Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / We Are the Body of Christ- Minister Max Lucado

Transcript

We Are the Body of Christ- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:31
  Speaker 1: About us.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Well, it's about to happen. Finally, it's going to happen.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Cities have been preparing for a decade. Hotels have been
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: booked for years. Millions of people are expected to pour
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: into that seventy mile wide ribbon that stretches from one
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: coast to the other for the hopes of tomorrow seeing
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: the solar eclipse two minutes of pure bliss. There will
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: be rock concerts, lectures, wine tastings, drums circles, whatever that is,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: costume parties, art exhibitions, and car shows. Enterprising farmers are
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: renting out their fields for hundreds of dollars for people
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: to use as a campground. A new holiday inn in
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Kentucky was booked before it was built. The epicenter of
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: the event is in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. They call themselves Eclipseville
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: and are expected to receive two hundred thousand visitors, six
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: times their population. The solar eclipse is a big deal,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: But may I suggest that the miracle in the sky
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: is small potatoes compared to the miracle we experienced today
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: right here, and that is the miracle of the church.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Two thousand years ago, a small town carpenter made a
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: big time. Promise, he said, on this rock, I will
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: build my church and the power of death will not
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: be able to defeat it. On this weekend, as well
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: as the next couple of weekends, I'd like to explore
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: with you the beauty and the vision of the Lord's Church.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Let's pray together have mercy please, Father, upon the one
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: who speaks for his sins or many. We thank you
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: for the protection that you have had upon us over
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the last few days. I look out over and I
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: see Brother David, whose daughter was in Spain and witness
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: the terrorist attack, and yet she is safe. We think
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: about our nation, Father, and the racism wars that are
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: beginning to bubble up, and beg for mercy and protection.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: We ask that your church could be a voice of
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: common sense and pure conscience during this time. Father, we
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: pray for our president. We pray for all in positions
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of authority. We prayed that they would lead us well.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: We pray you'd forgive our speaker his sins her many
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: and help us to see Christ just Christ through Christ.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: We pray, Amen. So welcome to one of the oddest
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: organizations in the history of the world, the Church where
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: the requirement for admission is simply the admission of sins.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Membership dues are paid by the blood of a Galilean carpenter,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: and the membership role is determined and overseen by the
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: ruler of the universe. We her congregants, celebrate the death
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: of a man we've never seen, attempt to follow the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: leading of a spirit whom we cannot see, and we've
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: placed our trust and hope in a grace that at
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: times seems too great to believe. We are black, we
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: are white, we are brown, we are Asian, we are
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: a thousand other ethnic groups. We gather in huts, in
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: living rooms, in cathedrals, in hovels, in storefronts, in auditoriums,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: in sanctuaries. We are rich, we are poor. We are uneducated.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: We are educated. We are temperamental, testy, and triumphant. We
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: stumble and sin, yet we find grace and gifts. We
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: have different opinions, but we have one Lord. We have
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: different ideas, but we have one destiny. On this day today,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: while the world is watching baseball games, or preparing for
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: the eclipse, or considering the decisions of Congress, it is
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: truly the work of the church that determines the outflow
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: of history. Because it is the prayer and the worship
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: and the preaching of the Church and the service of
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: her saints that determines the spiritual atmosphere of the cosmos.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Why well, because the Church is the body of Christ.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: We've even included this phrase in our purpose or our
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: mission statement. As a church. We are the body of
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: Christ called to be Jesus in every neighborhood, in our
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: city and beyond. The first word of that sentence deserves
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: our attention. Are the body of Christ. I'm not the
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: body of Christ. You're not the body of Christ. But
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: collectively together, something happens. When people come together in the
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: name of Christ to serve in his call and to
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: honor his name. He creates a body, a body of Christ.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: As the Apostle Paul said, we are parts of his body.
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  Speaker 2: You're a part of it, I'm a part of it.
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  Speaker 2: When we come together, there appears the body of Christ. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: the body of Christ still walks the earth. The tongue
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: of Christ still teaches when the Church teaches. The hand
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: of Christ still comforts when you comfort. The feet of
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  Speaker 2: Christ still cover the globe when you travel in the
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: name of Christ. His heart still hurts for the hurting.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: We are the Body of Christ. We together are His Body.
