, a father waits at home for years	24:17
	for a wayward son to return.	24:23
	And when he does finally return,	24:25
	he calls out to his neighbors and family and friends	24:28
	and says "Come and rejoice with me,	24:31
	for the one who was lost has been found!"	24:33
	The joy of finding one who has been lost,	24:38
	can't be contained, it has to be shared,	24:42
	it just cries out for a party.	24:45
	We love these images of God as a shepherd, a woman,	24:50
	a father, who persist in seeking the lost,	24:55
	and in welcoming them home again, with abundant joy.	24:59
	Perhaps they remind us of times when we've been lost	25:04
	and we've been comforted by the image of a God	25:07
	who keeps looking for us, no matter how far away we stray.	25:10
	When we are the lost, we can't help but hear these parables	25:15
	as a promise of God not to give up on us.	25:20
	The hope of acceptance and restoration draws us	25:25
	and the scripture says all the tax collectors,	25:30
	and all the sinners were coming near, being drawn	25:33
	to listen to him.	25:38
	When you're on the receiving end	25:41
	of the compassionate relentless efforts of a seeking God,	25:43
	these parables are good news.	25:47
	But not everyone who heard the parables	25:52
	found them good news.	25:55
	Because we're familiar with them,	25:58
	and they're cherished images, we risk not hearing them	26:00
	as they were originally heard.	26:05
	In their Biblical context, addressed to Pharisees	26:08
	and scribes, these parables were shocking, and offensive.	26:12
	These three simple stories would have been	26:18
	anything but comforting to those who criticized Jesus.	26:21
	The text says that the Pharisees and scribes were grumbling	26:25
	saying "This fellow welcomes sinners	26:28
	and eats with them."	26:33
	Breaking Jewish dietary law was a serious offense,	26:36
	which could result in a person being excluded from	26:40
	the religious community.	26:43
	And as far as they were concerned, you can be no better	26:45
	than the people you hang out with.	26:48
	Jesus was keeping bad company.	26:50
	He was hanging out with tax collectors,	26:54
	who were considered traitors to the Jewish people	26:56
	for cooperating with the hated Roman conquerors.	26:59
	Tax collectors were known for using their positions of power	27:03
	to enrich themselves at the expense of their own countrymen.	27:07
	They were ostracized by most of their people,	27:12
	and branded as outcasts by the religious community.	27:14
	Jesus was keeping bad company, he was hanging out	27:19
	with sinners, not just ordinary people	27:24
	who occasionally make a mistake, but immoral people	27:27
	who would have been shunned by polite society.	27:31
	And rejected from the religious community.	27:34
	Jesus was keeping bad company.	27:37
	From the distance of modern times we're at risk	27:41
	of not seeing just how shocking	27:44
	his companions would have been viewed	27:46
	by the everyday middle class religious community.	27:48
	We imagine quaint tax collectors	27:52
	and harmless hookers	27:56
	with a heart of gold, but if this text	27:58
	is to cross the boundaries of space and time,	28:01
	to speak to us with fresh power, we need to reimagine it.	28:05
	In The Preaching Life, Barbara Brown Taylor	28:11
	offers this image.	28:14
	"I don't know how they look to you, but I imagine Jesus	28:17
	down at the plasma bank on Boulevard, standing in line	28:22
	with the hungover men waiting to sell their blood.	28:26
	Or maybe down at the city jail, shooting the breeze	28:29
	with the bail bondsmen who circle like vultures.	28:32
	I imagine him at the Majestic Diner on Ponce De Leon	28:36
	with a crack dealer, a car their, a prostitute with AIDS,	28:39
	buying them all cheese omelets.	28:44
	When I come in, with a sixth grade confirmation class,	28:46
	and sit down a couple of booths away.	28:50
	I imagine the kids getting a load of this,	28:54
	and then beginning to ask me questions,	28:56
	Is that who we think it is?	28:59
	How come you warn us to stay away from people like that,	29:02
	and there he is."	29:06
	That's how it looked to the Pharisees and Scribes.	29:09
	Anyone with children is rightly concerned when their kids	29:14
	start to hang out with the wrong kind of people.	29:18
	We care about what they watch on TV, what they read,	29:22
	what kind of movies they see, who they're friends are.	29:26
	We guard them against evil influences.	29:29