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  Speaker 2: We in Fredericksburg, we at Journey Fellowship, at Alamo Ranch,
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  Speaker 2: we at North Central, we at west Side, we at Crownridge,
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  Speaker 2: we in Natal Together we are the Body of Christ
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  Speaker 2: in hundreds of hundreds of homes, workplaces, offices, coffee shops,
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  Speaker 2: youth gatherings, children gatherings all over our city and beyond.
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  Speaker 2: We are the Body of Christ. And we are part
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  Speaker 2: of the greater Body of Christ that is comprised of
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  Speaker 2: God fearing Lutherans and Baptists and Methodists, and Christ following
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  Speaker 2: Catholics and Jesus loving Pentecostals, and countless other streams and
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: movements of God's people. We at Oak Hills are hang
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: on to your hat, six months shy of our sixtieth birthday,
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: six month shy of our sixtieth birthday. God has blessed
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: us for six decades. Don't call us old. We're just
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: beginning to find our stride. We have so much for
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: which to give thanks. You may have heard the story
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: about the gentleman who joined the monastery, and he took
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: a vow of silence. He was allowed to speak only
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: once a year, and on that occasion only speak two words.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: So at the end of his first year, he met
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: with the director of the monastery and the monastery director
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: asked him, what are your two words? He said, soup cold.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Another twelve months passed and the monastery director said, all right,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: it's time for you to give us your next two words.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: He said, bed hard. Another twelve months went by he
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: was given another opportunity. This time his two words were
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: or I quit. The monastery director said, I'm not surprised.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Ever since you've been here has been nothing but complain. Complain, complain. Well,
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  Speaker 2: there may be some who have reason to complain, but
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  Speaker 2: we don't. We have so much for which to be grateful.
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  Speaker 2: There may be some churches who have reason to be discontent,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: but we have no reason to be anything except grateful.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Here at the end of August, we're completing another ministry year.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: The church calendar begins in September and ends in August,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: and so it's a great opportunity for us as a
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: church to reflect back over the ministry year that began
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: last September twenty sixteen and be grateful for all that
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: God has done. I'm going to share with you a
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: list of God's blessings. And after I declare each blessing,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: you be so kind as to join with me in
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: giving God thanks By agreeing with the apostle Paul who
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: said God can do much much more than anything we
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: ask or imagine, I'd like to ask you to say
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  Speaker 2: that verse with me out loud. Do you want to
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  Speaker 2: practice one time? Here we go, Sit up straight, fill
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  Speaker 2: your lungs were their. Okay, put your shoulders back. Let's
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  Speaker 2: do it. Say it like you mean it. God can
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  Speaker 2: do much much more than anything. We begin by thanking
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  Speaker 2: God for a growing church. During the ministry year twenty
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: sixteen seventeen, more people than ever heard about God through
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  Speaker 2: the ministry of the Oak Hills Congregation and studied His word.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: We saw an increased attendance of six percent, averaging over
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: for the first time ever, nine thousand attendees per week
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: on all of our campuses. God grace does Yeah, Amen,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: go ahead. In addition, as you know, God has graced
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: us with two state of the art facilities, and we're grateful.
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  Speaker 2: So let's say it together. You're ready. God can do
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  Speaker 2: than anything we ask. We celebrate the three hundred and
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  Speaker 2: ninety new members who cast their lot with Oak Hill
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  Speaker 2: since last September. Again we proclaim God can do much
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  Speaker 2: much more than anything ask or a mansion. Several thousand
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  Speaker 2: of us gathered in over look at this three hundred
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  Speaker 2: plus community groups in living rooms, kitchens, workplaces, coffee shops
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  Speaker 2: all over the Hill Country and beyond. This summer, almost
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  Speaker 2: two thousand children heard the life changing message of Christ
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  Speaker 2: in backyards, front yards and parks all over the Hill country.
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  Speaker 2: So let's now sit together, shall we? God can do
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  Speaker 2: much much more than anything we ask or imagine. God
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  Speaker 2: has blessed us with financial resources. Because of His kindness
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  Speaker 2: and your obedience. We are actually three point three nine
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  Speaker 2: percent over budget. That may sound like a modest increase,
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  Speaker 2: but keep in mind this is during a capital campaign
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  Speaker 2: in which you not only are giving your weekly offerings,
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  Speaker 2: but you're giving above and beyond your weekly offerings to
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  Speaker 2: meet pledges made for the capital campaign expansion. And I'm
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  Speaker 2: so happy to report that we're right on schedule with
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  Speaker 2: our capital campaign. We have received nearly two thirds, or
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: sixty four percent of the campaign pledges, receiving twelve and
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  Speaker 2: a half million dollars in addition to the regular offerings.
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  Speaker 2: Twelve and a half million dollars toward that pledged amount
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  Speaker 2: of nineteen and a half million dollars. And if it's
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: not too early, let me go ahead and ask it
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: to begin thinking about your end of the year offering
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  Speaker 2: to the Capital Campaign. But most of all, let's just
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  Speaker 2: be grateful. Let's be grateful and declare God can do much,
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  Speaker 2: much more than anything we ask or imagine. Our work
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  Speaker 2: is not limited to San Antonio or the Hill Country.
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  Speaker 2: By God's grace, we're able to support seventeen missionary families,
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  Speaker 2: seventeen missionary families Burkina, Fasso, Tanzania, several other African locations, Brazil,
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  Speaker 2: El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Philippines, and Russia. We gave over
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  Speaker 2: nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars to global outreach and locally,
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  Speaker 2: God used you to get food and clothing to over
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  Speaker 2: eight hundred families in San Antonio in the Hill Country.
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  Speaker 2: You help people who are suffering because of floods, who
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  Speaker 2: were in need of a new home. You sponsored youth trips,
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  Speaker 2: mission trips and sudden needs. We're quick to give God
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  Speaker 2: all the credit, aren't we. We agree with the apostle
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  Speaker 2: Paul who announced God can do much than anything we
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  Speaker 2: ask or imagine. We saved our greatest reason for rejoicing
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  Speaker 2: for the last. Let's take a moment to thank God
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  Speaker 2: for the four hundred and thirty one believers who celebrated
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  Speaker 2: their salvation in baptism during the course of the last
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  Speaker 2: twelve months. By God's grace, we're increasing the population of
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: heaven and decreasing the population of Hell. Now who can
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: tally the number of personal prayers of repentance, the supernatural
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: moments of physical and emotional healing. Who knows how many
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  Speaker 2: marriages have been saved, hearts have been touched in relationships
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  Speaker 2: that have been restored. Well, God does, because God can
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  Speaker 2: do much much more than anything we ask or imagine.
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  Speaker 2: Wouldn't you agree? God has been good to us. His
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  Speaker 2: favor has been upon us, His face has shown upon us,
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  Speaker 2: and God led us through a year of whitewater leadership, transition.
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  Speaker 2: Our senior minister, executive minister, and worship minister all since
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  Speaker 2: calls to new works. Yet we continue to grow stable
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: and healthy and in many ways very very happy, proving
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  Speaker 2: that Jesus Christ truly is the pastor of his Church. Amen,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: we are the body of Christ. Can I call upon
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  Speaker 2: you to be grateful for this. Maybe you've all always
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: kept the church at arm's length. Maybe you've had a
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: bad experience at a church. I would encourage it to
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: see the church through the eyes of Christ, the body
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: of Christ on the earth. Again, consider this great promise
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: from Jesus. He said on this rock, I will build
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: my church. I must have said something very profound. I
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: have no idea what happened, but I do know our
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: electric bill is paid. If not, we have to take
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: back everything I just said. Jesus said, on this rock,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: I will build my church, and the power of death
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: will not be able to defeat it. Here's the promise.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: The Lord's Church will prevail. It will prevail. It will
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  Speaker 2: be attacked, it will struggle for times, it will seem
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: to disappear, But the Lord's Church will prevail. If the
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: last two thousand years of history tell us anything, they
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: tell us how the Church has succeeded. How many nations
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: have come and gone since Jesus spoke those words, and
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: yet the church remains. How many armies have risen and fallen,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: yet the Church remains. How many systems have been created
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: and then disbanded, but the Church remains. How many philosophies
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: have surfaced and then dissipated, but the Church remains. Why
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Why can we be sure that the Church will prevail?