	I have a friend who got involved in drugs	29:33
	at a very young age, in part because of the crowd	29:36
	that he ran around with.	29:39
	He's been fighting a cocaine addiction for years,	29:41
	and has been in several treatment programs.	29:44
	He'll get clean for a while, and promise himself	29:48
	that he'll never use again, but as soon as he's out,	29:50
	he goes back into the same environment,	29:54
	with the same friends, and before long,	29:56
	he's in the same lifestyle, sliding down the slippery slope	30:00
	of drug addiction.	30:05
	We've discussed it many times and I've told my friend	30:07
	that he needs to make a clean break with his past.	30:10
	Start over, make new friends and new relationships	30:13
	which can support a changed lifestyle.	30:17
	It matters what kind of company you keep.	30:20
	In the parables, we may want to stand with Jesus,	30:26
	or with the lost sheep,	30:32
	but I suspect that most of us stand	30:34
	with the Pharisees and the scribes.	30:38
	We try to live upright lives, and we like to be around	30:42
	other people that try to live upright lives.	30:46
	We don't want to be around undesirables,	30:49
	and certainly we don't want our children to be around them.	30:52
	The problem is that there seem to be	30:57
	more and more undesirables all the time.	30:58
	In the gothic wonderland,	31:02
	we sometimes live with the illusion	31:04
	that undesirables are out there, beyond our walls.	31:06
	Yet within the past two week period, two students	31:11
	are kidnapped, the man is beaten and left for dead	31:15
	and the woman is raped, and then three other people	31:19
	are assaulted in Duke Forest, and another woman is raped.	31:23
	The undesirables are spilling over into our world,	31:29
	and most of us agree, or look for security	31:33
	to keep them out, to keep them away from us,	31:38
	more deterrents, more jails, stiffer penalties,	31:40
	higher walls, more guns, we're like the Pharisees	31:43
	in believing that the separation of good and evil	31:49
	are necessary for the well being	31:52
	and the survival of the community.	31:54
	And we are not alone, there's a long scriptural tradition	31:56
	which speaks to this very need.	32:00
	Proverbs chapter one verses 15 and 16,	32:03
	"My child, do not walk in their way, keep your foot	32:07
	from their paths, for their feet run to evil,	32:11
	and they hurry to shed blood."	32:14
	Psalm one verse one, "Happy are those	32:17
	who do not follow the advice of the wicked,	32:20
	or take the path that sinners tread,	32:22
	or sit in the seat of scoffers."	32:25
	1 Corinthians 15 verse 33,	32:28
	"Do not be deceived,	32:34
	bad company ruins good morals."	32:37
	and 2 Corinthians chapter six verse 17,	32:41
	"Come out from them and be separate from them	32:45
	says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean,	32:48
	then I will welcome you."	32:51
	as one scholar put it, Jesus' failure to observe	32:54
	such distinctions between the good and the bad	32:58
	seem dangerous to some, for the moral and religious fiber	33:02
	of the community, and disturbingly radical,	33:06
	especially in regards to the moral instruction of the young.	33:10
	From the perspective of the Pharisees and the scribes,	33:15
	Jesus' habit of keeping company, especially table fellowship	33:19
	with tax collectors, and sinners was inappropriate,	33:24
	repulsive, and socially disruptive.	33:28
	The purpose of religion was to hold up a standard	33:32
	for people to achieve.	33:35
	To show by example and teaching how one might live a life	33:37
	that is pleasing to God.	33:41
	The Pharisees and scribes took this commitment	33:43
	very seriously, and then along came Jesus,	33:46
	eating with tax collectors and sinners.	33:50
	It was one thing to admonish sinners, and challenge them	33:54
	to turn from their evil ways, but quite another	33:57
	to sit down with them, face to face, laughing and talking	34:01
	over a glass of wine, and a meal.	34:05
	But it was exactly to address this attitude	34:09
	and this criticism by the Pharisees, that the parables	34:13
	of the lost sheep, the lost coin,	34:16
	and the lost son, were told.	34:19
	Right away, Jesus pulls them and us, into the parable.	34:22
	"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep,	34:27
	and losing one of them, does not leave	34:31
	the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost,	34:34
	until you find it."	34:37