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  Speaker 2: Simply this, The Church is the body of Christ. The
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Church belongs to Christ. The Church is God's idea. For
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: that reason, we can be sure that the Church will prevail.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: The Church will outlive every single organization on the face
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: of the earth. Every government, every school, every institution, every
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: partnership will dissolve on the day Christ returns. But the
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: Church will be presented to God. In fact, the Bible
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: says that the Church will be presented as a bride
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: beautifully dressed for her husband, a bride beautifully dressed for
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  Speaker 2: her husband. One of the perks of my profession is
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: I get to be a part of a lot of weddings.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know how many weddings I've officiated over the
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: last thirty five or forty years, but a lot. And
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: you know, in all those weddings, let me tell you,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: I have never seen an ugly bride. I never have.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: I've seen a groom who could use some work, but
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: I've never seen an ugly bride. And I love that
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: moment when she appears at the top of the aisle,
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: and because of where I'm positioned as the person officiating
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: the wedding, I really get to see her first. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: the door opens and there she is, wrapped in splendor,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: dressed in white, prepared and adorned, beautiful, and soon someone
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: will stand. It's usually the mother of the bride. She'll
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: stand and everybody will notice stand and turn and look.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: And I can just sense the oxygen sucked out of
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: the room as they gaze upon her beauty. And well,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: they should be impressed. But while you're looking at her,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: do you know what I do? I sneak a glimpse
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: of the groom. He's right here at my left, just
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: a few feet away, and I turn and I look
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  Speaker 2: at him. His face is usually ashen, his mouth is
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: usually open, his eyes are wide and often full of tears.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: And sometimes he'll look up at me, and if he does,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: I wink at him because I know exactly what he's thinking.
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  Speaker 2: He's thinking what I thought on August eighth, nineteen eighty one,
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  Speaker 2: when I looked up and I saw my bride, Danlon,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: at the top of the aisle, and my thought was,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: I have never seen anyone so beautiful. What does it mean?
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  Speaker 2: That Jesus would call the Church the bride of Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what it means. He loves the church. He loves
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  Speaker 2: the church, and he thinks the bride of Christ is
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: worth dying for. We in the church might find that
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  Speaker 2: hard to believe, because we know how cranky we can be,
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  Speaker 2: how opinionated we can be, even how divisive we can be.
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  Speaker 2: But Christ, who has already seen the end from the beginning,
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  Speaker 2: looks at the church and says, Oh, she's so beautiful.
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  Speaker 2: You see. The Gospel story tells us that God is
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: preparing for himself a people with whom he will reign
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  Speaker 2: for all of eternity, and that people will He calls
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  Speaker 2: that group the church, the church, and he says, they're
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  Speaker 2: so beautiful. That's my bride. Sometimes I mentioned that to
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  Speaker 2: people who say, you know, I like Christ, I love Christ.
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  Speaker 2: I just don't want anything to do with the Church.
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  Speaker 2: I can get that. Nobody knows how troubling the church
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  Speaker 2: can be more than we preachers do. But you know,
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't speak I wouldn't speak negative words to a
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  Speaker 2: groom about his bride. I would be very careful if
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Christ calls the church, even with all our weaknesses and
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: foibles his bride, and he has a deep affection for
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: the bride. Don't you not think that we who seek
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  Speaker 2: to be like Christ should seek to imitate that affection.
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  Speaker 2: He loves the church. I would encourage you to examine
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: and reevaluate your affection and your devotion for the church.
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  Speaker 2: Many of you have been a part of this congregation
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: for many, many years. May you continue to serve Him,
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  Speaker 2: and may you realize that this is the one promise
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  Speaker 2: that you're making on earth that's going to last into eternity.