	Of course the answer is, none of us.	34:42
	By conventional logic, it is a foolish, unprudent,	34:48
	risky thing to do, the shepherd's livelihood	34:52
	would be much more at risk by leaving the 99	34:56
	than by losing one.	35:01
	The point of the story is that no right minded shepherd	35:03
	would leave the flock for the sake of the one sheep.	35:07
	One can recoup the loss of one sheep,	35:10
	but the loss of 99 sheep left to fend for themselves	35:13
	in the wilderness would bespeak economic disaster	35:16
	for the shepherd.	35:20
	Or what woman would turn her house upside down	35:23
	for a single coin, or then throw a party	35:26
	for all her friends, because she's found it?	35:29
	Surely the cost of the party would far outstrip	35:32
	the value of the coin.	35:35
	Where's the logic in this?	35:37
	Or what father would welcome back a wayward son	35:41
	without one word of correction?	35:44
	Even throwing a party, which would seem to condone	35:48
	his irresponsible reckless behavior.	35:51
	Not one of these parables makes sense	35:59
	according to our standards of logic.	36:01
	In the parables, relationships are inverted,	36:04
	and worlds are unmade, the lost is valued more highly	36:07
	than the many who never strayed?	36:12
	The sinner is welcomed, and the righteous are admonished?	36:15
	What's going on here?	36:22
	Taylor says that the parables are full of problems,	36:26
	not the least of which is that they don't seem to mean	36:30
	what Jesus says they mean, according to his explanations,	36:32
	they're about heaven's joy over one repentant sinner,	36:36
	but the lost sheep doesn't repent as far as I can tell.	36:40
	And the lost coin certainly doesn't.	36:44
	They're both simply found, not because either of them	36:47
	did anything right, but because someone is determined	36:51
	to find them, and does.	36:56
	They are restored, thanks to God's action,	37:00
	not their own, so where does repentance come in at all?	37:03
	Some scholars say that the first two parables are meant to	37:10
	lead us to the third parable, where the son does repent,	37:13
	and return home to his father.	37:16
	Others say that Jesus was making the parables up as he	37:19
	went along, and he didn't really worry	37:22
	about the logical coherence.	37:24
	And still others say that Jesus probably left them	37:26
	open ended for us to figure out for ourselves,	37:29
	and that editors later came along and added the explanation,	37:31
	so that we would be sure to get the meaning.	37:35
	But another possibility exists.	37:39
	The possibility that they aren't about lost sheep,	37:42
	and lost coins and lost sons at all.	37:46
	But parables about good shepherds,	37:50
	and diligent sweepers,	37:54
	and welcoming fathers.	37:57
	Taylor says that if you're willing to be a shepherd,	38:00
	then the story begins to sound different.	38:06
	The accent in what Jesus says falls of a different syllable.	38:09
	Repentance is not so much the issue, but rejoicing.	38:15
	The plot is not about amending our evil ways,	38:20
	but about seeking, and sweeping, and finding,	38:25
	and rejoicing.	38:30
	The invitation is not about being rescued by Jesus	38:33
	over and over again, but about joining him	38:36
	and rounding up God's herd, and recovering God's treasure.	38:40
	It is about questioning the idea that there are certain	38:46
	conditions that the lost must meet	38:48
	before they're eligible to be found, or that there are	38:51
	certain qualities they must exhibit	38:54
	before we will seek them out.	38:57
	It is about trading our high standards	38:59
	for a strong flashlight,	39:04
	and swapping our good examples for a good broom,	39:06
	it is about discovering the joy of finding.	39:11
	Jesus invited the Pharisees and scribes to join the search	39:17
	and join the party.	39:22
	He challenged them to care more deeply about all the people	39:24
	they had given up on, and to be willing	39:28
	to take more risks to find them.	39:30
	It isn't simply enough to separate people	39:33
	according to what we think they are worth.	39:37
	As one scholar says, the Pharisees and scribes murmur,	39:40
	because Jesus gives extravagant value to those	39:44
	who should not merit such attention.	39:48
	But Jesus shows that the worth and value of one sheep	39:51
	is not to be computed according to the market price.	39:55
	He reveals a God who meticulously pursues	39:58
	confused and rebellious creatures.	40:02
	Such searching gives value to the ones being sought.	40:06
	They become treasured and significant,	40:11
	because they're not left for lost,	40:15
	but are made the objects of divine concern.	40:18
	In these parables, we're given a glimpse	40:22
	of the extravagance of a God who loves enough	40:24
	to seek the lost, and bring back the strayed.	40:27
	To bind up the crippled, and strengthen the weak.	40:30
	We're given a glimpse of the extravagance of a God	40:35
	who loves enough to forgive, and to welcome those	40:38
	who repent, and those who are simply found.	40:42
	We're given a glimpse of the extravagance of divine mercy,	40:47
	and the unbounded joy of God when the lost are found.	40:51
	In the parables, Jesus invites us to become shepherds	40:57
	who actively pursue the lost, because it is enough	41:02
	that they are precious to God, and worth being saved.	41:07
	When we treat others, not on the basis	41:13
	of what the world says they're worth,	41:15
	but on the basis of how they are valued by God,	41:18
	then restoration and wholeness become possible.	41:22
	The chasms which separate us, good from evil,	41:26
	and worthy from unworthy, and lost from found,	41:29
	are bridged by an extravagant love which embraces us all,	41:32
	and invites us to celebrate.	41:37
	A pastor in Florida talked about how her congregation	41:42
	became concerned about the plight of the homeless	41:46
	in their city, they could see them wandering the streets	41:48
	at night, sleeping in doorways.	41:52
	She told her congregation,	41:55
	"You know, we've got this big fellowship hall	41:57
	downstairs, why don't we simply invite some of these	41:59
	homeless men to come and spend the night here?"	42:03
	Well, why not, how nice of a church	42:06
	to do something nice for the homeless.	42:10
	The first night 55 homeless men	42:13
	entered the fellowship hall to spend the night.	42:15
	She said "Now you take 55 homeless men off the street,	42:19
	and put them into a Methodist fellowship hall,	42:24
	and you've got problems.	42:26
	First of all we found out that there's a reason	42:29
	why many of them are homeless, nobody wants them.	42:31
	Crazy, sick, offensive, malnourished, addicted,	42:35
	we had never actually met any homeless people.	42:40
	It was rough at first, fights, a robbery,	42:43
	somebody came down to distribute food one night	42:47
	and got roughed up, it was a mess.	42:50
	All we wanted to do was be nice to some homeless people."	42:53
	So what happened?	42:57
	She said "We realized we had two choices,	42:59
	either throw them out, or else do what was necessary	43:02
	to be the sort of place that could show hospitality	43:06
	to 55 homeless people.	43:10
	By the grace of God we chose the latter, medical care,	43:13
	food, counseling, support, hand holding, and listening	43:17
	were developed.	43:20
	Our congregation was converted from a friendly	43:22
	ordinary religious club, protecting it's clubhouse,	43:25
	to a committed bold church, because when we opened our doors	43:30
	to 55 homeless men,	43:35
	guess who else got in with them?"	43:38
	she said, "and if you listened you could hear	43:40
	the faint sound of rejoicing."	43:44
	When we seek the lost	43:49
	we join ourselves to a seeking	43:53
	sweeping, finding, welcoming,	43:56
	loving, partying God.	43:59
	Which one of you will join the search?	44:04
	(organ music)	44:15
	(congregation sings)	44:59
-	The Lord be with you	48:05
Congregation	And also with you.	48:06
-	Let us pray, you may be seated,	48:08
	Lord God we confess that we are the lost.	48:21
	We are foolish people, we do not know you,	48:27
	we are skilled in doing evil, we do not know	48:34
	how to do the good.	48:39
	Our only hope lies in your mercy.	48:42
	Seek us and find us,	48:47
	Lord, in your mercy,	48:50
All	Hear our prayer.	48:51
-	Lord God we thank you that you came into the world	48:55
	to save sinners, that you have not given up on us.	48:58
	We praise you and thank you, we rejoice.	49:05
	And we pray that we, as the Church might become	49:13
	in turn, the shepherds and sweepers through which	49:17
	you reach out to find and reclaim a lost world.	49:22
	Lord in your mercy,	49:28
All	Hear our prayer.	49:30
-	For those who are lost in poverty, shunned,	49:32
	lost in drug addiction, homeless, we pray for your mercy	49:38
	we pray that you would find them, bring them into the family	49:48