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  Speaker 2: Others of you have been attending for a long time
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: and you've never become members. I would like to invite
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: you to move from a tender to member, to make
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: that step just as a statement of devotion to Christ,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: and say, Lord, if you love the Church, then I
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: love the Church and I'm going to find my place.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Every campus, all seven campuses of the Oak Kills Church,
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: is equipped with special orientation classes as well as published
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: material that we can provide for you to help you
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: become a member. Every campus has an information desk and
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: a campus minister who will help you take a step
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: in that direction. The Oak Kill's Church seeks to be
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: the body of Christ We're not a perfect church or not,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: but we certainly serve a perfect savior. Amen. I remember
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: many many years ago, nineteen ninety three to be exact,
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: after I had served as your senior minister for five years.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: I was thirty eight years old, and I had figured
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: out how to do church, and I came up with
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: a list of six changes that our congregation needed to
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: make to be a relevant and dynamic church. I was
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: so proud of my list. I was pretty radical. I
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: took that list of six changes and I incorporated them
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: into a document, and I went down to Kinko's and
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: I printed it out, and I presented it to the elders.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: I remember on a Wednesday night, in a Wednesday night
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: elders meeting. Those changes included things like changing our name,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: changing our organizational structure, changing the way we worship. I
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: wanted to change, change, change. I had it all figured out.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: So I left that document with the elders. I reviewed
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: it with him. I left it with him. I came
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: back a week later to another meeting and they said, well, oh,
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: we've read your document, six changes that you suggest, and
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: let's go down the list. And they were very patient,
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: very pastoral, and they said this first one no, the
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: second one no, the third one no. Number four, no,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: number five, maybe someday, no number six. No. Well I
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: was missed. I was ticked off. I thought, did they
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: not know the genius that sits in this room? Do
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: they not understand the brilliance of their senior minister? How
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: dare they dismiss my ideas? As it turned out, I believe,
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: by God's providence, I was meeting regularly with another San
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Antonio minister. Every week or every two weeks, I would
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: get together with a fellow named David Sadoff, who for
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: many years was the minister of a church that at
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: that time was called Bandera Road Community Church. We met
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: for Hamburgers, and that next meeting, I think it was
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: either the next day or the next I explained at
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: my list to him. I expressed my frustration. I told
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: him how I knew exactly what the church needed, and
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: how the elders had rebuffed my list. And then I
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: said something like, maybe it's time for me to go
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: find another church that was closet language for saying, a
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: church that appreciates me. I expected him to agree with me.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: We're about the same age. In fact, I thought he
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: was a little more radical than I was. I expected
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: him to agree with me. Instead, you know what he did.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: He looked at me across the table and said, I
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: want to ask you a question. Do they let you
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: preach Jesus?
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: There?
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: I said what he said? Do they let you preach Jesus?
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Do they let you preach about Christ and him crucified?
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Do they let you tell the story of the love
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: of Christ? Do they let you tell about the resurrection
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: of Christ? The ascension of Christ? Do you get to
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: tell the story of Christ? I said, well, for Heaven's sake, yes,
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: I can preach about Jesus as much as I want,
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: ten times on Sunday. He said, then you stay put.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: I took that as a word from the Lord. Ok
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Kills is a place where we preach Jesus, Christ and
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: Him crucified. I cannot guarantee a lot, friend. I cannot
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: guarantee that we'll always sing the song you want to sing,
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: or sing it in the volume that you prefer. I
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: cannot guarantee that there will always be the seat you
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: prefer in the sanctuary. I cannot guarantee you'll always have
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: the parking place that you like. I cannot guarantee you'll
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: always like my jokes, but I believe I can, from
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: my heart assure you that you will hear the story,
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: sing the story, and learn the story of Jesus Christ
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: and him crucified. And isn't that what matters. Most eclipses
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: will come and go, but the Church and the story
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: of Jesus will remain forever. Amen. So Lord, this is
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: our prayer that you would continue to look kindly upon
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: your church through transitions, through changes. We turn to you
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: because you never change. You are a faithful, loving father.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Prepare us for a great harvest. Father, prepare us for
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: a great harvest to Christ. We pray, and all the
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: church said, Amen.
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, you don't have to stay close. As
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: long as you're somewhere out there. That's enough for me.
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me, don't need
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: promises to keep just the thought that you are breathing
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: somewhere in this world.
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: I see, even if I'm not beside you, even if
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: you never know, there's a quiet kind of comfort just.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: In knowing you still glow.
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: I don mean toever, I just need you to exist.
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me, You don't have
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: to be the same. Just as long as you're still
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: out there, calling softly through my days, you don't have
• 32:27
  Speaker 5: to look my way.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: You don't have to be my home.
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: It's enough to know where you're living in a world
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: I'm not alone. I won't chase it through the distance,
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: won't disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: less silence, like a star that shines at night.
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: Through the darkened, through the blue.
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: I still think of you.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: You don't have to stay with me.
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: You don't have to feel the same.
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: It's just as long as you're still out there, calling
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: softly through my days. You don't have to look my way.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: You don't have to be in my home.
• 33:29
  Speaker 5: It's enough to know you're living in a world I'm
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: not alone.
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: I don't need to be your late.
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: I don't need to cross your mind. All I need
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: is just the truth that you're so.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Still alive.
• 34:06
  Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me, You don't have
• 34:10
  Speaker 6: to feel the same. Just as long as you're still
• 34:15
  Speaker 6: have to calling softly through my days, you don't have
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: to look my way.
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: You don't have to be my home.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: It's enough to know you're living.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: In the world.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: I am not alone,