	of your people where they can find restoration.	49:54
	Lord in your mercy,	49:58
All	Hear our prayer.	49:59
-	For those who are lost in sickness or suffering,	50:01
	may your mercy find them and bring healing and comfort,	50:05
	Lord in your mercy,	50:11
All	Hear our prayer.	50:13
-	For those who are lost in the nightmare of war	50:15
	and conflict, especially in Eastern Europe, may your spirit	50:19
	which seeks out the world, bring peace and reconciliation	50:26
	even in the places where it seems most improbable,	50:35
	where there seems so little hope.	50:41
	Lord in your mercy,	50:44
All	Hear our prayer.	50:45
-	For the congregation at Duke chapel,	50:50
	on this 10th anniversary of it's existence,	50:54
	we pray for your special grace,	50:58
	we pray for an increasing clarity of mission,	51:02
	and increasing degree of fellowship with one another,	51:05
	and we pray too for the Church universal,	51:12
	may it be a faithful reflection of your kingdom.	51:15
	Lord in your mercy,	51:19
All	Hear our prayer.	51:21
-	For parents and children seeking each other,	51:23
	seemingly lost sometimes to each other,	51:30
	we pray that the word of grace would embrace and sustain	51:34
	the families in our midst,	51:44
	and restore those that have been broken.	51:46
	Help us to find each other,	51:49
	Lord in your mercy,	51:52
All	Hear our prayer.	51:54
-	Lord through you the worlds that we inhabit	51:56
	are unmade, and we find ourselves restored	51:59
	in your new creation, you are the king of the ages,	52:03
	immortal, invisible, the only wise God.	52:08
	To you is all honor and glory forever.	52:12
	We thank you that you hear all these our petitions	52:16
	in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.	52:20
	Let us now offer our tithes and offerings to God.	52:47
	(organ music)	53:13
	(choir sings)	53:18
	(organ music)	59:16
	♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪	59:50
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	59:56
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:00:02
	♪ Praise God above ye heavenly hosts ♪	1:00:09
	♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪	1:00:15
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:00:22
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪	1:00:28
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:00:34
-	Lord God your mercy and kindness	1:00:47
	has bestowed upon us riches	1:00:50
	beyond all we could ask or think.	1:00:52
	We give you thanks and praise from our hearts,	1:00:55
	and we give back to you as a sign,	1:01:00
	this token of our thanksgiving,	1:01:04
	we turn to you with grateful hearts,	1:01:07
	and we pray to you in the words taught us	1:01:10
	by Jesus our Lord,	1:01:13
All	Our Father who art in heaven	1:01:16
	hallowed be thy name.	1:01:19
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,	1:01:21
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:01:24
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:01:27
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:01:29
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:01:32
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	1:01:36
	For thine is the kingdom and the power	1:01:40
	and the glory forever, Amen.	1:01:43
	(organ music)	1:01:47
	(congregation sings)	1:03:19
-	May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,	1:05:44
	the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit	1:05:46
	be with you and keep you.	1:05:50
	(choir sings)	1:05:57
	(organ music)	1:07:55

Item Info

Title:

Debra K. Brazzel - Sermon Untitled (September 17, 1995)

Description:

Sermon start time: 22:55. Sermon end time: 44:09.
Instead of expecting us to be perfect, God seeks us out and rejoices simply because of God’s love. And we are called to make God's joy complete by searching out others. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “Such searching gives value to the ones being sought. They become treasured and significant because they’re not left for lost but are made the objects for divine concern.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4zg6gn9h

Date:

September 17, 1995

Speaker:

Brazzel, Debra K.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0443
ref9634_ema
uachapelsermaud
duke:321690
dcrmv001420
ark:/87924/r4zg6gn9h
97f81e90-5084-475e-8620-950639e7840d

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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